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Samuel Marshall
Born 1764? Pennsylvania
Died Jul 16, 1843 Port Gibson, Claiborne Co. MS

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Father

SPOUSE	CHILDREN
Sarah Roach or French m. by 1804? ?Jefferson Co. Miss. Terr. b. 1784? ?KY d. after 1830 ?Claiborne Co. MS	Reuben b. by 1804 ?Jefferson Co. Miss. Terr. d. after 1823 ?Claiborne Co. MS	Sarah Ann b. Nov 20, 1809? Port Gibson, Claiborne Co. MS d. Mar 20, 1854 New Orleans LA	?George b. 1810? ?Jefferson Co. Miss. Terr. d. after 1853 ?Natchez, Adams Co. MS
According to Samuel's obituary, he died in the 79th year of his age and that he lived in Mississippi for 60 years, meaning he may have arrived about 1784 [Obituary, Port-Gibson Herald, Port Gibson MS, Jul 27, 1843].
In 1789 Samuel may have been living on land previously owned by St. Germain, an Indian interpreter, near the River and the Fort of Natchez. When he died in 1786, the land would have been sold or inherited. By 1794 it was owned by James McIntyre. As a result, no Marshalls were counted as head of households in the 1792 Natchez Census. Some translations count a "Jaime McIntire" owning land in the St. Catherine's Creek area.
St. Germain died shortly before May 8, 1786 after "a fall from the top of a tree in the Cypress Swamp" about 15 miles above the Fort of Natches, apparently trying to get wood for the sawmill that he had purchased part of from John Burnet just the year before. The King's Surgeon, Don Louis Faure, on being informed of the accident, found him in the house of John Burnet "already dead half an hour before his arrival … body cold and wanting one leg" [McBee, pp. 33-4].
On Dec 17, 1788 the widow of Richard Goodwin, "Phoebe Goodwin", sold to a Henry Manadue 600 arpents on Cypress Swamp, bordered by lands of St. Germain and Jean Baptiste Lapuente, 3 leagues [about 12 miles] from the Fort of Natchez, "on which are erected a saw-mill and other buildings, for $1100, in hand paid". Phoebe Goodwin signed with an "X" [McBee, Book B, p. 60]. On Oct 5, 1793, Henry Manadue died. His will was witnessed by, among others, a "P. Marshall" [McBee, p. 87].
Another property that St. Germain owned was a mile or so south of the Fort of Natchez. It became known as Richmond, and later as the Marshall Plantation. The original section was a "frame house on a raised basement foundation" dating back to about 1784. By 1810, it was remodelled in the Federal Style and another addition constructed by the Marshall family in 1840 [Mississippi Preservation website].
A Map of Natchez Plantations drawn by city surveyor Charles W. Babbit in 1891, shows the location of Richmond, identified as the "ESTATE OF L.R. MARSHALL" just south of the town [usgwarchives, MS Digital Map Library, website].
On Aug 12, 1789 when he was only about 35 years old and very ill, Samuel wrote his will. In it he says there is in his house a "mulatto woman, dec'd, named Nelly" but the word dec'd may be the word free misread. Free mulatto describes Nelly Price who also was known to have taken care of ill soldiers and others in the Natchez District. The will was witnessed by the governor of the District, Gayoso, and four others [McBee, Book B, p. 69].
On May 8, May 15, and May 16, 1790 several flatboats arrived in Natchez from Pennsylvania. Also on May 16, "Arriving by two flatboats from North America, George Marshall, owner of both boats and returning" with employees and settlers on board but no other Marshalls [MDAH].
Map of the Natchez District as it may have looked between 1779 and 1799.
By Nov 18, 1794, Samuel was well enough to attempt to purchase land owned by James McIntyre, who needed to pay creditors. A value was placed on the land and Governor Gayoso approved it on Dec 20, 1794. On Jan 30, 1795, "350 arpents with buildings, etc." was sold by James McIntyre "with approbation of Peter Walker, agent for the creditors" to Samuel for $450 [McBee, p. 108-9, Book B, p. 360]. This land was on Fairchild's Creek which ran just south of Cole's Creek.
