Cleveland Past and Present: Its Representative Men: Comprising Biographical Sketches of Pioneer Settlers and Prominent Citizens
History
Cleveland Past and Present: Its Representative Men: Comprising Biographical Sketches of Pioneer Settlers and Prominent Citizens
Cleveland (Ohio) -- Biography; Cleveland (Ohio) -- History
Aside from his interest in this coal company, Dr. Streator has now no
active business engagements, and devotes his time to the care of his real
estate and a fine stock farm in East Cleveland, containing over three
hundred acres, on which he is raising some of the finest stock to be found
in the county.
Dr. Streator has had the good sense to retire from the pressing cares of
business whilst able to enjoy the fruits of his labors. At fifty-three
years old he is healthy and vigorous, and fully able to appreciate the
advantages of wealth in procuring social and domestic enjoyments. His
residence on Euclid avenue is a model of comfort and elegance, and the
surrounding grounds are laid out with artistic taste.
He was married in 1839, to Sarah W. Sterling, of Lyman, N. Y. His only
daughter is the wife of E. B. Thomas, Esq., of Cleveland; his oldest son
devotes his attention to the care of the stock farm; the other sons are
yet at home, being young.
Although Mr. Streator has been regarded, for years, as one of our most
active and energetic business men, he has found time to devote to his
religious duties. He has for a long time been a useful member of the
Disciple Church.
The Coal Interest
By the commencement of the season of 1828, the Ohio canal had been opened
from Cleveland to Akron. Henry Newberry, father of Professer Newberry, who
among his other possessions on the Western Reserve, owned some valuable
coal lands, saw, or fancied he saw, an opening for an important trade in
coal, and sent a shipment of a few tons to Cleveland by way of experiment.
On its arrival a portion of it was loaded in a wagon and hawked around the
city, the attention of leading citizens being called to its excellent
quality and its great value as fuel. But the people were deaf to the voice
of the charmer. They looked askance at the coal and urged against it all
the objections which careful housewives, accustomed to wood fires, even
now offer against its use for culinary purposes. It was dirty, nasty,
inconvenient to handle, made an offensive smoke, and not a few shook their
heads incredulously at the idea of making the "stone" burn at all. Wood
was plentiful and cheap, and as long as that was the case they did not see
the use of going long distances to procure a doubtful article of fuel,
neither as clean, convenient, nor cheap as hickory or maple. By nightfall
the wagon had unsuccessfully traversed the streets and found not a single
purchaser for its contents. Here and there a citizen had accepted a little
as a gift, with a doubtful promise to test its combustible qualities.
Eventually, Philo Scovill was persuaded into the purchase of a moderate
quantity at two dollars per ton, and promised to put in grates at the
Franklin House to properly test its qualities.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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