Anniversary Lodge of Research No. 175
Free and Accepted Masons
Grand Lodge of New Hampshire
A Short Recapitulation on the Life of Sylvester Marsh
by Paul M. P. Kelley
“All Aboard” might have been that exuberant cry from Brother Sylvester Marsh on that historic day on July 3, 1869 as “Peppersass” the first steam engine made its inaugural run up Mount Washington; and so it was; the start of the Cog Railway.
Sylvester Marsh, the inventor of the Cog Railway was clearly a ‘traveling man”. He was born the ninth child of eleven children of the parents John and Mehitable Marsh on September 30, 1803 in the town of Campton, New Hampshire. When he was 20 years old he went to Boston Massachusetts, his journey took many days as he walked the entire 117 miles. From there, Marsh traveled to Ashtabula, Ohio where he engaged in the beef and pork business. In 1833 he moved to Chicago, Illinois, a bustling town at the time of 300 inhabitants. In Chicago he continued in the beef and pork packing business and was very successful. In 1855 he moved to Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts were he resided until about 1860. He then returned back to Chicago and remained until 1863, and then he traveled on to Brooklyn, New York. He only stayed in Brooklyn for about a year then he moved to Littleton, New Hampshire were he developed his plans of building a railroad to the top of Mount Washington.
During his time in the busy town of Chicago he was involved with the live stock and packing industry. One of the major meat packers of that time was Gurdon S. Hubbard. His company was one of the major meat suppliers to the soldiers and settlers of that time. In his book of “Reminiscences”, Hubbard says: “The winter of 1830 and 1831 was the most severe one I have ever experienced in Indian country, and it was always remembered by the early settlers as the ‘winter of the big snow’. Marsh was one of the pioneer’s in the meat packing industries and joined Mr. Hubbard for a period of time. In later years, in 1883 Marsh was a witness before a senate committee in Washington, and was asked about the price of pork. He replied that in 1841, while work on the Illinois and Michigan Canal was in progress he paid $2.00 a hundred pounds for all pork that weighed over 200 pounds to the animal, and $1.50 per pound if the animal’s weight was less than 200 pounds. The same price prevailed for beef at that time.
Chicago in the 1850’s was becoming one of the largest grain ports in the world. One of the problems with shipping grain, especially overseas, was its tendency to sour, spoil or rot while in storage. In 1853 he ceased working in the meat packing business after obtaining a ‘handsome fortune’ and began devoting his time to grain drying. Brother Marsh obtained 11 U.S. Patents in his lifetime, six were for grain dryers. “Marsh’s Caloric Grain Dryers” and his grain shipping company provided him with a substantial income. The Chicago Tribune at the time reported “A perfect safeguard against the heating of corn has been discovered by our fellow citizen, Sylvester Marsh.”
Marsh was also a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, and was involved in a land purchase deal for the Church. The going pay for a minister at that time was $1,000 per year.
While in Chicago, Marsh was involved in a land dispute which became known as the ‘Sand Bar” case, which involved title to a large amount of ‘shore’ property on Lake Michigan, north of the Chicago River. The title of the case was William S. Johnson vs. William Jones and Sylvester Marsh. Brother Marsh won his case, but what makes it note worthy was who his attorney was, a Mr. Abraham Lincoln!
At age 52 Marsh, a widower with two children married Cornelia Holt, originally from St. Albans, Vermont. Marsh was known as a workaholic, but now remarried with enough money to enjoy life he decided it was time to retire, relax and enjoy life. He moved his family to Jamaica Plain, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. Being retired just didn’t seem to fit Brother Marsh well at all. The sudden inactivity caused what he called “dyspepsia”, or physical upset. So he wasn’t long in retirement when he decided he needed a new project.
In the summer of 1857 accompanied by his Boston Pastor they went for a climb up Mount Washington. The Auto Road that we know today was not completed until 1861, so the men hiked up Crawford Path. It was reportedly a nice August day and the weather was calm. However after they got above the tree lines they were hit by a terrific storm with hurricane winds, and freezing rain and premature darkness. It appears that they somehow staggered and crawled their way back down the mountain, they lost their way for a time and stumbled into the Tip-Top House. It was rumored that then and there Marsh had found his new mission: to provide some easier way and safer method of ascension of Mount Washington.
His first attempt was to build a funicular railway line like the one just put into operation in Massachusetts at Mount Holyoke. This system uses two cars, going in opposite directions, connected by a single cable. That way the weight of each car offsets each other allowing for less energy to move two cars; one up the mountain the other down. This mountain was only 1/10 the height of Mount Washington. This system brought the cars up by a system of cables and stationary steam engines. Marsh soon realized that he could not achieve such a system on Mount Washington for the weight of the cable alone would be too much for the steam engines to be able to move. He decided that the only way to achieve a railway was to have the steam engine drive itself up the mountain. Marsh tried several variations, but decided to settle on a ‘cog’ system. The cog being the center wheel that propelled the engine up the track by having its tines inter-lock with a grooved central track. The outside wheels were only on track for guidance and for breaking, but not for propelling.
The Marsh family moved to Littleton, New Hampshire. In the spring of 1866 he organized and directed building the first 660 feet of track. In Boston his son John Franklin, called Frank oversaw building the experimental locomotive later called “peppersass” at the machine shop of Campbell, Whittier and Co. After he built it he had to take it apart and bring it to Littleton by train, then ox-carted it to the site and then had to reassemble it.
Sylvester Marsh’s calling to Masonry came later in his life at the age of 64. He was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason on April 11, 1867 at Burns Lodge # 66 in Littleton, NH. In the by-laws book signed by Brother Marsh is shows that he was raised with 3 other brothers whose age was in the 20’s. From that, we can deduce that Brother Marsh was well like by young and old alike.
Brother Marsh eventually moved to Concord, NH were, on December 30, 1884 at the age of 81 he succumbed to pneumonia. On his death the Directors of the Mount Washington Railway published this notice in Concord’s Daily People and Patriot: “Resolved that in the recent death of Sylvester Marsh, Esq. the President of the corporation from its beginning, the board of directors recognize the loss of an associate whose genius and thoughtfulness suggested and originated the enterprise, and whose interest in its welfare and confidence in its ultimate success, whether in adversity or prosperity never flagged.”
Submitted to Anniversary Lodge of Research No. 175 by Bro. Paul Michael Patrick Kelley, WM., July 8, 2009.
The intent of this recapitulation was not to do any new discovery of any material about Brother Marsh, but rather to comb the public records and public sites on the World Wide Web to remember a Mason who made significant contributions to New Hampshire. It is believed all material contained herein is in the public domain and not protected or copyrighted in any way.
Sources:
1. http://www.cog-railway.com/smarsh.htm
2. History of Cook County, Illinois by Editors Weston A. Goodspeed, LL.B. and Daniel D. Healy.
3. The First Presbyterian Church – A history of the oldest organization in Chicago by Philo A. Otis.
4. http://cowhampshire.blogharbor.com/blog/archives/2007/7/9/3024790.html
5. Report of the Mount Washington Railroad Company for year ending September 30, 1883.
6. Early Struggles of New England Families – The Rapid Growth of Chicago. (The Manchester Mirror).
7. Directory of the City of Chicago, August to December 1843.
8. A Century of Marvelous Growth by J. Seymour Currey.
9. Records of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire.
10. Conversation with Bro. Darrel Louis, secretary of Burns Lodge #66.
11. Conversation with Bro. Lynn M. Presby, partner, Cog Railway.