Asa Marble

Eighteenth century

Asa Marble belonged to the branch of the Marble family at Stow, northwest of Boston in Massachusetts. The accepted family reconstruction identifies him as a son of Joseph Marble Jr. and Hannah Barnard. His father’s will, dated November 20, 1749, names Asa as his youngest son; the surviving abstract distinguishes this Joseph from the older Joseph Marble of Andover.

Asa and Hannah Wheeler raised their family at Stow. Their twin sons Jabez and Oliver were born on September 15, 1755. The published family history also records Ruth, Hannah, Mary, and Joseph, with births extending through 1765.

A more dramatic account survives as family tradition. Stearns reports that the twins’ father had been forced into English military service during a campaign in Canada and left before receiving a full discharge. Stearns explicitly separates that story from what the Stow records establish: Asa’s residence and the twins’ parentage. Asa’s impressment survives as family tradition; its campaign and chronology are uncertain.

His sons later served on the American side during the Revolution. Their documented service followed a childhood in the Stow household that Asa and Hannah had established.