Howard Herron Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield
Howard Herron Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield Howard Herron Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield
Howard Herron 17 when to take that corn bread out and when to take that cake out. just delicious and we ate cornbread and muffins. It was Q: What did your grandmother look like? A: Oh, she always had a, I don't know what you call them, a Mother Hubbard dress or whatever you like. And she was grey headed and had kind of a square face, and grey hair, of course. And my grandfather he was not a very tall man, he wasn't as tall as I am and he had great big long whiskers come clear down here to a point and they were just white as snow. He chewed tiger fine cut tobacco and never ever got a little of that amber tobacco juice on those whiskers when he'd go to spit, he'd go (spit) like that and he spit from here to that cabinet over there. My mother, when we lived in the west part of Auburn, he'd come down and they lived the first house south of what used to be the Christian Church, it's torn down now. And my mother would say, "Well, the preacher's in town, going to have dinner over at Aunt Dora's today." Grandpa's coming down the road and he come down the street that the road goes out of town and here he come with his came and he walked for about a block and then he stopped and look all around and then he would go, stop and go another block. And he lived to be, I don't know how old he was. I thought I had some pictures of him here but I don't know. I'll look and see if I can find them but I don't think I can. Q: Did your grandparents move to Auburn when your father moved to Auburn? A: No, they were here, they were here first. They lived on a farm out west of town here. The first house going west toward Waverly on the north side of the road. That's where they farmed. When we got to Auburn, we came in here on the C&A Train, and we walked out there, and we stayed all night there the first night we came to Auburn. Our clothing and our furniture and what we had and everything was put on a steamboat Villa Calhoun, and you go down to Alton, and then they transferred it on to the C&A Railroad, and then they shipped it here to Auburn. Q: Can you remember that trip by steamboat? A: Oh, yes, I had my first "boughten" pants. And I remember they hauled everything on this steamboat to Villa Calhoun and they had a big stairways going up. You've been on one, haven't you? The big stairway goes up and they had a great big bull tied down here. And they had him tied tight and he couldn't get out and we'd run back up the stairs. We were devils I guess. Q: How long a trip was that, from when you started until you got to Alron? A: Well, we got up early in the morning and a big wagon took us to Waverly to the West Point landing. That's when we got on our way from Batchtown to the West Point and the steamboat Villa Calhoun would land there and we loaded up. And oh, I thought it was fine to be on a boat and the negroes took it, you know, and we go down to Alton. And then they pulled into Alton, and then they unloaded stuff, and I don't know how drays took it and went to the depot here and get it. So then we, my
Howard Berron 18 father bought this house I told you about for $775 or $750, that's it and a brand new house. Q: Did you say that a dray brought your belongings? A: No, no, my uncle, I don't know what took it from the boat to the railroad but my grandpa had teams of horses and wagons and they rode it down then to their house down there. Q: Was that your first steamboat ride? A: That's the first steamboat and first train I ever seen. Q: And the first train ride? What was the train like? A: Oh, I can't remember now. We came on the C&A train and we stopped here. We got into Auburn about 6:00 at night, just about this dark and they didn't have that many street lights like they have now. And so we walked out to my father's, my grandfather's. And then the next day they, I guess it was, they come in with their wagon and loaded the furniture and they took it down to that house that my father bought and there we started living again. That's where I started school from there. Q: Can you remember what the inside of that train looked like when you came over? A: No, just an old style train. Q: Steam engine? A: Oh yes, steam engine. It had a bell on it that rang most of the time, a steam bell. Q: Did they stop at every little town? A: No, mostly. There wasn't that many towns between. Alton and Upper Alton and Eodfrey and Carlinville, Girard, Virden and Auburn. hat's about all the stops there were. Q: When you were talking about riding on the wagon when you were a little boy, did you ever have hay rides? A: Oh, yes, later on when I went to school we had hay rides. Some of the children and their folks would have a wagon that lived at the edge of town and I remember we had one big party out at the Illinois State Game Farm that used to be out south of town where the country club is now. And that was the State Game Farm where they raised pheasants by the thousands and shipped them all over the state and the hunters would go out and kill them. And Doc Weaver was the state commissioner here in town and it employed about twelve or fourteen men out there and if a fellow had a job with them he had a pretty good job. They'd always meet uptown on the square at a wagon and they'd go out to the Farm on the hay rack or on the wagon. I remember one time, I can't remember her last name but she was English, her father was a gameskeeper from England who
