When Maria Amada Johnson was born on 8 December 1868, in Skåne, Sweden, her father, Hans Johnson, was 30 and her mother, Elna Olsdotter, was 24. She married Nels Bengtsson Strobeck on 1 June 1893. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 3 daughters. She lived in Leaf Mountain Township, Otter Tail, Minnesota, United States in 1900 and Alger Township, Mountrail, North Dakota, United States for about 20 years. She died on 9 August 1945, in Stanley, Mountrail, North Dakota, United States, at the age of 76, and was buried in Stanley, Mountrail, North Dakota, United States.