David Chamberlin House

The historic house at 918 Belleville St. was the home of one of the most prominent families in Lebanon, the Chamberlins. David Chamberlin was a Methodist preacher and one of the original subscribers to the fund that established Lebanon Seminary in 1828 (McKendree College as of 1830). He later served as the head of McKendree's boarding department. One of David's sons, McKendree Hypes Chamberlin, served as president of the college for fourteen years. Another son, John McLean Chamberlin, was treasurer of the college, a member of the city council, and head of the board of education. Also known as the Hoerner House, the home was built in 1855 and is part of the Lebanon National Register Historic District, listed in 1978.

David Chamberlin was an itinerant Methodist preacher before settling in Lebanon. He married Sarah, an Ohio native and daughter of Nicholas Horner, who settled in 1817 a mile and a half north of Lebanon. David and Sarah's son, John McLean Chamberlin, was born in 1837; his brother, McKendree Hypes, followed one year later. John M. graduated from McKendree College in 1860 with an A.B. degree and later earned an A.M. degree; his father had been one of the original subscribers to the college's precursor, Lebanon Seminary, founded in 1828. McKendree graduated with an A.B. degree from McKendree in 1859. McKendree went on to become a lawyer with a degree from Harvard Law School. David Chamberlin and his young family actually lived in the original building at McKendree College in the late 1830s when David was in charge of the boarding department.

David Chamberlin died by 1860 and his widow Susan (age 56) turned the home into a boarding house. Both sons, in their early twenties and students, also shared the home, as well as two family servants: Margaret Casey (17) and Susana Heiser (18). There were four boarders: the McKendree College president, Nelson E. Lobleight (45), his wife Charlotte (34), and children Nelson (15) and Edward (9). The Chamberlin property was a huge tract on the outskirts of town (see the 1863 map image).

Both Chamberlin brothers married in 1869: John M. to Maggie E. Royce and McKendree to Helen L. Dana. John M. became a partner on a local mercantile firm; he also was a Sunday School Superintendent of the local Methodist Church and a trustee of the college for over fifty years. John M. also became head of the local board of education and served on the City Council. McKendree practiced law in Kansas City and later in Beardstown, Illinois.

John M. (43, a merchant) was the head of the Chamberlin household by 1880, likely in the Belleville St. house. He shared the house with his wife Maggie (33); four sons aged one to nine; his widowed mother Susan (76); and a domestic servant named Bertha Blattruth (19). By that time, the house was incorporated within the city of Lebanon. John M. died in Lebanon at a son's home in 1919.

In the 1890s, McKendree College was heavily in debt and the note holder was threatening to foreclose. McKendree Chamberlin was offered the presidency of the college in 1894, and he initially refused, but relented a few days later. Perhaps being born at the college and being named after the bishop who was the college's namesake influenced his change of heart. McKendree served for fourteen years and was instrumental in not only getting the college out of debt but creating an endowment fund. When he retired, the college bought him a house in Lebanon where he had been living for a while; this was the Herbert Morriss House, owned by Dr. Benjamin M Hypes. McKendree served as President Emeritus and earned a salary. Several years later, he moved to California where he passed away in 1914.

The main block of the David Chamberlin House is 5 bays wide with a central entryway below a second-floor balcony. When the house was documented in the late 1970s, the front entrance was accessed through a pedimented porch with square columns below two small windows on the second floor. The side gable roof of the main block has internal chimneys on both ends. There are two rear wings. The house last sold in 2001 and remains a private residence.

St. Clair County Genealogical Society. Lebanon Precinct - 1881, St. Clair County Genealogical Society. January 1st, 2018. Accessed January 7th, 2023. https://stclair-ilgs.org/1881lebanon/.

U.S. Census Bureau. Household of Susan Chamberlin in Township 2 North Range 6 W, St. Clair County, Illinois, dwelling 4712, family 4834. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1860.

U.S. Census Bureau. Household of John Chamberlin in District 31, Lebanon, St. Clair County, Illinois, dwelling 209, family 213. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1880.

Wagner, Robert. NRHP Nomination of Lebanon Historic District, St. Clair County, Illinois. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1977.

Walton, William Clarence. Centennial McKendree College with St. Clair County History. Lebanon, IL. McKendree College, 1928.