Mary Maxima "Maxie" McConnell was born October 22, 1853, in Hollidays Cove, West Virigina. According to family stories, after attending a young ladies seminary in Ohio, Maxie was offered a position as a teacher for a ranching family in Wyoming. "A letter came [to the school] from a man in Wyoming. He was the son of an English lord and had married an Indian [woman]. He wanted a teacher for his children who preferred growing up wild. His wife had not learned to sit in a chair but squatted on the floor. (I [Maxie's daughter] met her when I was 16 and found her a very cultured lady living in a lovely home in Denver but still showing her Indian heritage. she was very handsome.)" Maxie took the job and traveled to Wyoming by stagecoach.

Starting around 1882, Maxie taught at the Whitcomb school in rural Laramie County, Wyoming, presumably instructing the children of Elias W. Whitcomb and his wife Kate, who was Native American. It appears Maxie remained close to Kate and her daughters for many years.

Around 1884, Maxie taught at the Hiram B. "Hi" Kelly ranch near Chugwater, Wyoming. Like Whitcomb, Kelly's wife Elizabeth Renshaw, was also Native American.

By 1888, Maxie was teaching the children of Charles and Frederika Hecht in Cheyenne. Her diary frequently mentions social engagements with the Whitcombs during this period.

On July 11, 1889, Maxie married James Henderson "Hen" Shields in Cheyenne and moved northern Colorado near Loveland. She died in 1937 at the age of 83 in Buhl, Twin Falls County, Idaho, where she and Hen are buried.