The state park was created from the early 20th century estate of Frederick Strong Moseley, the son of Edward Strong Moseley, 1813–1900, a prominent citizen of Newburyport. Moseley is a variant of Maudesley or Maudesleigh, an English name appearing in the Domesday Book of 1080. The American ancestor, John, entered Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, taking up residence in Mattapan, the place depopulated by the death of the Massachusetts tribe of Native Americans by smallpox. John's descendants were Protestant ministers, missionaries to the natives, lawyers, patriots and soldiers of the Revolutionary War, abolitionists and soldiers of the Civil War. Up until Edward, the first names were all taken from the Old Testament. Edward's grandfather, Ebenezer, married Martha Strong, adding her name to the customary English triad of names. Martha's brother, Caleb, was a Massachusetts governor and served as one of the first senators from Massachusetts in the new federal government. Ebenezer's father, Samuel, had been a parson in Connecticut.