Mary Ellen Sigsbee, the daughter of Charles D. Sigsbee, the commander of the USS Maine, was born in New Orleans in 1876. She studied at the Arts Students League in Washington and New York. In 1908 Mary eloped to France with fellow artist, Balfour Ker.

The marriage was not successful and in 1911 Mary returned to New York. A socialist and supporter of women's suffrage, her work appeared in The Masses, Woman's Journal and the New York American Journal. She also designed posters for the American Woman Suffrage Association. Mary later married another artist, Anton Otto Fischer.

Mary Ellen Sigsbee died in 1960.