Marion, Illinois
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 37° 43.842 W 088° 55.641
16S E 330158 N 4177684
"The county court held its first meeting October 7, 1839 at the Benson home, which served as hotel as well as courthouse. In this makeshift courthouse with pumpkins for stools, the three county commissioners commenced the county’s business." ~ WCIHS
Waymark Code: WMV94E
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 03/17/2017
Views: 0
County of city: Williamson County
Location of city: dead center in county; crossroads of I-57, IL-13 & IL-37
County is center southern 1/5 of the state
Tower location center of city end of Main St. & Market St., Marion
Elevation: 518 ft (158 m)
Population: 17,413 (2013)
"Marion was located and named August 20, 1839 by three commissioners from nearby counties appointed by the legislature. Calvin Bridges of Union, Thornberry C. Anderson of Gallatin, and Jefferson Allen of Jackson County met at Bainbridge august 19 and were sworn by Justice of the Peace William Norris to locate the new county seat as near the center of the county as they could find a suitable site. Each commissioner was paid $12 for his services.
"William and Bethany Benson made the county a deed of gift that same day to twenty acres selected for the new town site. Their deed was the first County Clerk John Bainbridge entered on his new book. The Benson land entry for that particular parcel was made less than a year before, but Mr. Benson had been a resident of the county at least since 1817, when he made the shingles for a house on Phelps Prairie. He was the first settler on Poor Prairie and had a corn and wheat field on the land that became the public square. Mr. Benson became constable of the new town, and in his old days moved to Schoharie Prairie where he died in 1856. There is a tradition that the county was named for William Benson, the name Williamson formed by dropping the first syllable of his last name.
"No record was made of the reason for naming the town, but Francis Marion, the swamp fox, was one of the Revolutionary heroes whose exploits were still common talk. General Marion led his Carolina soldiers in forays that made all the king’s men fear them. At least one of those soldiers lived in the county, the Joshua Tyner whose son built the first cabin on the site of Marion. The other sons and nephews of Marion’s men who had made the county their home felt the name eminently suitable for their new county seat.
"Marion had its first newspaper in 1854 when a group of business men bought out William H. Willeford and moved the press to Marion. I.B. Jones was employed as editor, and the Marion Intelligencer was published at Marion from 1855 to 1866. The two papers now published at Marion date from 1874 and 1875. The Monitor was established in 1874, became the Leader in 1887, and is now published at the plant of the Marion Daily Republican. The Egyptian Press was established in 1875, and the Marion Evening Post at the same plant in 1902. Names changed, but the publication and politics of each paper have been consistent.
"A regular village charter was secured for the county set in 1856, with amendments and extension of rights in 1865. The village received its first impetus to industrial growth when the last rail was laid on the Carbondale and Shawneetown track into Marion January 15, 1872. Although this road was never extended east of Marion, it became part of the Illinois Central system and furnished Marion its first outlet.
"Two years after the railroad came, Marion was granted its charter as a city, the first in the county. The mayor of 1874 was Joseph W. Hartwell; the first aldermen were M.W. Robertson; Hartwell Hendrickson, later Circuit Clerk; Robert M. Allen, son of the county’s first congressman; John M. Young; Charles M. Edwards, the miller; and Augustus N. Lodge, the county superintendent of schools." ~ Williamson County Illinois Historical Society