Marietta L. B. Stow (c.1830-1902) was born in New York and died in San Francisco. She was a politician, philanthropist, and women's rights activist. In 1869 she replaced Elizabeth Schenck as president of the San Francisco Woman Suffrage Association. However, her presidency was short-lived and she resigned later in 1869. In 1874, following the death of her second husband, Joseph W. Stow, there were issues with the probate of his estate after he signed a will on his deathbed in the absence of his wife. The executors of the will, who shared interests in Joseph W. Stow's businesses, put the estate into insolvency and Marietta lost an inheritance of $200,000. After losing the legal fight, she embarked on a lecture tour to highlight her story and advocate for probate reform, writing two books on the subject: Probate Chaff and Probate Confiscation. In 1881 she began publishing a newspaper, Woman's Herald of Industry, and founded the Women's Independent Political Party. She used the Herald to promote her political philosophy, building a platform for an unsuccessful attempt to become governor of California in 1882. In 1884 she ran for Vice-President of the United States on the National Equal Rights Party ticket, alongside presidential candidate Belva Ann Lockwood. In 1886, Stow began teaching mind cure classes in the San Francisco Bay Area, writing to Mary Baker Eddy to order copies of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Stow's association with mind cure appears to have been short-lived. In 1897 she founded the "Birdie Bell Junior Republic" in Oakland, California, and devoted most of her time to the project.

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