Hunt, Thomas H., 1873-1947, Miner, Alderman & Commissioner

Posted on by March 18, 2024

Thomas Hiram Hunter appears to have been born in Southern Township south of Marion on August 8, 1873 to Leon Hunt and Mary Hudgens. This is where the 1880 federal census located his parental family living as farmers. In the census, Thomas was listed as 8 years old with 4 siblings.

On July 22, 1896, 22 year old Thomas married 20 year old Nettie Parker, daughter of Pinkney Parker and Mary Norman (or Noorvars?). Four years later in the 1900 census, the couple were renting a home in Marion and already had two children, Leon aged 3 and Tom aged 1. Thomas was employed as a coal miner.

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Youngkin, John H., 1875-1932, Miner, Alderman & Commissioner

Posted on by June 19, 2024

John Harrison Youngkin was born in Makanda, Illinois on April 4, 1875 to John R. Youngkin and Paralee York. By the 1880 federal census, the family was living in Grassy Township in Williamson County as farmers. In the census, John R. was 32 and Paralee was 24. Their children were Elmer A. 6, John H. 5 and Louella M. aged 3.

When the 1900 census was taken, John’s mother Paralee had passed away and the family was living in Marion. John’s widowed father was 52 and John H. was 25. John’s siblings at the time were Ella 23, Mary 19 and Stella aged 7. The family was renting their home and both John and his father were working local coal mines for income. Not long after the census was taken in 1900, John H. married Dottie Johnson in Marion on July 4, 1900. Dottie was the daughter of William Johnson and Bella Conley.

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Borton, Louis W., 1883-1916, Salesman & Alderman

Posted on by March 21, 2024

Louis Wetzel Borton, son of Reuben Borton & Mattie Simmons, was born in Marion on May 31, 1883. His father was a Marion miller and manufacturer of essential oils in addition to serving as a county commissioner and city alderman. Since the 1890 census doesn’t exist there is a gap in his younger years but he is found for the first time in the 1900 federal census at age 19 living with his 65 year old grandmother, Mary Simmons, and 39 year old widowed mother Mattie in Carbondale, Illinois along with his younger brother William B. Barton attending school. The house was also host to five boarders. The temporary jump to live in Carbondale can be explained by the death of his father, Reuben, in September of 1889.

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Tippy, David A., 1870-1938, Miner, Deputy Sheriff & Alderman

Posted on by March 14, 2024

David Tippy was likely born in the Carterville area of the county in 1870 to Martin Tippy and Mary L. Crain. He grew up in a farming family here in the county that for some reason tried to pick up roots and try life in Kansas. The family was found farming in the 1880 census in Bourbon, Kansas. At that time, his father was 34 and his mother 29, David then had two sisters Ella 3 and Zada aged 1.

Although there is no 1890 census to check on, the family appears to have returned to Williamson County by that time. On June 28, 1891, twenty one year old David married 19 year old Sallie L. Crain here in Williamson County. She was the daughter of Joseph Crain and Annie Corder.

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Borton, Reuben, 1822-1889, Miller, Manufacturer & Alderman

Posted on by March 15, 2024

The following biography was printed in Goodspeed’s History of Williamson County and published in 1887.

“Reuben Borton, miller and dealer in real estate, was born November 17, 1822 in Guernsey County, Ohio, the eldest of eight children (three deceased) of James Borton and Mariah Wilson Borton, the former of English origin, born in 1801, in Mount Holly, N.J., and the latter in 1802 in Loudon County, Va. In 1820 they were married in Guernsey County, Ohio where they were reared from childhood and the father here farmed and distilled essential oils, he died in 1864. The mother died in 1855. Our subject, educated in the home schools of his native county, married when twenty three and followed his father’s business. In 1850, he went to California and mined extensively, paying some men as high as $10 per day. He returned from Acapulco, Mexico City and Vera Cruz, Mexico via New Orleans to his native county.

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