The Marstons, Martha Marston Granger's family

Earlier I posted (Here) about Samuel Granger. His wife was Martha Marston Granger, b. 23 Jan 1694, d. 19 or 9 Mar 1753...she lived all her life in Andover, Essex County, MA, (which I gave some history about on Samuel's post)

The old Abbot homestead, built in the 1600s and pictured here in the 19th century, was still standing in 2016.  

She was the 4th of 7 children born to her parents, Jacob Marston (1658-1727) and Elizabeth Poor Marston 1662-1700).

In 1700, the year her youngest brother was born and died in 3 days, her mother also died, though there's no specific date of her death,. That meant Martha was 6 years old, and her oldest sister was 13, with a 4 year old brother and 2 year old sister, and perhaps 9 year old twins as well.  But there were many aunts and uncles around, both in her mother's and her father's families, so I'm sure someone helped with the children's care.

Great Boar's Head, Hampton NH 1920

Though Martha's mother was born (and died) in Andover, MA, her father, Jacob Marston (1658-1727) had been born in Hampton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, which is not far north along the Atlantic from the northernmost coast of Essex County MA (see below) .  The marriage of her parents has been listed as both in Andover MA and Hampton, New Hampshire.  It's possible that they may have had 2 ceremonies, to satisfy her strict church dictates in Andover MA. Or it's possible that the records just reflect the documentation for that particular church. But remember, Massachusetts was the colony name.

Jacob Marston (1658-1727) born in...

Hampton (Rockingham County) New Hampshire  

First called the "Plantation of Winnacunnet", Hampton was one of four original New Hampshire townships chartered by the General Court of Massachusetts, which then held authority over the colony. 

In March 1635, Richard Dummer and John Spencer of the Byfield section of Newbury, came round in their shallop, coming ashore at the landing, and were much impressed by the location. Dummer, who was a member of the General Court, got that body to lay its claim to the section and plan a plantation here. The Massachusetts General Court of March 3, 1636, ordered that Dummer and Spencer be given power to "To presse men to build there a Bound house."^[3]

The town was settled in 1638 by a group of parishioners led by Oxford University graduate Reverend Stephen Bachiler, who had formerly preached at the settlement's namesake: Hampton, England.^[4] The town, incorporated in 1639, once included Seabrook, Kensington, Danville, Kingston, East Kingston, Sandown, North Hampton and Hampton Falls. On the 18th of September 1679, the Acts of Privy Council records that Stephen Bachiler's son-in-law, "Christopher Hussey of Hampton, Esquire", was appointed by King Charles II to "govern the provence of New Hampshire" as a member of the newly established council of seven men.

Source: Wikipedia:
footnotes:

1.  Sawyer, Roland D. (August 31, 1950). "The Pre-Bachiler Days of the White Men at Hampton. Some Account of the History of Earlier Hampton and its Daughter and Neighbor Towns. Hampton Union. Retrieved December 18,2009.
2. Jump up ^ Boyd, M. "Stephen Bachiler". © 2004 by Michelle Boyd, All rights reserved. Retrieved 7 November 2017.

Now I've checked the Historic Society of Hampton NH and even found a 1882 book History of Rockingham New Hampshire, here's the link.  So I looked through it to see if it told me more about the Marstons, but unfortunately it did little except say that they were early settlers there.  It focuses on lists of people mainly in the 19th century. But it's a great resource for that!

Marshes of Hampton, Rockingham County NH 1905

New Hampshire only has about 17 miles of coast along the Atlantic, and Hampton is one of the towns on that shore. John Marston moved from Hampton NH to Andover, MA, which is about 25-30 miles away by land, but it's more likely that a water journey would have been the easiest way to travel in the 17th century.

Hampton NH beach 1910