Letter about the Dr. John Marshall Family of Carteret Co., NC
Submitted by Mona Marshall Prado of Wilson, NC

Beaufort
Feb 22  1876
Mr. BECKWITH

Sir,

     I received your letter the 18th and you wish to know who was the ancestors of THOMAS MARSHALL.  Doctor JOHN MARSHALL was borned and raised in England and graduated in London as a Doctor and then he came to this country and married a wife, MARY BRAGG.  They both lived and died here a short distance from the town and raised their children here.  They had five sons and five daughters.  Their oldest son was named WILLIAM MARSHALL and he went over to Hyde County and married SALLY SPENCER a sister to old Mr. SAMUEL SPENCER.

      And Uncle WILLIAM had two children.  JOHN and NANCY MARSHALL and JOHN MARSHALL was the father of THOMAS JOHN MARSHALL and uncle WILLIAM was his grandfather and Doctor JOHN MARSHALL was his great grandfather.  My father was the youngest son of Dr. JOHN MARSHALL and Pa was known as POICE (PRICE?) MARSHALL and I am his oldest child.

     Uncle WILLIAM the grandfather of THOMAS J. MARSHALL was lost at sea.  He went to the West Indies and while on his voyage a storm came on and the vessel and all was lost, but I do not know the date but I think that I can find that out by an old man that lives here that went to sea with my Uncle JAMES MARSHALL, this very old man is 95 years old.  I will go see him and write to you all of the information that I can gain.

     The father of Doctor JOHN MARSHALL lived and died in England.  His name was HENRY MARSHALL.  One portion of this property came from a Mrs. ALICE PRICE.  She was the only child of a WILLIAM MARSHALL in England and her father made a will leaving his estate to his daughter ALICE MARSHALL and if she, ALICE MARSHALL died intestate, the property went to Grandpa, Doctor JOHN MARSHALL.  I think that she was twice married but her last husband was a WILLIAM PRICE.  Mrs. PRICE never had any children so her marriages did not affect the title any.  I do not remember the date that Grandpa came to this country but in 1792 Grandpa went over to England to get a portion of property that was left to him by some of his relatives.  A lady that died by the name of MARY MARSHALL and when he came home he told his family that at the death of Mrs. PRICE that they would be sure to get her estates and she was very rich and that there was other estates there that would fall to his heirs in this country.

      At the time that Grandpa went to England they had 6 children and the 7th one was born while he was gone in 1792.

     In the years of 1846 and 47, Pa held a correspondence with a lawyer in England about this property and the lawyer wrote him every particulars of the estates and he had seen the wills and how the property was left and that Grandpa’s children was the sole heirs and after Pa died I had a bundle of important papers but in 1866 and 67 I wrote some letters to the principle agents of the unclaimed property in England about this property and gave him a full detail of everything concerning the family and property that I knew and JOHN (O. or A.) MARSHALL and WILLIAM H. MARSHALL, sons of uncle JAMES and Uncle JOHN MARSHALL took this business in hand to get the property and then WILLIAM came to me for those papers and carried them to Newbern with him.  I will write to him for them and you can have them.

     JOHN O. MARSHALL believed that he and WILLIAM MARSHALL being the oldest male heirs in the family and he had the same name of his father and grandfather that he was entitled to the heirship but I told him that if he did not take THOMAS JOHN in, that he could not get it for Pa has told me very often that not a thing could be done with it without THOMAS JOHN for he is certainly the heir at law and if he works the right way he will recover the whole amount.

     The last letter that I received from Mr. GUN in London said that he did not know what to think of the Marshall family to neglect a business of such interest.  He said that everything was very clear and he did not see any difficulty whatsoever and he also offered to get the whole for a certain part of it.  I wrote to Mr. GUN from the papers that I had then a letter of instruction and you will have to write to him and when you write refer him to the letters that he received from ALICE P. WOLFE in 1866 and 68.  I will also send you his address.

     JOHN MARSHALL wrote to some agents in Boston and he said that they wrote to him that the property consist of Bank Stocks and real estate.  I wrote to them several letters and they spoke of 3 estates.  That of one JOHN MARSHALL and JAMES MARSHALL and THOMAS MARSHALL and either of them was well worth investigating but those agents are not in Boston now.  And you had better write to Mr. GUN in London and tell him that you are acting for a member of the same family of Marshall’s that JOHN MARSHALL and ALICE WOLFE wrote to him about.  The property that was left to their grandfather, JOHN MARSHALL in England for he has every information that is needed only the date of Uncle WILLIAM's marriage and death and tell him that THOMAS JOHN is the oldest son of Doctor JOHN MARSHALL.  Grandpa died in 1807.  There is a great deal of property and money in England belonging to our family.  I have heard Pa say that it would make all of the MARSHALL family very rich.

