BIO: Alfred P. MARSHALL, Beaver County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja & Joe Patterson Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver.html http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver/bios/bbios.htm Index for this bio book. _________________________________________________________________ BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES. This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Buffalo, N.Y., Chicago, Ill.: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899, pp. 175-179. _________________________________________________________________ ALFRED P. MARSHALL. Among the eminent lawyers of Beaver county, is the gentleman whose name appears at the opening of this brief biography. Slowly, but continuously, from a briefless attorney, he has attained, by conscientious and unremitting labor, a large and lucrative practice. As a lawyer, he is careful, painstaking and of calm, judicial temperament. His ability to grasp large and intricate problems of law, his sound judgment in business matters, and his untiring energy are some of the factors which have made him successful. He was born in Perry township, Lawrence county, Pa., May 17, 1850, and is a son of Joseph A. and grandson of James Kyle Marshall. The father of James Kyle Marshall was a native of Ireland, and he came to this country and settled in Washington county, Pennsylvania. James Kyle Marshall was supposed to have been born on the vessel while en route for America; he lived on the farm now owned by Josiah Blythe, located in Washington county. He wedded a Miss Andover, and they reared a family of children; those who grew to maturity were: John, James, Joseph, Nancy, Mary, Margaret, and Susanna. Joseph A. Marshall was a native of Washington county, but spent the greater part of his life in Perry township, Lawrence county, Pa., where he was the owner of a fine farm, 176 BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES which he put under a high state of cultivation. He was married to Delilah Houck, to whom was born a family of twenty children as follows: James Kyle, deceased; Sarah, who was wedded to J. W. Hyde; Jonathan D., who is a farmer in Franklin township, Beaver county; William B., deceased; John C., who is a farmer in Butler county; Rebecca, who is the wife of A. L. Vangorder; Amanda; Lina A., who wedded W. I. Scott; Lucinda, who is the wife of James Duncan; Mary Agnes, who was the wife of Rev. T. L. Scott, and died in India; Alfred P., to whom this sketch relates; Clinton B., who is a farmer of Perry township, Lawrence county, Pa.; Frank B., who is a farmer of Allegheny county; Matilda, deceased, who was the wife of J. M. Scott; Joseph, who is a farmer of Perry township; Margaret, deceased; and four others, who died in infancy. Politically, Mr. Marshall was first a Democrat, but being opposed to slavery, he became a Republican. He was elected to many township offices, which tends to prove his popularity and the esteem in which he was held by his fellow-citizens. He was a member of the United Presbyterian church. He departed from this life in his sixty-seventh year. Our subject attended the public schools, Westminster College, Pa., and Mount Union College, Ohio, and spent his leisure hours on his father's farm. Being very ambitious to acquire a thorough education, he attended college during the summer months, while in the winter he taught school, and in that way secured ample funds to carry him through an educational course. This he continued for a period of seven years and then he entered the law office of Hon. John G. Hall, of Ridgway, Pennsylvania. He subsequently entered the office of Samuel B. Wilson, of Beaver, Pa., and was admitted to the bar of Beaver county, in April, 1876. He immediately began practicing in Beaver, where he has remained ever since. Later, he took Mr. McCoy as a partner under the name of Marshall & McCoy, but since the latter's death, in 1890, he has continued the practice of his profession alone. Mr. Marshall has won an enviable prominence as a business lawyer and man of affairs; since his admission to the bar he has been actively engaged in the practice of law, meeting with exceptional success. His well-known studious habits, and the conscientious, thorough and exhaustive manner in which he deals with all matters undertaken by him, assures a continuous and ever increasing professional prosperity. Mr. Marshall was united in the bonds of matrimony with Miss Cora F. Bentel, a daughter of Charles H. Bentel, and granddaughter of Philip and Margaret (Smith) Bentel. Three children have been born to them: Annie B., Charles B., and Lillian C. Philip Bentel, the great-grandfather of Alfred P. Marshall's wife, was a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, and came to Beaver county, Pa., with the Economites, locating in Economy. His wife was Margaret, by whom he had one child, Philip. Philip Bentel, after attaining his manhood, opened a general store in the house he erected in 1832, in the village of BEAVER COUNTY 179 Freedom. He conducted the store for a period of thirty years, and in addition, started the bank of Philip Bentel & Company, of which he served as president. This bank is still in existence, and since its establishment, in 1872, it has been known by the above name. Philip Bentel was a very enterprising and successful man, and served in his district as a school director and as a councilman. He was a Lutheran, and a devoted member of that denomination. He was joined in marriage with Margaret Smith, a daughter of Tobias Smith, and she died in 1881, at the age of seventy-five years. Mr. Bentel died in 1883, aged seventy-seven years. They were the parents of the following children: Thalia, the wife of John Conway; Mattie, wedded to Joseph Leadley; John, married to Mary Batey; and Charles H. Charles H. Bentel was reared and educated in Freedom, and started in life as a store keeper at Alliance, Ohio; one year later, he returned to Freedom, and succeeded his father in the mercantile business, continuing thus for a period of seventeen years. When the hank was established, in 1872, he became cashier, and upon the death of his father, he abandoned the mercantile business; he is president of the bank, as well as owner. Mr. Bentel is a prominent and well-to-do citizen of the village, and possesses the confidence and esteem of a multitude of acquaintances. He is a stanch member of the Presbyterian church, while socially, he has been a member of the Masonic order for the past thirty years. Mr. Bentel was wedded to Miss Amanda Clark, a daughter of Captain Samuel, and Minerva (Reno) Clark; they are the parents of five children, namely: Annie; Cora F., the wife of the subject of this sketch, who was born in West Virginia, but reared in Pittsburg, Pa.; Thalia; Mattie, who is the wife of J. G. Mitchell, and Philip, who is bookkeeper of the Keystone Lumber Works.