Martha Gilbert Gould was born July 24th, 1803 in Charlemont, Massachusetts, the oldest daughter of Nathan Gould and Esther Alden. She was named for her paternal grandmother Martha Perkins Gilbert (Gould) who had just passed away January 4th, 1803.
Martha's mother Esther Alden was a lineal descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins of the Mayflower. Her mother Esther Alden born in 1774 was a daughter of Barnabas Alden born 1732, a son of Daniel Alden born 1691, a son of Joseph Alden born 1667, son of Joseph Alden born 1626, who was a son of John Alden and Priscilla.
When Martha was a young girl, in 1816, the family left Massachusetts to settle in French Creek, Lewis Co, VA (in what is now Upshur Co, WV) where members of her family had founded the French Creek Presbyterian Church. Here she married Cyrus Rice on January 27th, 1824. They had children: Elizabeth Patterson born 14 December 1824, Roana Ruth born 25 February 1826, Austin Maxwell born 19 November 1827, and Margaret born 29 Oct 1829. About this time, Martha and her husband Cyrus moved to Edwards County, Illinois with several other "Yankee" families. Many of them were forced to move due to defective land titles in Virginia. They settled about a mile southeast of the present town of Bone Gap. They had more children: Lavinia born 22 November 1831, Martha born 12 September 1833 who died as an infant, Quartus Nims born 10 March 1835, Nathan Gilbert born 24 January 1837, Oren Shurtleff born 21 August 1838, Esther born 11 January 1840, Cyrus M. born 3 January 1842, Martha M. born 12 February 1844, and Julia Curtis born 31 December 1846.
Martha and Cyrus were among the founding members of the new Shiloh Presbyterian Church in May of 1833. In 1840, a vote was taken, and the church was changed from Presbyterian to the Congregational form of government. The name was changed to Trinity Congregational Church. The actual house of worship was erected in 1844. This was located in the far southeast corner of Section 8 just southeast of what is now the town of Bone Gap. Cyrus Rice was elected Clerk of the church. In 1865, Martha's brother, the Deacon Joel Gould and several other families left the area to settle in Minnesota. then in 1868, nearly the whole rest of the congregation removed to Diamond Springs in Morris County, KS where they formed a new church.
This left Cyrus and Martha and just ten other members at the Trinity Church. In November of 1876, the roof fell in on the church building rendering it unsafe, so many of these members began to worship with the Methodist congregation in Bone Gap.
Four of Cyrus and Martha's sons had fought in the Civil War, and their son Quartus died while in the service in Lagrange, Tennessee. Son Oren had been wounded at the battle of Shiloh.
As Cyrus was getting on in years, his son Oren gradually took over the farm. Cyrus died in October of 1882 at the age of 84. Martha died April 15th, 1885. They were buried side-by-side at the cemetery behind the old church where others of the family had previously been laid to rest.