     If I was THOMAS JOHN I would give the whole thing in Mr. GUN's hands to get it for such a part? and of course he must have you to represent him but then you can use your own mind about this matter for you as a lawyer know better this business than I do.

     If there is any information that you would like to have you will let me know and I will give it with pleasure.  I suppose that you can find by referring to the family records or to the courthouse the marriages of Uncle WILLIAM and his son JOHN as they both married in Hyde County. 

Direct your letter to:
Mr. ROBERT GUN
6 Prince of Whales Road
London NW, England 

Yours very respectfully,

[signed] Mrs. ALICE P. WOLFE

FAMILY OF DR. JOHN MARSHALL OF CARTERET CO, NC

This work drawn from record by MATTHEW A. MARSHALL and is a correct record of Dr. JOHN MARSHALL's family from 1767 to 1911, Beaufort NC Oct. 25th, 1911 and signed by M. A. MARSHALL

Dr. JOHN MARSHALL was the son of HENRY MARSHALL, lived in London, Eng. No. 293 Paternortic Road.

In the year of our Lord, three of HENRY MARSHALL's children came to the colonies, then belonging to England.  They sailed from London and landed at Charleston, S.C.  The three brothers, JAMES, WILLIAM and JOHN, we have lost which one settled in Va. and S.C.  Whether WILLIAM MARSHALL in S.C. or JAMES but JOHN MARSHALL, Chief Justice of the U.S., was the son of one of the sons.  One or the other has one grandson now living in Wilmington, NC, He is now about 80 years old.  He has several sons, one A. J. MARSHALL , a lawyer in Wilmington, one in the U.S. Service Engineers Dept. and very prominent, and his other sons hold very  responsible positions.  All of the descendants in Va. are prominent men.  Our great-grandfather, Dr. JOHN MARSHALL, had abundance of wealth, and several thousand acres of land in the county of Carteret, NC  He married in Beaufort, NC  1773 to Miss MARY BRAGG, the sister to THOMAS BRAGG who was the father of Governor THOMAS BRAGG, Judge WILLIAM BRAGG and General BACK BRAGG.  I think their mother was ASPARON from Beaufort, County.  They lived somewhere about Bath.

There was born to Dr. JOHN and his wife MARY, WILLIAM, JAMES, JOHN, PRICE and THOMAS, boys, and MATILDA, ELIZABETH, ALICE, NANCY, girls, everyone married prominent men.  CAPTAIN JAMES ANTHONY moved to Miss. in 1840, 1860 moved to Banham, Texas.  One son, JAMES MARSHALL ANTHONY, who was one of the best lawyers of his day, died in 1872 leaving good estate.  COL. NATHAN FULLER married MATILDA: had one son who was PAUL OR PRICE moved to Houston, Texas 1854.  I mean COL. NATHAN FULLER and family.  TED or PERD his son became one of the leading lawyers in Texas.  This was the only child of Aunt MATILDA. Died in 1883 leaving no descendants.  Aunt ALICE married WILLIAM OLIVER, moved to Georgia in 1855, left one daughter who married in Kentucky, also one son who died in Kentucky, leaving lots of descendants, and are prominent in that State.

Aunt BETSIE or ELIZABETH married in Beaufort to one WILLIAM ROBINSON, one of the best families of the town at that time, had three children to live, ELIZABETH, JOSEPH and WILLIAM. ELIZABETH married CAPTAIN SAMUEL DILL of that place and had several children, a prominent family.  The children, GEORGE DILL, their son was one of the best business men in our section.  Also another brother SAMUEL, who is known as a fine railroad man, been holding a prominent position on the A&NC and N?&S RR for 50 years.  WILLIAM one of the best business men of our city, JOSEPH another son, CAPT. JOHN A. DILL, another son, also several refined daughters, one now living in Floyd County married to CHARLEYMAN, ELLA.

The descendants of the lives of DR. JOHN are in 15 different states, and proud to say, not one but what are honorable, and prominent in the business world, and their descendants are 127 but to date living.  The sons of DR. JOHN MARSHALL and his wife, MARY, WILLIAM, JAMES, JOHN, PRICE and THOMAS WILLIAM.  We have no account who WILLIAM married but married in Craven County, had one son, THOMAS JOHN.  He moved to Hyde County and married to whom we have no record but he had a son and his name is JOHN THOMAS, and up to date, we do not know how many children and great-grandchildren there were, but JOHN O. MARSHALL and THOMAS MARSHALL and another brother and two sisters now living in Hyde County, great-great-grandchildren to DR. JOHN MARSHALL and are prominent neighbors of their county.  JAMES MARSHALL had three children who lived to be grown.  He married a MISS HOLLAND of Jones County.  To them was born WILLIAM, JAMES and one daughter.  There is but one living from JAMES.  A grandson HENRY MARSHALL of New Bern.  They were a prominent family of Craven County.

