History of Bucks County, Pa Volume 3 by William H. Davis
Names and Page # Index

ALFRED MARSHALL, of Langborne Manor, Bucks county, was born in Marshallton, Delaware, October 29, 1848, a son of Caleb H. and Jane (THOMPSON) MARSHALL and comes of a distinguished English' ancestry. John MARSHALL paternal ancestor of Alfred MARSHALL, was born in Derbyshire, England, and migrated from Elton parish in that shire in 1686 to America, and after locating for about a year in Blockley township, Philadelphia county, located in Darby, Delaware county. He was a member of Darby Friends' Meeting, and married there 10 mo. 19, 1688, Sarah, daughter of Thomas SMITH, that being the first marriage solemnized under the auspices of Darby Meeting. He was a cousin of Abraham MARSHALL, the distinguished botanist and horticulturist, who came from Gratton parish, Derbyshire, in 1700, and settled in West Bradford, Chester county. John MARSHALL died 9 mo. 13, 1729, and his widow 5 mo. 16, 1749. They had three children, John, born 6 mo. 16, 1690, died 8 mo. 4, 1749, married Joanna PASCHALL, and (second) Elinor SHENTON a widow; William, born 2 mo. 11, 1692, died 1727, married Mary SELLERS; Thomas, born 12 mo. 10, 1694, (see forward).

Thomas MARSHALL married 2 mo. 24, 1718, and settled in Concord township, Chester county. His wife was Hannah MENDENHALL daughter of Benjamin and Ann (PENNEL) MENDENHALL. Thomas died in 1741, and his widow married Peter GRUBB. Thomas and Hannah (MENDENHALL) MARSHALL had nine children. John MARHSALL, eighth child, born I1 mo. 22,1734, in Concord, married (first) Hannah JAMES, daughter of Joseph and Hannah (HICKMAN) JAMES, of Westtown, and settled in Birmingham township, where his wife died in 1764, leaving two children: Mary, who married William PHILLIPS; and Martha, who died unmarried. He removed to Kennett township in 1765, and on 4 mo. 27, 1768, married Susanna LAMBORN, daughter of Robert and Ann (BOURNE) LAMBORN. She was born 4 mo. 7, 1749, and died 3 mo. 3, 1839. John MARSHALL became a large landowner in Kennett, among his extensive holdings being a grist and saw mill. He and his family were members of Hockesin Meeting, and Kennett Monthly Meeting. He died 11 mo. 30, 1815. The children of John and Susanna (LAMBORN) MARSHALL were: Thomas, born 4 mo. 22, 1769, died 2 mo. 2, 1851, married Sarah GREGG; Robert, born 9 mo. 15, 1771, (see below); William, born 5 mo. 26, 1773, died young; Hannah, born 1 mo. 7, 1775, died 1 mo. 21, 1859, married John YEAMAN; Ann, born 8 mo. 22, 1778, died 5 mo. 26, 1862, married John SCARLETT; Martha, born 8 mo. 20, 1780, died 1 mo. 3, 1811, unmarried; and William, born 7 mo. 30, 1784, died 1859, married Margaret MCCAMMON.

Robert MARSHALL, second son of John and Susanna (LAMBORN) MARSHALL was born in Kennett township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, 9 mo. 15, 1771. He inherited his father's homestead in Kennett. His son Caleb some years before the latter's death in 1869, removed to Mill Creek Hundred, New Castle county, Delaware. Prior to his removal to Delaware he operated the grist mill in Kennett, inherited from his father. His son Thomas was also a miller and successfully operated the mill in Kennett for many years, and in 1836 began the manufacture of paper, establishing the extensive plant now operated by his sons, T. Elwood and Israel W. Marshall. Robert MARSHALL married 11 mo. 22, 1804, Mary HOOPES, born 3 mo. 16, 1781, died 7 mo. 30, 1847, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (BANE) HOOPES, of Goshen, Chester county. They had five children, viz.: Caleb H., born 9 mo. 11, 1806, (see forward); John, born 10 mo. 7, 1808, died 5 mo. 23, 1885, married Sarah PHILLIPS and (second) Mary HARLAN; Martha, born 8 mo. 1, 1810, married Thomas HANNUM; Abner, born 8 mo. 27, 1814, married Ann Eliza PYLE; and Thomas, born 3 mo. 18, 1818, died 3 mo. 6, 1887, married Mary WAY.

Caleb H. MARSHALL, born on the old Marshall homestead in Kennett, 9 mo. 11, 1806, removed to New Castle county, Delaware. He married Jane THOMPSON, daughter of John and Elizabeth (REED) THOMPSON of Mill Creek Hundred, and settled at the site of the present town of Marshallton, New Castle county. John MARSHALL, second son of Robert and Mary (HOOPES) MARSHALL, also removed to New Castle county, and the two brothers, Caleb H, and John, engaged in the iron business at Marshallton, building up a large business. In 1863 Caleb H, removed to Philadelphia, where the firm had already established a large plant under the name of the Penn Treaty Iron Works. In 1878 Alfred MARSHALL, the subject of this sketch, with his two brothers, W. W. MARSHALL and J. Howard MARSHALL, purchased their father's and uncle's interest in the business, and continued it with great success under the firm name of Marshall Brothers & Company, introducing many new features, keeping abreast of the times during the period of vast developments in the iron and steel business in America. Both J. Howard and Alfred MARSHALL became residents of Langborne Manor, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where J. Howard died January 24, 1902. John MARSHALL, junior member of the original firm, died 5 mo. 23, 1885.

