Marcus Erwin was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina on February 5, 1873. Erwin was a lawyer who served as clerk of the Buncombe County Superior Court (1901-1914), city attorney for Asheville (1915-1919), legislator (1920 & 1925), and U.S. District Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina from December 1933 until his death in Asheville on December 18, 1939.