Mary Chaffin was born around in North Carolina on January 9, 1813 in North Carolina. First married to R. M. Clayland, she was widowed by 1836. She later married Nathaniel Brock Taylor. A resident of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina in 1860, she later moved to Shelby, Tennessee by 1870. According to newspaper reports she may have moved to Arkansas prior to 1877. She died some time after 1878.