Mary Benbury was born in Chowan County, North Carolina in about 1745. The daughter of the local sheriff, Mary married politician Timothy Walton in about 1755. After Timothy's death in about 1770, Mary then married Thomas Hunter in 1771. In 1774 Mary Hunter signed a non-importation agreement that later became known as the Edenton Tea Party Resolves. Mary's activism was just the start of the Hunters' work for the Patriot cause, as later her husband Thomas served as a member of the North Carolina Provincial Congress and as an officer in the local militia. Genealogical evidence suggests Mary Hunter died in Gates County in about 1789.