Mays Family Tree - Person Sheet
NameHumphry MARSHALL 
2967
2967Birth Date10 Oct 1722
Birth PlaceWest Bradford Township, Chester Co., PA, USA
Death Date5 Jan 1801 Age: 78
OccupationBotanist, Chester County Treasurer
ReligionSociety of Friends (Quaker)
Cause of DeathDysentery
FatherAbraham MARSHALL (1669-1767)
MotherMary HUNT (-1769)
Misc. Notes
He was among the earliest and most noted of American botanists.
HUMPHRY MARSHALL, sixth son and eighth child of Abraham and Mary (Hunt) Marshall, was born in West Bradford, Chester Co., Pa., Oct. 10, 1722. In the days of his childhood educational facilities were scanty and limited, and Humphry used often to state that he never went to school a day after he was twelve years of age. Being constitutionally robust and active, he was employed in agricultural labors until he was old enough to be apprenticed to the business of a stone-mason. This trade he learned and followed for a few years. The walls of his residence at Marshallton still testify to his skill as a practical workman.
His first purchase of land, in what is now the village of Marshallton, was a tract of something like thirty acres, bought in 1772 of Sarah Arnold for £151 5s. 4d. Nov. 3, 1774, he purchased of George Martin and wife seventy acres for £210; and Aug. 27, 1782, he bought four acres and twenty-five perches of Thomas Carpenter and wife for £30 in gold and silver.
His leisure hours in the winter season were devoted to scientific studies, and he soon evinced a decided partiality for astronomy and natural history. His taste for natural history no doubt was awakened and promoted by his intercourse with and the example of his cousin Bartram. In the year 1773 he commenced his "Botanic Garden," at Marshallton, and it soon contained a rich collection of the forest-trees and ornamental shrubs of our country. The noble magnolias, still flourishing there, are worthy of a visit on any summer day.
With the aid of his nephew, Dr. Moses Marshall, he was soon engaged in an active correspondence with Dr. Fothergill, Dr. Lettsom, Sir Joseph Banks, and others, by which England was largely supplied with our vegetable treasures. These active and interesting engagements did not prevent him from attending to the business of the religious Society of Friends [Quaker], of which he was an influential member. He also performed the duties of county treasurer and trustee of the provincial loan-office for several years with exemplary fidelity.
In 1785 he published an account of the forest-trees and shrubs of this country, under the title of "Arbustum Americanum, the American Grove." This is believed to be the first truly indigenous botanical essay prepared and published in this western hemisphere, and was a creditable performance. Like its respectable author, however, it was half a century in advance of the community in which it appeared.
In 1786 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. In Schreber’s edition of the "Genera Plantarum," in 1791, a genus of American plants belonging to the natural family of Compositae was dedicated to Humphry Marshall and his nephew, by the name of Marshallia.
In the latter years of his life Humphry’s vision was much impaired by cataract, and on the 5th of November, 1801, he finally sank under an attack of dysentery, aged seventy-nine years. He was twice married, but had no children. A few years since the authorities of West Chester manifested a becoming sense of what was due to the character and memory of Humphry Marshall by dedicating a public square to the use of the citizens and naming it "Marshall Square."2968
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Arbustum Americanum. The American Grove, or an Alphabetical Catalogue of Forest Trees and Shrubs, natives of the American United States, arranged according to the Linnaean system, containing the particular distinguishing characters of each Genus, with plain, simple, and familiar descriptions of the manner of growth, appearance, etc., of their several species and varieties. Also, some hints of their uses in medicine, dyes, and domestic economy. Compiled from actual knowledge and observation, and the assistance of botanical authors. By Humphry Marshall. Philadelphia: printed by Joseph Cruikshank, in Market Street, between Second and Third Streets, 1785. 8vo, pp. 174.
Observations on Botany as applicable to Rural Economies, tending to show the utility of Botanical Knowledge in relation to Agriculture, and the feeding of Cattle, etc. Prepared for the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, by Humphry Marshall, 1786.2969
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Two Marshall brothers, Humphrey and Jacob, are married to Pennock Sisters.3
HUMPHRY MARSHALL, sixth son and eighth child of Abraham and Mary (Hunt) Marshall, was born in West Bradford, Chester Co., Pa., Oct. 10, 1722. In the days of his childhood educational facilities were scanty and limited, and Humphry used often to state that he never went to school a day after he was twelve years of age. Being constitutionally robust and active, he was employed in agricultural labors until he was old enough to be apprenticed to the business of a stone-mason. This trade he learned and followed for a few years. The walls of his residence at Marshallton still testify to his skill as a practical workman.
His first purchase of land, in what is now the village of Marshallton, was a tract of something like thirty acres, bought in 1772 of Sarah Arnold for £151 5s. 4d. Nov. 3, 1774, he purchased of George Martin and wife seventy acres for £210; and Aug. 27, 1782, he bought four acres and twenty-five perches of Thomas Carpenter and wife for £30 in gold and silver.
His leisure hours in the winter season were devoted to scientific studies, and he soon evinced a decided partiality for astronomy and natural history. His taste for natural history no doubt was awakened and promoted by his intercourse with and the example of his cousin Bartram. In the year 1773 he commenced his "Botanic Garden," at Marshallton, and it soon contained a rich collection of the forest-trees and ornamental shrubs of our country. The noble magnolias, still flourishing there, are worthy of a visit on any summer day.
With the aid of his nephew, Dr. Moses Marshall, he was soon engaged in an active correspondence with Dr. Fothergill, Dr. Lettsom, Sir Joseph Banks, and others, by which England was largely supplied with our vegetable treasures. These active and interesting engagements did not prevent him from attending to the business of the religious Society of Friends [Quaker], of which he was an influential member. He also performed the duties of county treasurer and trustee of the provincial loan-office for several years with exemplary fidelity.
In 1785 he published an account of the forest-trees and shrubs of this country, under the title of "Arbustum Americanum, the American Grove." This is believed to be the first truly indigenous botanical essay prepared and published in this western hemisphere, and was a creditable performance. Like its respectable author, however, it was half a century in advance of the community in which it appeared.
In 1786 he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. In Schreber’s edition of the "Genera Plantarum," in 1791, a genus of American plants belonging to the natural family of Compositae was dedicated to Humphry Marshall and his nephew, by the name of Marshallia.
In the latter years of his life Humphry’s vision was much impaired by cataract, and on the 5th of November, 1801, he finally sank under an attack of dysentery, aged seventy-nine years. He was twice married, but had no children. A few years since the authorities of West Chester manifested a becoming sense of what was due to the character and memory of Humphry Marshall by dedicating a public square to the use of the citizens and naming it "Marshall Square."2968
____________
Arbustum Americanum. The American Grove, or an Alphabetical Catalogue of Forest Trees and Shrubs, natives of the American United States, arranged according to the Linnaean system, containing the particular distinguishing characters of each Genus, with plain, simple, and familiar descriptions of the manner of growth, appearance, etc., of their several species and varieties. Also, some hints of their uses in medicine, dyes, and domestic economy. Compiled from actual knowledge and observation, and the assistance of botanical authors. By Humphry Marshall. Philadelphia: printed by Joseph Cruikshank, in Market Street, between Second and Third Streets, 1785. 8vo, pp. 174.
Observations on Botany as applicable to Rural Economies, tending to show the utility of Botanical Knowledge in relation to Agriculture, and the feeding of Cattle, etc. Prepared for the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, by Humphry Marshall, 1786.2969
____________
Two Marshall brothers, Humphrey and Jacob, are married to Pennock Sisters.3