She was born to Rev. A.L. Jones, a minister and farmer, and Nola Williams Jones in West Monroe, Louisiana, as one of six children. In their home, a two-story house without electricity and plumbing, they burned wood for warmth and cooking, and used kerosene lamps for light. Martha wore dresses her mother made from flour sacks. In helping with chores, Martha churned butter, canned foods, and chopped and picked cotton. With their house near the railroad, she recalls her mother feeding men who were "riding the rails." Martha attended school at Zion Hill Baptist Church, but quit in the tenth grade to marry Eddie Reliford in March of 1945. They lived first with her mother-in-law, Ella Percy, while Eddie was employed at a box factory in Bossier City and she worked as a maid. She recalls segregation when they sat in separate places from whites in movie theaters and drank from separate water fountains. She now resides in Houston.