Martha was the daughter of Richard Bolton and Lucy Boyd, but her mother married Joseph Parker, who raised Martha as his own along with Martha's step siblings so Martha was more commonly known as Martha Parker Wilcox. Martha and her siblings were born in Mountain, Dundas, Ontario, Canada, also where she married Samuel Allen Wilcox 17 January 1838. On 14 September 1839 the young couple were baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Both their sets of parents joined soon after and then all of the family moved to Nauvoo to be closer to the other saints. After the mobs drove the saints from Nauvoo, the family spent the next decade in Iowa before moving to Utah when news of the beginning of the Civil War reached them. They settled in Cedar Fort and finished raising their children there.

The couple had twelve children:
1. Malinda Wilcox Pugh Cook b. 5 December 1838 in Mountain, Dundas, Ontario, Canada d. 6 July 1888 in St. Charles, Bear Lake, Idaho, United States
2. Ludy Wilcox (stillborn) 1840 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States
3. Sarah Jane Wilcox Allred Austin b. 24 October 1841 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States d. 11 March 1931 in New York City, New York, New York, United States.
4. John Dingman Wilcox b. 23 April 1843 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States d. 19 June 1922 in Archer, Madison, Idaho, United States
5. Asenath Viola Wilcox Passey b. 1 April 1845 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, United States d. 27 August 1927 in Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona, Unitedd States
6. Adam Wilcox b. 11 February 1847 in Bonapart, Van Buren, Iowa, United States d. 17 January 1917 in Wardboro, Bear Lake, Idaho, United States
7. Samual Allen Wilcox b. 9 January 1850 in Hamburg, Fremont, Iowa, United States d. 28 October 1908 in Deseret, Tehama, California, United States
8. Joseph Wilcox b. 30 November 1851 in Hamburg, Fremont, Iowa, United States d. 22 October 1936 in Pocatello, Bannock, Idaho, United States
9. Silas McCaslin Wilcox b. 10 January 1854 in Hamburg, Fremont, Iowa, United States d. 21 June 1917 in Montpelier, Bear Lake, Idaho, United States
10. Phebe Roseltha Wilcox Berrey b. 21 March 1857 in Hamburg, Fremont, Iowa, United States d. 26 May 1925 in Montpelier, Bear Lake, Idaho, United States
11. Boyd Extine Wilcox b. 2 September 1859 in Hamburg, Fremont, Iowa, United States d. 3 November 1894-5 in Shelley, Bingham, Idaho, United States
12. David Almearn Wilcox b. 11 October 1862 in Cedar Fort, Utah, Utah, United States d. 7 June 1946 in Archer, Madison, Idaho, United States

Martha was a faithful and courageous pioneer woman who was a wonderful example for her many descendants. She left strong testimonies for us to read and ponder and began the recording of her family history and exhorted her descendants to continue to preserve our family record to share with each other.

The following account of her death is found in the book Born of a Noble Heritage, compiled and edited by LaVerne Liljenquist Hacking (1990) Rexburg, Idaho, pages 77 (image 82), 79 (image 84)

Phebe came to Logan and Cedar Fort to visit. When she returned, her mother went with her. Martha lived the last ten years of her life in Phebe's home in Wardboro, Bear Lake, Idaho and died there on her 92nd birthday, January 23, 1912.

Right up to the end of her life, Martha remained active, alert, and anxiously engaged in good works. She bore frequent and powerful testimony to the truthfulness of the Gospel and was constantly giving comfort or urging righteous living.
. . . .
As Martha sensed, her life was soon to end. Later that year she became sick with pneumonia. She was not expected to survive the sickness and her children had been called to her bedside. Sarah Jane stood close by her. As Martha got better, she kept asking when her birthday would be. Phebe and Sarah Jane wondered why she kept asking about it. In Martha's patriarchal blessing it promised that she would live as long as she wanted to. The girls wondered if she were planning on passing away on her birthday. Martha had been quite deaf but she received her second hearing and she said, "Girls, you don't need to whisper, I can hear you." - She also received her second sight and could read without her glasses.

Finally the morning of her birthday arrived. When Phebe went into her room she said, "Well, Mather, I see you have your eyes on me this rooming." "Yes, I have." "Well, what do you want?" She said, "I want you girls to give me a bath." Phebe said, "All right, I'll get the wash basin." She said, "No, I want to get in the bathtub." She insisted on being made as neat as a pin. Then she got back into bed. She said she wanted all of her grandchildren to come in. The grandchildren came and she gave each a blessing. Then she read her verse in the Bible. She turned her face to the wall and went to sleep. She went off so easily they hardly knew when she breathed her last.

Many were the tributes paid this remarkable woman. She had made an impression for good on all with whom she came in contact, strengthening their testimonies and aiding them in living the gospel. She died as she lived, firm in the faith she did her best.


Siblings:
Daughter of Richard Bolton and Lucy Boyd
Martha Bolton Parker Wilcox (1820 - 1912)

Daughters of Joseph Parker and Lucy Boyd Parker
Lucy Parker (1832 - 1845)
Asenath Parker Spicer (1834 - 1915)