Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Marsh, Horatio N ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com September 7, 2007, 8:27 pm Author: Genealogical & Biographical Record HORATIO N. MARSH. Of the many thousands of men now living in Joliet no one has been a resident of the city for so long a period as has Mr. Marsh. During the entire period of his connection with local history he has maintained a deep interest in the development of the city's resources and has aided in its advancement. No one is better posted than he concerning incidents connected with the history of Joliet, and many of these he has written up, thereby giving them a permanent value. One of the local matters in which he has been interested has been the pronunciation of Joliet, and it was largely through his influence that an ordinance was passed by the city council, April 22, 1895, declaring the proper pronunciation of the word to be Jo'-li-et. To stir public sentiment on the subject he read a poem at one of the schools February 27, 1894, which was afterward published and widely distributed, and which accomplished not a little toward the end sought. We quote from it the following lines: If by some other name the fair rose that we greet, Has a beauty as rare, and a fragrance as sweet, Does it follow of course that its friends should not claim For their favorite flower its own beautiful name? So our city, misnamed, may appear just as fair, And its crown of achievement as royally wear, Yet who would not wish it might ever be known By the name it was christened, and that name alone? As one reaches our city, ere brakes can be set, The brakeman officially cries: Jol-ly-yet! And at the hotel, asked the name of the place, Of the gem-bedecked clerk, with the rubicund face, "Can I tell you the name sir," he answers: "You bet! What else could you call it but straight Jo-li-ette." But the clerk with the register does not agree; Printed Jo-li-et plainly as any may see! But pronouncing so badly, though only a fad, Has led to a spelling as wretchedly bad. In warehouse and store, and abroad on our streets, And on missives by mail, what strange spelling one meets. We have Joliette and Joilet and quaint Jolleyette, And scores of strange "spells" we would gladly forget! But a truce to bad spelling; we sadly deplore, As practiced too oft, its orthoepy more; And marvel that people of culture proclaim, Their own lack of taste, mispronouncing the name; And more, that such errors in usage abound When a uniform standard is readily found! If we turn to the library, kind Mrs. Mack, To the goal we are seeking will show us the track; And as lexicons modern and musty we turn Our search to reward we this lesson shall learn: That in spelling and accent the standards agree; And the name of our city must Jo-li-et be! True, the Frenchman will sound the first syllable Zho, While the Saxon, less musical, calls it plain Jo, But he it was named for would never have known His name as oft heird in this city of stone. With the right and the wrong so distinctly in view, What, as people of culture and taste, shall we do? To the wrong tamely yield, or continue the fight Till the wrong dies ignobly, and triumph the right! With our schools may our pulpits and platforms unite, To drive these misnomers from hearing and sight; The speaker who slights such grammatical laws, Should be greeted with hisses instead of applause; The teacher who would not correctly pronounce The name of his Patron deserves the grand bounce; And the pupil so stupid, a vigorous whack Of the pedagogue's rule on the end of his back! And brakeman, oh! brakeman, in pity forbear With uncouth Jolley-yet to encumber the air; And far prettier Jo-li-et give to the ear Of the traveler waiting your message to hear; Do this and we'll honor you living, and dead A Jo-liet marble will place at your head. Genealogical records show that the Marsh family accompanied William the Conqueror from Normandy to England, settling in the Marsh country, from which fact their name was derived. The family in America descends from two brothers and a cousin who came from England, two settling in Massachusetts and one in Connecticut. This branch descends from John Marsh, who settled in Hartford, Conn., in 1635. In 1711 his descendants settled on a farm in the town of Montagua, near Deerfield, Franklin County, Mass., where were born Jonathan Marsh, his son Quartus, and grandson, Horatio N. In 1835 Quartus Marsh came to Illinois and settled on a farm near Crete, where he died in 1850. He married Sallie Holt, who was born near Deerfield, of English descent, and died in this county. Of their six children, Mary A. and Jonathan died in this county and Francis in Piatt County; Edwin lives in Chicago and Henry in Kansas. The oldest son in the family, Horatio N., was born November 15, 1812. He distinctly remembers the dedication of Bunker