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Elizabeth  Marshall. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1904. 
cessor  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  as  professor  of  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine in  the  medical  school  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
That  Elizabeth  Marshall  was  a  good  business  woman  is  evident 
from  the  fact  that  the  shop  over  which  she  presided  not  alone  sup- 
plied a  suitable  living  for  herself,  her  father  and  other  members  of 
her  family,  but  also  contributed  no  mean  sums  to  worthy  charities, 
and  finally  enabled  her  to  retire  with  a  competence  after  a  business 
career  of  not  more  than  twenty-two  years. 
The  father,  Charles  Marshall,  died  August  22, 1825,  in  his  eighty- 
second  year.  Dillwyn  Parrish,  in  his  biographical  sketch  quoted 
above,  gives  the  following  interesting  description  of  him : 
"  In  stature  Charles  Marshall  was  about  6  feet  high,  of  slender 
mould,  clear  complexion,  blue  eyes  and  graced  with  a  benignant  ex- 
pression of  countenance,  heightened  in  its  effect,  toward  the  end 
of  life,  by  the  snowy  whiteness  of  his  hair,  which  in  ample  volumes 
descended  nearly  to  his  shoulders.  His  costume  was  uniformly 
plain  in  color,  being  the  drab  then  in  vogue  with  the  Society  of 
Friends,  of  which  he  was  a  consistent  and  lifelong  member." 
Shortly  after  her  father's  death  Elizabeth  Marshall  sold  out  her 
interest  in  the  store  to  two  of  her  former  apprentices,  Charles  Ellis 
and  Isaac  P.  Morris,  and  retired  from  active  business. 
The  remaining  years  of  her  life  were  spent  quietly,  but  not  idly. 
One  contemporaneous  writer  says  of  her  :  "  While  life  lasted  she 
was  devoted  to  those  active,  yet  unobtrusive  duties  of  benevolence 
which  are  the  chief  ornaments  of  the  Christian  character.  Even 
when  afflicted  by  disease  she  was  not  unmindful  of  those  who,  by 
vicissitudes  incident  to  man,  were  made  dependent  on  the  hand  of 
charity.  She  was  beneficent  and  kind  to  all,  and  dispensed  her 
charities  with  a  liberal  hand." 
Another  writer  says  :  "  The  uniform  cheerfulness  which  she  dis- 
played under  every  circumstance  evinced  that  conscious  rectitude 
and  peace  of  mind  which  ever  adorns  the  Christian." 
Elizabeth  Marshall  died  July  26,  1836.  The  simplicity  and 
purity  of  her  character,  coupled  with  her  skill  and  probity  in  busi- 
ness, and  her  benevolence  and  charity  in  private  lite,  made  her  well 
known  and  highly  respected  by  all  classes  of  society.  But  for  us, 
and  for  future  generations,  it  is  her  heroic  spirit  of  self-sacrifice, 
that,  above  all,  is  particularly  attractive,  and  makes  her  worthy  of 
emulation  for  all  times  to  come. 
