Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410140108
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: MARSHALL LENGTH: Medium
At his father's Oak Hill farm, Marshall began his legal studies. It was from there that he and his father enlisted in George Washington's army in 1775, and both men represented the district in the Virginia legislature.
Oak Hill, now a 366-acre farm with his father's 1773 house and Marshall's adjoining 1818 mansion, passed out of the Marshall family during hard times after the Civil War. It has been owned by six families since then, and will be sold again Saturday in an auction at the site, about 50 miles west of Washington, D.C.
Even after Marshall moved to Richmond in 1783, he maintained his ties with the estate, retreating there in spring and summer and building the Greek Revival mansion next to the older house. Eventually, Marshall turned the main estate over to his oldest son, but, as he told a Warrenton audience in 1824, ``Here my affections as well as my interest remain, and all my sons are planted among you.''
A great-great-great-great grandson, John Marshall of Arlington, says, ``I think this home is where his character was formed and where he shaped his theory of government'' after returning from the Revolutionary War.
``He fought with Washington in the Revolutionary War, and from that experience, he saw with Washington and the other Federalists how weak and ineffectual the Articles of Confederation were. The army almost starved to death at Valley Forge because they couldn't get cooperation among the states,'' Marshall says.
Marshall, a spokesman for The Foundation for John Marshall's Oak Hill, says the group is seeking bidders interested in preserving the home for its historic and architectural significance.
Foundation members will be on hand Saturday to brief bidders on Oak Hill's history, possible use of historic or conservation easements, and their best hope - that the property could be donated to the foundation.
``There's already one museum dedicated to the life of John Marshall - his house in Richmond - so we see this place as more of a living museum, something related to his legacy such as a public policy center specializing in constitutional law and the Supreme Court,'' Marshall says.
Chief Justice Marshall was born Sept. 24, 1755, in nearby Germantown, then part of Prince William County but now a part of Fauquier. After representing Fauquier and then Henrico County in the General Assembly, Marshall was elected to Congress in 1799. President John Adams appointed him secretary of state in 1800 and third chief justice of the United States in 1801, a post he held for 34 years.
by CNB