Mary Elizabeth Hodnett was born around 1832 in Georgia to William Hodnett and Caroline Finley. Her father was a farmer who owned $6,000 of real estate and $8,000 of personal property, including at least four slaves. The family lived in Troup County, Georgia. She married William Taylor in Georgia on December 1, 1864, and they had at least six children: Thomas, born around 1866; Martha, born around 1868; Benjamin, born around 1870; Henry, born around 1872; John, born around 1874; and Louis, born around 1876. The family lived in Coweta County, Georgia, after the war, and Taylor owned $1,500 of real estate and $1,145 of personal property in 1870. She remained in Coweta County for the rest of her life, dying there on January 30, 1921.