Martha E. Walling (b. Griswold) (1836-1902) was born in New York and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By 1860 she was living in Walton, New York, where she worked as a teacher. In 1861 she married William H. Walling. In the American Civil War he worked in a Union hospital, earning a congressional medal of honor for his service. After the war he became a pharmacist and then a medical doctor. Sometime before 1867 the Wallings moved to Philadelphia. While there they became acquainted with Mary Baker Eddy's student M. Anna Osgood. Upon Osgood's recommendation, Walling and her husband both took Eddy's Primary class at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College in May 1887 and subsequently joined the Christian Scientist Association. Walling's husband later withdrew from the Association on the grounds that he felt his continued medical studies would be inconsistent with the teachings of Christian Science, but he indicated that Walling intended to continue practicing Christian Science.

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