Mary Speer (maiden name: Barnhill) was born around 1807 in Ohio. She married William Speer on July 29, 1824, and they had at least seven children: Sarah, born around 1828; Robert, born around 1833; Thomas, born around 1836; Henry, born around 1839; William, born on January 12, 1842; Sandford, born around 1845; and Mary, born around 1848. They lived in Wayne, Indiana, and her husband worked as a farmer. Her husband died in January 1864.
By 1870, she was living with her son Robert’s family in Pike, Indiana, and she owned $4,000 of real estate and $200 of personal property. A decade later, she was living in Zionsville, Indiana, with her daughter Mary. She died in Indiana on August 26, 1893.