When Mariah Jane Adkins was born on 21 May 1860, in Virginia, United States, her father, James Peter Adkins, was 35 and her mother, Rhoda J Belsher, was 28. She married John Brown Tolbert on 22 October 1883, in Bland, Virginia, United States. They were the parents of at least 8 sons and 1 daughter. She lived in Rocky Gap Magisterial District, Bland, Virginia, United States in 1940. She died on 1 April 1950, in Rocky Gap, Bland, Virginia, United States, at the age of 89.