Mary Ann Kennedy was born 7 December 1807 at Great Barrington, Berkshire, Mass., the second of six children of Dr. John Pratt Kennedy and Elizabeth Churchill. By the time Mary Ann was a teenager, the family had moved to nearby New York. She moved with her family to several locations within New York over the next few years, ultimately settling in Southport, New York. Mary Ann arrived in Southport with her family in 1825. Mary Ann's future husband, Charles Bird, had come with his family from New Jersey to nearby Elmira, New York. Charles Bird was involved in learning the textile industry, which was a relatively new industry. Southport where Mary Ann lived was near to Elmira so it is assumed that Charles and Mary Ann met in one of the two villages. However they met, the result was that they were married on 22 March 1826 at Covington, Tioga, Pennsylvania Covington lies between New Jersey and western New York and was probably a days drive by horse drawn buggy. She was 18 years old at the time of their marriage. Her parents, John and Elizabeth, were reportedly not been very happy when she and Charles joined the Mormon faith. Charles was baptized in 1836 and Mary Ann in 1837. There were reports that her parents disowned her but that is unclear. She was not named in the will of John Pratt Kennedy but she had also moved far away and had little or no contact with the family so it is unclear whether she was left off the will just because she no longer lived nearby or whether her father, indeed, was still unhappy with Mary Ann and her choice of faith.

By 1838, Charles and Mary Ann had moved to Kirtland, Ohio. This was a very troubled time there with apostates of the Mormon Church along with other local citizens threatening the lives and property of the members. In early July of that year, a camp was formed for the migration out of Kirkland for a movement to Missouri. The caravan leaving Kirkland was a mile long. Mary Ann had six young children at this time with the youngest barely a year and a half old. A total of 529 were on the move with this relocation and they had but 59 wagons and 33 tents so each family took very few of their possessions from Kirkland and had to jointly use the available tents. This caravan arrived at a camp called Adam-ondi-Ahman in 2 October 1838. They only stayed at this location for a couple of months and were again forced to move. Charles and Mary Ann moved to nearby Far West. While at this location, Charles and Mary Ann and their children were subjected to the atrocities and persecutions inflicted upon them by local Missouri residents. A number of the residents of Far West were killed, some of the women raped and homes and possessions looted.

When the main body of Saints prepared to move on to Utah and the Great Basin, Charles was asked to stay behind and help others who would be bound for Utah but who needed help as they had few or no clothes. Charles and some of his other family members were weavers so they established a simple woolen mill to manufacture clothing for the emigrating Saints. George Albert Smith Bird was born 26 January 1849 at Council Bluff, Nebraska. Council Bluff and Winter Quarters were located just across the river from each other. Mary Ann and Charles son, Benjamin, died on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1849, at Council Bluff.

By 1850, the Bird family was released from their calling to move on to Utah and they emigrated in a wagon train with the Milo Andrus Company. They left the Missouri River on 3 June 1850 in a company of 206 people. They entered the Salt Lake valley on 3 August 1850. Charles and Mary Ann moved to the Cottonwood area of the valley. Mary Ann Bird, the last of the children of Charles and Mary Ann was born in 1851 in South Cottonwood, Salt Lake, Utah.

Mary Ann died in Mendon, Cache, Utah on 10 October 1867, and is buried in the Mendon Cemetery there.

She was truly one of the strong pioneers in every sense of the word. She had endured having to leave behind numerous homes and watch them burn to the ground, being harassed by mobs and threatened with death, being frozen and losing some of her toes, enduring the death of several of her children, and still she maintained her faith in her religion to the end. She is truly one of our ancestors to be honored.