Mary Hambleton Swartz was born on May 12, 1847, in Plumstead, Pennsylvania, to Andrew and Catherine Swartz. Her father was a coach maker who owned $1,500 of real estate and $250 of personal property by 1860. She grew up and attended school in Plumstead, and by 1880, she was working as a mantua maker there. She never married, and she lived with her father until at least 1900. She remained in Plumstead for the rest of her life, and she died there of a cerebral hemorrhage on December 6, 1931.