Born to Electoral Saxon army officer Georg Rudolph von Marschall and his wife in Stolpen, Upper Lusatia, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, von Marschall studied at universities in Leipzig and Herrnhaag before joining the Moravian Unity of Brethren in 1739.
[6] When the Revolutionary War began, the Moravians felt trapped in neutrality, reluctant to sever ties to their brethren in England, yet already on thin ice with their fellow Americans.
The Confiscation Act of 1777 proved a greater threat: to protect Wachovia, von Marschall returned from the Moravian Synod in Germany where he had been since 1775 to become a trustee of the territory.
From then on, von Marschall remained dedicated to the settlement, making frequent visits to the General Assembly to defend Moravian claims and continuing to design buildings and institutions for Salem.
He died in a thriving Salem, remembered as the father of his community and a religious leader to Moravians and non-Moravians alike.