When Mary Arnold was born on 13 May 1793, in Warwick, Kent, Rhode Island, United States, her father, George Arnold, was 38 and her mother, Mary Hopkins, was 32. She married David Whitman in 1810, in Scituate, Providence, Rhode Island, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 3 daughters. She died on 6 March 1841, in Venice, Cayuga, New York, United States, at the age of 47, and was buried in Genoa Rural Cemetery, Genoa, Cayuga, New York, United States.