Sweetin House

The Sweetin House

Sweetin House, also known as the Hartwell Ranch House, is the most imposing of all the limestone houses. The woodwork was all walnut. On the third floor was a ballroom that would have been used for dances on holidays. Azariah Sweetin worked as a stonemason in England before migrating to Kentucky to become a stockman. He started building the house in 1848 with the help of a David Wolley, also a stonemason. The basement and one wall of the first story were completed then construction halted for a period of eight years for an unknown reason.

According to a neighbor, the Sweetin family moved into the house in July of 1862, 14 years after construction had begun. This house must have been considered commodious then. It was 28 by 60 feet in size with three feet thick walls at the base. The home had a natural stream running though the basement to help cool and provide water to the home. The evidence of this stream can still be seen today running through the ruins.

On July 4, 1862 the Sweetins hold a house warming party and invited friends and neighbors to their third floor ballroom. It was during a practice military drill, which was custom for the day, when two young neighboring farmhands, Henson and Isham, took things too far and brought the party to a screeching halt.

Isham was apparently not faring well when his father screamed “bite him! Henson was outraged and things escalated. Henson stood over his opponent, thinking he was picking up something to throw, drew his knife and stabbed Isham in the back. Henson was arrested for murder but charges were later reduced to manslaughter. The Carrollton press never covered the story and it is believed that Henson joined the war and never faced trial.

For many years it has been said that the ghost of the young man appears on the hearth where his body once laid, his blood covering the area. They were never able to thoroughly clean the stain and it can still be seen there to this day.

Mr. Sweetin had done quite well in cattle trading before the war. He didn't trust banks so he started hiding gold coins in or around the mansion. No one was sure where it was hidden and Azariah lost his memory due to being thrown from his horse and hitting his head in 1871 at the age of 50.

Try as they might the family was never able to find the hidden money. Sweetin’s daughter is believed to be the first person to be housed in the Greene County Poor Farm.

For many years people have speculated where the money could be located. Although no one ever reported having found the money, we can assume it was found by two of Sweetin’s farm hands who disappeared shortly after Sweetins death.

The land was purchased by Cyrus Hartwell, land owner and railroad developer of Hoopeston, Illinois. Hartwell or members of his family occupied the house until his death in 1894, when his vast holdings were divided and sold.

Mary Hartwell Catherwood of Hoopeston, 1847-1902, included stories of the Lower Illinois Valley in her versatile writing career - of "corn belt local color" and the French in the new world. She gathered material for her stories as she visited her Uncle Cyrus Hartwell, in the ranch house in the 1880's and early 1890's.