Henry W. Marshall

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Henry Wright Marshall Sr. (January 29, 1865 – January 31, 1951) was an American businessman, politician, and educator. He is best known for starting the Lafayette Journal & Courier, serving as Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, and acting president of Purdue University.

Early life and career
- Born near Springfield, Ohio, and graduated in 1883 from Union Business College in Lafayette, Indiana.
- He began as a stationery salesman.
- From the 1890s to the 1920s, he helped start or run companies in bridge construction, road paving, public utilities, railroads, and grain storage.
- As president of the Western Construction Company, he was indicted in 1908 overcharges on a paving project for the city of Indianapolis.

Publishing and business interests
- In 1914, he bought and merged the Lafayette Sunday Times and the Lafayette Morning Journal.
- In 1920, he merged them with the Lafayette Daily Courier to form the Journal & Courier, which remains Lafayette’s main newspaper.
- He also bought the Evansville Courier in 1920 but sold it to Mayor Benjamin Bosse a few months later.
- Marshall remained editor-in-chief of the Journal & Courier for life, though his son Henry Marshall Jr. later became the publisher.

Political career
- A Republican, Marshall served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 1899 to 1905 and was the speaker in 1903.
- He stayed active in politics, attending state and national party conventions.
- In 1932, he led a group that persuaded the Indiana Republican convention to support repealing Prohibition (the 18th Amendment).

Purdue University
- In 1921, he joined Purdue University’s board of trustees.
- When President Winthrop Stone died in a mountain-climbing accident a few months later, Marshall served as acting president from July 17, 1921, to September 1, 1922, and did not take any pay for his service.

Other roles and later life
- In 1933, he became president of Chicago’s International Livestock Exposition, a position he held (elected 16 times) until he resigned in 1949.
- By his death in 1951, he owned about 6,000 acres of farmland near Lafayette, Indiana.

Henry Wright Marshall passed away on January 31, 1951, in Lafayette, Indiana, at the age of 86.