When Melissa Roxena Tenney was born on 21 January 1840, in Amherst, Lorain, Ohio, United States, her father, Dr. Luman Tenney, was 30 and her mother, Charity Emeline Harris, was 30. She married Alvred Bayard Nettleton on 8 January 1863, in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 2 daughters. She lived in Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, United States for about 5 years. She died on 10 January 1918, in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States, at the age of 77, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, United States.