OTHNIEL CHARLES MARSH 285 



quantities of rocks were blasted out by the workmen. These 

 limestones contained various minerals and fossils which so engaged 

 the attention of the boy, that under the guidance of Colonel Jewett, 

 a collector in that region, he soon became ardently interested in 

 these specimens. So determined and absorbed was he in this 

 undertaking that he absolutely refused to work on his father's 

 farm, often spending whole days in adding to his store of minerals, 

 and further provoking parental discipline. Indeed, from this 

 time on he seems to have had no taste for farming. 



At the outset Marsh met with difficulty in gaining an education, 

 for it was during the winter only that his father permitted him to 

 attend school; yet inheriting an aptitude for learning and a reten- 

 tive memory, it was necessary for him to read his lessons over but 

 once in order to learn them, and he generally stood at the head of 

 his class. He must have made good use of his time, for at the age 

 of nineteen he taught during the winter in a district school, receiv- 

 ing sixteen dollars a month for his services. With this money, he 

 left Lockport for South Danvers, and spent the rest of the year 

 1851 at the old Marsh homestead. A diary kept during the 

 months succeeding his arrival begins: 



" DANVERS, June ist, '51. 



" Believing that a diary, with regular additions, will be highly 

 advantageous in improving my style of writing, and penmanship, 

 and also a valuable assistant to my memory, I shall now commence 

 to note down the most important events of each day, in as plain 

 and concise a manner as possible. 



"O. C. MARSH." 



This diary shows that during the formative period of his life, 

 Marsh displayed the same energy, industry, and enthusiasm 

 characteristic of his more mature years. Up to this time, however, 

 there is no hint of pursuing further study; yet later, through the 

 influence of a maternal aunt, who had enlisted the generosity of 

 her brother (Mr. George Peabody of London) in his behalf, 

 Marsh was induced to enter Phillips Academy, Andover, and, late 

 in the autumn of 1851, he became a student in the English Depart- 

 ment of that institution. At first he showed little ambition to 



