Built 1846 (1846) NRHP Reference # 82002523 Area 1,600 m² | Opened 1846 Added to NRHP 3 June 1982 | |
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Dr hiram rutherford house and office top 9 facts
The Dr. Hiram Rutherford House and Office is a historic house located at 14 S. Pike St. in Oakland, Illinois. The house was built in 1846 for Dr. Hiram Rutherford, a doctor who settled in Oakland in 1840. Rutherford was one of the first settlers in the village, which was then known as Independence. Rutherford's house had an L-shaped I-house plan with Greek Revival details, including triangular pediments at the ends of its gable roof.
Rutherford was also known as an active abolitionist and was the defendant in the Matson Slave Trial in 1847. Kentucky slaveholder Robert Matson had brought his slaves to his farm near Oakland, and after the slaves escaped to Rutherford's house, Matson sued to recover his slaves. Abraham Lincoln defended Matson in the trial, the only known case in which Lincoln defended a slaveholder. The court ruled that Matson's slaves were freed, as Matson held them in the state and slavery was illegal under state law.
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 3, 1982.