In 1847 over 200 citizens in the City of Marshall took a stand against a small group of armed slave hunters who came to take away Adam Crosswhite, his wife and children.  The Crosswhite family were fugitive slaves from Kentucky that arrived in Marshall by way of the Underground Railroad, enroute to Canada, and had decided to take up residence in the community.  Life was good, and Adam and his family were welcomed into the community.  

One day a man named Francis Troutman, the grandson of Crosswhite's former owner arrived with the intention of taking the fugitives back with him to Kentucky.  Adam took a stand, and the community gathered around him in support, and took the slave hunters into custody.   While they were detained, members of the community got the Crosswhite Family safely out of the area, and across the border into Canada.  

This incident became known as the Adam Crosswhite Affair, and it so infuriated the Southerners that they not only filed suit in retaliation against several Marshall residents, but they also pressured Congress for stricter laws on Fugitive Slaves, which set in motion a chain of events which ultimately led to the Civil War.

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