Lee was born Martha Agnes Rand in Chicago on March 6, 1862.

[2] Lee wrote a collection of children's verse in 1898 titled The Round Rabbit.

[2] She wrote books of poetry including The Border of the Lake in 1910, The Sharing in 1914, Faces and Open Doors in 1922, and New Lyrics and a Few Old Ones in 1931.

[2] In 1890 she married Francis Watts Lee, a photographer, and moved to Boston.

[2][5] A collection of letters exchanged between her and poet Edgar Lee Masters is archived in the Newberry Library in Chicago.