Janet Eden, 88, passed away on Aug. 9, 2025, in Springfield. Seven years earlier her husband, John Eden, passed away after 59 years of mutual respect and devoted married life. Janet lived a quiet life as a homemaker. For most of their marriage they lived on three partially wooded beautiful acres on State Park Road adjacent to New Salem Park, a few miles south of Petersburg. Janet loved the outdoors.
By the time John died, Janet had poor eyesight, little mobility and no driver’s license. But now she was living alone. Her one child, Laura Bounds, lived in South Carolina as did her sole granddaughter, Beth Miller and family.
Janet made do for a while, but a bad fall/hospital stay, another broken hip bad fall/hospital stay/rehab, led to assisted living, then a stroke, then nursing home life, then COVID-19, then skilled care living. But throughout, Janet remained attentive to the Long Nine Museum (L9M) in Athens, Illinois, which she now owned.
Janet’s husband, John, a native of Athens whose family ancestral home is three blocks from L9M, had bought the historical museum building after its closing in 1979. He had earlier been part of the group that first opened the museum. Through perseverance, skill and dedication, John restored the museum and reopened it using his own limited funds and solo efforts. But as John aged, he had no succession plan for the museum.
But because of Janet’s focus and attention to the museum following John’s death, now there is a succession plan for the museum. Janet approved the efforts of retired Tennessee engineer Jim Siberell, local CPA Dick Poynter, Lincoln expert James Cornelius and longtime Eden family attorney Joe McMenamin to form a not-for-profit 501c3 Illinois corporation to perpetuate the museum. These efforts are ongoing and now include leadership from Athens Mayor Chris Reichert and Pennsylvania entrepreneur/Lincoln devotee Sameer Somal.
The L9M focuses on Lincoln’s early adult life prior to his move to Springfield in 1837 to practice law. The museum celebrates one of Lincoln’s earliest civic accomplishments, legislation with eight other tall central Illinois legislators to move the capital of Illinois from Vandalia to Springfield. The L9M building is the building that held the celebratory banquet for Lincoln and the other Long Nine in 1837 on the second floor.
The Long Nine Museum is a unique and special place. Janet and John Eden have left a lasting legacy of commitment to historic preservation and the memory of Lincoln.
-Friend Joe McMenamin
This article appears in January 1-7, 2026.
