ORAL HISTORIES:
HISTORY OF WILMETTE AS TOLD BY ITS RESIDENTS

Adler, Rhea
(1906-1990)

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Kirk, Elizabeth Hoffman
(1915-2008)

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Braun, Albert J.
(1911-1991)

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Leach, David Clark, Jr. (1925-2000)

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Brooks, Elizabeth Brown
(1901-1994)

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McClure, Margaret Dingee
(1900-1996)

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Butz, Ella B.
(1888-1982)

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Michelet, Charles Jules, Jr.
(1891-1980)

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Chilcott, Rose Braun
(1902-1981)

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Miller, Lenoir Hood
(1888-1976)

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Favor, Fred
(1911-1982)

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And the motorized taxi did not come in until about 1915 to 1920. There wasn't much difference in speed between the motorized taxis and the horse drawn ones because the roads and streets were in such primitive condition that you couldn't go fast either way.

Miller, John Tuttle
(1921- )

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We all slept on the sleeping porch in the back of the house, and one night we looked out of our window. We could see across the fields to Northwestern. There was a big fire going on. And before Dyche Stadium, they had wooden bleachers. And the story goes, I don't know ifit's true or not, but some of the students wanted a new stadium and they set fire to the wooden bleachers. The next morning we got up and our grandfather took us over there and we brought back all across the field all these timbers and we built a barn. And that was where we housed "Sunshine." [a pony]

Fitch, Elizabeth
(1899-1986)

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[New Trier High School] There was just the one building--main building and over here was a gym and over here was the auditorium and the dining--the mess hall. And then in back there was a football, baseball--whatever they call it--field.

Northam, Frederick Stickney
(1904-1979)

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Well, she [Lillian Mae Drury Northam] was a truant officer, probation officer, social welfare worker, I think she had something to do with...she went to the movies to see whether they were all right for the Village to see, censor...(laugh)

Fleischer, Joseph

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We were told were were going to the battle area and one morning we arose to see ships in every possible direction--to the left of us, to the right of us. in front of us, behind us. On a clear day at sea you can see 20 to 25 miles. Perhaps the horizon is 22 miles. There were ships on every part of the ocean. As a matter of fact, this was the world's largest flotiilla that was ever assembled. It was Admiral Bull Halsey's third fleet.

Schneider, John J.
(1901-1986)

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[Seven brothers were all musicians] All played an instrument. I don't know how well, but it was a band anyway. And then, after my Dad died, my older brother took it over, and then it became Schneider's Band. And now it's a marching band of about sixty people and now they call it the Gross Point Marching Band.

Fleischer, Regina (1928- )

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If he would have listened to me we would have left before the war started and established ourselves in this country [United States] and he would have been alive because, of course, he did get killed by the Germans. The reason that I hated it [Europe] so was because everywhere I went I was reminded of the fact that I was Jewish and I was despised for it.

Schuett, Anna Schneider
(1903-1980)

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Well the first two grades were German--complete--no English whatsoever. BM: Everyone spoke German? AS: Yes, and I had to read German, too. Thank God I was a big German reader in school again...Then from there it got to be third grade. Write English--right off the start--from German to English. If you didn't think that that was hard. I was pretty stupid about that because it was so hard to...BM: Well, if you were still speaking German at home and German in School...AS: Always. We got home and Daddy would forbid us to talk Engish. He said, "All this English!" because he could not understand it, but as the years went on, we did nothing but talk English

Frake, Leonora
(1907-1990)

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LF: Then in the wintertime for a thrill we used to go behind the ice sled. You know when they made the ice at Selzer’s pond, we used to hitch our sleds with a rope and we’d go to the ice barn and come back again to our house. BM: Now this was this horse drawn wagon? LF: Horse drawn, horse drawn, on the sled BM: On the sled? LF: They would get the ice with their horses on the sled. They had to cut the big blocks of ice BM: And you tied your sleds to the back of the…LF: Yes. And that was fun.

