Marsh Archives

THE MARSH FAMILY

The Marsh family is English in origins. Several different Marsh families came to America very
early in the 1600s. The first Marsh to come to America seems to be one John Marsh who came to
Salem, Massachusetts in 1633. There were many others who arrived from various parts of
England during the next few years.
Two separate Marsh families came from Braintree, Essex County, England to Boston in the
1640s. How the two families were related is not certain, they may have been cousins.
One was that of John Marsh who came to Boston in 1635 and then went to Hartford,
Connecticut. The second was that of Samuel Marsh and his brother Jonathan who were in Boston
by 1641. The brothers were in New Haven, Connecticut by 1643. Jonathan later went to Rhode
Island and Samuel to New Jersey. Our line is descended from this Samuel Marsh.
The Marsh family were pioneers in the early New Haven Puritan Colony. This colony covered
most of the southern Connecticut shoreline and our Marshes were in the general area of Milford,
Connecticut. They went from there to the New Jersey coastal areas around Newark and
Elizabeth. From there they spread westward like so many of my ancestors seeking new lands and
homes for their families.
SAMUEL MARSH
Samuel Marsh was born in Essex County, England about the year 1620. There are references that
his father may have been John Marsh born in 1589 and his mother may have been Grace
Baldwin, but I have no proof. Some sources state he was in Boston by 1641, others state he came
directly to the colony in New Haven in the summer of 1645. Although he was not listed as an
original planter, he was carried on the records as a resident of New Haven in 1646.
He was in the Militia records on April 7, 1647. It seems he was fined two shillings six pence for
missing training three times to “seek cowes”. He took the oath of Fidelity in New Haven on May
2, 1647 and was then made a Freeman.
Samuel married about 1647. His wife was named Comfort. Most sources feel her maiden name
was Mann, but no one seems very positive about it. They appear as members of the First Church
of Christ in New Haven on List Number 2 dated February 11, 1655/56. It would seem that
possibly there was a whole family that came from England. Samuel’s brother Jonathan was there
until about 1650 when he moved to nearby Milford, Connecticut and then to Norwalk,
Connecticut by 1657. There was also a sister, Hannah, who married Lancelot Fuller in New
Haven.
Samuel and Comfort Marsh raised seven children while living in New Haven. In 1665, the
family moved to Elizabethtown, New Jersey. In that year England took possession of New Jersey
from the Dutch. Samuel Marsh was one of the original Eighty Associates who bought the
Elizabeth-town Grant, East Jersey of some five hundred thousand acres, which covered all of the
present day Union County, New Jersey. Their son, Samuel Marsh junior, was also one of the
original eighty associates. Samuel took the oath of allegiance to King Charles II on February 16,
1665.
In 1671, Samuel was in a major conflict with New Jersey Governor Carteret over land rights, but
seems to have survived without any penalties. Samuel wrote his will on June 10, 1683 and
mentioned his wife and children John, Joseph, Elizabeth and Samuel. He stated he was living at
Wawanday.
He died in September of 1683. The Will was probated on February 24, 1685. His widow,
Comfort, was the executrix.
They had seven children.
MARY MARSH born in 1648 and unmarried.
SAMUEL MARSH born February 12, 1649. He married Mary Trimmins in 1675 and later
they moved to Philadelphia where he died in about 1684.
COMFORT MARSH born August 22, 1652. She married Joseph Meeker on May 5, 1678
and died in December 1690.
HANNAH MARSH born July 22, 1655.
ELIZABETH MARSH born December 27, 1657.
JOHN MARSH born May 2, 1661. John is our line and his life is covered next.
JOSEPH MARSH born April 1, 1663. He married Sarah Hinds in 1697 and remained in
New Jersey. Joseph died at Trembly Point, New Jersey in December 1723. Their children
were: Sarah who married Benjamin Watkins, Samuel who married Mary Shotwell, Joseph
who married Susanna, James, Charles who married Hester Culler, Paluna, Sussanah and
Ellis who married Mary Davenport.

