James Keith Marshall (February 13, 1800 – December 2, 1862) was a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

planter and politician. He served in both houses of the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

, including after Virginia declared its secession during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

Early and family life

Born to Chief Justice John Marshall and his wife Mary Willis Ambler Marshall (1766–1831) in Richmond on February 13, 1800, James Keith Marshall had several brothers and sisters. He attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, as did all but one of his brothers, but never graduated. He married Claudia Hamilton Burwell Marshall (1800–1884) in 1821, and they had eleven children, many of whom died in childhood.

Career

Marshall withdrew from Harvard in early 1815 after being disciplined and his brother John Marshall, Jr. expelled, and soon began a career as an investment banker in Philadelphia with the house of Willing & Francis. He returned to

Fauquier County, Virginia Fauquier is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,972. The county seat is Warrenton. Fauquier County is in Northern Virginia and is a part of the Washington metropolitan area. History In 160 ...

circa 1821 and received a plantation from his father as a wedding present. He then farmed using enslaved labor, owning 47 slaves in the 1830 census, many slaves in the 1840 census after his father's death, and 55 slaves in the 1850 census. After his elder brother Thomas's unexpected death in 1835, first his brother

Edward Carrington Marshall Edward Carrington Marshall (January 13, 1805 – February 8, 1882) was a Virginia farmer, planter, businessman, and politician. He represented Fauquier County in the Virginia House of Delegates 1834-1838 and became president of the Manassas Gap ...

would run for and win one of the county's two seats in the

, and then after Edward fell from a horse and became disabled, James Keith Marshall ran and represented the county from 1839 until 1841 (winning re-election once, but losing in 1838). In 1853, voters elected James Keith Marshall to the Virginia Senate, where he represented Fauquier and neighboring Rappahannock Counties. He succeeded George W. Brent, and was re-elected in 1857.Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia's General Assembly 1619–1978: A Bicentennial Register (Virginia State Library 1978) pp. 392, 457, 462, 467, 473, 481 After Virginia declared its secession, Marshall continued to serve in the Senate, but died in office on December 2, 1862. His cousin Alexander J. Marshall succeeded him. James Keith Marshall was buried in the family plot in the cemetery of Leeds Episcopal Church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, James Keith 1800 births 1862 deaths People from Fauquier County, Virginia Members of the Virginia House of Delegates 19th-century American politicians Virginia state senators American slave owners