Marion Illinois History Preservation

Crouse, Lee 1912-1965, Crouse Jewelry

Posted on January 11, 2014 by wcihsJanuary 13, 2014

$South Market 1940\'s$

$Marion\'s Eat Shop$

Lemoine Henry “Lee” Crouse was born September 7, 1912 in Council Bluff, Iowa, the son on Don B. Crouse (1884-1970) and Sarah Nancy Ansberry (1884-1935). Sarah’s mother was born in Ireland.

In the 1920 census when Lee was only 7, his father was a self-employed farmer and the family lived on a farm at Notch, Wyoming. Lee had two brothers sharing the home, Don B. Jr., 10, and John B., 5. Continue reading →

1973, The Murder of Martha Damico

Posted on January 10, 2014 by wcihsJanuary 11, 2014

Marion was in disbelief on February 19^th, 1973, when Mary Ann Damico came home from school and found her 50 year old paraplegic mother, Martha Damico, senselessly murdered in their home at 825 Morgan Drive. Martha, who was confined to a wheel chair, had been murdered that morning shortly after her daughter left for school by Cynthia “Cindy” Barnes, 17, whose mother lived not far away at 840 Morgan Drive. Continue reading →

Morrison, Eugene W. 1904-1985

Posted on January 9, 2014 by wcihsJanuary 9, 2014

Eugene Wilmer Morrison was born May 27, 1904 in a house in Marion on west Main Street located in the block across the street from the C&EI railroad station and about a block east of there. He was the son of Frank E. Morrison and Classena Wilmer.

When he was real small they moved to 701 N. Van Buren St. on the southwest corner of N. Van Buren and Boulevard. He lived there until the summer of 1921 when he was 17 years old and they then bought the house at 515 S. Market St. Continue reading →

Bones, Eugene F. 1875-1913

Posted on January 6, 2014 by wcihsJanuary 6, 2014

Eugene Frank Bones was born in April 1875 in Crab Orchard Precinct to Thomas and Martha Bones. At the age of 14 years he commenced writing for newspapers, his first work having been for Marion and Creal Springs papers, and at the age of 18 was a contributor to the Detroit Free Press.

Having chosen newspaper work for his occupation at an early age, he gave special attention to the school branches which were calculated to fit him for the work, and the manner in which he handled news showed that he learned well that which he early anticipated would be required to make him a capable newspaper man. Continue reading →

Thompson, Frank, WWII Veteran

Posted on January 3, 2014 by wcihsJanuary 3, 2014

Around Marion many, many people know who Frank Thompson is. He is a man who has lived in Marion since 1957. He is the man who was the terminal manager for Viking Freight Co. west of town, on what was then the only Route 13. Frank managed this terminal until 1967, when Viking Freight sold out to Spector Freight and closed their Marion operation. For the next 15 years Frank commuted to Mt. Vernon, working for Spector. Continue reading →