Jack Battuello Memoir #1 - University of Illinois Springfield

Jack Battuello 3 9
We11 after thc husband abandoned her, well Nellie was helpless. She
had two little children and the home was being financed by the Staunton
Building and Finance Company. One day, while wc were working and
were unaware of it, the Sheri.ff came and evicted her from this home
and moved her furniture into an old dil.apidated windowless old house
that had served as a church years ago for a little old Baptist group
or something--maybe five or ten people--and they had abandoned it,
No windows, no doors, no nothing, no well,.no lights and there were
some old rotten pews that had been left there--and they just piled
her furniture in there.
When 1 got home from the mine that night--1 was president of the local
at the time--I came home and sct my dinner pail down on the floor and
Tillie said, "Nellie Gahagan is in there, in the living room. She
wants to talk to you." So I went in and Nellie Gahagan's father
owned all that land on which that mine was developed and she had two
brothers, from riches to poverty. Anyhow, she said, "~ack, today
the Sheriff moved my furniture out of my house and me and my kids
don't have any place to live and I just want you to come and see
what they did with my furniture--the house they put it in." And 1
said, "Well, I' 11 be glad to Nellie. " I fold Tillie I would eat
supper later. So I walked down to this house about five or seven
blocks from my place and there was this fusaiturc all just jammed--
just rhrew in there. I said, "Oh, this is awful." I looked around
and I said, "Well Nellie, 1'11 tell you, I: don't, think there is anything
I can do for you other than make a collection." I said very
sternly, "You know the law has taken its course and T can't violate
the law you know," She said, "Well, 1 didn't expect you to Jack.
I just wanted you or somebody to see what they did to me and my
kids." So I said, "Well, 1'11 see about making a collection for you
Nellie. I'
Well this happened to be Wednesday night--our local meeting night.
Gee, I only had about two or three hours to work. We'd meet at nine
o'clock and we wouldn't adjourn sometime until midnight--we'd convene
ar that hour anyhow. Anyhow, in that three hours I organized another
truck and about six or seven other good fellow workers, or eight--as
many as I thought I needed--and I ordered my friend, Eddie Bollard,
to pick Mrs. Gahagan up, oh,about ten o'clock. I said, "1'11 adjourn
the goddamned meeting even if they're trying to impeach the presidenr."
I said, "I'll adjourn the meeting about ten o'clock and we'll be back
down here with this truck and we'll load this damned furniture back
up and take it righr back to her home." And we Set it up. Well,
Eddie brought Mrs, Gahagan hack as pcr instructions, exactly ar ten
o'clock, no, eleven o'clock and dumped her off at the place where
she had been evicted.
And now she fills in the story the next day when I come home. She
was sitting Tn my living room again. I said, "Hi, Nellie, how's
ctrerything?" "Well," she said, "Jack I just want to tellu--she's an
old typical American farmer girl, you know. She talks real drawly
Jack Battuello Memoir -- Archives, University of Illinois at Springfield