Geraldine Dobyns was the fifth of seven children born to plantation overseer Henry Clay Dobyns and his bride Nellie Marie Fitzgerald near East Carroll, Louisiana. Her large family included two older brothers, Harry (12/1874) and Thomas T. (9/23/1875), two older sisters, Elizabeth "Lizzie" (1873) and Winifred "Winnie" (1879), and two younger brothers, James Fitzgerald (7/1886) and Leo (9/1888). According to her grandson she was likely born on the Australia Plantation near Milliken's Bend or Madison, Louisiana. Given the birth locations of her siblings, the family had been living in both Louisiana and Texas during the 1880s.

Henry died in 1890 in Mississippi. Sometime between 1890 and 1894 the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. As of the 1900 census, Geraldine was attending the St. Agnes Academy in Memphis (there is a difference in age reported between her home and the school, as the census at home shows 17 and the school shows 18, but family trees confirm the 1882 date). It is likely she learned some musical skills while at this private academy.

In the 1901 R.L. Polk directory for Memphis Geraldine first appeared as a music teacher. The 1902 directory showed her as a clerk in a steam laundry, but by 1903 she was once again listed as a teacher. The 1907 and 1908 Polk directories showed her working specifically for the O.K. Houck Piano Company as a clerk. Directories from 1909 into the mid-1910s had her consistently listed as a music teacher.

There are only three known compositions by Geraldine. The first two were piano rags published in Memphis in 1907 and 1908. Her first, Possum Rag, is still performed a century later. During this period she was working for its publisher, O.K. Houck, along with fellow female composer Elma Ney McClure. Her last piece, Holly and Mistletoe, perhaps the only rag that specifically indicates a Christmas theme, was published in New Orleans by Philip Werlein in 1909. The 1910 census still listed her as living in Memphis with her mother and younger brothers, employed as a music teacher. The same designation was found in Memphis city directories of the time.

In 1916 Geraldine married Frederick Bruce Davis, several years her junior, in Memphis. The couple was shown as residing in Memphis in 1920 with their toddler daughter Marie B. Davis born in December of 1918. Fred was working as a credit manager, and Geraldine listed no occupation. One other daughter, also named Geraldine, was born in early 1920.

At some point after that, the family moved to Los Angeles, California, where Frederick was first located in voter registration records in 1926 and 1928. The family was living near downtown Los Angeles for the 1930 census, with Fred working at this time as a secretary in the lucrative real estate market there. Working his way up through the ranks, Frederick was listed in voter rolls in 1936, 1938, 1940 and 1942 as a secretary to the City Comptroller of Currency, which actually may refer to a higher level position. That he was in the rolls during this time may be an error, or indicate that he at least kept a residence in Los Angeles during that time. Geraldine was also listed in the same records as a housewife, at varying addresses in the downtown area. If she was playing any music outside of the house, there are no apparent indications of such activity.

The residence confusion could be caused by a known relocation for the family. Frederick accepted a position with the Roosevelt administration sometime during his presidency (there are indications it was in 1934), and he and Geraldine moved back east to Washington, DC. His position was a Schedule C Presidential Appointment, and he was credited with helping set up the FDIC for bank deposit insurance, which would explain the Comptroller of Currency title. According to Geraldine's grandson, one 1934 letter from her older brother Tom, by then a Benedictine priest in Bogalusa, Louisiana, referred to their move, hoping that Geraldine's daughters would be "provided the encouragement and opportunity, whatever the family sacrifices, to pursue their musical vocations..."

As it turns out, both girls were talented pianists, with Marie focused more on classical music. Whether their mother was one of their early music teachers is unclear. The Davis daughters went to high school in DC, and Marie attended Immaculata College for two years. This information obviously conflicts with the Los Angeles city voter records and phone books, but there is a possibility that Frederick, who invested in real estate in Southern California, maintained these addresses and some residency to facilitate his investments. Frederick's brother also lived in the area, and he may have maintained the properties and investments as well.

Frederick left the main Treasury Department branch in Washington, D.C. in the late 1930s and spent many years on the road as a Federal bank examiner based in Dallas, Texas. The couple maintained a home there for several years. They are found in Dallas in the 1940 census with their daughters, with Frederick listed as a bank examiner for the comptroller of the U.S. Treasury and Geraldine again showing no occupation. The 1950 enumeration showed them in Shreveport, Louisiana, with Frederick still a Federal Bank Examiner. Once he retired Frederick and Geraldine stayed in Shreveport, even though many of her siblings had remained in Memphis and his relatives in Los Angeles. She died as Geraldine Dobyns Davis at age 73 in 1956, and was buried at Forest Park (East) Cemetery in Shreveport. Frederick was laid to rest next to her in 1964. Their oldest daughter, Marie, died young in 1957, with the younger Geraldine surviving until 2003. The remaining family has fond memories of all of them and their musical gifts.