Blandin House

Looking for Lincoln - McDonough County, Illinois

The Blandin House

The Village of Blandinsville was a bustling place in the 1850s and once hosted a young ambitious politician from Springfield named Abraham Lincoln. Today, the Blandin House Museum pays honor to this visit.

In October of 1858, as Lincoln was stumping throughout Illinois for a seat in the State Senate and in between debating Stephen Douglas, he stayed with postmaster, businessman, and fellow lawyer, Charles R. Hume and his wife, Harriett Blandin. 

Harriet was the daughter of the town's founding father, Joseph Blandin the man who built this house in 1841. The Hume home sat on Main Street, just over 600 ft. west of the Blandin House. It was destroyed by fire on August 21, 1914.

On May 16, 1970, a group of concerned citizens, led by Mrs. Blanche Hainline, bought the vacant brick house on the east side of the village park and started a museum to honor founding father, Joseph Blandin and his family. 

Over the years, the Museum has added many artifacts from the history of Blandinsville.  The Blandin House Museum  is located on Chestnut Street, west of the Blandinsville village park.

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With many thanks...

Sources

Sources: John E. Hallwas, Here to Stay (2012), Memory and Community: The Life and Writings of W. H. Hainline (2018), edited by John Hallwas and Kathy Nichols, Macomb Journal, John E. Hallwas, Macomb: A Pictorial History (1990), Alexander McLean, History of McDonough County (1907), Dr. Tim Roberts, When Macomb Hosted Lincoln: Devising the Freeport Question.

Abraham Lincoln

Michael Krebs

Image

WIU Libraries | Archives & Special Collections

Looking For Lincoln Heritage Coalition

Sarah Watson and Heather Wickens

Macomb Looking For Lincoln Committee

Jan Armstrong, John Bannon, Annette Carper, Lara Dively, Dave Dorsett, John Hallwas, Jock Hedblade, Terra Litchfield 

Maps & Web Design

Dr. Christopher Sutton, WIU Department of Earth, Atmospheric & Geographic Information Sciences

Film Production

Jock Hedblade, TNT Productions’ Austin Thompson, Gabe Thompson, Michael Thompson with Jan Armstrong & Beci Steelman

City of Macomb

Michael Inman, Mayor

Macomb City Council

Gayle Carper, Tammie Leigh Brown-Edwards, Thomas Koch, Dennis Moon, Jon Vigezzi, Mike Wayland, Don Wynn

Village of Blandinsville

Marilyn Moore, Village President

McDonough County Board

Larry Aurelio, Lee Calvert, Letha Clark, David Cortelyou, Mike Cox, Ken Durkin, Joe Erlandson, Travis Hiel, Michael Kirby, Terra Litchfield, Bob Mahr, Dick Marcott, Rod McGrew L. Deckle McLean, Julie Melvin, David Nissen, Scott Schwerer, Trevor Toland, Paul Trimmer, Marcia Twaddle

McDonough County Courthouse

Thomas Lowe

Western Illinois University

Dr. Guiyou Huang, President

Macomb Area Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Unforgettable Forgottonia Board of Directors 

Dr. Minson Doh, Dave Dorsett, Nancy Foster, Brandy Jones, Bridget McCormick, John Nelson, Penny Lawyer, Laura Leezer, Jeremy Robinett, Paul Schlag, Mike Wayland -- and Jock Hedblade & Janet Armstrong

Macomb Beautiful Association

Brenda Allison, Barb Knox, John Knox, Candice McLaughlin, Karen Schneider, Penny Yunker

Rotary Club of Macomb

Jerry Brookhart, Steve Knowles, Jack Laverdiere, Tom Stites

Macomb Centennial Morning Rotary Club

Monica Iverson, Julianne Pickett, Alene Reuschel

Additional Thank Yous

Neil Armstrong, Patrick Burke, Tom Claudon, Jay Griswold - McDonough Telephone Cooperative, Jean Ann Honegger, Beau Ingledue - Purdum, Gray, Ingledue, Beck Inc., Eric Jameson, Laura Leezer, Duke Oursler, Lin Stults, Steve Tibbits

And our generous sponsors

Blandin House Museum, Citizens Bank (A Division of Morton Bank), Clugston-Tibbitts Funeral Homes, Dodsworth-Piper-Wallen Funeral Home, McDonough County Historical Society, McDonough Telephone Cooperative, MidAmerica National Bank, Nicholas & Stacie Petitgout, Purdum Gray Ingledue Beck, Rotary Clubs of Macomb

Our Sponsors