Gray Herndon, Springfield lawyer, recalls rural life near New City in Sangamon County, Illinois: childhood, education, teaching, and farming. He recalls turn-of-the-century farming practices: machinery, crops, fencing, harvesting, threshing, drainage tile; childhood amusements, fishing, prohibition, moonshine production, and the Depression. He also recalls his law studies at the University of Michigan, Springfield law practice, early 20th century Springfield coal mining, and Springfield area railroads, interurbans and roads. He recalls stories of early settlers, water powered mills, and the first telephones in the area.

Interview by Barbara Herndon, 1972 OPEN See collateral file