Marion was in disbelief on February 19th, 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
Category Archives: D to F
Melvin Lee Felts was born October 17, 1924 in Pittsburg to Troy Felts and Vivian Williams. He graduated from Pittsburg High School in 1942 and entered the navy on July 15, 1942. While serving in the U.S. Navy, his parents were employed in a Chicago war plant and his brother, Floyd E. Felts, was a machinist’s mate in the Navy.
In 1945, he was awarded a bronze star and cited by Admiral W.F. Halsey for outstanding service in action against the Japanese. Continue reading
According to available records, Martin K. Davis was born in Marion, Illinois on March 12, 1843. It is believed that Davis was orphaned at an early age. At age 19, he joined the 116th Illinois Infantry in August 1862 at Stonington, Christian Co., Illinois as a Private.
On May 22, 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered an assault on the Confederate heights at Vicksburg, Mississippi. The plan called for a storming party of volunteers to build a bridge across a moat and plant scaling ladders against the enemy embankment in advance of the main attack. Continue reading
Milo Erwin was born October 24, 1847 near the village of Crab Orchard, six miles east of Marion. This area had been settled by people from North Carolina, among them a Revolutionary War ancestor of Milo Erwin.
Milo Erwin was the son of Robert P. and Eliza (Furlong) Erwin. Robert P. and his brother-in-law, James M. Furlong, built a steam mill for both grist and lumber at Crab Orchard in 1854; this was the county’s second mill. It was in the center of town and had no doors. Folks who had no desire to pay for grist found it easy to take what they wanted at night; thus the village was nick-named “Steal Easy.” Continue reading
Denton “Dent” Ferrell was born in Crainville on November 11, 1889, the son of Hosea V. Ferrell and Mildred Cassandra Davis. His father, Hosea, was a physician and prominent citizen in Carterville. Of his many siblings, a brother named after his father, Hosea V. Ferrell, became a leading attorney and prominent citizen of Marion for decades. Continue reading
