An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, by Rev. H.K. Hines, D.D., 
The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago, IL., 1893, pages 490-491

	SAMUEL P. MARSH, of Vancouver, Washington, claims the proud distinction of
being the first white child born in Spencer Township, Medina county, Ohio, time
date of the occurrence being March 24, 1826. He is a son of John and Clara
(Rodgers) Marsh. The father was born in Vermont, and his death occurred in Ohio,
in 1836. The Marsh family are of English ancestry, and trace their lineage on
this continent to the early portion of the seventeenth century. The mother of
our subject, a native of Connecticut, descended from one of the early and
influential families of New England. Her father was a patriot soldier during the
Revolutionary war, and held the rank of Colonel.
	Samuel P. Marsh, the third in a family of six children, was reared in his
native State, and at the early age of ten years was apprenticed to the
blacksmith's trade, serving five years. He then followed his trade as a
journeyman until 1850, when he made the long and tedious journey with ox teams
to the Pacific Coast, spending six months and five days on the road. Mr. Marsh
first located at Portland, Oregon, and, being without money, his first $100 was
earned by scoring timber. He hewed the logs and built the first blacksmith shop
in the now densely populated city of Portland, having been obliged to borrow an
ax for that purpose. After getting the logs to his shop site, Mr. Marsh
proceeded to Milwaukee, the only sawmill in the country having been located at
that point, purchased lumber on time, and towed the material on a raft to
Portland. After completing his shop the next trouble was to get tools to work
with, but this difficulty was overcome, however, by the purchase of an odd lot
of second-hand tools, for which he paid $400, giving endorsed notes for thirty
and sixty days. His first customer was William Bennett, then Sheriff of
Washington county, who paid him $12 for shoeing one horse, and on the following
day paid $24 for shoeing a span. At that time Mr. Marsh was obliged to pay 35
cents for iron, and $1 a pound for steel. He carried on business in Portland
until 1854, and from 1851 until that time was also engaged in steamboating on
the Willamette river, having served as engineer on the second steamboat run on
that river. In 1854 he established the pioneer blacksmith shop in Vancouver,
where he does a general manufacturing business, both in wood and iron. Mr. Marsh
is associated in business with his son, and they employ several skilled workmen.
In addition to his other interests, he owns both residence and business property
in Vancouver, and among the public buildings may be mentioned the Standard
Theater, which was erected in 1886, and has a seating capacity of 1,000.
	In Ohio, in 1846, Mr. Marsh was united in marriage to Mary E. Strong, a
native also of Ohio. They have had eight children, five now living: Clara N.,
now Mrs. George Whipple: Harriet, wife of Lysander Pelton; John; Jessie and
Samuel. The deceased are: Eugene, who died at the age of four years; William, at
the age of twenty-two years; and Jennie, deceased in infancy. Mr. Marsh has been
prominently identified with the growth and prosperity of Vancouver since his
residence here; was a charter member of the City Council, in which position he
served nine years, and from 1854 to 1860 was employed in the Quartermaster's
Department in the United States Army. Mr. Marsh also assisted in bringing to a
proper settlement the difference between the Saint James Catholic Mission and
the site of the city of Vancouver.

Submitted to the WA. Bios Project in October 2003 by Jeffrey L. Elmer

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Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies
Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the
individual featured in the biographies.