When Dora Hanna Elizabeth Smart was born on 27 January 1882, in Rock Run, Cherokee, Alabama, United States, her father, John Calvin Smart, was 49 and her mother, Letha Catherine Parker, was 32. She married Samuel Sanford on 19 November 1897, in Cherokee, Alabama, United States. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 4 daughters. She lived in Election Precinct 21 Lewis, Cherokee, Alabama, United States in 1910 and Gaylesville, Cherokee, Alabama, United States in 1920. She died on 15 January 1936, in LaFayette, Walker, Georgia, United States, at the age of 53, and was buried in Union Hill Cemetery, Watson, Cherokee, Alabama, United States.