Dear Reader...a delightful thing happened between Scene Two and Scene Three. The first two scenes of this story were written in late 1997 and early 1998. They sat for two years. I had originally conceptualized ten scenes, but ran out of steam for both research and writing after doing two scenes. In September 2000 we changed our ThinkPint2.com website and added genealogy charts and stories and published them in cyberspace. Six months later in early March 2001, I received an email from Markus Klein in Webenheim, Germany. Not only had he read the Moschel stories on the website, but we were related, fourth cousins twice removed!! His family represented the Moschels who had not moved from Webenheim in the 1850's and 1860's. In an email frenzy which continues to go on, the two branches of the Moschel family, those that stayed and those that moved, were reconnected. I then emailed two family members in the U.S. who are interested in genealogy and family research about the news of a German cousin found. This added Elly Hess and Greg Rittenhouse to the mix of the family members elated and following the story of the family's reconnection after 140 years of separation. Both Elly and Greg redoubled their research efforts and Elly continued in cherished role of lead cheerleader. Markus added research information from his post in Webenheim and kept us on the edge of our seats as the story unfolded. Thus, the story that started in my mind several years ago was changing almost daily as new "old" facts were discovered. It is a joy to be a part of it. This, then, is the joint effort of the four of us, but I take responsibility for the errors and omissions and mix of fact and fiction in the story that is told. In this scene you will see how the Moschels of 1862 separated geographically.

This is a story of how German immigration changes the face of America and what happened to those Germans that remain in the fatherland. It is seen through the eyes and lives of the Moschels, a German family. The year of this part of the story is 1862. The four geographical areas involved are: Peoria, Illinois, area; Chenoa, Illinois; Beatrice, Nebraska Territory; and Webenheim, Bavaria, Germany. The story takes place in 1862 and views the Moschel families in two locations and two additional locations where the Moschels will live in the future.

In 1862 the U.S. is embroiled in the Civil War between the North and the South lead by President Abraham Lincoln and his generals. Relatives in Germany continued to live during a period of discord. The German Confederation was disbanded in 1866; North German states banded together with Prussia in 1867; and the South German states were closely bound to the North by membership in the Zollverin, which was a customs union to eliminate tariff barriers. Wars occurred in 1866 in Austria and the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. The German Empire was founded in 1871 following the defeat of France by the Prussians. Wilhelm I became Kaiser and Bismarck was Chancellor and Prince. Thus, conflict abounded on both sides of the Atlantic.

Our story, though, takes us to four places; two in the state of Illinois (a state since 1818); one in the territory of Nebraska (made a state in 1867); and one in Bavaria, one of the South German states.

Elly Hess, great, great granddaughter of John Moschel

Peoria, Illinois For some of the Moschels the year of 1862 is the biggest geographical move made since 1738 when Nickel Moschel moved from Mimbach, Germany, to Webenheim, Germany. The relocation in 1738 was one mile. In 1862 it was several thousand miles to the "new world."

Margaret Schantz Moschel, as noted in Scene Two, was widowed in Germany in 1854 (later research now determines that it was 1856). Margaret moved almost halfway around the world to start a new life at age 49. Various parts of the Moschel family live around Peoria in four small towns, each influenced by German immigration. In 1856 there were 1445 Germans estimated to be in Peoria, and obviously more if you counted the surrounding small towns that the Moschels lived in as well.

Most of the Moschels became farmers near Peoria but a shopkeeper or two was not unknown. By 1862 most of the Moschels who were emigrating from Webenheim had done so. The trip that started on a railroad in Saarbrucken ended on a steamer in Peoria. Many of the Moschels who disembarked the steamer in the 1860's were greeted by other Moschels who had emigrated in the 1850's. The new world thus touched the old world in the joy of families being reunited in a new life. A life they would build together, helping each other through many difficult times in this strange new world.

Margaret Schantz Moschel will be our storyteller in Peoria.What was life like for Margaret as she started a new life in America? What were her concerns? What were her fears? What were her hopes for herself? Her family?

