Martha Jane (b. ca. 1830), of Marshall County, Alabama, was married to William B. Gilliland (b. ca. 1825), who served in Co. E, 22^nd Alabama Infantry and was killed at the Battle of Chickmauga on September 20, 1863.  Most of the letters in her collection were written by her husband to her. At the time of the 1860 Census the Gillilands were living on their small farm with their four children, Sarah J. (14), Nancy J. (12), John M. (10), and James M. (1).