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WILLIAM H. MARSHALL, a farmer residing on section 15, Morning Sun Township, is numbered among the honored pioneers of Louisa County. He was born in Brooke County, W. Va., June 20, 1823, and is a son of Joshua S. and Margaret (Maxwell) Marshall, the father a native of Jefferson County, Ohio, and the mother of Baltimore, Md. They were the parents of five children: William H., the eldest of the family; Sarah J., the deceased wife of Dr. Harris Howey, a physician and druggist of Wapello, Iowa; Robert, now living upon the old homestead, which was located in 1836 by his father; Dewitt C., a resident of Marshall Township; and John L., also a farmer of Marshall Township.
In 1836 Joshua Marshall, the father of these children, came to the Territory of Iowa with Peter Curran, and after his arrival located the land where his son Robert now resides. He then sold his horse and returned home, but the following year, accom- . . .
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. . . panied by his son William, he again came to Iowa and put in twenty acres of corn, going once more that same fall to his home in West Virginia after his crop had been gathered. In the spring of 1838, this time accompanied by his wife and his sons William and John, he again made the trip, putting in another crop. The family were all well pleased with the country, but he thought it too new for them to remain during the winter, and so they returned to West Virginia, after which he and his son William were engaged in floating boats down the Mississippi River from Wellsburg, W. Va., to New Orleans, making two trips a year until 1842, when Mr. Marshall decided to thereafter make his home upon his new purchase in the then Far West. In April of that year the family landed in Burlington, and came directly to the claim which he had made in 1836. He was a man who was highly respected by the pioneers of Louisa County, and for him Marshall Township was probably named, his home having always been on section 9. He bought the tract of land from a man by the name of Spence, but at that time there was only a very small cabin on it, into which the family moved until a log cabin, sixteen feet square, could be completed. This continued to be their home for many years, they there living in true pioneer style, bravely enduring all the trials and hardships incident to a settlement in a new country. Mr. Marshall’s first purchase of land consisted of 320 acres, but from time to time he added to his original tract until at one time he was the owner of 2,100 acres in the county. About the year 1860 he built a two-story brick residence, 36x44 feet, with a cellar under the entire building, and there resided during the remainder of his days, his death occurring July 3, 1880. His wife was called to her last rest May 16, 1870, at the age of sixty-nine years, six months and twenty days. Mr. Marshall was a man who always took an active interest in public affairs, and did much for the advancement of the county. Liberality was one of his chief characteristics, he having tided many men over troubles which perhaps otherwise would have sunk them, and many has he helped to secure homes. Not a few sought his counsel, and his advice was freely given, and often accompanied by more substantial aid. Socially, he was a member of the Masonic fraternity. Though often solicited to accept public offices he steadily refused, much preferring the quiet of home life.
Our subject received his education in the common schools of his native State, and came with his father in 1836 to Louisa County, where he has lived almost continuously since, though in the earlier days he made several trips to West Virginia before settling permanently. He had charge of his father’s landed estates in this county until 1848, when he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Smith, and made a home for himself. Mrs. Marshall is a native of Nottingham, England, and with her parents, James and Sarah (Hill) Smith, emigrated to America in 1844. The death of her father occurred about the year 1875, her mother surviving him until 1885.
Mr. and Mrs. Marshall have been the parents of ten children, all of whom are yet living except the first-born: Margaret E. became the wife of John T. Peck, and four children were born to them—Alice, Olive L., Fannie F. and C. W.; Mary E. wedded Robert Marshall, a native of Kentucky, though now a resident of Union County, Mo., and six children graced their union—Eva E., Robert, Lee, Maggie, Berry and Nellie; Sarah M. became the wife of Benjamin Tindall, a farmer of Marshall Township, and four children have been born to them—Laura E., Josie, Jennie and an infant; Mira A. was united in marriage with Thomas Hamilton, a resident farmer of Henry County, Iowa, and to them have been born five children—Leah Estella, Gertrude F., Leonard, Luella and Marion; Ida S. is the wife of C. A. Whitaker, a resident of Omaha, Neb., and they have one child, Curtis W.; Henry, who is a farmer in Wapello Township; J. L., who has charge of the home farm; Francis E., still residing at home; Clara E., wife of George Hungate, a farmer of Morning Sun Township; and Laura, also residing at home.
Mr. and Mrs. Marshall have given all their children good educations, thereby fitting them for useful positions in life. In 1849 he moved to his present farm, which then consisted of 260 acres, but about 1859 he sold eighty, retaining 185 acres, 120 of which he has under a fine state of cultivation. In his political views he is a Democrat, and has . . .
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. . . been elected to various township offices. Since becoming a citizen of Louisa County he has participated and aided in its many great changes, transforming the wild and uninhabited prairie into beautiful homes and farms. For the past five years he has been in failing health, but the past winter he spent amid the orange groves of Louisiana, and since his return his health has been much better than it was for a number of years previously.
