THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS WRITTEN BY CHESTER IN 1970 WHEN HE WAS 74 YEARS OLD AND SENT TO CECIL ALLAIN IN THE FORM OF A LETTER. THE INFORMATION WAS THEN SHARED WITH KATHYE SNYDER-KNIGHT...
Chester started working in his grade school years in a general store for Z. P. Baron, before and after school hours. During the summers and on vacations he would work on nearby farms. He left home before he finished the seventh grade to work for Bear Brand Hosiery, a knitting mill in Kankakee, Illinois. Later, he worked for a sewing machine factory and eventually left Kankakee for Chicago. While in Chicago he had several jobs. He worked for a furnace company, a meat market, and was a delivery boy. He was a clerk in some large stores, and a file clerk for the Central Railroad. He came back to St. Anne, Illinois to spend a year on the farm. At this point he says, in 1916, he got itchy feet. He hopped a freight train to Chicago and another one to the harvest fields in Minnesota and South Dakota where he spent three months plowing. From there he went to Pratt, Kansas, and worked as a clerk in a hardware store. Pratt seemed to become his second home since he liked it there and continued to return.
In June 1917, he enlisted in the Army at Wichita, Kansas, and was sent to Denver, Colorado, and later to Arizona. In February 1918, he was headed for France and was active in five battles at the front. After the Armistice was signed, his company marched into Germany and spent 8 months there. He returned to the states in August 1919 and was discharged at Camp Grant at Rockford, Illinois.
When he reached the age of twenty-three, he really began to travel, working in all of the places that he visited. He drove a truck, worked in the rice fields, and pruned peach trees in California… from Illinois to Kansas, to Fort Peck, Montana, to Seattle and Portland.
He went back to St. Anne in 1934 when his father died. He returned to Chicago and worked for Acme Steel. He drove a car to California, and then took a freight train to Kansas. He worked for a telephone company in Arizona and later returned to Pratt, Kansas to work in the hardware store.
In 1940, he headed for Alaska. His first job there was with a coal mine at Jonesville and an underground gold mine at Lucky Shot, Alaska. After that, he worked as an engineer for the University of Alaska. During the summers he over-hauled boilers for the Northern Commercial Company. He spent two winters trapping up north at Circle Hot Springs, returning back and forth to the University. He worked at Kodiak for the Navy in a water plant. He took a "little trip" in 1950, from Kodiak to San Francisco to St. Anne and back to Kodiak. He worked with the utilities at Fairbanks and for the Ladd Air Force Base.
He retired in 1962 and bought a cabin 127 miles north of Fairbanks on Burch Creek along the Steese Highway. He lived there until October 1968, and then returned to Illinois. In 1970 he was once again living in Alaska but was planning to return to Kankakee in the summer.
Chester started working in his grade school years in a general store for Z. P. Baron, before and after school hours. During the summers and on vacations he would work on nearby farms. He left home before he finished the seventh grade to work for Bear Brand Hosiery, a knitting mill in Kankakee, Illinois. Later, he worked for a sewing machine factory and eventually left Kankakee for Chicago. While in Chicago he had several jobs. He worked for a furnace company, a meat market, and was a delivery boy. He was a clerk in some large stores, and a file clerk for the Central Railroad. He came back to St. Anne, Illinois to spend a year on the farm. At this point he says, in 1916, he got itchy feet. He hopped a freight train to Chicago and another one to the harvest fields in Minnesota and South Dakota where he spent three months plowing. From there he went to Pratt, Kansas, and worked as a clerk in a hardware store. Pratt seemed to become his second home since he liked it there and continued to return.
In June 1917, he enlisted in the Army at Wichita, Kansas, and was sent to Denver, Colorado, and later to Arizona. In February 1918, he was headed for France and was active in five battles at the front. After the Armistice was signed, his company marched into Germany and spent 8 months there. He returned to the states in August 1919 and was discharged at Camp Grant at Rockford, Illinois.
When he reached the age of twenty-three, he really began to travel, working in all of the places that he visited. He drove a truck, worked in the rice fields, and pruned peach trees in California… from Illinois to Kansas, to Fort Peck, Montana, to Seattle and Portland.
He went back to St. Anne in 1934 when his father died. He returned to Chicago and worked for Acme Steel. He drove a car to California, and then took a freight train to Kansas. He worked for a telephone company in Arizona and later returned to Pratt, Kansas to work in the hardware store.
In 1940, he headed for Alaska. His first job there was with a coal mine at Jonesville and an underground gold mine at Lucky Shot, Alaska. After that, he worked as an engineer for the University of Alaska. During the summers he over-hauled boilers for the Northern Commercial Company. He spent two winters trapping up north at Circle Hot Springs, returning back and forth to the University. He worked at Kodiak for the Navy in a water plant. He took a "little trip" in 1950, from Kodiak to San Francisco to St. Anne and back to Kodiak. He worked with the utilities at Fairbanks and for the Ladd Air Force Base.
He retired in 1962 and bought a cabin 127 miles north of Fairbanks on Burch Creek along the Steese Highway. He lived there until October 1968, and then returned to Illinois. In 1970 he was once again living in Alaska but was planning to return to Kankakee in the summer.
THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS WRITTEN BY CHESTER IN 1970 WHEN HE WAS 74 YEARS OLD AND SENT TO CECIL ALLAIN IN THE FORM OF A LETTER. THE INFORMATION WAS THEN SHARED WITH KATHYE SNYDER-KNIGHT...
Chester started working in his grade school years in a general store for Z. P. Baron, before and after school hours. During the summers and on vacations he would work on nearby farms. He left home before he finished the seventh grade to work for Bear Brand Hosiery, a knitting mill in Kankakee, Illinois. Later, he worked for a sewing machine factory and eventually left Kankakee for Chicago. While in Chicago he had several jobs. He worked for a furnace company, a meat market, and was a delivery boy. He was a clerk in some large stores, and a file clerk for the Central Railroad. He came back to St. Anne, Illinois to spend a year on the farm. At this point he says, in 1916, he got itchy feet. He hopped a freight train to Chicago and another one to the harvest fields in Minnesota and South Dakota where he spent three months plowing. From there he went to Pratt, Kansas, and worked as a clerk in a hardware store. Pratt seemed to become his second home since he liked it there and continued to return.
In June 1917, he enlisted in the Army at Wichita, Kansas, and was sent to Denver, Colorado, and later to Arizona. In February 1918, he was headed for France and was active in five battles at the front. After the Armistice was signed, his company marched into Germany and spent 8 months there. He returned to the states in August 1919 and was discharged at Camp Grant at Rockford, Illinois.
When he reached the age of twenty-three, he really began to travel, working in all of the places that he visited. He drove a truck, worked in the rice fields, and pruned peach trees in California… from Illinois to Kansas, to Fort Peck, Montana, to Seattle and Portland.
He went back to St. Anne in 1934 when his father died. He returned to Chicago and worked for Acme Steel. He drove a car to California, and then took a freight train to Kansas. He worked for a telephone company in Arizona and later returned to Pratt, Kansas to work in the hardware store.
In 1940, he headed for Alaska. His first job there was with a coal mine at Jonesville and an underground gold mine at Lucky Shot, Alaska. After that, he worked as an engineer for the University of Alaska. During the summers he over-hauled boilers for the Northern Commercial Company. He spent two winters trapping up north at Circle Hot Springs, returning back and forth to the University. He worked at Kodiak for the Navy in a water plant. He took a "little trip" in 1950, from Kodiak to San Francisco to St. Anne and back to Kodiak. He worked with the utilities at Fairbanks and for the Ladd Air Force Base.
He retired in 1962 and bought a cabin 127 miles north of Fairbanks on Burch Creek along the Steese Highway. He lived there until October 1968, and then returned to Illinois. In 1970 he was once again living in Alaska but was planning to return to Kankakee in the summer.
Chester started working in his grade school years in a general store for Z. P. Baron, before and after school hours. During the summers and on vacations he would work on nearby farms. He left home before he finished the seventh grade to work for Bear Brand Hosiery, a knitting mill in Kankakee, Illinois. Later, he worked for a sewing machine factory and eventually left Kankakee for Chicago. While in Chicago he had several jobs. He worked for a furnace company, a meat market, and was a delivery boy. He was a clerk in some large stores, and a file clerk for the Central Railroad. He came back to St. Anne, Illinois to spend a year on the farm. At this point he says, in 1916, he got itchy feet. He hopped a freight train to Chicago and another one to the harvest fields in Minnesota and South Dakota where he spent three months plowing. From there he went to Pratt, Kansas, and worked as a clerk in a hardware store. Pratt seemed to become his second home since he liked it there and continued to return.
In June 1917, he enlisted in the Army at Wichita, Kansas, and was sent to Denver, Colorado, and later to Arizona. In February 1918, he was headed for France and was active in five battles at the front. After the Armistice was signed, his company marched into Germany and spent 8 months there. He returned to the states in August 1919 and was discharged at Camp Grant at Rockford, Illinois.
When he reached the age of twenty-three, he really began to travel, working in all of the places that he visited. He drove a truck, worked in the rice fields, and pruned peach trees in California… from Illinois to Kansas, to Fort Peck, Montana, to Seattle and Portland.
He went back to St. Anne in 1934 when his father died. He returned to Chicago and worked for Acme Steel. He drove a car to California, and then took a freight train to Kansas. He worked for a telephone company in Arizona and later returned to Pratt, Kansas to work in the hardware store.
In 1940, he headed for Alaska. His first job there was with a coal mine at Jonesville and an underground gold mine at Lucky Shot, Alaska. After that, he worked as an engineer for the University of Alaska. During the summers he over-hauled boilers for the Northern Commercial Company. He spent two winters trapping up north at Circle Hot Springs, returning back and forth to the University. He worked at Kodiak for the Navy in a water plant. He took a "little trip" in 1950, from Kodiak to San Francisco to St. Anne and back to Kodiak. He worked with the utilities at Fairbanks and for the Ladd Air Force Base.
He retired in 1962 and bought a cabin 127 miles north of Fairbanks on Burch Creek along the Steese Highway. He lived there until October 1968, and then returned to Illinois. In 1970 he was once again living in Alaska but was planning to return to Kankakee in the summer.
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