MARSHALL
MARSHALL. The Marshall family has been conspicuously identified with the development of the region in and around Dayton and Wayne township, Armstrong county, for over a century. Its representatives have been creditable and highly useful members of society, active in business, official, educational and church circles, and have always been counted among the most progressive people of their respective communities. For solid worth they have held the esteem and respect of their fellow citizens wherever known. (I) William Marshall, the emigrant ancestor of this family, was born in 1722 in Ireland. When a young man he went to Scotland, where about 1748 he married Elizabeth Armstrong, and they soon afterward came to America. They settled in the southern part of what was then the Province of Pennsylvania, about sixty miles northwest of Baltimore, Md., near where the Marsh creek crossed the Pennsylvania and Maryland line -in what was known as the Conococheague settlement. It is now included in Adams county, Pa. Their family of six children, John, James, Margaret, William, Archibald and Samuel, were all born at this place. About the year 1783 William and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Marshall removed with part of their family to Westmoreland county, Pa., settling in that portion now included in Indiana county, to which section their sons John and James had emigrated several years previously. They had been driven back by the hostility of the Indians, however, John and his family returning to their first settlement in the East, and James, who was then unmarried, stopping at Sewickley settlement. William Marshall, the father, settled on a tract of land at Blacklegs creek, now included in the township of Conemaugh, Indiana county, where he and his wife died, Mr. Marshall in 1796, Mrs. Marshall in 1806. A copy of his will is on record at Greensburg, Pa., in the Westmoreland county courthouse, in Will Book I, page 134. We have the following record of his family:(II) John Marshall, eldest son of William and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Marshall, was born in 1750 near Marsh creek, in what is now Adams county, Pa., and lived in that district until his marriage to Jane Scott, a native of Ireland, on April 16, 1776. They soon afterward removed to what is now Indiana county, Pa., but were not allowed to remain there long on account of the Indians, who were very numerous at that time. Returning to their old home, they lived there until the danger was apparently over, and then again settled at the place they had selected, after an absence of about seven years. It was then included in Westmoreland county. Once more Mr. Marshall and his family had to leave their tract on account of the Indians, and they went to live on the Conemaugh river, in Westmoreland county. Mr. Marshall had most of the hard experiences that fell to the lot of pioneers in that section, and his patient endeavors to found a home in the face of danger, amid privations that would now seem impossible, show him to have been a typical man of the times. He died Nov. 24, 1824, on the farm in Indiana county where he had settled, and his wife died March 28, 1838. He was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church at Ebenezer, and he and his wife are buried in the churchyard there. Mr. Marshall was a tall man, five feet, ten inches in height. He and his wife were the parents of nine children: (1) Elizabeth, born March 9, 1777, married John McKee and had two children, Jane and Elizabeth, twins, born June 21, 1805. (2) William, born Sept. 22, 1779, died April 8, 1836. He was a tanner by trade. He was survived by his wife, Mary (Kirkpatrick), who was born Oct. 10, 1784, and ten children, John, William K., James, Samuel P., Martha, Robert P., Jane S., Maria P., Benjamin K. and Elizabeth K. (3) Jane S., born Oct. 23, 1781, married Capt. John Robinson, and they had children: Jane S. (died young), John M., Rachel, Jane, William M., Samuel S., Thomas W., Eliza M. and Maria W. (4) Margaret, born Dec. 29, 1783, married Eliphalet Irwin, and had children: Hannah, Jane, Mary, John, James, Samuel, William, Marshall, Benjamin and Joseph. (5) John, born Dec. 25, 1785, first learned the hatter's trade, but he later took up farming. He married Jane Stewart and they had two children, John S. and Sarah. (6) Scott, born May 10, 1788, served in the war of 1812. He married Jane McClure and they had children: William C., John M., Jane S., Samuel, Eliza, Maria and Thomas H. (7) James, born July 20, 1790, married Martha Kirkpatrick, who died Feb. 17, 1832, the mother of four children, John, William K., Martha H. and Margaret K. By his second marriage, to Mrs. Martha (McConnell) Stewart, he had nine children, David M., Jane S., James, Samuel P., Prudence, Thomas E., Elizabeth, Mary and Amanda. (8) Samuel, born Oct. 29, 1792, died Jan 4, 1881. He is mentioned at length elsewhere in this work. (9) Mary, born Nov. 29, 1794, married William Cochran, a native of Armstrong county, Pa., and had a large family: Nancy, Jane, Eliza M., John, Mary, William M., James L., Samuel, Robert, David Sloan, Levi and Sarah Ellen.
