Marion Buys, Leases Land
Land purchase and lease to meet future expansion needs of the Marion sewer department were approved by the City Council Monday night.
The council approved paying $950 to Mrs. Estella Ford for 1.4 acres of land adjacent to the sewer plant south of Boyton Street. Continue reading
Anyone who has lived a reasonable amount of time will likely agree that there are times when life doesn’t always appear fair. Worse yet, there are times when it appears just downright cruel. Such may be the case for the Jordan family who lost three of their four sons, two to murder and one to an accident. Continue reading
The following post originally titled “An Early Marion Barber Shop” was taken from a Glances at Life article written by Homer Butler in which he interviewed W.T. Hudspeth about his early barber shop business in Marion, Illinois. The date of the articles publication is May 4, 1951. It is an informative article about post turn-of-the-century business life on N. Market Street. W.T. Hudspeth passed away in January of 1981 and Homer Butler in May 1982. Continue reading
The Hon. James D. Pulley, owned one of the first businesses in Marion and was apparently a strong Southern sympathizer. In 1841, Pulley built “Our House”, a saloon, on the west side of the Public Square. His attempts in 1861 to promote efforts to secede from the Union early on in the Civil War landed him in “hot water” on more than one occasion, including charges of treason. To later save face, Pulley was involved with R.M. Hundley in the raising of the unsuccessful 128th Illinois Infantry.
This post is composed of two articles, the first notes the dismissal of treason charges by a Grand Jury in June 1864. The second article notes an incident in which Pulley takes exception to his name being disparaged and confronts the source, resulting in a shootout in a Marion alley the next month. Continue reading
Fatal Affray at a Church
Marion, Ill., July 17, 1897 – A shooting affray (fight) occurred at Freedom Church last night, in which Isham J. Price lost his life. For several months a feud existed between Price and the Hamptons. The men met at the church and without words the fight began. Sylvester and Earnest Hampton, 22 and 17 years of age, shot Price several times, killing him. The Hamptons were arrested.
(Chicago Daily Tribune, Sunday July 18, 1897, Page 13)