Wilmette Public Library Local History Digital Collection

Anna Kathryn Witt (1895-1988) oral history

Description

Comments (0)

Track 15, Transcript p. 18-19: Track 15, Transcript p. 18-19
Transcription: Track 15 Mrs. Witt, would you tell me about the cottage that your parents lived in when they were first married? AW: Well, it was built in about the .1880's in the 800 block on Forest Avenue of Wilmette and there were very few other houses around this place. In fact, it was basically all woods, and they -- -- my father worked as a coachman for Sam Dingee. He was an early settler of Wilmette and -- M: Do you remember by any chance where the Dingees lived? AW: Yes, they lived on Lake Avenue and I think it was either Tenth or Eleventh Street. I think the house is still standing. The house is still there. And then they built this little house on Forest, as I said before, and they started having cows, starting with one or two and finally accumulating about fifteen cows, and selling the milk in little cans to neighbors and, people around the vicinity of their home. And then Wilmette was beginning to grow and there were regulations and that -- -- how shall I put that? M: Well, that they weren't allowed to keep… AW: Yes, animals. It became a law that we could not keep Anita Witt, cont p.19 animals. Rather cows in our yards, or on our property. And so - - M: How did you feed these cows? AW: They must have brought in feed, or maybe they had a hay field or something I'm just not sure about that. At that point I wasn't born, and I never thought about that part of it, but then my father decided that he wanted to stay and get into the milk business. So he moved our family which consisted, I think of three children at that time, and we moved to the Peter Hoffman farm on Lake Avenue and Harms Road, which is now occupied by the Wilmette Golf Club. And there was a large barn there and we had about a hundred cows, and we did not bottle our milk or sell it at that time ourselves, but the bigger companies from Evanston, I believe it was, would come in and pick up the milk and - - in big cans and so then we finally decided that, during this period after we moved back to Wilmette. I was born there in 1895 and along with two brothers at that same place, and then we decided to move back to Wilmette and do our own bottling and delivering of milk, so we had a bottling plant set up and the milk had to be pasteurized by this time since there were new laws concerning the -- --
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): Librarians
Milking
Oral histories
Wilmette Public Library
Wilmette (Ill.)--History
Personal Name(s): Witt, Anna Kathryn
Local identifier: R977.31 WI
Language of Item: English
Copyright Statement: Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Copyright Date: 1975
Copyright Holder: Wilmette Public Library
Copyright Holder Contact Information: 1242 Wilmette Ave.
Wilmette, IL 60091
U.S.A.
Recommended Citation: Witt, Anna Kathryn, and Briggs Maselli. Anna Witt. Wilmette, Ill: Wilmette Public Library District, 1975.
Contact: Wilmette Public Library
Email:refdesk@wilmettelibrary.info
Website:
https://www.wilmettelibrary.info/

Agency street/mail address:
1242 Wilmette Avenue
Wilmette, IL
60091-2558
U.S.A. Phone: 847-256-6930