The last section of the Grandma Cline house on South Market Street was removed today leaving a lot vacant that has not been so in 60 years or more. Isaac Campbell, grandfather of City Clerk George C. Campbell erected this dwelling in the summer of 1854 at a time when the number of houses all told in Marion did not exceed 50.

At this time only three houses can now be recalled besides this one that still stand in Marion, one at 310 W. White Street occupied by W.E. Jordon, the house mover who is now taking the Cline house from its old site. William Calvert built the house about the same time the Cline house was built. It stood on the site occupied now by the Duty Drug store and was one and a half story frame. It was moved to its present location some 15 or 20 years ago.

Another house of that time is the one now occupied by Uncle Flem Gent on the corner of North Madison and East Jefferson streets, or rather only part of a house. This was built and occupied by a man by the name of McCoy, possibly a brother of “Uncle” Chesley McCoy. The other house standing at that time is a part of the new modern home of Attorney J.C.B. Smith on North Madison Street. This is the dwelling occupied by James C. Jackson (senior member of the J.C. Jackson Furniture store on West Main Street when he first married and where all his children were born.

Isaac Campbell continued to live in the old Cline property up and until the time of his death in 1878, then the heirs sold it to Mrs. Cline who has occupied it since for her home. At the time of erection of this house there was only one brick building in town other than the little square brick court house and that was the Western Exchange building that stood where the First National Bank now is. It will also be remembered that a few years later the little brick court house was moved to the Brooks farm, four mile northwest of Marion.

Some of the prominent men in Marion at that time were John Goodall, father of Joab Goodall and James Pulley, father of Mrs. Nannie White. These two gentlemen conducted the Goodall-Pulley General Merchandise store: M.C. Campbell, better known as Curt Campbell, also conducted a general merchandise store as did J.T. Goddard on the corner where now stands the beautiful Marion State and Savings Bank building. This was an old frame structure and was later removed and the “immortal brick” was erected, known as the Bainbridge building that stood until torn down last year. Monroe Goddard worked in the store with his father and later married Miss Nannie Allen. Monroe became a prominent tobacco dealer and merchant. He was killed in Carbondale by a train about 1867 or ’68. Jimmie Manier at that time was proprietor of the only hotel in town just west of the old exchange building. Joe Hopper was postmaster. Judge Allen, father of the late Robert Allen and Miss Nannie Hendrickson, was circuit judge. John A. Logan was state attorney at the time: Joe Huffstetler was sheriff: John White, father of Johnny White and the late A.F. White, was county clerk; Captain J.M. Cunningham, father of Mrs. John A. Logan, was circuit clerk; and Judge Norman County Judge. Besides these officials and businessmen “Uncle” Joe Barham, Uncle Allen Scurlock, S.S. Vick, Sr., Martin Davis and Mrs. Nannie Hendrickson still live to tell the story of those times. The latter was the first child born in Marion. John Hopper ran a grist mill in an old frame building where the brick mill now stands near the C&EI railroad on West Main Street. One thing to be taken note of is the sincerity of the old settler’s statements and how each tenaciously sticks by their individual statements relative to dates, etc. But this is not to be wondered at for even today hardly any two people agree upon all points of happenings in recent years. They are perfectly sincere, but honestly mistaken as to minor facts in their separate narratives.

(Marion Daily Republican, March 4, 1915)