Born around 1725, Martha Lampley was the daughter of Nathaniel Lampley, Jr. and Abigail Paxson, Episcopalians from Philadelphia. She was already the widow of James Steel Thomson when she married Samson Levy in 1752. Samson was the son of Moses Raphael Levy and his second wife, Grace Mears Levy, and half-brother of Bilhah Abigail Levy Franks. Samson was a merchant and signed the Philadelphia Non-Importation Agreement in protest of the Stamp Act.

Martha and Samson had five children who lived to adulthood, including Samson Levy, Jr. and Judge Moses Levy. Although the couple had their first son, Nathan, circumcised in New York by Jacob Moses, the rest of their children were raised Episcopalian, attending Saint Peter’s Church in Philadelphia. They were members of the Dancing Assembly, Philadelphia society’s preeminent club. Despite it all, Samson Levy was still referred to as a Jew.