USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume I > Part 103
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window-glass, flint and Bohemian ware and glass bottles. Other successful industries are foundries and machine shops, flour mills, and clay working establishments. There are several banks, and three daily and weekly papers are published here. The estimated property valuation, in 1884, was $12,000,000. Streator boasts some handsome public buildings, especially the Government post- office and the Carnegie public library building, both of which have been erected within the past few years. Pop. (1890), 11,414; (1900), 14,079.
STREET, Joseph M., pioneer and early politi- cian, settled at Shawneetown about 1812, coming from Kentucky, though believed to have been a native of Eastern Virginia. In 1827 he was a Brigadier-General of militia, and appears to have been prominent in the affairs of that section of the State. His correspondence with Governor Edwards, about this time, shows him to have been a man of far more than ordinary education, with a good opinion of his merits and capabilities. He was a most persistent applicant for office, making urgent appeals to Governor Edwards, Henry Clay and other politicians in Kentucky, Virginia and Washington, on the ground of his poverty and large family. In 1827 he received the offer of the clerkship of the new county of Peoria, but, on visiting that region, was disgusted with the prospect; returning to Shawneetown, bought a farm in Sangamon County, but, before the close of the year, was appointed Indian Agent at Prairie du Chien. This was during the difficul- ties with the Winnebago Indians, upon which he made voluminous reports to the Secretary of War. Mr. Street was a son-in-law of Gen. Thomas Posey, a Revolutionary soldier, who was prominent in the early history of Indiana and its last Territorial Governor. (See Posey, (Gen.) Thomas.)
STREETER, Alson J., farmer and politician, was born in Rensselaer County, N. Y., in 1823; at the age of two years accompanied his father to Illinois, the family settling at Dixon, Lee County, He attended Knox College for three years, and, in 1849, went to California, where he spent two years in gold mining. Returning to Illinois, he purchased a farm of 240 acres near New Windsor, Mercer County, to which he has since added sev- eral thousand acres. In 1872 he was elected to the lower house of the Twenty-eighth General Assembly as a Democrat, but, in 1873, allied him- self with the Greenback party, whose candidate for Congress he was in 1878, and for Governor in 1880, when he received nearly 3,000 votes more than his party's Presidential nominee, in Illinois.
In 1884 he was elected State Senator by a coali- tion of Greenbackers and Democrats in the Twenty-fourtli Senatorial District, but acted as an independent throughout his entire term.
STRONG, William Emerson, soldier, was born at Granville, N. Y., in 1840; from 13 years of age, spent his early life in Wisconsin, studied law and was admitted to the bar at Racine in 1861. The same year he enlisted under the first call for troops, took part, as Captain of a Wisconsin Com- pany, in the first battle of Bull Run; was afterwards promoted and assigned to duty as Inspector-General in the West, participated in the Vicksburg and Atlanta campaigns, being finally advanced to the rank of Brigadier-Gen- eral. After some fifteen months spent in the position of Inspector-General of the Freedmen's Bureau (1865-66), he located in Chicago, and became connected with several important busi- ness enterprises, besides assisting, as an officer on the staff of Governor Cullom, in the organization of the Illinois National Guard. He was elected on the first Board of Directors of the World's Columbian Exposition, and, while making a tour of Europe in the interest of that enterprise, died, at Florence, Italy, April 10, 1891.
STUART, John Todd, lawyer and Congress- man, born near Lexington, Ky., Nov. 10, 1807- the son of Robert Stuart, a Presbyterian minister and Professor of Languages in Transylvania University, and related, on the maternal side, to the Todd family, of whom Mrs. Abraham Lincoln was a member. He graduated at Centre College, Danville, in 1826, and, after studying law, re- moved to Springfield, Ill., in 1828, and began practice. In 1832 he was elected Representative in the General Assembly, re-elected in 1834, and, in 1836, defeated, as the Whig candidate for Con- gress, by Wm. L. May, though elected, two years later, over Stephen A. Douglas, and again in 1840. In 1837, Abraham Lincoln, who had been studying law under Mr. Stuart's advice and instruction, became his partner, the relation- ship continuing until 1841. He served in the State Senate, 1849-53, was the Bell-Everett candidate for Governor in 1860, and was elected to Congress, as a Democrat, for a third time, in 1862, but, in 1864, was defeated by Shelby M. Cullom, his former pupil. During the latter years of his life, Mr. Stuart was head of the law firm of Stuart, Edwards & Brown. Died, at Springfield, Nov. 28, 1885.
