by the Cousins Four

Dear Reader...If you are following us along, you know there is some time between writing each piece that is uploaded. This piece is being written in August 2001. The Cousins Four are jelling as a team, and research emerges and changes speculations as more is discovered. Greg is still our prime researcher and is uncovering facts that leave the rest of us in awe of his ability to outdo even Sherlock Holmes. As each month passes, we uncover more of the past and understand the stories of the Moschels who emigrated and those who remained in Webenheim. Elly still cheers and has now taken the lead in uncovering facts for an unrelated story. As happens in genealogy, when it rains, it pours. At about the same time Markus in Germany discovered us in March 2001, new leads were happening on another family line near and dear to the hearts of Greg, Elly, and Theresa. This is the Phillips family line. Elly has taken prime responsibility there so Greg and Theresa can focus on the Moschel story. Markus continues to uncover facts in Germany. Greg was able to find records of Markus' family in the U.S. unavailable in Germany, making a great joy for all of us to share. Theresa continues to put words and pictures to the facts being found.

We four have brought different skills and resources to the project. Elly and Theresa both use the genealogy software program Family Tree Maker and can record the facts to use in various ways. Greg uses all of the resources of the Los Angeles Public Library and the nearest Latter Day Saints Genealogy Library with great finesse. Markus uses all local history resources including local historian Horst Weingart. None of the U.S. cousins speak German fluently, although Greg is doing well with research-level German needed for his sleuthing. Theresa has a website and is learning to use software to upload their research results. We all are beginning to understand that the process of unraveling the story holds equal interest to the story being pursued.

Let us return to the story being researched. So far in this scene set in 1862 we have visited the Peoria, Illinois, area where Margaret Schantz Moschel and most of the rest of the Moschels now live. Margaret both plans and executes a gathering of the Moschels in August 1862 in Illinois. We next visited Chenoa, Illinois, in the same time frame and focused on the techniques of raising corn on the Midwest prairie. Next we went to Beatrice, Nebraska Territory, as the Homestead Act became viable and people could come to the area to get their 160 acres of free land.

Elfriede Klein

Now we return to the fatherland in Webenheim, Germany, where some of the Moschels still remain. History and politics have a huge influence on what happens to the residents of this area of Germany. Join us as we speculate on the life and times of Philipp Moschel, fourth great grandfather to Markus, second great grandfather to Elfriede Klein and second great uncle to Elly, Greg, and Theresa.

***

Philipp Moschel was born in 1813 and in the autumn of 1862 he was 48 and a farmer in Webenheim. As is the case with farmers in this part of the world at this time, he had to walk some distance from his house to the various small fields he owned. We will join Philipp on one of his walks back from his field near Mimbach to his home in the village of Webenheim on a cold, crisp day in October. Now let us join Philipp.

Philipp could see the Mimbach church in the distance and within five minutes he would make his habitual stops at the church cemetery. These stops to visit his family comforted him and were an anchor to his life, reminding him to slow down and honor the past. The field work was almost done this year and he was ready to slow his pace before the onset of winter. These walks back and forth from the field seemed arduous during the planting, cultivating, and harvesting season, but now it was different. There was less worry about getting the crop in and providing for his family this year. At 48 years of age each year's farming tasks were getting more difficult. If only I had a son to help, Philipp thought. This reoccurring thought went in and out of his mind quickly. It had to. There were no sons.

Philipp was a farmer, always had been and always will be. Today he was walking back from the im pfaffeneck field near the church where he had planted barley this year. The grain had been harvested and was ready to be milled, but he was surveying this field near Mimbach and considering what crop he would raise there next year. This year it had been barley, next year it would be clover. He was also going to talk with the mill owner today in Mimbach, Daniel Weber, to see when he could mill his grain. Before talking with Daniel, he would stop at the cemetery. Remember the past before dealing with the present thought Philipp.

Philipp quickened his gait and now was just a few yards from the Mimbach church and cemetery. He knew where he was going. He had done it dozens of times before. Or so it seemed. First he would go to the gravemarker of his parents. There it was, Beloved Wife and Mother Maria Elisabetha Agne, and further down the stone was carved Beloved Father George Nickel Moschel. His mother died in 1851 and his father died 13 months later. Both of them had been gone a decade. Sometimes it seemed that long or longer and other times it seemed like yesterday. He remembered the funeral processions carrying the caskets from Webenheim to Mimbach for both. Each in winter. Each cold.

