 The town was founded by Sidney Ketchum (1797-1862) in 1830, a land surveyor who had been born in Clinton County, New York, in conjunction with his brother, George Ketchum (1794-1853).The Ketchum brothers explored central lower Michigan in 1830, and in late 1830 Sidney Ketchum obtained government grants for the land on which most of Marshall now stands.The early settlers named the community in honor of Chief Justice of the United States John Marshall from Virginia—whom they greatly admired.