Martha Marguerite Bullock (Eccles, September 17, 1849 – March 10, 1939) was an American pioneer.[1]
Martha Marguerite Bullock was born on September 17, 1849 in Pennyslvania to James C Eccles and Margaret Claffey. Her parents moved from Pennyslavania to Ohio, and the settled down in Battle Creek, Michigan. Martha grew up in Battle Creek and later taught there as a teacher.[2] Martha also met her husband Seth Bullock in Battle Creek. The two were childhood sweethearts and eventually got married in 1874, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Seth Bullock was one of the leading citizens in early Deadwood, South Dakota. [3] [4] [5] [6]
Martha Bullock and daughter Margaret were sent to live with her parents in Michigan in 1876 when Seth Bullock first left for Deadwood, then a wild lawless frontier town and no place for a family. After the town had become more orderly, largely as a result of the efforts of Bullock himself as sheriff, they joined her husband in Deadwood. She managed their household and became a leading member of local society. They subsequently had another daughter, Florence, and a son, Stanley.
Martha Bullock appeared as a supporting character in the HBO television series Deadwood and , where she was portrayed by Anna Gunn.[7] Several creative liberties were taken with the facts surrounding the real Martha Bullock for the show's character. Unlike her character in the TV series, she was not originally the widow of Bullock's brother, but is reported to have been his childhood sweetheart;[8] and similarly, rather than having a son by Bullock's brother, she and Bullock actually had a daughter, Margaret, at the time of Bullock's departure for Deadwood.