Benjamin Stephenson House
Encyclopedia
The Benjamin Stephenson House is a Federal style home built in 1820 in the city of Edwardsville, Illinois
, United States
. The house was constructed by prominent Edwardsville citizen and Illinois politician Benjamin Stephenson
. He died shortly after the home's completion and the home had 15 subsequent owners, some of whom made major alterations to the original structure. In 1845 the addition of an ell
altered the appearance of the house. The last two owners were the Sigma Phi Epsilon
fraternity and the current owner, the city of Edwardsville.
In 1999 the city of Edwardsville purchased the home from the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and in 2001 a restoration
project began. The project aimed to restore the house to its authentic 1820s appearance and open the house as a public museum. The house has been the subject of tales of ghost
ly activity since at least the 1970s, though no recent reports exist. The Stephenson House has prominence for its architecture and for its affiliation with Illinois politics. The building was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
in 1980.
; at the time along the bluffs above Cahokia Creek. The house, today, is located along South Buchanan Street in Edwardsville, along one of the busiest stretches of Illinois Route 159
. The house is still on its original site, though the property is only one acre.
purchased the 172 acre (0.69605992 km²) tract of land that would become the site of the Stephenson House in 1819. In 1820 he began construction on the original east portion of the house, which, when complete served as his home, office and political headquarters for the remainder of his life. Benjamin Stephenson died in the home on October 10, 1822.
On January 29, 1825, while at the Stephenson House for a party, Daniel D. Smith was stabbed to death. Apparently an argument occurred, and Smith was later found in the dining room with a stab wound; as the group was picking him up, he uttered "Winchester" and died. News reports in The Spectator (Edwardsville) indicated that Smith was "killed in an affray" at the Stephenson House. Benjamin's son, James W. Stephenson
, James D. Henry
and Palemon Winchester were indicted
for the murder. Though all three men were charged with the crime, Stephenson and Henry were released on bond.
Winchester was the only defendant who faced trial in the murder. Winchester's lawyer argued that Smith was guilty of verbal assault against the defendant, and Winchester was found not guilty. He later went on to establish Carlinville, Illinois
and married Elvira Stephenson, Benjamin's daughter. The verdict was reported in The Spectator on March 22, 1825. In 1828 Stephenson left Edwardsville, moving to Galena
in Jo Daviess County
where he made his home most of the rest of his life. He was buried at Lusk Memorial Cemetery in Edwardsville.
In the years following Benjamin Stephenson's death, the house changed owners 15 times. In 1833, Benjamin's son, James Stephenson owned the title to the Stephenson House, but by the next year it was owned by the wife of Stephenson family friend Ninian Edwards
, Elvira, who held the deed until 1837. Another owner, Frederick Wolf, purchased the home in 1838 and made significant alterations to the house in 1845, tearing down the detached kitchen and adding an ell
to the building. That family occupied the home until at least 1894. Others who owned the house also made alterations including J. Frank Dickman in 1902; other changes were made during the 1940s. Rev. Stephen Weissman, who successfully nominated the house for the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
, purchased the home in 1975. After the nomination's acceptance the house was designated an Edwardsville Landmark.
In 1982 the Sigma Phi Epsilon
fraternity
at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville (SIUE) bought the house and occupied it until the late 1990s. In 1998 the Edwardsville Historic Preservation Committee received US$
800,000 from the state of Illinois, $500,000 of which they used to buy the Stephenson House from the fraternity. The city purchased the home in 1999 and the fraternity ended its tenure in what was the first fraternity house at SIUE.
project aimed at returning the house to the most original condition possible. The eventual goal of the project was to furnish the home circa 1820s and open it as a house museum to the public. The restoration project, overseen by the firm St. Louis Tuckpointing and Painting, carried a price tag of more than $1 million; $150,000 to purchase the house, $725,000 in restoration costs and $215,000 to purchase a nearby gas station. Initially the project was to be completed by December 2003, but by April 2004 most of the exterior work had been finished with interior plaster
ing and wood floor
installation remaining. The restoration was nearly totally completed by the time the official dedication ceremony occurred on July 1–2, 2006, more than six years after the purchase of the house by the city.
