Martha, a member of the first generation of the Young family to live in America, is the eighth child of Rev. Christopher Young, who was the Vicar of Reyden, Southwold, Suffolk, England. Her father, the Reverend Christopher Young, died in Southwold, England in 1626 and was buried in the chancel of the church at Southwold. The children emigrated a few years later, most likely for reasons of religious freedom.
Martha Youngs married Thomas Moore in Salem and they went in 1650 to establish a Puritan colony at Southold on Long Island. Here the daughter of Thomas Moore and Martha Youngs, Elizabeth, married Richard Clark.