Yesterday, I traveled from southern Illinois to western Illinois for the Holt House Committee meeting in Monmouth. I was a woman on a mission. That mission meant I had to leave home at about 6 a.m. I made my way to Illinois College in Jacksonville where I was the first public researcher to use the new Illinois College Khalaf Al Habtoor Archives. Jacksonville Female Academy was home to a short-lived Pi Beta Phi chapter back in the 1880s and I was searching for information about it.
After I was done, I met up with a Pi Phi I had never met in person. We “met” two weeks ago in the comment section of a Pi Beta Phi Facebook post. She and I had one Facebook friend in common, and on the power of that friend, I contacted her and she responded. Turns out she moved to Jacksonville about 11 years ago and discovered that Amy Burnham Onken, Pi Phi’s Grand President for 31 years, had lived in nearby Chapin and was buried in the family plot in Jacksonville. We greeted each other like long lost friends and then visited the cemetery.
The Onken family plot
She gave me instructions on finding the home in which Miss Onken, as she was called, lived. “How will I know which home it is?” I asked. She said it was the biggest home in town and I couldn’t miss it, but she also gave me a page of pictures.
The home from the front.
She was right. It was very easy to find. The side view below is what you first see on the way into Chapin.
The side view of the old Onken home. The second floor turret room was where Miss Onken had her Pi Phi office.
Then I followed the road around to the “Business District.” The John Onken and Brother General Store was right there. It had operated as an old-time general store well into the 1970s and was written up in several newspapers and magazines.
The General Store as it looked four years ago. At that time, the sign was still up.
The old Onken General Store in 2014. Currently, an antique store is using the space. It is open on weekends, with “an everything must go sale” taking place.
The back part of the Onken Store.
The old Chapin Train Station where Amy Burnham Onken departed and arrived when she took her trips on behalf of Pi Beta Phi. The station is no longer there.
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2014. All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory/
