Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 102

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1388

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STEWARDSON, a town of Shelby County, at the intersection of the Toledo, St. Louis & Kan- sas City Railway with the Altamont branch of the Wabash, 12 miles southeast of Shelbyville; is in a grain and lumber region; has a bank and a weekly paper. Population, 617.

STICKNEY, William H., pioneer lawyer, was born in Baltimore, Md., Nov. 9, 1809, studied law and was admitted to the bar at Cincinnati in 1831, and, in Illinois in 1834, being at that time a resident of Shawneetown; was elected State's Attorney by the Legislature, in 1839, for the cir- cuit embracing some fourteen counties in the southern and southeastern part of the State; for a time also, about 1835-36, officiated as editor of "The Gallatin Democrat," and "The Illinois Advertiser," published at Shawneetown. In 1846

Mr. Stickney was elected to the lower branch of the General Assembly from Gallatin County, and, twenty-eight years later-having come to Chi- cago in 1848-to the same body from Cook County, serving in the somewhat famous Twenty- ninth Assembly. He also held the office of Police Justice for some thirteen years, from 1860 onward. He lived to an advanced age, dying in Chicago, Feb. 14, 1898, being at the time the oldest surviving member of the Chicago bar.

STILES, Isaac Newton, lawyer and soldier, born at Suffield, Conn., July 16, 1833; was ad- mitted to the bar at Lafayette, Ind., in 1855, became Prosecuting Attorney, a member of the Legislature and an effective speaker in the Fre- mont campaign of 1856; enlisted as a private sol- dier at the beginning of the war, went to the field as Adjutant, was captured at Malvern Hill, and, after six weeks' confinement in Libby prison, exchanged and returned to duty; was promoted Major, Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel, and brevetted Brigadier-General for meritorious service. After the war he practiced his profes- sion in Chicago, though almost totally blind. Died, Jan. 18, 1895.

STILLMAN, Stephen, first State Senator from Sangamon County, Ill., was a native of Massachu- setts who came, with his widowed mother, to Sangamon County in 1820, and settled near Williamsville, where he became the first Post- master in the first postoffice in the State north of the Sangamon River. In 1822, Mr. Stillman was elected as the first State Senator from Sangamon County, serving four years, and, at his first session. being one of the opponents of the pro-slavery Convention resolution. He died, in Peoria, some- where between 1835 and 1840.

STILLMAN VALLEY, a village and railway station in Ogle County, on the Chicago & Great Western and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railways; has tile and brick works, a bank and a weekly newspaper. Population, 475.

STITES, Samuel, pioneer, was born near Mount Bethel, Somerset County, N. J., Oct. 31, 1776; died, August 16, 1839, on his farm, which subsequently became the site of the city of Tren- ton, in Clinton County, Ill. He was descended from Jolin Stites, M.D., who was born in Eng- land in 1595, emigrated to America, and died at Hempstead, L. I., in 1717, at the age of 122 years. The family removed to New Jersey in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Samuel was a cousin of Benjamin Stites, the first white man to settle within the present limits of Cincinnati, and various members of the family were prominent in

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the settlement of the upper Ohio Valley as early as 1788. Samuel Stites married, Sept. 14, 1794. Martha Martin, daughter of Ephraim Martin, and grand-daughter of Col. Ephraim Martin, both soldiers of the New Jersey line during the Revo- lutionary War-with the last named of whom he had (in connection with John Cleves Symmes) been intimately associated in the purchase and settlement of the Miami Valley. In 1800 he removed to Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1803 to Greene County, and, in 1818, in company with his son-in-law. Anthony Wayne Casad, to St. Clair County, Ill., settling near Union Grove. Later, he removed to O'Fallon, and, still later, to Clinton County. He left a large family, several members of which became prominent pioneers in the movements toward Minnesota and Kansas.

