Williamson County Illinois Historical Society

Board members and volunteers of the Williamson County Historical Society met Thursday, Dec. 10th, 2015 at Bennie’s Restaurant in Marion for their annual Christmas Lunch. WCHS President Sam Lattuca thanked all of those present for their dedicated service this past year citing that the organization has gotten a lot of projects completed. He also indicated that we still had a lot of work to do in the coming year and looks forward to getting those tasks completed.

Lattuca previewed a new Honor Roll plaque that will reside at the museum which cites the names of dedicated volunteers to the society. Lattuca indicated that the society plans on putting more emphasis on membership and volunteers in the coming year. Following Lattuca’s remarks, Sharon Vansaghi presented Lattuca with a gift card for his service.

Those in attendance were Violet Grisham, Bob and Phyllis Jackson, Helen Lind, Sam and Debbie Lattuca, Ann Gammon, Betty Millard, Colleen Norman, Ursula Richey and Sandy Pender.

The 2015 Holiday Home Tour hosted by the Marion Civic and Cultural Center was held on Sunday, December 6th, 2015 and the Williamson County Museum was selected to be one of the homes on the tour this year.

Museum Curator/Coordinator Sharon Vansaghi worked to get the museum ready for the holiday tour assisted by Ursula Richey and Colleen Norman. Sharon set up two Christmas trees to illustrate the types of  gifts that might be found under a tree in the past compared to a gifts buyclomidovulation more likely to be found today.

A large wreath was hung over the mantle, a recent acquisition donated to the museum. The museum will remain decorated until the new year. The museum is now operating under winter hours of operation and is only open on Saturdays and by appointment until the first part of March due to winter heating costs.

Society members working the museum during the tour were Sharon Vansaghi, Colleen Norman, Ursula Richey, Helen Lind, Bob Jackson and Sam Lattuca.

The museum was recently gifted a Grand Army of the Republic Charter for the Carterville Post 237. The charter was hanging on the walls at the Haven at Crab Orchard Lake for years and was donated to the museum for future safekeeping. Apparently the original charter for the Carterville post was lost in a fire long ago and this citation is a replacement for the original.

This charter is dated April 25, 1907 and the charter members listed were:

The GAR was a fraternal organization created in Decatur, Illinois in 1866 for Union soldiers and sailors. Linking men through their experience of the war, the G.A.R. became among the first organized advocacy groups in American politics, supporting voting rights for black veterans, promoting patriotic education, helping to make Memorial Day a national holiday, lobbying the United States Congress to establish regular veterans’ pensions, and supporting Republican political candidates. Its peak membership, at more than 490,000, was in 1890, a high point of various Civil War commemorative and monument dedication ceremonies.

At least one or more of the charter members of this particular post were captured by the confederacy and served time at Andersonville Prison. Colleen Norman is working up biographies on each member and will publish her results in the next members quarterly of our society.