In 1851, when his mother died, all of his siblings were still in Webenheim. The family procession to the cemetery in Mimbach included all the adult children: Elisabetha, Bartholemaus, Christian, Johannes, Friedrich, Jakob, Nickel, himself, and Charlotte. Afterwards they all walked back to Webenheim to his father's house to eat. Now he thought of that as a pleasant time. At the time he did not. Time has a way of changing your perceptions. Even though it was a sad occasion in 1851, they were all together, except for his mother. He was 38 then and could imagine no larger sorrow than losing one's mother. Philipp, though, was no stranger to sorrow, even in 1851. A son, Ludwig Philipp had died in 1844 at age 5, but son Ludwig was sick from the start and death seemed a blessing in some ways. Never accepted, but tolerated.

Loss was to become a constant in Philipp's life in the 1850's and early 1860's. In the span of a short decade he lost parents, brothers, sisters, and children. Some to death. Some to emigration. There was only one brother left in Webenheim, and he was quite ill. How could this happen in such a short time?

Philipp had to stop this thinking and keep on with his habit, well honed, of honoring these losses. Next stop in the cemetery was at the gravemarker for his brother Christian. The words on the marker said Beloved Husband and Father Christian Moschel, born October 5, 1800, died January 3, 1856. His brother was buried with two of his infant children. The cold burial day was another family procession from Webenheim to the Mimbach cemetery. The meal after Christian's funeral was at the home of his family. His wife, Margaret Schantz Moschel, was pregnant when her husband Christian died. Two of Christian's children had already emigrated to America by the time their father died, but seven children remained in Webenheim. Brother Christian's death had occurred only 5 years after his father's death.

Buried next to Christian was his brother, Bartholemaus, born June 15, 1798, and died May 17, 1856, the same year as Christian. Phillipp remembered the funeral procession as being a warm day. Bartholemaus was buried with an infant daughter and his wife had joined him here this year as well. Some of Bartholemaus children had left for America now as well. The times were changing.

The last stop in the cemetery was always the same. It was his family plot, which already had three names. Three sons born. Three sons died. The top of the stone read, Hier ruhen in Gott.

Ludwig Philipp Moschel
Born July 13, 1839
Died January 25, 1844

Ludwig Moschel
Born March 26, 1853
Died May 2, 1853

Ludwig Moschel
Born January 13, 1855
Died January 13, 1855

Philipp was ready to leave the cemetery grounds after a silent prayer and touching the family marker with his right hand and then touching his hand to his lips. The next part of his habit for remembering would take place after he talked with Daniel at the Mimbach mill.

***

Mimbach Mill

Philipp left the mill. Daniel told him when the barley could be milled, and Phillip made plans to do that. After this thinking was done, he returned to remembering his losses before reaching home, symbolically leaving them outside so he could focus on what was happening at home when he arrived at the door. Some people might think all of this a bit morose, but not Philipp. He thought of it as a way to honor what had happened to him and the changes endured over such a short time. The Moschels had been in Mimbach/Webenheim since the 1500's, now many of them were gone but not buried here as in the past.

Philipp knew he had about 11,000 steps, a German mile plus 1000, to make it to home from Mimbach to Webenheim. Philipp started his walk down the main street of Mimbach. Long ago he had marked off the steps, and knew the visual marker where he would be at 1000 steps, 2000 steps, 3000 steps. He divided his walking time from Mimbach in the following way. For the first 1000 steps he thought of pleasant times with his mother, the second 1000 steps he thought of pleasant times with his father, the third 1000 steps he thought of pleasant times with his brother Christian, for the fourth 1000 steps he thought of pleasant times with brother Bartholemaus, and for the fifth 1000 steps he prayed for his little sons buried in Mimbach.

