Little is known of Smythe's life. She was born around 1880 to Thomas F. Hobbs and Hulda Creal, and probably grew up in De Witt, Iowa. She probably moved with her family to Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1885. She met her future husband, Robert A. Smythe, after returning from her 1889-90 European trip. It is likely that she was a widow by 1926, and her death date is unknown. Her name does not appear in biographical directories, and several Michigan libraries had little information on her.
