Dwight Whitney Marsh family papers, 1835-1889, n.d.

Cameron, Chantal

Dwight Whitney Marsh family papers, 1835-1889, n.d.

Files

Dwight_Marsh_Family_Letters_RG854.pdf (133.48 KB)

Date

2023-09-14

Authors

Cameron, Chantal

Abstract

Contains 25 letters and other papers pertaining to Dwight Whitney Marsh and his family. The letters are written by Henry Marsh (Dwight’s father), Dwight Whitney Marsh, and Clara (Marsh) Eager (Dwight’s sister) and are addressed to their parents, spouses, and siblings. The letters are dated 1835 to 1866. Most of the letters concern family, travel and business matters. Rev. Dwight Whitney Marsh worked as a missionary in Turkey and later at a Young Ladies’ Female Seminary in Rochester. His letters were all written while he was in the United States, mostly during the American Civil War.

A letter written by Clara (Marsh) Eager from Fort Erie, Oct. 30, 1854, describes her trip to Niagara Falls, Chippawa, and Buffalo. Some of the other papers in the collection contain no date or are dated 1888-1889.

Description

Dwight Whitney Marsh (1823-1896) was born in Dalton, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. After graduating from Williams College in 1842 he studied theology at Andover Theological Seminary and Union Theological Seminary. After being ordained in 1849 he left America for missionary work in Mosul, Turkey. He returned to the United States in 1852 and married Julia White Peck. They returned to Mosul, where Julia died in 1859. The following year Marsh returned to the United States and lectured about missionary work and his experience in Turkey, and preached in Hinsdale, Mass. and Godfrey, Ill. In 1862 he married Elizabeth Barron and began working at the Rochester Young Ladies’ Female Seminary. He remained at the Seminary for five years and continued to preach in various Midwest churches. In 1869 Marsh wrote a book titled The Tennessean in Persia and Koordistan. Being scenes and incidents in the life of Samuel Audley Rhea. This book was a biography of Marsh’s friend who worked as a missionary in Persia while Marsh was in Turkey. He also wrote about the genealogies of the Hitchcock and Marsh families.