Williamson County Historical Society Museum and Library is used to having a variety of visitors from all over the United States and abroad. They come for many reasons, to research ancestors from the area, gather information to write books on the coal mines and unions, the railroads, Charlie Birger and other notorious people, unsolved murders, etc.. Others come to see the old jail built in 1913, coal mine exhibit, country store and many other items exhibited in the museum.
We also, are used to SI Visit coming to take photographs of items to use in travel and informational brochures. However, on Tuesday, October 7th, 2019 we had a special visitor. Her name is Carol M. Highsmith a Visual Documentarian of America for the Library of Congress and she came to photograph the museum to be part of her permanent collection at the Library of Congress. (more…)
We will be holding a membership meeting here at the museum on Sunday, October 27th, 2019, at 2:00 P.M. We will be discussing society business and recent accessions to the museum as well as completed, ongoing and future projects. Board elections for the year 2020 will be held and nominations for open positions can be made from the floor prior to the election. If you have a show & tell item that others might find to be of historical or genealogical interest, feel free to bring it.
The program will be presented by Darrel Dexter, history teacher, lecturer and author of 28 books including his latest “Bondage in Egypt.” Dexter will be presenting a program related to slavery in Southern Illinois.
We look forward to seeing you at the meeting and want to remind you that 2020 dues are coming up at the end of the year.
Colleen Norman receiving recognition from president Sam Lattuca
The Williamson County Historical Society held its quarterly meeting on Sunday, July 28th, 2019 at the society’s museum and library at 105 S. Van Buren St. Thirty four people attended to hear of the societies latest projects both completed and ongoing. The society recently dedicated an historical marker in Creal Springs to mark the location of the old Creal Springs College, co-sponsored Memorial Day services at Rose Hill Cemtery and held an open house at Goddard Chapel in Rose Hill to mark the 100th anniversary its dedication.
The guest speaker was Michal Jones, director of the General John A. Logan Museum in Murphysboro who spoke to the society about the life of John A. Logan and his role in Southern Illinois, Williamson County and Marion history.
Society president, Sam Lattuca, conducted the meeting and displayed the latest additions to the museum over the last quarter. Among them were numerous tintype photos and items that came from the family of Alonzo N. Owen, sheriff of Williamson County from 1870-1872 and his connections to the historic Ed M. Spiller home at 1304 W. Main in Marion, currently owned by the DeMattei family.
Longtime society member and former board member, Colleen Norman, was selected to be placed on the societies’ Honor Roll Plaque in commemoration of her dedicated service to the organization.
We will be holding a membership meeting here at the museum on Sunday, July 28th, 2019, at 2:00 P.M. We will be discussing society business as well as completed, ongoing and future projects. If you have a show & tell item that others might find to be of historical or genealogical interest, feel free to bring it. The program will be presented by Michael Jones, director of the John A. Logan Museum in Murphysboro, who will be speaking about the life of John A. Logan and the museum.
We look forward to seeing you at the meeting and the general public is invited to attend.
The National Odum Association held their Odum family reunion in Marion on July 18th. Following a group meal, thirty of the family members were given a tour of the Williamson County Museum. Members of the Odum family came from Texas, California, S. Carolina and Florida.
On the following day, July 19th, the Ellis family began their reunion in Marion. Members of the family are all descendants of John Ellis, a Revolutionary War soldier and free black man who settled his family in what is now New Denison on Rt. 166. The family held a picnic at Ray Fosse park on Friday and held a memorial gathering at the Ellis Cemetery in New Denison on Saturday morning followed by a dinner and entertainment on Saturday evening. Members of the family came from Missouri, Chicago, Texas, Virginia, New Jersey and Tennessee. Most members of the family came into the museum for tours and to delve into genealogical information that had been gathered by WCHS members Sharon Vansaghi and Leeann Johnson.
Williamson County obituaries for the period of January 2019 through April 2019 have been added to our files and indexed. The index is available through our Records tab on the Main Menu or directly through this link: Master Obituaries Link
Marion V.F.W Post 1301 and the Williamson County Historical Society would like to invite you to attend the Memorial Day Ceremony and Centennial Celebration of Goddard Chapel.
Ceremonies will be held on Monday, May 27th 2019 at 11:00 a.m. in Rosehill Cemetery, at the flag poles south of the chapel at the intersection of Route 37 North and DeYoung Street, Marion, IL.
