A Midwinter's Day
Chenowa Station, Illinois, 1854

At the same time Margaret Schantz Moschel was grieving for her dead husband, times were changing on the Illinois prairie. Illinois was a state and the northern part of the state, including Chicago, were being settled fast. This area included the place where the former Illinek Indians had lived in the 1600's. The area's biggest town was Peoria. But further down the state, settlements were just emerging. One of these areas was Chenowa, which eventually would be another area important to the Moschel family. The names below are all real people, except for the first, Michael Cleary. Michael represents the many immigrants who built railroads and changed the face of America.

o o o

Michael Cleary was cold, wet, tired, and hungary. He was going to be relieved soon by one if his Irish mates and could go back to Bloomington to a decent meal and a warm room. He could hear the whistle of the train at the station in Pontiac. It would not be long now.

It was at times like these that Michael wondered why he ever left Ireland. The winters are so severe here and seem to start in October and go straight through until April.

"Mom and Dad are you laughing at me for doing the crossing?"

Michael often talked out loud to himself as he worked. There was no one to hear on this desolate prairie so he might as well have some company, and having his parents and brothers and sisters along in this small half sod, half board dugout which served as a depot, freight house, and home for the railroad section hands was better than no company at all. It passed the time. And time was long when the days were short, but the work was there in the cold, dark days of winter.

Michael had been in Illinois for two years helping to build part of the railroad and now serving one of the stations on the line from Alton to Chicago. He had lived at many of the stations as they were built 10 miles apart and this was one of the latest. He wondered if this place would blossom as he saw many of the other places do as soon as the railway came.

Why not. This place looked as good as the rest as far as the land and soil. None would compare to his beloved homeland, of course, but this rich prairie sod was dark and deep. When Michael had the chance to ride the iron horse through the prairies and not stoke the broiler he looked out on a feast to behold. The grasses were long and coarse and as tall as a man. The grasses swayed with the winds and went on for miles and miles and miles on both sides of the railways. It was flat, flat, flat as far as you could see.

Michael had the opportunity to ride both the Illinois Central railway from Centralia to Bloomington and the Chicago and Alton from Alton to its station in Pontiac. He was sure by the end of this year or perhaps into next they would have built the entire way to Chicago.

Michael wondered how this station got its name. Chenowa, or was it Chenoa, both were on the station sign, seemed foreign to him. Probably Indian he thought, but it did not sound like any Kickapoo word he knew. The Kickapoo had been moved from here by the government in 1832 just like the Illinek further north had been removed. Old timers had lots of tales about the Indians and Indian words were used to name lots of creeks and streams.

Thinking of the Kickapoo made him think of spring and how last spring he found so many arrowheads when he was working on building the line. He hoped he would again this year. It would be a collection he could give his kids some day, if he ever had kids. Ah, spring, when would it be here. It was only February and many long days ahead until spring.

The whistle was stronger. In a few minutes he would be picked up and then back to Bloomington. A few days away from this dugout would be fine with him. Some time to warm up, stay in a larger station, and have some conversation with his friends. The next few days looked better than this cold day on the prairie.

o o o

The railroads changed Illinois perhaps more than anything else before and since. By the end of 1855 Illinois had 2005 miles of track, more than any other western state. The first few miles of track were laid around Chicago in 1851 and by 1857 Chicago had a dozen truck lines feeding into the burgeoning city on the lake.

By the end of 1855 railroads crisscrossed the large state. Several lines went east and west and one major line almost cut the state in half north and south. It was called the Illinois Central. Then there was one line that went on a diagonal from Alton (near St. Louis) to Chicago. This railway was started by an Alton merchantman who wanted to usurp commercial trade away from St. Louis. He received his railway charter in 1847 and after getting more capital built his railroad in a relatively straight diagonal line from Alton to Chicago locating stations every 10 miles to allow for a new prairie town at each station.

One of these towns was Chenowa.

In 1852 a young 24-year-old, Matthew Scott of Kentucky, bought several thousand acres of Illinois prairie for himself, family, and friends. There were huge land sales of Illinois prairie between 1849-1855 for the going rate of $1.25 an acre. Mr. Scott bought where he knew the railroad would go and he did that around the place he wanted to call Chenowa. He chose the name Chenowa because it was the Indian word for Kentucky where he grew up. The deed recorder spelled it Chenoa and somehow it never got changed.

In 1854 there was nothing in Chenoa but the sod house of the railroad workers. But Matthew Scott had plans. He knew other railroad towns, like Decatur, went from zero settlers to 3000 in less than five years. He believed the same could happen to Chenoa and was ready to plan for it and laid out blocks, streets, and lots for a new town.

Scott was certain he could not lose. He could resell the land and probably double his profit in a couple of years. He would build a name and town and all before he was 30.

By the following year the first store came to Chenoa to serve the area farmers that were coming and were sure to come in larger numbers. The store, simply called the Farmer's Store, was run by J.B. Lenney. It was one block from the Chicago and Alton Railroad depot. The store served as a residence for Lenney, a cabinet shop, and a supply store. Lenney drove to Peoria to get his supplies those first few months and at that time he would not see another person or plowed furrow until he reached Washington in Tazewell County. Tazewell County was the place that Christian Moschel's brother moved to in 1853. It was from this spot that John Moschel wrote his brother still encouraging him to come. The letter came just a few months before Christian died.

Having no residents south of Washington County and Peoria was all to change in a very short period of time. Margaret Moschel would live to own land in and near Chenoa, even though she had never heard of it as she was grieving her dead husband in 1854. First Margaret would travel to Peoria (70 miles NW of Chenoa) where the ancestors of Grey Heron and the entire Illinek tribe had been moved to make room for the onslaught of the white settlers from Europe and the East Coast.

One hundred years later, in 1954, Margaret Moschel's great, great granddaughter would ride the in Centennial Parade of Chenoa as a 10-year-old wearing the wedding blouse of her Irish grandmother on a very hot summer's day. The little 10-year-old had no idea her roots in this land were so long. How could she? Nor did she understand that she was the namesake of Margaret Schantz Moschel of Webenheim. All the little girl knew was that her name was Theresa Margaret. It would take decades for her to appreciate her middle name and the woman who was christened with this name in 1813 in Webenheim, Germany.