MILFORD-Marshall M. - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

Marshall M. MILFORD, one of the earliest, and for many years one of the most conspicuous, citizens of Fountain county, was born in South Carolina, August 14, 1816, and came to Indiana with his father, Judge Robert MILFORD, in 1827. His boyhood days were spent on his father's farm, where he improved such little opportunity as he there had by reading law. He afterward took a course of instruction in civil engineering at Wabash College, and was subsequently appointed deputy clerk under Bloomer WHITE, the first clerk of Fountain county after its organization. Mr. WHITE dying soon after his acceptance of the clerkship, Mr. MILFORD served as clerk for the unexpired term, in the meanwhile pursuing his law studies. In 1841 he was admitted to the bar. In the following year he married Miss Maria J. BARTLETT, of Warren county (a native of Virginia), by whom he had seven children, four of whom, with the widow, survive him. He continued in the profession of law to the time of his death, amassing a handsome competence, and acquiring a high reputation throughout the Wabash valley region for his probity, sound judgment and safe counsel. His popularity, wide acquaintance and unblemished character often caused him to be sought for some public position, but he uniformly declined all marks of political favor. In 1870 he was so prominently indicated for a congressional nomination that his selection promised to be practically unanimous, and his election a certainty, but he earnestly solicited his friends to withdraw his name. His success in life, his great influence and popularity, depended entirely on his merits as a private citizen. In personal appearance Mr. MILFORD was a remarkable man, over six feet in height, and weighing two hundred and twenty-five pounds. His imposing appearance and genial manner made him a conspicuous figure at the bar and in public assemblies, During a trail in the Warren circuit court at Williamsport, December 2, 1874, he was instantly stricken dead by apoplexy, while apparently in the most robust health, and without a premonitory symptom.