Author Archives: wcihs

1993, Marion’s First Female Police Officer

Posted on by January 18, 2014

Dawn Tondini 1993
Dawn Tondini 2013

Marion Woman Finally Working as Police Officer

Dawn Williams (now, Tondini) can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to be a police officer.

As a baby she loved to dress up in her father’s police hat, and his leather slapstick was her favorite teething ring. When she learned to read, she turned first to her dad’s police training books.

Her ambition became reality recently when the 27 year old was sworn in as the first female patrol officer in the Marion Police Department. She has worked as a dispatcher for the department since April 1992, and was a member of the police auxiliary for 1 ½ years before that. Continue reading →

Hay, John A. 1902-1967, Ferrell-Hay Law Firm

Posted on by January 17, 2014

John Hay 1902-1967
John Hay 1902-1967

John Allen Hay was born in Marion on March 17, 1902, at 513 S. Market Street in the home of his grandparents, Romulus and Adelle Holland who built the home in 1875. John was the second child born to the marriage of Charles W. Hay (1873-1967) and Elizabeth “Bess” Holland.

John’s mother, Bess Holland, died in 1908 when he was only six years old and the situation was reflected in the 1910 census. His grandfather, Romulus Holland, owner of the home on S. Market, was 64 and a salesman for a coal oil distributor. John’s father, Charles W. Hay, owned a shoe store at 304 Public Square, next to the First National Bank and was a widower, 37 years of age. Continue reading →

1968, Chief John Kelley Retires from Police Dept.

Posted on by January 17, 2014

Patrolman John F Kelley in 1950Marion Police Chief Retires After 21 Years on Force

“Twenty one years of other people’s troubles” is how the retiring Marion Police Chief describes his career on the force.

“I’m gonna start on my own life now, but I’m gonna try to keep it straight,” John F. Kelley added with a laugh.

Today was his final day as a policeman. He became Chief in May, 1967. He has been night chief since 1955. Continue reading →

1967, Marion’s Original Water Tower Comes to an End

Posted on by January 17, 2014

Original Water Tower 1921-196341 Year Old Water Tower Heralded Marion, The Opportunity City

Perched 150 feet above the ground, two men with cutting torches have been sawing off the limb thery were sitting on this week as they dismantled the abandoned water tower that has stood at the Marion Water Plan on North Madison for 47 years.

Workmen for the Globe Construction Company of Henderson, Kentucky began taking the tower down Wednesday and expect to finish this Tuesday. They first removed the standpipe which extended from the ground 100 feet to the bottom of the elevated 150,000 gallon tank. They then began cutting away the rest of the tank in segments and dropping them one by one through the bottom. Continue reading →

1924, Raids Net Illegal Alcohol and Stills

Posted on by January 17, 2014

Moonshine Bust 1924In early 1924, prohibition had been in effect for years and as a result, many locals had turned to cranking out their own illegal “hootch” in copper stills, a problem that wouldn’t entirely go away until the late 1950’s, even after prohibition was long since revoked.

The attached photo illustrates the level which illegal alcohol production had reached, when a Courtney’s moving truck, was required to haul all the illegal booze back to the Williamson County Jail on S. Van Buren St. for disposal after the latest raid in February, 1924. Continue reading →