Some of the books from Dexter Marsh's own collection, now held at the library and archive for Memorial Hall Museum, Deerfield, Massachusetts. Image courtesy of Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association Library.

Public libraries for borrowing were still in the future, so people bought their books or borrowed them from friends. Dexter Marsh bought quite a few, which are all listed in his probate inventory. He may not have had a sturdy bookcase until 1850, when he purchased one, but he clearly prized knowledge. Marsh acquired nearly 90 volumes for his home library, quite an achievement for a self-educated laborer. Years later, Lorenzo Langstroth, who was the minister at the church and principal of the "young ladies' school" across the street and so had come to know him well, described Dexter as "a man of great force and originality, one of the strongest thinkers and closest reasoners with whom I ever became conversant."

Marsh's books were not easy reading, a sign of his desire to become an educated man of the middle class. Some reflected his religious commitments: Among his first purchases were a Christian Bible and a translation of Josephus, a popular work by a Jewish historian of the first century whose writings give evidence of the historical Jesus. In March of 1836, he bought A Child's Guide to Mathematics, designed for mothers to teach their children simple arithmetic using common household items. 

Listed in the probate inventory are an 8-volume Works of Shakespeare, Byron’s poetry, American history, classical history, religion, geography, ornithology, and several volumes on exploration, such as one described as "Richardson’s Arctic Expedition," and others to the Pacific and the Dead Sea. Some were geological references: The Natural History of New York (17 volumes), Geology of Rhode Island, Lyell’s Elements of Geology, Dana’s Manual of Mineralogy, and more. 

Marsh read journals about slavery and subscribed to abolitionist publications. His father, Joshua, was known locally (and not necessarily admiringly) for his dedication to the abolitionist cause, and Dexter had similarly strong antislavery feelings. As is often the case, although no clear records exist, there are indications that he may have been active in the Underground Railroad.

Next chapter: Academic Respectability