Clarissa Crowninshield (1811-1907) was born in Salem, Massachusetts, the illegitimate daughter of George Crowninshield Jr. (d. 1817) and his mistress, Elizabeth Rowell. Her father was from a prominent Salem family, who made their fortune in international trade and shipping. In 1817, George Crowninshield Jr. died aboard his pleasure yacht, Cleopatra's Barge, and in his will, named Clarissa his daughter, leaving her with $16,000 and her mother with $8,000. A local Salem attorney, Benjamin Ropes Nichols (1786-1848), took over Clarissa's care and education, becoming her guardian. Upon his death, his son, Benjamin White Nichols (b. 1823) took over the power of attorney for the women, managing their assets and finances in America while the women were living in Germany.

Clarissa attended a female boarding school in Hingham, Massachusetts where she became good friends with Mary Potter, who later became Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's first wife. In 1843, Clarissa married Louis Thies, a German art collector. A year later, Clarissa gave birth to their daughter, Clara Thies (1844-1905) and the family moved to Dresden, Germany in 1866. Louis Thies died in 1870 and two years later, in 1872, his daughter Clara married, becoming Mrs. Clara von Ekensteen. Clara's husband died in 1886 and she married Ernst von Gladiss in 1891. Clara died in 1905 and her mother Clarissa lived two more years, dying in 1907 at the age of 96.