Williamson County Illinois Historical Society

Preserving Williamson County History – A 501(C)3 Organization

Author: Sam

  • Special Thanks

    We want to give a special THANK YOU to three of our new volunteers who have been helping at the museum. Rhonda  Bean has been indexing a history book and working with county record indexes for us. Scott Pierce has been coming in on Saturdays and providing much needed muscle in moving things around for us. Betty Millard has taken on the task of accumulating Williamson County obituary records to be added to our index at the museum.

    An organization can’t survive without volunteers, we can’t thank you guys enough for the service you provide.

  • Extremely Limited Edition Books Available

    Thanks to a recently received gift from WCHS member, Nora Parker Davis, six volumes of two books bound together and written by Daisy Roberts Malone are now available. These are extremely limited edition and will likely never be reprinted. For anyone who had ancestors living in the Corinth Township area of Williamson County prior to, during and after the Civil War, these books would be invaluable.

    These books are titled, “Thy People Shall be My People or Elizabeth Ann and the Roberts Clan.”

    The first book contains firsthand memories of Elizabeth Ann Shepherd who was born 1825 in Sangamon County, Illinois and died April 13, 1916 in Magazine, Arkansas and details the Corinth settlement and its people in Williamson County in the early days surrounding the Civil War and her memories continue for many years, including the account of her first husbands demise when he mounted his horse to go hunt deer in 1840 and accidently shot and killed himself with his own weapon. The book also contains an early reading of Zion Cemetery and captures slices of life in Civil War times and after.

    The second book is entitled, “Our Families: A Group of Family Trees of the Early Settlers of Corinth Township, Williamson County and Allied Families” and was published in 1939.

    This book contains family sketches and charts of the families: Beers, Burns, Caughey, Chadwell, Caplinger, Corder, Duty, Doughty, Dillingham, DeWoody, Hearne, Holland, Johnson, Jones, Malone, McCreery, Mitchell, Moser, Moulton, Pease, Roberts, Shepherd, Stewart, Strike, Swan, Tidwell, Winchester, Worthen, Wright, Ray, Yost and more.

    This is a fully indexed two volume, soft bound book set that is encased in a durable hard binder. Since there are only six for sale at the price of $50 (First Class shipping included) anyone interested should express an interest quickly by contacting me through the Contact Us tab on our website. Payment can be made through our PayPal tab or other arrangements can be made.

     

  • Attention Chamness Descendants

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    Literally thousands of Chamness family descendants might be interested to find out that a book is available called “Celebrating Chamness Roots (from 1750 to Present).”

    The book begins with the kidnapping of a young boy off the London Bridge (Anthony Chamness), his indenture time in Maryland to gain his freedom in America, the marriage to the “love of his life,” the birth of their children in Maryland, Virginia, and later Cane Creek, North Carolina.  The book discusses Quaker beginnings and the descendants’ movement to Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, Texas and westward.  The book recalls the story of the branch of family, John Chamness and Sally Berry, which was lost for more than a hundred years, its hardships, celebrations and pioneer life.

    The book was compiled by former Marion native Sue Grisham Hardwig who now resides in Bloomington, Illinois and is available in a deluxe hardbound edition for $65 plus shipping and handling through the author.

    For more information about the book, contact the author by clicking here.

  • Local Coal Mining Program to be Held in Herrin

    HAHS Meeting notice 3 13 2015

  • WCHS Board Member Change

    A board member change occurred at the February 29th board meeting of the Williamson County Historical Society. Local author, Harry Boyd was replaced as a board director by Dr. Colleen Norman.

    Boyd has published three books over the years related to local history. One book was about the Second Baptist Church in Marion, one contained news clippings published in the Marion Daily Republican related to county servicemen during WWII and the last was an exhaustive three volume set listing every veteran of any American war who is buried in Williamson County.

    Dr. Norman is a lifelong Marion resident and a graduate from SIU. She holds a Masters Degree in anthropology and a doctoral in Health Services. Norman has also taught beginning and advanced level genealogy courses at J.A. Logan College and has been active in the historical society for years.

  • Museum’s Hours Extended Starting on March 2, 2015

    We were once again fortunate enough to receive a stipend from the City of Marion which enables us to keep the doors open for extended periods during the warm months of the year. Typically in cool months the heat bills run about $400 to $450 and that is with thermostats set to 52 degrees and working in one heated room only.

    Beginning March 2, 2015 we will resume our six day a week schedule as follows:

    Monday thru Friday, 9:30 AM to 3 PM

    Saturdays, 10 AM to 3 PM

  • Wanted Alive

    Wanted

  • Third Annual Quilt Exhibition

    Quilt Show Promo Flyer 04112015 Final

  • All About Marbles

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  • Museum Recieves National MAP Grant

    The Williamson County Historical Society Museum has been selected to participate in the Museum Assessment Program (MAP). Through guided self-study and on-site consultation with a museum professional, participation in MAP will empower the Williamson County Historical Society to better serve the citizens of Williamson County by facilitating its museum resources and attempting to match the highest professional standards of the museum field.

    The program is funded by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and throughout its 30 years has been administered by the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). As part of the IMLS National Leadership program, MAP advances best practices and fosters improvements in museum management. MAP is a self-motivated program; application to and participation in MAP is initiated by each local institution and those accepted invest considerable human and institutional resources into the assessment.

    The Williamson County Historical Society took possession of the old county jail in Marion in 1972 and opened its doors to the public in 1976. Since then, the museum has been dedicated to the preservation of the county’s rich past and has been filled with historic county artifacts and memorabilia. In addition, the museum has also developed into a leading genealogical research library that is open to the public. Society President, Sam Lattuca, stated that the museum is looking forward to taking a fresh look at the museum’s operation in light of taking advantage of new technologies that have developed and that could potentially make the museum’s assets more accessible.

    Part of the assessment program involves the cooperation of individuals from the community who are outside the management of the museum. Those who wish to be involved in the program should feel free to contact the museum.

    The county museum is currently under its winter hours of operation and is open on Saturday only from 10 AM till 3 PM due to heating costs of the old building. The museum will resume its Monday through Saturday schedule starting March 2, 2015. The museum is located at 105 S. Van Buren Street in Marion, Illinois and they can be reached at 618-997-5863, their website www.wcihs.org or can be found on Facebook.