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Weekly News October 30, 2006Description
The Marshalls of Marshallvale Farm (Marshall’s Bridge, Kennett Twp., PA):
The Auburn Heights branch of the Marshall family lived at Elton in Derbyshire, England, and were apparently converted to Quakerism by George Fox or his followers shortly after 1660. In 1687, brothers John and Abraham Marshall emigrated to Pennsylvania and became members of Darby Friends Meeting, where they both were married. We are descendants of John, who married Sarah Smith in 1688, settled on Cobbs Creek (now the western boundary of the City of Philadelphia), and died in 1729. One of John’s sons, the first Thomas Marshall in this country, was born in 1694, married Hannah Mendenhall in 1718, moved west to the area of Concordville, and died in 1740. One of his sons, another John, was born in 1734, bought land along Red Clay Creek in Kennett Township about 1759, and soon moved there.
Like many early settlers, his residence on the property pre-dated the building of a permanent home by a few years. In 1767, a small but substantial stone house was built almost in the flood plain not much more than 50 yards from where the east and west branches of Red Clay Creek join, and to this home he brought his bride Susannah Lamborn in 1768. John also built a grist and saw mill on the property, just below the junction of the two branches of the stream. They were members of Hockessin Friends Meeting, just over 2 miles away over a road long-since closed, which had been founded in 1730. Their second son Robert was born in 1771, he stayed at Marshall’s Bridge and raised his family, while farming and running the mill. Robert died about 1845. His fourth son, Thomas S. Marshall, my great grandfather, (1818-1887) married Mary Way (1821-1917), stayed on the Marshallvale Farm, and raised three children, Israel (1850-1911), Mary (1852-1932), and Thomas Elwood (1855-1929). All of the above were born and raised in the small stone farmhouse built in 1767.
Thomas must have tired of farming, and experimented with paper making in the old grist mill, starting about 1856. In 1863 it has been reported that cannon-fire from the Battle of Gettysburg could be heard at Marshall’s Bridge, nearly 100 miles away. Shortly thereafter, Israel was enrolled in the Eaton Academy at Kennett Square and it was arranged for him to live with his cousins the Hannums, who lived much closer to school. One cold night in the winter of 1865-66, the converted paper mill caught fire and burned down. Israel and his cousin, Marshall Hannum, both 15 years of age, ran on foot the 2 miles to the scene of the fire. When Thomas rebuilt the mill in the next few weeks, it was strictly a paper mill, and both of his sons soon took to the business of making paper. It’s entirely likely that a farming operation continued at Marshallvale, but the paper business was the main source of income. Thomas S. Marshall and Sons was a growing business!
When Israel married Elizabeth (Lizzie) Mitchell in 1877, a frame addition was built on the old stone house on the side closer to the road for the newly-weds. Their four children Irwin (1880-1881), J. Warren (1881-1953), Anna Howard (1883-1986), and T. Clarence (1885-1969), were all born in the frame addition near the road. Mary married Dr. Taylor S. Mitchell of Hockessin about 1878, and Elwood married Ella Good in 1880, and he, like Israel, stayed at Marshall’s Bridge. It’s not clear just when the large frame house on the hill across the road was built for Elwood and Ella, but it was some time about 1890, the year Israel and his family moved to Yorklyn. Elwood and Ella had two sons, John Albert (1882-1960) and Henry W. (1884-1953) and a daughter Estelle (1891-1954?), all of whom were born at Marshallvale. Elwood had a daughter Florence (1922-1996?) by his second wife Bertha Cleaver.
Albert and his wife, Abbie Walter Marshall, lived for many years in the large frame house at Marshall’s Bridge and they raised two sons there, Thomas E. II (1913-1975) and J. Albert, Jr. (1918- ). When he and his brother Henry retired from the paper and fiber business in 1926, Albert established a Guernsey Dairy on the property, and delivered rich, raw milk to customers in Kennett Square. When the barn burned during World War II, he gave up the dairy cattle, and raised Texas Longhorns. Soon after Abbie’s death about 1962, the main buildings on Marshallvale Farm passed out of the family.
With most special events over, we can settle in to our late fall and winter work programs, continue our education courses on Stanley and railroad operation, and make improvements for next year. Our membership growth is encouraging, as we now have 124 members for 2006. In November, we have an Executive Committee meeting scheduled for the 2nd, and a Board of Directors meeting for the 16th, and we may have other Board committee meetings as well. We will need to spruce up again for our Thanksgiving weekend activity on the 24th and 25th, and we hope you will be able to volunteer to help on these dates. In the next week, we will be working hard to pull together the next issue of the “Herald”, and Bob Reilly has just completed a pictorial presentation on the Friends of Auburn Heights Preserve for the staff people of the Division of Parks and Recreation. Arrangements are being finalized for the Eastern Steam Car Tour in this area next June. We were pleased that Brent and Martha Campbell visited this past weekend as did Frank and Alma Hix. Since they live some distance away, we don’t see them as often as we’d like.
Although Walter Higgins wants to make a few more adjustments and paint the hood on the Model 740, it is running very well now, and made an 8-mile trip last Saturday. The 735 still needs a few things “tweeked” and the wiring replaced, but it is also running well. Emil and his electric crew will get into the limited-range concern on the Rauch & Lang, and decide what is needed there. Steve Jensen washed the boiler on the 402 last Thursday and Dan Nichols, Joe Boxler, and Art Sybell cleaned up both locomotives. Art and Ron have done as much trim work as is practical on “Little Toot”, now to be called #403, until warmer weather next spring, but what they have done is beautiful. Rose Ann is going to assemble a Museum committee to consider changing exhibits and improvements for next year. Bob and Barb Reilly delivered our Model EX to the AACA Museum in Hershey last Wednesday, where it will be part of its special exhibit on early cars that will run through the end of May, 2007.
Some have said they want to continue with ongoing projects tomorrow night, October 31, but others have said they’d like to stay home on Halloween, so we’ll be open for any who want to come but no new projects will be on tap. Thursday, November 2, will be a regular work session, but a few of us will be occupied with the Executive Committee meeting. Don’t let the beasties get you! Tom
