Journal a glimpse of frontier life

EDITOR'S NOTE (Pam Berenger): This is the first in a two-part series examining the journals of early Mercer County settler William A.B. Marsh and his son, Wilson V. Marsh. Next week, columnist Pam Berenger will examine how the writings became public, and what the Marsh family descendants learned from the documents.

A large combine rolls over the modern-day Millersburg Township fields where on Sept. 21, 1853, a young man stood marveling at the prairie grasses growing taller than him.

It was 20-year-old William Albert Brown Marsh's first look at the farm where he would settle with his parents, Mordecai Lewis and Eliza Ann Marsh. It was the land where he would bring his wife, Mary Jane, and build a house. There they would share their lives and raise seven children to adulthood.

It was "as delightful a country as the sun ever shone upon,” William wrote in his journal the day he entered Mercer County for the first time.

Not all the questions and emotions young William had at that moment are known, but the details of his life would be revealed to future generations through his own words, written at the end of each day in journals preserved and now shared by his descendants.

William's journals, as well as those of his son Wilson Victor Marsh, have been copied and given to the Essley Noble Museum in Aledo. Together the 8,000 pages, with their quirky punctuation and misspellings, cover more than 100 years of local history - including the naming of Aledo, elections, weather reports, births, deaths, marriages, and the daily lives of the Marsh family and their neighbors.

William's journals began in 1850, when he penned annual synopses of his life from 1833 to 1849. Daily journal entries started Jan. 1, 1850, when he wrote: "Dry, cold, ground frozen, roads good. Commenced to keep a journal of matters and things in general ... don't know how it will work, or how long it will last, but I am pretty good to hang on. New Year's day, no school, hitched up the team and hauled up four loads of wood from the swamp. Also chopped up some stove wood."

The day William first looked out over that prairie marked the end of his family's journey from their Ohio farm in search of a better life in the West. On Sept. 1, 1853, William wrote in his journal: "A.M. Drizzling rain. P.M. Dull, Cloudy, Muddy, Slippery. A.M. finished packing everything nice and Snug in the wagon, and hitched Lize and Bet to it, and tied our faithful old Dog: Boze under it, and my Colt Jinny behind it; hitched honest John and Doll to the Carriage. My father drives the wagon and I drive the Carriage. Self, Mother and Aunt Phebe Ride in it; At 10 o'clock A.M. Everything being ready, and bidding farewell to the neighbors and friends who had come in to See us Start we rolled out for the West; when we Got up by Eliga Peffers, Jinny broke loose from the wagon, and we let her follow along as She pleased. She never left us; but followed along like a dog; never turning her head back once."

The family drove 17 miles that first day.

William wrote of simple things on their journey. Each day's entry starts with the weather and road conditions.

On Sept. 12, 1853, his 20th birthday, he wrote that the family had reached Crawfordsville, Ind., where they encountered a "very steep hill, almost a mountain, it was nearly perpendicular; many emigrant teams at the foot of this hill, looking very wishful toward its summit. Some of them said they could never climb that hill and guessed we couldent. We stopped our teams and took a good look at it ... decided to try it as there as no way to get around it and we did try it. And after a very heavy pull, we gained the top and went on our way."

Nine days later they arrived in Mercer County and crossed Pope Creek for the first time. That evening they saw their new house, which Mordecai had contracted to have built when he bought the land almost a year earlier.

Because it was late, they spent the night at Judge Ephraim Gilmore's and inspected the house and farm thoroughly the next day.

The family quickly set about making their house livable, traveling to New Boston for a "sett of chairs, a new stove and so forth," William wrote.

On their way, they made a stop at the Mississippi River. Describing the scene before him, William wrote: "fed our teams and then went down and for the first time my Eyes beheld The Great Mississippi, the father of waters, the longest river in the world. Many times before in my life I had read about this river and had often Said if I lived I intended to See it Sometime. Today my wishes were gratified. On first Sight of this grand and noble river I was almost overcome by my emotions. Every American Citizen ought to visit what I consider one of the wonders of the world."

William's journals are full of details both minor and important. He describes how he and his father built a stable that the horses kicked it down as fast as they could build it. He describes going to "the timber,

as they call it here, to cut trees that will be used for firewood," the fresh springs which became the family's water supply, and the thousands of fowl that made hunting easy.

It didn't take long for the Marsh family to become part of the community. On Oct. 17, 1854, William wrote about his trip to the first Mercer County fair in Millersburg.

"I saw a very large assembly of people present. The Show of Stock, vegetables, Grain, machinery and manufactured articles did very well for a beginning," he wrote. His entry the second day of the fair included more details of the crowd and activities that night, including a dance and some traffic-stopping romantic encounters.

"... at one time the team stood a half hour in the road for we were all hugging the gals and no one to drive the team," he wrote.

That same year William became a teacher, and a school - later known as the Marsh School -- was built on the family's land.

Being a teacher made William one of the most eligible bachelors in the area, and the girls flocked to the school. But William noted their behavior was not always proper and the "hazel brush" was often applied.

