Benjamin Stephenson House - History

History

Colonel Benjamin Stephenson purchased the 172-acre (0.7 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.