Chenoa Community News - McLean County Illinois Genealogy & History

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Chenoa Community News
McLean County, Illinois
(Surnames listed as applicable)

1862
Letter from Illinois. Chenoa, Illinois, May 12, 1862. To the Editor of the Pittsfield Sun: -- I again write you from the Prairie State, the great cornfield of the United States. We have had a very backward spring, caused by long continued rain and the prospect for a large crop of spring wheat is not favorable. Some of it, after sowing, was drowned out, and much of the seed, from the bad condition of the soil, has not been sown as was intended. The rain has also spoiled considerable of last year’s crop of corn, which was not gathered in the fall of ‘61. No corn has yet been planted, and the crop must be unusually late. I am assured that there will not be the same amount of corn raised here as in the two past years. One reason for this is the War. But few of the Illinois Farmers are unrepresented in the fighting armies of the southwest. But there is one thing certain, vin: when this war is ended the votes of the People of Illinois will not help to bring on another. I think you have not as yet seen as much of the awful consequences of this rebellion in the east as we have, in the shape of wounded soldiers returning every day from the hard fought battle fields of Pea Ridge, Donaldson and Pittsburg [sic = Pittsburgh]. We also see many of the “Butternut Uniforms,” as they are conveyed to Camp Douglas at Chicago. With a prayer for the welfare of the good people of Berkshire I close. Yours respectfully, W. H. O’C.
[22 May 1862 - Pittsfield Sun]

1872
Ayers
At Chenoa, Illinois, last week, T. M. Ayers playfully shot himself. He was in company with a young friend at the time, and taking up a revolver cocked it and in a joking manner placed the breech of it to the breast of his friend, at the same time saying “we will settle that little difficulty now.” He did; the pistol exploded, and the ball passed through his right breast killing him instantly.
[1 Jun 1872 - San Francisco Bulletin]

1877

Ziegler
March 15. Flouring Mills Burned. Heavy Loss by Fire at Chenoa, Illinois. The Commercial’s special reports the burning tonight of Ziegler’s large flouring mills at Chenoa, Illinois. The mill was valued at from ten to twelve thousand dollars. The content consisted of five hundred bushels of corn and a large quantity of wheat and flour.
[17 March 1877 - Philadelphia Inquirer]

1889

Fales, Lenny, Nickel, Quinn, Shuster
Chenoa, Illinois, Burned Out. Chenoa, Ill., May 1. -- At about 1 o’clock this morning a large two-story brick block, in which about one-third of the business of Chenoa as done, took fire and was completely destroyed. The aggregate loss is $75,000; the insurance, $35,000. W. M. Fales loses $35,000; his insurance, $7,000. Nickel & Shuster lose $10,000; insurance, $3,000. F. M. Quinn, express agent, and J. B. Lenny were injured by falling walls, the former, it is thought, fatally.
[2 May 1889 - Philadelphia Inquirer]

1909

Woerner
School Notes - Teachers - Second grade, Louise Woerner of Chenoa, Illinois.
[14 Sep 1909 - Idaho Falls Times]

