Herman Marquardt was born in Prussia in 1877 and worked on the Capitol as a teamster hauling the stone from the train depot up to the construction site. The Pioneer Press reported on March 28, 1898 that he was injured, though not seriously, while unloading at the Capitol.

Most of the workers who constructed the Minnesota Capitol belonged to unions. A specific union affiliation has not been found for Marquart, but other Teamsters were organized in St. Paul at the time the Capitol was built, so it's probable he was a union member, like fellow Capitol team driver and Teamsters Local 120 founder John Geary.