Margaret Nebraska Imlay was born June 5, 1853, on the plains of Nebraska, while her parents were traveling to Utah. Her father was James Havens Imlay and her mother was Anna Eliza Coward. Her father, along with Anthony W. Ivins and Israel Ivins, was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Elder Erastus Snow after just one meeting. Then they journeyed together to Salt Lake City instead of going to California gold fields as they had intended.

A little more than two weeks after Margaret was born her sister, age 1½ years, died on the plains. They arrived in Salt Lake City and stayed there for quite some time, during which her parents had two more children born to them. Early in 1864, they were living in New Harmony, Utah, where her sister, Keziah, was born.