(II) James Marshall, second son of William and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Marshall, was born in 1752. He emigrated to western Pennsylvania when a young man, and is buried at Ebenezer, Indiana county. He died Jan. 27, 1807. In 1785 he married Elizabeth Whiteside, who was born in 1764, and died in 1788. She is buried at the Sewickley settlement. She left two daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth. In 1796 he married for his second wife Margaret Thompson, who was born April 13, 1764, and died Oct. 2, 1832; she is buried at the Glade Run cemetery in Armstrong county.
(II) Margaret Marshall, only daughter of William and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Marshall, was born in 1754, and in 1770 became the wife of Thomas McGaughey. He was a native of Scotland, born in 1746. They had eight sons: John, William (died young), Thomas, Alexander, James, Archibald, Samuel and William (2).
(II) William Marshall, third son of William and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Marshall, was born June 3, 1756, and married Catherine Wilson in 1779. Moving to western Pennsylvania, they settled on a tract of land in what is now Black Lick township, Indiana county, but being unable to secure a title to this property they moved in 1803 to Armstrong county, making their home in what is now Wayne township. They were the first white settlers in that region, and they had no neighbors within five miles. The location was on Glade run, on what is now the site of the Dayton fair grounds, and Mr. Marshall cleared land and built a cabin. In 1813 he moved with his family to the place where the home of his son William, afterward stood, built a house, and there passed the remainder of his days. Here he died April 28, 1831, and he was buried in the Glade Run cemetery. He was one of the organizers and first elders of the first Presbyterian Church established at Glade Run, near Dayton, and in his barn was preached the first sermon ever delivered in the neighborhood. Mrs. Marshall, who died in 1817, is buried upon the farm of Benjamin Irwin in Wayne township. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall had a family of nine children: Joseph, Elizabeth (or Betsy, Mrs. McClelland), Margaret (Mrs. Benjamin Urban or Irwin), Mary (or Polly, Mrs. Abel Finley), William, John, James, Robert and Samuel.
(II) Archibald Marshall, fourth son of William and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Marshall, was born March 29, 1762, and in 1787 married Margaret Wilson, half-sister of Catherine, his brother William's wife. About 1800 they moved out to western Pennsylvania, and some time later settled in Armstrong county, near Dayton. He died in 1835, his wife in 1837. They had the following children: Catherine, William, Joseph, John (born in 1794, who married Elizabeth Stewart), Margaret, Archibald, James and Samuel.
(II) Samuel Marshall, youngest son of William and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Mar shall, married Mary Sterling May 26, 1791, and they resided in Indiana county, Pa. Their children were: Mary, Walter, Joseph, Elizabeth, Jane, William S. and Sarah (twins), Archibald, Samuel S., Rebecca and John.
(III) Robert Marshall, son of William and Catherine (Wilson) Marshall, was born Aug. 19, 1799, in what is now Indiana (then Westmoreland) county, in the vicinity of Clarksburg. After his marriage he and his wife settled on Glade run, where he built a log house about one and a half miles south of what is now Dayton borough. The property was then woods, and he cleared some of the land and ran a distillery. He then bought and moved to a large tract at what is now the site of Dayton borough, and built a house a half mile from town, residing there for some time.
At both these places he followed farming. He also bought grain and other farm products which he hauled to Phillipsburg, Old Town, and Curwensville, and exchanged for merchandise. In 1850 Mr. Marshall took his sons William and Thomas H. into partnership with him in the management of his growing interests. They had a general store in Dayton, one of the first established there, and about four hundred acres of land, William and his father looking after the farm and Thomas H. devoting his time to the mercantile end of the business. On April 9, 1868, Robert Marshall sold his real estate to his sons, but he retained his interest in the store until his death. There were few men who did more notable work for the advancement of this section than he accomplished in his lifetime. The cause of education always had a hearty supporter in him, and he gave the ground on which the building of the Dayton Academy stood and was the promoter of that institution. He was one of the originators of the Dayton Soldiers' Orphans' School and its heaviest stockholder. A member of the Associate or Seceder Church, he was one of the founders of the church of that denomi nation at Glade Run, and its house of worship and burying ground were located upon land donated by him for that purpose. After its formation he became a member of the U. P. Church, being one of the organizers of that church at Dayton and taking an active part in its work. In politics he was originally a Whig, later a Republican. Mr. Marshall died Oct. 1, 1881, in the village of Dayton, where he resided from the time of his second marriage.
