Polly, as Mary was called, was a year younger than her sister Betsy and was most likely schooled at home, learning to read and write neatly as well as sew. She and her sisters entered a formal school for girls in their early teens. Her mother wrote of her, "Polly is very well and much improved in her reading. She frequently complains of the hardships of standing on the floor..."

She married an editor of a newspaper, Enos Bronson, in late 1804. They had seven children, with five living to adulthood. The family lived down the street from the Bishop and continued to do so after Enos's death in 1823. Mary liked to travel and once visited Baltimore, but often went to the family's country estate of 40 acres called "Brookland". She was often ill. A friend wrote after her first child was born that Mary "has at least been compensated for her sufferings". She became ill in 1826 and died quickly as her father rushed to her bedside. Her five children then moved into their grandfather's house and lived there with Bishop White for about 10 years until he died in 1836.

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