Black Beauty

The town was founded by Sidney Ketchum (1797-1862), a land surveyor who had been born in Clinton County, New York, in conjunction with his brother, George Ketchum (1794-1853). The Ketchum brothers explored central lower Michigan in 1830, and in late 1830 Sidney Ketchum obtained government grants for the land on which most of Marshall now stands. The early settlers named the community in honor of Chief Justice of the United States John Marshall from Virginia—whom they greatly admired. This occurred five years before Marshall's death and thus was the first of dozens of communities and counties named for him. Marshall was thought to be the frontrunner for state capital, so much so that a Governor's Mansion was built, but the town lost by one vote to Lansing.