Author: Sam
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What’s Going on at the Museum
There are a number of projects in the works at the Williamson County Historical Society which we hope to have implemented over the winter months as follows:
- Online membership applications and renewals will be made available on our website through a secure PayPal account which means you can use your PayPal account or a credit card to join or pay your dues.
- Indexes for all of our Williamson County records related to divorce, chancery, criminal, common law, partitions and injunctions will be made available online and the ability to purchase the contents of these files using a credit card or PayPal account will be made available online.
- Our bookstore list of items we sell will be improved dramatically with photos and complete descriptions of each book or article. Orders will be able to be placed and paid for online instead of having to rely on regular mail and sending a check.
- Numerous federal, state, and private grants are being looked into to improve the museum and preserve and display its artifacts. This has become an ongoing project that is taking a lot of volunteer time, but hopefully will pay off eventually down the road.
- A digital media project is now underway and will hopefully be completed over the winter. This project is related to the inventorying and cataloging of all photos and pictures contained within the museum. All photos are being scanned, cleaned up and catalogued into a database which will allow searches for specific people, places and things. An earlier failed attempt to get this done under an Illinois Humanities Council grant only resulted in the resolve to get it done anyway. As much data as can be known about each photo will be retained in the database.
- The new Marion High School in Marion is going to have some very large murals in it which will be collages of historic photos related to the Marion High School past in various areas such as athletics and art. The museum has been helping the company involved find plenty of photos for them to use on the project.
- There is an attempt being made to encourage volunteer museum workers to develop areas of expertise related to our counties history such as Civil War, the depression, prohibition, etc. If you have an area of expertise already or wish to do research on a particular area of interest, please contact us.
- We are seeking volunteers who can help field answers to queries on this website.
As always, we really need volunteer help for our organization to work and, of course, a number of us are stretched pretty thin. If you have a skill set related to research, grant writing, website or computer expertise, fundraising or video production, we could use your help. Use the Contact Us page to volunteer.
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Ghost Hunters Spend Night at Museum
The Southern Illinois Ghost Hunters Society, S.I.G.H.S., spent the night at the Williamson County Museum located at 105 S. Van Buren Street in Marion, Sunday night. The group arrived at the museum at 7 P.M. Sunday night, November 9, and departed at 3:30 A.M on Monday morning. They were hosted at the museum by Williamson County Historical Society board member, Sam Lattuca, who sat with them through the night. This was the third time that the society has spent the evening in the historic museum setting up devices to try and catch paranormal activity.
The group consisting of Justin Timmons, Donna Smith, Briana Smith, Hayley Triplett, Ashley Kunkel, Jon Reed, Bethann Cline and Erin Settle try to regularly visit historic sites such as historic buildings, cemeteries and residential homes. They have invested in EVP recorders to catch unearthly voices, infrared cameras to detect normally invisible objects and events and a host of other tools to tease the paranormal to reveal itself.
Three cameras were set up this time, one in the Sheriff’s master bedroom on the second floor, the jury sequester room on the third floor and a second floor jail cell in the jail portion of the building. According to Justin Timmons, the group had prior paranormal activity in these locations which included spontaneous hair pulling and EVP activity. One of the group members reported that she had taken a photo from outside the building and the photo revealed a figure standing in one of the first floor windows which could no longer be possible since the windows are not accessible from the inside any longer. Pickings were a little slimmer on this trip as the group documented only one unidentified noise and a handprint that appeared on the bed upstairs.
The old county jail museum was built in 1913 and has certainly seen its share of strife, including a hanging by suicide in one of the jail cells, a prisoner death related to a fall down stairs and a legal hanging which took place in Paradise Alley just outside the jail in 1927.
The group plans on reviewing all of their data for more activity and will report back to the museum of any new findings.
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Cub Scout Pack 21 Tours Museum
Thirteen Cub Scouts and their parents toured the Williamson County Museum on Saturday morning, October 25, 2104. The scouts were given a special tour conducted by WCHS President Bob Jackson. Bob is a retired Marion art teacher and has served as President for the society since 2007. Cub Scout Pack 21 is from Marion.
