Sarah McKelvey (maiden name: Croft) was born on April 4, 1830, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to John Croft and Barbara Herr. She married Ephraim W. McKelvey, and they had at least three children: Henry, born around 1858; Francis, born around 1864; and Edward, born around 1866. Her husband apparently died in the 1860s. She lived in Pittsburgh, and by 1870, she owned $600 of personal property. She died of apoplexy in Pittsburgh on November 13, 1917.