STURGES, Solomon, merchant and banker, was born at Fairfield, Conn., April 21, 1796, early manifested a passion for the sea and, in 1810,
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made a voyage, on a vessel of which his brother was captain, from New York to Georgetown, D. C., intending to continue it to Lisbon. At Georgetown he was induced to accept a position as clerk with a Mr. Williams, where he was associated with two other youths, as fellow-em- ployés, who became eminent bankers and capitalists-W. W. Corcoran, afterwards the well-known banker of Washington, and George W. Peabody, who had a successful banking career in England, and won a name as one of the most liberal and public-spirited of philanthropists. During the War of 1812 young Sturges joined a volunteer infantry company, where he had, for comrades, George W. Peabody and Francis S. Key, the latter author of the popular national song, "The Star Spangled Banner." In 1814 Mr. Sturges accepted a clerkship in the store of his brother-in-law, Ebenezer' Buckingham, at Put- nam, Muskingum County, Ohio, two years later becoming a partner in the concern, where he developed that business capacity which laid the foundation for his future wealth. Before steam- ers navigated the waters of the Ohio and Missis- sippi Rivers, he piloted flat-boats, loaded with produce and merchandise, to New Orleans, return- ing overland. During one of his visits to that city, he witnessed the arrival of the "Washing- ton," the first steamer to descend the Mississippi, as, in 1817, he saw the arrival of the "Walk-in- the-Water" at Detroit, the first steamer to arrive from Buffalo-the occasion of his visit to Detroit being to carry funds to General Cass to pay off the United States troops. About 1849 he was associated with the construction of the Wabash & Erie Canal, from the Ohio River to Terre Haute, Ind., advancing money for the prosecution of the work, for which was reimbursed by the State. In 1854 he came to Chicago, and, in partnership with his brothers-in-law, C. P. and Alvah Buck- ingham, erected the first large grain-elevator in that city, on land leased from the Illinois Central Railroad Company, following it, two years later, by another of equal capacity. For a time, sub- stantially all the grain coming into Chicago, by railroad, passed into these elevators. In 1857 he established the private banking house of Solomon Sturges & Sons, which, shortly after his death, under the management of his son, George Stur- ges, became the Northwestern National Bank of Chicago. He was intensely patriotic and, on the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, used of his means freely in support of the Govern- ment, equipping the Sturges Rifles, an independ- ont company, at a cost of $20,000. He was also a
subscriber to the first loan made by the Govern- ment, during this period, taking $100,000 in Government bonds. While devoted to his busi- ness, he was a hater of shams and corruption, and contributed freely to Christian and benevolent enterprises. Died, at the home of a daughter, at Zanesville, Ohio, Oct. 14, 1864, leaving a large fortune acquired by legitimate trade.
