Mary Ann Maulsby Mills was born on June 6, 1830, in Putnam County, Indiana to John C. and Sarah Moore Maulsby. Her family was Quaker and settled in what is now Iowa in 1836. Her father owned and operated a mill. She married Benjamin Mills on October 15, 1849, and they lived in Keokuk, Jasper, and Hardin Counties throughout their lives. Benjamin and Mary Ann Mills had ten children, five sons and five daughters: Charles D., Ira, Sarah Jane, John W., Mary, Macy, Louis B., Ava, and Martha Lodemia. Mills passed away on July 17, 1909, at the age of 79.

Nellie (Mills) Rhodes was born in on March 1, 1890, in Newberg, Oregon to Ira and Jennie Mills. Ira was the son of Mary Ann and Benjamin Mills. The Mills family moved to New Providence, Iowa soon after her birth. She met Floyd Rhodes in New Providence, and they married in 1910. They moved around Central and Eastern Iowa for many years, living in Story, Marshall, and Hardin Counties. The Rhodes had eight children, five daughters and three sons: Reva, Pauline, Avonelle, Merrill, Mildred, Thelma, Norman, and Lowell. Nellie Rhodes passed away on November 30, 1985, at the age of 95.