Worthy S. Streator

Worthy Stevens Streator (October 16, 1816 – March 6, 1902) was an American physician, railroad developer, industrialist and entrepreneur after whom the city of Streator, Illinois, is named. He was instrumental in the creation of the Atlantic and Great Western Railway in Ohio, was president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), and financed the first large-scale coal mine operation in Northern Illinois in 1866. He served as an Ohio State Senator from 1870 to 1872, and was the first mayor of East Cleveland, Ohio. Streator was a descendant of Stephen Streeter, who emigrated to Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1642, whose lineage traces back to the 15th century in Kent, England. His great-grandfather, John Streator, served in the American Revolutionary War as a private in the Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Militia. At age eighteen he entered medical school and upon graduation moved to Aurora, Ohio, in 1838. In 1839 he married Sarah Wakeley Sterling, of Lyman, New York. They had five children; Helen Gertrude (born May 20, 1842), Sterling Rush (born December 31, 1845), Henry Doolittle (born August 26, 1851), Edward H. (born August 20, 1855) and Harold Arthur (born August 5, 1861). By 1850, Streator moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and retired from medicine.

Railroads Once in Cleveland and removed from the practice of medicine, Streator embarked on his second career in developing railroads. With his partner, Henry Doolittle, their firm built the Greenville and Medina Railroad. In 1853 they contracted for the construction of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad in Ohio. Work continued on this and other ancillary lines of the railroad until completion in 1861, when he sold his unfinished contracts upon the death of Doolittle. The company purchased of land and dispatched Col. Plumb to begin work. Plumb surveyed the area for the incoming Fox River Line, platted the land for the new town and commenced to build a total of eight mine shafts. Plumb needed laborers for his mines, but the Vermilion Coal Company was unable to afford European employment agents. Instead, it alerted steamship offices of the new job opportunities and convinced local railroads to carry notices of Vermilion Coal's promise. Scottish, English, Welsh, German and Irish immigrants came to the area first, followed later by scores of mostly Slovaks. Czechs, Austrians and Hungarians came in lesser numbers.

The coal operation was an immediate success due to the increasing appetite for coal in the United States. In 1870, the Dwight Division of the Chicago and Alton Railroad was commenced. The Chicago, Pekin and Southwestern rail line came next and was followed by the Chicago and Paducah railroad. This increase in rail construction gave the region unparalleled advantages in shipping. By 1877, the Vermilion Coal Company employed 1,200 miners.

Streator, Illinois

The Streator Public Library, a Carnegie library listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1868 the newly developed town that was created in conjunction with the mines was incorporated as Streator, Illinois, named in honor of Streator. Colonel Ralph Plumb served as the new city's first mayor. Worthy Streator, himself, never visited the city named for him.

The success of the local mining operations and the introduction of the new glass making industry allowed for improvements in the living conditions and personal wealth of its miners and laborers. In his 1877 History of LaSalle County, author H.F. Kett states: Perhaps no city...in Illinois, outside of the great city of Chicago, presents an instance of such rapid and substantial growth as the city of Streator. From a single small grocery house... the locality has grown to be a city of 6,000 prosperous and intelligent people. Churches, school-houses, large, substantial business houses and handsome residences, with elegant grounds and surroundings, now beautify the waste of ten years ago, while the hum of machinery and thronged streets are unmistakable evidences of business importance and prosperity. Since then, growth has stagnated, but Streator remains a viable manufacturing town with a glass bottle and a heavy equipment industry in addition to retail and agriculture.

Political life With the success of the Vermilion Coal Company in Streator, Illinois, Streator turned his attention back to his home in Cleveland and specifically toward politics. In 1869 he was elected to the Ohio State Senate representing Cuyahoga County's 25th senate district from 1870 to 1872. In 1872 he left the senate after one term and was named by then Ohio Governor (and later U.S. president) Rutherford B. Hayes as trustee of the Ohio Agricultural College. He served as a presidential elector for the Ohio 20th district in 1874 and voted for Hayes. In 1879, Hayes appointed Streator as Collector of Internal Revenue for the Northern District of Ohio. He was re-appointed by Presidents Garfield and Chester A. Arthur.

Cleveland civic life Worthy Streator's mansion was located on "Millionaires' Row. Throughout his life Streator maintained close ties with the civic and business leaders in Cleveland and Ohio. He was involved with his church, the Disciples Church. He was a long-time resident of a grand mansion on on "Millionaires' Row" along Euclid Avenue in Cleveland. His neighbors included the first American billionaire, John D. Rockefeller. In 1887, Streator was instrumental in founding the Disciples Union of Cleveland.

Streator is known primarily for the city of Streator, Illinois. In Cleveland, there was a street named Streator Avenue for many years, and currently there is a Streator Court. Streator Park, in Lorain, Ohio, houses the headquarters of the city's Parks and Recreation Department on land donated by Streator's estate. It is located at the corner of Long & Streator Streets. The Parks Department building was, until 1957, the Lorain Public Library.