Schoenbeck, Margaret Schneider
(1904-1992)

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My dad would have to come out and stick the wood in there [brick oven] and light it until it burned and the oven was hot enough and then scrape the ashes out. And my mother had the bread and the coffee cake and pies and cakes and everything ready. I remember us kids all--it was a regular procession--carried the bread and the coffee cake and everything out to the outside oven.

Goodhue, Frances A. (1886-1983)

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We were very interested in watching the development of the Bahai Temple. And they never ask for any funds outside of their faith, and so it dragged on for a good many years.

Templeton, Sydney Weedon
(1894-1994)

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[Fifth and Gregory Aves.] The house was completely surrounded by fields, in which we were allowed to wander as far as Isabella Street, which was then Evanston, and as far as the railroad at the back, which is now the elevated line tracks, came out to a place called Llewelyn Park. Three trains in the morning, and three at night. And that is one of the most precious memories, because we learned to know all the wildflowers. The most beautiful things grew ther, gentians, and things that now the florists sell. But to us they were wildflowers.

Hahn, George Arthur, Sr.
(1889-1979)

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GH: ...I observed ads in the Chicago Tribune every Sunday in which Father Netstraeter which was the pastor of St. Joseph Church in Gross Point which is now Wilmette in which he was inviting young Catholic families to come to Wilmette to live and that he would assist with the financing. Several people that I know purchased these homes with the assistance of the financing on the part of Father Netstraeter.

Ten Broeck, Jean
(1896-1996)

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The Hollister publisher interviewed applicants himself. After giving them information regarding possible qualifications, he asked me if I could type. The answer was "No." He then inquired if my handwriting was good. My answer required a momentious decision. Should I be truthful or lie? If I lied and he engaged me, he would soon find out and I would be without work. After breathing deeply, I told him that my penmanship was very bad. He hesitated and then with a twinkle in his blue eyes, I still see in memory, he asked, "Can you make it legible?" I said, "Yes." And the job was mine April 4, 1923.

Hall, Robert D. 1914- and
Hall, Alice Freeman (1916- )

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We stood in the back door and watched it [tornado] and we were probably a block or two blocks from it. And then, of course, it went downtown and took the roof off the city hall. I guess that's one thing it's famous for. And I remember driving around in the quiet afterward that Sunday afternoon and pieces of wood, straw, for instance, was driven right into telephone poles. The magic power of a storm like that is something to behold. I remember that. I must have been six or seven years old.

Townes, Mary Stewart Barry
(1903-1997)

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We took various and sundry trips, and he [her father] was always the one who knew how to make an icebox out of a battery box and hang it on the side of the car so that we could have a supply of ice and be able to pick berries by the side of the road, get cream from some farmer, and not have anything go sour. We had some very remarkable trips.

Harper, Robert A.
(1910-2007)

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Along in the middle of the night--probably 10:00 or 10:30--Mr. Corett woke him up and said, "Rob, the Superintendent of Schools has resigned and I'd like you to apply for the job." And Dad said, "Well, I don't know anything about running an elementary school. I'm a high school science teacher." Mr. Corett said, "That's all right. You go around and interview the Board members and let us decide."

Waidner, Frederick William (1909-1989)

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FWW: Well, I started in high school playing clarinet and then I went from there to saxphone, to flute, oboe, English horn. You see, I play all of the woodwinds. RA: I see. FWW: And I've been playing all different kinds of groups. I played with the Chicago Symphony for a couple of weeks. They needed a sax player and, uh, polka bands, wedding bands...

Hollister, Lloyd Frank
(1892-1979)

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[Areas of emphasis in local newspapers] First of all, the schools. Second, I would put the churches, and third, the municipal activity in the village. It is amazing at times how people can get worked up about some change that's going to be made in the village that they don't think is proper.

