Reverend Marsh

As the story goes, Mr. Marsh proceeded as a missionary from Kitimat on snowshoes with a Native and two dogs. He came over the Kitimat Trail en route to his new Anglican parish. He had a wife named Alberta, and two children named Thomas Jr. and Etonda. His wife, Alberta Jane, arrived on the riverboat with Mr. Marsh's sister, Rose Deacon. They all lived in Dad Weeks’ tent until the house was ready.

The history of the Anglican Church in Terrace began with the arrival of Reverend Marsh in the early 1900s at Kitsumkalum with a license from the Diocese. He began conducting services locally, but eventually expanded his services to the railway camps, and small communities. Luella Brooks (nee Frank), recalls Mr. Marsh's services and work: "Rev. T. J. Marsh, Anglican minister, had come to serve in the district a few months before his wife and two children, who came on the same boat with us. Rev. and Mrs. Marsh had served fourteen years at a missionary school for the Natives at Hay River on Great Slave Lake. The Marsh family also had a temporary home in a log cabin about half a mile west of us, and church services were held in a big tent Sunday mornings. A small building was erected near by, for a community hall and used as a church, then about two years later used as our first school in the district. It opened in the year 1911, with eight pupils, four of them from the Frank family. About the year 1912, the Marsh family moved to a new parsonage at Terrace, and Rev. Marsh was in charge of St. Matthews Anglican Church there."

In the summer of 1912 Rev. Marsh became seriously ill. Word spread of his illness and a number of settlers gathered to confer with Mrs. Marsh. It was decided to stop the westbound freight train that was due sometime that evening, and send Mr. Marsh to the hospital in Prince Rupert. After it became dark, a huge bonfire was lit beside the track at the Kitsumkalum railway crossing, and the long wait for the train began. At this time, there was no station built yet in Terrace, and no agent who could be contacted to have the train stopped. Mr. Marsh was on a quickly constructed stretcher, well wrapped up, and the small group talked and tried to keep his spirits up. At last, about midnight, the headlight of the train was seen, and a large red cloth was waved in the light of the bonfire. The train came to a halt and Mr. Marsh was placed in the caboose at the rear of the train. When they reached Prince Rupert and Mr. Marsh was admitted to the hospital, they discovered that he had typhoid fever.

The community of Usk dedicated the chapel in honour of the Reverend Marsh. He was still alive when the chapel was built. So, in his declining years it was felt that some fitting memorial should be erected in his memory. For some years Canon Marsh lived to see the new church serving his people. Its use was made available for services conducted by ministers of any and all denominations." (Terrace Public Library Local History website - http://www.terracelibrary.ca/history1/uskchapel/uskchapel.html).

Mr. Marsh signed the first baptism and the first marriage in the district. The Marsh home was built south of the present railway tracks at Kitsumkalum, right outside Terrace, BC. Mr. Marsh served the church until the final breakdown of his health. In 1926, Rev. Marsh had to resign as minister of the Terrace Anglican Church because of ill health and blindness. In 1928, he was made a Canon by Bishop Rix, in recognition of his long and faithful services. He passed away September 4, 1930, and was buried in Terrace.