My FamilyTreeDNA Project Website Title
Group Administrator: Dick Marston idnnsb@pacbell.net



Project Surnames:
MarstenMarstinMarstonMasten
MastinMaston


Project Background:
MARSTEN, MARSTIN, MARSTON, MASTEN, MASTIN, or MASTON. This project is for males [only] whose surname is either of the above.

The New England colonial MARSTONs have 3 different progenitors: John of Salem; John, *The Mariner*, and William of Hampton. The Virginia and the New York MARSTONs may descend from as many or more progenitors.

Three distinct and UNrelated MARSTON lines have immerged in this project so far, and there will probably be many more. There is now a test result from a man whose "paper trail" identifies a common ancestor in colonial New England shared by this project's administrator. So far we are a perfect match, and this is strong evidence to establish the validity of the research which appears in The Marston Genealogy of 1888 [TMG].

The other two MARSTON lines include one which traces roots into Virginia and a second which matches perfectly with MASTENs of Dutch colonial New York. This line is more distantly removed from the colonial New England lines than is the Virginia line.

Where is all of this leading? The jury is still out on that issue and will be deliberating for some time to come yet, but there are several possibities.

First, for the New England lines traced by TMG, the evidence will probably show that the reason there are several MARSTON lines [as there are for other surnames, too] is that the name was adopted by several unrelated men who happened to live in a place named "Marston" when each adopted it as his family surname. For those covered by TMG, two of the New England lines leave England after at least a couple centuries of living in County Norfolk. There is no place in that county by our name. This suggests that there IS a connection to another line in England, and that connection pre-dates our surname adoption. That adoption possibly occurred in another county, such as in Lincolnshire or North York, which contains a village bearing our name. At present, Lincolnshire appears to be the most promising possibility.

We don't have nearly enough data yet, but there is still a distinct possibility that others of the New York and Virginia lines WILL be found to connect to the New England branches. Or perhaps one day some of them may be found to connect to each other. The origins of those names still strongly point to England, but, of course, to different men than those who generated the New England lines.

The possibilities are limitless, and the prospects are exciting. Modern science has provided us with a tool heretofore unknown, a tool which can direct the focus of our research and shed light in areas otherwise doomed to darkness. Please join us and help us while, at the same time, helping yourself.

Dick Marston
Simi Valley, CA, USA
Project Administrator


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