Abigail Marston/Biography

## Biography

### Early Life

Abigail Roberts was born on March 6th, 1877 to a family in Missouri. Her family was killed by a yellow fever epidemic, leaving her an orphan. Left with no one to take care of her, Abigail became a petty thief and as a teenager a prostitute.

### Joining the Van der Linde Gang

In 1894, she met a man who went by the name Uncle who introduced her to the Van der Linde Gang. She joined the gang and helped by earning money by continuing her prostitution and stealing, as well as tending to the camps. Abigail slept with most of the male gang members, although she had fallen in love with John Marston, a fellow orphan, and she became pregnant. Despite most evidence pointing to John being the father, John refused to accept that it was his son, and in 1896 he left the gang temporarily due to the matter, Abigail decided to name the baby John Marston Jr. (with the nickname Jack) in order to convince John over the matter but he still refuted the claim. John later returned to the gang a year later, however he still acted cold and distant to both Abigail and Jack due to his disinterest in a family life and fear of commitment. Despite this Abigail still loved John, and tried to get him to show interest in Jack but failed which resulted in many arguments between the two. Due to Jack’s birth, Abigail decided to forgo prostitution and thievery and stuck to tending the camp and raising her child.

### Colter

Following a botched ferry heist that led to a massacre in Blackwater, the gang fled to the Grizzly Mountains. Abigail took it upon herself to treat the injured which included Jenny Kirk, Davey Callander, Charles Smith, and John although the former two died from their wounds and John was deemed able to venture out to find shelter. The gang eventually found shelter at an abandoned mining town known as Colter, however John had gone missing. Abigail pleaded with Arthur Morgan to search for him, which he agreed to at the behest of Hosea Matthews and the help of Javier Escuella. The pair later found John whose injury had attracted a pack of wolves who attacked him and severely injured him further. Later she brought Jack to John, however he still acted disinterested in them, which caused her to scold him.

### Horseshoe Overlook

When the gang moved to Horseshoe Overlook, Abigail helped set up the camp. Abigail later asked Arthur to take Jack fishing as John refused to do so, which Arthur agreed to. During the fishing trip, Arthur was confronted by two Pinkerton Agents, however the conflict was brought down without violence and Jack was unharmed.

### Clemens Point

During the move to Clemens Point, Abigail once again helped set up the camp. One day, Jack was kidnapped by the Braithwaite family and given to mobster Angelo Bronte. Abigail was horrified to see Jack missing and pleaded with Dutch van der Linde to find Jack.

### Shady Belle

Dutch responded by organizing a raid on the Braithwaite’s manor and moved the camp closer to Saint Denis to meet with Bronte and arrange Jack’s freedom. After Jack was returned, she became ecstatic to see him unharmed. The gang then threw a party in celebration of Jack’s return. As a result of Jack’s kidnapping, John realized that he truly loved both Abigail and Jack and began to act like a husband and father to both respectively. Later, Abigail took part in a plan to rob the Lemoyne National Bank, she was tasked with distracting the police with Hosea. The two did this by rigging an explosive in the street and detonating it. Unbeknownst to the gang, the police had expected the robbery due to the murder of Bronte a few days earlier and a robbery that had taken place a year earlier and had called the Pinkertons to the city due to their suspicions. The Pinkertons later found Hosea and Abigail and began to corner them, however Hosea helped Abigail escape by leading the agents to an alley away from her. Abigail managed to flee back to camp, however as a result of the police and Pinkerton presence, Hosea and Lenny Summers were killed and John was arrested. Abigail, Sadie Adler, and Charles manage to steal the bodies of Hosea and Lenny and bury them outside of Saint Denis.

### Guarma

Due to Dutch, Arthur, Bill Williamson, Micah Bell, and Javier having temporarily fled the country, Sadie led the gang and moved them to Lakay due to the unlikelihood of the police and Pinkertons searching for them there. When the men returned from the Caribbean, the rest of the gang welcomed them back; however the celebration was cut short by the Pinkertons who tracked Bill to Lakay and laid siege to the hideout.

### Beaver Hollow

The gang then defeated the Pinkertons and moved north to Beaver Hollow to escape. While in Beaver Hollow, Abigail pleaded with Dutch to rescue John who was set to be hanged for his crimes, however Dutch refused to help. Abigail then asked Arthur and Sadie who agreed and formulated a plan to rescue him. The two rejected Abigail’s request to help rescue John as they were sneaking into the heavily armed Sisika Penitentiary and there was a high chance she would be captured or killed. The two successfully saved John, however Dutch began to act hostile to all four of them. At the behest of Arthur, who had contracted tuberculosis and began sensing that the gang was falling apart, Abigail, John, and Jack began packing their things for the time it would be to leave the gang. Abigail also managed to steal the key to the gang’s money stash and learned of its location in the caves of Beaver Hollow. While the gunfighters of the gang left to rob an army train, the leader of the Pinkertons Andrew Milton captured Abigail and brought her as a prisoner at Van Horn Trading Post. When the gang returned from the heist, they were informed of the event by Tilly Jackson, despite this most of the gang decided to leave her to her fate. Arthur and Sadie then mounted a rescue operation for Abigail, although Sadie had gotten ambushed and captured herself. Arthur then attempted to free them, however he was put at gunpoint by Milton, and both began wrestling over Milton’s gun. During the struggle, Milton reveals that Micah had been serving as an informant since he returned from the Caribbean. Milton nearly wins the struggle, however Abigail manages to free herself and grabs her revolver and shoots Milton in the temple, killing him. Arthur and Sadie then take Abigail out of the town and into the woods. Arthur informs Abigail that John had been shot during the robbery and fell off the train, having seemingly died. Abigail then begins mourning, however Arthur then tells her that Jack was with Tilly at Copperhead Landing, and that Sadie would take her there. Abigail then gave Arthur the key to the gang’s money stash and its location before giving her farewell to Arthur who left to confront the rest of the gang. Abigail, Sadie, Jack, and Tilly stayed at Copperhead Landing for a few hours, and were later met by John who had survived the gunshot and confronted the gang with Arthur. John then informed them that the gang had turned on both him and Arthur, Susan Grimshaw was murdered by Micah, the Pinkertons had raided the camp, and Arthur helped him escape, however Arthur himself died as a result of his tuberculosis. Abigail, John, and Jack then left Copperhead Landing with their belongings.

