John Marston [AKA John Mastin]
This paper will endeavor to prove the correct spelling of John’s surname, establish his previous residence and roots in Virginia, and identify some of his descendants. The order of presentation will begin with the most recent records and work backward through time even though [as is usually the case] the records were not discovered in this exact order. For the most part these records were discovered many years ago but significant records (Fredericksburg Court records) were also found recently. While not my direct ancestor, nonetheless John Marston (Mastin) figures in to research on the Marstons of my direct lineage who lived in the same area in Kentucky. My ancestor, Thomas Marston had to be distinguished from the Thomas Marston (Mastin) named in the will of John Mastin of Franklin Co. Ky. Furthermore it was desired that a wider approach to research be followed in which family groups of cousins be studied and traced in addition to those found in the direct lineage.
Finding an original (or
facsimile) document with an ancestor’s
signature [which would show how an ancestor spelled his/her own name] is
the exception rather than the rule. Mostly we are left with transcribed records
in which a clerk may or may not have copied a record accurately. There are
other cases in which names were written as they sounded to the transcriber.
Furthermore in an earlier time there was not even an agreed-on spelling for
many words. It was not until Noah Webster published in 1806 the first American
dictionary that correct spelling was defined in America. Unlike today, spelling
was not very important to early Americans. “The chances are that James Monroe,
the fifth president of the US, knew how to spell his name. After all he did
graduate from the prestigious College of William and Mary. But history shows
the spelling of his surname was open to interpretation. Mugs used to promote
his 1820 presidential campaign are emblazoned with “ Munroe for President”. One is on display at the Smithsonian
Institution. “ [A Rose By Another Name
Would Be Roselli, Donna M. Allen, page 54, October 2003, Family Chronicle.] One
lay observer, regarding the spelling of names, stated “ those who had the names
couldn’t read or write and those who wrote the names couldn’t spell”. From the
very start of research on the surname Marston, finding the name in the records
as Mastin [and Maston etc.] has not been rare at all. It sometimes even shows
up as Martin. William B. Newman, in “Towles and Clark Families” [Tyler’s
Quarterly Magazine, Vol. 13, page 26], stated “ The family name was Marston;
but it appears of record, also, as Marsden, Marstin, and doubtless through
clerical error, Martin.” Even today sometimes the name Marston is confused with
Mastin. To date an original signature has not been found for John Marston
(Mastin) but it is believed that a preponderance of evidence will show that he
was indeed named John Marston.
The John Marston (Mastin), subject of this report, made his will in Franklin County Kentucky 30 September 1808 (Will Book 1, page 70). The will was probated 17 June 1811. [In giving records cited, the surname spelling used will be the one found in the record given.] In his will John names his wife Elizabeth and children: Elizabeth Widner, Thomas, Lucy McDowell [McDaniel], John, Mordecai, Jenny Gravit, Phoebe Shepherd, and Lewis children? John [there’s also one other John Marston (Mastin) listed that died in 1848] appears in the 1810 census of Franklin County (page 157) with one male over 45 and one female over 45 and no children. This likely indicates that the children of this couple have all died and/or have left home by 1810. Thus John and his wife are likely to be much older than 45 [if they had children until they were 45 and the youngest left home at age 20, they would be at least 65] and probably therefore born before 1745. The only children of John known to be in Kentucky with him are Lewis and Elizabeth Widner. Lewis was born about 1768 [died in 1792 in an Indian attack] Elizabeth was born 1774-1784 [1810,1820 censuses] and married in 1792 in Woodford Co., Ky. They may be the youngest children. If Elizabeth was the youngest child and married no younger than 12 then she was born 1774-1780 and her mother [if 45 when Elizabeth was born] was born 1729-1735. John would probably be of similar age or older.
