Sammie McGary was born on 1 September 1896 in Beaumont, Texas, to Samuel Hopkins McGary and his wife, Lida J "Lidie" Stroup. She was the youngest of three sisters, named for her father, who was owner and editor of the Beaumont Journal. Sammie's mother died of tuberculosis when she was a baby; she was raised by relatives, Sam and Vibella Foster, who had a stillborn daughter the year before. Sammie married Eugene Erastus Bihn, 30 December 1916, in Beaumont, with a reception held at the Cromwell Apartments. They had two daughters: Laura Agnes and Marthagene Bihn. The Bihns appeared on the US Census of 1920 at Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas, renting a house with four in family. Eugene and Sammie were divorced 1924, remarried 1926, and divorced again 1928. Sammie took care of her daughters during the Great Depression by working for her uncle at Foster's Print Shop. She was quite popular in Beaumont, so much that her dog received an obituary in the newspaper when he was hit by a car. Sammie died young, 12 December 1938, aged 42, of pneumonia, at home in Beaumont, Texas. She was buried the next day in the McGary family plot at Magnolia Cemetery.