Martin Theodore Kearney was born on February 5, 1842, in Liverpool, England, to James and Ann Carney, both of Irish heritage. His brother, James, was born two years later. The family immigrated to the United States in 1854, and settled in Malden, Massachusetts, a small community about ten miles north of Boston. The family name was changed from a "C" spelling to a "K" spelling after arriving.