By Dec 28, 1800 Samuel may have been living in Jefferson Co., Miss. Terr. when he witnessed a will recorded there by Moses Bonner who was the husband of Rosanna (1768?-1820?), who was a daughter of Henry Manadue, a husband of Phoebe Goodwin.
Port Gibson was in Jefferson Co. when it was created from Adams Co., Miss. Terr. in 1799 (see present day map). In 1802 Claiborne Co. was formed just north of Jefferson Co. (see present day map for location).
By 1804 Samuel married Sarah French or Roach. She would have been a child on May 4, 1790 when a Henry French arrived in Spanish Natchez on a flatboat from Kentucky "to settle" [MDAH]. There is no Henry French in the 1792 Natchez District Census, but there is a "Enrique Roach" family of 7 on 350 arpents in Buffalo Creek (Adams or Wilkinson Co.), known to be an early settler of Wilkinson Co. [Adams Co. Gen. Hist. Network].
In the 1805 Wilkinson Co. MS Census there is a Henry Roach household with 2 less members than in 1792: 2 males over 21, 3 females, and 5 slaves [MSGenWeb, website].
On Jun 17, 1805 Samuel was granted 350f [arpents] situated "on the waters of Fairchild's creek" that was originally granted by the Spanish Govt. to "James McIntyre" on Oct 8, 1787 according to the certificate record (Vol. 2, Page 105) [American State Papers, vol. 1, register A, p. 868].
In 1810 "Samuel Marshall" is listed in the Warren Co. [founded in 1809] portion of the Claiborne & Warren Co. MS Census submitted Oct 25, on line 13 of page 6. He was head of a single white male household. There is also a household headed by George Marshall on line 2 of page 7 also in Warren Co. with 1 adult male, 3 males under age 21, and 1 female over age 21. This was probably the George Marshall who arrived in Natchez in May 1790. Samuel's possible father-in-law Henry French arrived in the same month. There is a no Marshall listed in the 1810 Tax Rolls for Claiborne Co. so he may not have owned the land he lived on or it was taxed by Warren Co.
In Dec 1809 Warren Co. was formed just north of Claiborne Co. It borders the Mississippi River and includes the town of Vicksburg (see present day map for location).
A Reuben Marshall (1785 Va.-1845) married Rachel Eastman Sep 9, 1816 in Claiborne Co. but this may be a nephew of Samuel.
In the 1816 Adams Co. MS Census, on page 10 (line 28), there was a household headed by "Samuel Marshall" with: 2 adult males [Samuel, ?son], 1 male child under 21 [?Reuben], 1 adult female [wife Sarah], 5 females under 21 [daughter Sarah Ann etc., and 11 slaves. On line 4 of the same page there was a single adult male "Solomon Marshall" with no slaves [MDAH, 1816 Adams Co. Census].
In the 1820 Warren Co. MS Census there are 2 Marshall households: "Christoher Marshall" 1 male aged 26-44, no slaves; "Rheuben Marshall" 1 male aged 26-44, 1 male child, 4 females all aged 18 or under, and 1 male slave aged 26-44 [MSGenWeb, website].
In the 1820 Rapides Parish Louisiana Census, page 132, line 25, in the "Boeuf" section, there is a William Marshall born by 1775, with young children, a woman born after 1775, and many slaves. This was William Carter Marshall (1772-1831) who married Rosalie Meuillon in LA about 1815. His father John was born in VA but died in Philadelphia PA in 1835. On Feb 20, 1820 a "William Marshall, Bayou Boeuf" placed a want ad for an "overseer for the present year" requiring "steady sober habits" in one of the many local newspapers [LAGenWeb, rapidesgenealogy.org, "Newspapers"]. In 1850, there are several Marshall households headed by men born in MS as well as "Raftsmen" headed by men born in LA [familysearch.org, Sunflower Co. MS, 1850 Census].
In the 1823 Tax Rolls for Claiborne Co. MS, on page 10 line 28 there is a "Reuben Marshall", with no land and 1 poll (white male) and 1 slave.
"Saml. Marshall" was listed on page 16, line 13, as head of a household of 2 free white males [Samuel, son George] and 2 free white females [wife Sarah and daughter Sarah Ann] with only one taxable in Adams Co. MS in 1830 [MDAH, 1830 Adams Co. MS Census Tax List]. In 1853, a "George Marshall" household [likely Samuel's son] had 1 white male and 2 white females living in the city of Natchez [MDAH, 1853 Adams Co. MS Census, page 4, col. 2, line 17].
