Martha A. Bottomly was born on May 5, 1844, in Leicester, Massachusetts, to Samuel and Abigail Bottomly. Her father was a wool sorter who owned $2,500 of real estate by 1850. She grew up and attended school in Leicester, and she married John Graham on December 20, 1866. Their daughter Alfie was born around 1868. They lived in Leicester, and her husband worked as a merchant. By 1870, they owned $1,000 of personal property. Her husband died in 1885, and by 1900, she was living in Marlborough, Massachusetts. She died there on December 27, 1916.