Something About Me

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More About This Family . . .
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The Annual Marshall Family Picnic and Reunion
Newest Research -- The Mystery Marshall Ancestor
The 1806 Estate File of John Marshall
Keepers of the Family's Story and Lore
Family Treasures from the Homes and Lives of our Ancestors
LOTS OF LINKS
The Hoveys
The Family of Elizabeth "Betsy" Rohrer Robinson (1792-1881)
The Family of Frederick A. Rohrer (1794-1882)
The Family of Andrew Marshall (1800-1832)
The Family of Samuel Marshall (1801-1835)
The Family of John Marshall (1803-1889)
The Family of Mary Ann Marshall Bailey (1804-1895)
The Truby and Bauman Ancestors
Rohrer Ancestors and Kin
The Family of Simeon Hovey Marshall (1824-1912)
The Family of Mary Ann Marshall Turk (1827-1915)
The Family of Sarah L. Marshall McGough (1827-1904)
The Family of Andrew Eaton Marshall (1828-1860)
The Family of William Kelker Marshall (1829-1911)
The Rumbargers
The Family of Samuel Marshall Robinson (1830-1908)
The Family of Elisha Robinson (1832-1912)
The Family of Sarah Isabella Bailey Cooper (1847-1910)
Some Great Family Stories
Remembering Our Grandparents
Group Photos
"Nuclear Family" Photos
PHOTOS: "When We (and our Ancestors) Were Kids"
OUR YOUNGER GENERATION
MYSTERY PHOTOS
The Family Connecting 2005-2006
The Family Connecting 2007
The Family Connecting 2008
Places the Ancestors Lived
Family Places of Worship
Our Family Bibles
Family Members in the Military: Those Who Died For Our Country
Family Members in the Military (II)
WORLD WAR II -- Family Members in the Military
Learning From Family Military Photos
Printing and Newspapers -- A Family Affair
The Family In Business
A Generation On The Move
Family Members Travel
Our Family Cemeteries
OUR LOST CHILDREN AND YOUTH
In Memoriam
Recommended Reading and Listening
Family Projects -- What YOU Can Do
Something About Me

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Kelly Marshall

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SO IT BEGINS -- Late Summer 1952 -- And They Took A Picture!

Something about me . . .  My name is Gordon Kelly Marshall.  My parents called me “Kelly” from the time I was a baby, and no one knows me by my first name except the government and the banks.  I was born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, in 1951, the son of Percy J. Marshall and Betty Shankle.  As an adult, I realize something I didn’t know then—my ancestors in each of my grandparents’ lines from the early 1800s (and a few from the late 1700s) all lie buried within 100 miles of my place of birth.  So I am rooted here, literally, and I love this piece of geography.

 

     I always was interested in the history of my region and my family.  I often grilled my grandfather--Clifford W. Marshall (1897-1964)—about Marshall family roots.  He patiently told me again and again that his great-uncle had died in the Civil War, as well as the story which had come through his line about Marshall Family European and religious roots.  So at some level I’ve had a life-long interest in the history of Western Pennsylvania, in my own family connections to the places I knew growing up, and in the people who lived there.

 

     Today, my home is in Boardman, Ohio—an 80-minute drive from Kittanning.  It’s also an easy drive to all the places important to our 18th and 19th century families: Greensburg, Parker City, Butler, Reynoldsville, DuBois, Franklin and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania; Lancaster and St. Clairsville in Ohio; and Wheeling in West Virginia.  I’ve been here four years now, serving as Rector of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Boardman.  Before that, I served Episcopal parishes in the Dioceses of West Virginia and Pittsburgh; and before my spiritual journey led me to this Church, I served United Methodist congregations in Jefferson and Washington Counties in Pennsylvania.  I’ve been engaged in the work of a local congregation, one way or another, since I was a teenager—truly, my life’s work.

 

     My best leisure-time adventures, however, involve sniffing out and fleshing out the stories of this huge family of ours.  My interest was piqued in the mid-1970s by my grandfather’s cousin, Laura Heffner Wilson, (1900-1990), of Brookville, Pennsylvania; and by her distant cousin Charlotte Turk Dean (1901-1982) of Parker.  They and Charles S. L. Robinson (1912-2002) of Hovey Township gave me my first glimpse of our family before my grandfather’s generation.  I worked hard on collecting initial family data for about five years.  Then a move to Pittsburgh, another graduate degree, and growing work and family responsibilities saw me shoving all this research to a back burner for 20 years. 

 

     At the urging of my daughter Jennifer in 2001, I began learning to do family history research via the internet.  A year or so later, I shifted course radically and decided to invest much more time and energy into meeting cousins (close and distant) in person and hearing the stories of their own family lines.  This move away from the research rooms of libraries, courthouses, and the computer to more personal interaction and friendship-building has enriched my life in more ways than I can say.

 

     Where do I hope to go with all this?  I enjoy collecting stories and family photos and data--and then organizing it in ways others can have fun learning about this “one huge family” of families—all descending from our common ancestor, Catharina Truby Rohrer Marshall.  I’ll keep at it.  With the continuing help of many, I'll share what I find.  It's for us, for our children and grandchildren, and for their families into another time.   

