[1] According to obituaries published in 1908,[note 1] Mary Ramsey was born on May 20, 1787, on a farm near Knoxville, Tennessee.

Ramsey's mother was reported to have lived to the age of 110, and her father had died just a few years before his wife.

Richard Ramsey built the first brick home in Knoxville, and the family was wealthy and owned slaves.

In her early years Mary Ramsey danced with General Andrew Jackson, for whom her father fought in the War of 1812.

Aged 12, Ramsey joined the Methodist church, and in 1804 she married Jacob Lemons in Tennessee.

Wood rode her horse Martha Washington Pioneer the entire journey along the Oregon Trail aged 66, and as a midwife she delivered at least one baby during the trip.

The family arrived in Oregon in 1853, and settled in Washington County at Hillsboro in the Tualatin Valley.

[9][10] Henry L. Pittock presided over the ceremony on July 4, 1907, at which Wood was represented by a large photograph by Frederick H. Kiser due to her frailty; the story was reported nationally.

[11][12] According to obituaries of the time, "Grandma" Mary Ramsey Wood died aged 120 on January 1, 1908, at five o'clock in the morning.

A 1908 Oregonian story, which claimed her age was authentic, stated that Wood's daughter had written to relatives in Missouri for a record of the family Bible.

The reply, which the Oregonian claims was viewed by their reporter, excerpted the bible record that showed Wood's age would have been 120 the previous May.

[1] The Mary Wood listed in the census data was born in Tennessee and lived with her daughter, Catherine Smith.