Marjorie Delilah Green was born on May 24, 1916 to Burt and Grace Melton Green. She attended Mason High School and then Michigan State College (now Michigan State University) where she graduated in 1937 with a degree in home economics. After graduation, she worked in the Mason hospital and then joined the Women's Army Corp after Pearl Harbor. She married Stewart Kersting, a member of the Navy Medical Corps. The Kerstings opened an electric store in Philadelphia in 1947. In 1978, Kersting published a collection of her grandmother’s, Ann Eliza Aldrich, writings in Bringing in the Sheaves: A True Story of Pioneer Days.

Ann Eliza Aldrich was born on December 23, 1849 to pioneers Delilah and Denslow Aldrich in Delhi, Michigan. She attended a boarding school after attending the local school in Delhi. She married Delbert Melton and they had three daughters, Eliza Myrtle (1871-1874); Addie Mae (1873-1902) and Grace Aldrich (1879-1975). She lived in Delhi and Mason, Michigan for most of her life. In her later years, she was active in a number of organizations and presented essays at many meetings. She used the name Eliza Melton for most of her adult life.