BY CAROL HICKS
CHENEYVILLE — Cheneyville, 5 miles east of Hoopeston and just north of Illinois Route 9, is a town that works together toward a common goal, especially when it comes to the 118-year-old Cheneyville Church of Christ.
“There’s so few of us, that we have to do the work ourselves,” Betty Barron said. “(We) can’t afford to hire it done.”
During the previous two years, members replaced the old water line and put a new roof on the church. This year the goal of the residents was the removal and rededication of the church bell from its deteriorating tower station.
Getting the 1,200-pound bell out of the tower was a community effort, Barron said. A man lift was used last year to reach the bell tower and several men of the community slid the bell onto the lift to bring it down.
The bell was taken to Don and Betty Barron’s garage for storage until a platform on ground level could be built for the bell. While the bell was at the Barron residence, it was cleaned and restored by them.
Earlier this year three men, Wayne “Buzz” Reed, Roger Reed and Randy Reed set about the task of building the platform to house the bell. Ryan Odle then mounted the bell and Jack and Mary Jo Petersen paid for a sidewalk to the bell from the church sidewalk. The bell was rededicated on Aug. 30.
“It was a community project, otherwise it wouldn’t have gotten done,” Don Barron said. “I just want to thank everyone that helped on the project in every way.”
Cheneyville had its early beginnings about the same time as Hoopeston in the 1870s, a small village along the Lafayette, Bloomington and Western Rail line (later called the Lake Erie and Western and Nickel Plate Railroad). Named after J. H. Cheney, vice president of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad Company, the village had a population of 120 residents by 1930. It also had a hardware and drug store, several other stores, a post office, telephone company, a doctor, a grain elevator, and a school where church and Bible school services were held until 1891.
In February 1891, according to the Hoopeston paper, evangelist James Lester held an evangelistic meeting in Cheneyville. This prompted the community to raise funds toward a church building and by April 16, 1891, $800 had been raised. Joseph Kellogg began work on the new building in July and finished in September. The Cheneyville Church of Christ was dedicated on Oct. 8, 1891.
In the “History of the Cheneyville Church of Christ,” written in 1954, 109 members belonged to the church in 1915 with the building valued at $1,500. The doors to the church were closed in 1946 and reopened again in May 1951. It continues to serve Cheneyville residents to the present day.
It was also noted in the history of Cheneyville that Ina Dudley Ogdon, teacher in Cheneyville from 1896 to 1900, wrote more than 3,000 church hymns and published two volumes of verse, “A Keepsake from the Old House” and “Home Woods.” One of her hymns, “Brighten the Corner Where You Are,” was one of Billy Sunday’s favorite hymns.
Today, Cheneyville has a population of about 41 residents.
