George B. Clore was born on November 2, 1896 on a farm near Golconda, Illinois in Pope County to Robert Clore and Mary Elizabeth Alliston. Robert and Mary had just married in February of 1896 and Mary died in early 1900. By the time the 1900 census was taken, 4 years after George’s birth, the family appear to still be living on the same land with his widowed 38 year old father, Robert, as head of household. Living with George and his father were Robert’s widowed mother, Nancy J. 66, and Robert’s two sisters Lucy 28 and Elizabeth 24. They were renting the farm they lived on.
When the 1910 census was taken, George’s widowed 75 year old grandmother had become head of household and they were living on a farm they owned mortgage free on the Golconda & Metropolis Road. George’s father, Robert 48 and his aunt Elizabeth 34 were all living with them.
By the 1920 census, George’s grandmother had passed and his father, Robert 57, had again become head of household and had remarried to George’s new stepmother, 50 year old Elizabeth. The family was farming a piece of land they owned free of mortgage near Golconda, likely the same property as in the 1910 census. The children in the home then were sons Earnest 20 and George 22. George at the time was working as a railroad clerk.
On January 10, 1921, George married Christena Towns in Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Illinois. Christena was born in Hardin County on March 28, 1899 to Jack and Katherine Towns.
A 1922 street directory from Cairo, Illinois places the couple living at 515 Walnut Street with George working as a Missouri Pacific Railroad clerk.
By 1925 the couple had reached and were living in Marion. An article in the paper for February indicated that the couple had just had a baby girl on February 21st named Frances Aline. It also mentioned that the couple were living at 804 W. Central Street and that he worked for the Missouri Pacific Railroad as a cashier. This was very likely the Coal Belt Electric Railway which was owned by Missouri Pacific.
A 1928 Marion city directory indicated that the couple were living at 108 E. DeYoung Street and George was working as a meter reader for the city’s water department.
In the 1930 census, 32 year old George and 31 year old Christena were still living at 108 E. DeYoung paying $15 per month in rent. George was working as a manager at a general store and indicated that he was a WWI veteran. I believe this is true, although I didn’t find much to support it. Oddly enough the only child mentioned as living in the home was Mary aged 6, born in 1923. No mention is made of Frances Aline born in 1925. The family did have a radio in the home.
An article from 1930 indicated that George Clore, meter reader and serviceman for the Marion Water department for the last 3 years was to assume charge of the filling station at N. Court and W. Main Streets which had recently been absorbed by the Phillips Petroleum Company.
When city elections were held in the spring of 1931, George had the endorsement of the Marion War Veterans Club which likely helped him to win his election to city commissioner under Mayor Charles H. Whitcomb. George became commissioner of streets, alleys and sidewalks until 1935.
In February 1932, George became manager of the Twin County Services Company which would guide his path into the future. In October 1933, George was motoring on his way to Murphysboro on old Rt. 13 when his car left the pavement, hit a concrete pillar and overturned. He got out of the wreck with minor injuries. When he called for a tow truck to help him, the tow truck was involved in a wreck on the way to him. George then had to call for a city truck to come help him out.
In 1933 George was placed on the slate of elections to become a member of the Marion City School Board.
An article appearing in the Marion Daily Republican in May 1934 reported that as commissioner, George demanded to the city council that Marion be cleaned up. He reported that Marion was rife with illegal gambling like slot machines and illegal Sunday alcohol sales. He said that he had reported it to the police chief and police commissioner Harry Crisp numerous times and that it went unhandled. He stated that, “If the police department won’t clean it up, I will.” It is unknown whether anything was actually done.
The last appearance of George and his family in Marion occurs in a 1934 city directory indicating that the family lived then at 1311 N. Glendale and that George was manager at Twin County Service Co. After completion of George’s term as commissioner in 1937, the family moved to live in Belleville in St. Clair County where he assumed the position of manager of the St. Clair Service Company, a subsidiary of the St. Clair County Farm Bureau where he worked until May 1, 1946.
When George filled out his WWII draft record in 1942, he was 45 years old living at 309 N. Charles in Belleville, Illinois working at the St. Clair Service Co. He was physically described as 6’, 220 lbs., brown eyes, brown hair and a ruddy complexion.
After his work at St. Clair Service Company, he assumed a similar position with the Madison Service Company at Edwardsville, Illinois. He resigned his position at Edwardsville in the fall of 1947 due to ill health and was under the care of a physician for a heart condition.
George died on May 31, 1948 and was buried in Hardin County at the St. Joseph Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and two daughters, Mary and Frances.
Christena died September 25, 1975 and was interred next to George in St. Joseph Cemetery.
Notes on Children:
Mary Catherine Clore Drumm, born July 8, 1923, married Robert H. Drumm on July 1, 1950, graduated Belleville High School, died August 15, 2002
Frances Aline Clore, born in Marion in February 1925. Wasn’t mentioned in 1930 census for some reason and appeared illusive to track. Found where she graduated from Belleville high school and was in the hospital a few times in Belleville in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, couldn’t track her after that.
(Sources: Federal Census records, WWII Draft records, Illinois Marriage records, Veterans Index, Marion Daily Republican, Marion Weekly Leader, Belleville Daily Advocate, Nashville Journal, Belleville and Marion street directories, FindaGrave.com. Compiled by Sam Lattuca on 6/15/2024)