Page 24 - The Hunt - Spring 2022

Befitting his Quaker upbringing, Humphry Marshall had a keen interest in the raw Chester County wilderness that surrounded him. A largely self-educated farmer, stone mason and amateur astronomer with a passion for botany, Marshall evolved into an important figure, though he never traveled far from the last vestiges of the
Lenni Lenape tracts bordering his father’s farm—land with links to William Penn. Born in 1722, Marshall would’ve been 300 this year. Over his 79 years, he was able to nurture productive relationships with Benjamin Franklin and others of international acclaim.
Mark Slouf can appreciate how difficult that must have been in a place so remote. “By the time he’d get a letter into Ben Franklin’s hands in London, it could be three months, and then three months for Franklin to converse back,” says Slouf.
A West Chester builder and designer, Slouf is a member of the Humphry Marshall 300th task force, a community group organizing
a yearlong series of events to commemorate the milestone and propagate the legacy of
the town’s founding father. There will be a lecture series in June and a park dedication in October, Marshall’s birthday month. Other events were in the works at press time.
With its dense woods, plentiful water and fertile soil, Marshallton was a perfect place
to sustain milling and farming operations. The West Bradford Township hamlet was organized in 1705 and officially named 100 years later, once the post office arrived. Aside from agriculture, the region had blacksmiths, coopers, shoemakers and wheelwrights who plied their trades near once-bustling Strasburg Road. Built in 1750 and refurbished in the early 1970s, Marshallton’s blacksmith shop
is a well-preserved example of Colonial-era architecture. Along the main street stands the preserved remains of Martin’s Tavern, originally Center House. While spending the night there on Sept. 10, 1777, Squire