When Mary Lula Hightower was born on 14 February 1868, in Polk, North Carolina, United States, her father, Burvel Milton Hightower, was 35 and her mother, Elizabeth Caroline Whitted, was 33. She married James Richard Henson in 1883, in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 3 daughters. She lived in Highland, Greenville, South Carolina, United States in 1900 and O'Neal, Greenville, South Carolina, United States in 1910. She died on 31 October 1924, in Greenville, South Carolina, United States, at the age of 56, and was buried in Graubünden, Switzerland.