Marsh, Charles Wesley, 1834–1918, American inventor and editor, b. Ontario. In 1849 his family moved to De Kalb co., Ill. Assisted by his brother William, he designed a hand-binding harvester and obtained a patent in 1858. With Lewis Steward he established a manufacturing plant in 1863, and within a few years two other plants were established. In 1865 Elijah Gammon and William Deering bought an interest in the property and eventually acquired the entire business. Marsh started another company in 1869 but sold a controlling interest to J. D. Easter & Co. in 1876. The following year the business failed. He next attempted to build an automatic binding machine, but this project failed in 1884. He became editor of the successful Farm Implement News in 1885 and retired in 1904. He served in the Illinois state legislature from 1868 to 1872, and wrote Recollections, 1837–1910 (1910).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Agriculture: Biographies
