Mary Greenway McClelland was born on August 5, 1853, in Norwood, a small village in Nelson County, Virginia.

[3] When she was young, her parents moved to Elm Cottage, an isolated home in Buckingham County, Virginia where she spent the rest of her life.

[1] Her first publication was Ole Ike's Memories (1884), a 16-page collection of poems in African-American dialect.

Several authors have taken note of the love triangle in Broadoaks, where a Northern and a Southern man compete for the affections of the same woman.

[5][6] Cratis D. Williams criticized the portrayal of Southern mountaineers in three of her novels, writing that "her interpretations lack the ring of authenticity.