James Harry Marshall
James Harry Marshall, proprietor of a farm in Beavercreek township, on the upper Bellbrook pike. three miles west of Xenia, rural mail route No. 7 out of that city, was born on a farm in Sugarcreek township on September 8, 1858. son of James and Ella (Ridenour) Marshall, the former of whom was born in that same township and the latter in the state of Maryland and both of whom spent their last days here.
James Marshall was born on a farm on the east bank of the Little Miami river in what is now Sugarcreek township, but which then was in Silvercreek township, October 22, 1812, a son of John Marshall, one of the pioneers of Greene county and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. John Marshall had come up here with his father from Kentucky about the year 1803 and had taken a tract of about six hundred acres along the east bank of the river in what is now Sugarcreek township. Not long afterward he married and established his home there, reared his family of three sons and four daughters, served during the '40s as a member of the bench of associate judges, spent his last days on his farm, dying there in 1866, at the age of eighty-two years, and was buried on his farm, the site of his grave overlooking the river. During the War of 1812 he served as a soldier. Of his seven children, James was the sixth in order of birth, the others having been Robert, who died unmarried; Hettie, who married John Kiler; Nancy, who married James McConnell; Sarah, who married John Brock; Jesse, who established his home in Sugarcreek township, and Betsey, who married William Morgan.
Reared on the liome farm, James Marshall established his home there after his marriage when twenty-four years of age and after his father's death inherited two hundred and forty-five acres of the home place, where he continued to live until he bought the place of a fraction more than one hundred and fourteen acres on which his son James H. is now living, moved to that place and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on February 12, 1889. His widow died on July 3, 1893. She was born, Ella Ridenour, in Maryland, February 5, 1818, and was twelve years of age when she came to Ohio with her widowed mother, Susan (Howard) Ridenour, and the other members of the latter's family, the family consisting of four sons and three daughters, in 1830 and located at Trebeins, in Beavercreek township, this county. The widow Ridenour came through from her old home in the Hagerstown neighborhood in Maryland, driving a one-horse wagon containing her household goods, the children, including twelve-year-old Ella, thus being required to walk the whole distance, as there was no room in the overladen wagon for them. The widow Ridenour was an adherent of the Lutheran faith and her children were reared in that faith. Of these children, the daughter Ella, Mrs. Marshall, was the last-born, the others, now all deceased, having been David, who moved to Illinois and there spent his last days; Daniel and Samuel, twins, who established their homes in this county; William, who moved to Indiana, and Cassie and Maria, twins, who remained spinsters. Mrs. Susan Ridenour lived to the age of eighty-three years, her death occurring on April 10, 1869. Ella Ridenour grew up at Trebeins and was there married on May 4, 1837, to James Marshall. To that union were born seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the last-born, the others being the following: John, who is now living at Dayton, retired; Sarah, who died at the age of twenty-one; William P., who served as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War and died not long after his return from the army, his death having been due to the exposure incident to army life; Mrs. Nancy Ann Thorp, who died in 1903, and two who died in infancy.
James H. Marshall was reared on the home farm in Sugarcreek township and received his early schooling in the old Fauber district school in that neighborhood, later attending the schools in Beavercreek township. After his marriage he established his home on the home place and as his father grew older assumed charge of the same, having thus for years carried on farming operations on the place on which he is now living. After his father's death he came into possession of the farm and is still actively engaged in farming, assisted by his second son, Charles Haines Marshall, who is still at home. In addition to their general farming Mr. Marshall and his son give considerable attention to the raising of Poland China hogs.
James H. Marshall married Laura B. Haines, who was born in Beavercreek township, daughter of Henry and Susan Haines, the former of whom was formerly engaged in farming there, but later went West, where he became engaged in the railway service, and to this union four children have been born, namely: Robert Lee, who married Edna White and is now living in North Dakota, where he is employed in the service of the Standard Oil Company; Charles Haines, mentioned above as assisting his father in the operation of the home farm; William Harley, now living at Bellbrook, who married Pansy Taylor and has two children, Howard Lee and Pauline; and Agnew, who died at the age of four years. Mr. Marshall is a Republican, as was his father, and has served as director of schools in his home district. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the local lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Junior Order of United American Mechanics at Xenia.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918