The Marson/Morson/Marso/Marseau Family
From Ell, Luxembourg
to
Wisconsin and Minnesota
- -
Michael and Mary (Schons) Morson. (1912)
Frank Marson (Francois Marseau), my great-great-grandfather, was born on 10 February 1808 in
Ell, Luxembourg. The village of Ell is located about 3 km from the Belgium border, north of
Arlon. His Parents were Jean Marseau, born about 1750 in Ell, and Clare Mertens, born about 1773.
On 12 May 1834, at the age of 26, Frank Marson married Josephine DeVillet. Josephine was born on
7 April 1810 in Post, Belgium. Her mother was Maria DeVillet, a single mother. After their
marriage, Frank and Josephine worked as hired hands on a farm in Post, which is a small village
about 6 km from Ell. Post was in Luxembourg at the time of Frank and Josephine's birth. In
1839 Luxembourg ceded about one half of its territory to Belgium, which included the village of
Post.
Frank and Josephine had five children between 1834 and 1842. Margaritha, born about 1835;
Elizabeth, born about 1837; Michael, born 28 March 1838; Maria, born 18 July 1840; and Susanna,
born 15 August 1842.
Frank, Josephine, and the five children, sailed from Antwerp, Belgium They arrived at the
Port of New York on 12 July 1843 on the Bark Manchester. Bark is a designation for a ship having
three masts, with its two forward masts square-rigged, and its rear mast fore-and-aft rigged.
They made that long Atlantic voyage in probably four or five weeks. The oldest child was eight
years old, the youngest was eight months. Can you imagine?
Shortly after their arrival in the United Sates, Francois Marseau changed his name to
Frank Marson. The Marson family lived in New York state for a few years, where Peter was born
in 1845, and Johann was born in 1847. From New York they moved to Wisconsin and purchased a farm
in the town of Belgium. Belgium is north of the Port Washington, Wisconsin, area. At the farm in
Belgium, Wisconsin, Nicolas was born on 3 July 1851, Franciscus was born in 1852, and Margaretha
was born in 1854.
Michael Marson, my great-grandfather, and Frank and Josephine's third born child, married
Mary Schons on 11 September 1867 in Belgium, Wisconsin. Mary Schons had been living on a farm
with her parents at Fredonia, Wisconsin, just a few miles from the Marsons. It is believed that
in about 1869 Michael and Mary moved to Nicollet County, Minnesota, and purchased a farm in
Granby Township. Sometime after Michael Marson arrived in Minnesota, he changed the spelling of
his name to Morson.
By all accounts, Michael and Mary Morson were very successful Minnesota farmers. They also
managed to raise nine children: Mary, born 1870; Anna, born 1872; Margaret, born 1874;
Catherine, born 1878; Michael, born 1880; Nicholas, born 1885; Peter, born 1886;
Clara, born 1888; and Jessie, born 1890. Michael Morson died on 30 June 1931 and Mary died in
1943. They rest in peace at the Calvary Cemetery in St. Peter, Nicollet County, Minnesota.
Around 1869, about the same time Michael and Mary Morson moved to Minnesota, Frank and Josephine
Marson moved to Eau Galle, Wisconsin, where they purchased a farm. Frank and Josepine lived out
the rest of their lives in Eau Galle. Frank died on 7 November 1891, and Josephine died on
22 June 1897. They rest in peace at St. Henry's Catholic cemetery in Eau Galle.
Michael Morson's parents, brothers, and sisters continued using the Marson spelling. To this
day, the Wisconsin descendants of Frank and Josephine go by Marson, and the Minnesota
descendants of Michael and Mary go by Morson.
Written by: David W. Schmit
24 November 1998
Last Modified: 06 August 2001