OF HUMPHRY MARSHALL. 487 



New Jersey. The winters were passed at the residence of his 

 father. 



That he was an excellent workman, is still evident from the 

 walls of his residence, at Marshallton, which he built with his own 

 hands, in the year 1773. In one corner of this dwelling, he con- 

 trived a small but convenient stove, or hot-house; and from the 

 second story he projected a little observatory, in which to indulge 

 his fondness for astronomical observations. 



On the 16th of September, 1748, Humphry Marshall was 

 married to Sarah, daughter of Joseph Pennock, of West Marl- 

 borough, in Chester County. After his marriage, he took charge 

 of his father's farm, near the west branch of the Brandywine. He 

 seems, about this time, to have turned his attention, earnestly, to 

 the acquisition of knowledge, evincing a decided partiality for As- 

 tronomy and Natural History. He procured books, and commenced 

 the collection and culture of the more curious and interesting indi- 

 genous plants. A number of ornamental trees and shrubs, in the 

 vicinity of the paternal mansion, still attest his predilection for the 

 beauties of the vegetable kingdom.* 



As an evidence of his devotion to literary and scientific pursuits, 

 it may be mentioned, that his name is found, written with his own 

 hand so early as 1753, in Coles's Latin Dictionary, Quini 

 Medical Lexicon, Gerard's Serial, a Treatise on Navigation, and 

 several other works of similar character, which he had procured 

 about that period. 



That he possessed the confidence of his fellow-citizens, is shown 

 by the fact of his appointment of County Treasurer, in 1762, in 

 which office he was continued until the year 1766, inclusive. 



In 1764, it became expedient to enlarge the dwelling in which 

 he resided with his parents. This addition was built of brick ; and 

 the entire work of digging and tempering the clay, making and 

 burning the bricks, and building the walls, was performed by Hum- 

 phry himself. He also erected a green-house, adjoining the 

 dwelling ; which was, doubtless, the first conservatory of the kind 

 ever seen, or thought of, in the county of Chester. 



* It is altogether probable, tliat Humphry Marshall's taste for Horticulture 

 and Botany may have been awakened, and promoted, by a familiar intercourse 

 with his cousin, John Bartram, and by the attractions of that cousin's interesting 

 garden. Enjoying such privileges, he would at once catch the spirit, and profit 

 by the skill and experience, of his enthusiastic relative. 



