PAYETTE, Idaho — Tens of thousands of people have literally touched their work in one way or another. The Marshall Company in Payette has been making church furniture, specifically pews, for hundreds of churches across the west. But as in so many cases there's always more to the story. You have to go back to 1939 when Jack and Goldie Marshall made a life changing decision. Their daughter Margo describes what happened.
"They had no money so they hopped a freight train right out here."
Here, 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 wood displays. Somehow the couple made it back to Idaho and Jack went right to work. Son, Max Marshall, said he just wanted to build the best church furniture possible.
Just a few short years later, America found itself at war. When World War II broke out the government came to Jack Marshall and asked him to take a break from building pews and instead start building ammunition boxes for the troops deployed in Europe and the Pacific.
The boxes were loaded in Payette on the same rails where Jack and Goldie had left for New York. Max explains, "When the war was over the government didn't want this building. They had no use for this stuff, so they offered it to him (dad) for pennies on the dollar." And Jack went back to building pews.
The pews are built from Red Oak from some of the finest forests in the east. For the last twenty five years, Mike Stoneman has paid close attention to every small detail when it comes to making the perfect pew. And Mike shared that with us.
"A lot of people see this and they say 'I thought it was going to be one piece of wood', but if I made it out of one piece of wood, it would just cup. With a padded pew your back conforms to the padding so the foam is going to fill your back. But with a solid wood back you have to form to the back, it's not going to form to you."
Whether in a small chapel or a church built like a cathedral, there are sure to be Marshall pews close to your town. I wonder after all these years, do you think Max or Margo ever catch themselves sitting in a pew somewhere and examining the work? Margo was quick to respond.
"Oh c'mon, have we? Of course we have."
