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From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 469-470
THOMAS MARSDEN. The greater portion of Mr. MARSDEN's long and useful life of sixty-five years has been passed in Grant county, his father having been among the pioneers of that section of the State, the family coming to this country from Yorkshire, England.
Henry MARSDEN, father of Thomas, was born in Leeds, England, Aug. 12, 1807. For many years he was engaged in overseeing one of the large woolen manufactories near the place of his birth, continuing in this business, and the difficult business of pattern making, as long as he remained in England. In 1832 he was married to Hannah Maria RILEY, and in 1842 they emigrated to America, bringing their family of five children with them. Immediately upon reaching this country they came West, first to Chicago, then to Racine, and a little later to what is now Waukesha county, Wis., where they resided ten years. It was here that Mrs. MARSDEN died in 1844. In 1853 the elder MARSDEN moved with his children to Grant county, in the same State, and purchased a farm east of Lancaster, in the township of Liberty. Here, with the assistance of his family, he created a home, and lived among the old settlers of the county. His five children are all living: Rebecca is now Mrs. John ROOK, of Lancaster; Thomas and William reside in the township of Fennimore; Jane lives in Kansas, the wife of Zackaria THOMS; and John lives in California. The elder MARSDEN lived to see his seventy-fourth birthday, and passed away in 1880, honored by his neighbors and acquaintances for his industry, his moral worth and his irreproachable life.
Thomas MARSDEN was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1835, and among the most vivid recollections are the impressions made upon his young mind, when, a boy of seven years, he first landed in New York and crossed more than a third of the continent to find a home whose character and surroundings were totally different from anything with which his previous short experience had made him familiar. As he grew older he aided his father upon the homestead, and soon after reaching manhood he married, his wife's name being Sarah FRY. Her father, John FRY, was a Pennsylvania farmer, who had migrated first to Iowa, and afterward to Grant county, Wis., settling in Ellenboro township in 1854. To Mr. and Mrs. MARSDEN five children have been born, one of whom, Julia, died at the age of seventeen. Those yet living are Olive, Henry, Cora and Riley. Olive is the wife of W. E. LATHROP. Henry is a practicing physician.
In 1864 Mr. MARSDEN moved to the farm in Fennimore which is his present home, and which, through his efforts and energy, has become of the most attractive homes in Grant county.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck