Mary's siblings were: John, Henry, James, Adalade, Richard, Edwin, Emma, Ellen, and Adda ("Addie").

In 1858, her parents removed to Greene County, Ohio, and settled upon a farm, where Mary grew to adulthood, receiving her education in a rural school.

At the time of her incumbency, Thomas Meigher Proctor was engaged in editing the Home Weekly, a paper devoted to the interests of the institution, and was connected with many of the leading daily journals of the country.

[1] After the marriage, Mr. Proctor continued the management of the Home Weekly for nearly a year, when they removed to Wilmington, Ohio, where he became the editor and proprietor of the Clinton County Democrat.

Democrats generally recognized this fact and often accepted her judgment and far-sighted opinions while others were prone to chafe under her directorship.

From the day of its first issue, her newspaper was conscientiously devoted to the overthrow of the saloon, and her paper proved a strong agency in the Miami valley for prohibition.

She has won many "votes for women", not only through her clear statements and logical facts as presented through the Patriot, but more by the capability she evinced as a bread-winner.

For more than fifteen years, she served on the board of lady visitors of the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' home, receiving her appointment from two separate governors.

[1] Mary Swindler Proctor Wilson died July 3, 1927, at the home of her daughter in Williamsburg, Virginia.