Agnes Roden was born around 1838 in England to George Roden and Rachel Patrick. Her father was a tailor who owned $60 of personal property by 1860. The family immigrated to America around 1846 and settled in Troy, New York. They moved to Newark, New Jersey, in the 1850s, and by 1870, she was working as a dressmaker. She remained in her parents’ household until at least 1880, and she died sometime after 1880.