Frank Shelley Morrison was born July 15, 1869, a native of Greencastle, Indiana, not far from Indianapolis to H.H. Morrison and Elizabeth Pearson. His youth was spent in acquiring an education in common schools. The 1880 federal census, found his divorced 40-year-old mother, Elizabeth, as head of household living at 467 E. 7th Street in Bloomington, Indiana. Frank was 12 years old and had a sister Lora who was 14. Also living with them were Elizabeth’s 73-year-old mother and a niece named Carrie Short aged 2.
At the age of 14 he struck out for himself and had a short experience as a cowboy at Eldorado, Kansas. That not being to his like he worked for Conkey & Orr grocery store in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. A little later, the spirit of adventure set him to traveling which he followed for 13 years from Texas to Cairo.
On June 12, 1894, Frank married Pearl Price in Cairo, Illinois. Together they had one child, Lora V. Morrison. Around 1899, he quit traveling and went into the bottling business at Memphis, Tennessee with a partner who was an expert in the manufacture of soda water. Frank’s wife, Pearl, passed away on December 3, 1901.
In July 1901, he entered into partnership with Dr. Hogan Willeford of Marion in the soda business and later formed the Coal Belt Bottling Company in Marion and built a new building at 315 S. Granite St. next to the railroad tracks. Hogan Willeford was an expert druggist, so the combination of the two made for a success. The first years output was 100 cases daily and in a few years had increased to 300 cases daily. They engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of soft drinks and mineral waters, but made a specialty of “Iron Brew, the Ideal American Tonic.”
On July 4, 1903, Frank married again to Miss Henrietta White of Marion. A 1907 Marion street directory listed Frank and “Etta”, as his wife was called, living at 801 Public Square and operating the Coal Belt Bottling Company.
By the time the 1910 federal census came out, Frank 41 and Etta 36 were living in a big Victorian home they had built at 503 S. Market Street in Marion. Living with them was Lora 13, the daughter from his first marriage and an 18-year-old niece named Celia Scarbrough. Also present in the home were two boarders named Loran and Lester Cash. Frank was listed as a manager of a Marion bottling company. A booklet published by the Marion Board of Trades in 1913 called “Marion, Opportunity City” listed Frank as a Director on the Marion Board of Trades.
Frank was elected as city alderman in 1912 under Mayor J.H. Burnett, in 1913 and 1914 under Mayor George B. Calhoun and again in 1915 and 1916 under Mayor D.D. Hartwell.
An article in the 1916 Marion Evening Post mentioned Frank as a member of the Fire Committee on the city council who moved to purchase Marion’s first new fire truck made by International Harvester which had a whopping 20 horsepower. Another 1916 article appearing in the Carbondale Free Press indicated that Frank S. Morrison was the father of the Airedale dog movement in Marion.
In the 1920 census, Frank 51 and Etta 46 were still living on S. Market St. and Frank was a manager of a bottle works. An article in the Marion Semi-Weekly Leader noted that Frank had been treasurer of the Marion Elks lodge for 3 years.
The 1930 census, listed Frank 62 and Etta 55 in the same house on Market St. that they valued at $6,000. Frank was working as a carbonator at a beverage bottle works. Living with them was a boarder named Dallas L. Whitehurst, a public utility accountant. The couple owned a radio in their home.
On February 2, 1932 Frank passed away in Marion and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Marion. His wife Etta continued operating the bottling company and living in their home at 503 S. Market Street until her death in Marion Memorial Hospital on February 27, 1962 after a protracted stay in the hospital. She was born in Williamson County on April 22, 1871. Burial was alongside Frank in Rose Hill Cemetery.
Notes on Children:
Lora Morrison Pulley Gillam Boyd, born about 1897, married Walter Pulley on October 8, 1915 and remarried a 2nd time to Paul Gillam. They had a child in November 1925 while living on S. Liberty Street in Marion. She may possibly have been married a third time to Ferrell Boyd and died in October 1937 in Banning California, with burial in Hillside Cemetery, Redlands, California
(Sources: Federal Census records, Southern Illinoisan, Marion Semi-Weekly Leader, Marion Daily Republican, Carbondale Free Press, Marion city street directories, Marion Opportunity City, 1905 Historical Souvenir of Williamson County, Marion City cemetery records, FindaGrave.com. Compiled by Sam Lattuca on 4/4/2024)