Tilly was born in Woodstock New Brunswick and considered the first Black woman to attend and graduate from the University of New Brunswick, in Fredericton.  Mary entered UNB in 1901 and graduated with honors in 1905 with a BA in classics. Miss Winslow had to seek employment outside the province, being unable to obtain teaching positions in NB Schools.  Miss Winslow found a teaching position in Nova Scotia but eventually moved to the United States where she married and became a music teacher and eventual Dean of the Normal Department at Central College in Alabama.