This remembering brought him half of the way to Webenheim. By this time he had crossed the road that went to Blieskastel to the left and he started the slight ascent to Webenheim. For the remaining 5000 steps he thought of each of his siblings and son who had gone to America. He would never see them again, and for all practical purposes, he had lost them as well. The sixth 1000 steps he thought of his older sister Elisabetha who now lived in Peoria, Illinois. On the seventh 1000 steps he thought of brother Johannes and family who went to American in 1853 and now lived in Washburn, Illinois. The eighth 1000 steps he thought of brother Friedrich who now lived in Peoria, Illinois with his sister Elisabetha. The ninth 1000 steps he thought of brother Nickel and family who now lived in Morton, Illinois. On the tenth 1000 steps he thought of sister Charlotte who now lived in Peoria, Illinois. All of these locations sounded strange to him. Just words. He felt such a loss that he had no sense of the places where they lived.

Now Philipp was up to the last 1000 steps, and the most difficult for him. His view was the fields on the right and behind Webenheim. He could see the River Blies which was at high water. It had gone over its banks and covered the meadows beside it as it often did in the fall. At least some things don't change.

He was nearing the village edge. He could clearly see the steeple of the church. Every time he looked at it he thought of brother Christian repairing the steeple in 1842. Christian hired him to work on it as well. Together they repaired the steeple and earned good money. Now the present church congregation was talking about razing the church and building a new one. More change. He shook his head as if he was talking to someone.

Philipp was coming to the final steps of his walk of remembering. The last 1000 steps Philipp thought of his oldest and only living son, Christian, who would be 26 next month. Christian was married and living in Peoria, Illinois, with his Aunt Charlotte and his second wife and daughter. This was a daughter-in-law Philipp had not met and a grandchild he had not seen. Philipp knew he would probably never meet this grandchild or the new grandchild coming later this year.

On the first few steps of this last thousand he thought of Christian and his early years and how much he enjoyed him, naming him after one of brothers. Philipp began reflecting about those early years that went all too fast. Soon Christian was eligible to be recruited for military service. On March 10, 1858, (Philipp remembered this date exactly) Christian was called to the Bavarian recruitment office in Speyer. At this time Christian indicated his reluctance for duty. This was the turning point. Christian left the country, avoiding the draft, and within three months he had made his way to Illinois to join the Moschel relatives there.

Soon after Christian married, a baby came, his first wife died, and then he married his wife's sister. All of these things happened to Christian since his departure from Webenheim just four short years ago. All experiences coming without one embrace from his mother or father. No words of comfort when there was sadness; no embraces when there was joy. Philipp swallowed hard to choke out the familiar feeling, not believing he could be so little a part of his son's life.

Philipp's house was now in view. He could see his sister-in-law outside on her side of the house tending the cattle. Phillipp told himself, as he had told himself many times, now was the time to think of the pleasant times with all of these people. Leave these losses at the village entrance and join them again for another walk from Mimbach to Webenheim. He was ready to join his family and see what they were doing on this beautiful fall day.

***

Philipp Moschel house on right 1910 picture

Philipp climbed the three stones to the wooden door, opened it, and he surveyed the scene as he entered the hallway. To his right is a stairway up to the bedrooms. On the left side is the living room which is only used on Sundays and other special festival days. There are two small windows with white curtains. Straight into the house was the quite large kitchen where there was a big iron stove to cook with and the cooking dishes hanging on the wall. Above the stove wet clothes are drying. There is wood stored in the corner. Near the stove is a dark wooden cupboard. Fresh water is in a bucket which came from the pump outside the house. In the middle of the room is a long wooden table with several chairs around it. The floor in the kitchen is tile, but the floors in the rest of the house are wooden. There is one comfortable chair, with footstool, by the fireplace. His wife, Louise, is not there, but his daughter Caroline is present as well as his niece, Catherine. With great excitement niece Catherine ran to him.

"I got a letter from Mamma today! Everyone is fine and she tells about all the family getting together. We've all read the letter, do you want me to read it to you?"

Philipp much appreciated his niece's offer, but said, "Oh Catherine, I'm so pleased, but let me read it first alone, and then we will all read it together again."

Catherine handed him the letter and knew instantly he wanted to be alone while he read the letter. Philipp knew she knew. She was 13 but acted much older than her years. She had to by all she had experienced in her young years.

Philipp took the letter and knew immediately where he wanted to go to read it. He choose the comfortable chair by the fireplace which was near what few items they had from America. These included all the letters sent by family, all neatly tied with a ribbon and the pictures they had received from sister Charlotte of herself, son Christian and his two wives and baby. The pictures were presented in an elegant silver case that opened up like a book with the four pictures inside. Philipp knew no one else in Webenheim who had any family pictures. The place in the corner of the room where the letters and pictures were kept seemed like a sacred altar. Perhaps it was, a family altar for keeping the Moschels in America alive in memory on a daily basis. If Philipp looked at the pictures once a day, he looked at it a dozen times. It meant that much to him.