The services will include honoring our fallen soldiers and history of the Goddard Memorial Chapel.
The chapel will be open for tours on Monday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m..
The weather cleared up just long enough for over forty people to attend the dedication of an historical marker dedicated to Creal Springs College on Saturday, May 11th , 2019 at 2 P.M. The marker was dedicated at 206 Line Street in Creal Springs which is now property owned by the Methodist Church of Creal Springs.
The college was opened on September 22, 1884 by Gertrude Brown Murrah and her husband Henry Clay Murrah and operated until its closing on December 24, 1916. The college was originally intended to be female only but, after so many boys applied became co-educational. The school was originally a 50 x 30 foot wooden structure with three floors, a basement and attic but had large wings added to it in 1890 and 1895.
In January 1884, the school became a Baptist institution and the name was changed to Creal Springs College and Conservatory of Music where both bachelors and master’s degrees were provided. The faculty at one point numbered 15 and had 100 students enrolled. Since the college wasn’t large enough to house all of the female students, many of the female and boy students rented space in residential homes throughout Creal Springs. The college became an important part of community life with its many activities and social functions.
During the Saturday dedication service, Williamson County Historical Society President, Sam Lattuca recounted the college’s history and lives of its founders while, Micah Morrow, Mayor of Creal Springs gave welcoming remarks. James Hulett and Becky Bowling, great grandchildren of the college’s founder, Gertrude Murrah, were present and James Hulett spoke about how his family was grateful that the college and its impact on Creal Springs was finally being credited. Mark Motsinger of the Illinois State Historical Society gave closing remarks about how important it is to mark historical locations and how easy it is to allow important places and people to fade away from memory as generations pass.
The marker is the first historical marker to be placed in the county that is sanctioned by the Illinois State Historical Society.
The very first historical marker in Williamson County sanctioned by the Illinois State Historical Society will be dedicated on May 11th at 2 P.M. in Creal Springs at 206 Line Street (a.k.a. Sarahville Road).
The marker is dedicated to the Creal Springs College and Seminary. The college was built on a 5 acre tract purchased from Edward Creal by Gertrude Brown Murrah and her husband Henry Clay Murrah in March 1884. The school was built as a three-story frame building with a basement and attic and was chartered in August 1888 by the State of Illinois.
The school was headed by Principal Gertrude Brown Murrah, a graduate of the Mount Carroll Seminary in Mount Carroll, Illinois and was originally planned to be for female students only. Due to high demand from male students, it opened as co-educational. There were 59 students enrolled in the first 12 week term. The faculty had six members including the Murrahs. The program was divided into primary, preparatory, college-level and music departments.
In January 1894, the school became a Baptist institution and the chartered name was changed to Creal Springs College and Conservatory of Music where both bachelors and master’s degrees were provided. The faculty at this point numbered 15, with approximately 100 students enrolled. The college became an important part of community life with its many activities and social functions.
Gertrude Murrah served as teacher and principal of the school for 32 years until the school closed on December 24, 1916. Mrs. Murrah continually struggled to reopen the school until her death in 1929. The building was eventually demolished in 1943.
The marker was installed and will be dedicated by the Williamson County Historical Society in cooperation with descendants of Gertrude Murrah, founder of the college. Speakers will be Creal Springs Mayor, Micah Morrow; Sam Lattuca, President of the Williamson County Historical Society; Mark Motsinger, representative of the Illinois State Historical Society and James Hulett, great grandson of Gertrude Murrah.
The Williamson County Historical Society Museum and Library will close at noon on that day to attend the event and the public is invited to attend.
Our next membership meeting will be held at 2:00 P.M. Sunday, April 28th, 2019 at the museum. We will be discussing society business as well as past, completed and upcoming projects. As always, we will have a “Show and Tell” in which members are encouraged to bring in and talk about historical items or artifacts that they may have in their possession. Our guest speakers will be Ms. Mary Stoner, current Director of the Ann West Lindsay Library at Carterville and Ms. Jane Robertson, past Director of the library. Topics will include a biography of Ann West Lindsay and a current update on the library and its genealogical library room.
Members are encouraged to attend and rediscover our new updated museum exhibits. We could use some periodic help at the museum for any members who live in the area and have some free time. Dues are still $20 and we want to thank everyone for their recent 2019 dues renewals.
The new Spring 2019 quarterly will go out in the next two weeks.
