Mary Magee was the daughter of Stephen Paret, who was born in Tricolet, France, and his first wife, Mary Comstock. Stephen and Mary lived in New York City, and they had the following five children: Catherine R. Paret, who married Sylvester Taylor; John Paret, who married Hester Levy; Mary Paret; Peter Paret, who married Jane Keesley; and Stephen Paret, who died young in a yellow fever epidemic. John and Peter and their families remained in the New York City area, while Catherine and Sylvester Taylor moved out to Portage County, Ohio.

After Stephen's wife Mary died, he married as his second wife Hannah (Van Brakle) Polhemus, who already had children by her first husband John Polhemus. Stephen and Hannah, who also resided in New York City, had Stephen Paret, who married Eliza Halsey Green; Hannah J. Paret, who married John Kip Cadmus; Samuel Paret, who died in infancy; Elsey Paret, who died young; Sarah Paret; and Hartshorne Pascal Paret.

Around 1825, daughter Mary married Charles Magee, and the couple settled in Groveland, where his family lived. Mary and Charles had at least five children, Catherine P. Magee, who died young; Sarah L. Magee, who never married; Charles Henry Magee, who married Julia Ann Teitsworth; John Magee, who married an Eliza A. White; and Julia A. Magee, who married Joseph Emory White.

Important note: The birth date on Mary's stone cannot possibly be correct. Mary could not have been born in 1798 because her father Stephen Paret's will stated that she was a daughter of his first wife. Stephen's first wife died before 1 June 1797, the date when he married his second wife. On every census, Mary's birth year is different, and so the most likely one was the 1850 U.S. Census, when she must have been given the ages in the household herself. In that census, she was 54. Since her household was enumerated in September 1850, this indicates that she was born in 1796, not 1798.