Martha was a daughter of Moses R. and Eliza (Beecher) Ballard. Her Grandfather, Moses Ballard, was born in England and came to the United States when he was about 18yrs. old. He served in a Massachusetts regiment of Minute Men throughout the entire Revolutionary war and was in camp at Valley Forge with Washington, or so is the family story. His son, Martha's father, Moses R. Ballard, removed from Massachusetts to New York state after marrying Eliza Beecher, the second cousin of Henry Ward Beecher. In 1842 they moved to Will County, Illinois, where he practiced his medicine and his sons cultivated the farm. In 1857 they came to Story county, IA and purchased land in Howard township, where he farmed and practiced medicine until his death.
There were ten children in the Ballard family:
1. Russell W., deceased;
2. Hudson L., now living in Missouri at the age of 82yrs;
3. Amos B., who enlisted from Minnesota as a soldier of the Civil war and is now deceased;
4. Devillo P., who served as captain of Co. A, 23rd Iowa Infantry, and is now living in Wisconsin;
4. Mary C., wed George Smith and is now deceased ;
5. Samuel A., lived with the Fergusons for decades, now deceased;
6. Volney P., deceased;
7. Henry D., who served in Co. A, 23rd Iowa Infantry, in the Civil war and is now living at Lincoln, NE;
8. Sarah E., wed H. H. Boyes;
9. Martha J., now Mrs. Hiram F. Ferguson ;
10. Ruth S., wed O. M. Robbins, a farmer of Kansas.

On March 15, 1866, Martha married Hiram Fitch Ferguson.
They had three children, all born in Story County, IA:
1. Jason D. who wed Angie Elder and has 4 children, farmed in South Dakota
2. Addie R., wed E. W. Kimble, has 3 children, in the 1940s in Alameda County, CA.
3. Mabel Celeste, b. 12 Sept. 1878, wed Delbert Leroy Sowers in 1898, has 5 children, of Oakland, CA.

[One source in the public domain: "History of Story County, Iowa" by W. O. Payne, Published 1911, pages 390-394]