Martin Lydon was born May 10, 1896, on Roosevelt Street in what is now called the Two Bridges neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. His parents were John and Cassie Newmann Lydon. Martin was John and Cassie's second child. Cassie was age 23. Source; New York City Department of Records & Information Services; New York City, New York; New York City Birth Certificates; Borough: Manhattan; Year: 1896.

Cassie Lydon, 24, died in New York on January 23, 1898. Source: New York Department of Health. Deaths reported in the city of New York, 1888-1965.

In the 1900 census, at 110 Roosevelt Street in Manhattan, there was a John Lydon, printer, born in August 1866 in New York, parents from Ireland, boarding with Mary Patty, 60, widow. Roosevelt street was where Martin Lydon was born, and it was the next street over from James Street, where a Martin Lydon lived with his grandparents.

In the 1900 census, at 11 James Street in Manhattan, there was a Martin Lydon, born in May 1896, living with his grandparents Richard and Mary Eldridge. Richard and Mary had been married for 29 years. They had had 10 children, only 3 of whom were living. Richard was an electrician, born in England in 1851, and emigrated to America in 1870. Mary was born in New York in 1855. Her parents were from Ireland. Richard and Mary had two sons living with them: James, 22, and John, 18. And, they had a stepdaughter: Mary Cronin, 26, divorced, and her son James Cronin, 7.

In the 1905 New York census, at 326 West 47th Street in Manhattan, there was a John J. Lydon, printer, 39, born in the United States, boarding with William O'Keefe and family.

There was a Martin Lyden living in St. Agnes Convent Children’s Home in 1905 and 1910. I twas in Sparkill, Orangetown Township, Rockland County, New York. The home and its school was started in 1884 by the Sisters of St. Dominic. In 1910, there were 694 boys, 43 Sisters of St. Dominic, 1 priest, and 20 lay workers.

• In the June 1, 1905 New York census, he was, 7, born in New York.
• In the April 1, 1910 U.S. census, he was, 13, born in New York.

In the 1910 census, at 326 West 47th Street in Manhattan, there was a John J. Lydon, unemployed printer, 43, widowed, born in the New York, parents born in Ireland, boarding with William O'Keefe and family.

On May 14, 1910, John J. Lydon, age 43, died in Manhattan. Source: Index to New York City Deaths 1862-1948.

Living with Martin and Agnes in the 1930 census were Martin's brother Joseph Lyden, 35, and his niece Dorothy Cushman, 13.