STOLBRAND, Carlos John Mueller, soldier, was born in Sweden, May 11, 1821 ; at the age of 18, enlisted in the Royal Artillery of his native land, serving through the campaign of Schleswig- Holstein (1848); came to the United States soon after, and, in 1861, enlisted in the first battalion of Illinois Light Artillery, finally becoming Chief of Artillery under Gen. John A. Logan. When the latter became commander of the Fifteenth Army Corps. Col. Stolbrand was placed at the head of the artillery brigade; in February, 1865, was made Brigadier-General. and mustered out in January, 1866. After the war he went Soutlı, and was Secretary of the South Carolina Consti- tutional Convention of 1868. The same year he was a delegate to the Republican National Con- vention at Chicago, and a Presidential Elector. He was an inventor and patented various im- provements in steam engines and boilers; was also Superintendent of Public Buildings at Charleston, S. C., under President Harrison. Died, at Charleston, Feb. 3, 1894.

STONE, Daniel, early lawyer and legislator, was a native of Vermont and graduate of Middle- bury College; became a member of the Spring- field (Ill.) bar in 1833, and, in 1836, was elected to the General Assembly-being one of the cele- brated "Long Nine" from Sangamon County, and joining Abraham Lincoln in his protest against a series of pro-slavery resolutions which had been adopted by the House. In 1837 he was a Circuit Court Judge and, being assigned to the north- western part of the State, removed to Galena, but was legislated out of office, when he left the State, dying a few years later, in Essex County, N. J.

STONE, Horatio O., pioneer, was born in Ontario (now Monroe) County, N. Y., Jan. 2,

1811; in boyhood learned the trade of shoemaker, and later acted as overseer of laborers on the Lackawanna Canal. In 1831, having located in Wayne County, Mich., he was drafted for the Black Hawk War, serving twenty-two days under Gen. Jacob Brown. In January, 1835, he came to Chicago and, having made a fortunate specu- lation in real estate in that early day, a few months later entered upon the grocery and pro- vision trade, which he afterwards extended to grain; finally giving his chief attention to real estate, in which he was remarkably successful, leaving a large fortune at his death, which occurred in Chicago, June 20, 1877.

STONE, (Rev.) Luther, Baptist clergyman, was born in the town of Oxford, Worcester County, Mass., Sept. 26, 1815, and spent his boy- hood on a farm. After acquiring a common school education, he prepared for college at Lei- cester Academy, and, in 1835, entered Brown University, graduating in the class of 1839. He then spent three years at the Theological Insti- tute at Newton, Mass .; was ordained to the ministry at Oxford, in 1843, but, coming west the next year, entered upon evangelical work in Rock Island, Davenport, Burlington and neigh- boring towns. Later, he was pastor of the First Baptist Church at Rockford, III. In 1847 Mr. Stone came to Chicago and established "The Watchman of the Prairies," which survives to- day under the name of "The Standard," and lias become the leading Baptist organ in the West. After six years of editorial work, he took up evangelistic work in Chicago, among the poor and criminal classes. During the Civil War he conducted religious services at Camp Douglas, Soldiers' Rest and the Marine Hospital. He was associated in the conduct and promotion of many educational and charitable institutions. He did much for the First Baptist Church of Chicago, and, during the latter years of his life, was attached to the Immanuel Baptist Church, which he labored to establish. Died, in July, 1890.

STONE, Melville E., journalist, banker, Man- ager of Associated Press, born at Hudson, Ill., August 18, 1848. Coming to Chicago in 1860, he graduated from the local high school in 1867, and, in 1870, acquired the sole proprietorship of a foundry and machine shop. Finding himself without resources after the great fire of 1871, he embarked in journalism, rising, through the suc- cessive grades of reporter, city editor, assistant editor and Washington correspondent, to the position of editor-in-chief of his own journal.

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He was connected with various Chicago dailies between 1871 and 1875, and, on Christmas Day of the latter year, issued the first number of "The Chicago Daily News." He gradually disposed of his interest in this journal, entirely severing his connection therewith in 1888. Since that date he has been engaged in banking in the city of Chicago, and is also General Manager of the Associated Press.

STONE, Samuel, philanthropist, was boru at Chesterfield, Mass., Dec. 6, 1798; left an orphan at seven years of age, after a short term in Lei- cester Academy, and several years in a wholesale store in Boston, at the age of 19 removed to Rochester, N. Y., to take charge of interests in the "Holland Purchase," belonging to his father's estate; in 1843-49, was a resident of 'Detroit and interested in some of the early railroad enter- prises centering there, but the latter year re- moved to Milwaukee, being there associated with Ezra Cornell in telegraph construction. In 1859 he became a citizen of Chicago, where he was one of the founders of the Chicago Historical Society, and a liberal patron of many enterprises of a public and benevolent character. Died, May 4, 1876.

