Biography - CHARLES MARSHALL
One of the largest landholders of Johnson county, and a man who is
widely known as an agriculturist and stock breeder, is Charles Marshall, of
Belknap, a member of a family that has distinguished itself in various walks
of life. He was born on a farm in Mason county, Kentucky, September 17,
1863, and is a son of R. M. Marshall.
The progenitor of the family in this country came from England during
Colonial days and settled in Virginia, from whence Charles Marshall,
great-grandfather of Charles of Belknap. and a brother of Chief Justice John
Marshall, enlisted for service in the Colonial army during the Revolutionary
war. Martin P. Marshall, son of Charles, was born in Virginia and was a
pioneer settler in Kentucky, where he became speaker of the Kentucky House
of Representatives during the Civil war, and cast the deciding vote which
held the state in the union. He had been a large landowner and slaveholder,
and also owned much land in Ohio, and when he was forced to leave Kentucky
to escape capture by the Confederates he crossed the line and took up the
practice of law. This, however, he abandoned after the close of the
rebellion, and returned to his farm, on which a division of the Confederate
army, under General Marshall, had camped at one time. He served as state's
attorney and in other important offices, and died in 1880, one of the best
known men in his state. Martin P. Marshall married a first cousin, Elizabeth
Marshall, one of the Kentucky Marshalls, whose two brothers, Generals
Charles A. and Humphrey Marshall, were officers in the Confederate army. R.
M. Marshall, who served in the Kentucky Home Guards when a young man,
resided in Rock Island, Illinois, for several years, where he practiced law,
but eventually returned to Kentucky, where he remained on the farm until his
death at the ripe old age of eighty years. He married Miss Forman, of
Kentucky, daughter of William Forman, whose father, Joseph Forman, of
Kentucky, entered considerable land in Southern Illinois. Joseph made a trip
to New Orleans via flat-boat to market his produce, and returning in 1824
with several of his neighbors they landed on the Illinois side of the Ohio
River and entered two sections of land apiece at the government office at
Shawneetown. This land is now in the possession of Charles Marshall of
Belknap. Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Marshall had nine .children, but of the number
Elizabeth F., Martin P., William P., Thomas and Louis are deceased. Those
living are: John, residing on the home farm in Mason county, Kentucky;
Logan, who resides in Texas; Robert M., a practicing physician in Denver,
Colorado; and Charles, the subject of the present sketch.
Charles Marshall spent his boyhood on the home farm, and his education was
secured in the public and private schools. When he was seventeen years old
he entered Lebanon University, at Lebanon, Ohio, and studied two years,
graduating with the degree of B. S., and during his second year pursued a
general course which included engineering, etc. In 1882 he returned to his
father's farm and worked for two years, and during the fall of 1884 came to
Belknap, his. maternal grandfather having given him 100 acres of timbered
land to clear for himself. After his grandfather's death, in 1890, Mr.
Marshall purchased the entire tract of 1200 acres, cleared the timber, and
added to his holdings until he now owns 2500 acres, about 300 acres of which
are inside of the Cache River Drainage District, 1500 acres being under
cultivation. He makes a specialty of raising and feeding stock, and at the
present time has a large bunch of cattle, horses and mules, hogs and sheep,
the care of which necessitates the hiring of from ten to twenty employes.
Mr. Marshall's vast operations have made his name well known among the
agriculturists and business men of this part of Southern Illinois, and he is
known as an enterprising, progressive agriculturist and as a good and
public-spirited citizen who is ever ready to do his full share in advancing
the interests of his community. In political matters a Democrat, his private
operations have demanded so much of his time and attention that he has never
actively entered the public field. Fraternally he is connected with the
Modern Woodmen of America, and he and his family are consistent members of
the Methodist Episcopal church.
In 1889 Mr. Marshall was united in marriage with Miss Effie Williams,
daughter of Marion Williams, a pioneer settler of this section and partner
of W. L. Williams, and she died in 1893. leaving two children: Elizabeth P.
and Robert M., both residing at home. Mr. Marshall was married (second) to
Miss Clara Evers, the daughter of George Evers, of Belknap, and they have
one son, William P.
Extracted 07 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Southern Illinois, by George Washington Smith, published in 1912, volume 3, pages 1483-1484.
