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Charles Marsh (American politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people named Charles Marsh, see Charles Marsh (disambiguation).

Charles Marsh
Member of the
United States House of Representatives
from Vermont's at-large district
In office
March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817
Preceded byRichard Skinner
Succeeded bySamuel C. Crafts
United States Attorney for the District of Vermont
In office
1797–1801
Appointed byGeorge Washington
Preceded byAmos Marsh
Succeeded byDavid Fay
Personal details
Born(1765-07-10)July 10, 1765
Lebanon, Connecticut Colony, British America
DiedJanuary 11, 1849(1849-01-11) (aged 83)
Woodstock, Vermont, U.S.
Political partyFederalist Party (United States)
Spouse(s)Anna Collins Marsh and Susan Perkins Marsh
ChildrenCharles Marsh, Anna Marsh, Lyndon Arnold Marsh, George Perkins Marsh, Joseph Marsh, Sarah Marsh and Charles Marsh
Alma materDartmouth College
ProfessionAttorney

Charles Marsh (July 10, 1765 – January 11, 1849) was an American politician from Vermont. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives.

Biography

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Marsh was born in Lebanon in the Connecticut Colony, to Joseph Marsh and Dorothy Mason. He settled with his parents in Vermont before the Revolutionary War. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1786, he studied law and was admitted to the bar.[1] He began the practice of law in Woodstock, Vermont,[2] where he continued to practice law for about fifty years. He became the senior member of the profession in Vermont, and among those who studied in his office in preparation to become attorneys was Nicholas Baylies, who served as a Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court.[3] He was appointed by George Washington to be the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, and served from 1797 until 1801.[4]

Marsh was elected as a Federalist candidate to the Fourteenth United States Congress, serving from March 4, 1815, until March 3, 1817.[5] He founded the American Colonization Society while in Washington.[6]

He was prominent in the Dartmouth College controversy and was a trustee of Dartmouth College from 1809 until 1849.[7] Marsh became a member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1809.[8]

Marsh received the degree of LL.D. from Dartmouth College in 1828.[9] He was a liberal benefactor of various missionary and Bible societies, president of the Vermont Bible Society, vice president of the American Bible Society, and vice president of the American Education Society.[10]

Family life

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Marsh married Anna Collins[11] in 1789. They had two children, Charles Marsh and Anna Marsh. Marsh married Susan Perkins on June 3, 1798. They had five children together; Lyndon Arnold Marsh, George Perkins Marsh, Joseph Marsh, Sarah Marsh, and Charles Marsh.[12]

Marsh's father, Joseph Marsh, was a Vermont officer in the American Revolution, a member of the Vermont House of Representatives, and the first Lieutenant Governor of Vermont.[13] His son George Perkins Marsh (1801–1882) was an environmentalist, a member of the United States Congress, and a diplomat.[14] His nephew James Marsh (1794–1842) was a noted Congregational clergyman and writer.[15]

Death

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Marsh died on January 11, 1849, in Woodstock, Vermont.

His early 19th-century house, now much altered with Victorian features, is the centerpiece of Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park and is a National Historic Landmark (primarily for its association with his son George Perkins Marsh), and his c. 1797 law office building (now a private residence and moved from its original location) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Notes

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  1. ^ The Society (1840). The American Quarterly Register. The Society. p. 386.
  2. ^ "MARSH, Charles, (1765 - 1849)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  3. ^ Ullery, Jacob G. (1894). Men of Vermont Illustrated. Brattleboro, VT: Transcript Publishing Company. p. 181].
  4. ^ "Marsh, Charles (1765-1849)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  5. ^ "Rep. Charles Marsh". Govtrack.us. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  6. ^ Proctor, Redfield (1894). Men of Vermont: an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont. Transcript Publishing Company. p. 143.
  7. ^ American Education Society (1840). Quarterly register and journal of the American education society [afterw.] The American quarterly register, conducted by E. Cornelius. American Education Society. p. 386.
  8. ^ "Charles Marsh". Litchfield Historical Society. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  9. ^ Dartmouth College (1890). General catalogue of Dartmouth college and the associated institutions. Dartmouth College. p. 104].
  10. ^ "CT-RIVER-VALLEY-L Archives". Ancestry.com. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  11. ^ "Anna Collins Marsh". Find A Grave. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  12. ^ "CT-RIVER-VALLEY-L Archives". Ancestry.com. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  13. ^ Proctor, Redfield (1894). Men of Vermont: an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont. Transcript Publishing Company. p. 63.
  14. ^ "MARSH, George Perkins, (1801 - 1882)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
  15. ^ Barrett, James (1871). Memorial address on the life and character of the Hon. Charles Marsh, LL. D.: A paper read before the Vermont historical society, at Montpelier, Oct. 11, 1870. James Barrett. p. 8].

References

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Further reading

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  • "Men of Vermont: an illustrated biographical history of Vermonters and sons of Vermont" by Redfield Proctor, published by Transcript Publishing Company in 1894.
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Legal offices
Preceded by United States Attorney for the District of Vermont
1797-1801 		Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Vermont's at-large congressional district
March 4, 1815 – March 3, 1817 		Succeeded by
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