captain marston was born in cutler, maine in november 1835, and orphaned at age 9. he was eventually taken in by the plummer family. mr. plummer was a seaman, and marston decided at age 17 to follow in his footsteps. he started as a cabin boy, and worked himself up to first mate by 1859. in 1860, the plummers decided to move to california, and marston went with them, arriving in san francisco in may 1860. upon his arrival, he was made a captain and hired out to sea. his initial voyages were in the coastal lumber trade which stretched from california to puget sound in washington. later voyages took him to destinations throughout the pacific, from alaska, to hawaii, tahiti, china, australia and new zealand.