Born in September, 1849 in Ohio to James and Margaret Eccles, Martha's full name was Marguerite. One of six children, the family moved often from Ohio to Pennsylvania, Canada, and Michigan.

Martha grew up to be a school teacher in Tecumseh, Michigan and when she met Seth Bullock there, the two immediately fell for each other. In 1874, the two married in Salt Lake City, Utah. The young bride returned to Helena, Montana with her husband, who had been elected the sheriff of Lewis and Clark County the year before. In addition to "playing” lawman, Seth was also working as an auctioneer and entrepreneur, entering into a hardware business with Sol Star. 

In 1876, the couple had their first child, a daughter they named Margaret but usually called "Madge.” That same year, Seth and his partner, Sol, began to see irresistible opportunities in the booming mine camp of Deadwood in Dakota Territory.  Having made the decision to move their business, Bullock, sent Martha and their infant daughter back to stay with her parents in Michigan, knowing that the lawless Deadwood was no place for a family.

Wasting no time, Martha almost immediately became a pillar of the community., working enlighten and civilize the rowdy frontier mining camp.

If the couple didn’t already have their hands full enough with their own three children, in May, 1881 they took in Seth's seven year-old nephew, Douglas Kislingbury. The boy’s father, Lieutenant Frederick F. Kislingbury had married Seth's sister Agnes in 1867 and the two became the parents to Douglas about 1874.

Unfortunately, Agnes died in 1878, after which Mr. Kislingbury then married another of Seth's sister the next year. She too also died. In 1881, when Lieutenant Kislingbury was sent on an expedition to the Greeley Polar Seas, Douglas was sent to live with Seth and Martha. However, Kislingbury would not survive the expedition for which he was second in command.  In 1885, Seth returned young Douglas to family members in New York. 

In the meantime, the Martha Bullock helped to found the Round Table Club, a ladies’ literary group, for which she served as president. In 1895, the Round Table Club founded the Deadwood Public Library. Today the club is the oldest surviving cultural club in the region. In addition to the Round Table Club, Martha was very active in church activities, community events, and numerous other cultural activities in her lifetime.

Seth Bullock died of cancer in September, 1919 at his ranch in Belle Fourche. Martha would continue to live another 20 years until she died in March, 1939. Both are buried at the Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood.

© Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated November, 2011.