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A: That's before - that's \\-hen Kennedl ran I believe wasn't it? Q. No in 1960 he ran of course. And in 1!l6.4 then the at-large election \\here that shcrt came out and all that. A: Oh, at-large Q: Yes. A: Well some of the areas that I didn't have, naturally I visit :I lot of places tha! - I I)\\-ned property down in Wayne County and I'd traveled around thrr~ilgh that area quile a lor. Anrl I did contact . . . Itaping stopped to greet cu5tomers, then resumedl Q So !nu traveled in Wayne County, and :I: IVah-ne County, see I farmed. I'd bought quite a hit of farmland [io\vn th~re. .And 1'11 go duwn there ever\- week. I would stop at all the to\vns going ~io\\-n and ),ark, sornelirnes go out r~f my way different places. Antl thrn I was pretty \\-ell known in Alton vhich was out of nly district at that time too see, and I had a lot of husiness in there, ntl I hat1 heen pretty well acquainted. More acquainted in Alton than I was in, reall?, in rny district because I'd done business with all the Alton people prior to getting into polilirs. Then I kind of moved my operations more up north instead of going south. I'rex-iously \ve alxvays went to Alton and St. Louis for most of our husiness and transactions. Q: Were there particular individuals down in Wayne ('aunt) that you got to support \ou or go out and ~vork for you down there? A. Oh I didn't do any work particularly or have :lnyho(ly to xu out and do any work. I just went around and visited them and I rould talk to the iieople who talked niy langnag~. a lot of business people. I could always pet along with that segnient of people pretty \veil. And naturally, tieing in the banking business at the same time tou I ~ised in \isif all the tianks around the area. Q: LJo you think that helped in your winning that election? .A: Well it had to brcause I ran pretty good, you know, from a little rown and the11 I was forty-third in the state at that tim?. So it had to do some good somr\vherr oulsid~ of my district hecause 1 w-ouldn't have gotten them in my district. I had to get then1 oulside the district. Q. Was therr any help you got in the Chicago area at all7 A: Well 1 think the Chicago boys remembered me considering I wouldn't damage them :in? and 1 was about as good as anyone up there for them. So they did give me their sul11)ort too. Q: Did you kind of try for name rrcognition or did you try for just t h straight-ticket ~ sort nf voting? 4. W~ll, they had to have a name on that thing because they had a big selection there. You know out of the whole group you only had so many lo gel c~lectcrl. Antl ?otl had Lo run LIT) high or 1-ou wouldn't have got it. So you had to have your namtl on or . . . Q: What about the ~lection day itself? IIow did you handle yoorself any differt~nt then than any other election? Carl Wittmond Memoir -- Archives/Special Collections, University of Illinois at Springfield
11: 011 I never did get excited over :In!. election, I didn't crlehrate anj-. If I won, 11ka1-. If I lost 1 guess it's the same old story. It's like anything else. I never gr,t excited over . . . Q: Cuurse at that tirnc J-~LI had to wait a \vhile hefore you found out A: Yes, before you fount1 out if 1-ou was elected or not. We always had to do that though it seems like. .A lot of times, the next morning or noon hefore 13-e ever knew if we were, really elected or not. See it always decided on the higgrr places than my home area. Even if I carried it, I couldn't he certain of election until I heard from the more populated arras. Q: Like :I: Quincy and Jachs~~nville, later years and all those bigger towns. Q: Now they had a special session which thry called in Januarj- of 196-1 figuring out how they were going to do in that at-large election. Do you remember anything ahout that spc.cial session? A: I can't recall too much about that anymore. Q: They finally decided they were going to limit to 118 candidates from each party A Then that's when the! got some hIue-ribbon vnndidates out wasn't it" Q. Ye.; Well then the) held the convention later to decide A: Yes there were several of - I think that's when Rill Farg got on the ticket onc year up at Jacksonville. I think he was a - if I rememher correctly. ,In11 I think that's when Katz did, that's the way he got on to start with? Q: Yes, Ilarold Katz ,A: Katz. out of Chicago? Q: Yrs. '1: Quitc a nun~lvr of the fe1lon.s who had never had a chance t~, get in politics other\vise got in on that tirhn. Q: Yes. Marjorie Pehworth who was one also A: Yes. Q: r)i~l you get to know her very well? Q: Yes. IIon. about the head of the ticket at that tirnr? Stevenson. Ste\rns(ln I guess hraded the rlemocratic ticket ;in(] Eisenhower the Republican tirkct. A: Rc[~ut)liran tickrt Q: Earl Eisrnhowr.er I guess his nanre was, wasn't it? . Ikr . . . (>. [)ill you ohserve then? :ih legislators'! Carl Wittmond Memoir -- Archives/Special Collections, University of Illinois at Springfield
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University of Illinois at Springfie
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CARL WIITMOND ILLINOIS HOUSE OF REP
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orrrniilnity in central Illinois. A
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Carl Wittmond SESSION I, TAPE 1, SI
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A: Yes. Q: Okay. And then your fath
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County that had a spur on this side
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A: It's peculiar how you always rem
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Q: I see. (chuckles) A: Out of the
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A: . . . and he took care of you. A
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A: Oh yes. You'd have a showboat he
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A: Yes it really happened. This thi
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my motber had to scrape around here
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that's how narrow people are you kn
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you know. It wasn't too prosperous.