STURTEVANT, Julian Munson, D.D., LL.D., clergyman and educator, was born at Warren, Litchfield County, Conn., July 26, 1805; spent his youth in Summit County, Ohio, meanwhile pre- paring for college; in 1822, entered Yale College as the classmate of the celebrated Elizur Wright, graduating in 1826. After two years as Princi- pal of an academy at Canaan, Conn., he entered Yale Divinity School, graduating there in 1829; then came west, and, after spending a year in superintending the erection of buildings, in De- cember, 1830, as sole tutor, began instruction to a class of nine pupils in what is now Illinois Col- lege, at Jacksonville. Having been joined, the following year, by Dr. Edward Beecher as Presi- dent, Mr. Sturtevant assumed the chair of Mathe- matics, Natural Philosophy and Astronomy, which he retained until 1844, when, by the retirement of Dr. Beecher, he succeeded to the offices of President and Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy. Here he labored, inces- santly and unselfishly, as a teacher during term time, and, as financial agent during vacations, in the interest of the institution of which he had been one of the chief founders, serving until 1876, when he resigned the Presidency, giving his attention, for the next ten years, to the duties of Professor of Mental Science and Science of Gov- ernment, which he had discharged from 1870. In 1886 he retired from the institution entirely, having given to its service fifty-six years of his life. In 1863, Dr. Sturtevant visited Europe in the interest of the Union cause, delivering effec- tive addresses at a number of points in England. He was a frequent contributor to the weekly religious and periodical press, and was the author of "Economics, or the Science of Wealth" (1876) -a text-book on political economy, and "Keys of Sect, or the Church of the New Testament" (1879), besides frequently occupying the pulpits of local and distant churches-having been early ordained a Congregational minister. He received the degree of D.D. from the University of Mis- souri and that of LL. D. from Iowa University. Died, in Jacksonville, Feb. 11, 1886 .- Julian M. (Sturtevant), Jr., son of the preceding, was born at Jacksonville, Ill .. Feb. 2, 1834; fitted for col-
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lege in the preparatory department of Illinois College and graduated from tlie college (proper) in 1854. After leaving college he served as teacher in the Jacksonville public schools one year, then spent a year as tutor in Illinois Col- lege, when lie began the study of theology at Andover Theological Seminary, graduating there in 1859, meanwhile having discharged the duties of Chaplain of the Connecticut State's prison in 1858. He was ordained a minister of the Con- gregational Church at Hannibal, Mo., in 1860, remaining as pastor in that city nine years. He has since been engaged in pastoral work in New York City (1869-70), Ottawa, Ill., (1870-73) ; Den- ver, Colo., (1873-77); Grinnell, Iowa, (1877-84) ; Cleveland, Ohio, (1884-90); Galesburg, Ill., (1890-93), and Aurora, (1893-97). Since leaving tlie Congregational church at Aurora, Dr. Sturte- vant has been engaged in pastoral work in Chi- cago. He was also editor of "The Congrega- tionalist" of Iowa (1881-84), and, at different periods, has served as Trustee of Colorado, Marietta and Knox Colleges; being still an honored member of the Knox College Board. He received the degree of D.D from Illinois College, in 1879.
SUBLETTE, a station and village on the Illi- nois Central Railroad, in Lee County, 8 miles northwest of Mendota. Population, (1900), 306.
SUFFRAGE, in general, the right or privilege of voting. The qualifications of electors (or voters), in the choice of public officers in Illinois, are fixed by the State Constitution (Art. VII.), except as to school officers, which are prescribed by law. Under the State Constitution the exer- cise of the right to vote is limited to persons who were electors at the time of the adoption of the Constitution of 1848, or who are native or natu- ralized male citizens of the United States, of the age of 21 years or over, who have been residents of the State one year, of the county ninety days, and of the district (or precinct) in which they offer to vote, 30 days. Under an act passed in 1891, women, of 21 years of age and upwards, are entitled to vote for school officers, and are also eligible to such offices under the same conditions, as to age and residence, as male citizens. (See Elections; Australian Ballot.)
SULLIVAN, a city and county-seat of Moultrie County, 25 miles southeast of Decatur and 14 miles northwest of Mattoon; is on three lines of railway. It is in an agricultural and stock-rais- ing region; contains two State banks and four weekly newspapers. Population (1880), 1,305; (1890), 1,468; (1900), 2,399; (1900, est.), 3,100.
SULLIVAN, William K., journalist, was born at Waterford, Ireland, Nov. 10, 1843; educated at the Waterford Model School and in Dublin, came to the United States in 1863, and, after teaching for a time in Kane County, in 1864 enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-first Regiment Illinois Volunteers. Then, after a brief season spent in teaching and on a visit to his native land, he began work as a reporter on New York papers, later being employed on "The Chicago Tribune" and "The Evening Journal," on the latter, at different times, holding the position of city edi- tor, managing editor and correspondent. He was also a Representative from Cook County in the Twenty-seventh General Assembly, for three years a member of the Chicago Board of Edu- cation, and appointed United States Consul to the Bermudas by President Harrison, resigning in 1892. Died, in Chicago, January 17, 1899.