Philip read the letter once and then started reading it again slowly, savoring every word on the page. Phrases struck him, "All 47 Moschels came to the gathering on Sunday" "We managed to have a true Webenheim meal in the middle of Illinois" "Tell your Uncle Philipp we had a special moment for his brother Johannes. We all feel indebted to him for leading the way to America. I made a special embroidery piece with thank you words and Ludwig made a frame for it. I had everyone sign on the back of the frame before we presented it to him. He said little, but I could tell it meant a lot to him." "We have German schools, churches, newspapers, singing groups, and it's as much like home as we can make it."

Philipp felt an enormous feeling of loss as he read these words a second time. This was a familiar feeling, one he had come to accept in the last decade, but it did not make it any easier. He knew what he had to do next.

Philipp got up from his chair, "Catherine, I want to go read this letter to Jakob now, and then I will come back and we can all read it together again. Would that be alright?" Catherine understood her uncle's feelings since she, too, was separated from her family.

"Yes, and have him come for dinner tonight. It is my turn to cook and I will fix something Uncle Jakob likes."

With that, Philipp was out the door to see his only brother remaining in Webenheim. Jakob's wife wife died almost 20 years ago and two children had died as well. Brother Jakob would not be America bound, and neither would Philipp. They would be the Moschels remaining in Webenheim in the decade of the 1860s.

***

Dear Reader,

The Cousins Four, and particularly Markus, have pondered extensively why Philipp and Jakob stayed in Webenheim. It seems fairly clear for Jakob. Jakob's wife died in 1843 and a son died in 1854, but two daughters remained in Webenheim. His health, in all probability is not good, and we know he died in 1868.

The case for Philipp and his family is much less clear. Philipp's only son, Christian, goes to America, probably avoiding the draft. Philipp and his wife Louise have four daughters. Two, Louisa and Caroline, we know lead out their lives in Webenheim. We are less certain about the other two daughters, Jacobina and Catherine. Available records do not have them marrying or dying in Webenheim, but with more research perhaps we will learn more.

Empty spot is location of old Philipp Moschel house

Then there is the issue of the land and the house. First, the house. Philipp lives in a house from his wife's side of the family, not the Moschel side of the family. It was a big house according to Markus' grandmother, Elfriede Klein, and the house was divided between Philipp's wife and her sister, each family having one half of the house in 1862. The house then passed to Philipp and Louise's daughters, Caroline and Louisa. The house was destroyed in 1955 to make way for a new street.

Regarding the land issue, we know Philipp was a farmer and he probably had several small plots of land, all near Mimbach and Webenheim. We will talk more about how he farmed in the next Scene. The very curious thing we have all wondered is "why oh why did the youngest son end up staying in Webenheim?" By custom whatever property father Georg had upon death would have been divided equally between the children according to Markus' grandmother, Elfriede. It was probably a case of too little land and too many children. In this case we have the oldest adult children either going to America or dying in Webenheim. The two remaining in Webenheim in 1862 are Philipp and Jakob. Because it appears Philipp married into a family with at least the wealth of a large house, Markus speculates it was possible Philipp had enough money to buy out each of his siblings and stay on in Webenheim to farm the original Moschel land. We'll never fully know, but if the past five months are any indication, we will probably learn more as we go on.

Celebrating Roman Days in Webeneheim, pictured are Mareike & Cordula Jacobi (family members)

To understand fully why most of the Moschels did emigrate to America we have to understand the nature of the history of the Webenheim area. Real state agents often tell us the most important thing about property is location, location, location. As we will see, the location of Mimbach/Webenheim has been destiny. We will study the history in small doses in each of the remaining scenes so the reader can fully appreciate the unique history of this small region of the world and how it was shaped by world events and in turn how the people living there were shaped by the history.

