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HENRY MARSDEN, deceased, a pioneer of Louisa County, Iowa, of 1839, was born in Blackburn, England, Jan. 26, 1811, and is a son of William and Betsy Marsden. In 1817, when six years of age, he emigrated to America with his father, who located near Baltimore, Md., where he learned the trade of cotton weaving. When a young man he removed to Columbus, Ohio, where he established a meat-market, carrying on that business until 1839, when he came to Louisa County. He located five miles southwest of Columbus City, in the township bearing that name, where he secured about 400 acres of Government land. This land was entirely uncultivated, but from the raw prairie he soon developed a farm.
In 1856, at Spring Run, in this county, Mr. Marsden was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Moore, a native of county Antrim, Ireland, though . . .
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. . . she was reared in England, and emigrated from that country to America. Eight children have been born to them, five sons and three daughters: William J., a member of the Marsden Horse Company, of Columbus City; Mary A., Betsy J. and Harry A. are the only four now living.
After his arrival in Louisa County, which was then almost a wilderness, Mr. Marsden lived in true pioneer style, enduring all the trials and hardships which come to those who make homes upon the frontiers. In the work of progress and development he nobly did his part, and until his death, which occurred in October, 1885, he was one of the leading and influential citizens of the county. His wife died in April, 1873. Mr. and Mrs. Marsden were members of the Congregational Church until the death of the latter, when, from that time on, he belonged to the Central Presbyterian Church until his own death. Mr. Marsden was a Republican in politics, and was highly respected by all with whom he came in contact. W. J. Marsden, his son, one of the proprietors and the manger of the Marsden Horse Company, was reared on a farm, and is still interested in the homestead, of which he has had charge since his father’s death.