SULLIVANT, Michael Lucas, agriculturist, was born at Franklinton (a suburb of Columbus, Ohio), August 6, 1807; was educated at Ohio University and Centre College, Ky., and-after being engaged in the improvement of an immense tract of land inherited from his father near his birth-place, devoting much attention, meanwhile, to the raising of improved stock-in 1854 sold his Ohio lands and bought 80,000 acres, chiefly in Champaign and Piatt Counties, Ill., where he began farming on a larger scale than before. The enterprise proved a financial failure, and he was finally compelled to sell a considerable portion of his estate in Champaign County, known as Broad Lands, to John T. Alexander (see Alexander, John T.), retiring to a farm of 40,000 acres at Burr Oaks, Ill. He died, at Henderson, Ky., Jan. 29, 1879.
SUMMERFIELD, a village of St. Clair County, on the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railway, 27 miles east of St. Louis; was the home of Gen. Fred. Hecker. Population (1900), 360.
SUMNER, a city of Lawrence County, on the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad, 19 miles west of Vincennes, Ind. ; lias a fine school house, four churches, two banks, two flour mills, tele- phones, and one weekly newspaper. Pop. (1890), 1,037; (1900), 1,268.
SUPERINTENDENTS OF PUBLIC INSTRUC- TION. The office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction was created by act of the Legislature, at a special session held in 1854, its duties previous to that time, from 1845, having been discharged by the Secretary of State as Superintendent, ex-officio. The following is a list of the incumbents from the date of the formal
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creation of the office down to the present time ' tired by Constitution) ; Lyinan Trumbull, 1848-53 (1899), with the date and duration of the term of each. Ninian W. Edwards (by appointment of the Governor), 1854-57; William H. Powell (by election), 1857-59; Newton Bateman, 1859-63; John P. Brooks, 1863-65; Newton Bateman, 1865-75; Samuel W. Etter, 1875-79; James P. Slade, 1879-83; Henry Raab, 1883-87; Richard Edwards, 1887-91; Henry Raab, 1891-95; Samuel M. Inglis, 1895-98: James H. Freeman, June, 1898, to January, 1899 (by appointment of the Governor, to fill the unexpired term of Prof. Inglis, who died in office, June 1, 1898); Alfred Baylis, 1899 -.
Previous to 1870 the tenure of the office was two years, but, by the Constitution adopted that year, it was extended to four years, the elections occurring on the even years between those for Governor and other State officers except State Treasurer.
SUPREME COURT, JUDGES OF THE. The following is a list of Justices of the Supreme Court of Illinois who have held office since the organization of the State Governinent, with the period of their respective incumbencies: Joseph Phillips, 1818-22 (resigned); Thomas C. Browne, 1818 48 (term expired on adoption of new Con- stitution); William P. Foster, Oct. 9, 1818, to July 7, 1819 (resigned), John Reynolds, 1818-25; Thomas Reynolds (vice Phillips), 1822-25; Wil- liam Wilson (vice Foster) 1819-48 (term expired on adoption of new Constitution); Samuel D Lockwood, 1825-48 (term expired on adoption of new Constitution); Theophilus W. Smith, 1825-42 (resigned); Thomas Ford, Feb. 15, 1841, to Au- gust 1, 1842 (resigned); Sidney Breese, Feb. 15, 1841, to Dec. 19, 1842 (resigned)-also (by re-elec- tions), 1857-78 (died in office) ; Walter B. Scates, 1841-47 (resigned)-also (vice Trumbull), 1854-57 (resigned); Samuel H. Treat, 1841-55 (resigned); Stephen A. Douglas, 1841-42 (resigned); John D. Caton (vice