Elijah Marrs

Elijah Marrs, slave, Union soldier, educator, Baptist minister, Republican politician, and an early advocate of African-American civil rights, was born in January of 1840 in Shelby County. On September 26, 1864, Marrs, with 26 other Shelby County slaves, enlisted in the Union army, having led them from Simpsonville to the recruiting office in Louisville. Marrs opened a school in Simpsonville in 1866 and taught more than 100 students that first year. On August 3, 1871, Marrs married Julia Gray, daughter of Harriet Gray of Shelby County. They lived on Main Street in Shelbyville in a two-story frame house that Marrs had built prior to the wedding. She died in 1876 and is buried in the Shelbyville cemetery. Elijah Marrs lived until August 30, 1910. He is buried in Louisville’s Greenwood Cemetery.

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• Portrait of the Past
• Jim Cleveland Photo Collection ID 0007

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