Anna Kathryn Witt (1895-1988) oral history: Wilmette Public Library Local History Collection

Anna Kathryn Witt (1895-1988) oral history

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Track 1, Transcript p. 1-3:

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Transcription:

Track 1
 
M: This is December 9th, 1975, and I am testing this tape recorder to make sure that it works. 

AW: I'm Anna Witt. I was born August 31, 1895 in what is now Wilmette, but it was Gross Point at that time. And that was at - on Lake Avenue where the Wilmette Golf Club is now located. 

M: Is the golf club still there? The Wilmette Golf Club? Oh, yes. That's west of - I'm trying to think now. West of where - 

AW: I don't drive and so I don't know the names, but it's Lake Avenue. And that's where I was born, but previous to that my folks had a little home. I think they built it themselves in the 800 block on Forest Avenue. That was their first home in Wilmette. 

M: Was that a farm, Mrs. Witt? 

AW: No, it was just a -- -- land was all -- - just a few houses, you know. 

M: Do you know approximately what date that might have been? 

AW: Well, it was in the 1880's. The late 1880's. My parents built a small cottage in the 800 block on Forest Avenue and it was just woods at that time and possibly two or three homes. I'm not sure if they're still there or not, but they may be. 

M: Can I just ask you what your parents' names were? 

AW: My parents' name was Witt. You see, I married a Witt, and
 
Anna Witt, cont. 2 

I did not change my name. And that is why I'm still Mrs. Witt. I meant to tell you that at the beginning, but I forgot to. 

M: Well, that's all right, as long as we -- 

AW: Well, that's the way it is. And so Fred Witt and my mother had this little home and my three older bro - two sisters and a brother were born in this house in the 800 block on Forest Avenue in the 1880's. I'm not sure about the dates. And then they had a - - they had cows and sold milk - M: Oh, they did to the neighbors? 

AW: They sold milk just in little tin containers, you know, to the neighbors in the surrounding area, and -- 

M: They didn't sell it to a store or - AW: I don't believe so. There weren't many stores here. I'm sure they didn't, but, anyway, I can show you some pictures of it later. And then the village ordinance went into effect and they could no longer keep the cows because it was beginning to build up and nobody wanted cows in their backyard. So they moved to the Peter Hoffman farm on Lake Avenue, right at Harms Road. We had a large diary farm there with about a hundred cows. And there was a little farm house there in which we lived. And until a few years ago that house was still on the property and they used it as a -- -- well, I don't know exactly what, but it's gone now. And that's where myself and two brothers were born -- in this place. Then, I don't remember exactly how many years
 
Anna Witt, cont. 3 

we could have lived there, but we moved back to Wilmette in 1902 and we set up our own bottling plant. You see, the milk that we raised on this farm was sold in cans to the dairies in Evanston and the surrounding country. But I was pretty young at that time and I just don't know the exact details, but that's the way it was. Then we moved back to Wilmette on 12th Street which is now the Bell Telephone parking lot. That is where our hone -- -- we bought a home there, I think it was either two or three thousand dollars - -- a great big house. We moved there and built a building in the back to bottle the milk and then we had a barn where we kept our horses and a big ice house where the ice was kept. We had the ice brought in, you know, and stored in this big building.

Creators:

Witt, Anna Kathryn, 1895-1988, Interviewee

Maselli, Briggs

, Interviewer

Media Type:

Audio

Image

Text

Item Type:

Audiocassettes

Description:

Interview with Anna Witt by Briggs Maselli in Wilmette on December 9, 1975.

Abstract:

Sold milk from 800 block of Forest Avenue
Moved to Harms Road on Lake Avenue farm (Wilmette Golf Club grounds)
Returned to Wilmette — bottling plant — ice house eventually sold to Bowman Dairy Co.
Mother’s role — horse and buggy — run away!
School at Lake/Waukegan Road
German background of Mother
Central School experience
East-west Wilmette rivalries
Clothing of children around 1910
Violin lessons for a milk bill
Marriage — Plochman’s mustard
Tornado — Palm Sunday- 1920
“New library” - 1950
Miss Siniff — 1953 — Mrs. Witt and her work for Wilmette Library to present — 1981

Place of Publication:

Wilmette, Illinois

Date of Original:

December 9, 1975

Subject(s):

Oral histories
Witt, Anna Kathryn, 1895-1988

Local identifier:

R977.31 WI

Language of Item:

English

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