Archives/Special Collections, University of Illinois at Springfield

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Q: Was there any Knights of Columbus activity here at all? A No. It seemed like the priests - this one priest we'd have adrocales it and the next one doesn't so . . . Q: Well edently then in the late 1930's you became interested up in the Pittsfield area? How did you rome to . . . A: \Veil the first farm I bought, I just by chance - I \vas out campaigning ant1 it went so cheap I just bought it. You know, I could hare made twenty thousan(l dollars that night when I come home. And 1 just kept it. And then I kept buying land and that's horn- it goes. Q: Llid you rent it out then or did you A. I hired men to run it for me for years. I wasn't a farmer. I had so many other interests that I Anally decided to rent it all out, discontinue the help. Q: Hou. do you get on a senatorial committee'? Was it election'! A: Yes. You run on that Q: When did you do that? A: That was in the 1940's. I got started that way with this feIlo\\. Charlie Hayen, lhat we mentioned before. He was always interested in politics. And some friend of his was risiting him from Chicago. He mas kind of a behinti-the-scene man and I nrasn'1 familiar with senatorial co~nmittee. I didn't know how to - "Get on it." be says. Tbere (vasn't murh opposition to it anyway. So I ran and got elected and I remernher just - 1 can'^ recall his name any longer. He's dead, now, hut he stayed around here a fe\v months. Then he left and never did came hack any longer. He went to our organizatifrn meeling. And he knew more about this setup and huw things operate than anybody else, and he read ~hrm to us. This fellow's dead. He was from Chicago, see. Q: I see -4: I guess up there that job is really something. 1 think it's a payoff j11t1 up there. Down here, well, they never knew what was a payoff. Q: \Veil. (chuckles) What u-as the primary funclion of the com~ni:tee'l A: Well you could tell how Inany could run see Q: Yes. A: These guys give you enough money, you'd say, "Okay let's only lvt one run," why, he's sure of election. He didn't hare any opposition. Rut don.n in this :LI.C;I, \rhy, not~o(iy ewr olfered you anything. Q: Well what n-as the decision generally here, fur i\vo to run? .I: You'd run two and let it on ihrir own. They come up with that idea. Q: Did anyone ever approach y(~u to see if they coul(l get it lo he only one? A: I can't recall if they e\.er did. h lot of times I had it in mind, I thought thal a-auld be a good idea, but naturally nercr [lid. Nobody else ever ~hought about it. I don't think Carl Wittmond Memoir -- Archives/Special Collections, University of Illinois at Springfield
half of the peul,lr never elen knrw what thr oRcr was and knew what the purpose of thc office is. Q: Hun- long dirl ~ o stay u with that committee? A: I stayed on that several terms, I don't know, and then that's when I ran myself Q: How about the Illinois Farm Bureau? When did you join the Farm Bureau? A: Oh, I joined that way hack. It used to have its advantages. If you didn't brlong to the bureau you couldn't huy a lot of things. See, if you wasn't a memher they wouldn't sell you things. Q: Oh I see. .A: I was in the farming business. I needed a lot of things, like baskets an11 it wasn't as convenient as today to buy merchandising in then1 days as il is now, you onll- had a few people in the husiness. And then they used to be real competitive then in price too. But now it seems like a lot of the individuals sell cheaper than thc Farm Bureau does. (taping stopped for telephone conLrrsation, then resulned) Q: %'e were talking ahout the Farm Bureau. You say the farm service agencies are not competitive anymore with . . . A: Not like they was years ago. No you've got too many other individuals who own their branches too. and I guess they can really operate. Prohably better management than thr Farm Bureau does. In fact you yet your fertilizers a lot cheaper from some of the otht'r people than you can from farm organizations. And a lot of other merchandise that they have. But they have some advantages I guess. And they sell this insurance and seems to be a pretty good insurance. But being in the newspaper business I tried to divide rny insurance up with a lot of different people so they'll adverlisr in the newspaper. Q. \+'ell then did you rver aspire to oKce in the Farm Bure:~ul Q: Diri they have an organization here so that A: Years ago they had an organization hut it was run by one man, Henry Iiauyh. IIe was quite an operator. But they thought later on that he was operating too much for his own interests and they finally got rid of him. And then he started his own businrss and he reall>give them competition, he had his own husiness. "ind he was a good oprrator. IIe could sell cheaper than they did. Q: So thvy didn't have regular organizational meetings then normally 11: KO. And after he left they had a hard time yettiny along because they didn't hale the management, see. He ran the whoIe show. Then when something canre - I can't ~.et.all the drtails of it anymore. But he was wrong and they were wrong But any!v:iy he rontinueil in husiness and it seemed like he did all thr husiness in the county in that rrsprct, thr hig end of it you know. Now they're pretty well set up agzain now, consolidated with Jersey County, they have the two counties together. Q: \Then did you decide to run for the house of representatives? A: Oh I guess that was in the 195OSs, in 1950 I imagine, around that time. We were sitting around here and always yriping about couldn't get out of here and we wasn't ci~tting no 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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Page 45 and 46: Carl Wittmond Memoir -- Archives/Sp
Page 83 and 84: Q. (chuckles) We11 this kind of gav
Page 85 and 86: Q: You sa) you were going to school
Page 87 and 88: A: Sunir. yes, oh yes. I've got sev
Page 89 and 90: Q: LVell hou did he po about gettin
Page 91 and 92: A: Oh yes sure, they used to dl, a
Page 93 and 94: ha\.? to come hc,ll:r to t'3t or so
Page 95: Anii the Eagles anif the Elks, I ha
Page 99 and 100: 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?
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Q Did she usually do it at your des
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a lot of the cunstituents don't un~
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A: Yes I remember him Q: \Ye11 let'
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11: 011 I never did get excited ove
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'1: Oh 1 probahl) thought there wer
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to hlock it if he wanted to. So man
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it would he alright or whatever the
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Q: Yes. A somrthing. fle might have
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Q: Well let's see, he lived in Edwa
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Q: Oh, I see. A: Ht. thought that 1
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in the Granite City area - he was t
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:I: Oh yes, oh yes Q: What other ro
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So I put the bill in anyway to get
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A: . . . get credit for it, see, if
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A: I ctin't rrcall anymore \\.hat i
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A: hutuhahn, over in . . . Q: Germa
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Q: Well. Do you recall any particul
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I'd voted for the bill. That would
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Q: Let's see, the Zion [Illinois Be
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:\: Ile nrust not have run ;my more
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A: Wide open sparrs, that's right.
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Q: I'd like to ask first today abwt
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.A: Yes 1 can rt,call something of
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Q: Oh. He wanted the department you
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kno~r-. (;- I could have got on but
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who knrn. sonrething ahuut agrirult
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.A: \Vr ~ntrrtainzd several - one t
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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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