Williamson County Historical Society
The Williamson County Historical Society now occupies the old Williamson County Jail built in 1913 at 105 S. Van Buren St. just southwest of the Public Square down Paradise Alley. The building was occupied by the historical society in 1974 and houses many artifacts and historical objects. They are an excellent source for historical and genealogical research. Their staff of volunteers is knowledgable and helpful. They have an extensive library of historical and genealogical material, family files, histories and more. The reference library is located on their website under the library tab.
The museum’s hours from March 1 to Thanksgiving is Mon – Sat, 9:30 – 3:00. From Thanksgiving till March 1 the hours are Saturday only from 9:30 – 3:00. Latest information can be found at their website www.wcihs.org. Their phone is 618-997-5863.
The city of Marion website lists city departments, phone numbers and names, forms required for residents, and a calendar of events. You may also view previous city council metings.
The city of Marion Cemetery department is in the process of being totally revamped. At present you can search for interment records and locations online in their database, a useful tool for geneology buffs. They have added localized maps and locator boards on site of the cities very large cemeteries of Rosehill, Maplewood and I.O.O.F. and are in the process of adding G.P.S. locations of each grave site.
A page maintained by Thomas Wimberly listing all of the Marion Mayors from the cities inception and a listing of Marion’s population over the years from the beginning.
Marion Fire Department Fire History Records (1875-1977)
This page is a record of fire reports that date from 1875 to 1977 of the major fires in Marion. It is extracts taken from a few of the local newspapers by Harry Boyd that were relevant to their time period. It mentions names, locations and people involved and is an interesting read. This data has been incorporated into individual posts and is contained on this site under the Fire Department Fire Reports and other categories related to each post.
Illinois Regional Archive Depository
IRAD is a storage system that was formed by the State of Illinois to document, archive, and store all older county records relevant to Illinois history. This is a “must have” gem for researchers and geneologists. It contains land records, Civil and Black Hawk war enlistment records of individuals, pre 1900 death records, 1900-1950 death records, pre 1900 marriage records and more. Each section of Illinois is broken down into regions where different universities store and archive the data. For Southern Illinois, most all counties are archived at SIU in Carbondale, Illinois. If you find a record on file in IRAD you can call the university that stores the record and have them mail you up to two records at a time. They will make copies of the microfilm record or records and mail them to you for only $1.
National Park Service Civil War Database
The National Park Service maintains an extensive database of soldiers, sailors, officers, spies, politicians and a lot more content related to the Civil War.
Illinois Mine Explosions and Accident
The Gendisaster website maintains a list of natural and accidental disasters and could come in handy solving a geneology mystery if you have an ancestor involved in an accident or disaster either natural or manmade.
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration is a branch of the federal government that archives all government records. They have original land records, transcripts, veterans records and virtually anything related to government record keeping. If you have a relative who served in any of the wars and applied for a pension then all of the paperwork related to that event is kept here. It can be a geneological gold mine.
Historical Souvenir of Williamson County (1905)
Many of the resources for this site began with this book. It has lots of photos and biographies of individuals and businesses as they were when the book was put together in 1905. This is a free book available in multiple reader formats, which is great since it can be digitally searched using the find or search application.
This book was written by Milo Erwin in 1876. It is a wonderful resource for all things Williamson County including the “Vendetta” era of its history. Lots of information about the people and places that formed this county and all of the towns. This is a free book available in mutliple reader formats.
The Goodspeed history of this area including Williamson County describes the geography, people, and formation of towns. Interesting read and freely available in multiple reader formats.
Williamson County, Illinois in the World War, WWI 1919
Written in 1919, this book serves as a treatise to show the amount of support that was offered by the citizens of Williamson County during World War I. It lists people involed in bond drives, war efforts and the people who died and served from this county. Lots of pictures of individuals who were active military and local citizens who showed their patriotism during this period of history. This is a free downloadable book available in multiple reader formats and searchable.
A book written in 1927 detailing the gang warfare that occured in this end of the state. This is a free downloadable book available in multiple reader formats.
A survey of the city schools of Marion, Illinois (1924)
This is a survey that was taken in 1924 that examines in detail the school system that existed in Marion in that time. Very detailed information on each school in Marion. Free and available in multiple reader formats.