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, a college fraternity founded at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...

in 1839. Marshall served as the sergeant-at-arms 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 Repr ...

Early life

Marshall was born February 6, 1812, in

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

. 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 four founders of Beta Theta Pi 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 British colony of Upper Canada more than a dozen times between December 1837 and December 1838. This so-called war was not a conflic ...

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 used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...

, now

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

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

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. He then continued his law studies in

LaFayette, Indiana Lafayette ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, whi ...

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. Lee County is part of the Fort Madison–Keokuk, IA- IL- MO Micropolitan S ...

in December 1842 and began practicing law in

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

. The governor appointed Marshall as a notary public 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, along with Fort Madison. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is ...

where he became a prominent attorney. He served as the sergeant-at-arms 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.

Community ...

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