Mary Mussel (maiden name: McAllister) was born around 1828 in Scotland to Ronald and Elizabeth McAllister. Her father was a farmer who owned $800 of real estate by 1850. The family immigrated to America by the 1840s and settled in Preston, Connecticut. She married Christian Mussel on June 6, 1845, and they had at least four children: Andrew, born around 1846; Rowland, born around 1848; Elizabeth, born around 1850; and Anna, born around 1855.
They lived in Preston, and her husband worked as a carpenter. By 1860, they owned $500 of real estate and $600 of personal property. Her husband died on April 24, 1878. By 1880, she was living in her daughter Anna’s household in Norwich, Connecticut. She died in Connecticut on September 6, 1902.