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Community Information
Heritage through our Ancestors Restaurants Local HistorySettled in 1830, the village was first platted in 1831 by Sidney Ketchum, from Clinton County, New York. George Ketchum became its first postmaster on October 10, 1831. Two Marshall citizens, Rev. John D. Pierce and lawyer Issac E. Crary,
Their method and format were later adopted by all the states in the old Northwest Territory and became the foundation for the U.S. Land Grant Act in 1861 which established schools like Michigan State University all over the country. Pierce became the country's first state superintendent of public instruction and Crary Michigan's first member of the U.S. House. Incorporated as a village in 1836 and as a city in 1859. Named for U.S. Chief Justice, John Marshall. Stand Against SlaveryIn 1843, Adam Crosswhite and his family ran away from Frank Giltner's Kentucky plantation because Crosswhite learned that his four children were to be sold. The Crosswhites made the tough journey north and finally settled in Marshall. On the morning of January 2, 1847, the slave catchers and a local deputy sheriff were pounding on Adam's door. His neighbors heard the noise and came running. The cry of "slave catchers!" was yelled through the streets of Marshall. Soon over 100 people surrounded the Crosswhite home. Threats were shouted back and forth. One of the slave catchers began to demand that people in the crowd give him their names. They were proud to tell him and even told him the correct spelling. Each name was written down in a little book. Finally, the deputy sheriff swayed by the crowd's opinion, decided he should arrest the men from Kentucky instead. By the time the slave catchers would post bond and get out of jail, the Crosswhites were on their way to Canada. Next the Giltners went to the federal court in Detroit. They sued the crowd from Marshall for damages. Since they had many of their names it was easy to decide whom to sue. Many of the people in the crowd were fined, which they paid gladly and considered a badge of honor. Because of the Crosswhite case and others like it, Senator Clay from Kentucky pushed a new law through Congress in 1850. It was known as the Fugitive Slave Law. This federal law made it very risky for anyone to help an escaped slave. (Crosswhite history excerpts from "Michigan's Story, by David B. McConnell.)
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innovated
the Michigan school system and established it as part of the state constitution.
