When Martha Jane Tilson was born on 13 August 1863, in Clearbranch, Unicoi, Tennessee, United States, her father, John A Tilson, was 39 and her mother, Rebecca Bayles, was 35. She married William Allison Edwards on 3 May 1888. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 1 daughter. She lived in Coffee Ridge, Unicoi, Tennessee, United States in 1880 and Civil District 8, Unicoi, Tennessee, United States for about 40 years. She died on 27 June 1969, in Clearbranch, Unicoi, Tennessee, United States, at the age of 105, and was buried in Clear Branch Cemetery, Union, Tennessee, United States.