John appears on the Franklin County Kentucky tax lists from the county beginning in 1795 through 1810 (Tax Books of Kentucky Counties, Franklin County, box 33 (73-0119), 1795-1815, reel 118). The occurrence of Mastin and Masten are about equal but some construed to be Masten may be failures to dot the I . In 1795 the name appears to be Marstan. Information on the lists give John as owning a small acreage on Dry Run and Elkhorn Creeks. The land which varies from 20-27 acres was entered, surveyed and patented by General Andrew Lewis. John was levy free. Franklin County was formed in 1795 from Woodford County Kentucky and in 1794 John Mastin appears on the Woodford Co. tax list with 27 acres, and as John Marstin with 27 acres in 1793. In 1792 John Marstin has 25 acres. In 1791 there are John, Elizabet, & Lewis Marstin on the Woodford list. The Woodford Co. Kentucky tax list for 1790 [still Virginia] contains the names John & Lewis Marstin. Prior to the formation of Woodford Co. , this area was located in Fayette Co. Ky. [Virginia]. In 1789 The Fayette Co. tax list also contains the names of John & Lewis Mastin. Some names in the same district were Toliver and Benjamin Craig, William Campbell, and Jessey Thrailkill. John Masten appears in 1788 in Fayette County and in 1787 John Mastin appears there also and has a white male 16-21 in his household. For his time in Ky John’s name appears as names “pronounced” Marston 25% of the time and as Masten 75% of the time. The “Marston” appears in the earlier years. There is no original signature yet found for comparison. Given that a surname is more likely to be condensed than expanded, the lack of Marstons in the area at the time in question to influence the name, and research experience on the Marston Family being found frequently as Mastin, it is believed that John is likely a Marston. My direct Marston branch didn’t arrive in the area until about 1797 and they have often been found in the records as Mastin for many years but always as Marston in original signatures. In 1793 there is a deed for 20 acres sold by Mack Macdowell to John Matin of Woodford Co. Ky. (deed book B page 253). This land was located on South Elkhorn Creek and was bounded by Thomas Little [Settle?] and George Brown [in 1810 George Widner & Elizabeth his wife of Franklin Co. Ky. sold 38 acres to George Brown]. Another Woodford deed in 1793 for 100 acres on South Elkhorn was sold by Benjamin & Mary Craig of Woodford and Mack Macdowell [McDaniel] of Fayette County to George Brown. It was witnessed by Thomas Little, William Hickman and John Mastin. In Woodford Co. in October 1791 John Mastin petitions to be discharged from the further payment of county levies (book A page 48). John and Elizabeth Mastin were early members of the Forks of Elkhorn Baptist Church [Frances Marston, wife of Thomas (from Culpeper Co. Va) joined this church in 1800] whose first pastor was William Hickman. As just outlined there is a continuous, consistent record for John Mastin (Marstin) dating from the probate of his will in Franklin County back through the county transitions of Woodford to Fayette County 4 June 1787. Where did John reside before 1787?
Almost exactly three years prior (5 June 1784) a John and Elizabeth Mastin [Virginia County Records volume I Spotsylvania County by William Crozier page 383; deed book K], his wife of Berkeley Parish, Spotsylvania County Virginia transferred as a deed of gift 100 acres in Berkeley to his son Thomas Mastin of same. Many settlers came from Spotsylvania Co. Virginia to the Franklin County Ky area. One early migration to Kentucky was known as “The Traveling Church” . This group gathered at the Upper Spotsylvania Baptist Church [four miles south of Parker’s Station] in September 1781. Perhaps several hundred pioneers in the company of a number of Baptist preachers of Spotsylvania and neighboring counties traveled to Kentucky under the leadership of Rev. Lewis Craig and Capt. William Ellis. The names of John, Thomas, and Elizabeth of Spotsylvania county match those found in the will of John Mastin of Franklin Co. Ky. but those given names are very common. In Spotsylvania county witnesses to the will of Anthony Arnold 7 April 1782 were Mordacai Mastin & Thomas Mastin [Crozier p. 43] . The addition of the unusual name, Mordecai [John Mastin of Franklin Co. Ky had a son named Mordecai] along with Thomas Mastin should make it a probability that John Mastin of Franklin Co. Ky is also John Mastin of Spotsylvania Co. Virginia. In a list of insolvents in the district of Daniel Branham [Virginia Genealogist by Dorman, 1978] for Spotsylvania County in 1787 is found “John Mastin removed” [one John Mastin has moved away from Spotsylvania Co. by 1787-this fits for John Mastin who was in 1787 a resident of Fayette (Woodford) (Franklin) County Kentucky (Virginia); the Spotsylvania tax list for 1782 gives 2 John Mastins but in 1787 there’s just 1]. For 1782 there is also Benjamin and Thomas Mastin on the list. In 1787 John & Thomas Mastin were on list A and Ben Mastin on list B. Mordecaia Mastin appeared on list A in Orange Co. In 1792 John, Ben:, Elijah, and Thomas Mastin appeared on the Spots. Tax list and in 1793 there was Ben., Elijah, John, & Thomas Mastin. 3 September 1781 [Crozier p. 361] Mack McDaniel [previously mentioned] and Lucy his wife sold 60 acres in Spots. Co. to John Mastin [bought in 1778 from George McNeil] [Lucy is believed to be the daughter of John Mastin named in his will as Lucy McDowell, which is additional support for John of Spotsylvania, Va. being John of Franklin, Ky. ]. Possibly Mack and Lucy Mastin McDaniel came to Ky with the Traveling Church as he was in Ky by 1783. In 1780 [Crozier p. 355] John and Elizabeth Mastin sell 203 acres in Spots. Co. to Anthony Arnold (witnessed by Benj. Mastin). In 1771 [Crozier p. 289] John Mastin buys 332 acres in Berkeley Parish. The deed was witnessed by Wm. Mastin and Thos. Mastin. Also in 1771 [Crozier p. 288] Wm Mastin, John Mastin, Thomas Mastin, and Benjamin Craig [see 4th paragraph] witnessed a deed of Nicholas Darnall. In 1770 John Mastin, Jr. and Elizabeth his wife sell 275 acres in St. George Parish [Crozier p. 273]. In 1761 John Collins sold 275 acres in Spots. Co. to John Mastin [Crozier p. 219]. In 1760 witnesses to a Darnall deed were Wm., Benja., and John Mastin [Crozier p. 271].
