Anyone who has lived a reasonable amount of time will likely agree that there are times when life doesn’t always appear fair. Worse yet, there are times when it appears just downright cruel. Such may be the case for the Jordan family who lost three of their four sons, two to murder and one to an accident. Continue reading
Category Archives: People
The following post originally titled “An Early Marion Barber Shop” was taken from a Glances at Life article written by Homer Butler in which he interviewed W.T. Hudspeth about his early barber shop business in Marion, Illinois. The date of the articles publication is May 4, 1951. It is an informative article about post turn-of-the-century business life on N. Market Street. W.T. Hudspeth passed away in January of 1981 and Homer Butler in May 1982. Continue reading
The Hon. James D. Pulley, owned one of the first businesses in Marion and was apparently a strong Southern sympathizer. In 1841, Pulley built “Our House”, a saloon, on the west side of the Public Square. His attempts in 1861 to promote efforts to secede from the Union early on in the Civil War landed him in “hot water” on more than one occasion, including charges of treason. To later save face, Pulley was involved with R.M. Hundley in the raising of the unsuccessful 128th Illinois Infantry.
This post is composed of two articles, the first notes the dismissal of treason charges by a Grand Jury in June 1864. The second article notes an incident in which Pulley takes exception to his name being disparaged and confronts the source, resulting in a shootout in a Marion alley the next month. Continue reading
Eugene L. “Gene” Cox was born and raised in Marion, the son of Harry L. and Mabel Cox. The family home at his birth on March 26, 1919, was at 108 W. Goodall Street. Gene’s father, Harry, was a partner in the Cox Hardware family business on the Public Square with his father, Thomas A. Cox, who founded the business.
When the 1920 census was taken the family was still living at the W. Goodall address and Gene was only 9 months old. According to city directories, the family was still in place in 1922 but by 1927 had purchased a home at 306 E. College Street. Continue reading
Owen J. Cox was born at Carbon Hill, Illinois on April 18, 1902, the son of James E. Cox and Maude Woodley. Coming to Marion as a child with his parents, most of his life had been spent in this community where he became a prominent figure.
Owen was married at Union City, Tennessee on April 25, 1920 to Elizabeth L. Norman
After working in the coal mines early in his life and spending several years in the advertising department of the Marion Daily Republican Continue reading