Curtis and Lucy Clark Hodges were married on April 10, 1834, born to them was a daughter who they named Marietta. Marietta was one of the younger children in their large family of nine kids. When war erupted between the Saints and other Missouri settlers, Marietta’s father and two of her older brothers helped defend the Saints in the Battle of Crooked River. Brother Hodges was wounded in the side but lived. Marietta was only four and a half during this time. However, the wounding of her father and the death of Apostle Patten, it made a sad and melancholy impression upon her bright, young mind. On October 27, 1838, Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs issued an order which stated, “The Mormons must be exterminated or driven from the state.”
The Hodges family fled along with thousands of other Saints and settled in Nauvoo. Marietta attended church services and Sunday school classes. She then was soon after baptized. She knew and befriended the Prophet, who endeared himself to all the children. She and the Prophet’s son, Joseph Smith III, were friends. Many years later Joseph III recalled, “I had had a childhood friendship with the daughter Marietta [Hodges] and others of the family”. Marietta was ten when Joseph and Hyrum were killed. Her father took her to the Mansion House to view their bodies. Marietta later described her experience that day in her article entitled, “A Picture from Memory’s Wall." Three of Marietta’s adult brothers were dead by July of 1845. A fourth had disappeared while in the custody of the Nauvoo police. It was feared that he had been killed. Rumors and warnings were rampant that every member of the Hodges family was in danger of being assassinated.
The threat of assassination came because the Hodges were going to expose Brigham Young’s involvement with a gang of robbers operating outside of Nauvoo. Across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo in Lee County, Iowa, three robbers forced their way into the home of John Miller, a Mennonite minister. He, his wife, two daughters, and their husbands were sleeping inside. Iowa authorities allegedly tracked the robbers to the Mississippi River and supposedly picked up the tracks again in Nauvoo. Feelings between the Saints and the residents in surrounding areas had escalated. Anger was felt due to charges that a band of robbers was operating out of Nauvoo under Brigham Young’s direction. The blame for the murders in Iowa was quickly placed on two of Marietta’s brothers, William who was twenty and Stephen who was eighteen.
Nauvoo law officials quickly surrendered the two brothers to the Iowa officers. They were then taken to Iowa. William and Stephen were tried and sentenced to be hung. After the trial, their brother, Irvine, went to Nauvoo to ask Brigham Young to testify. In that night as he neared Brigham’s home, which was heavily guarded by policemen, he was clubbed and stabbed to death. Marietta’s brother, Amos, was arrested and placed in the Nauvoo jail, from which he disappeared. It was reported that before going to their hanging in Burlington, Iowa, Stephen and William were going to make statements. Statements which would expose Brigham’s connection with the gang of robbers. Between eight and ten thousand people gathered to hear their statements, but no such statements were made.
Sixty-five years later, a Mrs. Mary Hines made a deposition that her husband, John P. Hines, had made a confession to her before his death. He, George Martin and one other man had killed John Miller along with his son-in-law. He also stated that the Hodges brothers were not involved. The family moved away from Nauvoo and took up residency in Pennsylvania. Another brother managed to reach their location, but he was ill and died shortly. Soon Father Hodges, “broken and bowed with sorrow,” also died. He was still testifying to his lonely, outcast family that the gospel was true. Marietta was placed in a school for girls. She graduated from there and later became an assistant teacher. She joined the Methodist Church, became a student at Oxford College for Women and graduated from there in 1859.
When another sister, Elizabeth Lyons, died in San Antonio, Texas, she left her two daughters. Marietta went to Texas to care for them and worked as the principal of the San Antonio Female College. In 1860 she married Robert Faulconer, a Confederate soldier, who died in 1862 leaving her with a baby girl named Lucy. Her mother’s health was failing quickly. Mother Lucy was living with the Banta family. Marietta and her daughter journeyed to their home. Apon arriving, she found that her family was now a part of the Reorganized Church. Marietta was hurt, shocked and indignant because she could not imagine being a part of the Church, which had caused her family so much sorrow. Her childhood friend, Joseph Smith III, who was now the Prophet, called at the Banta home and entered the discussions. They told her that they had received a testimony of the truthfulness of the Church. That if she would move out in faith, she, too, would receive a testimony that the Reorganized Church was God’s true Church. The same as in the early days.
Joseph Smith III asserted:
“Marietta, though at first a firm Methodist, became convinced of the truth of the Latter-Day message, was baptized, and became one of its staunchest defenders. At her confirmation she received a marked administration of the Spirit. Marietta Helped Prepare the Inspired Version Manuscript.” (Saints’ Herald, July 30, 1935, p. 976)
After receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, Marietta made many contributions to the Church. One of the greatest was helping prepare the manuscript of the Inspired Version of the Holy Scriptures for its first printing. Marietta was thirty-three years old when she helped copy the manuscript. It was the first of many manuscripts which she would prepare for the Church. She became a prolific writer and editor who consecrated her talents to the Lord and His Church. On November 7, 1869, she married Samuel Walker of Austin, Nevada. He was a student, a philosopher, writer, and rancher. They moved to Nevada, where daughters Francis and Lois were born. In 1870 they moved to Iowa to participate in the Order of Enoch, which was organized to build a Church community of righteousness.
Marietta is known as the "Mother of Graceland" because she looked from her farm home to a hill and envisioned a college upon it. She worked for the fulfillment of that dream until a college was established upon the hill and given the name of “Graceland.” She envisioned an administration building for the college. She wrote scriptural lessons for children and adults and encouraged the publishing of Sunday school quarterlies. She also wrote leaflets for the women of the Church and missionary tracts. She donated twenty-five acres of land upon which it now stands. Marietta believed very young children should be taught the gospel, so she developed Zion’s Hope for the little ones. She founded, financed and edited Autumn Leaves for the young people of the Church. She founded the Children’s Home in Lamoni for orphans and children whose parents could not care for them. Marietta wrote many articles for Church publications, using both her own name and her pen name, “Frances.” Marietta originated the idea of the Christmas offering to be used for missionary work. Marietta passed away on April 12 of 1930 at the age of ninety-six. She is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery beside her husband, who died in 1885.