Marshall is a town in Rusk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 664 at the 2020 census. The village of Sheldon lies within the town.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 35.8 square miles (92.6 km<sup>2</sup>) - all land. Marshall's soil is a patchwork of Almena, Auburndale and Spencer silt loams left by the last glacier, with peat soil accumulated in the low places. The Jump River cuts across the southern end of the township.
History
In October 1852 a survey crew working for the U.S. government marked all the section corners in the six mile square which would become Marshall, walking through the woods and swamps, measuring with chain and compass. When done, the deputy surveyors filed this general description:
<blockquote>This Township contains some Tamarac Swamp, all of which is unfit for cultivation. Some Hay meadow from which Hay may be cut. The Surface is generally level. That(?) that may be considered upland, and Compare favourably with 2nd(?) rate land in(?) any(?) Country. Covered with white and yellow Birch, Sugar, Maple, Elm, Ash And some Pine, some places Hemlock mostly.</blockquote>
An 1880 map of the area shows logging well under way. In 1878 the Mississippi River Logging Company had built a large dam twelve miles downstream on the Chippewa at what is now Holcombe. A tote road from Cornell (then called Brunett) passed up through the west end what would become Marshall, following the east side of Main Creek. Another tote road from Cornell stopped at the south edge of what would become Marshall at the Jump River near the future County G bridge.
A later map, from 1901, shows the area when Rusk County was called Gates and Marshall was still part of a large town of Dewey. The map shows one wagon road in the town, entering from Chippewa County on the south edge, crossing the river, and passing Fern Post Office. Then the road followed the future Cemetery Road and County V to the north end of Marshall. About a dozen settlers' homesteads were sprinkled along this road. Away from the road and the Little Jump, most of the land was still in large blocks, with the largest landholders Cornell University, Fitch Gilbert and Keith Brothers on the west, Northwestern Lumber Company on the east, and James L. Gates, who speculated in pinelands and sold the cutover lands to farmers.
A later plat map (date uncertain, but no later than 1905) shows more wagon roads and more settlers. One road ran west from Fern, roughly paralleling the river to the west edge of modern Marshall. Another predecessor of Marshall Road reached two miles east of Cemetery Road. Another short road reached east a quarter mile from the modern County V to a sawmill on the Little Jump River. More settlers were scattered along these roads, plus a few out near the corner of Market and Poplar, where no road was yet marked on the map. By this time Cornell University and Fitch Gilbert had sold their large blocks, mostly to John S. Owen and J.L. Gates Land Co.
The previous maps show no development where Sheldon would be. This rail line cut across Marshall diagonally, crossing the Jump River a mile east of Fern. The Wisconsin Central built a depot and section house on the north bank of the river and called the station "Sheldon." Within a few years the post office, saloon and general store had moved from Fern to Sheldon, near the station.
A 1914 plat map of Marshall shows the Soo Line Railroad crossing the town, with Sheldon on the north side of the river. Wagon roads had extended further, with more settlers. One rural school was out by Fern across from Meadowbrook Cemetery. Another was three miles north of Sheldon on what is now County V. Another was five miles northwest on Elm Road and another where County G now crosses the river. By this time west of the railroad was largely settled. Much of the east was in large blocks owned by the Owen Lumber Company. Other large landholders were the Faast Land Company and Northern Wisconsin Seed.
Demographics
As of the census