***

Map of Germany, Webenheim Marked in Red

The Celts were the earliest known people to live in what was to become the Mimbach Webenheim area. They lived there from 1000 b.c. to the expansion of the Roman Empire in the first and second century a.d. Evidence of their living in Mimbach Webenheim include the Celtic prehistoric monument which remains called a megalith in nearby Blieskastel as well as several Celtic graves complete with funeral urns and other items left in the graves. These graves have been found in Webenheim fields. The Romans took control of this area in 50 b.c. There were two Roman settlements within 10 miles of Webenheim and Roman coins, altars, and statues have been discovered in Webenheim fields as well.

The Franken tribe took control of Mimbach/Webenheim between 450 and 600 a.d. and built the first permanent structures. The Franks were a Germanic-speaking people who invaded the western Roman Empire in the 5th century a.d. and were ruled by Karl the Great. The Franks established the most powerful Christian kingdom in early medieval western Europe. There were long drawn out battles between the Romans and Franks over several centuries and the Franks were influenced by the Roman civilization. One major outcome of the battles between the Romans and the Franks was the use of language. Where the Franks prevailed, Latin ceased to be the everyday language. This can still be seen by the linguistic frontier that divides the romance language speaking people of France and Southern Belgium from the Germanic-speaking peoples of northern Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.

The Christian Franken influence in Mimbach/Webenheim is manifested by the abbeys founded in the region. The nearest abbey was Hornbach, which was 10 miles away from Mimbach Webenheim and founded around 740 a.d. The Hornbach Abbey was given the land of Mimbach (at that time called Myndenbach) in 796 as a gift, but it was not until 1303 that Webenheim (labeled Weibenauwe at the time) was mentioned as a part of the abbey region.

The Franken King Karl the Great divided his kingdom in 806 and Mimbach/Webenheim became a part of Germany eventually under Ludwig the German in 925 a.d. In 1618 the Thirty Years War began and what followed was a complicated catastrophe from which the Palatine never fully recovered. During the Thirty Year War military troops were stationed in Webenheim. The soldiers brought pestilence to the duchy of Zweibrücken. In the years of 1633, 1641, and 1643 the inhabitants of Webenheim escaped from the war and went to Zweibrücken, leaving the town of Webenheim at times without inhabitants. Even after the peace of Rijswijk Webenheim suffered. French soldiers under Marshall Crequin burned both Mimbach and Webenheim completely and destroyed Zweibrücken in 1677. The dukes of Zweibrücken tried to encourage new settlers in the area and an immigration wave began. Between 1650-1720 reformed Swiss and Hugenotten came to the duchy.

A series of counts, dukes, and earls influenced the Mimbach Webenheim area over the centuries. This part of the story starts with Otto I the great, a German king and kaiser who gave this land in 939 as a feudal tenure to his nephew Albert I. Later the Counts of Saarbrücken ruled the land where Mimbach and Webenheim are located. In 1180 the county was divided and Heinrich inherited the Zweibrücken region. He founded the county of Zweibrücken. The counts, in order, were Henrich I, Henrich II, Walram, Simon, Walram II, and Eberhard. With Eberhard, in 1394, the Counts of Zweibrücken died out. Next the land was purchased by Ruprecht I van der Pfalz and then inherited by his son Stephen and after 1410 the area was called the duchy of Zweibrüken. The land during this entire time was owned by the Hornbach Abbey but the jurisdiction and laws were made and enforced by the counts (later dukes) of Zweibrüken.

The Dukes of Zweibrücken followed the doctrine of Luther. Herzog Wolfgang was the first reformed (or Lutheran) duke of Zweibrücken. He took the new religion seriously and fulfilled the reformation in this region completely. After 1535 the influence of Hornbach Abbey decreased and in 1568 Herzog Wolfgang secularized the abbey and Webenheim/Mimbach became 100% the property of the Duke of Zweibrücken. After Herzog Wolfgang died, his son, Johann I, and grandson, Johan II, ruled the duchy of Zweibrücken. One note about Johann I. His father had established that the area would be Lutheran, but his son believed in a reform with the name of zwingli. This was a small change, but a change for Webenheimers who supported their old Lutheran religion and pastor and they did not want the new reforms. They resisted the changes and were punished by the duke.

The duchy of Zweibrücken was annexed to France in 1797 by the Treaty of Campo Formio and that brings us to the time of Philipp and his siblings.

