George Tracy Marsh (1875-1945)
George Tracy Marsh (1875-1945), Lansingburgh-born author of works often set in Canadian wilderness. Some of his poems and stories were illustrated by many well-regarded artists including Maxfield Parrish, Newell Convers Wyeth, Frank Earle Schoonover, and Clifford Warren Ashley. (One of N. C. Wyeth’s paintings for George Marsh’s “The Quest of Narcisse Lablanche” sold in 2011 for $80,000..)
While playing on the dock at the foot of Van Schaick street [102nd Street] yesterday afternoon a boy, Stephen Fagg, fell into the water. Had it not been for the presence of Freddie Draper and George Marsh, Fagg would have drowned.
Troy Daily Times. May 8, 1885: 2 col 4.
—George Marsh, son of P. J. Marsh, is captain of the Yale freshman eight that won the race at New London, Conn., to-day.
“Personal.” Troy Daily Times. June 27, 1895: 2 col 3.
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The Entries for the Laureate Boat Club’s Races.
The annual regatta of the Laureate Boat Club will take place to-morrow afternoon on the river at the clubhouse and will include a number of interesting events. The races will be called promptly at 2:30 o’clock.
The entries follow: […]
Senior doubles—W. Williamson and C. F. Beiermeister, E. B. Williamson and T. J. Quillinan, George Marsh and L. S. DeZouche. […]
Senior eights—A. H. Betts, T. J. Quillinan, E. McCarthy, H. Baxter, E. B. Williamson, C. F. Beiermeister, R. C. Marshall and P. H. Draper; E. O. Witman, Mr. Aldrich, F. Baxter, E. J. Kober, W. Williamson, L. S. De Zouche, A. W. Harrington and george Marsh. […]
The program will also include canoe, sailing, paddling, hurry scurry, lance contests and a tub race.
Troy Daily Times. July 22, 1897: 3 col 5.
George T. Marsh, “Swamp” Marsh, as he used to be familiarly known before he was graduated with the Yale class of ’98, is in the Harvard law school. He was a substitute tackle for the Yale eleven three years, and was a crew substitute for the same length of time.
“Yale Men at Harvard.” Boston Herald. December 18, 1898: 34 col 7..
Scribner’s Magazine for October […] “The Old Canoe” is a poem by George T. Marsh, a Trojan.
“The Magazines.” Troy Times. August 15, 1908: 3 col 1. [Scroll down toward the bottom of this page for a version of “The Old Canoe” set to music.]
The December SCRIBNER is notably a Christmas number this year, for three of the stories are stories of Christmas day […]
A very notable feature of the number are four paintings of Indians by N. C. Wyeth, reproduced in colors, typifying the four seasons. They are accompanied by verses, “The Moods,” written by George T. Marsh.
“The Christmas ‘Scribner.'” The Book Buyer. December 1909. 218-219.
Marsh, George T. “The Moods.” Scribner’s Magazine 46(6). December 1909. 680-684. https://books.google.com/books?id=WNsvAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA680
The Outing Magazine for May […] “The Voyagers,” verse by George T. Marsh, formerly of Troy
“The May Magazines.” Troy Times. May 9, 1910: 3 col 2.
Scribner’s for August […] The frontispiece by Maxfield Parrish, reproduced in color, illustrates “The Errant Pan,” a poem by George T. Marsh, of a well-known Troy family.
“The Magazines.” Troy Times. August 9, 1910: 3 col 1.
Marsh, George T. “The Albany Trail to James Bay: Thirteen Hundred Miles by Canoe.” Scribner’s Magazine 51(4). April 1912. 433-448.
https://books.google.com/books?id=42wUj_NFfpIC&pg=PA433 [“Illustrations from photographs by the author.”]
“George Marsh.” Bookseller & Stationer 57(11). December 1, 1922. 5.
The November Dinner of the Booksellers’ League of New York City was made an affair of more than usual interest by George Marsh, author of “Whelps of the Wolf,” recently published by the Penn Publishing Co.
Mr. Marsh’s talk was of the particular period in his adventurous life which furnished the inspiration and the groundwork for his now famous story.
Armed with a battery of slides illustrating every phase of the trip, and with the same point of view that endowed his story with its charm, Marsh took his listeners through 1500 miles of wilderness, much of it virgin territory for white men.
When he had concluded his talk it is safe to say that many of those present had gained a new idea of the vast land which much of the present-day fiction has pictured as abounding in beautiful heroines, scarlet-coated Mounted Police and villainous halfbreeds.
It was an entirely different story—when told by one who had been there and had blazed a path to Hudson’s Bay through a region where much of men’s lives is a struggle for existence against starvation and the pinch of cold.
It is too bad that a selected group of scenario writers might not also have been present.
Bookseller & Stationer 57(11). December 1, 1922. 5, 16.
Professor White inquired the number of students who read and don’t read fiction. He told the value of a recent novel which was written by George Marsh. The novel was written about the people who live in Central Canada near Hudson Bay. The title of the book was “The Whelps of the Wolves.” Professor White recommended this book to be read by every one who likes lively life and good spirit.
