PAYETTE, Idaho – Tens of thousands of people have literally been touched by his work in some way. The Marshall Company in Payette has been making church furniture exclusively for hundreds of churches throughout the West. But as in many cases there is always more to the story. You have to go back to 1939 when Jack and Goldie Marshall made a life-changing decision. His daughter Margo tells what happened.
“He had no money, so he caught a freight train from here.”
This is Payette, Idaho. There is New York City where the World’s Fair was taking place. A place where Margo Stoneman said her father became fascinated with the display of wood. Somehow the two end up back in Idaho and Jack goes straight to work. The son, Max Marshall, said he just wanted to make the best church furniture you could make.
America found itself in the wards only a few years later. When World War II broke out the government came to Jack Marshall and asked him to take a break from bench making so he could start making ammunition boxes for the troops in Europe and the Pacific.
They are loaded onto the same train in Payette that Jack and Goldie left for New York. Max explains, “What happened was when the war was over the government didn’t want this building. They had no use for the stuff so they offered it to him for pennies on the dollar.”
The platforms are made from red oak from some of the finest forests in the East. For the past twenty five years Mike Stoneman has paid close attention to every little detail when it comes to creating the perfect pew. Mike showed us what goes in the right pew.
“A lot of people look at it and they say I thought it would be a single piece of wood, but if I made it out of a single piece of wood, it would just be cups. Padding your back with a padded pew.” conforms to so the foam is going to fill your back but with a solid wood you have to build a back, it’s not going to build for you.”
Whether it is a small cathedral or a cathedral-like church, there is bound to be a Marshal’s Bench near your city. I wonder after all these years, do you think Max or Margo have ever seen themselves sitting on a bench somewhere checking up on work? Margo reacted immediately.
“Oh come on, have we? Of course we have.”