***

Philipp was born in 1813, and his oldest sibling, Elisabetha, was born in 1796. Webenheim was under French rule from 1797 to 1815, the era of Napoleon and the Napoleonic Wars. In Napoleon's quest to carry the ideals of the French Revolution (1789) throughout Europe, he conquered many lands. Some good probably came from this such as the Napoleon Code and buying church lands very cheap. For the Moschels who were farmers the biggest impact might have been losing potential markets and disliking the French troops on their lands. There were thousands of wounded French soldiers from the battlefields transported and staying in the Mimbach/Webenheim area. They brought the disease called Lazarettfieber-Seuche (hospital fever) and many civilians died from this. The area residents hid most of their valuables in the ground and the church minister hid the church records. After the French soldiers left Webenheim, Russian soliders followed. The Webenheim residents were forced to feed the soldiers, but they served them food which would make them nauseous.

The Congress of Vienna convened in 1815-16 after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. The Congress returned ownership of the lands to the original countries and reinstated privileges taken away by Napoleon. The area of Mimbach/Webenheim was granted to Bavaria. This land, which was not contiguous with the rest of Bavaria, was first known as the Koniglich Bayrischen Lande am Rhein. In 1836, it was known as the Bayrische Pfalz. After 1838 it was known as the Rheinpfalz or simply Pfalz. This state had its capital at Speyer located west of the Rhine river.

The result of the Congress of Vienna for Philipp and his brothers was that for the next 30 years peace generally reigned in this area and throughout Europe and they were not needed as war machines. Philipp reached adulthood without the threat of having to go to war. It should be noted that the German lands made a similar transition in these times from the 240 states of the Holy Roman Empire (prior to Napoleon) to the Germanic confederation of the 39 states in 1819, Bavaria being one of these states. With all these changes, it seems probable that the allegiance of the Moschels would have been to family first, then Webenheim, then Bavaria, and finally a very distant allegiance to the Germanic Confederation of the 39 states.

The 30-plus years of peace in Europe were shattered in 1848 when economic and social unrest turned to revolt in most of central Europe. The unrest was mainly urban and peopled by peasant workers who were fighting the repressive bureaucracies. There were several causes of the revolts, but, in short, too many workers (overpopulation) could not be a part of the industrial growth and destitution was the result for many including the rural areas which had huge unemployment. Food prices had fallen sharply after 1815 and in 1846/47 there were poor potato harvests, which by now were the staple crop of the poor. The revolution, counter revolution, and second revolutions of 1848-49 failed. It is documented that five men from Mimbach fought in the revolutionary forces and one revolutionary later taught in Webenheim.

By the early summer of 1849 the old rulers were back. The effort to create a German state in Freiheit and Einheit (freedom and unity) by those people below the established order had not succeeded. In the end the "men of property and education threw in their lot with the established order." Phillipp was age 36 when the revolt ended and his son, Christian, was 13. It would be easy to understand why Phillipp's brothers would decide this would be a good time to leave. Two years after the failed revolution their mother died and then their father. Philipp's brother, Johannes, was to make his leave of Webenheim in 1853 as well as Christian Moschel, Philipp's nephew. It was the law after March 1850 Webenheimers had to go to the Royal Bavarian Recruitment Bureau in Speyer for review when they became of draft age.

Otto von Bismarck

At the same time Philipp was making a life in Webenheim, another German man was living who would change the course of German history. His name was Otto von Bismarck, born April 1, 1815 at Schönhausen, just two years after Philipp. Bismarck is considered the founder of the German Empire. He was to shape the course of Germany from 1862 to 1890. Bismarck initially read for the law at the Universities of Göttingen and Berlin. He then entered the Prussian service and represented Prussian in the Federal diet. In 1859 he was sent as ambassador to Russia, and in March 1962 he became ambassador to France. In September of 1862 he returned to Berlin to become Prime Minister of Prussia with the goal of uniting Germany. His method of uniting Germany was not through diplomacy but "blood and iron." Wars and conflicts were to follow.

***

Imagine yourself in the position of the Moschel adults. Most choose to go to America and take their families. This is understandable. Philipp's son, Christian, choose to go to America. If he had stayed in Webenheim, he would have been a part of Bismarck's war machine. His decision, too, is understandable. Philipp's decision was to stay in Webenheim and farm and live through the next few decades of Bismarck uniting Germany. We will continue to follow the story of the Moschels who emigrate and those who stay.

We hope you continue to join us in the next Scene which will be set in 1876.