Unable to find a Mercer County lass up to his standards William took a train back to Ohio, where he quickly proposed to Mary Jane Patterson. They returned to Mercer County and settled down on the farm.

William's entries about his personal life, particularly his children, were like the weather -- limited to simple, one-sentence entries.

His life was a busy one. Marsh School had become a social center and he became a charter member of many organizations, including The Temperance Watchmen and a debating society. William also became a scientist and collector of artifacts, especially shells. Family members said they believe part of his collection is at the Smithsonian.

He also served as township road commissioner for many years. His family was instrumental in forming the Adventist church, and a school for Adventists was built on their property.

William and Mary Jane's daughters Mary Jane, Isa, and Eliza Celeste grew up and married three sons of the Greer family, while William Jr. married a Greer family daughter, Ella. Wilson Marsh's grandson, Harold Marsh, said it is likely that many of the Greers living in the Aledo area are descendants of William A. B. Marsh.

In 1893, his wife dead, William left the farm and moved to his father's brick home on Aledo's College Avenue. He married again to a widow in 1895. She died in 1909.

William's last journal entry was dated Aug. 31, 1913, nine hours before he died. It reads: "Cool, temp 66 degrees. I am growing weaker all the time. Did not eat any breakfast. Drank a little coffee, but for dinner I done a little better. It rained Several times."

Posted at qconline.com: October 16, 2005 11:26 PM

Print publication date: October 17, 2005

Journals mix Marsh family, Aledo history

Editor's note(Pam Berenger): This is the second in a two-part series examining the journals of early Mercer County settler William A.B. Marsh and his son, Wilson V. Marsh.

Some families prefer to keep their skeletons in the closet. Mercer County residents should feel blessed that the Marsh family isn't among them.

The descendants of William A.B. Marsh have shared his daily journals, as well as those written by his son, Wilson Victor, with the Essley Noble Museum in Aledo. They also have given the museum a copy of the book "The Prairie Tree," which was written by Frank Lewis Marsh, Wilson's youngest son.

Together the 8,000 pages of journals, with their quirky spellings and punctuation, span more than 100 years of Mercer County history. They cover the everyday details of life, particularly life in Millersburg Township. The Marsh family settled there after moving from Ohio to Mercer County in September 1853.

"They were note keepers," said Mike Marsh of Berrien Springs, Mich. He is the son of the late Dr. Nellie Marsh, who was Wilson's daughter. "They were record keepers. More than a bit of their lives are written in mundane entries, like the daily weather and going to Aledo to watch the digging of the new well. But there are other entries that are informative and historically accurate. One woman's birth date was verified through William's journals."

Whether William's journals were intended for viewing by his descendants is unknown, but in one entry Wilson made it clear that he considered his journals off-limits.

On June 30, 1892, Wilson wrote: "In this unpretentious book are briefly recorded many very important occurrences. Some are sad in the extreme, some are silent witnesses of many blissful events and happy hours now past and partially or entirely forgotten, while some are common place and unimportant were it not for this humble records my past life would be a perfect blank as far as many transactions are concerned but by these records I am enabled to recall to my memory most of my life work. I do not intend this book for general perusal, but solely for my own perusal as I indite my most secret thoughts herein."

He was just 20 years old at the time.

Although Wilson never wanted his thoughts to be public, Mike said being able to read his writings has helped him understand many things.

"He was definitely a melancholy," Mike said of his grandfather. "He anguished over many things. My mother's divorces and her marriages, his debt and the debt of the (local Adventist ) church," which his family was instrumental in forming.

One of the things Wilson anguished over was the birth of his third child, Frank Lewis.

"My father was extremely sensitive about the fact that he wasn't supposed to be born," Frank Lewis' daughter, Sylvia Fagal of Laurel, Md., said. "My grandfather Wilson thought of himself as a `proper' gentleman, and that thought carried through to having two children. He already had a boy and a girl, and the thought of a third child didn't fit. He traveled to Aledo for a concoction that was believed to initiate the menstrual cycle. It didn't work. To me, it is fascinating. To my father, it wasn't."

Perhaps that is why the journals remained undisturbed for so many years. Only a few family members knew they existed. Sylvia inherited them from her father, who family members agreed would be the most interested in them.

She didn't realize the importance of the journals until much later. Today, she can recall seeing her grandfather Wilson, who died in 1957, write in his.

"I remember visiting the farm and at night he would go and sit at the roll-top desk with the pigeon holes," she said. " He would dip the pen in the ink well and carefully write in his journals."

After her father's death, she inherited the heirloom items.

"I like to hang on to things," she said. "But this is something to share with everyone. Sometimes you have to wait a generation or two for those who might be involved to be gone."

Although many of the events are private, the family feels the journals' content is of interest to Mercer County.

"You'll find a lot about the daily farm experience in them" Mike said. "The Marshes were involved in everything. They've written about the first telephone in Mercer County, the first fair, the first radio and the X-ray. There are local thoughts on the Civil War, including hand-drawn pictures of battle scenes and the memorial of Abraham Lincoln, when his funeral train stopped in Aledo.

"The journals may be a lot of our family," he said, "but they are also a lot of Mercer County."

Journals available at museum