Samuel Cover, Marion Trustee, Postmaster, saddle maker and Civil War veteran, arrived in Jonesboro, Illinois when he was four years old. He was the last of ten children born to Daniel Cover and Susannah (Hahn) Cover and was born in Pipe Creek, Carroll County, Maryland in 1835. Soon after Samuel’s birth, his father died, so in 1839 his mother gathered her brood of children and came down the Ohio River, then to Jonesboro, where she settled permanently and purchased a lot on August 15, 1840 from John McIntosh, Lot #5 in his addition to the town of Jonesboro. Her children were all educated in Maryland and Jonesboro. Her three oldest children, Hiram, Daniel and Catherine were all married in Jonesboro before 1842. Continue reading
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Amzi Franklin White, druggist, postmaster of Marion, real estate agent and land agent for the Illinois Central railroad was born in Johnson County, September 4, 1847, the son of John H. and Emily A. (McCoy) White, natives respectively of Connecticut and Tennessee. Amzi’s father was John H. White, county clerk, lieutenant-colonel of the 31st Illinois infantry and first county casualty of the Civil War. See his biography at John H. White. Continue reading
Thomas Davis, Marion Alderman, merchant and Civil War veteran, was born September 18, 1840, the son of Oliver H. Davis (1805-1885) and Rebecca Ann Baker (1809-1885). Oliver Davis came from Tennessee to Illinois about 1828 with his wife and baby daughter Jane. His wife and daughter rode on a horse, and he walked by their side. He settled on the bank of Crab Orchard Creek in what is now Williamson County Illinois, about 1/2 mile East of Pittsburg, Illinois. Continue reading
New Marion Police Department Opens
The Marion Police Department hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 21, 2014 to dedicate the new Marion Police Department. A poorly advertised open house followed until 2 p.m. and the public was welcome to attend the event.
The newly modified building is located at 1001 W. DeYoung Street in Marion and used to serve as the Richard G. Wilson U.S. Army Reserve Center which had been unoccupied since August 2011 when the armory was moved to a larger, newer facility. Continue reading
The following was delivered by Ed. M. Stotlar on February 29, 1916 at the dedication exercise held at the library building during the evening:
The first organized effort for the starting of a Public Library in Marion, Illinois occurred in January, 1906 when Prof. J.W. Asbury, then Supt. of the City schools made a public call for a mass meeting of all citizens interested in procuring a public library for Marion. The meeting was held in the City Hall and liberally attended by citizens interested in the movement. At this meeting Prof. J.W. Asbury was chosen chairman of a committee to confer with the aldermen and mayor and city attorney and ask that a library ordinance for the City of Marion be drawn and passed at once. As a result of the efforts of this committee, the first library ordinance was passed on March 12, 1906, known as Ordinance No. 60. Mr. C.H. Denison was Mayor and the board of aldermen consisted of B.H. Jeter, A.M. Townsend, Sandy Miller, E.H. Moulton, Joseph H. Moss, W.O. Potter, John S. Strike and A.B. McLaren, with George Campbell, Secretary and Hosea V. Ferrell, attorney. Continue reading