Hill monument and Lafayette's visit to the United States. In 1827 he accompanied his parents to western New York, settling near Rochester. Soon afterward he was apprenticed to the cabinet-maker's trade, which he followed for some years. In November, 1835, he came to Illinois, making the trip by packet to Buffalo, thence by steamer to Detroit, from there across Michigan by wagon and on to Joliet. All of those whom he accompanied settled in eastern Will County, then a part of Cook County. In 1836 Will County was organized, and the same year a bill was passed for the construction of the canal. On account of lack of funds the work was temporarily suspended, but some years later the state obtained a loan from England and work was resumed, the canal being completed in 1849. Its completion enabled the people of Will County to board a packet and be in Chicago in ten or twelve hours, which they considered very satisfactory. With the building of the Rock Island road in 1852 the distance was covered in less than two hours. After working for a short time as a journeyman cabinet-maker Mr. Marsh opened a shop of his own on the east side, but later moved to Bluff street. He continued in the business until hand work was superseded by machinery products when he quit. In 1852 he entered the employ of the Rock Island Railroad, being the first agent appointed on the new road, and he continued to be their agent, with the exception of three years (1863-66), when he was postmaster, until 1883, when he resigned on account of age. During the last years of his connection with the railroad its business here aggregated $500,000 annually, and his responsibilities as freight and passenger agent constantly increased. After resigning as agent he engaged in the insurance and real-estate business, continuing ten years, when he retired from business. Fifty years ago he built a residence on what is now Broadway and here he has since made his home. Possessing literary ability, Mr. Marsh has always been interested in newspaper work and has been a constant reader of local and general history. From 1847 to 1852 he was editor of the old Whig paper, which was called the Joliet True Democrat and which had the largest circulation of any paper for miles around. This paper has since been merged into the Joliet Republican. In 1848 Mr. Marsh advocated the nomination of General Taylor. In 1850 he took the census of Will County. He was interested in the effort to build a road from Joliet to Valparaiso, Ind., to connect with the Grand Trunk Railroad, but on account of the building of the Michigan Central road, the other road never materialized. During his service as alderman he was chairman of the committee on claims. For some years he was a member of the school board and during that time, with others, he began the building of the fine schoolhouses in which Joliet now excels. He was one of the organizers of the First Presbyterian Church, and has since been an active member and ruling elder, also a participant in Sunday-school work. In 1836 he voted for William Henry Harrison and afterward continued a Whig until the dissolution of the party, since which he has been a stanch Republican. For many years he was a member of the Tippecanoe Club of Chicago. In Monroe County, N. Y., Mr. Marsh was married, in 1835, to Miss Mary Kile, who died leaving an only child, William H. The latter enlisted in the Third Illinois Infantry and was fatally wounded at Vicksburg, where he died. The second marriage of Mr. Marsh united him with Miss Mary L. Pond, now deceased, of Monroe County, N. Y. Their only child, Frank E., who is engaged in the grain business in Joliet, married Miss Kate Richmond, of Joliet, and has two sons, both graduates of the Illinois State University, the older of whom is engaged in medical missionary work in Point Barrow, Alaska, and the younger is an electrician in Minneapolis. Mr. Marsh was married again, February 9, 1870, to Miss Jennie R. Foster, of Delavan, Wis. She was born October 3, 1831, and died September 7, 1896. As is commonly known, the city of Joliet is named in honor of Monsieur Joliet, a man of many remarkable qualities, whose self-sacrificing labors left their impress upon the subsequent history of the county. He was a companion of Father Marquette. In 1672, when he and Marquette were returning from an expedition on the Mississippi, they traveled up the Illinois and Desplaines rivers and discovered Mount Joliet, which was named in his honor. When the town of Joliet was laid out in 1834 it was recorded Juliet by an ignorant man, who was unfamiliar with the origin of the name; hence for some time it was often called Juliet or Juliette, but by act of legislature the name was changed to Joliet. Additional Comments: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/marsh924gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/ File size: 10.4 Kb