Mary Ridley Jones was born in North Carolina around 1778, according to her death notice. She was the daughter of Francis Jones and Frances Yancey and granddaughter of Francis Jones and Mary Elizabeth "Betsey" Ridley. Around February 1825, she married Raleigh-based widower and dentist Sterling Wheaton (1766–1832). The couple seems to have had no surviving children. She died in Chapel Hill (Orange County) on February 15, 1863.