Author: W.M.
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Christmas Help Needed
The Williamson County Museum is host to one of the best genealogical libraries in Southern Illinois and in addition, hosts an incredibly eclectic mix of Williamson County history within its walls. Whereas many museums are more topical in nature, i.e. Civil War museum or Battle of Gettysburg museum, this museum attempts to contain and catalog as much information as possible about an entire county.
To properly catalog all the information contained in the museum in the past, it has been done on paper and partially on computer files. We are now in the process of transferring this information to databases and expanding on it, which will give us the ability to instantly search for surnames or objects through tens of thousands of photos, objects and references, an incredibly more efficient way to search for information which will benefit all.
To accomplish this will require two things. First, volunteer help to enter data or research historical objects. Second, we need to expand our software and computer abilities in the museum. We really need about $1,000 to do it right.
If you have any time to volunteer please get ahold of us using the Contact Us page on this site.
If you are tired of getting presents on Christmas that you don’t need or want, ask a friend or family member to donate to the museum in your honor instead. Donations can be made securely using PayPal by clicking the Donate Button on the right side of the page. Even if you don’t have a PayPal account you can still securely use your credit card.
Our history is our heritage and needs to be preserved and accessible.
Please support the museum and help us turn a good library and museum into an even better one.
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WCHS Held Annual Christmas Lunch
The annual Christmas lunch for the Williamson County Historical Society was held on December 3, 2014 at Bennie’s restaurant in Marion. The society typically gathers to share a meal prior to the season’s holidays and celebrate the year’s work.
At the lunch, long time society President, Bob Jackson, was awarded a plaque to commemorate his twelve years of service as President of the historical society, having served in that position from 2003 to 2014. Jackson was awarded the plaque by Sam Lattuca, incoming 2015 board President.
Also recognized at the lunch was museum coordinator, Sharon Vansaghi, who was hired by the board in March 2014. The new position was created so that the museum could stay open 6 days a week through the warm months of the year allowing increased public access to the museum. This position was made possible by a stipend paid by the Marion city council and has paid off. The museum this year saw approximately 1,400 visitors. Many of the visitors were genealogy researchers from not only out of the region, but out of the state, having come from Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, California, Canada and many other locations to research lost ancestors and historical events.
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History Page Updated
The History Page on this site containing the early histories of all of the counties cities, ghost towns, villages, post offices and points of interest has been updated. We recently added 58 new entries and indexed the page. There are now over 100 histories listed. The last entries ranged from Hurst-Bush School to Zion Church. (more…)
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WCHS Member Benefits Added
Recent board action has enhanced the benefits of being a member of the Williamson County Historical Society. In addition to helping support the expense of operating the museum, your membership fees will now entitle you to a 10% discount on any materials that we offer for sale in our Book Store.
Additionally, we are working on giving society members access to unprecedented historical records. (more…)
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Open House planned
An open house event is being planned for May 17th to celebrate and help promote our being open six days a week now as well as the counties 175th anniversary. If you are local and can help with the event, please call the museum or use the contact us form.
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Williamson County ‘s 175th Year
The year 2014 marks the 175th year of existence since Williamson County was carved off of the south end of Franklin County in the fall of 1839. The county seat of Marion was located on August 20th and October 7th was the day that the county court held it’s infamous first meeting at the Benson home which was a double log cabin located where the ArtStarts building (old Wilson Funeral Home) is now located across the street from our museum. (more…)
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Permanent Website
One of the issues that we have had as an organization in the past was the formation of a permanent website that was owned and operated by the Williamson County Historical Society as opposed to a member who was helping us out. Our new site is under the full ownership of the society and we plan on it not only being around for a long time but intend for it to be a real asset to those seeking information about the society, museum, county and its history. (more…)