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The house was built in the early Federal style and was originally designed as a two-story rectangular building with four square rooms. The interior and exterior walls are of three course thick brick
; the bricks were manufactured on site by Benjamin Stephenson's indentured servant
s. The exterior is composed of at least 100,000 bricks, all of which were made on the Stephenson House property. Each of the four rooms, two on the first floor and two on the second floor are 18 foot (5.5 m) by 18 foot (5.5 m) square and contain fireplace
s. Five windows grace the second floor, while on the first floor there are four windows and an inset door which opens into the central hallway.
On its interior, the Stephenson House, again, has brick walls. The central hallway is 7 feet (2.1 m) wide and stretches in a "Southern manner," from the front to the back of the house. The central hallway contains the home's staircase. The four rooms' fireplaces are vented through two chimney
s, constructed flush with the north and south end walls. The interior floor were originally of four inch (102 mm) wide pine
board and covered with oak
during the 1940s. The staircase is made of red cypress
and features relatively ornately carved woodwork, all of which is original and cast in Adam style
.
.jpg)
Behind (west of) the original house was a detached, 20 foot (6.1 m) by 20 foot (6.1 m) kitchen
constructed over a fruit cellar. The detached kitchen was torn down when the home underwent extensive remodeling in 1845. During this time period a two-story wing was added to the home. The wing, 20 foot (6.1 m) by 40 foot (12.2 m), altered the home's appearance into an ell
pattern. The ell was built of the same brick as the original home, but covered six windows with its construction on the Stephenson House's west (rear) facade. A 13 foot (4.0 m) wide veranda was attached to the wing's south side. The entire new addition was cast in the Greek Revival style.
The subsequent owner made further alterations to the house in 1902. The owner added a 20 foot (6.1 m) by 12 foot (3.7 m) Victorian
front porch
, complete with a gable
roof and Victorian style wood tracery
. He also reversed the home's staircase and filled in all four original fireplaces. During the 1940s the home underwent further remodeling, in part, to modernize the building. Inside, modern plumbing was added and outside a frame one car garage was attached to the west end of the house. The 1902 porch was torn off the east facade, thus restoring it to its original appearance. In addition, the pillar
s on the south side of the house were replaced with square designs and a French door was cut into the north facade to open onto a brick terrace
.
at the Stephenson House date back to at least the 1970s. Speculation about the identity of the purported spirit has centered around Benjamin Stephenson
, who died in the house. One former resident, who lived in the house during the 1970s told a local newspaper about phantom footsteps, odd noises, and the appearance of someone on the terrace when no one was there. Members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity recalled similar and different incidents. Former fraternity members reported, not only the phantom footsteps, but servants peering out from behind mirrors and "people" in military uniforms. A Stephenson House volunteer and Edwardsville historian reported that in her years of work at the house she has yet to experience any ghostly phenomena.
house in Edwardsville and considered significant for its architectural beauty, and association with important historic Illinois figures. Architecturally, the house is representative of an era. Most of the house's importance comes from its association with the family of Benjamin Stephenson. The Stephenson family played a prominent role in Illinois politics. Benjamin Stephenson served as a colonel
during the War of 1812
and later held several political offices including U.S. representative from the Illinois Territory
and delegate to the first Illinois constitutional convention
. In 1836 the Illinois legislature named Stephenson County
, in northern Illinois, after him. One of his sons, James W. Stephenson, also played a prominent role in Illinois politics as the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 1836.
