Marshall M. Huey was born around 1821 in Ireland. He eventually immigrated to America and settled in New York City. He married Sarah Jane Moore on July 7, 1849, and they had at least two children: Margaret, born around 1850; and Robert, born around 1852. His wife probably died in the late 1850s, and he later married Margaret A. Clark. They had at least six children: John, born around 1861; Gamble, born around 1865; James, born around 1867; Jeanette, born around 1869; Adelaide, born around 1871; and Samuel, born around 1874.
They lived in Brooklyn, New York, and he earned a living as a dry goods merchant. By 1870, they owned $9,000 of real estate and $8,000 of personal property. They moved to Falls Church, Virginia, in the 1870s, and he worked as a farmer there. They moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, in the late 1800s, and he died there on January 16, 1900.