Hartwell, Joseph W. 1839-1903, Marion Mayor & Civil War Veteran

Posted on by July 5, 2017

Joseph W. Hartwell 1839-1903
Joseph W. Hartwell 1839-1903
Joseph W. Hartwell 1839-1903

Marion, Illinois became an incorporated city in 1874 with a mayoral system of government.   Joseph W. Hartwell became the first mayor elected to the town in 1874.  Later he served in several positions in the city and county government:  County Treasurer, 1865; Circuit Clerk 1868-1872; and States Attorney 1875-1880.  In a special election for states attorney in June 1875, he was “an able young lawyer and a man of courage.” He was elected to the vacancy left by State’ Attorney, J. D. F.  Jennings, who had left the county after embezzling $927 from the school fund and was the father of Al Jennings, Joseph W. was then elected to a full term. He also served on the state Board of Equalization in Springfield and U. S. Special Pension Examiner in Fulton, Kentucky. Continue reading →

McNett Photo Studio

Posted on by March 16, 2014

McNett Photo Studio of Marion, Illinois is a business that does not appear to have been around very long. The owner James Gardiner McNett was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on February 5, 1893. When the 1910 census was taken he was 17 years old and still living with his family in Nebraska.

An Iowa state census located him in Osage, Iowa in 1915, but by the time he registered for the WWI draft in 1917, he and his mother were living here in Marion, Illinois and he was listed as a self-employed photographer. He was 23 and living at 104 N. Vicksburg St. Continue reading →

Whitcomb, Charles H. 1890-1969, Mayor & County Commissioner

Posted on by May 30, 2018

Whitcomb, Herb 1967Charles Herbert “Herb” Whitcomb, mayor of Marion from 1931-1935 during the heart of the depression and two term County Commissioner, was born April 22, 1890 in Paducah, Kentucky to Charles Herbert Whitcomb, Sr. (1860-1896) and Mary Elizabeth Stanley (1863-1932). Continue reading →

1876, News Clippings, July thru December

Posted on by July 21, 2023

Part two of 1876 News Cippings, See also, 1876 News Clippings, January thru June

____________________   July, 1876  ______________________

6 Jul – Jack Walker of Metropolis killed Ed Neimeyer during a quarrel by stabbing, Monday of last week. EP

Capt. Wherry, an explorer of Pulaski County is making some interesting discoveries In that county…has found several skeletons of a race of people that were not more than 4 feet 5 inches tall. EP Continue reading →