Because Martha was 64 at the time, it was, for this viewer, initially hard to tell that she was the young Wife rather than the "older pioneer woman" (played by the much younger Matt Turney), which later in the piece made it seem that perhaps the Husband was having an affair, and that the Preacher then discovered the infidelity and bemoaned their sin to God! Kind of Graham's OKLAHOMA (the musical premiered 1943 and the film in 1955; APPALACHIAN SPRING premiered 1944 and the film in 1957).