B. F. Marshall

Candidate Biography:

Benjamin Franklin Marshall
Born: 1798 in Louisville, KY
Married: Nicolasa Loreto Carriaga
Children: Mary C., Franklin Benjamin, George
Died: 1882 in Eureka, Nevada

1852-1853: Sheriff, Calaveras County
1854: Indian Agent, Calaveras and Amador Counties

• Marshall's home was destroyed in a fire caused by "an incendiary" on the night of August 22, 1859.
• GUNFIGHT: In February 1852, Sheriff Marshall and his posse were involved in a gunfight with "a number of Frenchmen" at a gold mining bar between Carson's and Murphy's Camps. "The Frenchmen had refused to obey an order of court, swearing that they recognised no law in California, and they would not obey its mandates. A large body of them having got together and assumed a hostile position..." after which Marshall fought a gunfight, killing one Frenchman and severely wounding another.
• NOT SO DEAD: In January 1864, a newspaper reported that B. F. Marshall killed B. T. Bradley and Samuel Wilson after a disagreement between Marshall and Bradley in which Wilson had testified against Marshall. Bradley wrote a contradictory note (published in the Marysville Daily Appeal on January 30th) saying: "It affords me pleasure to be in a condition to contradict the report. Neither Wilson nor myself has ever had any difficulty with Marshall, and I suppose Marshall will be as much surprised to to see the report as I was."

Source: "Fire" San Joaquin Republican, Volume IX, Number 200, 24 August 1859
Source: "The Sheriffaltry of Calaveras" San Joaquin Republican, Volume 2, Number 51, 26 June 1852
Source: "Shot" Daily Alta California, Volume 3, Number 39, 9 February 1852
Source: "Bloody if True" Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 26, Number 4002, 19 January 1864