Samuel John Mills Marshall (1836-1886) was born on November 7, 1836 in Painesville, Ohio, the son of Raphael Marshall, a farmer. After studying in the local school, Samuel Marshall entered Oberlin College in the spring term, 1856. While in college, the smallish Samuel was something of an athlete and a person of accomplished musical talent. He played a big double bass in the Second Church choir, coronet in the college band, and sang tenor in a male quartet of college friends. Immediately upon graduation (A.B. 1861), he joined the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a member of the regiment’s [musical] band in which he played the bass horn. After service at Camp Dennison near Cincinnati and in Washington, D.C., he was honorably discharged from the Union Army on July 5, 1862.

Following his discharge, Samuel Marshall spent part of the following year (1862-1863) as a patient in a Danville, New Jersey hospital, suffering from “general army debility.” Following his recovery in 1864, he entered Charity Medical College in Cleveland and received his medical degree in 1867. After eight years (1867-1875) of general practice in Berea, Kentucky, Dr. Marshall returned to Butler County, Ohio where he practiced medicine (1875-1878) in Charlestown and Paddy’s Run before accepting a government position as a physician on the Chippewa Indian Reservation in Keshena, Wisconsin (1878-1881). He then returned to Lorain, Ohio where he practiced until 1884, when, because of increasing deafness brought on by his earlier military service, he returned to the family farm in Painesville, Ohio.

On April 10, 1868, Samuel Marshall married Louisa Maria Kaiser (1843-1911; Lit. 1867). Louisa, daughter of Martin Kaiser, a farmer, was born in Gnadenhutten, Ohio on February 1, 1843. She entered Oberlin College in June 1862 and completed the Literary course in June 1867. During the spring term of 1867, she taught an algebra course at the college. After graduating, Miss Kaiser engaged in a brief teaching career (1867-1871). Two of Louisa’s brothers also graduated from Oberlin College: Peter Henry Kaiser (A.B. 1867) and William (A.B. 1880).

Samuel and Louisa Marshall, both members of the Congregational Church, had three children: Martin Raphael (A.B. 1892) of Missoula, Montana, Henry Cowles (A.B. 1897) of Clintonville, Ohio, and a child who died in infancy. Samuel John Mills Marshall died in Painesville, Ohio on September 4, 1886 as the result of a spinal injury due to a tree fall. Following his death, Mrs. Marshall moved to Oberlin so that their two sons could attend Oberlin College. After a period of ill health, Mrs. Marshall died of pneumonia in Massillon, Ohio on April 5, 1911.

“Kaiser-Marshall, Louisa Maria.” Oberlin College Necrology Records, 1910-11.

Kaiser-Marshall, Louisa Maria. Oberlin College Alumni Questionnaires, 1875, 1905.

Marshall, Henry Cowles. “Can Imagination Recreate? Introductory, The Civil War Diary of Samuel John Mills Marshall during 13 mo. service with The 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Band.” Typescript copy, n.p., 1933.

Marshall, Samuel John Mills. Oberlin College Alumni Questionnaire, 1875.

“ Samuel John Mills Marshall.” Oberlin College. Semi-Centennial Register, 1833-1883.

Marshall, H[enry] C[owles]. Letter to Mr. Fowler, Oberlin College Librarian, n.d.