Martha Coston, who was born in 1826 and died in 1904, grew up with a widowed mother. By the time she was 14, Martha was “unusually tall and mature in appearance” for her age, as she said for herself (digging-history, 2014). She was a hard worker and always studied. There were things in her childhood to shape who she was as an adult. Coston affected American history in a great way and during this time, there were obstacles to overcome, as well as risks to take. After Martha’s husband, Benjamin Franklin Coston, died, she found plans for a signal flare in his notebook. Martha thought of using fireworks as the base of her design. She decided these were going to be an effective tool for “ship-to-ship and ship-to-land communication.” These
