Mary Hamilton Stephens was born in 1908. In 1918, her family moved into Davidson, NC. Her father, Charles Hamilton, was mayor of Davidson from 1920 to 1925 and her mother was active in the Booklovers Club. She attended schools in Davidson and went to Converse College, graduating in 1929. She traveled with her family to Europe and starting in 1958 conducted tour groups. She married James Linley Stephens and had two children. The house her father built in 1917 was acquired by Davidson College in 1966. It served as faculty housing and the Applied Pscyhology Building.