Marion  County of Illinois

A little bit about  Marion County    In 1790, the land of Marion county, was still a part of the Northwest Territory. It was only 2 counties, St. Clair and St. Knox. The land remained divided between the 2 counties until 1801.  By 1813 the land was broken up into more counties and the land of Marion county was included in the new counties of Edwards, Jefferson, Crawford, and Fayette.   In 1818, Capt.Samuel Young and his 9 yr.old son were among the first settlers in the area. By 1823 , the same time as the BlackHawk War, Marion County was in it's completness and named Marion for General Francis Marion, of the Revolutionary War. There were nearly 2000 people living in the county.   What kept this County alive and prosperous, when others were struggling, was the convenience of the the Old Vincennes/ St. Louis Rd.(US 50) and the RailRoad. There are a couple of stories pertaining to the Vincennes road, that I will share with you at a later date. This road ran from Washington D.C. to San Francisco!   Marion County's rich soil was mainly used for farming.  A large portion of the county was underlaid with a thin vein of coal and Sandstone was also abundant. Later, in /around 1908, they struck Oil! sources:  History and Families of Marion County Illinois, Turner Publishing Co., Publishers of American History                 Historical Encyclopedia of IL, 1901
Marion County Courthouse Broadway(Rt.37) & Main St. Salem, IL 62881-0637 Telephone: (618) 548-3400	Marion County Population 2000: 41,691 County seat: Salem Named for Gen. Francis Marion
a little History of the Townships                Carrigan       Iuka     Foster     Haines     Kinmundy     Meacham     Odin     Omega     Patoka                                          Alma            Romine     Salem     Sandoval     Stevenson     Tonti
More Records pertaining to Marion County:                                            updated 5/9/06        Cemeteries of Marion County                                                        Marion County Residents in the Joliet Prison                                                                         Marion County 1830 Census                                                                       Marion County 1840 Census Index                           Completed!!! 6/23/06      Marion County 1850 Census Index  Marion County 1850 Death Index                                                          Marriages in Marion County Index Page Marion County Obituraries/Newspaper Clippings Vital Records: Births
Cherokee Claims         1st Tax Assessments in 1837          Salem Fire Department Mayors of Salem        Presidents of the Board of Trustees       Marion County Sheriffs      William Jennings Bryan
Soldiers from Marion County who fought and died in the following wars:                                                                 Mexican War                                                                    Civil War                                                                         Spanish American War                                                                                         WWI                                                                                         WWII                                                                                    Korean War                                                                                   Vietnam War
Marion County Is Bordered By These Neighboring Counties: JEFFERSON WASHINGTON WAYNE                         CLAY  (Adopt me!)                    CLINTON (Adopt me!)                    FAYETTE (Adopt me!)

Interested in Hosting your own County? then email Kim

Visit the Main Illinois Trails Website To see what other counties Illinois Trails has online, visit our county selection map Other Helpful Links: research help         Illinois Events        Military Data          Census        Illinois State Data         Volunteer  At the Main Illinois Trails Page, you will find much more data

Updated October 17, 2006
web page created by
Deanna Heneghan