JOHN MARSH
John Marsh was born in New Haven Connecticut on May 2, 1661. When he was four years old,
he traveled with his family to Elizabeth town, New Jersey. He grew up in New Jersey and in
1683 married Elizabeth Clark.
Elizabeth Clark was born in 1665 and was the daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Clark. Richard
Clark was born in England in 1632 and came to New England about 1655 and quickly moved to
eastern Long Island. Here he married and became a ship builder. In 1678, he and Elizabeth and
their five children moved to Rahway, New Jersey. He continued to be a ship builder there until
his death in 1697. Young John Marsh was living in Rahway at the time and it was here he
married the daughter, Elizabeth Clark. Richard Clark was the great grandfather of Abraham
Clark who signed the Declaration of Independence. For more information on Richard Clark, see
the THE CLARK FAMILY HISTORY.
By 1683 when he was married, John Marsh was considered a founder of the village of Rahway.
He was granted 800 acres of land on the Rahway River in March of 1685. He was operating a
small saw mill in Elizabeth as early as 1681 and after moving to Rahway he built a dam on the
Rahway and erected one of the first permanent saw mills in New Jersey. In 1684 he built a grist
mill alongside his saw mill. The mills were located just west of the present Pennsylvania
Railroad bridge over the river.
John Marsh seems to have moved to New York City around 1692. He sold out his mills to
Stephen Van Cortlandt in March of 1695. He later returned to his old homestead at Trembly
Point on the Rahway River and remained there the rest of his life. He died there in November of
1744. His will was proven in court on December 3, 1744. The house of his father, Samuel Marsh,
was located nearby also on the Rahway River. This house remained until about 1949 when it was
torn down.

John and Elizabeth Marsh had twelve children. This is what I know about them.
JOHN MARSH, born November 7, 1686 and died in 1735. He married Mary Morse who
was born about 1684. They had three children: John, Mary and William.
JOSEPH MARSH, born November 21, 1688 and died in 1745. He was a carpenter. His
wife was Elizabeth, born 1723 and died June 10, 1799. They had ten children: Samuel,
Joseph, Elizabeth, John, Phoebe, Henry, Joanna, David, Hannah and Mary. After Joseph
died, Elizabeth remarried on January 10, 1750 to the Reverend Nathaniel Hubbell. He died
in 1761 and Elizabeth remained a widow.
JOSHUA MARSH, born August 8, 1690. He wrote his will on September 20, 1744 and
died the following day, September 21, 1744. He resided in Westfield, New Jersey and is
buried in Elizabeth. He married Susanna Bunn and had five children: Susannah (married a
Davis), Sarah (married John Tucker), Elizabeth (married a Meeker), Joshua and Abraham
Marsh.
ELIZABETH MARSH, born in 1694 and died on April 13, 1750. She married Job Pack,
son of George and Anna Pack. Elizabeth, Job and a child, John Pack, were killed by Indians
on April 13, 1750 and they are buried in Rahway. They had at least three children: John,
Hannah and Jobe. There is more on the family in the PACK FAMILY HISTORY which is
forthcoming.

JONATHAN MARSH, born on September 14, 1696 and married to Mary T. Scudder. This
is our lineage and his life is covered in the next section. The SCUDDER FAMILY
HISTORY in this addendum details Mary’s family history.
HANNAH MARSH, born in 1698 and died October 16, 1753. She married William Miller
and had twelve children: Ephraim, John, Noah, Ezra, Nancy, Samuel, William, Clark, Mary,
Marsh, Sabra and Hannah Miller.