John THOMPSON, the maternal ancestor of Alfred MARSHALL, came to Fenwick's colony near Salem, New Jersey, in 1679, from Wicklow county, Ireland, but was of English birth. He was a son of Thomas and Elizabeth THOMPSON, and was born in Kirkfenton parish, Yorkshire, in May, 1635. In 1658 Thomas and Elizabeth THOMPSON, with their two sons, John and Andrew, removed to Ireland, locating in the parish of Donard, county Wicklow, where John married in 1665 Jane HUMBLE, daughter of Thomas HUMBLE. who had lately removed to Ireland from county Durham. England. Four children were born to John and Jane in Ireland; Thomas, born 7 mo., 1666; James, born 8 mo., 1668; Ann, born 9 mo., 1672; and Mary, born 10 mo. 25, 1675. Andrew THOMPSON, brother of John, married in county Wicklow, Isabel MARSHALL, in 1664, and had by her Elizabeth, William and Andrew, born in Ireland. On 9 mo. 16, 1677, John and Andrew THOMSPON with their families embarked on the ship "Mary," for Fenwick's colony in West Jersey, where they arrived 12 mo. 22, 1677. John THOMPSON died in 1715. James THOMPSON, son of John and Jane, married in October, 1700, Ann HOLLINGSWORTH, daughter of Valentine and Ann (CALVERT) HOLLINGSWORTH of New Castle county, Delaware. He died in 1712, leaving five children: Jane, Ann, John, Elizabeth and James. James THOMPSON, son of James and Ann, was born in Salem county, New Jersey, 8 mo. 26, 1712. On arriving at manhood he settled in Leacock township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and married 3 mo. 22, 1735, Sarah WORSLEY, daughter of Daniel and Sarah WORSLEY, of New Castle county. She was born 4 mo. 3, 1717. On his marriage James THOMPSON removed to New Castle county, locating in Mill Creek Hundred. On the death of his first wife he married, 4 mo. 10, 1742, Elizabeth HADLEY daughter of Joseph and Amy (GREEG) HADLEY, of Mill Creek. By the first marriage he had three children: Grace, born 3 mo. 9, 1736, married 1 mo. 17, 1763, Moses PENNICK; Daniel, (see below); and Ann, born 10 mo. 7, 1739, died young. By the second marriage there were seven children: James, Sarah, Amy, John, Ann, Joseph and Elizabeth. Daniel THOMPSON eldest son of James and Sarah (WORSLEY) THOMPSON, was born in Mill Creek Hundred, 11 mo. 16, 1737, and married 10 mo. 25, 1764, Elizabeth CHAMBERS, daughter of William and Elizabeth (MILLER) CHAMBERS, of White Clay Creek, by whom he had nine children: William, James, Eli, Deborah, Sarah, John, Elizabeth, Daniel and Joshua. John THOMPSON, born 5 mo. 17, 1777, married Elizabeth REED, and their daughter Jane was the mother of the subject of this sketch, through her marriage with Caleb H. MARSHALL, of Marshalton, Delaware.

Alfred MARSHALL was educated in the public schools of Marshallton, Delaware, and later in Philadelphia, to which city the family removed in 1863. On leaving school he entered the Penn Treaty Iron Works, of which his father was proprietor, and thoroughly learned all the details of the business that was to become his life work. His father, Caleb H. MARSHALL, died 12 mo. 16, 1888, and the business was continued by his sons under the firm name of Marshall Bros. & Co. This firm was the first manufacturer of galvanized sheet iron. In 1892 they began the manufacture of tin plate, establishing the first plant for this industry east of the Alleghenies, and making it a thorough success. The firm sold out the tin plate department in 1898 to the American Tin Plate Company, but still continues the iron and steel business as jobbers, doing a large and lucrative business.

Mr. MARSHALL married December 19, 1878, Florence Virginia MATHER, of Philadelphia, daughter of Richard and Esther (COATES) MATHER. Mrs. MARSHALL is a descendant through many generations of Quaker ancestors who have been prominent in the history and development of Bucks, Chester and Delaware counties. She is a granddaughter of Benjamin and Catharine (ROWLAND) MATHER, and a great-granddaughter of Banjamin and Ann MATHER. On the maternal side she is a descendant of Moses COATES, who was born in Ireland of an old English family who had crossed the channel to escape religious persecution. He married, in Ireland, Susanna WELDON, and, coming to this country, in 1731, purchased 340 acres of land on the site of Phoenixville, where his descendants became owners and operators of the iron works that have contributed so largely to the growth and importance of the town. Coatesville, Pennsylvania, was named for Moses COATES, a grandson of the emigrant, who was the great-grandfather of Mrs. MARSHALL, her grandparents being Caleb and Elizabeth (GILBERT) COATES.

Mr. and Mrs. MARSHALL have been the parents of three children: Clarence Mather, born March 16, 1880, died March 5, 1883; Frederick Warren, born September 23, 1881; and Richard Mather, born November 13, 1890. These children attended the William Penn Charter School, and Frederick W. is now a student of the University of Pennsylvania in the class of 1905. In 1889 Mr. MARSHALL and his family removed to Langhorne Manor, where he had previously erected a handsome home. He is a business man of excellent judgment and high standing in the community. He has identified himself with the business, social and political interests of the county and borough. He is a director in the People's National Bank of Langhorne; president of the Langhorne Electric Light Company; president of the Junction Furnace and Foundry Company; and senior member of the present firm of Marshall Brothers in Philadelphia.

Text taken from p 501-503

Davis, William W. H., A. M. History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis PublishingCompany, 1905] Volume III

Transcribed June, 2002 by David Burns of as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html

Published July 2002 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks