The Theocrat

Charles Whitten

Few people appreciate the privilege of American citizenship more than does Charles Whitten, a native of Ireland, who still has vivid memories of his beloved homeland ravaged by a bloody and destructive revolution, in which families were torn apart and brother was often pitted against brother.

Unlike so many people who have migrated to America, Charlie has severed all ties with the old country and has become a full-fledged American. He hasn't been back to Ireland since he left his native soil in 1923 and he has no desire to return except possibly for a short visit.

While still a youth in Ireland he learned of this wonderful country through letters received from his aunt, the late Mrs. G. L. Bicket, and since coming here he has had no reason to regret it. He gained employment in the Johns Manville plant in Waukegan shortly after arriving and has never been out of work. At present he is employed on the automatic lathe, turning out moving parts for the popular Nash automobile manufactured in nearby Kenosha.

First Class Repairman

Although Whitten puts in a full day at the Nash plant, he still finds time in the evenings and on the weekends to provide an invaluable service to the community housewife, helping to keep in good repair such essential home appliances as the washing machine, the vacuum cleaner, the iron, etc. Charlie has gained a wide reputation for his ability to provide prompt and expert service and backs up his work with an honest guarantee. His workshop is located in his home at 2800 Elizabeth Avenue and he can be reached by calling Zion 2587.

Whitten also handles the agency for the popular One Minute Washer, which he considers the best machine on the market and promises to stand fully behind it, not just for the year guarantee, but beyond that period. Charlie is so confident of this machine that he promises to repair it free of charge if the trouble can be traced directly to a defect in the mechanism.

Miss Lloyd's First Baby

Charlie is married to the former Miss Vera Parker and they and their four-year-old daughter, Kathy, and Mrs. Whitten's mother, Mrs. Emile Parker, make their home in the old Parker residence. Mrs. Whitten is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Parker, who came direct from their native England to Zion in 1902. Vera enjoys the distinction of being the first Zion baby born under the supervision of Miss Ellen Lloyd.

Charlie and Vera first met in 1936, when Whitten borrowed a typing book. This chance meeting failed to strike the chord that started the wedding bells ringing, but it eventually led to another meeting that did. This book, which Charlie failed to return, resulted in a delayed, but none-the-less urgent call from Miss Parker asking for the immediate return of the article five years later—September 1941 to be exact and this time Dan Cupid was not to be denied. They were united in marriage Dec. 31, 1941, at the Grace Missionary church parsonage with the late Rev. Loren E. Pecaut officiating.

Born In Kinlugh, Ireland

Charlie was born on April 4, 1901, in Kinlugh, a thriving little community of 150 located in County Leitrim, 100 miles south of Belfast, Ireland. He was the oldest of nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. William Whitten.

At the time of Charlie's birth, his father was postmaster in Kinlugh, as had been his father, grandfather and great-grandfather before him. This distinguished post had been held by the head of the Whitten family since 1850, when Charlie's great-great-grandfather of the same name had been appointed by the British government.

Charlie attended the Kinlugh national school and was graduated from Kinlugh Technical school in 1917. He recalls with interest that his education was administered to the tune of the proverbial hickory stick, (or was it a shillelagh?) which both men and women instructors wielded with equal skill and effect.

Entertained the Wounded

Whitten's chief accomplishment while attending school was his ability to play the piano and during the first World War he enjoyed the privilege of entertaining some of the wounded soldiers, who were convalescing in the Baggot hospital in Dublin.

This opportunity to be of service to some of England's soldiers came to Charlie purely through accident an accident in which he fell off a horse and suffered a broken collarbone and a back injury. When he was admitted to this hospital it was a civilian hospital, but before he was discharged, the British government had taken it over and converted it into an army hospital.

Although Charlie admits that he has since lost the touch of the ivories, at that time he was able to play with considerable skill such contemporary hits as Tipperary, Beautiful K-k-katie, The Camels Are Coming, etc.

His chief hobbies in those days were hunting and fishing and Ireland had open season the year around at that time. He also enjoyed an occasional game of amateur soccer, which was the Irish national pastime.

Following school days, Charlie worked with his father in the Kinlugh Post Office, serving both as a clerk and mail carrier as well as a messenger boy for the telegraph company. When the Irish Insurrection flared into a full-fledged revolution, however, both he and his father were thrown out of work.

The Irish Revolution

Charlie gained employment in the Water Works Department in Belfast, and there he became involved in the mortal struggle of his countrymen. All government employees automatically became B. Specialists attached to the regular police, known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary. He was armed with two pistols and a carbine.

The maintenance of law and order in Ireland in those days was almost impossible as everyone became embroiled in the struggle, with brother often fighting brother in a most deadly and cruel fashion. Many of the big buildings of Belfast were destroyed and it was not uncommon to see dead and wounded on the streets at any hour of the day or night.

It was while engaged in this harrowing duty that he decided to accept the invitation of Mrs. Bicket to come to Zion. Charlie and his younger brother, Jack, arrived in Zion on Sept. 3, 1923, and made their first home with Mr. and Mrs. Bicket and their three sons, Lyle, William and Paul, at the old family residence, 2906 Enoch Avenue. Mr. and Mrs. Bicket have since died, but William and Lyle today are prominent businessmen in Zion and Paul is a minister in Wisconsin.

Remembers Kindness

The people of Zion all treated Charlie and Jack with kindness and Charlie remembers with affection two of Zion's former citizens, the late Mr. Frank Homerighouse and the late Frank Snyder. When Mr. Homerighouse learned of Jack and Charlie's plan to bring their family over to America, he purchased the home at 2903 Enoch so that they would have a home on their arrival.

Besides Mr. and Mrs. Whitten, two other sons, William and Hamilton, and four sisters, Mable, Eileen, Violet and Faith, also arrived in Zion in 1924. William is now living in Waukegan and Hamilton died in 1940. Mable, now Mrs. Oran Jacobson, is a resident of Burbank, Calif., while Eileen, now Mrs. John Miller, and Faith and Violet, all live at 2106 Elisha Ave.

Incidentally Violet at present is employed as secretary to Charles P. Wikel, manager of the Johns Manville plant in Waukegan, and during the recent war she served as a secretary in the United States Intelligence Department in this country and Alaska.

The Whitten family soon after arriving in Zion purchased their own home at 2010 Elim Avenue. This was one of the oldest houses in the neighborhood and needed plenty of repair work, but the Whittens promptly went about the business of putting the home in tiptop shape and lived there for a period of over 18 years. Mr. Whitten succumbed in 1929 and Mrs. Whitten died in 1938.

A Treasured Heirloom

A treasured heirloom in the Whitten family, which at present remains as the only real tie between the old and new world, is a very valuable set of China, which Mrs. Whitten received as a gift from Lady Eva Gore Booth, a titled English lady, who had been Mrs. Whitten's Sunday School teacher in her youth. This China set since has been divided among the girls in the Whitten family.

Although Charlie has never entirely lost his Irish brogue and still would be recognized as a son of Old Erin, he is every inch an American. During the recent war he served a short period in the American army and would have participated in the Battle of North Africa, had not a serious injury cut his military career short in 1943. He is a member of the American Legion, Zion-Benton Post 865 and he served as a constable in Benton township for eight years, from 1936 to 1944. Although no longer able to find time for a hobby, he still has a yen to go fishing and hunting, which he enjoyed so much as a youth in his native Ireland.

This is the 66th in this series of articles designed to familiarize local readers with the background of local businessmen and professional men and the store or office they represent. These articles are being published in cooperation with the Theocrat and under the auspices of the Zion State Bank.