The text which follows was used in a booklet prepared by the Marysville Sesquicentennial Committee in 2004. It was written by Elizabeth Skinner, with assistance from Howard Kessinger, Mary Ann Gier and many other members of the Marysville community. Barbara Fenstermacher and Geraldine Holle assisted with historical research.
The historical text is based for the most part on writings of early Marshall County historians Franklin G. Adams and Williamson F. Boyakin and later history writers Emma E. Forter, John G. Ellenbecker, Gordon S. Hohn, Frances R. Williams, Byron E. and Eulalia T. Guise, and Oretha Ruetti.
You may copy freely from this document. It is dedicated to the Public Domain.
Introduction
Marysville began at an interesting place and at an interesting time. It was located beside a river crossing on the Oregon Trail, which meant that masses of westward-bound emigrants passed through the town in the 1850s and 1860s, as well as Pony Express riders during the brief but memorable run of the Pony Express. And it was founded shortly before Kansas Territory was opened for settlement, with the people of the territory to decide whether Kansas would enter the Union as a slave or a free state. While no blood was shed over the slavery issue in Marysville, it had its share of verbal attacks, partisan newspapers and fraudulent elections. Up until the start of the Civil War in 1861, proslavery advocates were strongly in the majority in Marysville.
Click to Page 3