Commonly, and mistakenly, the house is often referred to as the "Edwards House". This is due to the close association of the Stephenson family with that of first Illinois territorial Governor Ninian Edwards
. The historical record shows that Benjamin Stephenson and Edwards were close personal friends and political allies. The pair led the Edwardsville Jacksonian Democratic Party and when Edwards' house burned he and his family took up residence in the Stephenson House for a time. The Benjamin Stephenson House is the remaining piece of architecture which intertwines the two men's personal stories.
For its architectural style and political affiliations the Benjamin Stephenson House was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on May 31, 1980. As early as 1972 Illinois State Senator Sam Vadalabene sponsored a bill meant to authorize the state to purchase the Stephenson House and open it to the public as an Illinois State Historic Site. Though the bill passed the Illinois House of Representatives
, then-governor Richard Buell Ogilvie vetoed the legislation. The Illinois Historic Sites Inventory was ongoing during this period, 1971–1975, and it also noted the Stephenson House for its architectural and political significance.
Edwardsville, Illinois
Edwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,293. It is the county seat of Madison County and is the third oldest city in the State of Illinois. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, then Governor of the Illinois...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The house was constructed by prominent Edwardsville citizen and Illinois politician Benjamin Stephenson
Benjamin Stephenson
Benjamin Stephenson was born in Pennsylvania on July 8, 1769. He moved to Virginia in 1788, and then to the Illinois Territory. He became sheriff of Randolph County, Illinois in 1809....
. He died shortly after the home's completion and the home had 15 subsequent owners, some of whom made major alterations to the original structure. In 1845 the addition of an ell
Ell (architecture)
In architecture, an ell is a wing of a building that lies perpendicular to the length of the main portion.In connected farm architecture, the ell is often extended to attach the main house to another building, usually a barn. It takes its name from the shape of the letter L.-External links:*...
altered the appearance of the house. The last two owners were the Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sigma Phi Epsilon , commonly nicknamed SigEp or SPE, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College , and its national headquarters remains in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded on three principles: Virtue,...
fraternity and the current owner, the city of Edwardsville.
In 1999 the city of Edwardsville purchased the home from the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and in 2001 a restoration
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
project began. The project aimed to restore the house to its authentic 1820s appearance and open the house as a public museum. The house has been the subject of tales of ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
ly activity since at least the 1970s, though no recent reports exist. The Stephenson House has prominence for its architecture and for its affiliation with Illinois politics. The building was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1980.
Location
The Benjamin Stephenson House was originally located on a 172 acre (0.69605992 km²) tract of land about two miles (3 km) from the center of Edwardsville, IllinoisEdwardsville, Illinois
Edwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,293. It is the county seat of Madison County and is the third oldest city in the State of Illinois. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, then Governor of the Illinois...
; at the time along the bluffs above Cahokia Creek. The house, today, is located along South Buchanan Street in Edwardsville, along one of the busiest stretches of Illinois Route 159
Illinois Route 159
Illinois Route 159 is a north–south state road in southwestern Illinois. Its southern terminus is at Illinois Route 3 and Illinois Route 154 in Red Bud and its northern terminus at Illinois Route 16 in Royal Lakes. This is a distance of ....
. The house is still on its original site, though the property is only one acre.
History
Colonel Benjamin StephensonBenjamin Stephenson
Benjamin Stephenson was born in Pennsylvania on July 8, 1769. He moved to Virginia in 1788, and then to the Illinois Territory. He became sheriff of Randolph County, Illinois in 1809....
purchased the 172 acre (0.69605992 km²) tract of land that would become the site of the Stephenson House in 1819. In 1820 he began construction on the original east portion of the house, which, when complete served as his home, office and political headquarters for the remainder of his life. Benjamin Stephenson died in the home on October 10, 1822.
