Milan history: Hannah Marble loved the local Methodist church
Hannah Sherman was born in New York in 1826. Her father, a Civil War veteran, bought a large tract of farmland in Milan Township, and Hannah grew up on the farm.
She married George Wilcox, who came from another wealthy family in town. He owned a great deal of real estate south of Main Street in Milan.
George Wilcox died in 1858, leaving Hannah with a huge fortune. She went to New York and joined a Methodist Episcopal Church there.
Meanwhile, Buckley Marble was living in Galena, Illinois, with his wife, Hopestill, and his three children. He was working as a carpenter and builder.
Marble’s little girl died in 1857. Then his wife passed away in 1860, leaving him stranded with his full-time career and two teenagers.
Buckley sent his son, Joel, to Wisconsin to live with an aunt. He moved to New York, where he worked in a brother’s store and handled carpentry jobs on the side. Mary lived with family in New York.
Buckley and Hannah probably attended the same church. They married Jan. 18, 1868, in Onondaga County, New York. The next year, they both moved to Milan, and Buckley called for his son and daughter to join him.
Buckley was greeted in Milan as an important person, being married to Hannah. He was quickly named village assessor and then justice of the peace.
Buckley’s daughter, Mary, married Winfield Wallace in 1874 in New York. He was a wagon maker. Soon, Winfield bought property from Hannah Marble’s real estate collection. He bought a place on County Street where it splits from Main Street, now occupied by the “Old Fire Barn.”
That location was being used as a carriage shop. The previous owner had just gone to New York to promote stock in an electric sugar refining machine.
Buckley’s son, Joel, married Lizzie Dent in Omaha, Nebraska. Joel brought her with him to Milan in 1884.
On Nov. 6, 1885, Buckley Marble filed a petition in Monroe County Probate Court stating Hannah was insane. He said she was helpless, like a child, with loss of memory.
I found this petition in the genealogy department of the Monroe County Probate Court. Some scraps of paper from that time period survived the courthouse fire and were saved in the Monroe Probate genealogy office.
The judge did not grant this petition, because a month later, she was in good health, selling a piece of her property. Buckley signed as a witness, so apparently, he didn’t think she was insane anymore.
Hannah died Aug. 28, 1886. Her husband filed a probate action. Again, scraps of paper salvaged from the courthouse fire show that Judge Landan had a crowd in his courtroom. Hannah’s nieces and nephews from the Sherman and Wilcox families objected to her will, giving all of her real estate to the church.
The family were not happy, insisting she was “insane” to give everything to the church and not to them.
Harmon Allen, an officer with the church, testified that he was present as a witness when Hannah Marble signed her will. “She was of sound mind,” he assured the court.
Landon accepted Hannah’s will for probate, and appointed Buckley Marble as administrator.
Marble sold all her remaining real estate at auction, then paid the cash proceeds to the trustees of the church, minus a small administrative fee.
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The Methodist Episcopal Church in Milan developed rapidly. In September 1888, the Rev. Martin H. Bartram, a traveling pastor serving Milan, laid the cornerstone for the building.
Today, it is called Marble Memorial United Methodist Church, to honor Hannah Marble for her generosity.
Martha Churchill has been researching and writing about Milan history for 17 years.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Milan history: Hannah Marble loved the local Methodist church
