Christmas shoppers flood Southern Illinois malls late Friday
Merchants say Christmas business has been strong as Friday night crowds filled Carbondale's University Mall and other area centers. Managers report brisk last minute buying and many shoppers choosing any available item as stores near closing time anticipate a stronger Christmas Eve.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Tim Mahoney
Southern
Illinois
Southern Illinois University- Carbondale
Carbondale
University Mall
101 Years of Christmas Memory for Mrs Helm in Carbondale
DeMaris Berry reports Lucy Helm of Benton will celebrate her 102nd Christmas in Carbondale with daughter Mary McRoy and family. Helm recalls 19th century rural joys like stockings by the fire and Santa visits, noting family time remains central as loved ones pass on. Her son Dr John Elm of Olney and other relatives plan to join the celebration.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
DeMaris Berry
Lucy Helm
Benton
Carbondale
Helm
John Elm
Olney
Santa
Santa Claus
Christmas Memories From A Benton Woman
Lucy Helm recalls a childhood Christmas in Benton with church celebrations and simple gifts. She describes a china doll her 8th Christmas brought, a wooden top, rib bones for hair, and playing ball with four brothers. She later moved to North Dakota briefly, then Mill Shoals and Benton, living there for 60 years. Her family history includes a brother Bennett, an eye doctor in St. Louis, and a long life shaped by caring parents and self care.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Nately
Marie
Decatur
First Baptist Church
Jonesboro
Blackie Harris recalls lonely Christmases in prison
Former gunman Black Charlie Harris, 81, the oldest inmate at Vienna Correctional Center, recalls past Christmases spent in Phoenix, Detroit, Indiana, and three other prisons while awaiting sentencing for a 1964 double murder. He describes his 1964 Christmas on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list as lonely and painful, due to separation from his wife and being on the run.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ann Schottman
Charles
Blackie
Harris
Illinois
Charlie Harris
Shelton Brothers
Pond Creek Bottoms
Vienna Correctional Center
Sheltons
Phoenix
Detroit
Indiana
Fairfield
Wayne County
FBI
Betty Newton
Jerry Merrit
Rena
Menard State Penitentiary
Stateville
Vienna
Christmas memories of life and prison tales across years
Marie Rinehart recalls a life of hardship and faith as she nears 74, caring for children and driving again after 70, while other excerpts recount Harris's Christmas in Stateville and Vienna, his parole battles, and legends around his counterfeiting past and the Shelton gang era.
Career highlights of Blackie Harris in crime and imprisonment
The life of Charles Harris known as Blackie spans counterfeiting in 1927 leading to 11 years in Leavenworth. He later bought a farm in 1946 and became entangled with the Shelton family through a series of shootings and legal clashes. After a long manhunt, he received a 60 to 75 year term in 1964 and remains imprisoned. He was cleared in 1963 of a neighbor murder connected to a debt dispute.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Leavenworth
Harris
Sheltons
Carl Shelton
Wayne County
Charlie Birger
Illinois
Birger
Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary
Shelton Gang
Carl
Charles Taylor
Taylor
Also Mentioned on This Page
Henry de Fiebre
John Justis
Grandpa’s
Murphysboro
Ed Bratton
Ben Franklin
Marion
Herrin
Walt Willey
Sohn’s Quality Store, Inc
Sears
Jim Marlo
Sporting Goods
Marlo
Richard Drue Jr
Carrier Mills
Gene Fischer
J. C. Penney
Fred Bailey
Bailey
Ed Greer
Louis
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Bennett
Blackie Harris
Marie Rinehart
Merrill Perlman
Southern Illinoisan
Union
Fred Blaylock
Fortu
Edith Johnson
Cobden
Kentucky
Florida
Here
Southern Illinois
Lem
Mabel
Parole Board
Marie Rinehart Baby
Blackie’ Harris
Bernie Shelton
Peoria
Shelton
Roy
Creek Bottoms
Little Earl
Lula Shelton Penninger
Guy
Penningtons
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!