Ford) August, 1842, to March, 1843- also (vice Robinson and by successive re-elec- tions), May, 1843 to January, 1864 (resigned) ; James Semple (vice Breese), Jan. 14, 1843, to April 16, 1843 (resigned) ; Richard M. Young (vice Smith), 1843-47 (resigned); John M. Robinson (vice Ford), Jan. 14, 1843, to April 27, 1843 (died in office) ; Jesse B. Thomas, Jr., (vice Douglas), 1843-45 (resigned)-also (vice Young), 1847-48; James Shields (vice Semple), 1843-45 (resigned) ; Norman H. Purple (vice Thomas), 1843-48 (retired under Constitution of 1848); Gustavus Koerner (vice Shields), 1845-48 (retired by Constitution); William A. Denning (vice Scates), 1847-48 (re-
(resigned); Ozias C. Skinner (vice Treat), 1855-58 (resigned); Pinkney H. Walker (vice Skinner), 1858-85 (deceased); Corydon Beckwith (by ap. pointment, vice Caton), Jan. 7, 1864, to June 6, 1864; Charles B. Lawrence (one term), 1864-73; Anthony Thornton, 1870-73 (resigned); Jolmn M. Scott (two terms), 1870-88; Benjamin R. Sheldon (two terms), 1870-88; William K. McAllister, 1870-75 (resigned); Jolın Scholfield (vice Thorn- ton), 1873 93 (died); T. Lyle Dickey (vice McAllister), 1875-85 (died) ; David J. Baker (ap- pointed, vice Breese), July 9, 1878, to June 2, 1879-also, 1888-97: John H. Mulkey, 1879-88; Damon G. Tunnicliffe (appointed, vice Walker), Feb. 15, 1885, to June 1, 1885; Simeon P. Shope, 1885-94, Joseph M. Bailey, 1888-95 (died in office). The Supreme Court, as at present constituted (1899), is as follows: Carroll C. Boggs, elected, 1897; Jesse J. Phillips (vice Scholfield, deceased) elected, 1893, and re-elected, 1897; Jacob W. Wil- kin, elected, 1888, and re-elected, 1897; Joseph N. Carter, elected, 1894; Alfred M. Craig, elec- ted, 1873, and re-elected, 1882 and '91; James H. Cartwright (vice Bailey), elected, 1895, and re- elected, 1897; Benjamin D. Magruder (vice Dickey), elected, 1885, '88 and '97. The terms of Justices Boggs, Phillips, Wilkin, Cartwright and Magruder expire in 1906; that of Justice Carter on 1903; and Justice Craig's, in 1900. Under the Constitution of 1818, the Justices of the Supreme Court were chosen by joint ballot of the Legisla- ture, but, under the Constitutions of 1848 and 1870, by popular vote for terms of nine years each. (See Judicial System; also sketches of individual members of the Supreme Court under their proper names.)
SURVEYS, EARLY GOVERNMENT. The first United States law passed on the subject of Gov- ernment surveys was dated, May 20, 1785. After reserving certain lands to be allotted by way of pensions and to be donated for school purposes, it provided for the division of the remaining pub- lic lands among the original thirteen States. This, however, was, in effect, repealed by the Ordi- nance of 1788. The latter provided for a rectan- gular system of surveys which, with but little modification, lias remained in force ever since. Briefly outlined, the system is as follows: Town- ships, six miles square, are laid out from principal bases, each township containing thirty-six sec- tions of one square mile, numbered consecutively, the numeration to commence at the upper right hand corner of the township. The first principal meridian (84° 51' west of Greenwich), coincided
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with the line dividing Indiana and Ohio. The second (1º 37' farther west) had direct relation to surveys in Eastern Illinois. The third (89° 10' 30" west of Greenwich) and the fourth (90° 29' 56" west) governed the remainder of Illinois sur- veys. The first Public Surveyor was Thomas Hutchins, who was called "the geographer." (See Hutchins, Thomas.)
