Around 1810, he moved with his parents and some adult siblings to settle in Smithfield, New York. There, in 1813, he met and married Ruth Rice,
[1]
whose family had also migrated west from New England. The apparently decided that Pembroke, New York provided more favorable prospects and moved there between the births of their first and second children, around 1816.
Seth ran a successful public house, and in the 1830s, Seth became Postmaster in East Pembroke, Genesee, New York.
[2][3]
When their children were grown, Seth and Ruth, in the company of some of their younger children, moved yet again, this time to Washtenaw County, Michigan.
The year they moved is unknown, but the 1845 Michigan census has them as residents.
[4]
Seth passed away in 1851. His obituary in the Batavia Weekly, "The Spirit of the Times", conveys this rather poignant story of his death:
Died. At the Eagle Tavern in this Village on Friday evening the 13th instant, Mr. Seth Marsh, of Ann Arbor, Mich., father of Mrs. B. G. Tisdale, of the Eagle, aged 61 years.
Mr. Marsh formerly resided at East Pembroke in this county, where he built and kept the Public House now occupied by Mr. R. Willeu. He was also the first Post Master appointed at that place, and kept to office for several years.
There is something so remarkable in the death of Mr. Marsh and his wife as to be worth of notice. Some six weeks ago Mrs. Marsh came to this place on a visit, apparently in good health, but was soon after taken sick and died at the Eagle on the 21st ult. A telegraph message was sent to her husband informing him of her danger, but being unwell he was unable to leave home before her decease. In two or three days after her burial, his son Otis Marsh (now of Washington city) in company with Mr. B. G. Tisdale, started for Michigan, to see him but in the mean time he had so far recovered as to start for Batavia, and it so happened that he left Ann Arbor in the Cars at the same time that the train entered, in which was his son and son-in-law, but without noticing each other. They immediately returned and found him at the Eagle, where death speedily overtook him, and his remains were deposited by the side of his wife on Sunday last at East Pembroke.[5]
As indicated above Seth was buried in East Pembroke, New York. It can be assumed that it was the Pioneer Cemetery. The Pioneer Cemetery no longer exists, but its records contain his wife, Ruth, and father Seth Marsh, Sr.
[6][7]
↑
Ancestry.com. U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors.
Name: Seth Marsh Jr
Post Office Location: East Pembroke, Genesee, New York
Appointment Date: 1837
Volume #: 8
Volume Year Range: 1832-1842
↑
Year:1845; Census Place: Ann Arbor, Washtenaw, Michigan; Page: 020; Database:MI 1845 State Census Index. Ancestry.com. Michigan, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1827-1870 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.
↑
"The Spirit of the Times” (a weekly newspaper, Batavia, Genessee, NY) 17 Jun 1851, p3.
↑
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/118876478/ruth-marsh : accessed 26 November 2021), memorial page for Ruth Marsh (unknown–unknown), Find A Grave: Memorial #118876478, citing Pioneer Cemetery, East Pembroke, Genesee County, New York, USA ; Maintained by Kim M (contributor 47546758) .
"United States Census, 1820," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLV-8KC : accessed 24 February 2019), Seth Marsh Jr, Pembroke, Genesee, New York, United States; citing p. 223, NARA microfilm publication M33, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 72; FHL microfilm 193,727.
Year:1830; Census Place: Pembroke, Genesee, New York; Series: M19; Roll: 90; Page: 247; Family History Library Film: 0017150. United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF85-K2B : 12 April 2016), Seth Marsh, Superior, Washtenaw, Michigan, United States; citing family 906, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Rick Hale for uncovering the obituary in the "The Spirit of the Times", and to Judy Stiles, Research Assistant History Department genesee.ny.us, for locating a readable copy of the same.
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