On January 29, 1825, while at the Stephenson House for a party, Daniel D. Smith was stabbed to death. Apparently an argument occurred, and Smith was later found in the dining room with a stab wound; as the group was picking him up, he uttered "Winchester" and died. News reports in The Spectator (Edwardsville) indicated that Smith was "killed in an affray" at the Stephenson House. Benjamin's son, James W. Stephenson
James W. Stephenson
James W. Stephenson was an American militia officer and politician from the state of Illinois. He was born in Virginia but spent most of his youth in Edwardsville, Illinois. In 1825 he was indicted for the murder of a family acquaintance, but never went to trial...
, James D. Henry
James D. Henry
James D. Henry was a militia officer from the U.S. state of Illinois who rose to the rank of general during the Black Hawk War. Henry was born in Pennsylvania in 1797, and moved to Edwardsville, Illinois in 1822. In 1825, while living in Edwardsville, he was indicted with two other men for the...
and Palemon Winchester were indicted
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
for the murder. Though all three men were charged with the crime, Stephenson and Henry were released on bond.
Winchester was the only defendant who faced trial in the murder. Winchester's lawyer argued that Smith was guilty of verbal assault against the defendant, and Winchester was found not guilty. He later went on to establish Carlinville, Illinois
Carlinville, Illinois
Carlinville is a city in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the population was 5,685, and 5,912 at a 2009 estimate. It is the county seat of Macoupin County, and so it is an outlying part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St...
and married Elvira Stephenson, Benjamin's daughter. The verdict was reported in The Spectator on March 22, 1825. In 1828 Stephenson left Edwardsville, moving to Galena
Galena, Illinois
Galena is the county seat of, and largest city in, Jo Daviess County, Illinois in the United States, with a population of 3,429 in 2010. The city is a popular tourist destination known for its history, historical architecture, and ski and golf resorts. Galena was the residence of Ulysses S...
in Jo Daviess County
Jo Daviess County, Illinois
Jo Daviess County is a county located in the northwest corner of U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 22,678, which is an increase of 1.7% from 22,289 in 2000. Its county seat is Galena....
where he made his home most of the rest of his life. He was buried at Lusk Memorial Cemetery in Edwardsville.
In the years following Benjamin Stephenson's death, the house changed owners 15 times. In 1833, Benjamin's son, James Stephenson owned the title to the Stephenson House, but by the next year it was owned by the wife of Stephenson family friend Ninian Edwards
Ninian Edwards
Ninian Edwards was a founding political figure of the state of Illinois. He served as the first and only governor of the Illinois Territory from 1809 to 1818, as one of the first two United States Senators from Illinois from 1818 to 1824, and as the third Governor of Illinois from 1826 to 1830...
, Elvira, who held the deed until 1837. Another owner, Frederick Wolf, purchased the home in 1838 and made significant alterations to the house in 1845, tearing down the detached kitchen and adding an ell
Ell (architecture)
In architecture, an ell is a wing of a building that lies perpendicular to the length of the main portion.In connected farm architecture, the ell is often extended to attach the main house to another building, usually a barn. It takes its name from the shape of the letter L.-External links:*...
to the building. That family occupied the home until at least 1894. Others who owned the house also made alterations including J. Frank Dickman in 1902; other changes were made during the 1940s. Rev. Stephen Weissman, who successfully nominated the house for the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, purchased the home in 1975. After the nomination's acceptance the house was designated an Edwardsville Landmark.
In 1982 the Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sigma Phi Epsilon
Sigma Phi Epsilon , commonly nicknamed SigEp or SPE, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College , and its national headquarters remains in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded on three principles: Virtue,...
fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville (SIUE) bought the house and occupied it until the late 1990s. In 1998 the Edwardsville Historic Preservation Committee received US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
800,000 from the state of Illinois, $500,000 of which they used to buy the Stephenson House from the fraternity. The city purchased the home in 1999 and the fraternity ended its tenure in what was the first fraternity house at SIUE.