In the adjoining county of Orange in 1761 [deed book 13 p. 215] John Mastin and Elizabeth his wife of St. George Parish, Spotsylvania Co. Virginia sell to Abraham Mayfield 50 acres located in St. Thomas Parish, Orange Co. Va. [bought from William Cook in 1757]. In 1761 John Mastin is mentioned in the Spotsylvania court orders [page 243] for payment for 8 days court attendance and also in 1760 it was ordered that John Mastin with the gang under him clear the road from the Orange County line into the new road near Robert Gaines [page 165]. In 1755 [Spotsylvania Co. Va. Minutes, 1755-1765, p. 8] John Hawkins was the overseer from Bell’s Ordinary-the old German Road to the Pamunkey rolling road. His gang included Nathan Hawkins, Benjamin Mastin, & Benjamin Davis. Also John Mastin [Sr.] was appointed overseer from Corbin’s bridge over Po [river] to the fork of the road by the … along the new road to the county line. Some of his gang was Robert Gaines, Taliaferro [Toliver] Craig, William Cook, J. Collins, and John Mastin, Jr. Possibly one of the John Mastins of Spotsylvania was the John Mastin appearing in the Orange County court orders in 1751 regarding William Sisson vs John Willis. It was ordered that William Sisson pay John Mastin 231 pounds of tobacco for 6 days court attendance and coming 9 miles out of Culpeper County. On February 4 1746 [Spotsylvania Co. Virginia Order Book, 1738-1749, page 403] John Mastin, Jr. was allowed 75 pounds of tobacco for 3 days court attendance in Thomas Estes vs. Michael Lawless. Except for the recently discovered records from Fredericksburg Circuit Court, John has not been found in the Spotsylvania records as a Marston but there were other Marstons mentioned in the county. Joseph Marston married Molly Landrum 2 April 1801 in Spotsylvania County. Mordecai Marston appears on the 1820 census of Spotsylvania Co. in Fredericksburg. Another one was a John Marston who had been an officer in the Revolutionary War. He died in October 1795 [page 533 Crozier]. The affidavit of Elenor Mastin [Brumbaugh’s Revolutionary War Records page 554] age 72, Logan Co. Ky states that she married John Marstin in 1785 in Spotsylvania Co. Va. There are three children mentioned: Elizabeth M. McKenney, Catherine S. Pulliam, and John W. Marston. A Churchill Gibbs states that he served with the soldier as 1st Sergt. and that Marston was “a delicate, spare looking gentleman”. [in 1793 (Crozier p. 462) John and Ellender his wife are parties to a deed to Richard Long in Spots Co. Va.; Also in the same County (Crozier p. 492) in 1797 Ambose Smith leaves property to the children of my daughter Eleanor Mastin]. [one Ambose Smith [Logan Co. pensions] was born 1 March 1756 and an Elendor Mashlin swears she was acquainted with him for over 50 years]. There is some confusion in the Brumbaugh file (A.G. 50,111) as it is mixed with another John Marston who died in 1798 in Surrey Co. Va. and whose wife was Susannah. Further information will show that John [husband of Elenor] was the son of John that was named in his will in Franklin Co. Ky. Under the recorded name of Elenor Martin, the widow of John Marston left her will, which was probated in November 1834 in Butler Co. Ky. Also found in the Spotsylvania County marriage register was the minister, Thomas Marston (also as Mastin) who was performing marriages 1795-1799. Further information will establish him as the son of the John Mastin (Marston) in question. It’s likely that he is the Thomas Mastin brought up on charges for preaching in 1769 in Orange Co. Va. John Mastin [Sr.], previously mentioned as a road overseer in Spotsylvania County “could” have been the father of John Mastin/Marston, Jr. [husband of Elizabeth and father of Rev. Thomas Marston].
