William Marrs
About the year 1720 Wm. Marr, a nobleman of Scotland (leaving a vast estate in Scotland, which now of right belongs to his American descendants), emigrated to America, in order to avoid being put to death or severe torture as a religious heretic. The dominant religionists had passed his sentence, which was that he be tied to the tail of a wild colt, and it be turned loose in the streets of Edinburgh. To avoid this fearful fate he fled his country, and left friends and property behind. Originally the name was spelled Marr, but he, to avoid detection, added an s, since which time it has been written Marrs. Upon his arrival in the land of religious freedom, he located at or near the town of Little York, Pennsylvania, where he reared a family of three sons, Samuel, Henry, and Barnabas. Samuel, the eldest, was-born about the year 1740, and remained there to marry about the year 1759 or 1760. A few years later he removed to Rockhridge County, Va., but remained there but a short time, when he moved to what is now Tazewell County, where he remained until 1793, when he moved to Jesamine County, Kentucky. Whom he married, or when he or his wife died, we have no account, but of his family we know that he had eleven children, viz., Henry, Phillis, Elizabeth, Christopher, Ruth, Samuel, William, John, James, Josiah, and Abigail.
Wm. Marrs, the pioneer of Perry Township, was one of the above eleven children. He was born in Virginia, October 13, 1770, and married Jane McClure November 25, 1794, in the State of Kentucky. About the year 1808 they came to Champaign County, Ohio, where they remained until 1816, when they settled on the bank of the Mosquito Creek. within the present limits of Perry Township. He and two of his sons are known to have been here as early as 1814, but did not permanently locate until 1816. He entered his land in 1812 at the land oflice in Cincinnati. Their family consisted of five children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows: John, 1796; Samuel, 1798; William, 1800; Betsey, 1801; and James, 1809. This old pioneer departed this life March 12, 1844; his wife survived him until April 6, 1847, when she, too, was taken away.
Betsey Marrs, one of the above mentioned, was married to Wm. Pepper October 23, 1817. They lived in Champaign County, Ohio, until 1820, when they settled on Mosquito Creek, four miles east of Sidney, where they lived until Wm. Pepper departed this life, December 11, 1854. His widow remained on the home place until May 5, 1876, when she was called home. Their family consisted of four children: Greenup, born 1819; Marshall, born 1822; James, born 1825; and John, born 1828. Greenup, the eldest of the family, died 1840. John, the youngest, died in 1854. James resides in Pulaski County, Indiana.
Marshall Pepper, Esq., one of the four sons of Wm. Pepper, was born and lived all his life in Perry Township, until recently he moved to the town of Sidney. While living in Perry the people of that township honored him with the office of justice of the peace for eighteen years. In March. 1845, he was married to Elizabeth Hollopeter, by Thompson Vaughn, Esq. Their children consisted of six sons and four daughters, all of whom died in childhood except one, Rudolph James, who was born in 1854. In 1875 he married Harriet E. Frazier, of Plattsville, Ohio. Four children have been born to them, three of whom are living.
From History of Shelby County, Ohio; R. Sutton & Co, Philadelphia PA, 1883