Samuel Taylor Marshall (February 6, 1812 – June 13, 1895) was an American attorney, government official, and fraternity founder. He was one of the founders of

Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, , it consist ...

, a college fraternity founded at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

in 1839. Marshall served as the

sergeant-at-arms A serjeant-at-arms or sergeant-at-arms is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin , which means "servant". Historically, serjeants-at-a ...

of the

Iowa legislature The Iowa General Assembly is the legislative branch of the state government of Iowa. Like the federal United States Congress, the General Assembly is a bicameral body, composed of the upper house Iowa Senate and the lower Iowa House of Represe ...

Early life

Marshall was born February 6, 1812, in

Oxford, Ohio Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,035 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. A college town, Oxford was founded as a home for Miami University and lies in the southwestern portion ...

. His parents were Mary Hueston and Gilbert Marshall, a farmer.
Biographical Review of Lee County, Iowa
'. Chicago: Hobart Publishing Company, 1905. pp. 174-176. via Library of Congress. He was one of ten children and completed his primary education in local county schools. Marshall attended

, graduating with an A.B. degree in 1840.Brown, James T., ed., ''Catalogue of Beta Theta Pi'', New York: 1917. While at Miami, he was one of the eight founders of

fraternity. He wrote the fraternity's constitution and its by-laws. Initially, the group operated sub rose because of faculty objections to Greek letter organizations. However, once Marshall had recruited ten members, they wore a fraternity pin in public. As the oldest member of the fraternity, he was regarded as its "father". Marshall joined the Patriots and fought in the

Patriot War The Patriot War was a conflict along the Canada–United States border in which bands of raiders attacked the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British colony of Upper Canada more than a dozen times between December 1837 and Decemb ...

as a Lieutenant Colonel. He was captured by the Canadians and imprisoned from July 1841 to February 1842. When he was captured, he ate the official documents in his possession, rather than letting them be seen by the Canadians. He was found guilty of invasion and was sentenced to transportation to

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...

, now

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, but managed to elude deportation until he was released. After his release, Marshall studied law with Timonty Walker in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. He then continued his law studies in

LaFayette, Indiana Lafayette ( ) is a city in and is the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Lafayette ...

and with Pettit & Orth.

Career

Marshall moved to

Lee County, Iowa Lee County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,555. The county seats are Fort Madison and Keokuk: It is the only county in Iowa with more than one county seat. Lee County is part ...

in December 1842 and began practicing law in

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

. The governor appointed Marshall as a

notary public A notary public ( notary or public notary; notaries public) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with general financial transactions, estates, deeds, powers- ...

for Lee County in 1844. In 1847, Marshall moved his practice to

Keokuk, Iowa Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk people, Sauk chief K ...

where he became a prominent attorney. He served as the

of the

from 1846 to 1848. Marshall was an editor of the ''Nip and Tuck'', a daily newspaper in Keokuk.

Honors

Marshall was the guest of honor for the Beta Theta Pi Founders' Day celebration on May 24, 1895. In 1898, the fraternity erected a memorial to Marshall and its other founders at Miami University. Beta Theta Pi named its Samuel Tayor Marshall Memorial Scholarship in his honor.

Personal life

Marshall married Louisa Davis Patterson, a native of Kentucky, in West Point on February 26, 1846. She was the daughter of Col. William Patterson who was a member of Iowa's first territorial legislature and was the mayor and postmaster of Keokuk. The couple had ten children, including Robert M. Marshall, W. P. Marshall, A. Tom Marshall, Sabret T. Mashall, C. H. Marshall, Maude M. Marshall, and Sabet T. Marshall. Tom practice law with his father and Robert became the county attorney of Lee County. Sabret studied law under his father and brother and became a lawyer and member of the Iowa legislature. In October 1945, Marshall was a member of the Anti-Morman League in Lee County; he served on a committee to select candidates for office. He was also a member of the Masons. On June 13, 1895, Marshall died of heart problems in Keokuk at the age of 85 years. He was buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Keokuk. Beta Theta Pi held a memorial service for Marshall at its annual convention in Chicago on July 26, 1895. His daughter, Maude, bequeathed $5,000 ($ in today's money) to the Miami University chapter of Beta Theta Pi in 1955.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Samuel Taylor Miami University alumni People from Lee County, Iowa 1812 births 1895 deaths Beta Theta Pi founders 19th-century American lawyers People from Oxford, Ohio American Freemasons