Elisabeth G. Weedon
(1867-1965)

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There was no need to leave home at vacation time— life was really vacation, if one chose to regard it that way. The lake front became as much home to the growing family as the house. It almost seemed as though no one else had discovered that there was a lake front so secluded were they. Whole days were spent on the beach.

Huffman, W. Henry [William Henry]
(1911-1997)

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Mahoney's farm was at the location which is now called No-Man's-Land, and has been, of course, next door to the village. And as a youngster we used to go into this location, cutting through or over a fence, and we'd catch pollywogs. There must have been some kind of a fresh water pond in the area. It might have been even swampy. But we went up there and collected pollywogs and took 'em home and then to see how long it would take before they became frogs.

Weishaar, Herman O. (1889-1984) and
Gladys Fowler Weishaar
(1897-1981)

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Dr. Byron Stolp started a practice in Wilmette in 1874, and then he was killed in an automobile accident in 1917, but in the meantime his son had graduated from medical school and was associated with his father....Dr. Stolp invited me to come up and share the office with him. So he did the medical phase side of it, and I did the so called surgical specialty which involved the various areas I spoke about. I continued then until just now, so that office has had a stretch of over 100 years.

Jones, C. Herbert
(1889-1987)

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Well, I was a Methodist and this was a Methodist college but when we came to Wilmette, my wife had always been a Baptist, so we shopped around at all these different churches and we went to this Baptist church and there was a Mr. Stifler there and he was, oh, so enthusiastic in his whole group were such a nice enthusiastic bunch that we joined the Baptist church. Well, she had become a Methodist for me so, I thought I could be a Baptist for her.

League of Women Voters

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Member B: Do you remember when she [Esther Dunshee Bower] was ill, and she had herself carried on a stretcher to the voting booth? Member E: Ambulance. Took an ambulance from Evanston Hospital. Member A: To the voting booth. Member B: To the voting booth. Member E: Well, always before, she and Lloyd Brown had canceled out each other’s votes. And Lloyd Brown was in the hospital, too. And Esther didn’t tell Lloyd. [General laughter].

Kartman, Benjamin
(1901-1991)

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So Paul said to me, "Do you have any special interests?" and I said, "Yes, music." This was a lie. I don't know a thing about music. I never had any musical education at all. I like music, but that's about it. I had seen the name John Phillip Sousa on the assignement sheet. So he said to me, "Good. How would you like to interview John Phillip Sousa? He's coming in on the Illinois Central this afternoon." So I met John Phillip Pousa, interviewed him at the station, drove to the campus with him by cab, had a good talk and wrote the story which they ran on the front page with my by-line. From then on I had no more trouble getting assignments.

Wick, Lawrence W.
(1940-)

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We all know what happened right after 1929 was the Crash. The congregation quickly realized it could not keep up their payments. They made an arrangement with their creditors to have the building taken over by the creditors and that they would rent the facility. Then the creditors increased the rent. The congregation couldn't afford to pay the rent, and the congregation vacated the property and worshipped in the Masonic Temple.

Kempe, Mathilda Marie
(1895-1981)

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You know, when the farmers would come in with their shoes all full of mud and dirt and sometimes that's the only pair they had so that they had to wait until the job was finished.

Witt, Anna Kathryn
(1895-1988)

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The name of the dairy farm was called the "Fred H. Witt Jersey Dairy." And we had several milk wagons drawn by horses and the house in which we lived was an old frame farm house and it had no heating facilities excepting stoves. And then no electricity or plumbing.

Kinnear, Elizabeth Fisher
(1896-1980)

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It was my delight every night to watch the man come down the street on his bicycle, with a ladder slung over his shoulder to light the gas street lights. And when they put in the automatic device to turn up the gas, I was disappointed because no longer did the man come to turn off the street lights. I can't remember the year, probably 1917 or 1918. It wasn't long after that that even the gas lights disappeared, and they tore up our front parkways to put in the wiring for the electric street lights.