Oscar Sloan Marshall
OSCAR SLOAN MARSHALL, attorney at law at Rural Valley, was born Nov. 25, 1858, in Wayne township, three miles south of Dayton, son of William W. and Jane (Cochran) Marshall.
William Marshall was the great grandfather of Oscar S. Marshall.
Joseph Marshall, son of William Marshall was born May 20, 1780, near Ebenezer, Indiana Co., Pa., where he lived until 1802, when he moved to Glade Run, in Wayne township. Here he cleared a field, and the following year built a cabin on it. This same field is now the site of the Dayton fair grounds. Joseph Marshall became a heavy landowner, and cleared off nearly all of his property. In 1822, with his brother James and George McComb, he built a mill which was one of the first in this section. Later Mr. Marshall bought the interests of his partners, and continued to carry on the mill alone until 1832, when he traded the property for a farm in the same township. He was very well known in his day. He was a great hunter, and later in life was fond of telling stories of his deeds of valor while hunting bears, panthers, wildcats, deer and other wild animals. On March 18, 1806, he married Margaret Marshall, daughter of James Marshall, of Indiana county, and she died July 26, 1842. On March 10, 1846, he married (second) Jane Ewing. His children were all born of his first marriage, and were as follow: Elizabeth W., James, Katie, William W., Margaret J., Joseph T., Maria C. and John Lewis. The father died Nov. 1, 1859.
William W. Marshall, son of Joseph Marshall, was born Aug. 3, 1813, and in young manhood engaged in milling, but in 1840, he settled on a farm in Wayne township which he had previously purchased, and lived upon this property until his death, which occurred in April, 1885. A strong Democrat, he was often called upon to represent the principles of his party in various township offices, serving as auditor, constable, assessor and tax collector. In addition to his other interests he was agent for farm machinery, and traveled through Armstrong county in behalf of the company he represented. In 1860 he was the nominee for commissioner of Armstrong county, but his being a Republican district was not elected. Mr. Marshall was a well=educated man, and during his younger life taught school to some extent during the winter months, becoming very popular as an educator. His services were often required in the settling up of estates, and he was frequently made administrator. During 1870 he made a trip to Iowa, but was not sufficiently interested to invest in land there, foreseeing that a long period much elapse before returns could be made. Mr. Marshall rendered a number of public services to the people of Armstrong county, and in 1846 was one of a committee appointed by the State legislature to locate a road from Indiana, Pa. to Clarion, Pa., a distance of over fifty miles. The work of selecting the proposed route consumed thirty days. It was he who conceived the idea of writing a history of the Marshall family, which work was carried out by his son, O. S. Marshall. Without doubt William W. Marshall was one of the foremost men of his period and locality, and always led in any enterprise he undertook.
On April 5, 1838, Mr. Marshall married Jane Cochran, who died July 16, 1907, and both are buried in Glade Run cemetery in Wayne township, where their useful lives were rounded out. Their children were: Lucinda C., born May 6, 1840, married John H. Kells, who died soon thereafter, and she married (second) James Newcom, and they reside in Kansas; David F., born March 20, 1842, a tanner, enlisted for service during the Civil was and died in the army, Feb. 11, 1863, at Camp Humphreys, near Falmouth, Va.; F. P. born Dec. 4, 1844, served in Company G, 22d Pennsylvania Infantry, enlisting in the State service Sept. 16 1872, for State defense, and now lives at Rural Valley, Pa., (he is unmarried); Robert M. born Jan. 5, 1848, a farmer, died in January, 1906; Mary J., born July 17, 1850, married Asbury M. Leas, and died in 1883; Oscar Sloan is the youngest.
Oscar Sloan Marshall attended the township school, and Glade Run Academy during the sessions of 1875, 1876 and 1877, and in the fall of the latter year went to Iowa, where he remained five years, during which time he was graduated from Lenox College, at Hopkinton, Iowa. He taught school for five terms, three of them in Iowa and two in Armstrong county. Following this he entered the law office of ex-Judge Calvin Rayburn, of Kittanning,and was admitted to the bar in September, 1886. Politically Mr. Marshall is a Democrat, like his distinguished father, and served as postmaster of Kittanning from 1895 to 1899. He then established himself as a newspaper man, owning the Record, which he published for two years, and then consolidated with T. G. Hosick, who had founded the advance, at Rural Valley, on Jan. 1, 1901, the plant of the former paper being moved to Rural Valley. Eventually the Record was discontinued, the Advance being issued by the firm of Marshall & Hosick, and later by Marshall & Keeler. In 1908 Mr. Marshall disposed of his interest in the paper and plant.
For eighteen years he made Kittanning his home, and during that time was active in civic affairs. In 1889 he was elected burgess of the city, and served for one term. Since 1908 he has confined himself to the practice of his profession and the writing of insurance at Rural Valley, representing the Rural Valley Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of which he is secretary, the president being J. J. Johnston.
Oscar Sloan Marshall married Hannah E. McIntire daughter of George W. McIntire, of Echo, Pa. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Marshall; Nora B., who married C. C. Farren, cashier of the Rural Valley National Bank; W. W., who is an electrician; and Lucile C., who is attending school.
Since settling in Rural Valley Mr. Marshall has been prominently identified with its history, for he has been councilman and president of the board, and has served as solicitor for the borough. Fraternally he is a member of the Elks, and Odd Fellows of Kittanning, and is much interested in the development of these orders.
In 1884 Mr. Marshall published a history of the Marshall family of this section, which is very valuable and interesting, not only to members of this connection, but to outsiders who can trace the various lines, and appreciate the care and work given to this production.
Source: Pages 418-419, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed July 1998 by Caral Mechling Bennett for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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