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| Henry Erkman at left with friends |
Born: October 4, 1890 White Co., IL
Died: March 10, 1974, Wayne City, IL at home
Buried: March 12, 1974, Thomason Cemetery, Wayne City, IL
Married: 1) Edna Gurley, January 9, 1916 Wayne City, IL, divorced 1923 2) Mary Edmison; 3) Mary Edmison; 4) Essie Hilliard October 4, 1942, Cape Girardeau, MO
Military Service: September 5, 1918 - January 18, 1919, Company K, 40th Infantry, World War I
In 1942 grandpa was arrested for selling alcoholic liquor, to-wit: whiskey within the incorporated village of Wayne City on June 1, 1942. I've been told that he used to sell drinks at the back door of the pool hall on election day.
Occupation: farm laborer, carpenter, grandpa built a lot of houses in Wayne City, pool hall owner, radio repair shop owner, worked at Delco-Remy in Anderson, Indiana, worked at Kaiser shipyards in Vancouver, WA during World War II
Census:
1900 not listed with his parents in White Co., IL. He was 9 years old.
1910 Enfield Twp., White Co., IL living with his mother and older brother working on the family farm, he was 19.
1920 #220 Noble Street, Anderson, IN living with his wife and son along with his two sisters' families, Ernest & Sophia Jordan and Lonnie & Anna Wheeler. Henry was working at Delco-Remy.
1930 South Main Street, Wayne City, IL, renting a house or room for $5, divorced, working as a carpenter building houses, age 39
1940 West side of South Main Street, Wayne City, IL owned a home, working as the manager of the pool hall making $1200 a year.
Child:
Harold Erkman b. 6/23/1916, d. 2/11/1944 md. Iva Colclasure 4/21/1939
Henry Erkman by Trixie Lathrop
Grandpa Henry was a cantankerous old coot who lived to be 83 years old. He was appointed my guardian in 1940 because my mother died and my father was going into World War II. He let Lyman and Cora Gurley keep me for about a month until he found a home for me because he wasn't married. His sister Anna Wheeler and husband Lonnie agreed to take me into their home in Mill Shoals. Grandpa Henry was a carpenter by trade and belonged to the union for carpenters. He built lots of houses in Wayne City. During World War II he and his wife Essie went to Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington to work in a Navy plant. While out there they traveled the Northwest. Essie drove because Henry never learned how to drive a car. In 1955 he built us a house in Wayne City because he wanted to see me grow up better. I made him mad one day and he hit me on the shoulder with his hat. He was raised in Enfield, White Co., Ill. on a farm. He sat up nights with his mother before she died and carved a chain and thing-a-ma-bob out of wood with his name on it. He never went to church and only wore khaki clothes. I only saw him in a suit once in my life. That was in 1948 when my father's body was brought back from Italy for burial. He wore the suit to the funeral. He lived in Wayne City in 1944 when the news came about Harold's death. He had a pool hall and tavern in Wayne City and also ran a movie at one time. He had a radio fix it shop on Main Street in Wayne City too later in life. He always wanted me to tell him a whopper when I was little but I'd say I didn't know any and he'd say that was the biggest whopper of all. He always had a chew of tobacco in his jaw and a can to spit in by his bed. He lived in a little house alone and I'd go do his dishes for him if he cooked. He liked to cook fried potatoes and onions. Mom [Anna Wheeler] always made him macaroni and cheese too and he liked bacon boiled in beans. He ran trout lines and loved to fish in the river. He also liked to squirrel hunt but nothing else. He had a friend Virgil McRill who took care of him when he got old because he couldn't stand me. He died at home. He loved to garden and always had a large one. He gave away lots of vegetables. He always raised Kentucky wonder beans. Also Irish potatoes. He bought me my first watch, a Bulova with diamond chips on each side of the face. Also the red ring. He got it from Ira Holman.
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