John Marquis and Sarah Griffith

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Husband John Marquis ^{1 2 3}

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            AKA: John Marques 4 5
           Born: 10 Jun 1750 - ? Virginia 1 5
     Christened: 
           Died: 25 Feb 1822 - ? Washington Co, PA 1 6
         Buried: 

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         Father: Thomas Marquis (      -      ) 1
         Mother: Mary Colville (      -      ) 1

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       Marriage: 

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Wife Sarah Griffith ^{1 2 5}

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         Father: Edward Griffith (      -      ) 4 5
         Mother: Letitia Blackburn (      -      ) 4 5

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Children

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1 M Thomas Marquis ^{1 6}

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         Spouse: Nancy Marquis (      -      ) 1

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2 M John Marquis ^{6 7 8}

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           Born: 10 Jan 1784 9
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         Spouse: Elizabeth Taggart (      -      ) 10 11
           Marr: 16 Nov 1816 9

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3 F Mary Marquis ^{1 6}

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         Spouse: Hon. Joshua Robb (      -      ) 6 12

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4 F Sarah Marquis ^{1 6}

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         Spouse: John Nelson (      -      ) 6 12

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5 M Edward Marquis ^{1 6}

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         Spouse: Margaret Marquis (      -      ) 6 12

         Spouse: Elizabeth Newell (      -      ) 6 12

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6 M Robert Marquis ^{2 6 13}

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         Spouse: Hannah Van Nordstrand (      -      ) 12

         Spouse: Mary Stevenson (      -      ) 2 6 14

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7 M James Marquis ^{1 6}

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           Born: 
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           Died: Bef 1893 - near Mt. Vernon, Knox Co, OH
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Nancy Roberts (      -      ) 6 12

         Spouse: Nancy Elliott (      -      ) 6 12

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8 F Anne Marquis ^{1 6}

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         Spouse: Isaac Morrison (      -      ) 6 12

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9 M William Marquis ^{1 6}

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         Spouse: Elizabeth Adams (      -      ) 6 12

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General Notes: Husband - John Marquis

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He was the first of the name to settle in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and was one of the first settlers of Cross Creek township. He settled, in 1774, on a tract of land for which he obtained a warrant February 23, 1786, and afterward received a patent. This tract was called "Marquesata," and contained 421 acres, and allowance. For some time, on account of the Indian raids, he was obliged to keep his family in Vance's fort, while he tried to clear his farm. Once, while in his cabin, he heard the report of a rifle close at hand, and going out he saw a party of Indians killing his hogs. On seeing him they immediately gave the war whoop and rushed down upon him. It was a race for life, and although the Indians were so close to him at the start that he heard their footsteps in pursuit, yet he outran them and arrived in safety at Vance's fort. He was noted among the scouts and backwoodsmen as a fleet runner, and he was a man of strong and decided character; for many years was an elder of the Presbyterian Church of Cross Creek.

The children of John and Sarah (Griffith) Marquis were noted for their musical talents and fine musical voices.

He was a native of Wales, and, coming to America, settled near Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained but a short time. He then came to Cross Creek township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. [CBRWC, 921] The same source states the family was from Ireland.

He and his brother, Thomas, were members of the Virginia Colonial militia and took part, in 1774, in what is known in history as Lord Dunmore's Rebellion. The story of that campaign, with the treachery of the governor, his betrayal of part of his troops into the hands of the Indians on the banks of the Ohio, and the bloody battle of Point Pleasant that followed, is too well known to require repetition here. The governor, it seems, disappointed in his scheme to wipe out the Scotch-Irish troops in his colony, whom he cordially feared and hated, disbanded their regiments in the wilderness and allowed the men to make their way back to civilization the best they could. The two Marquis men set out together through what is now southeastern Ohio, the panhandle of West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania, in as straight a line for Winchester, Virginia, as they could follow. As might have been expected, they were hotly chased by Indians until they reached the Ohio River. At one period of their journey they ran almost continuously for five days and nights, with no food but the bits of dried flesh they could pull from their deerskin blankets, sometimes eating it raw, as they ran. After crossing the Ohio at the mouth of Cross Creek, near where Wellsburg, West Virginia, now is, they followed the creek to its headwaters at Cross creek Village, Washington County, Pennsylvania. Although this region was almost unsettled then, the brothers were so pleased with its appearance that they determined to return the next year and begin a settlement. This they did in the spring of 1776 or, possibly, in the autumn of 1775. They left their families in Virginia, but brought with them a company of hardy pioneers who were ready to hew out homes in the wilderness. The first things they needed in those days was a fort for protection against the Indians, and as soon as the party arrived they built two, Well's Fort, three miles west, and Vance's Fort, one mile north of what became the village of Cross Creek. The remnants of the latter could long be seen on the farm of James Vance, a descendant of William Vance, a member of the Virginia expedition, who had married one of the three Marquis sisters.
It was near Vance's Fort that John and Thomas Marquis located. In the spring of 1777 they returned to Virginia for their families. The winter of 1777-78 was spent in the fort on account of the hostility of the Indians, and during the months of enforced inactivity, a notable thing happened. Rev. James Powers, said to have been the first Protestant minister west of the Alleghany Mountains, and who had been preaching to some of the older settlements east of the Monongahela, visited the fort and held services. A remarkable revival of religion took place in which the two Marquis men were converted. It changed the entire current of their lives. Before this they were types of that pioneer class called "border ruffians," with the virtues and vices of their kind, rough, hot-tempered, always ready for a fight and at home on the war-path; but brave, generous and loyal to their friends. The religious awakening which marked the inception of the settlement also determined its history. For a century and a quarter the community which sprang up was noted for its sturdy religious and moral conviction. He became an elder in the church at Cross Creek, and among the descendants of the two are more than a score of ministers and elders of the Presbyterian faith. [TCHNCLCP, 452]

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General Notes: Wife - Sarah Griffith

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from Frederick Co, VA

1 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 182.

2 Joseph F. McFarland, 20th Century History of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1910), Pg 1278.

3 Aaron L. Hazen, 20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1908), Pg 452.

4 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 723.

5 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), Pg 1129.

6 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), Pg 1130.

7 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 921, 182.

8 Joseph F. McFarland, 20th Century History of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1910), Pg 874, 1278.

9 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 921.

10 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 182, 1290.

11 Joseph F. McFarland, 20th Century History of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1910), Pg 874.

12 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 183.

13 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 182, 185.

14 —, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 185.