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John and Janice Callarman came to Jefferson County and Mt. Vernon in 1970 by way of Texas and Massachusetts, so their ties to the history of the county are quite recent. Both sides of the family, though, have roots in Illinois, as the genealÂogists in the families have determined. Janice, the former Janice Cole of Krum, Texas, qualifies to attend the Winterrowd family reunion in Dieterich each June because her maternal grandmother was the daughter of Washington Winterroud of Effingham County. Janice's father, the late Ralph Leslie Cole, was born in Secor, in Woodford County, in 1879. John's mother has visited the Callarmans in both MassachuÂsetts and Illinois and found tombstones marking grave sites of her forebears ... the closest to Jefferson County at a cemetery at Arcola. John's mother has traced her bloodline to the Mayflowers, while John's father believes the John Callarman who turned up in Flemingsburg, Kentucky, in the early 19th century, is the John Callarman found in a 1790 Maryland census. Today, John could be called a chronicler of contemporary Jefferson County history, in his capacity as news director of Radio Station WMIX. He has seen and told about some major economic growth in the community since his arrival in 1970. Janice is the seventh grade remedial reading teacher at Casey Junior High. She has taught school since the fall of 1959, following her graduation from North Texas State University in Denton, her birthplace. She taught in Pampa, Texas where she and John met, in Blue Mound north of Fort Worth, and in Watertown, Massachusetts, after the Callarmans were married. Janice along the way obtained her master's degree in education at North Texas State. John was born in Ponca City, Oklahoma, but his family moved to Corvallis. Oregon, when he was six. John's public schooling and two years of college at Oregon State were completed in Corvallis. John postponed his degree for four years. spending two in the service and two in the radio business. starting in 1955 at KCOV in Corvallis. He obtained his B.A. at West Texas State University, in Canyon, and worked at radio stations in Pampa, Fort Worth, Houston, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, before moving to Mt. Vernon. The Callarmans married in July of 1968. There are no children. John is a member and former director of the Mt. Vernon Rotary Club, and he and Janice were among the founding members of the Rend Lake Chapter of the National Audubon Society. Janice was elected that chapter's third president in the summer of 1977 She also is a member of the city's Library Board. The Callarmans are relative newcomers to Jefferson County, but they have sunk their roots here and expect to be around when the next county history is written.
Source: Facts and Folks A History of Jefferson County, Illinois" For corrections or additions, please contact me: Sandy Bauer |