William Hendrickson was born in this county on October 16, 1845, on his father’s forty acre farm, two miles north of Pittsburg. His father was Jesse Hendrickson (1822-1898) and his mother was Martha Ann Lewis (1823-1896). His father came to Williamson County from Tennessee in 1830, married Martha in 1845 and they had six children.
William attended the district schools and when the Civil War broke out he volunteered in the 60th Illinois Infantry and was advanced until he became First Sergeant of the company. He served with the colors for three years and seven months during this bloody conflict. During the war, William was taken prisoner of war and was imprisoned in a confederate prison, location unknown.
After the Civil War, in 1867 William moved to Marion and clerked in the Goddard and Allen store in Marion.
On Sunday, September 25, 1870, he was united in marriage with Miss Rosalie Aikman, daughter of William and Mary Aikman. The ceremony was performed by Rev. W.S.C. Walker, pastor of the Methodist church in Marion, to which both the bride and groom belonged. (This was the First Methodist Church on W. Main Street.)
The 24th day of June, 1871, William was made a Trustee of the First Methodist Church in Marion, a position he would continue to hold to near his death. There were only two Methodist churches in the county built before this church. The first was that of “Old Squat” Church built of logs in the year 1819. It stood about three-quarters of a mile a little southwest of the present “Union Grove” M. E. church, near Pittsburg in this county. This “Old Squat” Church was built by John Hendrickson, grandfather of William Hendrickson.
In the 1870’s Hendrickson was deputy sheriff of Williamson County and when the Bloody Vendetta was broken up by the execution of Marshall Crain in 1875, he helped form a militia company to guard the jail and prevent a jail takeover upon authorization by the Governor of the state. William was commissioned as a Lieutenant during this event.
This was only one of many times that Marion would be under martial law in its history, the first being at the beginning of the Civil War when southern sympathies ran high and became problematic. These occurrences would not be the last.
In 1875 and 1876, William served as Alderman for the City of Marion alongside his brother Hartwell Hendrickson, who also served as County Clerk in 1884 and Marion Postmaster in 1889.
On February 2, 1880, William filed for a civil war pension as an invalid and later received it.
It was noted in the 1905 Souvenir History book that William and Rosalie occupied the same rural property that Rosalie’s parents, William and Mary Aikman had settled on when they first got married in the 1840’s. It noted that the Hendrickson’s, “bought the old homestead and built a new house on it”. It is noted in Rosalie’s obituary that she lived at,”1001 S. Vicksburg Street, the site of the home where she was born and lived most of her life.” So this was the location of her parent’s home, for more information, see the post “Aikman’s, Starting a Marion Life in the 1840′s”.
Hendrickson Street in Marion is named for William and Rosalie Hendrickson, so it is assured that they lived and owned property in this section of town where S. Vicksburg Street intersects Hendrickson Street.
For 14 years he was an employee of the Southern Illinois Penitentiary at Chester, holding the position of Assistant Warden at the time he resigned. This position is reflected in the federal census of 1880 taken on June 20th. William was then 34 years of age and Rosalie was 29, they were living in the employee housing at the Chester Prison in Randolph County. They had two children living with them, Jennifer Hendrickson, age 9, and William M. Hendrickson, aged 5.
He was then storekeeper for the state hospital at Anna for four years, making a total of 18 years that he served the State of Illinois. This position was confirmed by the 1900 Federal Census. William was living on the grounds of the Union State Hospital and was serving as a storekeeper.
When the Citizens Trust and Banking Company was formed on January 2, 1907, William held the position of assistant Cashier. He later became its Vice President and served as Director of the bank till his death. His residence was also confirmed in a 1907 Marion directory listing him on S. Vicksburg at the city limits.
On May 6, 1910, when the federal census was taken, the couple was living in their home at the end of S. Vicksburg Street at the city limits. William had reached 65 years of age and Rosalie was 60. The children present were William Jr. 34 and Francis W. 20. William senior was listed as a banker. William junior was a coal miner and daughter Francis was a music teacher. Rosalie noted that she had birthed six children with five surviving. The couple had two boarders living in the home with them.
When William’s son-in-law, attorney A.C. Hentz married Jennie in 1904, wrote a history of the First Methodist Church in 1912, William was still serving on the Board of Trustees for the church.
The couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1920 and only two of the wedding guests 50 years before were found to be living at that time.
In the census of 1920, William was 74 and Rosalie 70. They are listed as living at 1001 S. Vicksburg Street. William is a banker (vice president), Rosalie listed herself as a farmer and William Jr., now 40 years old is a farm hand. Their home is owned free of mortgage.
William Hendrickson died, Thursday evening, March 2, 1922, from heart failure. He had been in seeming good health all that week. He was 76 years, 4 months and 16 days of age.
The children of William and Rosalie Hendrickson are Mrs. Jennie Hentz, William McKendree Hendrickson and Mrs. Nellie Raybourn, wife of Herbert Raybourn of Marion, Fred Hayden Hendrickson of the U.S. Army on duty at Panama and Mrs. Frances Willard Jones, wife of Reverend Ralph Jones of Wyoming. The grandchildren are Roy, Edith, Fred, Rosalie and Carl Raybourn and Fred H. Hendrickson, Jr.
