Robinson-Stewart House - Carmi, IL
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 05.416 W 088° 09.508
16S E 398412 N 4216464
The history of Carmi states it was built in 1814. Plaque on the wall says 1819, and Illinois State Historical Society marker says before 1817. Seems to be a question as to actually when.
Waymark Code: WM17T61
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 04/01/2023
Views: 1
County of house: White County
Location of house: 110 S. Maincross St. & Robinson St., Carmi
Marker erected by: The White County Historical Society and the Illinois State Historical Society
Date marker erected: 1965
The Person:
"John McCracken Robinson (April 10, 1794 – April 25, 1843) was a United States senator from Illinois.
"Born near Georgetown, Kentucky, he attended the common schools and graduated from Transylvania University at Lexington. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar and began practice in Carmi, Illinois in 1818. He was a judge of the Illinois Supreme Court, and served as a general in the State militia. He was elected in 1830 as a Jacksonian (later a Democrat) to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John McLean. He was reelected in 1835 and served from December 11, 1830, until his retirement on March 3, 1841, and was not a candidate for reelection. While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Engrossed Bills (Twenty-second Congress) and a member of the Committees on Militia (Twenty-second through Twenty-fourth Congresses) and Post Office and Post Roads (Twenty-fourth through Twenty-sixth Congresses).
"Robinson was elected an associate justice of the Illinois Supreme Court in 1843 and served until his death two months later in Ottawa, Illinois. His interment was in the Old Graveyard, Carmi, Illinois." ~ Wikipedia
The Place:
Marker text:
CARMI'S OLDEST HOUSEThis house was built by early settler John Craw prior to 1817. In 1835 it was purchased by John M. Robinson, U.S. Senator (1831-43) and Illinois Supreme Court Justice (1843). The house was later occupied by his daughter Mrs. Robert Stewart and his granddaughter Miss Mary Jane Stewart.
Plaque erected by: White County Historical Society
Plaque text:
Carmi's Oldest House
1819
The Residence of
JOHN M. ROBINSON
U. S. SENATOR 1831-43
"Carmi lies on the East bank of the Little Wabash River in Southern Illinois. It was the Little Wabash that attracted the first settlers to the area in the period of 1809-1814. The oldest existing house in Carmi was built in 1814. The house, located near the city park, is sometimes open to visitors because of its colorful history. The house was used as a courthouse when White County was founded in 1815, and when Carmi was chartered in 1816. U.S. Senator James Robinson and his family lived in the home until the 1870's. The Senator's granddaughter Mary Jane Stewart occupied the home until 1966. She willed the home and its contents to the White County Historical Society which maintains it as a house museum." - History of Carmi
"The Robinson-Stewart House is a historic house located at 110 S. Main Cross St. in Carmi, Illinois. Built in 1814 by John Craw, the house is the oldest in Carmi and one of the oldest in Illinois. Carmi was founded in an 1816 meeting at the house; the community's early settlers met there to choose the community's name, a reference to a biblical figure, and voted to plat its land. The house also served as White County's courthouse until 1828, when a separate courthouse building was constructed. In 1835, U.S. Senator John McCracken Robinson purchased the house; Robinson lived in the home until his death in 1843.
"The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 17, 1973." ~ Wikipedia