- Page 1: University of Illinois at Springfie
- Page 5 and 6: Table of Contents (cont.) Auburn Bu
- Page 7 and 8: Howard Berron 2 A: I wouldn't know
- Page 9 and 10: Howard Hexron 4 A: Eighteen hundred
- Page 11 and 12: Howard Herron 6 b- it's a fact beca
- Page 13 and 14: Howard Herron 8 started in and I ha
- Page 15 and 16: Howard Herron 10 Q: When you were a
- Page 17 and 18: Howard Herron 12 kid in school had
- Page 19 and 20: Howard Herron 14 always been gratef
- Page 21: Howard Herron 16 A: Oh, pumpkin pie
- Page 25 and 26: Howard Herron 20 eleven inches in c
- Page 27 and 28: Howard Herron 2 2 Q: A rod or a gui
- Page 29 and 30: Howard Herron and he had these pink
- Page 31 and 32: Howard Herron 2 6 A: Oh, about ten,
- Page 33 and 34: Howard Herron 2 8 Q: Where was the
- Page 35 and 36: Howard Herron Q: Like the bank does
- Page 37 and 38: Howard Berron 32 A: Open and shut t
- Page 39 and 40: Howard Berron 3 4 about 8:00 in the
- Page 41 and 42: Howard Herron 36 Q: What was your f
- Page 43 and 44: Howard Herron 38 Q: Straight in? A:
- Page 45 and 46: 1 Howard Herron 40 Q: Did you read
- Page 47 and 48: Howard Herron 4 2 of it and put abo
- Page 49 and 50: Howard Herron 44 It was below zero
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- Page 59 and 60: Howard Herron 5 4 A: Yes, mostly, t
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<strong>Howard</strong> <strong>Herron</strong> 17<br />
when to take that corn bread out and when to take that cake out.<br />
just delicious and we ate cornbread and muffins.<br />
It was<br />
Q:<br />
What did your grandmother look like?<br />
A: Oh, she always had a, I don't know what you call them, a Mother<br />
Hubbard dress or whatever you like. And she was grey headed and had kind<br />
<strong>of</strong> a square face, and grey hair, <strong>of</strong> course. And my grandfather he was<br />
not a very tall man, he wasn't as tall as I am and he had great big long<br />
whiskers come clear down here to a point and they were just white as<br />
snow. He chewed tiger fine cut tobacco and never ever got a little <strong>of</strong><br />
that amber tobacco juice on those whiskers when he'd go to spit, he'd go<br />
(spit) like that and he spit from here to that cabinet over there. My<br />
mother, when we lived in the west part <strong>of</strong> Auburn, he'd come down and they<br />
lived the first house south <strong>of</strong> what used to be the Christian Church, it's<br />
torn down now. And my mother would say, "Well, the preacher's in town,<br />
going to have dinner over at Aunt Dora's today." Grandpa's coming down<br />
the road and he come down the street that the road goes out <strong>of</strong> town and<br />
here he come with his came and he walked for about a block and then he<br />
stopped and look all around and then he would go, stop and go another<br />
block. And he lived to be, I don't know how old he was. I thought I had<br />
some pictures <strong>of</strong> him here but I don't know. I'll look and see if I can<br />
find them but I don't think I can.<br />
Q: Did your grandparents move to Auburn when your father moved to Auburn?<br />
A: No, they were here, they were here first. They lived on a farm out<br />
west <strong>of</strong> town here. The first house going west toward Waverly on the<br />
north side <strong>of</strong> the road. That's where they farmed. When we got to Auburn,<br />
we came in here on the C&A Train, and we walked out there, and we stayed<br />
all night there the first night we came to Auburn. Our clothing and our<br />
furniture and what we had and everything was put on a steamboat Villa<br />
Calhoun, and you go down to Alton, and then they transferred it on to the<br />
C&A Railroad, and then they shipped it here to Auburn.<br />
Q: Can you remember that trip by steamboat?<br />
A: Oh, yes, I had my first "boughten" pants. And I remember they hauled<br />
everything on this steamboat to Villa Calhoun and they had a big stairways<br />
going up. You've been on one, haven't you? The big stairway goes up and<br />
they had a great big bull tied down here. And they had him tied tight<br />
and he couldn't get out and we'd run back up the stairs. We were devils<br />
I guess.<br />
Q: How long a trip was that, from when you started until you got to<br />
Alron?<br />
A: Well, we got up early in the morning and a big wagon took us to<br />
Waverly to the West Point landing. That's when we got on our way from<br />
Batchtown to the West Point and the steamboat Villa Calhoun would land<br />
there and we loaded up. And oh, I thought it was fine to be on a boat<br />
and the negroes took it, you know, and we go down to Alton. And then<br />
they pulled into Alton, and then they unloaded stuff, and I don't know<br />
how drays took it and went to the depot here and get it. So then we, my
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