Restoration
On May 14, 2001 the city of Edwardsville held a ground breaking ceremony to officially commence a restorationBuilding restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
project aimed at returning the house to the most original condition possible. The eventual goal of the project was to furnish the home circa 1820s and open it as a house museum to the public. The restoration project, overseen by the firm St. Louis Tuckpointing and Painting, carried a price tag of more than $1 million; $150,000 to purchase the house, $725,000 in restoration costs and $215,000 to purchase a nearby gas station. Initially the project was to be completed by December 2003, but by April 2004 most of the exterior work had been finished with interior plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
ing and wood floor
Wood flooring
Wood flooring is any product manufactured from timber that is designed for use as flooring, either structural or aesthetic. Bamboo flooring is often considered a wood floor, although it is made from a grass rather than a timber....
installation remaining. The restoration was nearly totally completed by the time the official dedication ceremony occurred on July 1–2, 2006, more than six years after the purchase of the house by the city.
Architecture
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
; the bricks were manufactured on site by Benjamin Stephenson's indentured servant
Indentured servant
Indentured servitude refers to the historical practice of contracting to work for a fixed period of time, typically three to seven years, in exchange for transportation, food, clothing, lodging and other necessities during the term of indenture. Usually the father made the arrangements and signed...
s. The exterior is composed of at least 100,000 bricks, all of which were made on the Stephenson House property. Each of the four rooms, two on the first floor and two on the second floor are 18 foot (5.5 m) by 18 foot (5.5 m) square and contain fireplace
Fireplace
A fireplace is an architectural structure to contain a fire for heating and, especially historically, for cooking. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows gas and particulate exhaust to escape...
s. Five windows grace the second floor, while on the first floor there are four windows and an inset door which opens into the central hallway.
On its interior, the Stephenson House, again, has brick walls. The central hallway is 7 feet (2.1 m) wide and stretches in a "Southern manner," from the front to the back of the house. The central hallway contains the home's staircase. The four rooms' fireplaces are vented through two chimney
Chimney
A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...
s, constructed flush with the north and south end walls. The interior floor were originally of four inch (102 mm) wide pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
board and covered with oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
during the 1940s. The staircase is made of red cypress
Cupressaceae
The Cupressaceae or cypress family is a conifer family with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27 to 30 genera , which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130-140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or dioecious trees and shrubs from 1-116 m tall...
and features relatively ornately carved woodwork, all of which is original and cast in Adam style
Adam style
The Adam style is an 18th century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practiced by the three Adam brothers from Scotland; of whom Robert Adam and James Adam were the most widely known.The Adam brothers were the first to advocate an integrated style for architecture and...
.
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
constructed over a fruit cellar. The detached kitchen was torn down when the home underwent extensive remodeling in 1845. During this time period a two-story wing was added to the home. The wing, 20 foot (6.1 m) by 40 foot (12.2 m), altered the home's appearance into an ell
Ell (architecture)
In architecture, an ell is a wing of a building that lies perpendicular to the length of the main portion.In connected farm architecture, the ell is often extended to attach the main house to another building, usually a barn. It takes its name from the shape of the letter L.-External links:*...
pattern. The ell was built of the same brick as the original home, but covered six windows with its construction on the Stephenson House's west (rear) facade. A 13 foot (4.0 m) wide veranda was attached to the wing's south side. The entire new addition was cast in the Greek Revival style.
The subsequent owner made further alterations to the house in 1902. The owner added a 20 foot (6.1 m) by 12 foot (3.7 m) Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
front porch
Porch
A porch is external to the walls of the main building proper, but may be enclosed by screen, latticework, broad windows, or other light frame walls extending from the main structure.There are various styles of porches, all of which depend on the architectural tradition of its location...
, complete with a gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
roof and Victorian style wood tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
. He also reversed the home's staircase and filled in all four original fireplaces. During the 1940s the home underwent further remodeling, in part, to modernize the building. Inside, modern plumbing was added and outside a frame one car garage was attached to the west end of the house. The 1902 porch was torn off the east facade, thus restoring it to its original appearance. In addition, the pillar
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
s on the south side of the house were replaced with square designs and a French door was cut into the north facade to open onto a brick terrace
Terrace (building)
A terrace is an outdoor, occupiable extension of a building above ground level. Although its physical characteristics may vary to a great degree, a terrace will generally be larger than a balcony and will have an "open-top" facing the sky...
