ness for the beauties of the vegetable kingdom. In 1767 he came into the possession of the family estate, and in 1773 he planned and created the botanic garden at Marshallton, which soon became the recipient of the most interesting trees and shrubs of the United States, together with many curious exotics; also of a large collection of native herbaceous plants. As late as 1849 a large part of these still survived, although the garden from neglect had become a mere wilderness. He held for many years the offices of treasurer for Chester county and trustee of the public loan office. In 1786 he was elected a member of the American philosophical society, and he was a member of other scientific societies. He published “Arboretum Americanum: the American Grove, an Alphabetical Catalogue of Forest Trees and Shrubs, Natives of the American United States” (Philadelphia, 1785), which “was received with marked approbation and was promptly translated into the prevalent languages of continental Europe.” See “Memorials of John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall” (Philadelphia, 1849).
MARSHALL, James Wilson, discoverer of
gold in California, b. in Hope, Warren co., N. J.,
in 1812; d. in Coloma, Cal., 8 Aug., 1885. He
received a plain education, learned the trade of coach
and wagon builder, and about 1833 bought a farm
on the Platte river, near Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
In 1844 he emigrated to California and entered the
service of Gen. John A. Sutter. He volunteered in
the Bear Flag war, serving through the entire
campaign that resulted in a treaty, recognizing the
independence of California, that was signed in
March, 1847. After his discharge Marshall returned
to Sutter's Fort, but abandoned the stock farm
that he had established and entered the lumber
business with Gen. Sutter in Coloma. On 18 Jan.,
1848, while superintending the construction of a
mill-race, he found a nugget of gold, and, collecting
several ounces of the ore, took the specimens to
Sutter's Fort. His discovery brought a great
influx of adventurers into California, many of
whom, knowing that gold had been discovered in
Coloma, went there, seized Marshall's property
and stock, and divided his land into town-lots,
even disputing the title to the land that he had
purchased prior to his discovery, and he became
reduced to extreme poverty. Another version of
the story is that two Mormons who were employed
by him had found both gold and platinum and
hidden their pile of treasure, and that this was the
deposit that was accidentally found by Marshall.
It is said that he never denied this statement. A
bronze statue of Marshall is to be placed on the
spot where the discovery was made.
MARSHALL, Josiah, merchant, b. in Billerica,
Mass., in 1771 ; d. in Providence, R. I., in Novem-
ber, 1848. His father was a lieutenant in the
Revolutionary army, and he was ninth in descent
from a captain in Oliver Cromwell's army. In his
youth he removed to Boston, where he became a
wealthy merchant. Mr. Marshall was largely en-
gaged in the East India trade and first conceived
the gigantic commercial plans on the northwest-
ern coast of America, which John Jacob Astor
afterward partiallv carried out. — His daughter,
Emily, b. in Boston, 27 June, 1807 ; d. there, 17
Aug., 1836, was noted for her beauty and is men-
tioned in many memoirs and reminiscences. She
married William Foster Otis, of Boston.
MARSHALL, Orsamns Holmes, historian, b.
in Franklin, Conn., 13 Feb., 1813; d. in Buffalo,
N. Y., 9 July, 1884. His father. Dr. John E. Mar-
shall, was one of the earliest settlers of Buffalo.
When the British burned that town in the war of
1812-'13 Dr. Marshall sent his wife to their former
home in Connecticut, and there the son was born.
When he was two years old his parents returned to
Buffalo, where he passed his life. He was graduated
at Union college in 1831, read law in Buffalo, and
attended lectures at Yale, and was admitted to
practice in 1834. He was a well-known member of
the Buffalo bar till his relinquishment of practice
in 1867. Mr. Marshall gained a wide reputation as
the historian of the aboriginal inhabitants of west-
ern New York. He was personally acquainted with
Red Jacket and other chiefs, and received from
them much of the data for his works. Mr. Mar-
shall held no public office except that of U. S.
commissioner for the northern district of New
York. He was for some time chancellor of the
University of Buffalo. Among his more important
papers are " Champlain's Expedition in 1613-'15
against the Onondagas"; "The Expedition of the
Marquis de Nonville in 1689 against the Senecas" ;
" The Expedition of De Celeron to the Ohio in
1749;" "La Salle's First Visit to the Senecas
in 1699 " (privately printed, 1874) ; " Historical
Sketches of the Niagara Frontier," read before the
Buffalo historical society; " The Building and the
Voyage of the ' Griffon ' in 1679," before the same
society ; and " The History of the New York Char-
ter, 1664-1674." These sketches, since his death,
have been collected and published in book-form by
his son. Charles D. Marshall, with an introduction
by William L. Stone (Albany, 1887).
MARSHALL, Thomas, planter, b. in Virginia
about 1655; d. in Westmoreland county, Va., in
1704. His father, John, a captain of cavalry in the
service of Charles I., emigrated to Virginia about
1650. He owned a large plantation in Virginia, and
was the head of the Marshall family of Virginia and
Kentucky. — His grandson, Thomas, b. in
Washington parish, Westmoreland co., Va., 2 April,
1730; d. in Mason county, Ky., 22 June, 1802, was
the son of “John of the Forest,” so called from the
estate that he owned, was educated in Rev. Archibald
Campbell's school, and subsequently assisted
Washington in his surveying excursions for Lord
Fairfax and others, for which he received several
thousand acres of land in West Virginia. He was a
lieutenant of Virginians in the French and Indian
war, and participated in the expedition of Gen.
Braddock against Fort Duquesne, but, having been
detailed as one of the garrison at Fort Necessity,
was not at the defeat. In 1753 he accepted the
agency of Lord Fairfax to superintend a portion of
his estate in the “Northern neck,” and in 1754
married Mary Randolph, daughter of Rev. James
Keith, an Episcopal clergyman of Fauquier. In
1765 he removed to Goose Creek, and in 1773
purchased “The Oaks” or “Oak Hill” in Leeds parish
in the northern part of Fauquier county. In 1767
he was high sheriff of Fauquier county, and he was
frequently a member of the house of burgesses. He
condemned and pledged resistance to the encroachments
of the crown, and was a member of the
Virginia convention that declared her independence.
In 1775, on the summons of Patrick Henry, he
recruited a battalion and became major of a regiment
known as the “Culpepper minute-men.” He afterward
became colonel of the 3d Virginia regiment.
At the battle of Brandywine his command was
placed in a wood on the right, and, though attacked
by greatly superior numbers, maintained its position
without losing an inch of ground until its
ammunition was nearly expended and more than
half its officers and one third of the soldiers were
killed or wounded. The safety of the patriot army
