MARSHALL, JAMES, an early settler of Cass County, was born near Edinburg, Scotland, on the Firth of Fourth, in 1777. Desirous of seeing for himself the wonders of the New World, he left home at eighteen years of age, contrary to the wishes of his father, who promptly disinherited him. The vessel on which he sailed for the promised land was shipwrecked, the crew and passengers being picked up by a French privateer. They were relieved of all money and valuables. Mr. Marshall, however, retaining six guineas which he managed to secrete in his boot. He was left a prisoner on the Island of Teneriffe, in charge of a French wine merchant and his wife, who took a very kindly interest in the welfare of the young stranger. Knowing his ambition to reach America, they finally secured passage for him, at much risk to themselves, on a ship laden with wines for that port. A sufficient supply of their fine vintage - second only to that of the Madeira Islands - was given him to pay for his transportation, with a generous sum over for emergencies.
On arriving at Philadelphia, Pa., the young man accepted the first employment presenting itself, that of a wheelwright, and went to work with a will. He coon after met and married Miss Martha Clutch, the daughter of a well-established family. His people were apprised of this event, and the father, relenting, sent his enterprising son a bag of gold. With this substantial assistance, Mr. Marshall removed to Lexington, Ky., and invested his money in shipping the products of the country by means of flat boats to the market at New Orleans, La.
The family of eight children born to him in Lexington are all deceased, the dates of their birth and death following: Elizabeth, born in 1807, died in 1829; Margaret, born in 1808, died in 1845; James, Jr., born in 1810, died in 1848; John, died in 1811, died in 1855; William, born in 1813, died in 1846; Martha, born in 1815, died in 1874; Maria, born in 1817, died in 1854; Charles, born in 1819, died in 1859.
When the youngest child was two years old the mother died, and other misfortunes followed. Our prosperous merchant "went security" for a friend - as was the custom of that day - and lost a large part of his newly acquired wealth. Another trusted friend, a canny Scot from his own land, was sent to the southern market in charge of a valuable cargo, and from this expedition nothing was ever heard. His treasury thus depleted, liabilities accumulated, but his loyal business associates saved him the humiliation of imprisonment of debt, according to the law then in force in Kentucky. Soon after this trying period, Mr. Marshall sold his property, reimbursed his noble friends, and, in 1825, with his remaining household goods in two wagons, drawn by four-horse teams, turned his face toward Illinois, firm in the resolve to begin life anew as an independent tiller of the soil. Wisely choosing the fertile fields of Cass County for a future home, he entered a tract of land along the present Cass and Morgan county line, to which were gradually added other lands and improvements, until each of his children were provided with a farm of their own.
The marriage in 1827, of Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, to peter Conover, who came from Kentucky two years before, was the first wedding ceremony said in the township containing the Marshall home. James, the eldest son, married Miss Martha Lindsay Moore, of Ohio, whom he met while she was visiting with friends in this vicinity. Similar romantic conditions characterized the courtship of the other three brothers, who also won Ohio girls for wives.
In 1839, Mrs. Elizabeth Nisbet and family came from Preble County, Ohio, and took up their residence in the Providence neighborhood, a few miles from the Marshall farm, and were instrumental in founding the Providence Presbyterian church, still in existence, and otherwise adding materially to the standing of this community. With the advent of Mrs. Nisbet came the first upholstered carriage seen in this rural settlement. Her daughter, Miss Mary I. Nisbet, was accompanied by a friend, Miss Elizabeth Clutch, of Lebanon, Ohio, and in the same party was Miss Melinda Simmons, whose parents were enroute to a new home in Beardstown, Ill. The Marshall brothers fell immediate victims to the charms of this trio of fair maidens, and the attraction proved mutual. John Marshall married Mary I. Nisbet; William chose Elizabeth Clutch for his life partner, and Charles wedded Melinda Simmons. Of the three remaining daughters of Mr. Marshall, Margaret became Mrs. Peter Redding, Martha, Mrs. Henderson Massey, and Maria, Mrs. James Ross.
James Marshall was reared in an atmosphere of good old Scotch Presbyterian faith, which was an element in the formation of his children's character. He was a thrifty, energetic man of much individuality, strongly endowed with native stick-to-it-iveness, which enabled him to achieve a fair share of success. Death claimed him in 1842, after sixty-five well spent years. His sons and daughters are now dead, and their descendants widely scattered. Only one representative of the family remains in this section, in the person of Mrs. William T. Price, second daughter of William and Elizabeth Marshall, who with her husband, still owns the old homestead, surrounded by the maple trees planted by her father in 1844, which still remain a monument to pioneer taste and forethought.