abstract
| - The Benjaminville Friends Meeting House and Burial Ground is located north of the rural McLean County village of Benjaminville. The village was founded in 1856 after Quakers settled the area. More Quakers followed and the burial ground, followed by the current Meeting house in 1874, was constructed. This site, listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places since 1983, is all that remains of that village. The burial ground preceded the meeting house, as the site was home to another meeting house that was constructed in 1859. The Benjaminville Meeting House represents an outstanding example of Quaker meeting house architecture and it contains within its design many of the major elements associated with the style. The Friends meeting house at Benjaminville is unique in that it allowed both male and female friends to worship together. The burial ground, however, maintains strict separation, not by gender but by religious affiliation. The graveyard is divided into three section, one for Quakers, one for non-Quakers, and one for distant relatives of both.
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