Robert Marshall

In the year 1803, William and Catharine Marshall came to Wayne township, Armstrong County, and settled upon Glade Run, near the present town of Dayton, being the first settlers upon the stream named, and having no neighbors nearer than five miles. They had a family of six sons and three daughters, of whom Robert, the subject of this sketch, was next to the youngest. The names of the sons were Joseph, William, John, James, Robert and Samuel; and the daughters were Elizabeth (McClelland), Mary (Findley), and Margaret (Irwin).

Robert Marshall was born in what is now Indiana County (in the vicinity of Clarksburg), then Westmoreland, upon the 19th of August, 1799, and was consequently about four yeas of age when his parents became pioneers in Armstrong County. The family was unable to secure a title to the land on which they first located, and in 1813 moved to the spot where the home of William Marshall now is, where they built a house and lived the remainder of their allotted years. Robert Marshall passed his youth at this place, working upon the farm and taking advantage of the limited opportunities offered for obtaining an education. Upon the 4th of December 1821, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Huidman, who was born June 6, 1801, and resided in the same locality in which her husband was born. After their marriage this young couple moved on to Glade Run, about a mile and a half from the site of Dayton, where they lived until Mr. Marshall bought the old homestead where his son William now lives. Upon this farm, as upon the one on which he formerly lived, he successfully carried on farming. In 1850 he took his sons into partnership in the management of his largely increased real estate, and they also opened a general store in Dayton, which was prosperously carried on. He sold hi real estate to his sons in 1868, but retained his interest in the store until his death.

Mr. And Mrs. Marshall were the parents of a large family of children, of whom the following grew to maturity and survived them, viz.: William, Thomas H., Catharine (wife of J. W. Marshall), Caroline (Sloan), Emmeline, Mary (Lawson), and Rebecca K. (Reid). Catharine has died since the demise of her parents.

Source:  History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania by Robert Walker Smith, Esq. Chicago: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1883.
Transcribed December 2000 by Jeffrey Bish for the Armstrong County Smith Project.
Contributed by Jeffrey Bish for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)

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