What’s New

Williamson County Historical Society president, Sam Lattuca, spoke to the Christian Women’s Fellowship of the First Christian Church on Tuesday, February 7^th, 2017. Lattuca covered the early French exploration and formation of the county and chain of title leading up to the formation of the county in 1839. He also addressed early surveying of the city of Marion and gave numerous details of the early families which formed the foundation of the early Christian Church in Marion.

The Williamson County Historical Society held a membership meeting on Sunday, January 29^th at the county museum on S. Van Buren Street in Marion. Society projects recently completed and projected were discussed. The group was addressed by former Williamson County Sheriff and author, Harry Spiller, who recounted his experiences while serving as county sheriff. New museum objects were displayed as well as historical items brought in by the membership.

The historical society recognized the contributions of member Helen Davis for her years of devotion to the society. Mrs. Davis served multiple terms as club president, treasurer and director in addition to serving as the museum’s curator for well over a decade.

There will be a membership meeting of the Williamson County Historical Society on Sunday,January 29th,2017, 2 PM at the museum. We will discuss society projects, listen to guest speaker Harry Spiller and hold a show and tell. Those of you who have historical items or family heirlooms of interest, bring them along and tell us about them. If too large, take a picture and bring it.

A volunteer appreciation lunch was held at Bennie’s Restaurant on December 7^th, 2016 by the Williamson County Historical Society. The lunch was held as a show of appreciation for the efforts of all of the volunteers who work at the Williamson County Museum and genealogy library. The society enjoys over 5,000 volunteer hours each year at the museum that are put into indexing, assisting in genealogy and history research, maintenance, museum tours and more. Special recognition was given to volunteers Colleen Norman, Ursula Richey, Helen Sutt Lind and Sharon Vansaghi for their outstanding devotion to the society in the form of a President’s Award and gift cards by President Sam Lattuca. Past President Bob Jackson and current President Sam Lattuca were also cited for their work and devotion to the organization by the membership.

Due to heating issues with the museum, we will be changing to our winter hours of operation. On Thanksgiving the museum will be closed and will reopen on a Saturday only schedule starting December 3rd. The winter schedule will be in effect until the beginning of March next spring when we will resume our 6 day a week schedule.

We wish all a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

In the first couple of weeks of October, a four month long project reached completion. The old side porch at the museum which used to house the book store was converted into two small rooms. One is a 4 x 6 utility room with cabinets, shelving and a deep sink to enable maintenance on the building and the other room is a 6 x 6.5 first floor restroom which is long overdue.

Another project reaching completion is the editing and proofing of additional Storme funeral home records from Herrin. The records will be printed up when finished and likely will be added to the existing Storme funeral records already on the website.

We also gained access to Ozment funeral home records this year and have been compiling those into digital form. Ozment operated in Marion from ca 1916 up into the 1950’s or so, I believe. When complete, the records will be made accessible as well. (more…)

The Williamson County Historical Society held a membership meeting on Sunday, October30th, 2016 at the Williamson County Museum at 105 S. Van Buren Street in Marion. The society elected board members for 2017, society projects were discussed and a program was given by society president Sam Lattuca on the Public Land Survey System. 2017 board members elected were President Sam Lattuca, 1^st Vice President Colleen Norman, 2^nd Vice President Helen Lind, Secretary Ursula Richey, Treasurer Dolores Thetford, and Director Andrew McRoy. Bob Jackson and George Mavigliano serve as directors but their positions were not up this election.

Bob Jackson was honored at the meeting for his decades of service to the museum and society. Jackson has served on the board for over 20 years with 12 as president. He has contributed innumerable hours of service in the form of public programs, guided tours of the museum and Goddard Chapel, artwork of historical buildings and creating historical reference books for the county.

A membership meeting will be held for active members of the Williamson County Historical Society on Sunday, October 30th, 2016 at 1:00 PM at the museum. Elections for the 2017 board of directors will be held. Nominations for the board can be made ahead of time or on the day of the election. Your dues must be paid up to vote. We will discuss the latest and future activities of the society and a program will be given on the United States Public Land Survey System. Be sure to mark you calendar and attend.