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A: Well, I guess it was. I guess 1
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to stay all night to go to a show a
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A: I guess that just becamea a knac
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Carl Wittmond Memoir -- Archives/Sp
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Q. (chuckles) We11 this kind of gav
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Q: You sa) you were going to school
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A: Sunir. yes, oh yes. I've got sev
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Q: LVell hou did he po about gettin
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A: Oh yes sure, they used to dl, a
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ha\.? to come hc,ll:r to t'3t or so
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Anii the Eagles anif the Elks, I ha
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half of the peul,lr never elen knrw
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A: Well, in the first place, they'd
Page 101 and 102: Monday morning from Brussels. And m
Page 103 and 104: an argunirnt Iatrr UII a1111 the12
Page 105 and 106: Q: I I a n e llad you known Paul Po
Page 107 and 108: .4: Yes, somehody got hurt and Q: .
Page 109 and 110: him. Down there - see. Blackie uras
Page 111 and 112: Nuniber two, the secretary of state
Page 113 and 114: kind of a mystery place anyway, no
Page 115 and 116: anything you'd want if you'd want i
Page 117 and 118: Q: Kind of cleaned it up then. A: B
Page 119 and 120: Q: Yes that \+-as later A: I can't
Page 121 and 122: A: Probably was I think, yes. I did
Page 123 and 124: Maybe a lot of them was in. Like Bi
Page 125 and 126: other people would go see until the
Page 127 and 128: - "Oh." he said, "he makes eighty f
Page 129 and 130: .A: Oh, in his ofice, many a time.
Page 131 and 132: district. Powell said, "YIIu'~ h~tt
Page 133 and 134: .A: Oh atlout - yes, hr shall have
Page 135 and 136: thrsrr. ant1 Iru) them. And I don't
Page 137 and 138: ;mil the key Dcrnocrats. the) xverc
Page 139 and 140: you ran't beat." I said, "Some day
Page 141 and 142: :I: Yes I ren~ernher that. :I: I pr
Page 143 and 144: .A: Yes. they was \.otiny and vice
Page 145 and 146: Q: What was your position on that?
Page 147 and 148: Q Did she usually do it at your des
Page 149 and 150: a lot of the cunstituents don't un~
Page 151: A: Yes I remember him Q: \Ye11 let'
Page 155 and 156: '1: Oh 1 probahl) thought there wer
Page 157 and 158: to hlock it if he wanted to. So man
Page 159 and 160: it would he alright or whatever the
Page 161 and 162: Q: Yes. A somrthing. fle might have
Page 163 and 164: Q: Well let's see, he lived in Edwa
Page 165 and 166: Q: Oh, I see. A: Ht. thought that 1
Page 167 and 168: in the Granite City area - he was t
Page 169 and 170: :I: Oh yes, oh yes Q: What other ro
Page 171 and 172: So I put the bill in anyway to get
Page 173 and 174: A: . . . get credit for it, see, if
Page 175 and 176: A: I ctin't rrcall anymore \\.hat i
Page 177 and 178: A: hutuhahn, over in . . . Q: Germa
Page 179 and 180: Q: Well. Do you recall any particul
Page 181 and 182: I'd voted for the bill. That would
Page 183 and 184: Q: Let's see, the Zion [Illinois Be
Page 185 and 186: :\: Ile nrust not have run ;my more
Page 187 and 188: A: Wide open sparrs, that's right.
Page 189 and 190: Q: I'd like to ask first today abwt
Page 191 and 192: .A: Yes 1 can rt,call something of
Page 193 and 194: Q: Oh. He wanted the department you
Page 195 and 196: kno~r-. (;- I could have got on but
Page 197 and 198: who knrn. sonrething ahuut agrirult
Page 199 and 200: .A: \Vr ~ntrrtainzd several - one t
Page 201 and 202: town. And a lot of people was compl
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:I: Oh, n-c went a few other places
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.A: Not at that timc but they promo
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some of then1 - hut their unions ar
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sonielhing happened. I think I had
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Index .Ahl.nhani Lincoln Hl~tcal. 1
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Hinan, Martin, 79 IIitler, Adolph,
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