Martha Ellen Young Truman

Martha Ellen Young Truman was born on November 25, 1852, on Parrish Place farm near Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri. Her parents were Solomon Young, a farmer and operator of Conestoga wagon trains along the Overland Trail, and Harriet Louisa Gregg. Martha was one of nine children in her family and was raised as a Baptist.

During the American Civil War, the Young family were Southern sympathizers, with several relatives serving in the Confederate States Army. In 1861, Union-supporting Jayhawkers confiscated animals and silver from her family’s farm, an event Martha recounted from her childhood. In 1863, the family was compelled to evacuate their farm due to General Order 11, relocating to Platte County, Missouri, until after the war's conclusion. The family's Civil War experiences contributed to Martha’s longstanding resentment of the Union side.

Martha Ellen Young attended the Baptist College for Women in Lexington, Missouri. She married John Anderson Truman on December 28, 1881, in Grandview, Missouri. The couple initially settled in Lamar, Missouri, before moving to Independence, Missouri.

The Trumans had four children; their first son died shortly after birth. Their second son, Harry S. Truman, was born on May 8, 1884. He was named after Martha's brother, Harrison "Harry" Young, who was born in 1846 and died in 1916. The "S" in Harry S. Truman's name does not stand for a middle name. The couple's other children included John Vivian Truman, born on April 25, 1886, who later became a district director of the Federal Housing Administration in western Missouri, and Mary Jane Truman, born on August 12, 1889, a pianist and schoolteacher. All three surviving children worked on the family farm in Grandview.

Following the death of her husband in 1914, Martha took charge of the family farm, managing it with the help of her children and hired laborers until her advancing age and health issues made continued farm work untenable in the 1930s. During her son's vice-presidential campaign in 1944, Martha expressed that Harry Truman had not sought the vice presidency and that she preferred he had remained in the Senate.

In April 1945, after the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman was sworn in as the President of the United States. Martha Truman visited Washington, D.C., shortly after her son's inauguration, for Mother's Day, accompanied by her daughter May. During the visit, she remarked, "Oh fiddlesticks! If I'd known that, I wouldn't have come," a comment that received widespread attention for its straightforwardness.

Martha Ellen Young Truman died on July 26, 1947, at the age of 94. Her lifespan encompassed her childhood during the Civil War, her adult years managing the farm, and her proximity to and observation of her son's political career, including his presidency.