Marsh, Eleanor, 1896- . Papers, 1902-1998. UWM Manuscript Collection 162 1.8 cubic ft. (4 archives boxes, and 1 small archives box)

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.

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. However, 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).

SCOPE AND CONTENT: 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.

ARRANGEMENT: 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.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: 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.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Marsh, Eleanor, 1896- . Papers, 1902-1998. UWM Manuscript Collection 162. Golda Meir Library. University Manuscript Collections. University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

RELATED COLLECTION:

Dorothy Plautz, 1928- . Papers, 1960-1994. (UWM Manuscript Collection 170)

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

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

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

• Agriculture--Wisconsin--History--20th Century.
• Brunka, Dorothy Marsh, 1928- .
• Craig, Dorothy, 1928- .
• Dairy farmers--Wisconsin.
• Dairy farming--Accounting.
• Dairying--Wisconsin--History.
• Farm life--Wisconsin.
• Farmers--Wisconsin--Winnebago County.
• Farmers’ spouses--Wisconsin.
• Marsh, Dorothy Ann, 1928- .
• Marsh, Elwin William, 1888-1969.
• Marsh family.
• Merkley, Bina.
• Ogrizovich, Dorothy Marsh, 1928- .
• Plautz, Dorothy, 1928- .
• Rural women--Wisconsin.
• Women--biography.
• Women farmers--Wisconsin--Winnebago County.
• Women in agriculture--Wisconsin.

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URL: http://www.uwm.edu/Library/archives/findaids/uwmmss162.htm
Last edited on Friday, December 14, 2001.
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