Aikman, William 1825-1890 and Mary 1827-1913

William Aikman was born April 2, 1825 in Davies County, Indiana. He was the fourth son of Samuel Aikman and Henrietta Coleman who were originally natives of North Carolina and came to Marion in 1837 with a family of six boys and three girls.

The family settled on the west side of Marion before the town was platted or built, while this County was still a part of Franklin and entered a strip of land from the government, half a mile wide and a mile and a half long, lying along where the C. & E. I. railroad (now Missouri Pacific) runs. It is known to have extended as far west as the VA hospital ground and as far east as Court Street. Continue reading

1929 Progress Edition of the Marion Daily Republican

Clyde Bailey 1929 Police ChiefA few of the articles extracted from a special 1929 Progress Edition of the Marion Daily Republican newspaper reflects the state of the city of Marion on its 90th year of existence as follows.

Marion the county seat of Williamson County is the oldest city in the county and as such is one of the most stable cities of the rich Southern Illinois or Egyptian coal fields where it is with its more than one and a half million dollars’ worth of public improvements the home city of 15,000 people. Continue reading

Boatright’s Electronics and Record Shop

When Charles Boatright graduated from VTI (located in the old Ordill administration buildings) in May of 1958 and got married the following weekend, his direction wasn’t absolutely clear. He and his new bride drove to Cleveland, Ohio and applied for a job working in a factory. When that didn’t pan out he returned to Marion and went to work for Paul Gore who was operating an RCA dealership where Walt’s Pizza is now located. Continue reading

Monroe, Charles W. 1922-2012

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

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