Harold L. Chase was born March 23, 1916 in Marion, Illinois to Walter Chase & Altha (Ozment) Muir.
He married Geneva Todd Spence on August 21, 1943 in O’Fallon, Illinois and together they shared over 62 years of marriage. She preceded him in death on January 5, 2006.
On July 30, 1957, Harold and Geneva Chase purchased the historic old home located at 601 E. Thorn Street from Pearl Parks, widow of F.E. Parks, and lived in the home for four decades. Continue reading
Addition of 440 acres to the City of Marion was voted in a special election held in the affected area north of the city Tuesday. Six residents of the area voted for annexation and two voted against it.
The annexed area includes the land north of the city cemeteries to the county road south of Cedar Grove, which is bounded on the west by an extension of North Russell Street and on the east by the C. & E. I. Railroad. It includes the Marion Drive-In Theatre, an auto salvage yard, Tom’s Restaurant and five or six retail businesses in addition to the Central Illinois Public Service Company’s gas storage plant and the county acreage on which the highway garage is located on the east side of Route 37. Continue reading
David Richard Merrell was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 13, 1944 to Dr. Hosmer T. Merrell and Mary Jane Mentz. David’s father had a doctor’s office located at 115 W. Union and the family lived at 311 S. Fourth Street in Marion. Continue reading
Production Firm From Texas To Make Feature Film in Marion
Erman Alred, manager of the Orpheum Theater, announced that he has made arrangements with Mel Barker, motion picture director and producer, to produce, “The Marion Story”, a 30 minute film depicting the history and assets of Marion. Continue reading
Pork was free for a few minutes on the Public Square of Marion, Illinois, as George G. Champ, Marion farmer, kept his promise to give away 18 little pigs which he said he could no longer feed because of the government’s corn freeze order. One police chief and 17 youngsters, each with a pig in a sack, were the lucky ones in a crowd of 500 to get a shoat (a young, weaned pig) apiece. Continue reading