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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
Contributed for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)Armstrong County Genealogy Project Notice:
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