Mischievous boys still make sly and unannounced visits to watermelon patches. News of such a visit would not be unusual, but it would be uncommon to hear that a group of boys had raided the farmer’s apple hole. Such excursions have ceased. Boys may be the same, but the apple holes aren’t. They have disappeared along with the practice of holing up food for winter. Continue reading
The black diamond — bituminous coal — provided the economic fuel for Williamson County’s dramatic early growth.
Since the day a pioneer found coal near the present-day village of Spillertown north of Marion, coal has shaped the economic landscape of Williamson County.
The very name of Williamson County towns bespeak their mining history: Carterville, Herrin, Colp, Stiritz, and other towns were named for mines or the men who created them. Continue reading
John William “Willie” Jones, beloved Marion citizen, active civic leader and the first black man to obtain membership in any Marion service club, was a native of Marion born on January 12, 1912 to William Jones and Mrs. Alice Crossland. Jones was hailed by Marion editor and news publisher, Oldham Paisley, as being a force of one in maintaining racial tension in Marion and promoting development of the black community. Continue reading
Harry R. Rodd was born August 15, 1912 in DuQuoin to Roy Edgar Rodd (1880-1968) and Lela May Calvert (1886-1974). Harry’s father, Roy, was born on a farm in Williamson County in 1880 in the now defunct Western precinct that we know today as Blairsville Township in the northwest corner of the county. He spent most of his life living in Marion and worked as an insurance salesman. Continue reading
These early criminal case records from the 1850’s and 1860’s are from the Williamson County Circuit Clerk’s office, now housed at the Williamson County Historical Society. Related information to the cases was extracted from the book “The History of Williamson County Illinois” by Milo Erwin. Continue reading