Last updated: September 13, 2021
Person
George and Mary Marsh
Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy
Quick Facts
Significance:
Michigan Homesteader
Place of Birth:
Virginia
Date of Birth:
1834
Place of Death:
Manistee County, Michigan
Date of Death:
1892
Place of Burial:
Pleasanton Cemetery
George and Mary Catherine (Goens/Goings) Marsh filed Homestead Application #3076 to claim 160 acres of land in Manistee County, Michigan, on May 21, 1868. Seven years later, the Marshes received their Homestead Patent Certificate # 2093 on May 10, 1875.
George W. Marsh was born about 1834 in Virginia. It is not determined yet where in Virginia, but his birthplace is considered close to Jefferson County, Virginia, now West Virginia. It is thought that Marsh was born enslaved, but his descendants do not know when he became free except for when he married, and left Virginia (now West Virginia).
Per the family bible, Marsh married Mary Catherine Goens/Goings, the daughter of Lawson and Sarah (Hart). Mary was born free in Jefferson County, Virginia, in 1840. They were married on June 19th, 1863, the day before Jefferson County, Virginia became West Virginia on the 20th of June. George and Mary had their first child, Nancy “Ardella”, born in Jefferson Co, West Virginia in 1864.
Right after the Civil War the Marshes left West Virginia and headed east. So far there isn't any indication that they received services from any Freedmen’s Bureau. Their first stop was when their second daughter Sara was born (1867) in Morrow County, Ohio. They only stayed in Ohio for about two years. The rest of the children; Cora, Jesse, Hattie, Clara, Mathew, John K, George Jr., Warren and Frank, were all born in Michigan.
The Marshes left Morrow County, Ohio, and applied to homestead 160 acres in Manistee Co. Michigan in 1868. On the trail to Michigan, the Marsh’s met Leonard Reed and family (race noted as white) who were also on the trail to Manistee, Michigan. The Reed family was coming from New York and already laid claim to 160 acres. George and Mary homesteaded next door to the Reed’s. The families remain friends today.
Homestead records show that George and Mary, along with their six children at the time, made settlement on May 1, 1868. Claimant and witness testimony state the Marshes built a house of logs, board floors, and shingled roof that had two doors and two windows. In addition, by the 1st of June, Marsh plowed, fenced, and cultivated 18 acres of land with 4 acres chopped, log barn, 3 fruit trees, 20 currant brush and 1000 strawberry plants.
The Marsh family continue to be owners of 30 acres of the homestead property. The Reed family descendants are still on their homestead land.
~ Contributed by Dr. Shelley Murphy, descendant
Family history extras with Dr. Shelley Murphy
George and Mary's daughter Clara is my great grandmother who died in 1959. Oral history passed down from my great grandmother to her daughter, Irene, and my mother, Verna, said George was enslaved. Also, George’s memory of his father were of the last day he saw him. George, at the age of four or five, remembered his father running through the house followed by his enslaver and a couple of the enslaver's neighbors running behind his father. George recanted hearing gun shots and never seeing his father again. As the story goes, there was a rumor that George’s father was going to run, but oral history says the runaway story was not true.
Elders of Manistee County shared stories about George and Mary. Mary was known for her pies and had won pie contests at the county fairs. Mary also brought apple seeds to plant from West Virginia. One story says that George was tall and could put his hand on a fence post and just leap over it. Frank, one of the sons always had a dream of being able to leap over a fence like his father. This was told by Bessie (Davis) Marsh, Frank’s wife to my mother back in the 1970s. It was also noted by white neighbors that when George was enslaved in Virginia he was always ready to defend someone that was treated wrong. An example being when George publically intervened to help a woman being mistreated by her husband.
The Marsh family is believed to be the first people of color to homestead in Manistee County, Michigan. My summers growing up along with my four brothers were spent visiting and working on this family homestead. Family homesteads are special places. This is where I learned (since I was born in a city) how to milk a cow, tend to a garden, and pick apples and berries.
About the contributor:
An avid genealogist for over 30 years, Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy, aka "familytreegirl," was born and raised in Michigan, now living in central Virginia. She conducts genealogy workshops at local, state and national conferences. Murphy, is known for her inspiring & interactive "SO WHAT" with genealogy research, along with interesting problem-solving methodology lectures such as the use of Timelines. Murphy is also a coordinator and instructor at the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI) and serves on the Boards of the Library of Virginia. Albemarle Charlottesville and Fluvanna Historical Societies. She holds membership in AAHGS NGS, APG, DAR, and local genealogy groups.
Dr. Murphy’s personal research focuses on Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia/West Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee. Dr. Murphy serves on the Board of the Library of Virginia and the Boards of the Albemarle, Charlottesville, and Fluvanna County Historical Societies. S She is the President, Coordinator and instructor at the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI). Also, she is the lead researcher for the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers for the University of Virginia, to identify living descendants of the enslaved African Americans who built the University located in Charlottesville.
Bureau of Land Management Patent Details and Map
Bureau of Land Management Patent Image