Not much is known about Lucy Olmstead's origins. A family story claims she was born in the Pontiac area of Michigan in 1812, and became an orphan at an early age with the death of both her parents. The circumstances of those deaths, and whether she had siblings or other family close by, is not known. The story says she had to earn her keep by working in the households of other people, apparently those not of her family.

She marries Rufus Thompson, a Michigan Territorial homesteader from Vermont, in 1828 and together they start what would become a large family. By the early 1840s they have seven children, and decide to move West to the new Iowa Territory that is opening up for settlement.

They originally stop in Dubuque County in Iowa and for about ten years try farming in a couple of locations. While there they have four more children for a total of eleven. An opportunity to buy a sawmill on the Turkey River results in a family move to Fayette County, where most of the members of that immediate family live out the rest of their lives.

Lucy's husband Rufus dies in 1871, and based on the records in his probate, the resolution of his debts requires the liquidation of most of his property and assets. Without an apparent means of support, Lucy marries twice more over the next ten years to older men of the community who likewise recently lost their wives. Neither marriage appears to last for more than a few years, and sometime around 1886 Lucy suffers a debilitating stroke that forces her into the home of her youngest daughter due to her need for daily care.

Sometime between 1886 and 1895, Lucy is admitted to the Fayette County Farm and Care Facility for more intensive care. According to their records, she dies there on January 1, 1895.