Edward Barton was born in England. He arrived in New England about 1639, and settled in Salem, Massachusetts. That same year he married Elizabeth in Marblehead. Edward tried farming for several years in Salem and nearby Marblehead. He then applied for a land grant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He moved to Little Harbor on the Piscataqua River in 1646. In August of that year Reynold Fernald was granted four acres of marsh at the great house at Little Harbor, on the Piscataqua and his grant mentions that he was bounded on the east by goodman Barton. Edward received additional grants in 1652 and 1653. Edward and his wife Elizabeth, whose last name is unknown, lived there for the next twenty years, raising a family that included at least six sons, including Matthew, the sailor. In 1650, Edward was a juryman, in 1651, he was brought to court for beating his wife. In 1656 he was on the grand jury. That same year, Elizabeth was a witness for a woman who was accused of witchcraft. Edward was a coroner's juryman in 1657, the same year in which he took the oath of fidelity at Exeter, NH to the Massachussetts Bay government. At the town meeting of March 20, 1656 James Johnson, William Seavey and Anthony Bracket were directed to settle a land dispute between Edward and Nicholas Row.

Around 1666, the family moved up the coast to Cape Porpoise, Maine, near the present site of Kennebunkport. He purchased a farm on Montague's Neck from Anthony Littlefield. It was between the Montague and Cape Porpoise Rivers. The move may have been occasioned by Edward being a loyalist to Massachusetts. Edward and his sons replaced the small farmhouse with a new one, and the family settled in. Edward was one of the appraisers of the estate of Morgan Howell at Cape Porpoise in June of 1666 and swore to its accuracy April 1, 1667. Edward wasn't able to enjoy the farm for very long however, he died in cape Porpoise in 1671. Edward's will was probated on July 4, 1671 in York, Maine. His son Matthew kept the farm for twelve more years until the family was driven out by hostile Indians.