Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky, by H. Levin, editor, 1897. Published
by Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago.  Reprinted by Southern Historical
Press.  p. 171.  Woodford County.

HUMPHREY MARSHALL.  At the time Kentucky sought separation from the Old
Dominion and endeavored to gain recognition from the United States
government as a free and independent state, this gentleman was a leading
factor in the movement, and from that day down to the present time the
name of Humphrey Marshall, as borne by father, grandson and great-grandson,
has seldom been absent from the annals that record the progress and
development of this commonwealth.
     Humphrey Marshall, whose name introduces this review, was born in
Westmoreland county, Virginia, in 1756, a son of John and Jane
(Quisenberry) Marshall.  His father was born in 1732 and died in 1805.
The ancestry is traced back to Captain John M. Marshall, of Ireland, who
after the deposing of Charles I came to America, about 1650, and settled
in Jamestown, Virginia, when he went to Westmoreland county.  There was
born his son, Thomas Marshall, who died in that county in 1704.  His
second son was known as John Marshall of the Forest, who married
Elizabeth Markham, and from their two sons, John and Thomas, are descended
the various members who have made the name famous in connection with the
legal profession, the former being the father of Humphrey Marshall.
     Humphrey Marshall obtained a good education, studied law and soon
gained a conspicuous place among the public men of Virginia.  When the
colonies attempted to throw off all allegiance to the British crown he
became a captain in the American army.  In 1780 he removed to Kentucky
and married his cousin, Mary Marshall, daughter of Colonel Thomas and
Mary R. (Keith) Marshall.  The former, of Revolutionary fame, was born in
1730 and died in 1802; the latter, born in 1737, died in 1809.  Mary
Marshall was a sister of Chief Justice John marshall, of the United
States supreme court.  Humphrey Marshall and his wife had three children,
but the daughter died in infancy.  The two sons will be mentioned later
on in this connection.
     From the time that Humphrey Marshall established a home within the
borders of the state he figured most prominently in its public affairs.
WHile Kentucky was still a part of the Old Dominion he was a member of
the Virginia convention which ratified the present constitution of the
United States, and to him was greatly due the conversion of a large
majority that at first opposed its adoption.  His identification with the
material as well as the political history of Kentucky is shown by the
fact that in 1783 he purchased a town lot in Lexington.  This was just
two years after the adoption of the town plan by the trustees.  An old
file of the Kentucky Gazette, published in Lexington at the close of the
eighteenth century and now in the Lexington library, shows that he was a
member of the "Kentucky society for promoting useful knowledge."
     In 1787 he was a delegate from Fayette county to the Danville
convention, where was considered the question of separation from Virginia
and also that of an alliance with Spain.  Subsequently he removed to
Woodford county and was its representative in the general assembly in 1793,
during which session he opposed the plan for the enlistments of troops in
this state under General George Rogers Clark to attack the Spanish
settlements at the mouth of the Mississippi river.  The published
communications which led to the legislative investigation into the conduct
of Judge Benjamin Sebastian and established the fact that for years he had
been the paid pensioner of Spain, and compelled his resignation from the
bench of the court of appeals, were mainly from the pen of Humphrey
Marshall.
     He was next elected to the United States senate as a Federalist over
the popular and talented John Breckenridge, the Republican candidate,
serving from December, 1795, to March 3, 1801, during which time he voted
for the conditional ratification of the treaty that had been negotiated
with Great Britain and opposing alliance with any foreign power.  This
was greatly against the wishes of many of his constituency, who bitterly
denounced him, but it showed forth the true character of the man in his
able defense of what he believed to be right.  In 1806 he took an active
part in denouncing and thwarting the plots of Aaron Burr and his
coadjutors.  He served again in the legislature in 1807, 1808, 1809 and
1823, and in 1810 was a candidate but was defeated by George Adams.  A
dispute in which he was engaged with Henry Clay in the legislature
resulted in a duel, January 19, 1809, in which Mr. Clay was wounded.
     Mr. Marshall was also the author of the first published history of
Kentucky.  It was printed in Frankfort and first appeared in 1812, after
which time another volume was published.  Mr. Marshall was an unrelenting
a foe as he was a stanch friend, and the prejudice and partisan spirit
which so largely characterized the time was shown forth in his first
volume; but when the second volume appeared in 1824 he had largely
revised the first, and the events which formed the history of the state
and nation were set forth with much less partiality and prejudice than
was at first shown.  Written by a participant in the public affairs of
the state, it is a valuable record of that early period, and in later
years has come to be much appreciated.  In 1863 the library committee of
the Kentucky legislature reported that of the early works of the Kentucky
historians no copies were to be found in the library, and urged upon the
assembly the necessity of procuring those volumes, "many of which will be
more enduring than any monument."
     Mr. Marshall was one of those strong, courageous spirits that
triumph over all obstacles.  It is such men that have laid the foundation
for the American republic.  He was a man of brilliant talents, a statesman
of great moral strength, fearless in defense of the right.  He took a very
active part in shaping the policy of Kentucky in that formulative period
when the state was carving a place for itself that largely foreshadowed its
future brilliant destiny.  He died near Frankfort, Kentucky, July 1, 1841.

Marshall Quisenberry Markham Keith
=
Fayette-KY Westmoreland-VA Ireland

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/woodford/marshall.h.txt