284 LEADING AMERICAN MEN OF SCIENCE 



marriage, Mr. Marsh took up his residence in Lockport, New 

 York, and here on Chestnut Ridge his eldest son, Othniel Charles 

 Marsh, was born October 29, 1831, in the eighth generation from 

 John Marsh of Salem, the founder of the family in this country. 



In his third year, the boy had the misfortune to lose his mother, 

 an admirable woman whose influence in her family was strong, 

 and who bequeathed to her son qualities that brought him his 

 highest success. After his mother's death, with an elder sister he 

 was taken by his father to Danvers and placed in the care of an 

 aunt, remaining two years in the home built by his ancestors in 

 1766 but destroyed by fire in 1881. In 1836, Mr. Caleb Marsh 

 returned to Lockport, and soon after married Miss Mary Latten, 

 daughter of Judge Latten of that place. Six children were born 

 of this second marriage. The family subsequently lived at Brad- 

 ford, Massachusetts, but a few years later returned to Lockport, 

 where the father died in 1865. 



Mr. Caleb Marsh was an industrious farmer, energetic and 

 enterprising, with a keen interest in current events and marked 

 ability in the acquisition of knowledge. Being endowed with a 

 remarkable memory, his attainments, it is said, were such as to 

 cause him to be regarded as a sort of village oracle. He was, 

 however, both stern and impulsive, and not being always in sym- 

 pathy with the tastes of his strong-willed son, he occasionally 

 inflicted severe punishment on the boy. Brought up in the country, 

 healthy in body and alert in mind, the sturdy lad was chiefly 

 interested in out-of-door affairs, and early showed individuality 

 and resolute character. Obliged, like most country boys, to 

 make himself useful when quite young, he still found time to 

 indulge his predilection for hunting and fishing. The robust 

 health and vigorous constitution enjoyed until within a year or 

 two of his death were doubtless due to the open-air life of these 

 early years, while to habits of observation thus acquired he owed 

 much of his scientific success. 



When Marsh was twelve years of age, his father purchased a 

 farm in the western part of Lockport, close to the Erie Canal. At 

 that time the enlargement of the canal was in progress, and great 



