SEGMENT: BACKGROUND, LIVESTOCK, & LAND ACQUISITION
William Wertheim>UIS Collection T-Z>UIS Collection T-Z, Segment 2
| <-Previous Segment | Next Segment-> |
- BACKGROUND
- William Wertheim [a Jew] says he was treated just like any of the boys. He never married.
- LIVESTOCK
- Discusses how he learned the livestock business by driving cattle for the Soltenstein brothers. Did not get paid leading horses & mules to Athens. Mules then fed & shipped to St. Louis.
- FARM-RELATED WORK
- Learned butchery skills from George Lomino & earned $3/wk at the age of ~16 yrs. Worked there for 2 yrs, then started his own cattle-buying & butchery business. Discusses first business deal with Gebhardt-Bricks [store?] in Springfield.
- LAND ACQUISITION
- Discussion of selling everything to join army in WWI. Traded house for 40 acres of land. Then bought adjoining 160 acres from Charley Watts [after the war].
- RECOLLECTIONS
- Served as supply sergeant in war. Lived at Mrs. Churchill's boarding house in Springfield for a while after return from military service. Commuted back & forth from Athens by train, then by car.
