New Laptop Added and Media Database Grows

Posted on by August 15, 2015

A new HP laptop computer was added to the museum’s library last week for the use of the public and volunteers. This now makes two public computers that are available for research at the library and two dedicated to volunteers only. With more records being converted to digital formats it has been made necessary to enable access through the use of additional computers.

A digital media project that began last fall has now been completed and is in use at the museum. The media project involved scanning every photo, painting and drawing in the museum to create a searchable database in which surnames or key words can be input to search for related photos or drawings. In addition to the museum’s photos, the photos found in local history books are also being added to the database which now tops over 5, 200 entries. Original photos will no longer be accessible to browse due to wear and tear.

All of our original county records have now been indexed and made available in spreadsheet form. These additional records which extend up to around 1963 will be made available on our website in the records section as soon as time is made available to post them.

A Chance to Own a Piece of History

Posted on by February 22, 2018

Vent stack

The vent stack shown in this photo was part of the original installation on top of the Williamson County Jail when it was built in 1913. The jail was vacated in 1971 and deeded to the Williamson County Historical Society in 1972. As part of the renovations to the old jail to convert it to a museum, a new roof was installed in the 1980’s or 90’s and the vent stack was removed.

The vent is made of solid copper and is approximately 30” in diameter and about 36 to 40 inches in height. In order to make room at the museum and raise money it was decided to just sell it for scrap, however it occurred to me that it might be appreciated by someone as a piece of history or the metal could be turned into art pieces with a story to tell.

If anyone is interested in buying this piece we can be contacted at the museum at 997-5863 from 9:30 AM to 3 PM or through our website contact page at this link. https://www.wcihs.org/contact-us/

GSSI Conference Held at JA Logan College

Posted on by August 10, 2015

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The Genealogical Society of Southern Illinois held its 2015 family history conference at John A. Logan College on Saturday, August 8, 2015. The event was designed to aid those new to genealogy as well as those who may have hit a “brick wall” in their research and learn new resources.

The guest speaker was Joshua Taylor, President of the Federation of Genealogical Societies and nationally known and recognized genealogical author, lecturer and researcher. There were approximately 180 people in attendance including 14 booths operated by local historical societies and clubs.

Williamson County Historical Society members Colleen Norman, Dolores Thetford, Helen Lind and Sharon Vansaghi were on hand to man a book sale booth to raise funds for the Williamson County museum.

Museum Room Newly Remodeled

Posted on by July 29, 2015

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One of the rooms at the museum that has been used as a catchall and storage room for years was recently cleaned up and renovated into a more pleasant display and storage room. The room had served as the resting place for a pre-civil war barn loom but couldn’t really be accessed due to other materials in the room and the rooms condition. It was decided a couple of months ago to clean the room up and make it a part of the display and storage space in the basement of the museum.

WCHS president Sam Lattuca took on the task of converting the room and with the assistance of volunteers Ursula Richey and Scott Pierce the room was cleared and the walls, ceiling and floors were painted. Lattuca built four 8 foot long shelve sections in his garage and they were moved into the museum basement room as sub-assembled pieces where they were completely assembled with the assistance of his daughter and son-in-law, Angie and Damon Carter. During the process, the large barn loom which occupied the center of the floor had to be moved out of the way and then back in place. Bruce Carter helped wrangle the loom along with WCHS board members. The shelves were painted by volunteers Khani Duncan and Debbie Lattuca.

New lighting helps illuminate the barn loom and its associated pieces along with a Grand spinning wheel, wool carding tools and a spinning weasel which was used to measure yarn lengths. New display signage is currently being installed to help explain the process of converting not only raw sheep’s wool but rags and flour sacks into usable materials used by generations of pioneer families.