1924, The Miracle of Turning Water Into Wine

Used Pump To Get Wine Out of the Ground

The amount of wine necessary for the proper rearing of an Italian baby reached alarming proportions Wednesday afternoon when Mrs. Mary Mentala of 406 West Goodall Street told city officials all the wine she had was for her baby, and the officer found 150 gallons.

Mayor J.H. Clarida, Chief of Police H.T. Boyd and Officers Elmer Smith and John Smothers conducted the raid. Continue reading

1924, Troops Called in “Coal Belt Booze War”

On January 8th, 1924, Williamson County Sheriff George Galligan requested of then Governor Len Small to send in the Illinois Nation Guard troops to ensure order. Galligan stated that the raids performed by S. Glenn Young and his Ku Klux Klan counterparts had assumed the proportions of mob violence and was afraid the raiders’ actions would create another mob. Young had recently been raiding personal homes and businesses and was said to be beating up people and officials and stealing money and property. Continue reading

Clarida, James H. 1876-1950, Mayor & Spanish American War Vet

Clarida JH

James Henderson Clarida, grandfather of Bill Butler and  Mayor Robert Butler, was born March 30, 1876 at Crab Orchard, the son of William J. Clarida and Irena Culbreth. He grew up on a farm and attended school at Pleasant Grove.

In the 1880 census, James H. was 4 years old and sharing space with a sister, Ida J. Clarida, age 6, in the home of his parents on their farm in Crab Orchard Precinct of Williamson County. Continue reading