Excerpt from A Twentieth Century History of Marshall County, Indiana, Vol. 1: Illustrated

When the writer entered into an agreement with the publishers of this work that he would write a History of Marshall County, he was fully aware of the herculean task that loomed up before him. He had had considerable experience along the lines of his'toric writing, and knew that to gather the data and compile and write such a history as would be satisfactory to the patrons of the work, and creditable to the writer and to the publishers as well, would be a laborious work not easy of accomplishment.

The writer was the author of the first history of Marshall county ever written, and for nearly thirty years was the editor of the Plymouth Demo crat, during which time he gathered much data and wrote many articles on historical subjects, expecting at some future time to write another history of the county, greatly revised and improved. That time has come in the. Writing of the present history. The facts contained in the first history writ ten by him in 1881 and in the sketches written for his paper from time to time, will be used in this work as occasion may require, as facts never change and history cannot be written without them.

The writer came to Marshall county with his parents in 1836, when a mere child; when the county was also in its infancy, and almost a wilder ness, with few log cabins, no churches or schoolhouses and no public build ings; and as he has grown to manhood and age 'he has seen it developed from year to year, from a population of a few hundred to more than with churches and schoolhouses on every hand, magnificent county buildings, five lines of railroads, telegraphs and telephones, and everything that can be desired to make life comfortable and enjoyable.

Time is swiftly passing away. Already three-quarters of a century has gone since the first white settlement was made, and the few now living who were here then must soon depart to that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns. While they yet remain it is deemed advisable to obtain the facts within their knowledge and place them upon permanent record for the benefit of those who come after they are gone.

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