Marion Illinois History Preservation

Baker, Dr. Virgil A. Baker 1876-1930, Baker and Baker

Posted on October 7, 2013 by wcihsOctober 7, 2013

Dr. Virgil Aaron Baker was born on April 3, 1876, in Grassy Precinct, Williamson County, Illinois. He was the son of Dr. Alonzo P. Baker and Martha Jane Matheney, and brother to Dr. Griffin J. Baker.

The 1880 census, found Virgil at the age of 4 living with his parents in Grassy Precinct of Williamson County where he was born, sharing space with five siblings. The Baker family lived in the very southwestern corner of the county, roughly where the southern tip of Devil’s Kitchen Lake is located now. Continue reading →

Baker, Dr. Griffin J. 1870-1925, Baker and Baker

Posted on October 5, 2013 by wcihsOctober 7, 2013

Dr. Griffin Jonathon Baker was born March 14, 1870, in Grassy Precinct, Williamson County, Illinois, among the spurs of the Ozarks. He is the son of Dr. Alonzo P. Baker and Martha Jane Matheney, and nephew of his namesake, G.J. Baker. Sr., M.D. of Anna, Illinois.

He comes of a family of physicians of good reputation, and widely known for their professional skills. Very naturally he took to “the healing art” as a duck to water, and his education was intended to prepare him for that noble profession. Continue reading →

Boatright, Clara 1895-1994

Posted on September 13, 2013 by wcihsJanuary 30, 2014

Clara Strautz Boatright was born August 28, 1895 in Cairo, Illinois, to Fredrick and Catherine Casper Strautz. She attended Cairo public schools and St. Joseph’s Academy, continuing her education at Jacksonville, Normal, and LaSalle University.

She came to Marion from E. St. Louis to teach at Brown’s Business College from 1914 to 1933 (with six years out to become mother and homemaker). Clara then became principal from 1933 to 1936 when she resigned to become a private tutor. Continue reading →

Boatright, Robert W. 1889-1962, Boatright’s Real Estate

Posted on September 13, 2013 by wcihsSeptember 13, 2013

Robert Wilson Boatright was born in Harco, Illinois in Saline County, January 19, 1889, the son of Alexander Scott Boatright (1862-1906) and Lucy Emeline Carr (1863-1940).

In the 1900 census, Robert was 11 and living with his parental family on a farm in Brushy Township in Saline County. Robert had three siblings, Clyde 15, Maude 14 and Roma aged 1. Continue reading →

Cline, Albert L. 1851-1922

Posted on September 10, 2013 by wcihsJune 12, 2014

In 1850, the Cline family packed up and moved From Allen County, Kentucky to Williamson County, settling in Crab Orchard Township east of Marion, Illinois. Albert Cline’s father was Thomas Jefferson Cline, who followed farming and died in 1897. His mother’s name was Sarilda Jane Absher, known to many Marion citizens in her days as “Grandma Cline”. Continue reading →