Leland J. Kennedy Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

A: . . . and the twenty-five. But you know, talking about Jerseyville, when you and your
wife and family are out riding around looking for something, there is a nice town.
Q: Oh?
A: It's a good farming community, it's clean. We go up there a lot to shop. Walmart's
got a store up there. Of course they've got the Kroger and National, but they've got one
of those discount grocery stores I mean. But they've got good churches there, both Protestant
and Catholic, a clean town, about twenty thousand people, oh hell, it ain't that big - ten
thousand. But it's the county seat of Jersey County. It would be an ideal place to live,
to raise a family and all of that. I always told my boy, Don, I said, "If you ever decide
you want to change,'' I said, "you ought to go up there and if you'd like to be a farmer,"
I said, "hell," I says, "go in debt and buy you a farm," and I said, "Raise your family up
there." Of course he's satisfied where he is, but he likes the town. We all like it.
They've got a hospital, they've got theaters. It's a town that has no ethnic problems or
anything like that. It's not a racist town, it's just a fine little community.
It's not in my district, but I was up to a rally at. Marquette Park when Stevenson was there,
sometime in July. And talking about Marquette Park, we'd go up there sometimes on -
they have a Sunday brunch you know, at the restaurant there. We've been up there to eat
several times. But Jersey County's a good county and Jerseyville's a good town. It's a very
nice place to live.
SESSION 3, TAPE 5, SIDE 1
A: I meant to tell you there probably wasn't two cases of beer drank in our house in the
forty-five years Mom lived there, but she had it. And we used to tease her about it, she
always liked eggnog at Christmas time.
Q: Oh? Well. (chuckles)
A: Whatever the hell that was. (laughter)
Q: Was it spiked eggnog?
A: Well I think my sister spiced it, yes.
Q: I see.
A: It had a little wine, maybe a little whiskey, but she always enjoyed that.
Q: Alright sir. Do you want to fill in some things now?
A: Let's see, did I mention about both of my grandfathers being in the Civil War?
Q: No you didn't sir.
A: Well I wanted to mention that.
Q: What capacity - do you recall anything about . . .
A: Well my grandfather Kennedy was a captain, was mustered out as a captain.
Q: Oh?