1910
A Bit of Sarcasm. The Chenoa Post of the Grand Army of the Republic has perpetrated a fine piece of sarcasm on the recent movement for the installing of a monument to Gen. Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy in the National Hall of Fame in Washington. The members of the Chenoa post do not approved the proposed memorial to Lee, but instead of expressing their feelings in resolutions breathing deep indignation and bitterness, they content themselves in caricaturing the action by proposing to erect a monument to Benedict Arnold, the arch traitor of the American Revolution. The resolutions adopted speak for themselves as follows: “We, the G. A. R. post of Chenoa, Illinois, respectfully petition the President and Congress of the United States, that a statue sacred to the memory of Benedict Arnold be placed in the Hall of Farm, Washington, D. C. robed in the British uniform he wore and adorned with the British flag under which he fought while in the British service. And to enable all of the states of the American nation to participate in the honor, that the nation at large design and present the same consecrated to the memory of that valiant soldier, that present and future generations may revere his name and enshrine in their hearts a fond recollection of the patriotism, love of country and exemplary character of this adorable man, and live and learn to imitate his glorious example. True, at the close of the Revolutionary war and for some time thereafter many people, honest though they were, held the name of Benedict Arnold in execration; but we submit that now after a century and a quarter since the close of the revolution, time has bridged the chasm, and henceforth succeeding generations should be taught to look upon and alike adore, side by side in the Hall of Fame, statues sacred to the memory of George Washing and Benedict Arnold. And your petitioners further pray that in the interim, this letter be suspended between the statues of Washington and Lincoln, the Father and Saviour [sic=savior] of the country, as the humble tribute of the Chenoa, Illinois, G. A. R. Post. Ordered, that James P. Grove, chairman of the committee on resolutions, be instructed to forward a copy of the foregoing resolution to the President and Congress, Washington, D. C. Done in council of the G. A. R. Post, Chenoa, Ill., this 8th day of January, A D 1910.”
[21 January 1910 - Belleville News Democrat]
Churchill, Hayslip, Houston, Rigby
Local News Notes - Huston & Churchill this morning report the sale of a one-hundred acre tract of their Rigby property to a Mr. Hayslip of Chenoa, Illinois, who will place the land in cultivation next spring.
[16 Dec 1910 - Idaho]

1914
April 25, 1914. Northern and eastern McLean county was swept yesterday by a cyclone and hail storm as to surpass the damage established by the memorable windstorm of June 10, 1902. Reports from Lexington, Chenoa, Colfax, Lawndale township, Weston and other towns are that houses were razed, barns scattered over fields, trees uprooted, fences blown down, windows blown out and smashed out by hail stones.
[25 Apr 1989 - How Time Flies - by Phyllis Liston - The Daily Pantagraph, Bloomington, Illinois]

1915

Ketchum
Mrs. Ketchum Died Saturday Afternoon - Mrs. Mary A. Ketchum, ages eighty-two years, a native of Ohio, who had been a resident of this city for one week, died Saturday afternoon at 1:30 o’clock at her apartments on Fayard street. Deceased had been a visitor to Biloxi for several winters and was well and favorably known among the citizens as well as winter visitors in the city. She is survived by a husband and other relatives. The remains have been taken to her former home in Chenoa, Illinois, where the funeral will be held.
[20 Dec 1915 - Daily Herald - Biloxi, Mississippi]

1916

Alexander, Arthur, Ketchum, Longyear, McClelland, Maxwell, Wachenfeld, Wilcox
Tourists Going Home - A number of many tourists in the city during the past winter stopping at the various hotels and boarding houses are going north each day, some of them making stop-overs on the way home and others being called direct to their northern homes owing to pressing business. There still remain a large number of the old, stand-bys, who come early and stay late to enjoy the best weather of the year and escape that awful sloppy weather experienced in their home states at this particular time of the season when the snow and ice begin to thaw out. Among those going this morning included Miss Alexander of Hasting, Nebraska, who spent the past winter in the Wachenfeld home, 414 West Beach. Mr. and Mrs. Longyear, Mr. McClelland of Pontiac, Illinois; Mr. Arthur of Buchannan, Mich.; Mrs. Wilcox, Buchannan, Mich.; Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell of Indianapolis, and George Ketchum of Chenoa, Illinois.
[30 Mar 1916 - Daily Herald - Biloxi, Mississippi]

1920

Sandham
Personals - M. F. Sandham, who has been visiting relatives here, has returned to Chenoa, Illinois.
[3 October 1920 - Idaho Statesman]

1955
Hoselton
Determinan Acabar con la Criminalidad - Chenoa, Illinois 21 de abril, (UP). -- El alcalde electo Theodore Hoselton, le dijo hoy a la fuerza policiaca: “tenemos que tomar alguna determinacion para acabar con el crimen en Chenoa. [22 Apr 1955 - Prensa - Texas]
(Translation - They Determine to End the Criminality - Chenoa, Illinois 21 of April, (UP). -- Mayor Theodore Hoselton said today to the police force: “We must take some determination to end the crime in Chenoa.” - [22 Apr 1955 - The Press - Texas]

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