STONE FORT, a village in the southwest cor- ner of Saline County, on the Cairo Division of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Rail- way, 60 miles northeast of Cairo. Population, 464.

STOREY, Wilbur F., journalist and news- paper publisher, was born at Salisbury, Vt., Dec. 19, 1819. He began to learn the printer's trade at 12, and, before he was 19, was part owner of a Democratic paper called "The Herald," published at La Porte, Ind. Later, he either edited or con- trolled journals published at Mishawaka, Ind., and Jackson and Detroit, Mich. In January, 1861, he became the principal owner of "The Chicago Times," then the leading Democratic organ of Chicago. His paper soon came to be regarded as the organ of the anti-war party throughout the Northwest, and, in June, 1863, was suppressed by a military order issued by General Burnside, which was subsequently revoked by President Lincoln. The net result was an increase in "The Times' " notoriety and circulation. Other charges, of an equally grave nature, relating to its sources of income, its char- acter as a family newspaper, etc., were repeatedly made, but to all these Mr. Storey turned a deaf ear. He lost heavily in the fire of 1871, but, in 1872, appeared as the editor, of "The Times," then destitute of political ties. About 1876 his

health began to decline. Medical aid failed to afford relief, and, in August, 1884, he was ad- judged to be of unsound mind, and his estate was placed in the hands of a conservator. On the 27th of the following October (1884), he died at his home in Chicago.

STORRS, Emery Alexander, lawyer, was born at Hinsdale, Cattaraugus County, N. Y., August 12, 1835; began the study of law with his father, later pursued a legal course at Buffalo, and, in 1853, was admitted to the bar; spent two years (1857-59) in New York City, the latter year 're- moving to Chicago, where he attained great prominence as an advocate at the bar, as well as an orator on other occasions. Politically a Republican, he took an active part in Presidential campaigns, being a delegate-at-large from Illinois to the National Republican Conventions of 1868, '72, and '80, and serving as one of the Vice-Presi- dents in 1872. Erratic in habits and a master of epigram and repartee, many of his speeches are quoted with relish and appreciation by those who were his contemporaries at the Chicago bar. Died suddenly, while in attendance on the Su- preme Court at Ottawa, Sept. 12, 1885.

STRAWN, Jacob, agriculturist and stock- dealer, born in Somerset County, Pa., May 30, 1800; reinoved to Licking County, Ohio, in 1817, and to Illinois, in 1831, settling four miles south- west of Jacksonville. He was one of the first to demonstrate the possibilities of Illinois as a live- stock state. Unpretentious and despising mere show, he illustrated the virtues of industry, fru- gality and honesty. At his death-which occurred August 23, 1865-he left an estate estimated in value at some $2,000,000, acquired by industry and business enterprise. He was a zealous Unionist during the war, at one time contributing 810,000 to the Christian Commission.

STREATOR, a city (laid out in 1868 and incor- porated in 1882) in the southern part of La Salle County, 93 miles southwest of Chicago; situated on the Vermilion River and a central point for five railroads. It is surrounded by a rich agri- cultural country, and is underlaid by coal seams (two of which are worked) and by shale and various clay products of value, adapted to the manufacture of fire and building-brick, drain- pipe, etc. The city is thoroughly modern, having gas, electric lighting, street railways, water- works, a good fire-department, and a large, im- proved public park. Churches and schools are numerous, as are also fine public and private buildings. One of the chief industries is the manufacture of glass, including rolled-plate,

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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. The Fifty-fifth Congress made an appropriation for the erection of a Government post-office building in Streator. Population (1880), 5,157; (1890), 11,414; (1894), estimated, 15,000.

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-fourth 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 Con- 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 monthis 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 inaternal 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, hy 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 à class of nine pupils in what is now Illinois Coi- 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 the 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 he 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 the 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.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 102

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1388

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1388