Category Archives: All Marion Content
Leslie 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
Raymond Reynolds was born on October 4, 1923 in Benton, Illinois to Austin Reynolds and Rachel West. He attended primary and secondary schools in Benton, graduating Benton High school in 1942. Continue reading
Raymond Earl Fosse was born April 4, 1947 in Marion, Illinois, the son of Wayne and Pauline Fosse. Ray had an older brother Jerry, and younger brother Jim.
Ray played the infield his freshman year at Marion High School, but his second year moved to catcher and was named the team’s Most Valuable Player all three years. He hit .475 his sophomore year and .535 as a junior. In his last season, Fosse posted a .465 mark, with four home runs, and led Marion to the Illinois Regional Finals. Ray also lettered in football as a fullback and in basketball as a forward. Continue reading
The chance to experience a first-hand account of an adventure experienced by one of our Marion citizens over 135 years ago doesn’t come around very often. Such is the case with the following diary written by Brice Holland on his trip to the Black Hills in search of gold. Brice was accompanied by a handful of Marion residents in April 1877 when they made their way from St. Louis by paddle wheeler, wagon and by foot on their way cross country at a time when Native Americans had barely been bottled up in reservations. As always, even today, plans don’t always work out the way you desire them to. Continue reading