When Clara Melissa Braithwaite was born on 18 August 1892, in Manti, Sanpete, Utah Territory, United States, her father, Joseph Smith Braithwaite, was 47 and her mother, Esther Taylor, was 37. She married Soren Niels Nielson on 4 September 1912, in Manti, Sanpete, Utah, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 3 daughters. She lived in Salt Lake City Ward 1, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States in 1940 and Utah, United States in 1952. She died on 2 August 1958, in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States, at the age of 65, and was buried in Manti Cemetery, Manti, Sanpete, Utah, United States.