1876, News Clippings, January thru June

The year of 1876 saw the execution of Marshall Crain at the county jail located on S. Madison Street and the indictment and trials of others related to the “Vendetta” period, including a few Ku Klux Klan members who had been terrorizing local families.

See also, 1876, News Clippings, July thru December Continue reading

Bones, Eugene F. 1875-1913

Bones Eugene FEugene Frank Bones was born in April 1875 in Crab Orchard Precinct to Thomas and Martha Bones. At the age of 14 years he commenced writing for newspapers, his first work having been for Marion and Creal Springs papers, and at the age of 18 was a contributor to the Detroit Free Press.

Having chosen newspaper work for his occupation at an early age, he gave special attention to the school branches which were calculated to fit him for the work, and the manner in which he handled news showed that he learned well that which he early anticipated would be required to make him a capable newspaper man. Continue reading

1875, Gunfight on the Marion Public Square

James Bishop Morray was born in Kentucky in 1821. Due to the early deaths of his mother and father, he was raised by an uncle, William Bishop, in Pope County, Illinois. While still a young man he returned to his home state of Kentucky to work for William Wyatt, eventually marrying his daughter, Izzarilda Wyatt in 1842.

In 1844, the Morray and Wyatt families moved to Illinois, purchasing several parcels of land in Creal Springs and Stonefort Townships. During the 1860’s and 1870’s James became the largest landowner in Johnson County, eventually owning thousands of acres in Johnson and Williamson Counties. Continue reading