Martin’s father, Henry Robertson, came to this part of Illinois, about 1818, returned to Tennessee, then came back in 1823, and settled three and a half miles northwest of Marion, filing his first land claim in 1836, where he farmed successfully until his death in 1845. Henry bought one of the original lots in Marion when the land for the town went up for sale. Continue reading
Wiley W. Hall, three term Marion trustee and practicing physician, was born in 1834 to John Westley Hall (1797-1855) and Martha Denton (1802-xxxx) in Tennessee .
In 1850, Wiley was 16 years old living in Cocke County, Tennessee with his family. There were seven other children in the family: Margaret, John W., Matilda, Abigail, Rachel, James N. and Royal. His father, John, was a Methodist clergyman. Hamilton Kyle, 21, was living with them and had no occupation listed, but was likely a farm hand. Continue reading
William A. Broad was born in England about 1829 and when he was only 14, departed Liverpool, England for the Port of New York and came to the United States on board the Adirondack arriving in New York City on October the 24th, 1844. He was listed on the ship manifest as a laborer and it appears that he was traveling alone, since there was no other person named Broad on the passenger list of that trip. Continue reading
Hardin Goodall, well known Marion merchant and city alderman who had several businesses, one of which was a dry goods store in partnership with James M. Burkhart at 600 Public Square, was County Sheriff in 1868 – 1870, the trying period after the Civil War. Continue reading
Oliver Harper “Harp” Wiley was born in Cabarrus County, North Carolina November 30, 1807.
“Harp” Wiley married Matilda Krantz (1808 – 1891), daughter of Thomas Krantz and Elizabeth Kent. Matilda was a teen-aged orphan when she and her sister, Sarah, came from Cheatham County, Tenn. to Franklin County, Illinois with a Sanders family in an oxcart. Her sister, Sarah married Wiley Berry Chamness (1811-1882), founder of the Chamness settlement, now in the Wildlife Refuge. Continue reading