Possibly John Mastin, [Sr.] prior to his residence in Spotsylvania Co., lived in adjacent Caroline Co. Va. as in 1735 a John Mastin was the overseer there for Henry Armistead. 11 March 1737/8 John Mastin (Caroline) was fined 15 shillings for not keeping his road in repair and was to pay a fine to the churchwardens of Drysdale Parish. 8 February 1739 John Mastin failed to appear and was fined 15 shillings each for not keeping his road in repair and for not setting up posts. 12 August 1743, came John Mastin by Zachary Lewis, his attorney, claiming 1350 pounds of tobacco for John as overseer and also 10 November 1744 there is another entry in the court orders regarding John Mastin vs Henry Armistead.
. Records in Spotsylvania Co. show early a John Mastin and a John Mastin, Jr. At that time (and even later) a junior was not always the son of a senior but sometimes it is and that seems to be the case this time as will more fully appear. By 1761 John Mastin of Spotsylvania [Jr.] was married to Elizabeth. If John was over 25 at the time then he was born before 1736. Also the John Jr mentioned in the court orders of 1746 must have been at least 14 and therefore born before 1732. A birth in the 1730’s is consistent for both John of Spotsylvania and John of Franklin and other information given herein also supports the notion that they are the same individual. Furthermore John Mastin of Franklin and Spotsylvania is believed to be a John Marston of Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia !
John Marston was born 13 October 1730 in Christ Church Parish, the son of John Marston [born 1700] and Phoebe Syddern Tilley [widow of Thomas Tilley]. John [born 1700] could be John Mastin [Sr.] of Spotsylvania and also John Mastin of Caroline in 1735. The records for this John and his family last appear in Middlesex in 1734. The presence of the unusual name Phoebe as the mother of John would certainly explain why John of Franklin named his daughter Phoebe also. In October 1791 John Mastin of Woodford Co. Ky was excused from paying taxes. Possibly his age was a factor and October was the birth month of John Marston of Middlesex County. One John Maston [residence unknown] served under Andrew Lewis in Washington’s Virginia Regiment during the Ft. Necessity Campaign in the summer of 1754 [French & Indian War]. John Mastin (Marston) of Franklin County Kentucky owned land that had once belonged to Andrew Lewis.
The surname is found virtually every time in the Middlesex County records as Marston and not Mastin. A significant factor that probably made a difference in that county is the fact that John’s [born 1700] father and paternal grandfather were clerks for Christ Church Parish. One of their duties was keeping an accurate record of the births, deaths, etc. for the parish-Marstons did the recording !
Thomas Marston, who settled in Middlesex County Virginia had immigrated to this country about 1666 [or before]. In England the Marston name appears in the records back to at least the 13th century.
John Marston [born 1700], father of John Marston [born 1730] “may” also have been the father of Benjamin, William, and Reuben Mastin [Marston] of Spotsylvania County Virginia. Although the possibility of both Mastins and Marstons residing in Spotsylvania Co. Va. and being associated together, is not precluded, nonetheless it seems far more likely than not that William Mastin and Benjamin Mastin were also Marstons and closely related to John Marston [wife Elizabeth; resident of Spotsylvania Co. Va. and Franklin Co. Ky]. Benjamin Mastin appears in Spotsylvania County at least from 1755 until 1782. In 1760 Benjamin, William, and John Mastin witness a deed from Isaac Darnall of Spotsylvania Co. to Nicholas Darnall of Caroline Co. In 1780 Benjamin Mastin witnessed a deed from John Mastin and Elizabeth, his wife of Spotsylvania Co. to Anthony Arnold. William Mastin appears in Spotsylvania Co. at least from 1760 until 1781. In 1771 William Mastin & Thomas Mastin witness a deed from James & Elizabeth Frazer to John Mastin for 332 acres in Berkeley Parish.
One branch of the Mastin Family have also used some of these same names as their ancestral line. They have accepted that Benjamin Mastin [mentioned above] is the son of John Mastin, Jr (they call John the third) who was born about 1720. This is the John Marston that I have born in 1730. Their John Mastin, Sr. [their II] is born Ca. 1680 [the one I have born in 1700]. This lineage seems to have evolved from the book “A Partial History of Certain Mastin, Rathbun, and Dye Families” which was revised and updated in 1988. It was compiled by Victor E. Mastin. The book gives Benjamin [303] as the son of John Mastin [203] [who I have as Marston], whose wife was Elizabeth. However on a family group sheet in this book there’s a note stating “* These relationships are not certain at present (1988) but largely deduced from tax records, exchanges of lands, records of witnessing, deeds and court actions, these from our references and copies of court orders from the county records. “. Furthermore Benjamin was probably born before 1741 [if he was over 14 when on a road crew in 1755] when this John that was supposed to be his father was only 11, and therefore Benjamin is more likely to be the age of John’s brother and not John’s son. Also there is no mention in the book that the author had discovered the will of John Mastin/Marston in Franklin Co. Ky or the records of Fredericksburg Circuit Court. Both records give the children of this John Mastin/Marston and neither give Benjamin as his son !
