The Founders: Oscar Seth Marshall
Prior to WW1, Marshall bought a small "Spyglass" and adapted it for surveying, producing a detailed map of the Town of Springfield. After the War, when Russell Porter came to Jones & Lamson, he was shown the map, and was very impressed with its accuracy. Each man recognized a kindred spirit in the other!! Marshall caught the Astronomy "bug" from Porter and joined the 1920 Telescope-Making Class, making an 8-inch Scope.The mount he made for the 8-inch inspired the Springfield(fixed eyepiece) Mount.
The December 7, 1923 founding meeting of the Springfield Telescope Makers was held in Marshall's Home. He worked closely with Porter on the production details of the Porter Garden Telescope. In 1930 Marshall followed Porter to Cal Tech, where he worked in the Instrument Shop of the 200-inch Hale Telescope Project.
Sources: Bert Willard's Russell Porter Biography and Oscar Seth Marshall's Journeyman Machinist to the Stars, and some archive material.
Records : 1920, 1930 census
Club Activities
When Porter arrived in Springfield, he brought with him a well-earned expertise in surveying.
Expeditions to Mt. McKinley and to the Arctic had finely tuned his skills in determining
latitude and longitude. Upon seeing a map of Springfield drawn by Oscar Marshall, Porter
sought to remeasure some of the baselines(?). When seeing how accurate Marshall's measurements
were, Porter offered that if anything on the map was questioned that he would vouch for it's
accuracy. In meeting Marshall, Porter found a kindred spirit with respect to the outdoors.
Lat: 43°18'40.91"N - Long: 72°29'49.68"W
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