Late 1880s
Jan Hendrick Marsman was born in the late 1800s and was raised and schooled as a civil engineer in the Netherlands. Hank, as he was known to friends, worked for Norit, a company specializing in the use of activated carbon for industrial refinery purposes. During the years of the First World War, he was assigned by Norit in Indonesia, known at the time as the Dutch East Indies.
Mary Angus Blythe was born in 1888 and raised in Scotland. She came to the US with her family as a young adult and came to work for Marshall Fields, a major department store in the city of Chicago. It was in Marshall Fields that she met Nils Petersen, an American Engineer, who she married. Petersen brought his young wife to the Philippines where he partly-owned the Benguet Gold Mines along with two other businessmen, Judge Hauserman and Judge Bean.
1918
Jan Hendrick Marsman came to the Philippines when he was assigned by Norit to supervise the construction of a sugar refinery in Malabon. Norit specialized in the use of activated carbon for refining purposes. In this case, the carbon was used to refine sugar. Hank was asked to stay on and manage the refinery he had built for Norit and Malabon Sugar.
Nils Petersen died of influenza aboard a ship during an epidemic that killed millions worldwide. His death left Mary a young widow with gold claims in the Benguet area. Some time later, Mary Petersen and Hank Marsman met in Manila and decided to get married. They were convinced that their future lay in the hills and relocated to Baguio to prospect for gold.
1920
Jan Hendrick Marsman and Mary Blythe Petersen Marsman leave the comforts and security of Manila to prospect for gold in the mountains near Baguio. The first Marsman business venture in the Philippines was in the highly risky and speculative field of mining.
1924
After several years of prospecting, Hank and Mary Marsman organized the Itogon Mining Company in 1924. The Marsmans transform the relatively low-grade Itogon gold mine into a viable and dividend-paying project. Their proceeds allowed them to diversify their business interests into the forestry and construction industries, a natural progression for Hank's engineering knowledge.
1929
Marsman and Company, Inc. formed to fill the necessity of establishing a trading firm to service the needs of the Marsmans' mining operations as well as those of other companies in the Baguio district. Its first office was set up along Session Road in Baguio City. The Marsmans later formed the Suyoc Consolidated Mining Company in Benguet and M.P. Tranco, Inc., the first public transportation system to service mining communities in the Mountain Province.
1933
The Marsmans ventured out of the Mountain Province and initiated a large-scale mining development project in the Paracale-Mamburao area in the Bicol Region. They reopened gold mines formerly used by Spanish prospectors and established the United Paracale Mining Company. Their success stirred them to establish Coco Grove Inc., which became the largest placer mining operation in the Philippines, and San Mauricio Mining Company which produced the richest gold content per ton of ore compared to any mine in the country.