When Mary Amelia McCan was born on 9 August 1852, in West Virginia, United States, her father, Dr. Patrick Henry McCan, was 29 and her mother, Isabella Ann Geary, was 17. She married William Albison Smith on 16 April 1874, in Roane, West Virginia, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 6 daughters. She lived in Eckley, Yuma, Colorado, United States in 1910 and Yuma, Yuma, Colorado, United States in 1920. She died on 29 August 1930, in Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States, at the age of 78, and was buried in Edison Cemetery, Edison, Furnas, Nebraska, United States.