Edward E. Longbons, the first president of the Bank of Marion in 1937, was born on May 18, 1869 near Albion in Edwards County, Illinois, the son of Thomas Longbons and Mary Jane Colyer Longbons. His mother was the daughter of Edward Colyer (1795-1858) and Jane Thread Colyer (1792-1860). She was born May 10, 1828 in Albion and died there Jul 24, 1895. Thomas, his father, was born on February 21, 1834 in Nottinghamshire, England and died in 1910 in Albion, Edwards County, Illinois. Thomas and Jane had at least nine children andEdward appears to have had a twin sister, Eliza. Continue reading
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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
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
Harold Gene Johns, State Senator of the 57th and 59th District from 1971 to 1984, was born October 6, 1927 in Carrier Mills to Christopher Columbus Johns and Mabel Stricklin.
When the 1930 Federal Census was taken, the Johns family was living in the city of Harrisburg at 620 S. Main Street, which they rented for $15 a month. His father, Columbus, was 32 years old and a native of Alabama, who worked as a room boss for the Sahara Coal Company in the Sahara No. 7 mine. Gene’s mother, Mabel, was only 26 and was born in Illinois. There were three sons in the home, Bronzel Johns, the oldest was 7, Tommy Johns was 5 and Harold Gene Johns was 3 ½ years of age. Continue reading
James D. Long was an early City Marshall, Marion Chief of Police and according his obituary, the first Fire Chief of Marion. He was born on June 17, 1875 in University City, Tennessee to Arthur R. Long and Louise E. Warren.
Five years after James’ birth, the 1880 census found the Long family living in Stewarts, Kentucky. His father, Arthur, was listed as a mechanic. The entire family was, oddly enough, only listed by initials Continue reading