| Other People | Frank J. Bradley | Olive Rambo Cook | Jerry Litton | | |||
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Past and Present of Livingston County Volume 2. Biographies by Major A. J. Roof. 1913 |
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Page 150-151
Among the native sons of Livingston county there is none of whom she may be more proud than Ben Marlow, who along agricultural lines has achieved a success that lifts him above mediocrity. Owning a farm of three hundred acres on section 10 and one hundred and twenty fertile acres on section 3, Jackson township, he was born on the same place on which he is now residing, August 7, 1861, and is a son of William and Amanda (Hutchison) Marlow, the father of our subject coming from Platte county, Missouri, and settling here in about 1854, having thereby claim to the distinction a being one of the earlier pioneers of the section, He was one of most enterprising farmers in the district and was using methods and ideas in his time of which many of his friends, contemporaries and neighbors never thought. His work resulted in making him one of the most substantial men in the neighborhood and as he prospered he gradually became possessed of six hundred and thirteen acres of land, all under high cultivation. Not only had the father, however, qualities which destined him for individual success but he was patriotic to the core and when his country called for troops he entered the United States army as a boy in 1846 and offered his services upon the altar of patriotism in the Mexican war. Again in 1861 he enlisted for service in the Civil war under General Slack, continuing his record of bravery, courage and patriotic devotion. He died June 24, 1911, at the venerable age of eighty-one years, and found his last resting place in the Edgewood cemetery at Chillicothe. The parents reared a family of three children, all of whom turned out to do honor to the family name and maintained the respect that is paid to the name of Marlow wherever known. The mother of our subject is still residing in Jackson township. Ben Marlow received his fundamental learning in the district schools of the neighborhood of his father's farm, leaving the schoolroom at the age of sixteen years. He then assisted in the work on the home place, faithfully doing his duties and such labor as was assigned to him by the father. Subsequently he inherited two hundred and twenty acres of the home place, to the cultivation of which he gave his undivided attention, his labors being attended with such success that as a result he was enabled to acquire additional land and now owns three hundred acres on section 10 and one hundred and twenty on section 3 of Jackson township. He engages in general farming, raising such grains as are best adapted to soil and climate and making a decided success in stock-raising.
On February 14, 1899, Mr. Marlow was united in marriage at Spring Hill, Missouri, to Miss Gertrude Piper, a daughter of M. V. and Ida Piper, who came to this section in 1865. Her parents are well and favorably known in Chillicothe, where they now reside, and the father is one of the prominent and substantial men of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Marlow are the parents of one son, Claude, who is attending school.
Beside his extensive farming interests Mr. Marlow has made other investments, preferably in financial institutions, and is a stockholder of the People's Exchange Bank of Jamesport and of the First National Bank of Chillicothe. He is a stanch democrat, always supporting the measures and candidates of his party. A leading man along his line of occupation, Mr. Marlow not only gives evidence of the fact that strictly applied attention to one thing brings success but is an example and inspiration for others and has become a forceful and constructive factor in raising agricultural standards in the section which gave him birth and witnessed his success.