Marion Illinois History Preservation

306 E. College St., Historic Home Razed in 1941

Posted on November 24, 2013 by wcihsMarch 28, 2014

The following article was printed in the Marion Daily Republican on September 15, 1941, and recounts the history of the home located at 306 E. College Street on the occasion of its demolition.

Historic House Being Razed

Two Story Landmark On East College Street Yields To Wrecking Crew

One of Marion’s oldest residences began yielding to a wrecking crew Monday morning when workmen began tearing down the Mrs. Kate Sutherland home at 306 East College Street. The house, built almost ninety years ago, is one of the oldest and most interesting in Marion’s history. Continue reading →

Life on the Home Front During the Civil War

Posted on November 21, 2013 by wcihsNovember 22, 2013

The following is taken from “Thy People Shall Be My People or Elizabeth Ann and the Roberts Clan” by Daisy Roberts Malone. These excerpts were written by Elizabeth Ann Chadwell who was born 10 May 1825, the daughter of John Shepherd and Sarah Clark. She married William Rufus Roberts 18 Aug 1841 and after his death married Charles W. Chadwell 9 Nov 1849, both marriages in Williamson Co., Illinois. Elizabeth Ann died 13 May 1916 and is buried in Zion Cemetery, Corinth, Illinois. Continue reading →

1937, Marion’s Last Two Civil War Veterans

Posted on November 18, 2013 by wcihsNovember 20, 2013

Last Two Veterans of Civil War Living In Marion Recall Days of War Period In South

G. W. Ingels, 88, and Phil Johnson, 100-year Old Colored Veteran, Are Survivors In Marion

Memorial Day in Marion in 1937 finds the thinning ranks of Civil War veterans has dwindled to two Union soldiers, one of them a white man who shouldered a gun at the age of 15 years and the other a colored man who at the age of 17 went away to war from a Kentucky plantation with the echo of the slave-driver’s lash and the cries of beaten human beings echoing in his ears. Continue reading →

Monroe, Charles W. 1922-2012

Posted on November 12, 2013 by wcihsDecember 17, 2013

Charles Wood Monroe was born on Sunday, Nov. 5, 1922, at home on South Future Street in Marion as the son of Charles Raymond and Ethel LaRue (Wood) Monroe.

Charles was educated in the Marion school system and graduated from high school with the class of 1940. After high school graduation Charles enrolled at Southern Illinois Normal University at Carbondale. The following year his high school sweetheart, Jacqueline Rott, the lady destined to be Mrs. Monroe, graduated from high school and also enrolled at SINU. Continue reading →

The Hosea Wilson Family in WWII, Lest We Forget

Posted on November 10, 2013 by wcihsNovember 10, 2013

There are probably not many, if any, who remember the Hosea Wilson family of Marion and their contributions to the war effort during WW II.

Hosea Wilson was born in Marion in 1878, graduated from Marion High School and Southern Illinois Normal University. Hosea’s father, Allen Wilson served in the Civil War in the 31st Illinois Infantry. It should he added that O.M. Wilson of Marion was a brother of Hosea. O.M. Wilson had a son, Virgil, who later became the noted athletic coach at Marion High School. Continue reading →