On Dec. 4, 1821, Mr. Marshall married Mary Hindman, who was born June 6, 1801, daughter of Rev. John Hindman. Mrs. Marshall was a native of the same locality where her husband was born and reared. They had the following children: William; Thomas H.; Catherine, who married John Wilson Marshall (son of John, grandson of Archibald and great-grandson of William, to whom his wife traced her line) ; Caroline, Mrs. William Sloan; Emeline, who died unmarried; Jonathan, who died when seventeen years old; Mary, widow of David Lawson, living in Wayne township; and Rebecca K., widow of Rev. Samuel C. Reed, a U. P. minister, now making her home at Beaver, Pa. The mother of this family died Dec.29, 1869, and Mr. Marshall married for his second wife, July 25, 1871, Mary Jane Armstrong, who was born Sept. 14, 1834. She now makes her home in Wayne township, Armstrong county, with her niece, Mrs. Samuel P. Butler. No children were born to the second marriage.
John D. Armstrong, father of Mrs. Mary Jane (Armstrong) Marshall, was a native of Jreland. He and his wife Ellen (Lindsey) came to America with their family of five children in 1839 and settled in Wayne township, Armstrong Co., Pa., near Belknap, Mr. Armstrong buying a farm which he cultivated during the remainder of his active life. He died there. One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong after their arrival in Wayne township, Margaret Ellen, who died young; the others, the five whom they brought to America, were: James L., Henry H., Sarah, Mary Jane (Mrs. Marshall) and John B.
(IV) Thomas Hindman Marshall, son of Robert and Mary (Hindman) Marshall, was born July 29, 1824, about a mile and a half from Dayton, near where the U. P. cemetery now is. He became familiar with farm work from boyhood, and followed it until the partnership between his father, his brother William and himself was formed in 1850. The stock owned by this firm consisted of the personal property on a farm of about four hundred acres and the store they established in Da,yton, Thomas H. Marshall being principally engaged in looking after the management of the store. In 1861 a half interest in the store was sold to John Campbell, and thereafter until Mr. Campbell's death the firm name was J. Campbell & Co. William and Thomas H. Marshall then bought back the Campbell interest and the firm was known as W. & T. H. Marshall until William Marshall died, when his son C. R. Marshall succeeded to his interest, the firm from that time being continued as C. R. & T. H. Marshall. Since the spring of 1908 it has been conducted under the name of C. R. Marshall.
After Mr. Campbell acquired an interest in the store Thomas II. Marshall devoted his time mostly to farming, and when in the spring of 1868 Robert Marshall dissolved the real estate partnership with his sons, selling his real estate to them, Thomas H. Marshall bought about 136 acres of land --the west end of the Marshall farm, adjoining and around Dayton, including the land upon which his grandfather, William Marshall, had settled in 1803. From this nucleus his landed possessions grew until he had some six hundred acres of fine farming land near the town. As an agriculturist he held his place among the most progressive in the vicinity, his land improving and increasing in value steadily under his intelligent management and cultivation. His buildings were a credit to their owner, his barn at Dayton being one of the largest and best in the county and his stock as fine as could be wished. He gave considerable attention to raising blooded stock, especially hogs and sheep. His farming operations were carried on on an extensive scale, affording employment to many men. He also conducted in Dayton one of the best tanneries in Armstrong county, and butchered a number of cattle yearly. He had an interest in some eleven hundred or twelve hundred acres of land in Forest county, this State. About a quarter of a century before his death he became interested in the Maple Creek Lumber Company at Redclyffe, Forest county, where he spent considerable time, the company having over five thousand acres of timberland here. He was interested in the Enterprise Lumber Company. Many enterprises looking to the betterment of the community had his hearty indorsement and material support. The Dayton Agricultural and Mechanical Association, the Dayton Normal Institute, the Dayton Union Academy (founded by his father) and the Dayton Soldiers' Orphans' School all felt his influence as patron. He was treasurer of the Soldiers' Orphans' School from its organization, and took the first contract for the erection of buildings- that of getting out the stone for the foundations. He was one of the first subscribers for stock when the First National Bank was organized at Dayton in 1901. Mr. Marshall continued his business activities until his death, which occurred in his eighty-fourth year. Though he never cared for the honors or responsibilities of public office he did not evade his duties as a citizen, served as justice of the peace for two terms, from 1864 to 1874, and filled other positions of trust. He was a Republican on political questions. For many years he was one of the leading mem bers of the United Presbyterian Church at Dayton and one of its chief supporters. A leader in everything which enlisted his interest or sympathy, his death, which occurred Jan. 25, 1908, at Redclyffe, was considered a loss to the entire community. He was buried in the U. P. cemetery south of Dayton.
