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File contributed to the Fulton County ILGenWeb Project
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Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Fulton County
Munsell Publishing Co., Chicago, 1908

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The Biography of James Stewart MARSHALL 

Transcribed exactly according to the original complete text by Alice Stipak, a descendant of early settlers of Fulton County. 

[Surnames: ARGLE, ARGO, BOGUE, BRANSON, CARR, FLEMING, HENDERSON, HOWELL, HUMPHREY, LAYCOCK, MARSHALL, MCCLELLAND, MERRILL, VAN SICKLE] 

[Pages 970-971] 

    
MARSHALL, James Stewart.--Evidences abound on every hand that the influence of a good and capable man is not limited to the days of his brief sojourn among accustomed surroundings, but rather is reflected in the lives of those with whom he becomes associated, and through them filters to the oncoming generation which shall contribute to the community's growth. This truism was forcibly emphasized in the career of James Stewart Marshall, through whose death, January 26, 1884, Fulton County lost a pioneer who had contributed generously of his brain and heart and muscle to its upbuilding, and who, because of wise and sagacious disposal of opportunity, had accumulated, in addition to the wealth of public confidence, a large and valuable country estate. The life of Mr. Marshall began Aug. 6th, 1816, [p. 971] in Jefferson County, Ohio, and he was a son of William and Margaret (Laycock) Marshall, natives of Ireland.
    
The parents of Mr. Marshall began their married life under circumstances which would have discouraged the young people of the present. Both came from Ireland to Pennsylvania with their parents as children, had grown up in the same neighborhood, shared the same joys and sorrows and acquired about the same amount of education by irregular attendance at the public schools. Their personal belongings at the time of their wedding consisted principally of the clothes on their back, and on horseback they came to Jefferson County, Ohio, from Pennsylvania, took up their abode among the most primitive and lonely surroundings, and spent their days in developing a wild prairie farm. Of their children, Joseph married Sarah Carr and both are deceased; Thomas married Susan Argo and died in Ohio; Moore married Sarah Bogue; John died near Ipava, this county; William died in infancy; Sarah became the wife of William Marshall and settled near Vermont, Ill.; Jane became the wife of William Argle, of the vicinity of Vermont; Dinah was the wife of Robert Humphrey and settled near Marietta, Ill.; Maria was the wife of Moses Van Sickle and lived near Astoria; Elizabeth is the wife of Stephen Merrill, of Astoria Township, Priscilla is the wife of Robert McClelland, of near Astoria, and Margaret died near Vermont, Ill., in 1835, at the age of nineteen. 
    
James Stewart Marshall, developing an early inclination to work out his own destiny in a new locality, came on horseback, as had his father before him, to the place of his selection. The journey from Jefferson County, Ohio, to Vermont, Ill., was a long one, and his assets consisted of a large and unconquerable hope and the brain and physical strength required for its realization. For two years he worked as a millwright in Vermont, and in 1837 bought 160 acres of land in Vermont Township and erected a cabin thereon, December 14, 1835. Soon after he was united in marriage to Edith A. Bogue, daughter of Job Bogue, also one of the early pioneers of Fulton County, and with his wife began the labor of clearing his land that seed might be planted in the springtime. He expected to succeed, and expectation, persistently pursued and backed by industry and common sense, almost invariably brings its reward. As his operations became more diversified and his prospects more promising he added to his land and used discretion and good judgment in the selection of his products. The years witnessed the addition of such machinery and general improvements as were sanctioned by his conservative, cautious mind, and he left no loopholes for the careless disbursement of a fortune which he had earned after the fashion of the best of the pioneers. He was wise enough to realize the advantage of pleasant as well as profitable surroundings, and gardens, a well kept orchard and beautiful trees added to the general impression of comfort and refinement. 
    
Mr. Marshall kept his property intact until a short time before his death, and his disposition of the same was as carefully and painstakingly planned as were all the acts of his life. While not a member of any church, he contributed generously to church and general organizations in the township, and could always be counted on to promote, with money and influence, such projects as were calculated to be of lasting benefit to the community. Politically he subscribed to the principles of the Democratic party, but he was a home-loving, quiet, unostentatious man, and the honors of office never appealed to his desire. Mrs. Marshall departed this life September 23, 1905. She was the mother of fifteen children and nobly bore her part as helpmate in all the trials and discouragements which visited the days of their adversity, retaining her gentle and loving ministrations to children and friends when prosperity permitted a greater enjoyment of life. Of the children, Moore died in Ipava January 5, 1903; Sarah is the wife of Washington Henderson*, a prominent retired farmer of Macomb, Ill.; Job P. married Miss Branson and lives in Vermont, this State; Phoebe J. is the wife of Lewis Howell, of Vermont Township; Carl Marshall is represented elsewhere in this work, and Olive is the wife of John P. Fleming, known as "Cap" Fleming. Eight of the children died in infancy. Around him Mr. Marshall created an atmosphere in which it was a pleasure to live, in which people were reminded of their highest ideals, and of those possibilities of mental and material well-being which come of proper use of the gifts with which human kind are endowed. 

*Note: Sarah's husband was William Washington HENDERSON