Theresa Ripley, great granddaughter of Margaret Moschel Klein

Chenoa, Illinois Many Moschels will eventually settle in the small town of Chenoa in the 1870's. Chenoa was established in 1854 as one of the stations of the Illinois Central railway from Alton to Chicago. The Chenoa area was to become a major player in being a part of the huge cornbelt tying together the prairie plains. Low prices for grain between 1857 and 1862 caused the land developers to pause in their original plans. By the early 1860's Matthew Scott, the prime developer of early Chenoa, had improved 5000 acres of land in Chenoa township. He hired sod busters to break prairie for $2.25 to $3 per acre. In 1862 Scott's improved land brought $20 an acre.

Even though a town recognized as such was not established until 1864, a Chenoa post office existed by 1856. In 1861 the population of Chenoa was 552 with 103 homes. The population burgeoned after the Civil War to 2000 people, which is when much of the German immigration occurred.

Chenoa, as the rest of the nation, was embroiled in the Civil War in 1862. The population of the entire state of Illinois was 1,700,000 in 1860, twice as many as ten years before, and from that total 259,092 men were in the army and navy of the Civil War. The very small town of Chenoa had 50 to 60 enlistments. Some of these were in the 33rd regiment originally started at Illinois State Normal School near Bloomington. It was called the Teacher's Regiment. Other local regiments included the 94th Illinois infantry.

A sod buster, turned soldier is our storyteller. What was it like to be in Chenoa, Illinois, in 1862 for this individual whom we call John Wall?

Greg Rittenhouse, great great grandson of Margaret Schantz Moschel

Beatrice, Nebraska Territory Beatrice, Nebraska, which was founded and named in 1857 but did not officially become a town until 1874. In the 1870's many of the Moschels moved to Beatrice, including Margaret Schantz Moschel, the widow who raised a family in Webenheim and moved to Peoria at age 49. Margaret moves to Beatrice with several of her adult children who eventually become prominent shopkeepers and business leaders and farmers of the community. Beatrice is only 37 miles south of Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska, still a territory in 1862, had only 28,841 people in the entire huge area at that time.

But in 1862 there was one person living near Beatrice, Nebraska Territory, who was the beginning of a tidal wave of more to come. His name was Daniel Freeman and he was the first person to avail himself of the Homestead Act of 1862. Under this act a homesteader could claim a 160 acres of land; live on it; improve it for five years; and all for the filing fee of $18. Daniel Freeman's parcel is 3 miles from Beatrice. Many, many homesteaders followed Freeman in the years to come. Some to farm. Others to serve the farmers. The Moschels did both.

What was it like to be the Daniel Freeman, first homesteader in Nebraska?

Markus Klein, 4th great grandson of Phillipp Moschel

Webenheim, Bavaria, Germany Among the Moschels remaining in Webenheim, were two brothers Phillipp and Jacob Moschel, both middle-aged and with families. These brothers were to live and die in Webenheim while the rest of their brothers, sisters, and nieces and nephews emigrated to the new world. Two other Moschel brothers were dead and buried in Webenheim by 1862, they being Margaret Schantz Moschel's husband, Christian, and George Christian. Both died in 1856. Some members of George Christian Moschel's family also emigrated to America, going to New York State.

The population of Webenheim in 1861-63 was 906, by 1875 it had decreased 12%. Even within the families of Phillipp and Jacob not all remained in Webenheim. Phillipp's only son, Christian, came to the new world to join his Moschel relatives in the Peoria area. Phillipp's daughters stayed in Webenheim. Christian is almost the only example we have of one family member going to America and all the rest staying in place in Webenheim.

Phillipp is our storyteller in Webenheim. Why do these two Moschel brothers stay in Webenheim? What holds them to the fatherland? Do they keep in contact with their brothers and sisters in America?

Thus, in the four acts that follow we will try to answer the questions posed above. We will continue to unwind the story of the Moschels in 1862 from the places they had lived and some still lived (Webenheim, Germany) to the places they were living then (Peoria and small towns surrounding Peoria) to the places they would live in the decade of the 1870's (Chenoa and Beatrice).

Join us on the journey.