 Bachman was the only woman of the three principal assistants that Audubon employed at the time.Maria Martin Bachman was born July 6, 1796 in Charleston, South Carolina just two and half weeks after the “Great Fire of 1796” that destroyed many of the buildings and houses in the center of the city.Martin was the youngest of the four surviving children (Eliza, Harriet, and Jane) born to Jacob and Rebecca Martin, well-to-do mantua makers that owned two houses with household slaves.