The index to the book Williamson County in the World War (1917-1918) has been added to the Military category of book indexes. The latest index contains many photos and data on WWI veterans and also a fair amount of data on businesses of the period. The volume was published in 1919 by Hal Trovillion and republished by the Williamson County Historical Society
The Index to Harry Boyd’s book, “Williamson County’s Greatest Generation” has been added to our library reference page. The book contains Marion Daily Republican articles from 1939 through the end of WWII that are related to the county’s WWII veterans and serves as a great treatise on where many men were trained, stationed and what they did during the war. The three volume set is numbered as one consecutive book and contains 14,610 name entries. It has been added to the military category.
The Williamson County Historical Society held a fall membership meeting Sunday, October 22nd, 2017 at the Williamson County Museum and Genealogy Library at 105 S. Van Buren Street in Marion. Society business and projects both completed, ongoing and upcoming were discussed. Elections for the 2018 board of directors was held. Elected to office were Sam Lattuca, President; Colleen Norman, Vice President; Helen Sutt Lind, 2nd Vice President; Ursula Richey, Secretary; and Bob Jackson for Director. The position of Treasurer was unfilled.
The guest speaker was Jon Musgrave, local historian, who spoke about the scary bits of Southern Illinois found in history including the practice of witchcraft and superstition in the area’s early history.
Society member, Dolores Thetford, was inducted into the Society’s Honor Roll due to her dedicated service to the organization. Thetford joined the society in 1977 and has served as Treasurer for the last 17 years.
Planned renovations on areas of the museum were discussed and recent accessions to the museum were displayed. The museum and genealogy library are currently open six days a week, Monday through Saturday from 9:30 till 3 PM. After Thanksgiving it will reduce its hours over the winter due to heating costs down to Saturdays only until the beginning of March.
The indexes to five volumes of Williamson County marriages covering 1839 to 1902 have been added to the Misc. Court Records Index. Incuded are:
- Williamson County Marriages, 1839-1865, Volume 1, by Gay Hoffard & Joyce Smith
- Williamson County Marriages, 1866-1877, Volume 2, by Gay Hoffard & Joyce Smith
- Williamson County Marriages, 1878-1888, Volume 3, by Gay Hoffard & Joyce Smith
- Williamson County Marriages, 1889-1896, Volume 4, by Hoffard, Smith, Murphy & Lind
- Williamson County Marriages, 1897-1902, Volume 5, by Charla Murphy and Helen Lind
Our next membership meeting will be held on Sunday, October 22nd, 2:00 PM at the museum. Elections will be held to compose the board of directors for the year 2018. All board positions except for two director slots are to be voted on. Nominations can be made all the way up to election time, so if you have an interest in helping guide our society or know someone who might be interested, be sure to contact us or you may place the name in nomination at the meeting prior to the election. Only paid members are allowed to vote at the election. All positions are one year terms except for directors which serve for three years.
During the meeting, improvements, society activities and projects will be discussed. The program for the meeting will be given by local historian Jon Musgrave and the seasonal topic will be “The Scary Bits of Southern Illinois History: Witches, Haunts and the Road of the Werewolf.” As always, feel free to bring any “show and tell” items of historical or genealogical interest to the society and share them with us.
As a reminder, the museum will switch from operating six days a week to our winter hours of operation, Saturdays only, from after this Thanksgiving through the beginning of March next spring.