EPHRAIM MARSH, born on July 9, 1700 and died on April 23, 1750 and buried in
Westfield. He married Anna Scudder and they had five children: Ephraim, Jean, Anna,
Keziah and Sarah Marsh. Ephraim died at age 49 and Anna remarried to Thomas Woodruff
also from Westfield on December 6, 1753. Anna died on April 16, 1762.
BENJAMIN MARSH, born in Rahway on August 12, 1702 and died on March 20, 1734.
He lived in Elizabethtown, New Jersey and there married Margaret Ewen (born in 1700 and
died February 14, 1748). They had six children: Benjamin (born 1721), Enoch (1723), David
(1725), Margaret (1727), Sarah (born 1729 and married Benjamin Williams) and Mary
Marsh (1730 – 1795 and married to Reuben Clark).

DANIEL MARSH, born February 25, 1705 and died November 1, 1756. He married Mary
Rolph, daughter of Henry and Mary Connelly Rolph. They lived in Elizabeth and had
eleven children: Hannah, John, Mary, Esther, Phebe, Daniel, Ephraim, Henry, Christopher,
Rolph and Rhoda Marsh.
MEPHIBOSHETH MARSH, born February 28, 1707 and died August 11, 1764. He lived
at Rahway and is buried there. In 1730 he married Elizabeth Coddington and they had
eleven children: John, Elizabeth, Mephibosheth, Comfort, Stephen, Benjamin, Asher, Jane,
Jacob, Cornelius and Zeruiah.

DAVID MARSH, born on December 22, 1708 and died in November 1769. He married
Mary Lee and they had five children: Abraham, Elizabeth, Sarah, Moses and John.

SARAH MARSH, born on April 6, 1712 and died on October 1, 1777. She lived and is
buried in Rahway, New Jersey. She married Isaac Noe of Rahway. I have no information on
children, if any.

JONATHAN MARSH
Jonathan Marsh was born in Elizabethtown, Union County, New Jersey on September 14, 1696.
He and is brother Ephraim moved further west from Elizabethtown and were among the founders
of the village of Westfield in the early 1720s. Both brothers married Scudder girls in Westfield.
Sometime around 1730 Jonathan married Mary Scudder the daughter of John Scudder. Mary was
born in 1706 and died on December 9, 1805 at the age of ninety nine years. The SCUDDER

FAMILY HISTORY follows in this Addendum.
Jonathan and Mary lived in Westfield for the remainders of their lives. They were active in the
Presbyterian Church and are both buried there in Westfield. Jonathan died there on July 27, 1779
and Mary died on December 9, 1805. They had at least four children:
JONATHAN MARSH married Mary Crane and had seven children.
MOSES MARSH was married three times before his death in 1785. He first married Jennet
Woodruff, his second wife is unknown and the third wife was Phoebe Ludlum. He had a
total of some 15 children by the three.
THOMAS MARSH was born about 1735 and died on December 16, 1801. He married in
Westfield on September 6, 1761 to Deborah Squire. Deborah was born on September 14,
1741 and died July 11, 1814. They had seven children.
JOHN MARSH. John is our line and his life is covered in the next section.

JOHN MARSH
John Marsh was born in Westfield in 1738. On November 21, 1762 he married Nancy Searing.
Nancy was a daughter of Simeon and Affia Searing. Her history is contained in the section, THE
SEARING FAMILY HISTORY coming next in this Addendum.
They had six of their ten children by the time the Revolution broke out. John enlisted with the
New Jersey Continental Line even before the formal outbreak. From the Muster Rolls we find:
MARSH, John -Second Sergeant, Captain Andrew McMeyer’s 6th Company, Colonel William
Alexander (Lord Sterling) 1st Reg., 1st Establishment New Jersey Continental Line. He Enlisted
November 13, 1775 and was on the rolls to January 11, 1776, with a remark Mustered at
Elizabethtown Barracks.

After the Revolution, the family remained in Westfield where the rest of the children were born.
In about 1794 or 1795 the entire family traveled across Pennsylvania and then sailed down the
Ohio River to the mouth of the Little Miami River and settled north of Cincinnati in Hamilton
County, Ohio. He was in what is now Warren County by 1797.
It was here that their children married and several continued westward. John Marsh died near
Carlisle in Hamilton County in about 1799, his estate papers were filed in 1800. Carlisle is now
in Warren County, Ohio. I do not know when or where Nancy died.
There were ten children, all born in Westfield, Union County, New Jersey. The following is what
I know of these children.

