Gertrude Baines married Sam Conley at a very young age and had one daughter who died of typhoid fever at the age of 18. Baines was known to have been living in Hartford, Connecticut before moving to Ohio, where she worked as a maid at the Ohio State University. She later moved to California, where she lived on her own until age 105. She spent her final years at the Western Convalescent Center in Jefferson Park, Los Angeles.