Hendrickson, Hartwell 1848-1899, Civil War Vet, Circuit Clerk, Alderman

Hartwell Hendrickson, Civil War veteran, clerk of the circuit court, alderman, postmaster and native of the county was born December 2, 1848, the son of Jesse Hendrickson (1822-1898) and Martha Ann Lewis (1823-1895), both natives of Tennessee.  Jesse and Martha came to Franklin County, Illinois about 1830 where he served for many years as a Methodist preacher. Continue reading

Hartwell, Joseph W. 1839-1903, Marion Mayor & Civil War Veteran

Marion, Illinois became an incorporated city in 1874 with a mayoral system of government.   Joseph W. Hartwell became the first mayor elected to the town in 1874.  Later he served in several positions in the city and county government:  County Treasurer, 1865; Circuit Clerk 1868-1872; and States Attorney 1875-1880.  In a special election for states attorney in June 1875, he was “an able young lawyer and a man of courage.” He was elected to the vacancy left by State’ Attorney, J. D. F.  Jennings, who had left the county after embezzling $927 from the school fund and was the father of Al Jennings, Joseph W. was then elected to a full term. He also served on the state Board of Equalization in Springfield and U. S. Special Pension Examiner in Fulton, Kentucky. Continue reading

Mitchell, William N. 1814-1879

William N. Mitchell was the paternal ancestor of a long line of prominent citizens, he served as Williamson County Clerk, Marion Postmaster, was the fourth and last person to serve as President of an incorporated Marion Board of Trustees before Marion started using the Mayoral form in 1874 and he helped organize and ran on the first ever Republican ticket in Williamson County, not to mention his involvement in the first Republican county newspaper. Continue reading

1915, Logan’s Regimental Flag Found in Marion

Logan’s Regimental Flag Taken to Illinois Capitol

Battle Torn Emblem of the 31st Illinois Unearthed Among Possessions of 14-year-old Private 

Marion, Ill. — The old battle torn regimental flag carried by Gen. John A. Logan and his valiant 31st Illinois Regiment through the Civil War was uncovered here a few days ago and will be placed in the Logan Memorial Hall in Illinois capitol. J.M. Young delivered it at Springfield Monday night.  Continue reading

1864, A Shooting Affair in Marion Illinois

Confederate FlagThe 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