The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-14
hhnhhAAhnhn - hn Genealogical and
 Historical Department.

N nlStOrlCal Department. . aAAaAhAhAnnnns - Marshall Hall, now a popular river resort lies diagonally across the | Potomac from Mt. Vernon and a mile and a half from the latter according to actual measurement by John Augustine l Washington. The mansion Is older than | at Mt. Vernon by some forty years, 1t having been built by Joshua Marshall {, in 100. thirty-two. years before the l birth of Washington.
 This Joshua Marshall. whose grand father, William Marshall, came from England between 1640 and 1850 and settled in St. Mary's County. Maryland.
 bought from the Indians at Piscata- way, Maryland, about the year 16s0 a
 tract of land in Prince Georges Coun- | ty (now Charles). on the Potomac and named 1t Marshall! Hall" It con- | tinued to be the home of the Marshall | family until 1866, when MT. Thomas | Marshall (now of Gaithersburg. Mary land) sold it: but he retained the old family burying ground; so that a quarter-acre at least of the Marshall Hall estate has been owned by the | Marshalls ever since the red man transferred it to the family for it., | equivalent in tobacco. The original deed of the estate, which | was in the possession of the said Mir | Thomas Marshall until 1870. was on q | sheet of coarse paper, six by nine inches, and yellow from age. written | in a good clear hand and signed by John his x mark Ackelahama, Emperor | of Piscataway. and witnessed by John 1 Hutchinson; the clerks certificate of record on the back being in Latin. | MT. Marshall sent this deed in a let ter from New Orleans in 1S70-he was collector of customs of that port at the | time-to his cousin in Frederick City, Maryland, and it was lost in transit. | The old Marshall Hall mansion was
 built of bricks imported from England.
 The interior remains today practically
 unchanged. The frame portion that contained the kitchen department-with
 the crane and spit and ovens-has been
 removed and white paint covers the
 original red of the bricks. The plac.
 as it now looks is in the opinion of
 many, less beautiful than 1t was when
 used as the Marshall residence. with it's | extensive front lawn. brilliant gardens
 and bacq lawn filled with fine
 thoroughbred race horses and negro ca bins dotting the plantation. The long quarter" that held a hundre negroes. has also ben removed.
 | The old stable and carriage house | that stands in the lot at Marshall Hall was built in 1901 from bricks made at
 the Hall. Negro carpenters and bricklayers on the place erected it.. l The Marshalls have the coat of arms | of the two branches of the family em- blazoned on the old Marshall Hall. sil- yer. and other heirlooms of the place. | One of the coats of arms that was used by Thomas Marshall of Pennington, | County Devon, England, A. D. 1525, consists of a shield whose upper part | contains three antelope heads, erased or torn off. The ground of the upper | part is in gold with red stripe under | the antelope heads. The lower half is | of silver color and contains mill | brand, shaped like a Roman cross in the center. This mill brand is in sil- yer and black. The other escutcheon, which was that used by John Marshall of Headingly. County York, England, member of Parliament for that shire l A. D. 1850. consisted of a shield divided | in alternate bars. three black and three silver. with a plate in left upper cor per in which are five plumes and on 1 top a man in armor.
 The first birth that occurred at Mar shall Hall was that of Thomas Mar shall. son of the founder Joshua. This | Thomas Marshall was born January 3li 1894. according to the record in the old family Bible. He was large import ing merchant long before the towns of | Alexandria and Washington were built
 landing his goods at Marshall Hall. His daughter. Sarah, married Feb. 27, 1Ia.
 John Dent Speaker of the House oi l Tan tof nf O nld Continent a Congress. Mrs. U. s. Grant is of this Dent family.
 Thomas Marshalps son, Thomas Han
 son Marshall. who inherited Marshall
 Hall. and Gen. Washington were very
 intimate. Upon one occasion Gen
 Washington wrote him a short note as follows: Dear Marshall: Is Marshal
 Hall for sale? If so name price,
 George Washington" And sent it over
 from Mt. Vernon. He received the fol
 lowing reply: Dear General-Marshal
 Hall is not for sale. but if you wish tt
 sell Mt. Vernon fix your price and il
 is mine.-T. H. Marshall" There wa:
 friendly rivalry between them re
 garding their estates; each valuing hi:
 own above price.
 Thomas Hanson Marshall had son
 Thomas Marshall, who inherited thu
 hall. and who served as surgeon dur
 ing the Revolutionary war. He lost hi'
 eyesight during the war of 1Sl2sS anC
 spent the remainder of his days in tota
 darkness.
 His son Thomas Hanson Marshall al
 well as himself. were breeders of racing
 stock. He also had another son, Rich
 ard Henry Marshall, who lived a
 Frederick City, Maryland, and was fo
 a number of years judge of that Judi
 cial circuit. At the death of thii hThomas Hanson Marshall there were
 POO slaves on the estate, and the origin
 al 200 acres had increased to 4.00O.
 used to be said that the Marshalll
 could ride six miles to church Withou
 leaving their own grounds. Thomas
 Hanson Marshall had two sons, Thom
 as and George Thomas 9th, present head of the family) has son, Thomas HansoI
 Marshall and this gentleman has {
 son called Thomas Marshall; so we set
 the names Thomas and Thomas Han
 son" run alternately through the fam
 ily.
 MT. Thomas Marshall-now of Gait
 hersburg-possessed before he parted
 with Marshall Hall. portraits in wooC
 frames beautifully carved and gilded
 all of the family from his grandfather
 the Revolutianry doctor, down to hi