This is largely due to her work being centered around traditional portraiture during a time when modernism was becoming the trend in America but also because of a lack of drive and a mix of struggles in her personal life.

[1] Martha was also a direct descendant of Hans Herr, the first ordained Mennonite bishop to emigrate to the American colonies in 1710.

[2] Before marrying Martha in 1867, John Peart had fought during the Civil War for the Union Army, serving as sergeant major in the 195th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.

[3] After the war, he went into the lumber business in Columbia, which started to boom around 1876-77 and caused the family to move to Philadelphia where they lived on Logan Square at 1901 Vine Street.

During her travels, she made dozens of small paintings on "academy boards," which were an economical and lightweight alternative to traditional canvases.

[12] However, after requesting to return for a second period of study, she was rejected via letter, as they believed she was already sufficiently educated and would not benefit from more training.

In 1898, her painting Once Upon a Time won the Mary Smith Prize, which was considered to be the highest honor that the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts awarded to a female artist in residence.

[19] In addition to being an artist, Peart also navigated the Philadelphia art scene through professional organizations and committee work.

[22] However, on January 25, 1906, John Peart died suddenly at the age of 66 after suffering from long bouts of illnesses in the years leading up to his death.

[23] On October 15, 1914, Peart married Christian Brinton, an art critic who has been credited with introducing the work of a wide variety of artists.

[24] During the remainder of the 1920s and into the 1930s, Peart and her mother split their time between Washington Boro and Atlantic City, occasionally traveling to other states.

Martha Peart died at the age of 97 on December 8, 1940, while residing at the Turks Head Hotel in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

[25] After her mother's death, Peart permanently moved to Washington Boro in 1941, living in a house that had no electricity, water, or even a bathroom.

Nonetheless, her estate was valued at about $565,000,[31][d] and also included all of her paintings which remains in the permanent collection at the College's Phillips Museum of Art.

The College also inherited the Herr-Peart Cemetery in Washington Boro, just 10 miles from the college, which they have been maintaining since 1963 as part of an agreement tied to the cash donation that underwrites scholarships for students who are residents of Pennsylvania and, preferably, Lancaster County, known as the John Peart Foundation.

[32] Carol Faill, the Special Collections Curator at Franklin & Marshall College, has organized several exhibitions of Peart's work, including a duel exhibition featuring paintings by Peart and Jacob Eichholtz at Franklin and Marshall College (April 1–26, 1966).

She has also organized solo exhibitions at the Brandywine River Museum (September 11-November 21, 1982), the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts' Peale House Galleries (January 9-February 2, 1986), the Governor's Mansion in Harrisburg, and CIGNA Galleries in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (both exhibitions were in the early 1980s).