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
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Bunice Tyner was a Marion businessman who owned a handful of taverns in Marion and the surrounding area from 1941 up to his murder in 1960. Tyner also owned Wimpey’s Café at 106 S. Court Street, but the business was actually operated by his wife, Louina. The amusements in local taverns in those days, popular since WWII, were pinball and jukebox machines. Also, slot machines, which were technically illegal, but often tolerated under the right conditions. Continue reading
William Jackson Spiller was born at the old Spiller home north of Marion on October 4, 1833, when Williamson was a part of Franklin County. He was the son of Elijah Nicholson Spiller (1803-1867) and Elizabeth Powell (1810-xxxx), both representing prominent pioneer families in Illinois and was raised on a farm at Spillertown where he and his wife lived, worked and raised their family of fourteen children. Continue reading
Warder Stotlar was born in Marion May 9, 1911, the son of Fred Stotlar and Hattie Warder.
In the 1920 census, Warder was 8 years old and living with his parents at 107 E. Marion Street.
He was graduated from Marion High School in 1929 and in the 1930 census, Warder was 18 years old and living with his parents at 105 E. Marion Street. Continue reading
Law enforcement in Marion in the 1920’s, during the heyday of the bootleggers and their gangs, was a chancy job. Our city traffic policeman during those times was John H. Smothers. He and his wife, the former Edna Tippy, lived with their three children, Ralph, Paul and Zella, at 702 South Madison Street. Continue reading
