When Mary Elizabeth Thompson was born on 8 April 1864, in Indian Valley, Floyd, Virginia, United States, her father, Reuben Thompson, was 45 and her mother, Elizabeth Layman, was 39. She married Green Taswell Layman on 6 February 1879, in Floyd, Floyd, Virginia, United States. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 10 daughters. She lived in Indian Valley Magisterial District, Floyd, Virginia, United States in 1940. She died on 22 April 1947, in Indian Valley, Floyd, Virginia, United States, at the age of 83, and was buried in Indian Valley, Floyd, Virginia, United States.