.
Purported hauntings
Stories of alleged ghostly phenomenaGhost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
at the Stephenson House date back to at least the 1970s. Speculation about the identity of the purported spirit has centered around Benjamin Stephenson
Benjamin Stephenson
Benjamin Stephenson was born in Pennsylvania on July 8, 1769. He moved to Virginia in 1788, and then to the Illinois Territory. He became sheriff of Randolph County, Illinois in 1809....
, who died in the house. One former resident, who lived in the house during the 1970s told a local newspaper about phantom footsteps, odd noises, and the appearance of someone on the terrace when no one was there. Members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity recalled similar and different incidents. Former fraternity members reported, not only the phantom footsteps, but servants peering out from behind mirrors and "people" in military uniforms. A Stephenson House volunteer and Edwardsville historian reported that in her years of work at the house she has yet to experience any ghostly phenomena.
Significance
The Benjamin Stephenson House is the oldest brickBrick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
house in Edwardsville and considered significant for its architectural beauty, and association with important historic Illinois figures. Architecturally, the house is representative of an era. Most of the house's importance comes from its association with the family of Benjamin Stephenson. The Stephenson family played a prominent role in Illinois politics. Benjamin Stephenson served as a colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
and later held several political offices including U.S. representative from the Illinois Territory
Illinois Territory
The Territory of Illinois was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 1, 1809, until December 3, 1818, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Illinois. The area was earlier known as "Illinois Country" while under...
and delegate to the first Illinois constitutional convention
Constitutional convention (political meeting)
A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...
. In 1836 the Illinois legislature named Stephenson County
Stephenson County, Illinois
As of the census of 2000, there were 48,979 people, 19,785 households, and 13,473 families residing in the county. The population density was 87 people per square mile . There were 21,713 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile...
, in northern Illinois, after him. One of his sons, James W. Stephenson, also played a prominent role in Illinois politics as the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 1836.
Commonly, and mistakenly, the house is often referred to as the "Edwards House". This is due to the close association of the Stephenson family with that of first Illinois territorial Governor Ninian Edwards
Ninian Edwards
Ninian Edwards was a founding political figure of the state of Illinois. He served as the first and only governor of the Illinois Territory from 1809 to 1818, as one of the first two United States Senators from Illinois from 1818 to 1824, and as the third Governor of Illinois from 1826 to 1830...
. The historical record shows that Benjamin Stephenson and Edwards were close personal friends and political allies. The pair led the Edwardsville Jacksonian Democratic Party and when Edwards' house burned he and his family took up residence in the Stephenson House for a time. The Benjamin Stephenson House is the remaining piece of architecture which intertwines the two men's personal stories.
For its architectural style and political affiliations the Benjamin Stephenson House was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on May 31, 1980. As early as 1972 Illinois State Senator Sam Vadalabene sponsored a bill meant to authorize the state to purchase the Stephenson House and open it to the public as an Illinois State Historic Site. Though the bill passed the Illinois House of Representatives
Illinois House of Representatives
The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from...
, then-governor Richard Buell Ogilvie vetoed the legislation. The Illinois Historic Sites Inventory was ongoing during this period, 1971–1975, and it also noted the Stephenson House for its architectural and political significance.
External links
- Benjamin Stephenson House, official site
- Benjamin Stephenson House, Property Information Report, Illinois Historic Preservation AgencyIllinois Historic Preservation AgencyThe Illinois Historic Preservation Agency is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Illinois. It is tasked with the duty of maintaining most State-owned historic sites within Illinois, and maximizing their educational and recreational value to visitors....
, accessed May 20, 2008.