Township Formation
From: Marshall County Roots and Branches, Vol. 17, No. 3, July, 1996; Judy McCollough, editor and compiler.
In 1836, when Marshall County was organized, the county was divided into three townships, North, Center and Green. Each township was seven miles from north to south and spanned the entire county.
Union Township was organized May 1, 1838, followed by German on May 11, 1838, Bourbon on January 6, 1840, Tippecanoe on March 9, 1842, Polk on March 4, 1845 and Franklin on March 9, 1853.
At the time of the April election in 1853, the townships of West and Walnut had not been formed. The election returns, therefore, exist only for Polk, North, German, Franklin, Center, Bourbon, Union, Green, and Tippecanoe townships.
On January 7, 1855, Franklin again became part of German Township, West was formed March 8, 1854 and Walnut, June 9, 1859.
The dates in the above information, taken from the Thompson's "History of Indiana". Vol. II, Special Edition for Marshall County, differ from those in McDonald's "Marshall County History" in that McDonald places the date for the organization of Union Township on March 1. 1940. Election returns for the year 1838 include the townships of North, German, Center, Union and Green showing that Union was already in existence at that time. I, therefore, prefer to rely on the information in Thompson's book. - Editor -
Voter Lists - A list of voters extracted from poll books in Marshall County 1838-1884.