MARY MARSH was baptized in Westfield on February 5, 1764. She married Andrew
Cornelison and lived in Jacksonburg, Butler County, Ohio.
CHILD WITHOUT NAME baptized on April 4, 1765. Probably died at birth, but I do not
know.

JONATHAN MARSH was baptized at the Presbyterian Church on August 27, 1767. He
married Mary Day,born in 1773, and had at least two sons: John who lived in Germantown,
Montgomery County, Ohio and Jacob who moved to Indiana County, Ohio. Jonathan Marsh
died in Warren County in 1799. Mary then married his brother Simeon Marsh.
SIMEON SEARING MARSH was born in 1769 and baptized on August 27, 1770. He
married Mary Day Marsh, his brother’s widow, in 1806 and they lived in Butler County
Ohio. They had nine children including Mary’s from here first marriage. Simeon died in
1857, Mary had died in 1828.
SARAH MARSH was baptized on June 4, 1774. She married a cousin, Israel Marsh and
lived on Mad River, Champaign County, Ohio.
DAVID MARSH was baptized on June 9, 1776. He married and had at least two sons. John
who lived on Fall Creek near Indianapolis, Indiana and David who lived near Colerain in
Hamilton County, Ohio.

TIMOTHY MARSH was born on April 3, 1778 and baptized August 1, 1779. He married
Mary Clawson on January 24, 1808 and died on November 7, 1844 in Preble County, Ohio.
His will was proved on March 25, 1845. They lived on a farm near Camden in Preble
County. They had the following children: Phoebe, John, Lois, David, Timothy, William,
Wilson, James and Searing. The will mentions sons-in-laws Alfred McDonald and
Berryman McCarthy. I do not know which married Lois and Phoebe, but these were the
husbands.

APPHIA or EFFIE MARSH born in 1764. She married Andrew Noe. Their children were:
Nancy Noe born in 1778, and she married Thomas Florah.
Marsh Noe born in 1782.
Abraham Noe born in 1784.
Jonathan Noe born in 1785, she married Catherine Parker.
Phoebe Jane Noe born in 1788, she married John Henley.
Searing Noe born in 1792. He married Margaret McFall.
Elias Noe born 1794. He married Susan Cowan.
David Noe born in 1800. He married Mary Allison.
Andrew Noe Jr. born in 1808. He married Margaret Beak.
NANCY MARSH never married. She lived near her sister Phoebe in Rush County, Indiana.
She traveled with Phoebe to Illinois and then to Washington County, Arkansas where she
died.

PHOEBE MARSH was born in Westfield on May 14, 1787. She married Alexander Stelle
in Butler County, Ohio on March 27, 1814. They moved to Indiana and then to Illinois
where Alexander died in 1827. They had the following children: John, Nancy, Isaac,
Searing, Timothy and Hannah Stelle. On February 21, 1829 she married a Widow, Reding
Putman in Fulton County, Illinois. They had one child together, Reding II born on
September 12, 1830. This is my line and their lives are contained in the main body of this
work. Phoebe died In Washington County, Arkansas on May 11, 1884 at the age of 97 years,
a true pioneer.

The following members of the Marsh Family are carried on the muster rolls as having served in
the American Revolution from the Colony of New Jersey: Privates in the New Jersey Militia,
Ephraim Marsh, Jabish Marsh, Jehiel Marsh, John Marsh, Stephan Marsh, and William Marsh.
Daniel Marsh and Christopher Marsh were Captains in the Essex County Militia; Abraham
Marsh and Noah Marsh were lieutenants in The Essex Militia. George Marsh was a private in the
Continental Army. My John Marsh was a sergeant in the Continental Army.

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