### Life after the Gang

At some point they had moved to the Yukon Territory in Canada during the gold rush, however they found no gold and returned to the United States. In 1907, the family had returned to the Flat Iron Lake region, and had briefly lived in Roanoke Ridge, however John had killed someone after a dispute.

### Pronghorn Ranch

They then fled the region and went to Strawberry in West Elizabeth in order to find jobs. Abigail and Jack found employment as cleaners for the local doctor’s office, and John found employment as a ranch hand at Pronghorn Ranch. The family then relocated there, although Abigail continued working at the doctor’s. Abigail and John then begin fighting over John’s impulsiveness and due to him resorting to violence as a default. While staying at Pronghorn Ranch, the ranch was attacked by a gang of hired thugs known as the Laramie Gang, and John led the other ranch hands in a raid of their hideout which leads to Abigail becoming enraged at John for continuing his behavior. Later, John and Jack become confronted by a group of men over the earlier killing in Roanoke Ridge, and John is forced to kill them in defense, however Jack is terrified and traumatized over the event. As a result, Abigail and Jack leave John and move to Strawberry. John contacts them a few months later, having bought land in the Great Plains which Abigail had been interested in, and had begun constructing a farm there with the help of Uncle and Charles.

### Start of a New Life

Abigail and Jack then move back in with John at Beecher’s Hope, and begin settling in with their new dog Rufus joining them. Abigail grew worried with John, as he had taken to bounty hunting with Sadie in order to pay for the farm. Later John takes Abigail to Blackwater where the two have their picture taken, go to the cinema to see a movie, and John takes her on a boat ride at the lake where he proposes to her, which she accepts. Later, Sadie arrives at the farm and tells John and Charles that she had found out where Micah was and the trio left to kill him, despite Abigail’s pleas not to go. A day later, John returns unharmed although Charles and Sadie were injured in the fight. Abigail tended to their wounds until they were healthy enough to go to the doctor in Blackwater for professional help. Abigail and John then get married at Beecher’s Hope and continue working at the farm with Jack and Uncle, although Charles and Sadie left the country. At an unknown point, Abigail gave birth to a daughter named Mary, although she died later due to illness, this left the entire family grief stricken.

### Bureau of Investigation

In 1911, Abigail and Jack were kidnapped by the Bureau of Investigation and told John that they would release them on the condition that he kill or capture Bill, Javier, and Dutch. Abigail and Jack were held in a prison near Blackwater until John did his end of the bargain.

### Back at the Ranch

The two were released and returned to Beecher’s Hope, which they saw in disarray in their absence as Uncle had spent most of the time drunk and was unable to protect the ranch from rustlers and coyotes. When John returned, Abigail was angry and scolded him since the event was meant to be only a few days, when it took a few months and she feared that he had either been killed or rejoined the gang. The family then began repairing the farm, by buying cattle from Macfarlane Ranch and continuing work farming the crops. The family later paid the MacFarlanes back by giving them some corn. At the end of the year, the United States Army raids the ranch in order to kill John. The family fights back, although Uncle is killed during the fight. Abigail, Jack, and John flee to the barn and hide there. John tells Abigail and Jack to get on a horse and ride out of the ranch through the back and that he would meet them later. Knowing that John was planning on sacrificing himself so that she and Jack would be safe, Abigail told John she loved him a final time and kissed him goodbye. Jack and Abigail then rode out of the ranch. After a few minutes, they heard a cacophony of gunfire and Abigail demanded that Jack take her back to the ranch when the firing ceased. Once they returned, Abigail and Jack saw John’s bullet riddled corpse, and Abigail broke down in tears while clinging to Jack for support.

### Later Life and Death

Abigail and Jack buried both John and Uncle on a hill overlooking the ranch, and continued working despite the difficulty of only the two of them working. In 1914, Abigail had grown older and due to her grief had contracted a disease, which would kill her on June 12th. Jack buried her next to John, and attempted to continue the ranch but left to get his revenge on Edgar Ross, the former leader of the Bureau of Investigation and the man who organized John’s death.

## Legacy

Abigail was survived by Jack, who wrote extensively of her in a book detailing the lives of the members of the Van der Linde Gang and the members of the Marston family.