The stately home of B S Green was featured in the 1896 edition of Illustrated Bloomington, when Benoni S. Green had a downtown harness and saddlery business.
In 1958 Ralph Green, a son of Benoni Green was interviewed by the Pantagraph regarding the great fire of 1900. Ralph was just 16 years old when the fire occurred, and he remembered that night vividly. Their family was awakened at 1 am by the police knocking at the door. They came to inform Green that the Model Laundry, which stood next door to his business, was on fire. Benoni and Ralph Green hurriedly dressed and raced to the scene of the fire. As they approached their business, which was on the third and fourth floors of the building next to the Model Laundry, they could see the fire in the laundry.
Water pressure was very low at this time and the firemen had very little water power to fight the fire:
The city water pressure was very poor, and the only source was from six inch water mains. I well remember the four or five hose lines from which was flowing very scant and weak streams of water. I believe there was only one pumper, an old steam fire engine which was doing very little good, for the largest street was reading only the second floor windows, while the fire rapidly was burning the third and fourth floors.
Benoni Green attempted to save important papers from the fire by entering the building, but the force of air rushing and the heat of the fire prevented him from going inside. The only papers that would be saved were those in the safe, which fell to the basement when the building collapsed. Water had to poured over the safe for two days before it was cool enough to open.
Ralph lost sight of his father and went to the porch of the Second Presbyterian Church to watch the fire. He watched the flames begin to consume His father's place of business, beginning at the roof of the building and then burning it down to the ground. He also saw the fire jump across the alley and spread to neighboring buildings.
Ralph watched in disbelief as first the birds' nests around the eaves of the courthouse caught fire and then the interior of the courthouse caught fire and was completely consumed. The fire was finally stopped with the help of the Peoria Fire Department, which sent men and equipment that could more effectively fight the fire.
The building owned by Green was not sufficiently insured, and he was forced to sell a farm near Heyworth in order to build a new three story building, this time on East Street, where the U.S. Post Office later stood. The building was completed in 1902 and was in use as a saddlery business until 1938. Benoni also purchased the land where the fire started, and built a six story building there, across the street from his new business on East Street.
Benoni Green died in 1920 in Canaan, New York, where he was living with his wife. He left an estate of $160,000 from which many small bequests were made. The remainder was left to his wife, including the home at 1102 N. Main. The estate was not hers to leave however -- she only held it for the remainder of her life, then it passed to their two sons, Ralph and Benoni, Jr., to be shared equally. Quite naturally, a woman did not share in the wealth of her husband as if it were her own or as if she had any legal ability to own property in her own right at this time in history.
In 1921, the home was purchased by the Sigma Chi Fraternity for their new home. Wesleyan University campus was growing steadily and the fraternity was eager to purchase a home that reflected the prosperity of the school. The Pantagraph elaborated on the comforts offered in the home. A large fireplace in the entry to the home was mentioned, as well as several parlors on the first floor. The purchase price was $20,000.