“Lansingburgh; High School Notes.” Troy Times. March 12, 1924: 3 col 4.
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Lansingburgh Native Also Became Prominent as Attorney, Public Official
Private funeral services will be held at Providence, R. I., for George T. Marsh, nationally known lawyer and author who was born in Lansingburgh. Mr. Marsh was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Marsh of Lansingburgh and brother of the late Dr. J. P. Marsh. He died Friday in Providence, R. I., after a short illness.
Best known in Rhode Island in recent years as a public official, Mr. Marsh served as member and chairman of the old Providence Board of Public Safety and later as member and chairman of the board of trustees of State College.
He was known nationally as a writer of adventure fiction, most of it with the far north of Canada as a locale. His last published book, however, “Ask No Quarter,” published last spring, has Rhode Island and the adventures of a privateer as its theme. Mr. Marsh has had a full dozen volumes published since 1921, in addition to numerous short stories appearing in magazines.
His tales of the North were based on his personal experiences hunting and fishing in that region as a young man, combined with a love of dogs which included both the huskies of sub-Arctic and the airdales which sprawled about his home.
Mr. Marsh was born Aug. 9, 1875, at Lansingburgh, son of the late James and Lelia E. (Tracy) Marsh. He wrote that he loved most of his boyhood in canoe and shell on the Hudson, “but slept and ate at home.”
He prepared for college at Williston Academy, later entering Yale University, where he was captain of the freshman crew and later going to Poughkeepsie and the Henley Regatta with the Yale crew. He was graduated from Yale in 1898 and from the Harvard Law School in 1901, beginning the practice of law in Providence soon after.
He served in the General Assembly during 1910 and 1911 as a Democratic member of the House from the Second Providence District, numbering among his colleagues the late R. Livingston Beeckman, later governor; Frederick S. Peck, later state finance commissioner, and others who later became prominent figures in Rhode Island’s political life.
In 1923, he was nominated a member of the Metropolitan Park Commission by William S. Flynn, former governor, who the following year named him for the Public Utilities Commission. In both instances the nominations were rejected by the Republican Senate.
Mr. Marsh was named a member of the Public Safety Commission, state body formed to administer the police and fire departments of the City of Providence, in 1931, and served as chairman during most of the period till the board was abolished by the General Assembly in 1935. He won reelection to the board by the Senate in 1934, defeating the late Mayor James E. Dunne, who had been nominated for the post by Gov. Theodore Francis Green.
Upon the formation of the board of trustees of state colleges in 1939 Mr. Marsh was named as one of the seven members of that body and served as chairman until May, 1941. He continued a member of the board until February, 1942, when he resigned to devote himself to his personal affairs.
Mr. Marsh served as an officer in the Infantry and the Air Service during World War I, seeing action in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. He was an Army judge advocate and was a member of the aero-convention of the Paris Peace Conference. He later was a first lieutenant in the 385th Infantry, the organized reserve regiment in this state.
His first book, “Toilers of the Trails,” was published in 1921. It was followed by seven other volumes before 1930. Other books have been published at intervals since that time.
Mr. Marsh said the background of his tales was familiar country, “river valleys I have traveled, Hudson Bay posts whose hospitality I have known. In the summer of 1909 I went with a half-breed Cree to the headwaters of the great Albany River, a stream longer than the Ohio, and followed it 600 miles to Hudson Bay.” During that trip he traveled more than 1,500 miles by canoe.
Mr. Marsh was member of the University Club, the Hope Club and the Providence Art Club and was a Mason. In college he was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity.
He married Eva Corliss Weeden in 1915. She survives him, with a daughter, Mrs. John C. Develin of Philadelphia, and a niece, Mrs. Harold Haskell, of Troy and Glass Lake.
Times Record [Troy, NY]. August 13, 1945: 2 col 5.
Marsh, George. Toilers of the Trails. Philadelphia, PA: Penn Publishing Co., 1921. https://archive.org/details/toilerstrails00marsgoog/page/n13
Marsh, George T. The Whelps of the Wolf. NY: Burt, 1922. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008659262
Marsh, George T. The Valley of Voices. NY: A.L. Burt Co, 1924. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112111561772;view=2up;seq=6
Marsh, George T. Men Marooned. Philadelphia, PA: Penn Pub. Co, 1925.
Marsh, George T. Flash, the Lead Dog. Philadelphia, PA: Penn Pub. Co, 1927.
Marsh, George T. Under Frozen Stars. Philadelphia, PA: Penn Pub. Co, 1928.
Marsh, George. Sled Trails and White Waters. Philadelphia, PA: Penn Publishing Co., 1929.
Marsh, George. The Heart of the King-Dog. Philadelphia, PA: Penn Pub. Co, 1929.
Marsh, George T. Three Little Ojibwas: Amik (the Beaver) Nika (the Goose) Wabos (the Rabbit). Philadelphia, PA: The Penn Publishing Company, 1930.
Marsh, George. White Silence. Philadelphia, PA: Penn. Pub. Co, 1938.
Marsh, George. Vanished Men. Philadelphia, PA: Penn Pub. Co, 1939.
