Colonel Benjamin Stephenson House

An early settler of Illinois, Colonel Benjamin Stephenson first came to the territory in 1809 and built this home in the 1820s. Stephenson later became an instrumental figure in the establishment of Madison County. To bolster the growing area, Stephenson held numerous jobs throughout his lifetime and worked alongside Ninian Edwards as a friend and political ally. Though he is most remembered for his work in these regards, it is imperative to note that Stephenson also relied on the labor of enslaved persons to accomplish his goals despite there being a ban on it in the territory, resulting in his use of Black "indentured servants" in an era and place where it was not yet clear whether the more southern portions of the former Northwest Territory would enforce the ban on slavery.

Benjamin Stephenson, another early white American settler, brought enslaved African Americans to the area despite a legal prohibition of slavery. Legislation written in the 1790s allowed for the use of indentured servitude, a legal practice throughout the country. Slaveholders entering the Illinois Territory, and later the State, used this practice to get around anti-slavery laws. When Stephenson moved to the Illinois territory in 1809, he brought three enslaved men named Winn, Hark, and Tobe, legally referred to as indentured servants in order to utilize this loophole. It was common practice that a child born to indentured parents would also become indentured. The general rule was that women remained indentured until the age of 32 and men to the age of 34; however, there were many variations to this rule. Two of the children owned by Stephenson became indentured at very young ages: Washing Will at 9 months of age in 1821, and Barksley at 42 days old in 1813.

Stephenson was one of the founding fathers of both the city of Edwardsville and the State of Illinois. With his good friend and political ally Ninian Edwards, who was the third governor of the State of Illinois and namesake of the city of Edwardsville, the two men were instrumental in developing Madison County. During his lifetime, Stephenson was a merchant, a sheriff of Randolph County, the bank president, a Colonel in the Illinois state militia, a territorial representative to Congress for Illinois during the War of 1812, a road commissioner, Indian agent, and a member of the Edwardsville Board of Trustees. He was also one of the 33 men who would help design the Illinois Constitution. While serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1816, Stephenson was able to bring a Federal Land Office to Edwardsville, and President James Madison appointed him Receiver of Public Moneys. Under Stephenson’s supervision, Edwardsville was the largest selling land office in the U.S. The sale of public lands put much needed revenue into the Federal treasury and was the single most important factor in the rapid growth of Edwardsville as a center of economic and political power. Stephenson’s success with the Land Office also made him personally wealthy. He also opened a general store in the same building as the Land Office.

The 1820 Colonel Benjamin Stephenson House, Stephenson House. January 1st, 2019. Accessed November 26th, 2022. https://stephensonhouse.org/history .

Raisner, RoxAnn. Slavery and Servitude in the Stephenson House, Madison Historical. December 12th, 2017. Accessed November 26th, 2022. https://madison-historical.siue.edu/encyclopedia/slavery-and-servitude-in-the-stephenson-house/.

The first version of this entry was written by Madelyn Knight and edited by Jessica Guldner