On March 14, 1850, Mr. Marshall was married to Rosetta P. Neal, who was born Sept.26, 1827, daughter of Robert Neal, of Cowanshannock township, this county, and died after a brief illness May 13, 1906, in her seventy-ninth year. She was a lifelong member of the U. P. Church, and was buried in the U. P. cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall were the parents of five children: Silas W. is mentioned at length below; David D. is mentioned below; Robert Neal, a farmer at Parnassus, Westmoreland Co., Pa., married Mary Marshall, of Allegheny City; Clark Hindman pursued the collegiate and theological courses at Princeton University, and is a U. P. minister now located at Evans City, Pa. (he married Elizabeth Stewart, of Parnassus); Mary Samantha, married Elmer E. Good, and they reside in Nebraska.
(V) SILAS VV. MARSHALL, son of Thomas H. and Rosetta P. (Neal) Marshall, was born Dec. 2, 1851, at Dayton, Armstrong county, and is the oldest resident (not in point of age) of that borough. He received his education in the local schools, and from the beginning of his business career was associated with his father in his farming and lumbering operations. Thus he had excellent practical training under an able master, and his own natural inclinations were well developed and given wide scope. He owns the old homestead of Dayton, this property now comprising ninety acres, and has several other farms in this section, as well as woodland holdings. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank at Dayton and one of its original board of directors. All in all, he is deservedly ranked among the leading men of his borough and vicinity, his large interests making him an influential factor in the prosperity of this region. He is a man of high personal standing, has served the borough many years as councilman and school director, and in his private as well as his official capacity has done much to advance the public welfare. His religious connection is with the U. P. Church, and he is a Republican in politics.
On Feb. 25, 1874, Mr. Marshall married Agnes Craig, daughter of John and Mary (Brown) Craig, of Indiana county, Pa. They have had the following children: Emma is the wife of John A. Blair, an attorney at law, of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Edith died aged fourteen years; Almina Mae is the wife of Dr. J. C. Borland and they reside at Falls Creek, Jefferson Co., Pa.; Clark Craig, who is assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Dayton, married Alice Williams; Ernest R. died aged three years, five months, six days; Helen is at home.
(V) DAVID DUFF MARSHALL, son of Thomas H. and Rosetta P. (Neal) Marshall, was born Aug. 21, 1857, in the borough of Dayton, where for the past twenty years he has been engaged in the milling business as proprietor of the Sterling Mills. He obtained his education in the common schools and at Dayton Academy. After commencing work he was with his father for some time, until six years after his marriage, when he went to Centerville, Crawford Co., Pa., at which point he was interested in his present line. He remained there for two years and then for a few months was in Forest county. Returning to Dayton he broke ground for his present mill April 17, 1891, and for a short time was in partnership with David Ellis, under the tirm name of Marshall & Ellis. In July, 1892, he bought the interest of Mr. Ellis and has since conducted the mills alone. The Sterling Mills are equipped with full roller process, and the product is flour, feed, meal, etc. Mr. Marshall makes a specialty of pure buckwheat flour, and deals in all kinds of grain. The mill is provided with a fifty-horsepower boiler and a thirty-five-horsepower engine. There is a large demand for the products of the mill, and Mr. Marshall has had a steadily increasing trade from the beginning, his business methods and treatment of his patrons winning and holding customers from a considerable radius. He has taken considerable interest in local institutions, including the Dayton Normal Institute, and has been quite active in the borough government, having served as school director and being at present a member of the council. He is a Republican in politics, and like the members of his family generally a member of the U. P. Church; he is a faithful worker in the Dayton congregation, holding the office of elder.
On Dec. 25, 1878, Mr. Marshall married Ida May Haines, only child of William and Elizabeth (Good) Haines, and they have had three children: Clair H., who died when five years old; Mabel V., who is at home; and Thomas Ralph, at school. Mr. Marshall built his fine residence in 1892.
Source: Pages 609-613, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed September 2001 by Laurel Morris for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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