Mary Elizabeth Benson was born in December 1866 in the Reagan community of Henderson County, Tennessee to Wiley Benson, Sr. and Mary Melissa Sheppard. She met William James Crews who was an employee at her father's sawmill and other business enterprises in Reagan, Tennessee. They married in 1887. During the first years of their marriage they lived near her parents and later bought a larger tract of land (300+ acres) in the Cedar Grove community that later was sold to Clyde Western. They built a large home, had several children, and prospered in their farming.
They had ten children: Mack C. born in April1888, William Robert born in October 1888 and died in 1890, Henry Oscar born in August1890 and died in an auto accident in 1912, Susan Melissa born in 1892, Reeder born in December 1894 and died in 1896, Lester Homer born in February 1898, Dewey Hester born in March 1900, Mallie Ethel born in December 1901, Velma Gertrude born in February 1904 and Iza Dora born in March 1907.

In November 1918 she contracted the infamous Spanish Flu and died on November 26, 1918. The epidemic killed over a half million Americans and over 25 million worldwide. At the time of her death, their children Lester, Hester, and Dora were still living at home. Will buried her in the nearby Cedar Grove Cemetery (about three miles south of Scotts Hill, Tennessee) instead of Barren Springs Cemetery where many of her family are buried. Will courageously assisted other families in burying their loved ones. The next year Will decided to move to Jackson, Tennessee area where his older children lived and bought a farm in the Westover community. He was a successful there and farmed for many years. When he died in 1934, his family buried him beside Mary in the Cedar Grove Cemetery.