Marshall, James McConnell

James McConnell Marshall was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on September 7, 1849, to John Marshall and Margaret McFarland. He grew up in Perry County, Illinois, where he worked on his father farm and later farmed independently after marrying his first wife, Amy Ann King. Suffering from severe health struggles following a bout of pneumonia, he relocated with his family to California in 1884 to seek a milder climate.

Settling in Fresno County, James purchased eighty acres from the Southern Pacific Railway Company in 1886 and later retained a forty-acre improved ranch near Parlier. He helped construct local irrigation canals like the Centerville and Kingsburg Ditch and installed pumping systems to ensure a steady water supply for his property. Following the loss of his first wife in 1902 and a brief second marriage, he married Mrs. Irene Conley Jones on June 18, 1915, raising a large family while serving as a school trustee in both the River Bend and Parlier districts.