ramblings of a mad man

John has spoken about his father a bit in 1. All we know is that he was a Scottish immigrant born on the boat to the US, who would raise John alone after his mother died in childbirth, eventually being stabbed to death when John was 8.

While John speaks about his dad with some fondness, implying that he wasn't abusive like Lyle Morgan was, he was still an alcoholic and likely extremely neglectful of John.

It's honestly a miracle that John survived past infancy given how there wasn't baby formula in those days and John's dad likely neglected him, so maybe the girls in whatever saloon John's dad was at during a given night took care of him.

Marston seniors alcoholism, neglectfulness and violent death definitely had a negative impact on him, and his death caused John to end up on the streets before Dutch found him.

I think John was reminded of his own parents when he found out that Abigail was pregnant, given that his own mother was a prostitute. So, John, afraid he'd be neglectful and as bad of a dad as his father was, just ran away and didn't want anything to do with Jack out of fear that he'd mess up like his dad did. Part of it may have also been insecurity