October 1 2026, 10:00am

Remembering Col. Benjamin Stephenson

Remembering Col. Benjamin Stephenson

1820 Col. Benjamin Stephenson House

409 S. Buchanan St.
Edwardsville, Illinois 62025

  • Admission: $10 for adults; $5 for children ages 6 to 12
  • Time: 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
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Throughout the month of October, the 1820 Col. Benjamin Stephenson House will be in mourning in honor of Col. Stephenson who is credited with leading Illinois into U.S. statehood. Special Mourning Tours will be held Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Tour tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children between the ages of 6 and 12. Please note: This tour contains themes of death, illness and grief and may not be appropriate for some people, including children and those going through loss.

The parlor will be set up like Benjamin Stephenson’s funeral. Back then, the family probably prepared the body themselves and had a craftsman make the coffin, as Edwardsville had no known funeral businesses in 1822. The visitation would have taken place in the house.

It is unknown what exactly Stephenson died of, but his family was ordering malaria medicine around the time of his death. The master bedroom will be a sick room, reflecting where Stephenson may have spent his final days. In the 1820s, there were no civilian hospitals, so he would have been treated at home by his family and Dr. John Todd, Mary Todd Lincoln’s uncle.

Other aspects of the mourning practices will be spread throughout the rest of the house. The servants’ quarters and both bedrooms will have various items involved in mourning. In the kitchen, visitors can taste funeral biscuits, which were often given to funeral guests. When Stephenson died, people, and especially women, dressed differently while in mourning (Lucy Stephenson, Benjamin’s wife, wore her mourning clothes for the rest of her life), and so the docents will be dressed to reflect this tradition.

Tours must start before 2 p.m.

Upcoming Dates

  • Friday, October 2 2026
  • Saturday, October 3 2026
  • Sunday, October 4 2026
  • Thursday, October 8 2026
  • Friday, October 9 2026
  • Saturday, October 10 2026
  • Sunday, October 11 2026
  • Thursday, October 15 2026
  • Friday, October 16 2026
  • Saturday, October 17 2026
  • Sunday, October 18 2026
  • Thursday, October 22 2026
  • Friday, October 23 2026
  • Saturday, October 24 2026
  • Sunday, October 25 2026
  • Thursday, October 29 2026
  • Friday, October 30 2026
  • Saturday, October 31 2026

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