GALESBURGS MIGHTY HORSE MARKET

Excerpt from Galesburg's Mighty Horse Market: Leroy Marsh Sales Barn, 1877-1920, And, Memories of a HorsemanIf you walk down Main Street and stop any man who was a boy in Galesburg at the turn of the century and say to him Do you remember the Horse and Mule barn? His eyes will light up and he will say. I should say so. I used to play hookey from school to watch them ex ercise those horses. Or I used to loiter around the barn watching Mr. Marsh. Waiting for him to take a dime out of the ear of one of the boys hanging around. Or perhaps if it was hot weather throw a handful of dimes in the street for the barefooted. Overalled boys to scramble for. Sometimes in the hot dusty weather he would pick up the hose and squirt the boys when they scrambled. He always sat in front of the barn with his cane which he used to point with or to poke a small boy with. Or perhaps the answer would be. I'll say I do. Mr. Marsh took me down town and bought me a pair of shoes because he said he was tired of seeing me run around barefooted.It is a fine day for the race, Mr. Marsh would say. The new boy asked properly and excitedly, What race? Why the human race. And the admiring laugh burst out. It was understood by all his friends and acquaintances that this joke was always funny. Or perhaps he might greet you with Better keep your eyes open today. Why? Why, so that you can see.Or perhaps the talk will turn to Charlie Plank, the great auction eer, and his generosity to his friends. One boy remembers how because he was an orphan Charlie would give him 50c or and he would spend part of it for dinner at Mrs. Swanson's restaurant next to the barn, feeling his 9 year old importance to be mingling with the other horsemen.Charlie Plank had come to Galesburg from Gloversville, NY with a load of horses to sell in 1902. On auction day he found Mr. Marsh worried - no auctioneer. Charlie said, I don't know too much about it. But I think I could sell for you. Mr. Marsh said, Go ahead, and when Charlie left town that day he went with a promise to come back the next week to take the job of auctioneer. His services as an auctioneer were so much in demand that he traveled a circuit between Galesburg. Chicago and St. Louis selling on a set day of the week at each place. Mr. Plank was never married but he too was fond of small boys and very good to them. In 1918 he adopted Emil, a 15 year old Swedish lad who had come to this country alone, and was a devoted father to him.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.