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Col. Charles Marshall
ONE of the most widely-known and best beloved characters of the Old Reliable family has passed away. Col. Charles Marshall, retired superintendent of the N. O. & M. Division at New Orleans, died at his residence in Bay St. Louis, Miss., Saturday morning, January 14, 1928, after an illness of several weeks.
Colonel Marshall was nearly eighty years of age, having been born November 8, 1848, in Franklin, Tenn. Before his retirement on August 1, 1917, he had spent more than 53 years in the active service of the L. & N.
To know Colonel Marshall was to love him as may be guessed from ?an appreciation? published with this account. He was well-informed on a great many subjects and possessed an almost infallible memory. The unusual way he had of deciding questions brought before him never failed to make an impression upon those with whom he came in contact and recollections of Colonel Marshall invariably bring forth quotations from his conversations of years ago.
A clipping from a recent issue of the Sea Coast Echo of Bay St. Louis tells of Colonel Marshall?s splendid connections:
?Until his retirement Colonel Marshall was intimately connected with the industrial and civic life of New Orleans. At the time of his death he retained his membership in the Louisiana Historical Society and in the Louisiana Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. In Bay St. Louis he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Hancock County Bank, and also a member of the Bay St. Louis Bond Commission and sea wall.''*
Mr. Marshall began his railroad service with the Nashville & Decatur Railroad at Franklin. Tenn. He remained there for four years, during which time that railroad became the Nashville & Decatur Division of the L. & N. He resigned the position to continue his education which had been interrupted by the Civil War, but was subject to call for service as extra operator. Thus, he served at Lynnville, Tenn., Columbia, Tenn., the superintendent?s office at Nashville, Tenn.,
and at the L. & N. station at Nashville. For a short time after finishing his schooling Mr. Marshall did agency work at Pulaski, Tenn., when he was appointed agent at McKenzie, Tenn. He remained at McKenzie for a year or eighteen months and then became train dispatcher at Memphis.
The late Col. Charles Marshall, formerly superintendent of the N. O. & M. Division.
A year later he obtained a short sick leave at the end of which he took over the agency at Clarksville, Tenn. On January 1, 1881, Colonel Marshall was sent to
IN JULY, 1901, I was appointed route agent of the Southern Express Company with headquarters at Mobile, Alabama, and my predecessor, W. J. Browne, took me over to New Orleans to introduce me to the division superintendent.
A new brick depot had been completed at the foot of Canal Street but Mr. Browne stated that the superintendent?s office was way down on the levee. I found later that this was a splendid way to determine whether a man?s business with the superintendent was worth while. If it was not, he would forego the trip.
We found the office, under the direction of Mr. Jacobs (now deceased), a very busy place.
The superintendent, Charles Marshall, immediately impressed me as
New Orleans as freight agent and on September 1, 1886, he was made superintendent of the N. O. & M., which position he held until his retirement, August 1, 1917.
The Sea Coast Echo states that Mr. Marshall was injured in a fall in 1919 and never fully recovered. This was two years after he retired as superintendent of the N. O. & M. Division.
Colonel Marshall is survived by his wife, Mrs. L. W. Marshall, his four sons, Major Gilbert Marshall and Capt. Geoffrey Marshall of the United States Army; Donald Marshall, an instructor of the Boys? High School of New Orleans, and Carl Marshall, resident of Bay St. Louis and an attorney of Gulfport, Miss., and by his brother, Park Marshall, and his sister, Mary Marshall, of Franklin, Tenn.
Colonel Marshall was buried in Cedar Rest cemetery, Bay St. Louis. Floral tributes were sent by the N. O. Terminals, Order of Railway Conductors and other railroad organizations. A train at the L. & N. depot tolled its bell as the body was being placed for burial, and a passing train at the time paid similar tribute.
The death of Mr. Marshall removes an excellent railroad man and a polished Southern gentleman.
an unusual man. During the conversation, he read us a letter from a Catholic Priest in the Philippine Islands, who had gone to live among the lepers to give his life in their service and somehow I got the impression that Mr. Marshall envied him in the sacrifice he had made.
When we left, Mr. Browne told me never to send Mr. Marshall any presents, as was the custom of Express officials, for if I did, he would certainly return them to me.
I had much business with Mr. Marshall in regard to car service and delays in loading at stations. On one occasion, I went into the office and told Mr. Jacobs I would see him when he had time to talk with me. After a time, he came out in the outer office for a drink of water and asked me what I was waiting
An Appreciation