George Henry Martin was born on January 30, 1833, in Manchester, Massachusetts, to George Page Martin and Sarah Carter. His father was a mariner who owned $300 of real estate in 1850. Martin attended school in Manchester, and by 1855, he was working as a cabinet maker. He enlisted in the Union army on December 28, 1863, and mustered in as a private in Company D of the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry later that day. The regiment served in the Army of the Shenandoah under Philip H. Sheridan and took part in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. The men helped besiege Petersburg and pursued Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia during the Appomattox campaign. They mustered out in Baltimore on May 17, 1865.
Martin returned home to Manchester and resumed his work as a cabinet maker. He married a woman named Sarah soon afterward, and they had at least four children: Clara, born around 1867; Lewis, born around 1870; Frank, born around 1871; and Frederick W., born around 1878. By 1870, he owned $1,000 in real estate and $500 in personal property. He remained in Manchester for the rest of his life, passing away on September 22, 1908.