Marsh Mines Consolidated was incorporated in the state of Washington on August 17, 1916, as a reorganization of Marsh Mining Company. It also registered as a foreign corporation in Idaho. The trustees and officers were M.W. Lee, president; Edward Pohlman, vice president; Joseph McCarthy, secretary; W.T. Smith, treasurer, and W. Earl Greenough. The properties purchased from Marsh Mining Company included Got-Em-Now, Marsh, Wm. Sulzer, Jett, J.J. Lentz, Lentz Fraction, Slayden, December, Cusick (unpatented), Burke, Fuller, Green Mountain, Fir, and Clark. Shortly after incorporation Greenough resigned as a trustee and was replaced by J.V. Pohlman.
To undertake operations, the company borrowed $1,000 from the First National Bank of Wallace and levied an assessment to repay the loan. A second loan of $6,000 was taken out in July 1917, and another assessment was levied. By October 1918 six stock assessments had been levied but were unable to raise the needed capital and the sale of treasury stock was negotiated.
In July 1916, Marsh had received a ten year lease on the Mono, Russell, and O'Neill claims of Federal Mining and Smelting Company's Tiger-Poorman group as the result of an agreement resolving threatened trespass litigation. Later Federal began a suit in behalf of Marsh against Hecla Mining Company involving these claims. This case was settled out of court in March 1921, and during a portion of the litigation period with Hecla, Marsh was given possession of the Gertie Mining Company tunnel for the purpose of carrying on exploration work in their adjoining claim. The final settlement involved Hecla purchasing the entire Tiger-Poorman group subject to the Marsh Lease. Marsh then received $112,500 cash and valuable concessions including tunnel rights for the exploration of the Russell vein in return for the cancellation of its lease.
In 1926, all known ore having been extracted, mining operations ceased and the management tried unsuccessfully to sell the company. To raise money for its debts, Marsh put treasury stock up for sale. The stockholders failed to take up the all of the offered stock and the remaining shares were sold at five cents per share to the Hercules Mining Company in July 1929, giving the Hercules control of the company.
The 1932 report to the stockholders, signed by manager Henry L. Day, showed over $91,000 in the treasury. It also reported Marsh Mines Consolidated owned slightly more than 1/3 of the outstanding stock of the Cassiar Crown Mining Company located near Telkawa, B.C. This stock was acquired in May 1926.
On April 8, 1944, the directors -- Edward Pohlman, president, F.M. Rothrock, vice president, Wray D. Farmin, secretary, Henry L. Day, treasurer, and J.V. Pohlman -- met to consider an offer by the King Mining Company, of which the Hercules was the major stockholder. King offered Marsh 266,667 shares of capital stock for all the property -- then 14 patented claims, equipment and machinery of Marsh Mines Consolidated. On August 4, 1944 the shareholders approved the sale.
The records of the Marsh Mines Consolidated span the years 1888 to 1947, though most of the material is from after 1915. Included are minutes of meetings, correspondence, ledgers and journals relating to both stock and company finances, and appraisement records.
Of particular note in this group are the records relating to the Poorman Extension Mining Company and Hecla Mining Company. The Poorman records include cancelled stock certificates from 1888-1890. These are among the earliest documents in any of the Day Mines, Inc. collections. Poorman property, taken over by Marsh, was a matter of dispute between Marsh and the Hecla Mining Company, later owner of D.M.I.
Related materials can be found in the records of the King Mining Company and the Hercules Mining Company.
There are five series in this group: Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, 1916-1944; General Correspondence and Related Records, 1912-1945; Capital Stock Records, 1916-1947; Financial Records, 1916-1944; Insurance Records, 1931-1937.
Among the Records of the Board of Directors and the Stockholders, the first series, are two minute books which cover the years 1916-1929. Later activities are documented only by notices to stockholders, correspondence, typed proceedings of annual meetings, and financial statements. Some of these records exist for the period covered by the minute books as well.
Series two contains general records, organized alphabetically and dating mainly between 1929 and 1944. Following the general records is a folder of annual reports and statements.
The third series, Capital Stock Records, contains a number of oversize ledgers and a complete set of journals. Documentation of assessments, upon which the Marsh depended so heavily, is limited to the record of assessment fourteen. The stockholders are well represented in three different but overlapping files of correspondence which, taken together, cover the years 1914-1947.
The fourth series, Financial Records, contains a transfer binder of ledger accounts, 1916-1928. The corresponding original ledger is missing. A journal and a cash book cover the years 1916-1944. Check registers, 1927-1944, give details of some transactions not covered in the journal or cash book. Also included are returned partial liquidation checks, 1944, from a missing check register.
Insurance Records, the final series, consists of two Appraisement books. These provide details about the company's property and equipment in 1931 and 1937.
Removal of blank and cancelled stock certificates, vouchers, returned mailings, and duplicate materials reduced this group of records by 4 cubic feet.
The records of the Marsh Mines Consolidated are part of the records of Day Mines, Inc., donated to the University of Idaho by Henry Day in 1984 and 1985.
Initial processing of this manuscript group was done by Judith Nielsen in July 1987.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.