Peter Marshall (preacher)

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Reverend Dr. Peter Marshall (27 May 1902 - January 26, 1949) twice served as Chaplain of the United States Senate.

Born in Scotland, he was a penniless immigrant when he landed at Ellis Island in New York in 1927 when he was 24. He graduated from Columbia Theological Seminary in 1931, when he became the pastor of a small, rural church in Covington, Georgia. After a brief pastorate, he accepted a call to Atlanta's Westminster Presbyterian Church. It was in Atlanta that he met his future wife, Catherine Wood, a student at Agnes Scott College. He was pastor of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. and was appointed twice as U.S. Senate Chaplain, serving from January 4, 1947 until his sudden death just over two years later. He was 47 years old.

Dr. Peter Marshall is buried at Ft. Lincoln Cemetery in Washington, DC. He was survived by his wife, Catherine Woods Marshall, and one son, Peter John Marshall.

Catherine Marshall later married widower Leonard LeSourd, editor of Guideposts Magazine. She wrote over 20 books, including the best-selling novel Christy based on her mother's experiences as a young Appalachian teacher, which became a television series. Peter Marshall's life was the subject of her book A Man Called Peter, which was later made into an Oscar-winning film, A Man Called Peter (1955) directed by Henry Koster and featuring Richard Todd as Peter Marshall.^[1]. Catherine died in 1983 and was buried next to her first husband, Peter Marshall.

Peter John Marshall followed his father into the Presbyterian clergy and now runs a national ministry from Orleans, Massachusetts. The younger Peter Marshall has also authored many books on the Christian faith in the United States.