All Sorts of Pittsburgers, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania, 1892



Thomas Marshall Biography

THOMAS MERCER MARSHALL, the Father of the Allegheny County Bar, as by virtue of years and status he may well be styled, was born in the county of Londonderry, Ireland, November 20, 1819. The family emigrated to the United States in 1822, his father purchasing a tract of land in Middlesex Township, Butler County. In November, 1826, Thomas M. Marshall came to Pittsburg to reside with his brother, James Marshall, the founder of the Farmers' Deposit National Bank. In 1839 he became a partner with his brother James in the wholesale grocery business. Wearying of commercial pursuits he entered, in 1843, the law office of Hon. Charles Shaler, then judge of the District Court. Here the great fire of April to, 1845, found Mr. Marshall a student.

In 1846 he was admitted to the bar and entered upon general practice in partnership with Stephen H. Geyer, a life-long friend. His next partner was Major A. M. Brown, and his present partnership comprises his son, Thomas M. Marshall, Jr., and A. M. Imbrie, under the firm name of Marshalls & Imbrie.

Mr. Marshall's services have been enlisted in almost every great criminal trial that has taken place in Western Pennsylvania for the past thirty years; and, while he is opposed to capital punishment and has never accepted a retainer where there was a prospect that human life might be sacrificed, he has tried more homicide cases than any other lawyer in Pennsylvania. His civil practice has been. almost equally extensive.

Mr. Marshall has never sought political preferment, although for forty years he was constantly before the people as a political speaker, first as an anti-slavery Whig and afterwards as an aggressive Republican. He was a member of Pittsburg Councils from 1851 to 1856, and was president of Common Council during all that period. The Republican nomination for Congress from the Twenty-second district was tendered him in 1858, but he declined the honor. In May, 1882, he went as a delegate to the State Convention to urge the nomination of his nephew, Major A. M. Brown, for Judge of the Supreme Court. Despite his protest, the convention, amid great enthusiasm, nominated shim for Congressman-at-large. On his return home, regardless of the importunities of his friends, he declined the nomination, as no honor could induce him to leave his home and children.


Source: All Sorts of Pittsburgers Sketched in Prose and Verse; Burgoyne, Arthur; Pittsburg, PA; The Leader; 1892.
Note: The correct spelling of Pittsburgh in 1892 was Pittsburg. The spelling Pittsburgh was officially restored in 1911.












Marshall Genealogy Resources



Marshall Ancestry Resources