LEONARD MARSHALL, an agriculturist of Jackson township, Sullivan county, was born in Washington county, Indiana, December 22, 1832, a son of Ambrose and Cynthia (Roby) Marshall, natives respectively of Kentucky and Washington county, Indiana. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and in an early day in its history he came to Indiana and took up his abode in Washington county, where he followed farming and to some extent coopering until his death, both he and his wife dying in that county. Their religious views were in harmony with the principles of the United Brethren church.
When he reached the age of twenty-one years Leonard Marshall left his boyhood's home and moved to a farm which he purchased in Washington county, residing there until about 1868. He had previously bought eighty acres of land where he now lives, buying it about 1860, and in 1872 he located thereon, but at that time the tract was covered with timber. He cleared the land and added to its boundaries until he now has about one hundred and forty acres, all in one body but lying in three townships, Cass, Hamilton and Jackson, and he also owns the coal which underlies this tract.
Mr. Marshall married, April 1, 1853, Lucy Jane Montgomery, who was born in Virginia on the 25th of July, 1835, but when she was but eight years of age her parents moved from that state to Missouri, crossing the Mississippi river on foot on the ice. After a residence of eight months in Missouri the father died, and the mother with her family then moved to Washington county, Indiana. Her family consisted of nine children, two sons then living in Washington county, and she resided with one of these sons a short time, but her residence in that county covered a period of ten years. She died at the home of Mr. Marshall in 1866. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Marshall, namely: William Franklin, a farmer near Chappel Church in Cass township; Henry A., deceased; John W., who has charge of the home farm and resides with his parents; and George D., who resides in Cass township and is farming a part of his father's farm. Mr. Marshall is a Democrat in politics, and fraternally is a member of the Masonic order.