John Kaeser and his wife, Emelia Walther moved from St. Morgan, Illinois, to Williamson County in 1884 and settled on a farm east of Marion at the old Moeller Crossroad (Rt. 13 and 166). They brought with them their two sons Louis, ten years old, and Fred, eight years of age, along with daughter Emelia who was then six years of age. John Kaeser’s parents came from Switzerland in a sailboat during the late 1700’s or early 1800’s. Continue reading
Category Archives: People
Ray Miller, teacher, principal, county officer, and a second generation Fair Board member, was born on April 26, 1891 in Williamson County to John Goodall Miller and Mary Ellen Krantz on a farm in Southern Township.
Nine years after Ray was born, according to the 1900 federal census, the family was living in Southern Precinct on the Miller family farm which they owned free of mortgage. Southern Township/Precinct starts just north of the Marion City Lake and included the villages of Hudgens and Chamness, extending south to Pulley’s Mill where Johnson County starts. Ray’s parents were farmers and were both in their mid-30’s. Children present in the home at the time were Ray aged 9 and daughter, Jessie M. aged 6. Ray’s mother indicated that she had birthed three children with two surviving indicating the loss of one child already in their marriage. Continue reading
Evelyn M. Patterson, a teacher for 53 years, 43 of which were in Marion, was born October 10, 1920, in Keokuk, Iowa, the only child of Thomas Chester Patterson and Bessie A. McCoy.
Her family was located in the 1930 census living in Hannibal, Missouri. They were renting a home at 1319 Mark Twain Avenue for $30 per month. Evelyn’s parents were both college educated and in this census, her mother, Bessie 36, was teaching at a business college. Her father, Thomas 39, was a drug salesman. Evelyn was nine years old. Continue reading
John William “Willie” Jones, beloved Marion citizen, active civic leader and the first black man to obtain membership in any Marion service club, was a native of Marion born on January 12, 1912 to William Jones and Mrs. Alice Crossland. Jones was hailed by Marion editor and news publisher, Oldham Paisley, as being a force of one in maintaining racial tension in Marion and promoting development of the black community. Continue reading
Harry R. Rodd was born August 15, 1912 in DuQuoin to Roy Edgar Rodd (1880-1968) and Lela May Calvert (1886-1974). Harry’s father, Roy, was born on a farm in Williamson County in 1880 in the now defunct Western precinct that we know today as Blairsville Township in the northwest corner of the county. He spent most of his life living in Marion and worked as an insurance salesman. Continue reading
