Martha, known as Mat, was the tenth of James H. & Caroline (Harrison) Bell's 12 children.

She married Simeon Richards in Otterville, Cooper Co, MO on Nov. 19, 1871. Their children were Herod Lee, born April 1873; Riley Edward, March 18, 1878; Martha Holland, May 20, 1880; Artie Messie, October 2, 1882; Hiley Jane, December 7, 1884; and Epsey Howlett, February 25, 1893.
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Martha, perhaps the most attractive of her six sisters, was born in Cove Creek Township, Washington Co, AR, on Tuesday, April 16, 1850. She had six brothers.

She grew up learning to help with the household chores and with various work on the farm. She attended a subscription school with her siblings and received the basic instructions of education, as was common in those days. Martha was often described as spirited, strong willed, and adventurous. She was a favorite among her siblings, and years later, some named their children Martha Ellen in her honor.

She was 14 years old when her family returned to Cooper Co, MO, where her father bought a farm near Clifton City. When they got to Clifton City, there was plundering and harassment by raiders instead of the tranquil life for which they had hoped.

Martha would become so angry at the bushwhackers that she would lose all regard for her own safety. She would grab a broom, or whatever she could find, and start swinging away. One day when they showed up, she picked up a walking stick, ran outside, and started hitting men and horses. One horse she hit reared up and threw its rider to the ground. He was wearing a hood, but when he hit the ground it came off. It was a young man who had courted her. Martha was furious, kept beating him with the stick, and told him to never come back. Later, he did come back and begged her to marry him, but she ran him off again. She let him that she would never marry anyone who hurt people the way bushwhackers did.

Martha met Simeon Richards, who lived nearby with his family. His parents, Calvin and Jane Richards, had moved to Cooper County from Indiana. In 1870, he worked for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The railroad had been completed from St. Louis to Otterville in 1860, where a terminal had been built in the thriving community. The terminal was soon moved to Sedalia where free land was available for repair and maintenance shops.

Martha and Simeon were married on November 19, 1871, by Reverend John H. Ross. She was 20 years old, and Simeon, 27. Their first child, Herod Lee, was born in April 1873, near Clifton City. Some time later, they moved to Illinois. On March 2, 1876, Martha's parents included the following note in a letter to her brother, Malichi: "Simeon Richard and Martha haz come back from Ilenoiz and iz going to make a crop on my land."

They moved to Brownstown, Jackson County, Indiana, where their second son, Riley Edward, was born on March 18, 1878. A daughter, named Martha Holland, was born May 20, 1880, in Ohio Township, Indiana.

They moved back to Clifton City near Martha's parents, and on October 2, 1882, Martha gave birth to a daughter named Artie Messie.

In the spring of 1884, her father's health was steadily deteriorating. Her father took his last breath on June 3, 1884, at 5:00 a.m. He was eight-one years old.

Martha was three months pregnant when her father died. She gave birth to her fifth child, Hiley Jane, on December 7, 1884. Almost nine years later, Martha gave birth to their son, Epsey Howlett, on February 25, 1893.

Martha and Simeon moved to White Township, Benton County, Missouri, where they bought a farm about thirty miles south of Sedalia.

Simeon began having health problems around 1915. He died at home on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m., August 4, 1917.

Martha became seriously ill about six months before Simeon died. On October 1, 1917, she was diagnosed with cancer of the stomach, the same disease that had taken her husband's life. Her condition worsened, and the doctor was called to her home on Christmas Eve, three weeks before her death. She died at home on Monday, January 14, 1918, at 7:25 a.m. from "Carcinoma of Stomach."