When Lydia Emeline Presbrey was born on 12 October 1827, in Taunton, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States, her father, John Presbury Jr., was 42 and her mother, Fannie Soper, was 41. She married William Grey Hodges on 13 January 1844, in Taunton, Bristol, Massachusetts, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 5 daughters. She lived in New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, United States in 1870. She died on 4 September 1896, in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, at the age of 68, and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States.