Funeral arrangements had not been made at the time of his death and were not completed until telegrams and cablegrams that were sent to the children were answered.
On April 5, 1922, Rosalie filed for William’s civil war pension. She died in the family home on January 7, 1935.
Sam’s Notes:
Rosalie Aikman Hendrickson, her obit is as follows: “Marion will be saddened to learn that another of her pioneer citizens has passed to the great beyond with the death this morning of Mrs. Rosalie Hendrickson of 1001 S. Vicksburg Street, the site of the home where she was born and lived most of her life. Mrs. Hendrickson had been in failing health for the past year and more and the last month had kept her confined to her bed. Death was not unexpected but ended a long, useful and fruitful life.
Nancy Rosalie Aikman was born February 17, 1850 to William Aikman and Mary Elizabeth Cox and passed away January 7, 1935, aged 84 years, 10 months and 20 days. She grew to young womanhood here and was educated in the Marion and DuQuoin schools and the Normal school at Bloomington, receiving a much better education than the average person of her day.
Upon receiving her diploma, she entered the profession of school teaching, which she continued until her marriage to the late William Hendrickson, September 25, 1870, who preceded her in death on March 2, 1922.
To this union were born five children, all of whom survived, namely; Mrs. Jennie R. Hentz, Will Hendrickson, both of Marion; Fred Hendrickson of Ancon, Panama Canal Zone, retired U.S. Army officer, Mrs. Nellie Raybourn of Marion, and Mrs. Ralph M. (Frances) Jones of Atascadero, California. Six grandchildren and four great grandchildren survive.
Mrs. Hendrickson’s parents helped to organize the Methodist Episcopal Church here in 1848, and she united with the church ten years later, at the age of eight. She was the oldest living member at the time of her demise. Her interests by training an inclination were ever with the church, she having been a charter member and organizer of the Ladies Aid Society, the Woman’s Foreign and the Woman’s Home Missionary Societies. She was the first organist for the church and Sunday school and was the first teacher of the primary department when it was organized and early instituted the practice of giving flowers from the garden in the name of the church to sick members, to the youngest and oldest members and to all who needed them. Her interest in the church continued as long as she lived.
Mrs. Hendrickson also helped to organize the W.C.T.U. in Marion and was long an active and interested member, never appearing in public without the little white ribbon emblem of that society.
She was a great lover and grower of flowers and had blooming plants in her gardens from the earliest to the latest in the season and she was generous in sharing them with her friends, neighbors, sick and well. She took keen interest in all household affairs and new recipes for food and new quilt patterns delighted her as much as the youngest bride. She was an inveterate reader and kept abreast of the times on all subjects of public matters. Her intellect was keen and her judgment almost infallible.
Marion has suffered a severe loss in the passing of this good woman.
The tired body is lying in state at the Scobey Funeral Home at 415 East Main Street. Plans for the funeral await the receipt of messages from the son-in-law and daughter, Rev. and Mrs. Ralph Jones of California.”
Jennie Hendrickson Hentz was born in Marion on October 3, 1871 to William Hendrickson and Rosalie Aikman. Both sides of the family were early pioneers to Williamson County.
Mrs. Hentz was a graduate of Marion High School and the Boston Conservatory of Music. She was a retired music teacher and organist for the First Methodist Church.
In 1904, Jennie married Archibald C. Hentz but they divorced in 1919, she never remarried.
She was an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Marion Woman’s Club, Marion Business and Professional Women’s Club, Marion Order of the Eastern Star, Pioneer Daughters, Marion Carnegie Library, Fortnightly Club and the Williamson County Historical Society. She was also active on the Executive Committee of the 1939 Williamson County Centennial Committee.
In 1962, Jennie had been living in a room at the Hotel State but was infirmed and moved to Hillview Nursing home in Vienna, Illinois where she passed away at age 91 on October 16, 1962.
Mrs. Hentz left a sister, Mrs. Allen Capron Sr. of Visalia, Calif.; foster-sister, Mrs. Ruth Kiger of Landers, Wyo.; nieces Mrs. Edith Norris and Mrs. Rosalie Dacy of St Louis; and nephews, Fred Raybourn of the Panama Canal Zone, Roy and Carl Raybourn of Marion.
Private family services were held in the Valhalla Chapel of Memories in St Louis. Burial was in Rose Hill Cemetery in Marion. The Mitchell Funeral Home of Marion handled the burial service.
William M. Hendrickson Jr., born ca 1875, graduated Marion High School in the class of 1895 and died in 1937. Burial in Rose Hill.
Fred H. Hendrickson, birth unknown, death in July 1959.
(Data extracted from Marion Daily Republican Obits, January 7, 1935 and March 3, 1922; 1905 Souvenir History; History of Williamson County by Milo Erwin; First Methodist Church History; Federal Census Records; Marion City Cemetery Records; compiled by Sam Lattuca on 09/12/2013)