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Today, the small stone-walled cemetery here contains the remains of John Marshall, Jr., his wife, Elizabeth, and their children: John, Ashton Alexander, Hanson, Catherine and James Edward. The latter's wife, Mary Morris Marshall is buried at Leeds Church, with two of her sons: Ashton and James Edward. The original 'office' is still in good repair having been added to, probably after the destruction of the main house in 1894 and used as a home. The original meat house stands nearby.
A WPA writer's project report of July 1937 reports that the 1910 purchaser was James E. Yates. In 1919, the property was sold to a Katherine Evans and to a T. S. Vance in 1923. These transactions were for other parts of Mont Blanc besides the mansion house site. Mr. Vance had established the "Mt. Ca Leb Orchards" on the Wild Cat Mountain, at Meadowville, and possibly had similar plans for the portion of Mont Blanc he purchased. The report continues that the property Mont Blanc was purchased by John Tyssowski in 1925 and Ralph R. Matthiessen joined him in 1927 as part owner. In the division of the property between the latter two gentlemen in 1945, Colonel Tyssowski received the site of Mont Blanc - he had used the stone from the destroyed building in the construction of his home near the edge of the property. He established his estate as "Cobbler Mountain Farms." The report also says "The original house was large and was one of the outstanding mansions of that time and community, only a crumbling wall remains of it today (1937), but it is fortunate that the outbuildings remain. One of the features of the old house was a secret drawer under a window, which seems to have played quite a part in the history of the place. Today the large farm is owned by two New Yorkers, names given above, who are greatly interested in shooting; hence quail raising is pursued to a large extent. These men built homes on outlying portions of the farm." Colonel John Tyssowski died in 1960 and his widow, Catherine (Woodward) Tyssowski, died 4 May 1993, at age 103 years. The estate was sold by the executors of Mrs. Tyssowski's estate to David C. and Mary C. Collins on 3 September 1996. Dr. and Mrs. Collins have since added a large portion of the Matthiessen estate, "Stillhouse Hollow Farm", to their original purchase. According to the long-time manager of "Cobbler Mountain Farms", Mr. Henry Sanders, he bulldozed and buried the "crumbling wall" mentioned in the 1937 article.
From the writings and research of John K. Gott
Two bronze plaques are being produced to permanently commemorate the Marshall family members buried at Learning Tree Farms, Mont Blanc. |