Records that have recently come to light give some descendants of John Marston of Spotsylvania as well as confirm that they were indeed named Marston ! These records in the possession of Fredericksburg Circuit Court, Fredericksburg Virginia are catalogued as CR-LC-H, 1835 [ID 17-002] and titled as Blanton vs Marston. John Blanton married Parthena, widow of Mordecai Marston. The nature of the case is that Mordecai Marston of Fredericksburg Virginia died intestate and thus there was put in motion efforts to locate and distribute his estate to his heirs. Since there were no children payments were made to Mordecai’s siblings or their children if the siblings were deceased. Mordecai owned a house & lot on Caroline Street in the town of Fredericksburg. A power of attorney [F1 8A-8D] is filed under Thos Marston to Garret Minor and dated 1 August 1825. The text uses the name Masten and the signature also but it is “ X his mark”. At this time Thomas was a resident of Wilkes Co. North Carolina. Another document [9A-9D] filed at Fredericksburg is a copy of the will of John Mastin (Marston) of Franklin Co. Ky.
The name of Joshua Marston first appears in the Fredericksburg record as another son of John but was dropped from the final list. Joshua Marston also appears in a separate record in Virginia. For Spotsylvania County in a list of insolvents returned by Joseph Chew is found the name of Joshua Marston, no effects, 1, 5 April 1791 [The Virginia Genealogist, Jan-Mar 1978, page 127]. Nothing further is known of Joshua.
Taken from the Fredericksburg file: The names [13B] of the
stocks of brothers & sisters of Mordecai Marston are fixed and ascertained
by the will of the Father John, a copy of whose will is hereto annexed Marked A
[John Mastin of Franklin Co. Ky] and which enumerates seven children besides
Mordecai . The proceedings & decree are further erroneous that at the time
Lewis Marston was dead and Jenny Marston also dead Lucy Marston was also dead
and their heirs not before the court. The proper heirs of Mordecai Marston
.. been ascertained and are , first, Thomas living and in N Carolina 2nd
William shepherd and Phoebe his wife alive and in Tennessee [ paper 3B says
Georgia], 3rd Elizabeth Widnow, a feme sole, living in Kentucky,
4th the children of Lewis Marston who are Lewis, Abner Sacrae and
Phoebe his wife living in Kentucky, 5th the children of Jenny
Marston, who are George S. Gravatt and Thomas Gravatt, now living in Kentucky,
6th the children of John Marston, who are John, Catharine the wife
of James Pullam and Mary, the wife of
James McKenny residing in Virginia,
13C- 7th the
children of Lucy McDaniel, who are John, Elizabeth the wife of James Johnson,
Lucy the wife of Alexander Johnson, Benjamin, Jane and Catharine, living in
Ohio and Indianna- These parties, some being dead and others not named in the
said proceedings & decree, are not bound by the same-- .
One very valuable piece of evidence [F3-5] [ MARSTON DOCUMENTS] pertaining to the name spelling is found in this file also. It is a newspaper
clipping that ran in the Virginia Herald in 1824 for the Superior Court of
Chancery for the Fredericksburg District for the purpose of defendants
appearing and answering the plaintiff’s bill. The name here is clearly spelled Marston
!
Thomas Marston of Wilkes County, North Carolina, the son of John Marston of Spotsylvania Co. Va. and Franklin Co. Ky was the pastor of Brier Creek Baptist Church in Wilkes. In the 1810 census of Wilkes Co. North Carolina there appears: Thomas Marston Jr and Rev Thomas Marston [MARSTON DOCUMENTS] . At some point the descendants of this Wilkes Co. family appear to have adopted the name Mastin. Although the name has often appeared in the records as Mastin, the original name in Virginia [for this Mastin Family] was Marston.
John Mastin Update
Recent DNA test results have proven that this writer (a
Marston with roots in Middlesex Co. Va) shares a common ancestor with a Mr.
Mastin. This was a 25 out of 25 match & there is a 94% chance that the common
ancestor is within the last 300 years. Mr. Mastin’s family tree gives several
ancestors living in Virginia back to Shadrach Mastin of Spotsylvania Co. Va. Lineage Comparison
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08 Feb 06
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