Western Pennsylvania Genealogy
Compiled by Douglas H. Lusher


Family Group Record



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Rev. Thomas Marquis and Jane Parks


Husband Rev. Thomas Marquis 1 2 

            AKA: Rev. Thomas Marques 3 4 5
           Born: 1753 - Opequan Valley, VA 5 6 7
     Christened: 
           Died: 27 Sep 1827 - Bellefontaine, Logan Co, OH 7
         Buried:  - Bellefontaine, Logan Co, OH


         Father: Thomas Marquis (      -      ) 8
         Mother: Mary Colville (      -      ) 5 8


       Marriage: 5 Mar 1776 5 7

Wife Jane Parks 9 

            AKA: Jane Park 5 7 10
           Born: 1750 9
     Christened: 
           Died: 19 Jan 1841 9 10
         Buried: 


         Father: [Father] Parks (      -      )
         Mother:


Children
1 M William Marques 11 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Sarah Marques (      -      ) 11

2 M James Marquis 10 

            AKA: James Marques 11
           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Anne Marques (      -      ) 11

         Spouse: Margaret McCune (      -      ) 11

3 F Sarah Marques 11 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Rev. Joseph Stevenson (      -      ) 11

4 F Mary Marquis 12 

            AKA: Mary Marques 11
           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: George Newell (      -1840) 12 13

5 F Jane Marquis 9 

            AKA: Jane Marques 11
           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Samuel Caldwell (1787-      ) 9 14

6 F Susannah Marques 11 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died:  - Logan Co, OH
         Buried: 

         Spouse: John Wilson Marques (      -      ) 11

7 F Anne Marques 11 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died:  - Logan Co, OH
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Joseph Clark (      -      ) 11

8 M Thomas Marques 11 

           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Did Not Marry

General Notes: Husband - Rev. Thomas Marquis


Some time after his marriage he came to Washington County, Pennsylvania. He settled on a tract of land for which he took out a warrant February 23, 1786, and afterward obtained a patent. This tract was called "Marrigate" and contained 417 acres, and allowance. Afterward, by deed dated August 27, 1794, he purchased from Alexander Wells, of Cross Creek, and Nathan Cromwell, of Baltimore, a tract of 500 acres. His family was obliged to live for a time in Vance's fort, owing to the incursions of the Indians, and while there he was converted under the preaching of Rev. James Power, D. D. By the advice of Revs. Smith and Dodd he commenced preparation for the ministry. His classical education was obtained at Canonsburg Academy, and he studied theology under the direction of Rev. Dr. McMillan and Rev. Joseph Smith; was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Redstone at Dunlap's Creek, April 19, 1793. He soon received three calls-from Bethel and Ebenezer, Ten-Mile, and Cross Creek. He was a natural orator. The tones of his voice were so musical that he was called the "Silver-tongued Marquis." He was pastor of Cross Creek Church for about thirty-three years. While on a visit to his son-in-law, Rev. Joseph Stevenson, he was attacked with fever and died.

He had a large family of children, and his descendants scattered far and wide. Rev. John M. Stevenson, D. D., one of the secretaries of the American Tract Society, at New York, Rev. James E. Marquis and Rev. Thomas Marquis Newell were grandsons. Rev. W. S. Marquis, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Rock Island, Illinois, was a great-grandson, and Mrs. Patton, wife of Rev. Dr. Patton, president of Princeton College, Princeton, New Jersey, was a great-granddaughter.

He and his brother, John, 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. The younger of the two Marquis brothers, Thomas, later became a Presbyterian minister, and for thirty-three years was pastor of the church at Cross Creek, which grew out of the revival at the fort. He was one of the most conspicuous ministers of his day, a man of remarkable force and so eloquent of speech as to earn for him far and wide the title of the "Silver-tongued." His brother became an elder in the same church and among the descendants of the two are more than a score of ministers and elders of the Presbyterian faith. [TCHNCLCP, 452]

He was well known in early Washington County history as one of the first students under Rev. Joseph Smith, of Buffalo, and Rev. John McMillen, and as pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Cross Creek from 1794 to 1826. Both he and his wife were converted in 1778, while sheltered in Vance's Fort, avoiding the Indians. He was small in stature and features, but a thrilling and consecrated preacher. Thomas Marquis and his associates, such as Judge James Edgar and Joseph Patterson, made an everlasting impression and abiding religious sentiment in the northwestern portion of Washington County.

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Sources

1 Editor, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 182, 183.

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

3 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 723, 837.

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

5 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1914), Pg 451.

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

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

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

9 Editor, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 1435.

10 Joseph F. McFarland, 20th Century History of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1910), Pg 1277.

11 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 724.

12 Editor, Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893), Pg 820, 1410.

13 Boyd Crumrine, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882), Pg 724, 837.

14 Joseph F. McFarland, 20th Century History of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens (Chicago, IL: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., 1910), Pg 543.

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