On Apr 19, 1832, daughter Sarah Ann married Horatio Nelson Spencer (1798-1876), who was born in CT, graduated from Yale in 1821 and came to Port Gibson MS in 1828. Both are buried in Wintergreen Cemetery in Port Gibson. Photos of inscriptions at Sarah's grave, H.N. Spencer's grave They had 10 sons but only four of them survived childhood [Find-a-grave, website].
Samuel was an elder of the Presbyterian Church and was literally the eldest member there when he died. His flat grave marker at the Wintergreen Cemetery in Port Gibson reads: "a native of Pa., after a residence of 60 years in Mississippi he died in Port Gibson...aged 79 years. For 30 years he was a ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church on Pine Ridge" [Find-a-grave, no. 56939757].
The First Presbyterian Church of Port Gibson was founded in Apr 1807 in Bayou Pierre then moved to Port Gibson in 1827 according to its historical marker.
According to Samuel's Obituary in 1843, "he dwelt with great minuteness in his narrative of the past, upon the character of Guiazo [Gayoso], the Spanish Governor, and the zeal he showed in the improvement of his people" after the "tyrannical acts of the Spanish Government" [Port-Gibson Herald, Port Gibson MS, Jul 27, 1843].
Sources: American State Papers, Documents, ... of the Congress of the United States, ... 1789-1809, vol. 1, Gales and Seaton, Washington DC, 1832, register A, p. 868. Adams Co. Mississippi Genealogy & History Network, "1792 Census for Natchez District (under Spanish Government control)", 2009, 1792 Census. Babbit, Charles W., Map of Natchez Plantations, 1891, usgwarchives website. "George W. Humphreys Bible", Claiborne MS Bibles, photostat of original bible, recorded 1957 by May Wilson McBee, in Mississippi Genealogy Trails, website. Claiborne Co. MS, Genealogy Trails, 1823 Tax Rolls, website, transcribed by Lee Kohler, updated May 9, 2018. Farrell Family History, "GRAND-PRE to MIRO, May 16, 13 Translation No. 6 AT THE FORT OF NATCHEZ, May 16, 1782" entry, website. Find-a-grave, William Sanders, contr., no. 56939757, website. LAGenWeb, "Section II The Antebellum Period 1804-1861... Newpapers", rapidesgenealogy.org, website. MS Dept. Archives & Hist. (MDAH), 1816 Census, Territorial Census 1801-1816, website, microfilm. MDAH, Adams Co. MS 1830 Census, State Census Returns 1818-1880, website, microfilm. MDAH, Adams Co. MS 1853 Census, State Census Returns 1818-1880, signed Jun 2, 1853, website, microfilm. MDAH, Will Book Vol. 1, Adams Co. Courthouse, Natchez MS, microfilm, Apr 1816. Imbert, J. Leopold, map maker, Carte des Possessions Angloises... 1777, reprinted by the Museum of the American Revolution from map image at the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library. McBee, May Wilson, comp., "Land Claims", in Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Book B, p. 360, pp. 27, 108-9. McBee, May Wilson, comp., Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805, Book A, p. 405, Book B, p. 69. MS Dept. of Archives & History (MDAH), Jackson MS, rootsweb, Americans Arriving in Spanish-Held Natchez 1788-1790. Miss. Wills and Probate Records, 1780-1982, Will Books, Vol A-B, 1800-1917, Provo, UT 2015. MDAH, MS Territorial Census 1810, Claiborne and Warren Cos. Port Gibson Herald, Port Gibson MS, Jul 27, 1843. MSGenWeb, 1820 Warren Co. MS Census, submitted & trans. by Ann Allen Geoghegan, website. MSGenWeb, 1805 Wilkinson Co. MS Census, submitted & trans. by Virginia Ewing, website. Rapides Parish, 1820 Census, S-K Publ., 2003, p. 132. Wells, Carol, Natchez Postscripts 1781-1798, Heritage Books, pp. 101, 144-5, 151, Wikitree, website, Biography within entry for "Sarah Ann (Marshall) Spencer", no. 174, upd. Jan 12, 2024.