Did you know that there are five properties in Williamson County that are currently listed on the National Register of Historic places and all five of them are located in Marion, Illinois? The applications for all five are on file at the Williamson County Historical Society Museum located at 105 S. Van Buren Street, which is one of the five places listed. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: May 2014
Napoleon Bonaparte “Bone” Calvert was born on September 18, 1822. He was the son of John N. Calvert, a pioneer Presbyterian minister, who traveled from Alabama to Massac and later to Pope and then Williamson County. Napoleon had the following siblings: Silas M., Joseph Lewis, William Simpson, John Bunyan, George Marion, Martha Caroline, Thomas A. and Nancy Clementine Calvert. Several children died as infants or young children. Continue reading
Wiley W. Hall, three term Marion trustee and practicing physician, was born in 1834 to John Westley Hall (1797-1855) and Martha Denton (1802-xxxx) in Tennessee .
In 1850, Wiley was 16 years old living in Cocke County, Tennessee with his family. There were seven other children in the family: Margaret, John W., Matilda, Abigail, Rachel, James N. and Royal. His father, John, was a Methodist clergyman. Hamilton Kyle, 21, was living with them and had no occupation listed, but was likely a farm hand. Continue reading
Joseph Lewis “Uncle Lew” Calvert, four term Marion Alderman, was the son of John Newton Calvert and Cynthia Simpson. His grandparents were John Calvert and Gracey Newton and William Simpson and Mary “Polly” Jones.
Joseph’s mother, Cynthia, was born before 1800 in Vienna; she died before 1840. She and John Newton were married on February 26, 1818. Joseph L. had several siblings: Silas M., Napoleon B., William S., John Bunyon, George Marion, Martha C., Thomas A., and Nancy C. Calvert. Five of the siblings died before the age of 7. Continue reading
Durall TV Company was begun when Maurice Durall and Hartley Grisham began putting up television antennas on the roofs of houses in 1951. At that time television reception was very poor with a lot of snowy and blank television screens. Antennas were about 48 feet high from the roof. Only St. Louis stations were available and that was beyond the range of most antennas but neighbors still congregated nightly in the homes that had television sets. Continue reading
