Ca. 1850/60’s American walnut, two-part Civil War field desk. The upper section has a fall front lid and is fitted with labeled cubbies and two drawers, the left-most compartment has a label on the inside wall: “Mrs. Rhoda Marston / Concord, N.H.”. There are two women with that name in New Hampshire, the likely candidate was born in Vermont as Rhoda Coburn (1813-1886), she married a farmer named William P. Page, also of Ryegate, Vermont, in 1828. The couple had ten children before William’s death in 1852. In the 1860 census Rhoda is living with some of her children in nearby Barnet, Vermont. Her son Josiah Page (1845-1864) died on December 12, 1864 in Winchester, VA, of wounds received at Cedar Creek, VA, on October 19, 1864, while serving in Company C of the Third Vermont Infantry. By 1870 Rhoda was living in Concord, NH, where the city directory lists her as “Page Rhoda, widow of Wm. P. house 19 Cross”. Between 1870 and 1880 she married Joseph Marston, but in the 1880 census for Concord the now Rhoda Marston is listed as a widow (again). The 1883 city directory lists her as “Marston Rhoda, widow of Joseph, h. Free Bridge road.” She died on July 4, 1886 in Fitchburg, MA, listed as “Rhoda Marston (Coburn) (Widow of Joseph Marston).” We’re unable to determine where the Marston family got the desk, or if there is a genealogical connection to Gilman Marston (1811-1890), who was a Civil War general from New Hampshire. 57”H x 37”W x 22”D. Provenance: ex. NH Historical Society.

abrasions and expected wear.