Biography:

Dr. Robert Marsales was born in Clinton Township (Lincoln County), Ontario in 1831.  Dr. Marsales was the 3rd of 4 children born to John Marsales and the former Ethlinda S. Smith.  His parents were farmers and his siblings were; Eli, William and Peter.

Dr. Marsales married Emily Lambert in 1851.  According to the 1851 census, Dr. and Mrs. Marsales were living with his parents in Clinton Twp where Dr. Marsales was a school teacher.  Mrs. Marsales was born in Ireland around 1832.

Dr. Marsales’s medical school education is unknown at this time.

Dr. and Mrs. Marsales had 6 children; Ethel Marsales, Eva Marsales (who died at the age of 25), Alfred John Marsales, Robert Lambert Marsales, Franklin Davis Marsales, and Harry Clinton Marsales.  The first 3 children were born in St. Catharines, Ontario where Dr. Marsales practiced medicine.  Around 1860 Dr. and Mrs. Marsales moved to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where Dr. Marsales continued to practice medicine and the last 3 children were born.

Mrs. Emily Marsales died around 1871 and Dr. Marsales moved back to St. Catharines. His medical practice appears in the 1879 St. Catharines City Directory.  The listing advises that Dr. Marsales had his office on King Street near the Courthouse.  His residence was located at the same address.  His daughter Eva Marsales died in Southwold Twp in Elgin County in 1878 at the age of 25.  She was a music teacher.

Dr. Marsales married Mary (Sherman) Wilson in Thamesville on the 1st of December, 1879.  Mrs. Marsales was born in Thamesville on the 8th of March, 1840.  She was the 6th of 9 children born to David Sherman and the former Nancy “Ann” Coll.  Her parents were farmers and her siblings were; Lemuel, Sarah, Elsie, Jane (who died at the age of 14), Elizabeth, William, Lomila and Priscilla.  Her mother died when she was 10 years old on the 2nd of November, 1850.  Prior to marrying Dr. Marsales, Mrs. Marsales was married to John Wickliffe Wilson, who was a school teacher in Mosa Twp (Middlesex County).   They had 2 daughters, Effie and Alberta. Mr. Wilson was born in 1838 in Mosa Twp, the son of William Park Wilson and the former Elizabeth Huff.  Mr. Wilson died in London, Ontario on the 19th of January, 1872.  He was buried at the Sherman Cemetery near Thamesville.

Shortly after his marriage to Mrs. Mary Marsales, Dr. Marsalis was practicing medicine in Thamesville.  His name appears on birth and death records as early as 1880.  According to the 1881 census, Dr. and Mrs. Marsales resided in Thamesville with his sons from his first marriage, Robert and Harry and her daughters from her first marriage, Effie and Alberta.

Dr. and Mrs. Marsales had a son named Charles Duge Marsales born to them on the 17th of November, 1881.  Mrs. Marsales’ daughter Effie Wilson died of tuberculosis in Thamesville on the 26th of October, 1882.  She was buried near her father, John Wilson at the Sherman Cemetery.  Young Charles died on the 4th of March, 1883.  He was also buried at the Sherman Cemetery.

After the death of their children, Dr. and Mrs. Marsales moved to Yazoo, Mississippi, where Dr. Marsales’s son, Alfred John Marsales resided.  Dr. Marsales died in September of 1884.

Following the death of Dr. Marsales, Mrs. Marsales moved back to Chatham.  She married George Ford in Detroit on the 12th of November, 1884.  They lived in Bay City, Michigan.  Mr. Ford was a machinist and he had previously been married to Isabella and had 7 children.  Mrs. Wilson-Ford’s daughter Alberta Wilson died in 1899 and she was buried at the Sherman Cemetery near her father, John Wilson.  Mr. Ford died on the 27th of August, 1912.  Mrs. Ford continued to live in Bay City until her death on the 29th of March, 1926.  She was buried at the Sherman Cemetery near her parents.

*Below is the tombstone of Dr. Marsale’s wife, Mary (Ford).