Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-01-03
Marshall Hall and Its Famous Mansion

Thomas Hanson Marshall lived CO for two
yeAs before he was laid In the eennstesy
here"
THE exercises at the unwilling of the marker,
! ax communicated to the writer BY M1ss
Lowsher. must have been very interesting. ssps-
ciAlly TO one who likes TO dream Of pest gioxte6
Ia American history. Mrs Robert welsh, past
state regent d. A. r. presided: Mrs. ". II.
Hayward regent Of the Thomas johnson Chap
ter Of Baltimore, which placed the tAhlet,
pulled the cord that disclosed the marker, and
which was accepted by Mrs. Lilburn, ~
present State regent Of Maryland Mrs. Co<1
Marshall SomerSon, the last child In thS
Marshan line 70 be born in the mansion. and
f3etle Miss Katheryn Mertens the daughter Of
the present custodian, pulled the cords that
unveiled the marker, which reads:
This mansion was built by william Marshall
II about $780, a half century earlier than
Mount Vernon. William Marshall I obtained
title TO this tract of 200 acres Of John Ackei-
ahama, the emperor of the Piscataway Indians.
For six generations Marshall Hall passed from
father to son-a period of 176 years. From
1855 70 1901 Capt. Thomas Hanson Marshall
OF the American Revolution, neighbor and life
time friend of Gen. Washington of Mount
Vernon, was master of the mansion"
A Maryland State flag, the gift Of Gov.
Albert Ritchie for use at the mansion, was
presented by David c. Winebrenner secretary
OF state Of Maryland, and Miss Lowther, his
torian Of the place accepted the flag on be-
half Of the mansion with speech
1t Is hard to realize the great style In which
its owners once lived. John Hanson Marshall
was no doubt wealthy and lived as did the
Southern colonial planters Of means. BY 1870
we might assume that some of his children
had married and moved to their own homes,
and still we find him at that date with a wife,
one son under Is years of age, two daughters,
slaves which indicates far
must have been well taken care of, and that
he had plenty of servants to him across
the river to visit neighbor Washington and to
attend him when he called on his friends, and
to look after the dogs when the master was In
pursuit of bears deer and foxes, when that
part Of the country abounded with wild game
THIS neighborhood is easily traceable back
to the P1Scataway Conoy Indians who
are believed to have had their main village
on the site of Fort Washington, just to the
north, and there are still residents Of the
Vicinity who claim descent from them
The ConoysI as they are generally
ethnologically called, were on this site many
years before 1884. when Lord Baltimore's
colonists first settled in Maryland. They WERE
however" so we are told so harassed by the
Conestoga that few years later they aban-
doned their country and moved farther up the
o"SAAA~S'
in 1878 assigned a tract that stream, which
Streeter thinks may have been near the site
OF washington, D. G. The Conestoga when
driven from their own country by the Iroouois
IN 1875, again invaded the territory of the
Conoy and forced that tribe to retire up the
Potomac and into Pennsylvania This was n
gradual migration, unless it took place at a
much later period, for Baron Grafenried while
searching for reported silver mine in It'll.
found them on the Maryland side of the Poto-
mac about SO miles above Washington, and
made treaty Of friendship with them"
However when Gov, Leonard Calvert and 4
Few chosen men first came up the Potomac.
and after several stops arrived at Piscatawav
Creek, they found the surrounding heights Gov.
cred with Indians to the number Of about 500
In hostile array. Being convinced that the
mission Of the colonists was a peaceful one n
conference then took place, Henry Fleet who
had been captured 10 years before and held q
prisoner since then, acting as interpreter.
In this connection it is related that
Shortly after the arrival of Gov. Calvert
and his party at Piscataway Creek the Indian
chief fell LII, and 40 conjurors or medicine men
in vain tried every remedy within their power,
when one of Gov. Calvert's party a Father
White, by permission of the chief administered
some medicine to him and caused him to be
freely bled; the treatment was successful the
invalid began to improve and was soon re-
stored to perfect health. The chieftain though,
would not bid Calvert and his men either so
or stay, but told him he might use his own
discretion Gov. Calvert, not oyerpleased with
the dubiousness of his welcome, thought
prudence was the better policy and deeminx
1t unwise to settle far up Q50 miles) the
Potomac after having by various presents per.
suaded the chief of the Piscataways to allow
Henry Fleet to accompany them. returned for
his co-patriots, who were awaiting him ut
Blackistones Island"
A N excellent description of the Piscataway