Marion
County, Illinois
Marion
County, located near the center of the
southern half of Illinois, was organized in
1823 and named after Francis Marion, a
soldier of the Revolution who distinguished
himself as a partisan commander in the
Carolinas. The largest town is Centralia,
which was founded in 1853 by the Illinois
Central Railroad’s passage through the
area. Centralia
is no longer a railroad community, although
more than 60 trains still pass through it
daily.
The county seat is Salem,
which has a rich and varied history itself.
The city is home to William Jennings Bryan,
who was known as “The Great Commoner”
and “The Silver-Tongued Orator.” He
became famous at 1896 Chicago Democratic
Party convention when he exclaimed, “You
shall not crucify the working man upon a
cross of gold!”
Bryan was born in Salem on March 19, 1860.
His boyhood home is now a museum. He left
Salem to study law at age 15 and never lived
there again, but visited often. Bryan later
was a prosecutor in the famous 1925 Scopes
“Monkey Trial,” in which a young biology
teacher, John Thomas Scopes (also from
Salem), was indicted for teaching evolution
in the Dayton, Tennessee, High School. A
bronze likeness of Bryan stands in Salem’s
Bryan Memorial Park.
Salem is also home of the G.I. Bill of
Rights, born in an American Legion Post in
the city, and signed into law by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943. And it
wouldn’t be fair not to mention this bit
of Salem lore: Max Crossett’s Café was
known for a tasty condiment called Max’s
“X-tra Fine Salad Dressing.” In 1931,
Kraft Foods bought the recipe for $300, and
renamed it Miracle Whip.
Some of Marion County’s assets: Kaskaskia
College in Centralia; the Kaskaskia River
and Stephen A. Forbes State Park near Omega.
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