At the time of her birth, Wilson's parents were living near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; her father was on the faculty of Bryn Mawr College.

Consequently, Ellen Wilson did not want her children born as Yankees and arranged to stay with family in Gainesville for Margaret's birth.

She was a member of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority at Goucher College, alongside her sister Jessie.

[4] In 1938 Margaret Wilson traveled to the ashram of Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry, India, where she remained for the rest of her life.

[5] Wilson died from uremia on February 12, 1944, at the age of 57, and was buried in Pondicherry, India, unmarried, and without issue.