Elizabeth Marshall Cross

My great great great grandmother, Elizabeth Marshall Cross, was born in Germany in 1845. Her father was Nicholas Marshall (sometimes spelled Marschall) who was born in 1815 in Licherode, Hesse, Germany. According to the book SANDUSKY THEN AND NOW, Nicholas was first married to Ann Elisabeth Schmidt, and secondly to Catherine Elisabeth Erckmann. (Unfortunately we do not have enough information to know if Elizabeth Marshall was the daughter of Anna or Catherine Marshall. )The Marshall family settled in Sandusky, Ohio in 1848. In the 1850 census the family appeared in Portland Township in Erie County, Ohio. Portland Township was an early name for a portion of the city of Sandusky. Nicholas was 34 in 1850. His wife Catherine was 31. Elizabeth was listed as being age 6, and her brother Ernst was 10 years old. The census enumerator wrote down Ernst's name as Antz, but all other records list his name as Ernst. During the Civil War, Elizabeth's brother Ernst Marshall and her future husband James Cross both served as Union soldiers. She must have spent many hours hoping and praying for their safe return.






On July 1, 1867, Elizabeth Marshall married James Cross. In the Civil War pension file of James Cross, we see a listing of the children of James and Elizabeth. (Double click on the image below for an enlarged view.)


















In the 1870 Census, Elizabeth and James Cross were living in the home of James Cross's widowed father, a native of England. They had two little children, and the James' brother and sister also lived with them. By 1880, Elizabeth and James had six childen. Elizabeth's oldest son, Nicholas Charles Cross, became a Brother with the Xaverian Brothers. In a biographical sketch of Nicholas Charles Cross, who became known as Brother Sulpicius, I read that though Elizabeth Marshall Cross was a convert to the Catholic Church, she read scriptures to the children every morning and evening. It is not a surprise that her son and granddaughter both devoted themselves to a life devoted to religious service.

In the 1900 Census for Erie County, James and Elizabeth Cross had only two children left at home, and Elizabeth's father Nicholas Marshall was living with them. A brother of James Cross resided with James and Elizabeth as well. Elizabeth Marshall Cross died on September 6, 1907. She was laid to rest at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio. She spent her life nurturing others, and her family missed her deeply.