her parents were charles woodruff bidwell and alice beach nobel. she was a descendant of john bidwell, one of the founders of hartford, connecticut. bidwell worked as a teacher in a one-room school house for six years. she married charles hubbell bidwell, a distant cousin, in 1906. bidwell lived on her own in north haven, connecticut, until she was 110. bidwell died at the arden house, a nursing home in hamden, connecticut.