Williamson County Illinois Historical Society

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

Author: Sam

  • Author to Hold Booksigning and Program at the WCHS Museum

    Joseph L. Cacibauda, author of the recently published book, “Not for Self: A Sicilian Life and Death in Marion” will be in Marion for a talk and book signing at the Williamson County Historical Society Museum on the weekend of May 26th and 27th located at 105 S. Van Buren Street in Marion.

    Cacibauda’s most recent book details the life of a Sicilian farmer who comes to Marion in the early 1920’s to better his family. The lead character gets involved in the bootlegging business, becoming entangled with the KKK, warring bootleggers, gangsters and dishonest politicians ultimately embedding himself in Marion history. The story is woven largely around accurate historical facts and characters of Williamson County and Marion in the early 1920’s with some names changed to protect privacy. Anyone interested in local history or early immigrant life should find the book fascinating.

    This is Joe’s second book, his first book was, “After Laughing Comes Crying: Sicilian Immigrants on Louisiana Plantations.” He has written other books, “Einstein’s Formula: A Novel” and “Bass Solos: A Novel.” Joe is a retired elementary teacher and musician living in Reno, Nevada.
    Cacibauda will be available for book sales and book signing on Saturday, May 26th from 1 till 3 PM at the museum. He will also be signing books at the museum starting at 1 PM on Sunday, May 27th at the museum and will then give a program at 2 PM based on Sicilian immigrants being recruited to come work in America. He will also speak about immigrants coming into Williamson County for work and how they combined to form the social environment in the county. The public is welcome and invited to attend.

  • Washington School 5th Grade Classes Tour Museum

    Fifth Grade classes from Washington School in Marion toured the WCHS museum Monday through Thursday, May 7th-10th, 2018. The students watched a 25 minute video entitled “Our Southern Illinois Native American Past” and then toured the museum finding out that many of yesteryears tasks required much more effort than the same task performed today. Teachers bringing their classes in for the tour were Robin Ziegler, Casey Holderfield, Travis Vickery and Rosie Gribble.

    WCHS tour guides were Sharon Vansaghi, Ursula Richey, George Mavigliano and Sam Lattuca

     

  • WCHS Membership Meeting to be held, April 22nd, 2018

    A membership meeting of the Williamson County Historical Society will be held on April 22nd, 2018 at 2:00 PM at the museum. Society business and projects completed, planned and in progress will be discussed. Our guest speaker will be Toni Garrison who will be giving a program about the history of Locust Grove in Corinth Township.

  • WC Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Post Records Index Added

    The index to the book Williamson County Grand Army of the Republic Post Records has been added to our Master Military Index.

  • Pioneer Daughters Applications Index added to site

    The Pioneer Daughters of Williamson County was organized on October 24, 1935 in preparation for the then upcoming 1939 centennial celebration of the county. Applications were filled out with the primary requirement of the organization being that the applicant be a female who has a pioneer ancestor that arrived in the county before 1840. The index to those applications is a good way to connect people to early settlers in the area and perhaps glean female maiden names. The additional index contains 2,388 references and has been added to the Master Misc. County Records Index.

  • Museum will be closed Saturday March 31st

  • Marion Daily Republican Donates MDR Archives

    The Marion Daily Republican is in the process of downsizing and will be moving from Marion. They graciously gifted the Historical Society with all 154 of the archived books containing the Marion Daily Republican from 1963 through 2013. The exception is a block missing from the 1970’s through 1990. This archive of newspapers will be a great addition for research and maintaining our local history and we really appreciate the gift.  All 154 of the very heavy volumes we’re schlepped out of the MDR office in Marion and moved to the museum and secured in our storage area by Sharon Vansaghi, Andrew McCoy and Sam Lattuca.

    Feel free to drop by the museum and try your hand at research. We aren’t sure why there is a missing block of books, so if anyone has any idea where they might be, please contact us.

  • Goodspeed History of Williamson County Index Added to Site

    The local history book “The History of Gallatin, Saline, Hamilton, Franklin & Williamson Counties, From the Earliest time to the present, together with sundry and interesting biographical sketches, notes, reminiscence’s, etc., etc.” has been indexed for references to Williamson County only. The index was added to the Master Local History Index and was published in 1887 by the Goodspeed Publishing Company out of Chicago.
     
    The new index contains 2,900 references to people, places, businesses, organizations, schools, churches and government.

  • Index to Williamson County Miscellaneous Court Records Added to Site

    The index to “Williamson County Miscellaneous Court Records, 1840-1903” published in 2002 by Mary Jo Moore has been posted on our site in the Master Misc. County Records Index and contains court records taken from the circuit clerks office found in the miscellaneous files. First forty pages are Coroner’s inquests and verdicts and the rest are varied cases ranging from divorces to adultery and murder. The index contains 616 new references.

  • Williamson County Will Book A & B Indexes Added to Site

    The indexes to two Williamson County Will books have been added to our Master Misc. County Records Index. Both books were re-indexed to add familial connections (i.e, Smith, John, son of James & Martha) where available and contain 1,538 references to people.
     
    County Will Book A was published in 1998 by Violet Grisham and contains records dating from 1847-72. Will Book B was published in 2001 by Mary Joe Moore and contains records from 1867-97. Both books were transcribed from the county clerks office. The Will Books appear to have three basic functions: 1) Establish a last Will & Testament. 2) Establish an estate administrator or 3) Establish a guardian for your children in case of your demise.
     
    The books can be telling in that wills not only reveal what a person owns but can also expose family rifts. The books can also point out who a person would trust not only with their estate but with the care of their children as well, which in itself can be revealing. Who would you trust with your children’s lives after you’re gone?