| Martha Capps Oliver | |
| Birth Name: | Martha W. Capps |
| Birth Date: | August 27, 1845 |
| Birth Place: | Jacksonville, Illinois, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Jacksonville, Illinois |
| Resting Place: | Diamond Grove Cemetery, Jacksonville, Illinois |
| Occupation: | Poet, hymwriter |
| Language: | English |
| Alma Mater: | Illinois Female College |
| Spouse: | William Archibald Oliver |
Martha Capps Oliver (Capps; pen name, Martha C. Oliver; August 27, 1845 – August 15, 1917) was an American poet and hymnwriter. She was the author of A Year of Sacred Song (1895), A Year's Good Wishes (1895), Round the Year with the Poets (1900), The Far West, Easter Legend, and Christmas Legend, as well as several hundred Easter and Christmas booklets and poems, numerous songs, hymns, anthems, and cantatas.[1] Oliver died in 1917.
Martha W. Capps was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, on August 27, 1845. Her father, Joseph Capps (1811-1872), was the son of a Kentucky slave-owner, but was himself an opponent of slavery, and therefore moved to Illinois as slavery was prohibited there. In Illinois, he married Sarah Ann Higgins Reid (1819-1892). Oliver had three older siblings, Stephen, Emma and William, as well as three younger ones, Joseph, Charles, and Effie.[2]
Oliver was educated in the Illinois Female College, where she took high rank in her studies, early showing a talent for composition. From her father, she inherited an aptitude for versification and a temperament that was quick to receive impressions.
In Morgan, Illinois, on December 28, 1865, she married William Archibald Oliver (1841-1904).
Some of her verses soon found their way into print. They met with such appreciation that she finally began to write for publication. A number of her poems were used in England for illustrated booklets. As a writer, she was quite as kindly received there as in America. In collaboration with Ida Scott Taylor McKinney, she published several juvenile books in verse, entitled The Story of Columbus, In Slavery Days, and The Far West. She also gave some attention to sacred songs and hymn writing.
Oliver was an active church member. She died August 15, 1917, in Jacksonville, Illinois and was buried at Diamond Grove Cemetery in that city.