* The Baiting of Sampson, (ss) Short Stories Nov 1909
* Bent-Leg, (ss) The Popular Magazine Nov #1 1928
* Breed of the Wolf, (na) The Popular Magazine Jan 20 1922
* For the Great Father, (ss) Scribner’s Magazine Mar 1917. https://books.google.com/books?id=KCBGAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA325
* He-Man, (ss) Maclean’s Oct 15 1933
* The High Brotherhood, (ss) The Red Book Magazine Jan 1921
* The Honor of Hugh Garth, (ss) Short Stories Nov 25 1925 [and] Short Stories (UK) mid-Apr 1926
* A Japanese Financier’s Views on the United States Merchant Marine, (ar) Overland Monthly Jan 1916. [Perhaps this was a different George T. Marsh?]
* The Judgment of Achille Breault, (ss) The Country Gentleman Oct 1926
* The Knife That Burned, (ss) The Popular Magazine Jun #1 1929
* Land of His Fathers, (ss) Scribner’s Magazine Jun 1919. https://books.google.com/books?id=ykBWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA751
* A Little Tragedy at Coocoocache, (ss) Scribner’s Magazine Aug 1915. https://books.google.com/books?id=GgwwAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA217
* McCleod’s Partner, (ss) The Red Book Magazine Jan 1922
* A Minute with—, (cl) The Popular Magazine Sep #2 1929
* The Mistake of M. Bruette, (ss) The Red Book Magazine Mar 1921
* Night in the Hospital, (pm) The Forum Oct 1909. https://books.google.com/books?id=TZbAnc7dGbUC&pg=PA343
* Once at Drowning River, (ss) The Red Book Magazine Sep 1921
* The Outlaw, (ss) The Red Book Magazine May 1925 [and] Cassell’s Magazine Jul 1925
* Out of the Mist, (ss) The Century Magazine Apr 1917. https://books.google.com/books?id=5FQiAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA897
* Paradise House, (sl) The Popular Magazine Jan #1, Jan #2, Feb, Mar 1931
* A Question of Loyalty, (ss) The Popular Magazine Jun 16 1928
* The Quest of Narcisse Lablanche, (ss) Scribner’s Magazine May 1916
* Sunset House, (sl) The Popular Magazine Jul 7, Jul 20, Aug 7, Aug 20 1928
* The Trail to Death, (na) Complete Northwest Novel Magazine Jun 1936
* The Twilight of André Girard, (ss) Complete Northwest Novel Magazine Aug 1936
* Ungava Gold, (na) The Blue Book Magazine Nov 1936
* Unto the Least of These, (ss) The Country Gentleman Dec 1926
* The Valley of Voices, (sl) The Red Book Magazine May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov 1924
* The Valley of the Windigo, (ss) Scribner’s Magazine Jun 1917. https://books.google.com/books?id=KCBGAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA727
* Vanished Men, (sl) Grit Story Section Aug 25 1940
* The Vengeance of Black Fox, (ss) The Red Book Magazine Sep 1925 [and] Cassell’s Magazine Dec 1925
* The Voyageurs, (pm) The Outing Magazine May 1910. https://books.google.com/books?id=pNKfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA192
* Watchdogs of the Northwest, (ss) Adventure Novels and Short Stories Sep 1939
* When the Prince Came Home, (ss) Scribner’s Magazine May 1914
* White Silence, (sl) Grit Story Section Dec 8 1940
* The Wife of Quayle, (ss) The Country Gentleman Jul 1926
* With the White Mail, (ss) Scribner’s Magazine Jan 1914
* The Witness for the Defense, (ss) The Red Book Magazine Oct 1925
[From Phil Stephensen-Payne’s FictionMags Index http://www.philsp.com/homeville/fmi/0start.htm
waterson11. “The Old Canoe.” April 1, 2009. [“Music by D Bain written in 2005… words by George Marsh circa 1908 Scribners Magazine.”]
Burhoe, Brian Alan. “The Old Canoe – A Classic Canadian Song by George Marsh.” Civilized Bears. March 24, 2015. http://www.civilizedbears.com/canoe-classic-canadian-song-george-marsh/
Burhoe, Brian Alan. “Wolf Whelps & Lead Dogs: Tribute to George Marsh, Wilderness Writer.” Civilized Bears. April 1, 2015. http://www.civilizedbears.com/wolf-whelps-lead-dogs-tribute-wilderness-writer-george-marsh/
“Writers including Jack London, Zane Grey, James Gilbert Parker, Henry Van Dyke, and George Marsh relished the Schoonover illustrations in their books.”
“Frank E. Schoonover: American Visions [on exhibit] November 10, 2018 through May 27, 2019.” https://www.nrm.org/2017/02/master-american-illustration-swashbucklers-art-frank-e-schoonover/
“Frank Schoonover catalogue raisonné.” Norman Rockwell Museum. https://www.frankschoonover.org
[Google search results of Frank Schoonover illustrations for George Marsh stories and books] Norman Rockwell Museum. https://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=%22marsh,+george+t.%22+site:frankschoonover.org/&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8