JOHN MARSHALL, the son of DR. JOHN and MARY his wife were married twice.  His first wife was Miss WHITEHURST from the Straights, Carteret County, who lived only 18 months.  And after her death he married ELIZABETH DAWSON (OUTLAW) of New Bern, one of the most prominent families in New Bern, and was or were the principal merchants and shippers in trade to the West Indies.  To them was born 4 boys and 2 girls.  JOHN O. MARSHALL, MATTHEW, A. O. MARSHALL, THOMAS MARSHALL and BUCKMAN DAWSON MARSHALL.  The daughters  are MACY MARSHALL and SUSAN J. MARSHALL.  JOHN MARSHALL did considerable business in New Bern, Hyde County and Beaufort run or (one) store on Matomsis Seat and owned a home then in Hyde County, finally left his nephew who he carried to Hyde in charge, THOMAS JOHN MARSHALL, and moved his business to Beaufort and New Bern.  Died with cholera in 1835.  All of his sons were prominent men.  The daughter MACY married COL. WM. FLANNER in Wilmington.  His other daughter SUSAN JANE married DR. SHERWOOD of Philadelphia, Pa.  JOHN O. and THOMAS MARSHALL were the only ones who left children.  JOHN O.  left four sons, ALEXANDER, MATTHEW, A.O. JOHN and ALBERT that lived to maturity and four girls, MARY M., SUSAN J., AROBELLA and MACEY.  AROBELLA married DR. T. B. DELAMAR, had three children, one a doctor in the U.S.A., one in the employ of the A.C.L., while the daughter is yet in school at Goldsboro.  MACEY never married.  SUSAN left four children, ALEXANDER lived in Halifax County, Enfield, became prosperous, died 1886, left one son now living in Rocky Mount, is traveling salesman.  MATTHEW A. O. has three children, HENRY M., married, no children, PERCY not married.  Moved in prominent families.  HENRY married Miss LILLIE FRENCH from Craven, one of the best families in the county. BELLE married a HOWLAND of Beaufort, one of the best families of the county.  MARY married had two children, one married and one not, of good family, has one daughter refined and educated.  ALVERT MARSHALL, a widower married a Miss WOOLARD of Washington, has one son, JOHN.  PRICE MARSHALL died in 1865 was Anign Speculator and held many prominent county positions and was held in high esteem and was ???.  Had a great deal of real estate, was married, had several children, only two living JOHN and THOMAS, that have one son each.  THOMAS son engineer on A.C.L. lives at Rocky Mount, N.C., made WILLIAM his name.  JOHN had one son VERNON a prosperous farmer unmarried.  JOHN is 77, THOMAS 75. THOMAS lives at New Bern.  JOHN in Beaufort, also PRICE had several daughter.  Those children are scattered.  The one marrying DUNCAN lives in New Bern and are prominent.

THOMAS MARSHALL the son of DR. JOHN MARSHALL died 1867.  He was Sheriff of Carteret County for several years and represented Carteret in the Legislature for four successive times, and to the Senate three times.  Then was County Judge for many years, then retired from politics and lived a quiet life on his farm, married a Miss FULLER, his last wife.  By her he had five daughters and one son, all the daughters married but one.  They married, STANTON, SIMPSON, CHADWICK, and one married JAMES N. MARSHALL his cousin.  All prominent families living in Carteret County.

This is a synopsis of DR. JOHN MARSHALL's family and descendants.  His sister died in London according to his will in 1707, left large estate in Wales, Scotland and England.  She never married and her estate was left to the MARSHALL family.  Her name was ALICE PRICE MARSHALL, and was 66 years old at her death.

This work drawn from record by MATTHEW A. MARSHALL and is a correct record of DR. JOHN MARSHALL's family from 1767 to 1911, Beaufort NC Oct. 25th, 1911 and signed by M. A. Marshall

(Then under this is:)

JOHN THOMAS MARSHALL was the son of JAMES MARSHALL and THOMAS JOHN MARSHALL was the son of JOHN THOMAS MARSHALL, and JOHN O. MARSHALL was the son of JOHN JOHN THOMAS MARSHALL all of Hyde County.  JAMES MARSHALL was the son of DR. JOHN MARSHALL of Beaufort, NC.  Record of the family is now in possession of MATTHEW A. MARSHALL the son of JOHN O MARSHALL and JOHN O. MARSHALL was the son of JOHN MARSHALL and JOHN MARSHALL was the son of DR. JOHN MARSHALL.

This document is from a letter from Bette HARTSELL in New Bern to Mrs. ELIZABETH MARSHALL, mother of RICHARD H.L. MARSHALL and was given to MONA MARSHALL PRADO of Wilson, NC. It was a typed three page document from an older looking typewriter and some areas with ?'s are questionable by me as I could not read the copy very well in those areas.  Lots of information enclosed and some of it may conflict with the information that I have on the MARSHALL's in Hyde County as of June 25, 2002.

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