An Illustrated History of Central Oregon, Western Historical Publishing Company, Spokane, WA. 1905, page 395. ABEL V. MARSH, who resides about four miles west from The Dalles where he owns an estate of four hundred acres, is one of the heaviest fruit producers in Wasco county. He has a model ranch which is made a place of beauty and value by his thrift and wisdom. Last year, he shipped over seven thousand boxes of fruit and tomatoes, being one of the heaviest shippers in the entire valley. In addition to his large fruit interests, he raises general crops and handles cattle and horses. Abel Y. Marsh was born in Wapello county, Iowa, on March 19, 1849. His father, Josiah Marsh, was also a native of Iowa and crossed the plains in 1854, making settlement down the Columbia from The Dalles, where he took a donation claim. He married Elizabeth Bell, a native of Wapello county, Iowa, who is deceased. Our subject remained with his parents until twenty-five years of age, gaining a good education and a first class training as a farmer, stockman and fruit raiser. Then he rented a farm for himself until 1889, when he purchased the place where he now resides. It is a magnificent estate and Mr. Marsh is making it still more valuable. Our subject well remembers that in the early days the family had very much trouble with the Indians and many nights were forced to stay in the woods. The neighbors also suffered very much from their depredations but our subject's father was a man of courage and stability and weathered those days and assisted materially in building up the country. On December 7, 1871, at The Dalles, Mr. Marsh married Miss Sally Lyle, who was born in Iowa and is now deceased. On May 19, 1891. Mr. Marsh contracted a second marriage. Mary E. Doyle, a native of Iowa then becoming his wife. Her father, Michael Doyle, was born in Illinois, came to Oregon in 1874 via the Isthmus and now resides on Chenoweth creek a few miles away. He married Selinda Beers, who resides with her husband. The other children of the family besides Mrs. Marsh are Ralph, Charles, Edna Kauffman, and Ina. By his first marriage, Mr. Marsh has four children; Effie, the wife of Michael Thornton a farmer in Klickitat county, Washington; Ina, the wife of E.C. Fitzgerald, who lives with our subject; Josiah, deceased; and Minnie, deceased. To the second marriage, two children have been born, Willie and Harold. Mr. Marsh is a member of the W.W. and a good strong Democrat, though not particularly active. His farm requires from three to ten hands all the time besides many more during certain seasons. Mr. Marsh has shown his ability in making a fine success in fruit and stock raising and his labors have resulted in much good, both in building up the country and stimulating others to worthy efforts. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in January 2005 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.