Title: Eleanor Marsh Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1902-1998

Creator:

• Marsh, Eleanor, 1896-

Call Number: UWM Manuscript Collection 162

Quantity: 1.8 cubic ft. (5 boxes)
Repository:

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives Department

Archival Location:

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

The collection contains the papers of Eleanor Marsh who was raised on and ran a farm with her husband Elwin for over forty years. The personal journals detail her daily life as a farm wife in rural Winnebago County, Wisconsin. The early journals were sporadically kept and contain mostly farm and household accounts. The collection also contains school composition books used by Marsh and an older sister, a few letters from family and friends written after she was no longer running the farm, and newspaper clippings from her 100th and 102nd birthdays.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-mil-uwmmss0162

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Eleanor Marsh was born in rural Winnebago County, Wisconsin, in 1896, the youngest of Albert and Elizabeth Merkley's seven children. She was raised on the family farm in rural Neenah, Wisconsin. As a young woman she aspired to be a nun and later a schoolteacher, but was unable to pursue either apparently because of her father's disapproval. In 1917, she married Elwin Marsh in a union that lasted for over fifty years.

The couple spent their early years living and working around Neenah. They spent a year managing a farm in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, before returning to Neenah. The Marshes eventually moved to Eleanor's childhood home where they helped her parents run their farm for almost ten years. Their only child, Dorothy, was born in 1928 and in 1929, the Marshes bought a small farm near Eureka, Wisconsin. Eleanor Marsh's mother, Elizabeth Merkley, moved in with the family in 1931, after her husband's death, and lived there until her death in 1942.

Eleanor's husband died in 1969, and she continued to live on the farm past her 100th birthday. She spent many winters in her daughter Dorothy's home to save money on heating oil. She also rented the farmland and its buildings during those years, but for the most part she continued to live semi-independently in her home in Eureka.

The majority of the collection consists of thirty journals that Marsh wrote in almost daily from 1966-1995. The entries contain details about the daily operations of the farm she and her husband ran for over forty years. She also discussed family and local events as well as reflected on national and world affairs. The journals document the changes in Marsh's life as she aged and worked to remain independent on her farm after her husband's death. Many of the journals have preprinted dates, but Marsh frequently did not adhere to those dates.

Four additional journals in the collection contain lists of farm and household expenses and income. The journals are for the most part lists and contain little information beyond farm items and their prices. These journals do not appear to have been used as faithfully as Marsh later tended to her personal journals.

Marsh's childhood is documented through three school composition books that she and her older sister Bina Merkley used. The books contain school assignments from a number of subjects as well as informative letters the students wrote to friends and family as part of their schoolwork.

The correspondence was sent to Marsh when she was no longer working on the farm. The newspaper clippings are in the collection from a local newspaper at the time of her 100th and 102nd birthdays and were written by her daughter, Dorothy Plautz. Dorothy Plautz published three novels, several family genealogy books, as well as numerous newspaper articles under her married names Dorothy Brunka, Dorothy Marsh Ogrizovich, and Dorothy Plautz. Many of the newspaper articles contain further information about Eleanor and Elwin Marsh and their extended families. The articles are part of the Dorothy Plautz Papers (UWM Manuscript Collection 170) in the Archives.

The personal papers are organized alphabetically by subject and chronologically by year. The composition book of Bina Merkley was retained as part of the collection as were the farm and household account books from the years before Eleanor and Elwin Marsh owned their own farm.

Citation Guide for Primary Sources

• Dorothy Plautz Papers. UWM Manuscript Collection 170.

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

Acquisition Information

Dorothy Marsh Plautz of Greenfield, Wisconsin donated the collection to the Archives in October 1999.

Processing Information

Amy Schindler processed the collection at the Archives in August and September 2000.

Box   1 Folder   1	Bina Merkley, Composition Book, 1902
Box   1 Folder   2	Correspondence, 1971, 1983, undated
	Daily Journal
Box   1 Folder   3	1946, 1956
Box   1 Folder   4	1966-1967
Box   1 Folder   5	1969-1970
Box   1 Folder   6	1971-1972
Box   1 Folder   7	1973-1974
Box   2 Folder   1	1975-1976
Box   2 Folder   2	1977-1978
Box   2 Folder   3	1979-1980
Box   2 Folder   4	1981-1982
Box   3 Folder   1	1983-1984
Box   3 Folder   2	1985
Box   3 Folder   3	1986
Box   3 Folder   4	1987-1988
Box   4 Folder   1	1989-1990
Box   4 Folder   2	1991-1992
Box   4 Folder   3	1994
Box   4 Folder   4	1995
	Eleanor Merkley, Composition Book
Box   4 Folder   5	1909
Box   4 Folder   6	undated
	Farm and Household Accounts
Box   5 Folder   1	1915
Box   5 Folder   2	1917
Box   5 Folder   3	Farm Notes, 1919-1920
Box   5 Folder   4	Farm Notes, 1921-1922
Box   5 Folder   5	Newspaper Clippings, Birthday Celebrations, 1995, 1998