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In the days long ago and far away, when I had a full head of (red) hair

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My Grandfather Marshall--about 1962--playing Chinese Checkers with me at his Kittanning home

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Holiday Dinner 1958, with my Grandfather Marshall at the head of the table and me at his right

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Best Friend and Travel Buddy Steve Bodkin -- Honolulu, 2006

MORE ABOUT MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY . . .

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FAMILY 1953 -- obviously, Mom was the only person ready for this photo.

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My parents and sister, Karen Marshall Hawk -- Mom's 83rd Birthday, July 2005
Members of my immediate family include my parents (see photo above) and the family of my sister,  Karen Marshall Hawk.  Karen is married to Russell E. Hawk, Jr., and they make their home in rural Armstrong County, about twenty minutes south of West Kittanning.  Their sons are Jared Hawk, an attorney in Pittsburgh; and Matthew Kelly Hawk--middle name, for his favorite uncle!--and Joshua Hawk (see below).  Matthew is a graduate student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Josh is an undergraduate student there.
 
November 2006

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Nephews Joshua Hawk (left) and Matthew Hawk (right)

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Kelly Marshall with daughter Jennifer A. Marshall, November 2007

     My daughter Dr. Jennifer A. Marshall of Columbia, South Carolina (see photo above) teaches at the University of South Carolina. Click on her name, above, for an aritcle about her which appeared in the occasional newsletter, Family!
 
     My son Adam M. Marshall, his wife, Katina R. Holladay (see photo  below) and their sons Eli and Tristan relocated to northern Virginia early in 2007, having lived for many years in Clemson, South Carolina.  Both graduated from Clemson University--Adam with a degree in history and Katina, a degree in English.  In South Carolina, Katina taught high school English until Eli was born, and then she did part-time consulting in the area of test development from home.  Adam was employed as an information technology consultant with Orian
 
     The move to northern Virginia brought a role reversal for them, with Katina accepting the position of test development specialist with the American Institutes for Research in Georgetown, while Adam became a stay-at-home Dad, doing IT (information tech) consulting part-time from home.  Katina and Adam are the very best parents I've ever known, and I'm quite proud of them.

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Adam and Katina Holladay Marshall--Thanksgiving 2007

My Zimbabwean daughter, Jeannette Nderere, and her son Ian Preston (see photo below) have made their home in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Jeannette came from Harare in 1982, shortly after Zimbabwean independence, to live with my family in order to complete her high school education.  After the death of her father, the Rev. John Tafadzwa Nderere, Jeannette stayed in the United States and graduated from Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, with a degree in communication.  She has made several trips back to Zimbabwe to visit her late mother and extended family--and Ian was able to make one of those trips with her.  Because of the incredibly sad political situation there, most of her siblings have left their native land.

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My Zimbabwean daughter Jeannette with her son Ian (and Jennifer) -- May 2005

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West Virginia Days, 1996-2003

My work in parish ministry has been rich and fulfilling . . .
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

AREN'T GRANDKIDS GREAT?

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Grandsons Eli and Tristan Marshall, Halloween 2007

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With grandson Eli Marshall, August 2007

But how can I be old enough to have grandchildren?  Where do all the years go?  This past summer my son Adam, his wife Katina and their sons were able to attend our Marshall Family Picnic for the first time since their boys were born.  I was delighted to see my grandsons running about the same places, on the same Saturday in August, where their father Adam had been playing 30 years ago.  And for an instant, Time tricked me into thinking that Eli was Adam.  Where do the years go?

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My grandsons Eli and Tristan with their Dad--apple picking in Maryland, September 2007

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Kelly Marshall -- St. James' Episcopal Church, 2004

I am a sixth-generation descendant of our common ancestor, Catharina Truby Rohrer Marshall and her second husband, John Marshall.  My lineage is through her third Marshall son, John (1803-1889) and his wife Charlotte Kelker (1800-1854) of Parker, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.  Their oldest son was lumberman William Kelker Marshall (1829-1911) who married Anna Mary Rumbarger (1838-1924), and they made their home in Reynoldsville, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania.  They were my great-great-grandparents.  Their eleventh child and fifth son was my great-grandfather, Earl Jay Marshall (1878-1941); he married Rose B. Haugh (1882-1918).  My Grandfather Marshall (Clifford William Marshall, 1897-1964) was their first child.  He married Florence Williams Marshall (1900-1989).  Their first son and second child was Percy J. Marshall (born 1921).  He and my mother, Betty Shankle Marshall (born 1922) have made their home in West Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, since 1955.

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Billy (1995-2007) -- The Best Basset Ever

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"It is amazing
how much family
is out there!
Who knew?!?"
 
Cousin Jeff Olson
of the State of  Washington
 
Jeff is a sixth-generation descendant
of John Marshall  and Catharina Truby Rohrer Marshall

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ENTIRE SITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION   
(All the Time!)

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Photos and Information Placed Online
 
I make a good effort not to place online any information which easily would allow someone to contact you or your family members.  If I've inadvertently placed such information on our family site (or a photo of you and/or a family member which you prefer would not appear) just e-mail me.  I'll remove the information and/or the picture right away.

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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
 
All content and images on this site
which aren't in the public domain are
 the intellectual property of Gordon Kelly Marshall.
 
Researchers, family members, libraries,
or genealogical and/or historical societies are invited to use
the information freely, for non-commercial purposes only,
with proper credit to this site. 
 
The website may not be copied or distributed
without express written consent.
 
Email me at marshallfamily@zoominternet.net.

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