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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