Samuel Aikman and his wife were early arrivals in this county. In 1837, they brought with them nine children. Aikman was smart enough to invest himself in real estate, so he rode horse-back to the federal land office in Shawneetown, Illinois in 1840 and bought 640 acres at $1.25 per acre. The land he purchased started at the north-south bound railroad tracks that parallel Court Street and ran west to about where the Interstate is located. Because of his foresight and the ingenuity of several of his sons, the family did very well. Continue reading
Category Archives: G-H
The following post originally titled “An Early Marion Barber Shop” was taken from a Glances at Life article written by Homer Butler in which he interviewed W.T. Hudspeth about his early barber shop business in Marion, Illinois. The date of the articles publication is May 4, 1951. It is an informative article about post turn-of-the-century business life on N. Market Street. W.T. Hudspeth passed away in January of 1981 and Homer Butler in May 1982. Continue reading
Dr. Theodore Hudson was born August 12, 1850 in Pennsylvania, the son of Dr. and Mrs. John Atchinson Hudson. He was the oldest of three children, his brother, Dr. George Hudson of Canton, Iowa having died at the home of Dr. Theodore Hudson of Marion, and his older brother, Joseph Hudson, a farmer who lived south of Marion, the father of Georgia and Ruth Hudson. Continue reading
Frank E. Morrison was a native of Nokomis, Illinois, he was born February 23, 1879 the third of five children born to William Morrison and Ella Gale.
He received his education in the schools at Oconee, Illinois, and was married at Oconee on September 2, 1903 to Miss Classena Wilmer.
In 1903, soon after his marriage he came to Marion where he became a telegraph operator for the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad at the depot just off West Main Street. In 1905, he became the local agent for the railroad. Continue reading
Ralph W. Harris was born November 20, 1904 in Creal Springs to Willis T. and Emma (Schafer) Harris.
The 1910 census revealed that Ralph’s family was living in Marion at 201 S. Market Street. Ralph’s father, Willis, was managing a livery stable. Ralph was 5 and shared space with six siblings. His older sister, Minnie L. Harris, was a public school teacher. The census indicated that Ralph’s mother had given birth to ten children and that eight of them were still living. Continue reading