SWEET, (Gen.) Benjamin J., soldier, was born at Kirkland, Oneida County, N. Y., April 24, 1832; came with his father, in 1848, to Sheboy- gan, Wis., studied law, was elected to the State Senate in 1859, and, in 1861, enlisted in the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers, being commissioned Major in 1862. Later, lie resigned and, returning home, assisted in the organization of the Twenty-first and Twenty-second regiments, being elected Colonel of the former; and with it taking part in the campaign in Western Kentucky and Tennes- see. In 1863 he was assigned to command at Camp Douglas, and was there on the exposure, in November, 1864, of the conspiracy to release the rebel prisoners. (See Camp Douglas Conspir- acy.) The service which he rendered in the defeat of this bold and dangerous conspiracy evinced his courage and sagacity, and was of inestimable value to the country. After the war, General Sweet located at Lombard, near Chicago, was appointed Pension Agent at Chi- cago, afterwards served as Supervisor of Internal Revenue, and, in 1872, became Deputy Commis- sioner of Internal Revenue at Washington. Died, in Washington, Jan. 1, 1874. - Miss Ada C. (Sweet), for eight years (1874-82) the efficient Pension Agent at Chicago, is General Sweet's daugliter.
SWEETSER, A. C., soldier and Department Commander G. A. R., was born in Oxford County, Maine, in 1839; came to Bloomington, Ill., in 1857; enlisted at the beginning of the Civil War in the Eighth Illinois Volunteers and, later, in the Thirty-ninth; at the battle of Wierbottom Church, Va., in June, 1864, was shot through both legs, necessitating the amputation of one of them. After the war he held several offices of trust, including those of City Collector of Bloom- ington and Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue for the Springfield District; in 1887 was elected Department Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic for Illinois. Died, at Bloomington, March 23, 1896.
SWETT, Leonard, lawyer, was born near Turner, Maine, August 11, 1825; was educated at Waterville College (now Colby University), but left before graduation; read law in Portland, and,
while seeking a location in the West, enlisted in an Indiana regiment for the Mexican War, being attacked by climatic fever, was discharged before completing his term of enlistment. He soon after came to Bloomington, Ill., where he became the intimate friend of Abraham Lincoln and David Davis, traveling the circuit with them for a number of years. He early became active in State politics, was a member of the Republican State Convention of 1856, was elected to the lower house of the General Assembly in 1858, and, in 1860, was a zealous supporter of Mr. Lin- coln as a Presidential Elector for the State-at- large. In 1862 he received the Republican nomination for Congress in his District, but was defeated. Removing to Chicago in 1865, he gained increased distinction as a lawyer, espe- cially in the management of criminal cases. In 1872 he was a supporter of Horace Greeley for President, but later returned to the Republican party, and, in the National Republican Conven- tion of 1888, presented the name of Judge Gresham for nomination for the Presidency. Died, June 8, 1889.
SWIGERT, Charles Philip, ex-Auditor of Pub- lic Accounts, was born in the Province of Baden, Germany, Nov. 27, 1843, brought by his parents to Chicago, Ill., in childhood, and, in his boy- hood, attended the Scammon School in that city. In 1854 his family removed to a farm in Kanka- kee County, where, between the ages of 12 and 18, he assisted his father in "breaking" between 400 and 500 acres of prairie land. On the break- ing out of the war, in 1861, although scarcely 18 years of age, he enlisted as a private in the Forty- second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and, in April, 1862, was one of twenty heroic volunteers who ran the blockade, on the gunboat Carondelet, at Island No. 10, assisting materially in the reduc- tion of that rebel stronghold, which resulted in the capture of 7,000 prisoners. At the battle of Farmington, Miss., during the siege of Corinth, in May, 1862, he had his right arm torn from its socket by a six-pound cannon-ball, compelling his retirement from the army. Returning home, after many weeks spent in hospital at Jefferson Barracks and Quincy, Ill., he received his final discharge, Dec. 21, 1862, spent a year in school, also took a course in Bryant & Stratton's Com- mercial College in Chicago, and having learned to write with his left hand, taught for a time in Kankakee County ; served as letter-carrier in Chi- cago, and for a year as Deputy County Clerk of Kankakee County, followed by two terms (1867- 69) as a student in the Soldiers' College at Fulton,
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