Daughter of James Riste and Mary Richards

Married George Deliverance Wilson, 21 Sep 1856, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

Children - Mary Johnson Wilson, George Hyrum Wilson, Martha Ann Wilson, James William Wilson, Joseph Deliverance Wilson, Jesse Stephen Wilson, Levinah Emaline Wilson, David Israel Wilson, John Thomas Wilson, Sarah Ann Wilson, Ellen Almira Wilson

History - Mary Ann, Martha's mother, was married at the age of 23 on February 5, 1822, to James Riste, who was a brick layer. Mary's father was very much opposed to her marriage to James on account of his financial setting. They were blessed with five children: James Jr, Maria, Hyrum, Levinah, and Martha Ann. James Jr. died when he was 21 years old before they came to Utah.

When the Mormon missionaries went to England, Mary and her husband and two daughters whose names were Levinah and Martha Ann, joined the church. Later their brother Hyrum joined the church but never came to America. The oldest sister (Maria or Mayra), never did join the Church due to
the opposition of her husband who was very bitter and opposed to the Mormons. He didn't even allow her to go to her mother's home and threatened to kill her if she ever made contact with her family or missionaries.

Mary's father, John Richards and brother Hyrum, tried to get Mary and James to forsake their religion and stay in their native land. Mary's husband James came on to America in 1853, in the Appleton M. Harmon Company, to supply money to bring the family. During the two years that he worked in America, his wife and two daughters worked to support themselves, regardless of the fact that Mary's father and brother were very wealthy men. It was during those two years that Mary's father, John Richards, died.

Mary and her two daughters, Levinah and Martha Ann, sailed for America on the ship Juventa. While enroute the sea was very rough. They had trouble with the sharks, one following their ship for three days, giving them great concern. The captain, an aged gray haired man, having been a captain for forty-two years and being at sea since a child of seven, said it was the worst storm he had ever seen. He acknowledged that if it hadn't been for the Mormons aboard, and their prayers, the ship would have surely gone down.

During this bad storm Martha Ann lost her grip and fell, striking her back on a large pole. She spent the rest of her voyage strapped to her bed. She never fully recovered from this fall.

Martha Ann Riste had a beautiful lyric soprano voice, and was in the Royal Choir which sang for Queen Victoria, before she came to the United States, when she was 16 years old. She sang a solo for Queen Victoria at that time, and was wearing a locket, which she gave to her daughter Levinah Emmaline. She gave it to her daughter Ruth Allen Miles, as Ruth also had a beautiful soprano voice. Ruth gave it to her daughter Paralee Miles Eckman on her 18th birthday, as Paralee was an accomplished pianist.

Paralee gave it to her daughter Pamela Eckman Nicholson, as she had sung in several choirs, and sung solos. The necklace, which is a locket, rectangular in shape, with a small place inside in which a picture could be inserted, and has a turquoise stone on the chain holder, is traditionally given to a daughter who has done the most in music, by her mother. Names of the recipients are engraved on the back of the locket.

Martha Ann Riste Wilson died the 8th of October 1915 at Hillsdale, Utah.

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, Milo Andrus Company (1855)

Utah Death Certificate