This is a transcription of the Mary Frances (Marshall) Knowlton biography from New Hampshire Women: A Collection of Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Daughters and Residents of the Granite State, Who are Worthy Representatives of their Sex in the Various Walks and Conditions of Life, The New Hampshire Publishing Co., Concord, NH, 1895, page 139.
Mary Frances (Marshall) Knowlton
MARY FRANCES, eldest child of William H. and Mary G. (Hart) Marshall, was born in Hopkinton, November 19, 1837. In 1840 the family removed to Sutton, where their early be ginnings partook somewhat of the hardships of pioneer life; but where industry, energy, and perseverance, the father being a wheelwright and farmer, soon made for them a comfortable home. Mr. Marshall was a man of more than ordinary ability, fond of scientific research, and few men in town were as well informed as he on both scientific and general topics. Frances, from her first school days, manifested rare application, and made such progress in her studies, that at the age of fifteen she taught a private school in the old brick schoolhouse on the hill at the western outskirt of Sutton village. Her literary efforts, both in prose and poetry, undertaken solely for the pleasure of neighbors and friends on occasions of public entertainment, have won for her just commendation. January 9, 1855, she married James Knowlton of New London, a carpenter and farmer, with whom she is still living, their lengthening years being cheered by the filial affection which their children have demonstrated in countless ways. Since her marriage, Mrs. Knowlton’s time has been fully occupied with domestic affairs, she having reared a family of eight children. No truer, nobler mother ever lived, and her self-sacrifice and devotion to her children, her parents, and her friends, constitute a luminous record to the honor of womanhood. Her children are: Edgar J., born August 8, 1856, a resident of Manchester, journalist by profession, four years mayor of that city, and its present postmaster; George H., a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, and a successful druggist in the same city; Nellie G.; Alice B ; May F.; Charles R., and Ray F., the latter now fifteen years of age, and a student at New London Academy. Her fourth child, Wesley J., an estimable young man, who learned the printers’ trade in the Mirror office at Manchester, died, deeply mourned, in 1890.