“The Williamson County Agricultural Society was incorporated in 1856, with the following gentlemen as its first officers: Willis Allen, President: John H. White, secretary: James D. Pulley, treasurer. Its Directors were: John Goodall, J. H. Swindell, O. H. Pulley, R. M. Hundley and George Willard. Continue reading
Category Archives: County
Robert Green “Bob” Ingersoll (August 11, 1833 – July 21, 1899) was a Civil War veteran, American political leader, and orator during the Golden Age of Free Thought, noted for his broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism. He was nicknamed “The Great Agnostic.” Continue reading
Though technically not a Marion citizen, it would be remiss not to recount the life of John A. Logan. He was a Williamson County Circuit Clerk, prosecuting attorney, practicing lawyer in the County courthouse and an influential civil war military leader and political figure in the Democratic party of this county for decades and therefore shaped the course of Marion, Illinois and Williamson County history. Continue reading
Slot Machine Raid ca 1953 shown are Jack Stephens and Yabe Edwards
A raid into unspecified establishments in the city around 1958 yielded this large pile of scrap when the Marion Police Department was done with it. Shown are OfficerJack Stephens and Chief of Police Charles Edwards, both Marion residents.
(Photo courtesy of Williamson County Historical Society)
1922 crowd awaiting Herrin Mine Grand Jury on Public Square, Marion, Illinois
In 1922, a crowd on the public square in Marion, Illinois anxiously awaits the outcome of a Grand Jury to hand down verdicts related to the Herrin Mine massacres which occured earlier in the year. Scab mine workers who had been called in to work the mines during strikes at a mine just outside Herrin, Illinois had been brutally murdered and tortured.
(Photo from the Williamson County Historical Society)