Joseph Marble Jr.

Biography

1673–1749/50

Joseph Marble was born at Andover (in northeastern Massachusetts) on July 28, 1673, the son of Joseph Marble and Mary Faulkner. He married Hannah Barnard on April 23, 1695 and eventually established his family at Stow. Their children included Asa, later identified in Joseph’s will as his youngest son.

The family register records a particularly severe loss in October 1706: daughters Dorothy and Hannah died within days of each other. Later children enlarged the household again. Joseph subsequently married Ruth, with marriage intentions recorded at Stow in October 1730.

His will of November 20, 1749 shows an older man arranging for a family already altered by deaths. His eldest son Joseph and another son, Jacob, had died before him; their children were remembered alongside his surviving sons. He named his wife Ruth as executrix. The record also preserves a small but telling uncertainty: when identifying Jacob’s daughter, he qualified his recollection of her name.

The will was proved on February 5, 1749/50. Joseph died between November 20, 1749 and February 5, 1749/50.