Mackinaw Mail

Rebecca Marvel

Born in 1806 and passing away in 1893, Rebecca (Barr) Marvel is an important person in Waynesville history. Rebecca, at just 18 years old in 1824, traveled from Gibson County, Indiana to Central Illinois. Here, Rebecca, her husband, her brother, and his wife settled down in what we now know as Waynesville, Illinois. For several years they were the only ones living in the area, living out of log cabins they had built for themselves. As the years went by more people joined the settlement and built a community.

Rebecca moved a lot as a child and grew up with an immigrant parent. Rebecca’s father, John Barr, immigrated from County Antrim, Ulster, Ireland to the U.S., originally settling down in South Carolina. Two years after Rebecca’s birth, the family moved to Tennessee. In 1812 the family moved again, this time to Gibson County, Indiana. 

Rebecca and her husband, Prettyman Marvel Jr. married in 1823, just a year before they left for Illinois. The pair had eleven children together. Prettyman was a successful farmer selling some of his livestock and hogs across many states as he traveled the Mississippi River to sell them. It was during one of these trips that Prettyman came down with yellow fever which resulted in his death in 1842 at just 41 years old.

In 1847 Rebecca got remarried to Col. Thompson Prettyman Gambrel. The two spent their time working on the Gambrel farm and raising their youngest children together. Their farm was worth $9,000, equal to just over $300,000 in today’s dollars , showing their success.

At 87 years old Rebecca (Barr) Marvel died in her daughter’s home near Waynesville. She was buried next to her first husband, Prettyman Marvel Jr. in Union Cemetery. Rebecca and her family were pioneers of their time and built the Village of Waynesville up from barely anything, creating a community that has lasted for over two centuries