Held the same day was the absolute final Herrin Massacre tour which brought 15 more visitors to the museum to wander around and look at the exhibits and artifacts.
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Fall Quarterly In The Mail
WCHS Quarterly Editor, Helen Lind, has mailed the Fall 2014 “Footprints” quarterly out to all registered WCHS members. This issue includes Part One of the Brice Holland trip diary to the Black Hill’s in 1877, news clippings from 1914, a civil war timeline, early Williamson County criminal records, an index to McAlpin Cemetery and an article about an antique quilt that was recently donated to the museum which was put together by members of the I.O.O.F and Rebecca Lodge of Marion.
If you are a member and do not receive your quarterly in the next few days, you should contact Helen at helenlind39@yahoo.com
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New Officers for 2015 Elected
At an October 9th, 2014, meeting of the Williamson County Historical Society held at the museum, the following officer and directors were slated to become effective on January 1, 2015:
- President- Sam Lattuca
- 1st Vice President- Clarence Demattei
- 2nd Vice President- Helen Lind
- Secretary- Sandy Pender
- Treasurer-Dolores Thetford
- Director 2015- Clyde Bailey
- Director 2016- Harry Boyd
- Director 2017- Bob Jackson
- In addition, no changes were made to the positions of :
- Curator- Mary Jean DeMattei
- Librarian- Sandy Pender
- Quarterly Editor- Helen Lind
Discussion was also held on new grant applications by the organization related to a potential upcoming event and also the installation of multimedia displays for use at the museum to enrich the historical experience of the museum and aid older or infirmed guests who can’t navigate the many steep staircases.
Discussion was also held on how often the museum should be open through the winter months due to the costs of heating.
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Cub Scout Pack 42 Tours Museum
Local Cub Scout Pack 42 accompanied by parents and pack leader Steve Jordan got an after hours tour of the county museum on September 23rd, 2014. Thirteen scouts were given a tour of the museum by long time Williamson County Historical Society President Bob Jackson.
The pack was made aware of jail conditions in older times, military actions that affected the county over time, pioneer furniture and tools and explanations of artifacts of the counties past.
Another scout troop is scheduled to tour the museum in October.
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Baysinger Architects Host Event on October 2, 2014
Baysinger Architects, located at 401 North Market Street in Marion, Illinois hosted an Elvis and Octoberfest Chamber after hours and open house on Thursday, October 2, 2014 from 2:00 P.M till 6:00 P.M. The event was attended by many local citizens, business owners, chamber members and school officials.
Among the entertainment was a strolling Elvis tribute artist named Rick Ital who made himself available for photos with the guests. Those attending also got to be amazed by a magician doing tricks and snack on Elvis sliders provided by Johnny B’s Biblegrove BBQ’s as well as sample product from the Grand River Spirits Scratch Brewery. Hilary Lehew was present and served as a representative for the HUB promoting Marion’s newest recreation center project.
The visitors also got to learn a little about Marion’s past with a presentation put on by the Williamson County Historical Society who created a display of old and new photos of downtown positioned on large downtown maps. Over 70 photos were on display for the event which included a 20 x 30 aerial view of downtown taken in the summer of 1963 and a panorama of the square from 1910. The display was organized by WCHS museum coordinator Sharon Vansaghi and director Sam Lattuca.
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Boyd Publishes New Historical Volumes
Harry Boyd and his wife, Dorothy, recently published their third historical reference work entitled “Tribute to Williamson County Heroes.” Harry Boyd is a Director serving on the board of the Williamson County Historical Society. He and his wife Dorothy live in Marion and have been residents of Williamson County for over 45 years, having moved from Saline County.
“Tribute”, is a large, four volume set that details over 8,600 men and women who served in the military and were buried in Williamson County. Harry stated, “The two requirements were that they did military service and had to be buried in this county. The rather extensive listings detail those who were in military service ranging from the Revolutionary War to current times. There were found to be five Revolutionary soldiers buried in the county, one of which was John Ellis, a free black man from N. Carolina who signed up for the Continental army on April 27, 1776. He is the only black Revolutionary war soldier buried in Williamson County and is buried near New Denison where his family lived for decades. (more…)
