Chapter 1: “Just a Farmer” – Vinton Anderson
By Sherrie Benes
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
Acknowledgement: To my loving wife LaVerne and my parents, who taught me the value of hard work.
Introduction: As you read this story, told by Vinton Anderson, my wish is for you to feel the same compassion and humbleness I felt that day sitting around his kitchen table, listening to his story….enjoy!
“Well, I don’t know why you would want to interview me. I’m just a farmer.”
As Vinton spoke these words, you could feel how humble this man genuinely is, which made me want to learn more….
Vinton was born on January 3, 1926 and was the third of four children born to Harriett and Randolph Anderson of rural Whitewater, WI. The eldest being a sister Gwen (Vandiver), a brother Berwin, and a younger sister Lois (Benes).
The two brothers worked side by side on the farm starting off at an early age. Vinton told how they would have to get up at 4:00 in the morning to milk the cows by hand. Many times, this would make them late for school! “Ma would roll up some pancakes and we’d eat them while running to school,” he said.
While even eating their breakfast on the run, this still didn’t always get them to school on time! “When we got to school, the teacher would say, ‘you’re late!’ Well heck, we knew we were late. We had to milk the cows!” he exclaimed.
I think what might have also scared these boys, was the club Vinton described his teacher had, leaning against the wall in the front corner. Although he called it a club, we found out later that it was most likely a yardstick, but was probably referenced by the students as a club! “Boy, if you didn’t know your history, she would use it on your butt!” he exclaimed. Of course, I had to ask, “so did you get the club on your butt often?”
With a chuckle he replied, “oh no. But my brother Berwin did a lot!”
Another reason they may have been late for school was perhaps because of the gypsies, who would regularly camp along Island Road. I suppose if a child told their teacher this story today, the teacher would probably laugh! But for the Anderson children, who had to walk to this one room schoolhouse located on Hwy 89 and Island Road, from Anderson Road, it was a frightening experience! “If they were there, we would go on this side of the road or the other side around. Then we wouldn’t have to go through that way!” As he sat there reminiscing about the gypsies, he added “They’d have a fire, and they would be dancing…. they must’ve had a good life. But they didn’t have any money and they stole stuff. That wasn’t good.”
The other story he shared about school, was how it was so quiet in that one room schoolhouse, you could hear a pin drop! (He referenced this as the days when kids were seen and not heard!) One day Vinton heard something fall on the ground, which must’ve been something he had dropped. “As I bent down to pick it up, the teacher happened to be walking by at the same time. As I went to sit back up in my chair, my head got caught under her skirt!”
He chuckled when recalling this, but I’m sure he wasn’t chuckling back then as a young boy, knowing about that “club” which sat in the corner!
He also recalled how there were some mornings when he and his brother were milking, people would come down from the haymow. As I sat there in shock I asked, “weren’t you scared of them?”
“Oh no. They were just people that were hungry. So, we would send them to the house and Ma would make them a sandwich or give them an apple. Then we would see them leaving, walking down the laneway.” When I asked more about this, like did they continue to come back to sleep in their haymow, he reminded me that this was during the Great Depression, and these were “just people” who were hungry and passing through….
Vinton graduated 8th grade and was in his 9th year, when the news broke that the United States had entered WWII. Shortly after this, he came to realize that it would be the last days of his education.
This family knew all too well about war, since their father Randolph Anderson had served in WWI. “My dad served under General Pershing as his bodyguard,” he said. “I remember my dad telling me something that General Pershing had told him. He had said, ‘if we don’t go into Germany, we will be back in 20 years.’ We all hoped that there would never be another war.”
Twenty-one years later, after General Pershing had spoken these words to Officer Anderson, WWII had begun. As the war progressed, farmers were being asked to produce much more food with fewer workers without those who were drafted or enlisted. Without extra hired hands, this put much of the load around the farm on Vinton and his brother Berwin. As the family either heard news about the war from the Janesville Gazette or the radio, the news often hit close to home. One sad story he told was about a friend whom they knew. “He flew a B17 bomber. If you flew 25 raids, you were done so you could go home. He was on his 23rd raid over Germany, when he was shot down. He became a German POW, which wasn’t good. They didn’t treat their POWs very good. If you didn’t eat the slop they fed you, you would be dead of starvation. It wasn’t good…” The friend did make it home, but what a trying time for all.
Shortly after the war, Vinton met his soon to be wife LaVerne Grandt. He said he had met her at a dance down at the armory and he would sometimes drive her home. But then he recalled that the first time he met this neighbor girl, he was picking up a wagon his dad had bought at an auction. “She was trying to get the radiator cap off the M tractor, so I went over and took it off for her.” If anyone knew Laverne, you would probably know that she really didn’t need his help! She was never the “damsel in distress” kind of lady!
When Vinton finally asked for her hand in marriage, it was not without a say from her mother. Her father said that she was 18, an adult, so he gave Vinton his blessings. But much to Vinton’s dismay, her mother said they would have to wait another year, because she was needed on the farm! Her family grew vegetables, which LaVerne’s brothers would then drive down to Chicago to sell. It was clear that in that fall of 1948 they would all be needed to pick the crops, before any wedding was going to take place!
When fall finally arrived, Vinton said he quickly finished his own crops and anxiously went to help LaVerne and her parents pick their crops! After the completion of the harvest and with her parents’ blessings, they celebrated their marriage on January 22, 1949 as husband and wife.
They remained a devoted team for the next 46 years while raising their family on the farm. But sadly, on December 9, 1995 his wife was called home. “My wife should’ve gotten old with me,” he said with a sadness in his voice. But if you ever want to witness the phrase, “Behind Every Great Man, is a Great Woman” then you will still see the presence of LaVerne, around her husband Vinton….
Vinton continues to farm to this day and is anxiously awaiting the 2022 spring planting season.
I gave him the choice of two pictures I took last year while he was in the field. For the first one I had climbed up into the tractor and took a close-up picture of him. The other photo was a more distant picture, showing the whole tractor and planter, with him in it. After looking at them both he said “I like that one of the John Deere with the International weights on the front. That’s the tractor I’m going to plant with again this year!
‘Just a Farmer’…..
Our thanks to Vinton Anderson for being the first to share his story for our new feature, Chapter Story. If you know of anyone that would like to share their story, or your own story, please contact me at: WhitewaterBanner@gmail.com – Subject line: Chapter Story
I would love to meet you!
Sherrie
Our thanks also to the following two sponsors of this Chapter Story:
  | Lowell C. Hagen Trucking Company For all your liquid food grade hauling needs Whitewater, WI |
