Martha Stearns Marshall

Martha Stearns Marshall (1726–1771) was a Separate Baptist preacher in the Southern United States. She spread the gospel alongside her husband, Daniel Marshall (1706–84), who is generally regarded as the first great Baptist leader in the state of Georgia. Her husband was once jailed in Virginia for refusing to stop preaching the gospel. Although she was three months pregnant at the time, she exhorted those around that it was wrong to forbid a man to preach the Biblical truth of baptism. Her words convicted a young man named Cartledge and he became a preacher; she also converted the arresting constable and magistrate. She often stood alongside her brother Shubal Stearns and spoke at Baptist meetings. Martha also assisted her husband Daniel in his churches. She gave birth to six sons and two daughters.²