Howard Herron Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

Howard Berron 13
A: I'll never forget as long as I live when we moved to Auburn they were
having a big carnival and picnic at Virden on the 4th of July. We had a
sweet potato ridge farther from here to your--there was three of them, a
ridge for each one of us boys as long as from here to your car out there
was in garden. And Dad said, "Now boys, you clean all those weeds out of
those sweet potatoes, 1'11 give you a dollar apiece and you can go over
to Virden to the picnic." Well, we could go to Virden for a nickel.
Then when we got down to Virden we'd have $.go to spend, nickel down and
a nickel back and we just worked like Trojans that day to get that done.
And about 11:OO boom, boom, boom, the thunder started coming and by this
time we got done and here she come. It rained and it rained like a
torrent and he said, "Oh, boys, better stay home today and guess we can
go over some other day," and that about fixed me. That was one of my
first disappointments. I hated that day as long as I lived. I hated
Minnie Christensen, too. When I started to school here I had to go in
the second grade and my school teacher was Minnie Christensen and she
asked me my name and I told her Howard William Herron. Well, she didn't
put dawn the Howard and so she said, "William, William," and I looked
around for William and I didn't see William and finally she said,"Youl'
and "Aren't you William?" And L said, "No, Ma'am, I'm Howard." And she
had me come up right in front of the class and she had a paddle about
that long and about that wide and a hand on it and boy she spanked my
butt with that thing right in front of everybody. And I hated her guts
till she died. I was right, she didn't write it down, see and so she
never apologized and I never did either and so that's the way it stood.
I said, "You put down Howard William Herron, that's my name." I said,
"That's what I told you." And she said, "I whipped you for lying to me."
And I said, "I didn't lie to you." And she said, "Yes, you did, I'll
whip you again if you don't think you did." So I just shut up, I saw I
couldn't win. So I just hated her guts from that time on. But I had a
fine teacher, she's living today. She's over a hundred years old, Eva
Hedrick, and she taught me more in school than anybody. And she was a
fine woman and up till this day every year I take a big bouquet of
flowers to her and have as Long as I can remember.
Q: That's wonderful.
A: And one day she said, I was running a movie picture machine for the
theater here and I was staying up late till 11:OO and sometimes it was
midnight before I'd get home. And she told my dad that he ought to make
me quit. She had an interest in me. She was my Sunday School teacher
too and she said, "You stay after school." I said, "Oh, my God, what
have I done now?" In them days we had to line up and you had to walk
clear out and stay in Line till you got outside. You didn't just run out
haphazardly across the yard or anything and there was a teacher that
stood there and watched you until you all got out and you didn't get out
of line. And anyway I said, "What have I done now?" And so, she came
back in and she said, "Get over," I slid over and she sat down beside me
and she said, "Get out your arithmetic." And I did and she says, "Now,
Howard, you're just as smart as the rest of these children. Why can't
you paper a room?" And I said, "I don't know, I just can't do it right."
And she explained it all to me and we went all through it and everything
and you know it was just like a boil. It come to a head and I got the
knack of it and I didn't have no trouble from that time on, and I've