Where in the World is Monroe, Illinois?

Monroe, Illinois? Never heard of it? Well, there is a good reason. For some reason, Monroe got lost in the dustbin of history along with other things that never happened. In 1938, Mrs. Nannie Gray Parks, based on a tip by Mr. Edward M. Stotlar, researched records at the Franklin County courthouse in Benton, Illinois. Mrs. Parks discovered that the county surveyor in 1837 had laid out a town to be known as Monroe. Continue reading

Washburn, James M. 1826-1910, State Legislator

James M Washburn 1826-1910The following article is an extract taken from the 1905 Souvenir History of Williamson County detailing the life of Judge James M. Washburn and is followed by collected data. Washburn was a Marion merchant, State Representative, Assistant Secretary of State, Master In Chancery, Attorney, member of the State Agriculture Board and one of the founders of the Egyptian Press newspaper. Continue reading

Caplinger, Leslie O. 1879-1943

Leslie Caplinger 1879-1943Leslie Otto Caplinger was born February 2, 1879, on a farm seven miles southeast of Marion, the son of Theodore Perry Caplinger and Mary L. McDonald. Leslie was the great grandson of Solomon Caplinger, blacksmith and early settler to the Caplinger Pond area, just on the southeast outskirts of Marion.

The family was captured in the 1880 census, when Leslie was 1 year old and the family was living on a farm in the New Denison area. Later plat maps indicate the family’s 66 acre farm was just east of Route 166, near New Denison. Continue reading