My Genealogy Hound

Judge J. M. Marbut was born in South Carolina on September 13, 1824, and is the fifth of fifteen children born to Philip and Ada (Thomas) Marbut, natives of South Carolina, born in 1797 and 1793, respectively. Philip Marbut’s father was a farmer and a native of Germany. Philip Marbut and Ada Thomas were married on February 27,1816, and became the parents of fifteen children, of whom twelve are living. Philip Marbut still survives at the advanced age of ninety-one years, representing a generation that has mostly passed away. When he came to Missouri, the freshness of pioneer life was everywhere present. Deer, bear and elk were here in abundance, and hundreds of Indians resorted to the mountains in the winter seasons in search of game. His direct descendants in the vicinity of Barry County number something over 300 persons, and he now has several great-great-grandchildren. Judge J. M. Marbut remembers when the mountains of Southwest Missouri, which are now covered with a growth of timber, were clothed entirely with grass. In his domestic life Judge Marbut has been strangely unfortunate. He was first married on January 6, 1853, to Marinda Wilson, who was born on September 17, 1832. Three children were born to this happy union, two of whom, Missouri (Mrs. J. M. Etheridge) and William L., are still living. The young mother, not being permitted long to enjoy her family, passed away October 8, 1858, and Judge Marbut afterward married Martha Tate, who became the mother of two children, one of whom, Cordelia, survives. Martha Marbut died March 27, 1863, and in 1866 Judge Marbut married Rebecca Ann Lock, she being his third wife, and he her third husband. She died on April 20, 1885, leaving three children: Mina, Susan Ann and Sabina. Judge Marbut is one of the highly respected citizens of the county, and has been a very successful farmer. He now owns 216 acres of land, after having sold a part of his tract, and, being active and hardy, he still attends to his farm duties. In 1882 he was elected by the Democratic party as judge from the western district of Barry County, and so ably did he fill that position that he was elected, in 1886, for a term of four years, county judge at large, and is now filling his position as presiding judge of Barry County Court in a manner most satisfactory to his constituents.