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(continued from Home Page)
Catharina's children to her first husband were Elizabeth “Betsy” Rohrer (1792-1881, married Elisha Robinson, a native of Connecticut) and Frederick Augustus Rohrer (1794-1882, married first Sarah (Sallie) Frains/Frame; and second, Eliza Ulam Wolf). The children of John and Catharina Marshall were Andrew Marshall (1800-1832, married Barbara McQuiston
of Butler, Pennsylvania); Samuel Marshall (1801-1835, married Phebe Perry of Scrubgrass Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania); John Marshall (1803-1889, married Charlotte Kelker of Butler);
and Mary Ann Marshall (1804-1895, married Elisha H. Bailey,
who was born in Centre County, Pennsylvania).
This blended Marshall-Rohrer family moved from
Greensburg in late 1805 to the Ohio frontier village of New Lancaster, Fairfield County. Tragedy struck them in the
summer of 1806 when both parents died of a fever. The six orphaned children seem to have found new homes as follows: Catharina's
sister, Mary Ann "Polly" Truby Hovey, wife of Dr. Simeon Hovey, brought back to western Pennsylvania
the baby, Mary Ann Marshall, and the Rohrer children. Her husband became Betsy’s guardian. Catharina’s brother,
Christopher Truby, became Frederick’s initial guardian; eventually Greensburg
attorney George Armstrong was appointed his guardian, and Frederick spent the rest of his long
life in Greensburg. Joseph Marshall and John Patterson of St. Clairsville, Belmont County, Ohio,
became guardians for the three young Marshall boys. Indirect
evidence indicates that Samuel Marshall, at least, was reared by the Hoveys (along with his sisters) on the west bank of the
Allegheny River in Perry Township, northwestern
Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
Within a decade or so, the villages of Parker's Landing, on the river, and Lawrenceburg,
situated above Parker's Landing, were established. These small towns merged into Parker City during the oil boom after the Civil War; today it is known simply as Parker. The story of Marshalls, Robinsons and Baileys, Trubys, Hoveys, and Rohrers, Coopers and Turks
in this region is tightly interwoven. If you’re part of this huge and interesting family, please contact me! I’m
eager to exchange information.
NOTE: I’m at the very beginning
(October 2007) of exploring the incredible, new discovery in Belmont County,
Ohio, of the 1807 Guardianship Bond for the orphaned Marshall Boys. One of the guardians was Joseph Marshall, who was born in 1767. He was the brother of our elusive Mystery Man, John Marshall—wasn’t
he?
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| From the Family Bible of their son, John Marshall |
A recollection of the 1806 deaths of
John and Catharina Marshall,
son John of Parker City, Pennsylvania.
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| Polly Truby Hovey's Signature, 1837 |
Dr. Simeon Hovey,
brother-in-law of Catharina Marshall and husband of her sister, Mary Ann (Polly) Truby, settled after 1797 on land granted him by the new Federal Government for his military service. This land was on the
high west bank of the Allegheny River in present-day Hovey
Township, just north of Parker, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
The land remained in the family until a few years ago. Just downriver, two of Polly's brothers, Christopher Truby and Jacob Truby, settled after leaving Greensburg. The presence of
these three Truby siblings near Parker's Landing rooted the Marshall and Robinson clans in this region. But it was Polly--"Aunt
Hovey"--who truly served as mother and grandmother to most early
members of our family lines. And the Presbyterian Cemetery in Parker, along with several others nearby, provide a final resting place for more members of our family than any other piece of geography
in the country.
| The Allegheny River, looking south |
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| The historic home place of the Robinsons and Marshalls, at Parker's Landing, Pennsylvania |
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