Mary Ann Adams (maiden name: Arnold) was born on May 7, 1833, in Texas to Hendrick and Mary Arnold. She married William C. Adams in April 1861, and they had at least four children: Sarah, born around 1862; Margaret, born around 1864; William, born around 1868; and Henry, born around 1876. They lived in San Felipe, Texas, and her husband worked as a farmer. By 1870, they owned $3,000 of real estate and $20,000 of personal property. They moved to San Antonio, Texas, in the 1870s, her husband died on October 26, 1880. By 1900, she was working as a “landlady” in San Antonio. She died of “senile exhaustion” there on August 3, 1925.