Marion Illinois History Preservation

Robert Wesley Alsbrook was born in Marion on October 30, 1872 to Stephen Wesley Alsbrook and Sarah Jane Blankenship, the daughter of Isham Blankenship who owned considerable property in West Marion around what would now be the Dairy Queen and the V.A. Hospital on W. Main Street. His father Stephen came to Southern Illinois in 1859 when he was 13 years old and later established himself in the drug business in which he continued until his death in 1872. Robert was not born until about six months after the death of his father and his education was secured in the schools of Marion, New Burnside and Creal Springs College.

Dr. Mark Webster Ballance was born at New Burnside in Johnson County on April 28, 1880 to James Herndon and Jensey Whiteaker. According to his obit printed in the Southern Illinoisan paper, Dr. Ballance’s ancestors were pre-Revolutionary settlers in Virginia. The first family member, John Damron, moved to Southern Illinois in 1796. Dr. Ballance’s uncle, Captain Mark Whiteaker, organized Co. B of the 120^th Illinois Volunteers in the Civil War. His father, Lt. James Herndon Balance served in the company.