GLADSTONE-Henderson County lost one of its most untiring advocates early Saturday morning when Charles Edward McChesney died.
The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By DAVID GRIMES Quill Correspondent
GLADSTONE-Henderson County lost one of its most untiring advocates early Saturday morning when Charles Edward McChesney died.
McChesney, whose health deteriorated steadily in the past week, succumbed to complications of Parkinsonism, a form of Parkinson's disease at age 76.
To say Charlie McChesney was an involved member of the local community is an understatement.
The longtime farmer and businessman served as a founding member of the Tri-county Cattlemen's Association, a member of the Union School Board, a member of the Western Illinois Electric Cooperative and as chairman of the Highway 34 Coalition, to name a few posts.
His concern for and volunteer service to Henderson County resulted in a resolution by the county board in April 2003 establishing April 15 as C.E. McChesney Day.
Henderson County Board Chairman Marion "Brownie" Brown crossed paths with McChesney on the Highway 34 Coalition and recalled him as an individual of dignity and distinction.
"He always had the best interest of the county at heart," Brown said of McChesney. "Even if there were differences, he was always a gentleman about it."
In addition to farming, McChesney branched into the salvage business, establishing Cheap Charlie's in the 1970s, buying and reselling everything from corn to coffee creamer.
He was part of a business group that constructed and operated the grain terminal at Gulfport, and was one of the first cattlemen to embrace the use of stilbestrol, a growth enhancement originally intended for use in the poultry industry in the 1950s.
"The instrument used to inject it was designed for use on birds," remembered Curt Eisenmayer, who was farm advisor in Henderson County. "But Charlie was an innovator and an early adaptor."
The weight enhancer had received such high marks from initial test results it was being touted as providing such an increase in animal gain as to be more than worth its weight in gold.
Following research recommendations, McChesney tried the stuff, injecting 200 steers with 60 milligrams each.
"He sold the heaviest cattle on the market in Chicago that year, but unfortunately, they proved to be only heavier, not fatter," Eisenmayer said.
McChesney was not giving up, though, and when asked by Eisenmayer what his thoughts were on the cutting edge experiment, replied, "Let's do it again."
He did, reducing the dosage from 60 mg. to 36 mg. for better results.
"He ended up making back in the second year what he'd lost the first time," Eisenmayer said.
Eisenmayer remembered McChesney, too, as a prolific idea person.
When McChesney's successor to the WIEC board attended his first monthly meeting of co-op members, he found he already had some big shoes to fill.
"Another board member said, 'So you're the one who's replacing Charlie McChesney. He has a new idea every 20 seconds,' " Eisenmayer said.
Eisenmayer recalled an early encounter with McChesney, shortly after Eisenmayer relocated from Hancock to Henderson County in the 1950s, that might have been a harbinger of things to come.
"He and (the late) Bill Weir were leaders for the Biggsville 4-H chapter," Eisenmayer said.
The chapter was known as the Go-Getters.
"Charlie always had a new idea," Eisenmayer said. "And he could never wait to get to work on it."