Son of Stewart Steel and Myrtilla Sterrett. On 16 January 1862, in Joliet, Illinois, he married Frances Louise Sanger.
HON. W. A. STEEL, proprietor of the Joliet Stone Quarries, Joliet; was born in Blairsville, Penn. Oct. 11, 1836; his father Hon. Stewart Steel, was a lawyer of eminence in that State; Mr. Steel, when about 17 years of age, spent a short time in mercantile business in Cumberland, Md., and Pittsburgh, Penn.; in 1855, he came West and spent a short time in Joliet on his way to Missouri, where he built six miles of the North Missouri Railroad, and there made his first start in a business career which has been so eminently successful; in 1857, he returned to Joliet, which since that time has been his permanent home. He became cashier for Messrs. Sanger & Casey, who had just obtained the contract for building the State Penitentiary. In 1858, he went to Alton as Deputy Warden of the State Penitentiary; then located in that city, the Warden being Samuel K. Casey, who resided in Joliet, and remained in the sole charge of the commerce and discipline of that institution until July, 1860, at which time he removed the last of the convicts to the new institution at Joliet; he then entered the law office of Judge Newton D. Strong, of St. Louis, having previously pursued his law studies in private; he was admitted to the bar in St. Louis on the 4th of April, 1861. On the breaking-out of the rebellion, he engaged in the construction of four monitors for the Government, viz.: the Tuscumbia, Indianola, Chillicothe, and the Etlah, the last being a full-blooded monitor; he afterward enrolled a battalion of 450 men, called the National Iron Works Battalion; was commissioned Major and placed in command of the battalion, and stationed in St. Louis for the defense of that city, where he remained until after the close of the war. In July 1865, Mr. Steel engaged with his father-in-law, Col. Lorenzo P. Sanger, in opening his present extensive quarries, the largest in the country, the firm being Sanger & Steel, and so continued till March 1, 1871, when he purchased Mr. Sanger's interest, and is now the sole proprietor. Among the prominent buildings for which Mr. Steel had furnished the stone may be mentioned the Custom-houses at Madison, Wis. and Des Moines, Iowa, about sixty Court Houses and Jails in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, among them the new Court House at Rockford, Ill., the finest in the State outside of Chicago, and the St. Louis Four Courts; the Government buildings at Rock Island, for which he furnished fully 30,000 car-loads of stone; the railroad bridge over the Mississippi River at Dubuque, the United States Marine Hospital at Chicago, and a portion of the stone for the new State Capitols of Illinois and Michigan, besides which are churches and private buildings without number. Stone from his quarries is to be found in the cemeteries throughout all of the Northwestern States. Besides his quarry interests, he sank and worked the first shafts in the Wilmington coal region. In March, 1870, Mr. Steel was licensed to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, and in the United States Court of Claims, Jan, 10, 1871; he has not followed the practice of the law except in the United States Courts at Washington, and then only attending the cases of himself and friends. He led the movement which procured the passage of an act of the Legislature empowering the city of Joliet to make an appropriation for the building of the Joliet Iron and Steel Works, the largest in this country, and with two exceptions, the largest in the world; this was accomplished in the face of the most violent opposition, not the least being the Governor's veto. He was married, Jan. 16, 1862, to Frances Louise Sanger, daughter of the late Col. Lorenzo P. Sanger, of Joliet, and has three children – Sanger (now a student in Racine College), Louise, and Frances. Mr. Steel has collected a very valuable library of 6,000 volumes, including works on law, medicine, theology, science and general literature, among which are many old and rare volumes, some of which were printed as long ago as 1537; a further notice of this library may be found in the history of this city, in another part of this work; he also inaugurated the first public library in Joliet, in 1867. Mr. Steel was first elected Mayor of Joliet in 1869, and has three times since been elected to the same office.
At the height of an illustrious career in the limestone quarry business, while living "in the enjoyment of an ample fortune, surrounded by a happy family and honored by all," he died in Joliet on 28 March 1879 as the result of a tragic accident, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Joliet. His wife died the following year, 30 July 1880.
Their three children were:
Sanger Steel (1863-1920)
Louise Steel, born 23 September 1866, died 8 February 1893; married Charles Manning Fish (1859-after 1920) on 1 February 1887.
Frances Steel, born 26 March 1870, died 1950; married Theodore Winthrop Robinson (1872-1948) on 3 June 1891.
HON. W. A. STEEL, proprietor of the Joliet Stone Quarries, Joliet; was born in Blairsville, Penn. Oct. 11, 1836; his father Hon. Stewart Steel, was a lawyer of eminence in that State; Mr. Steel, when about 17 years of age, spent a short time in mercantile business in Cumberland, Md., and Pittsburgh, Penn.; in 1855, he came West and spent a short time in Joliet on his way to Missouri, where he built six miles of the North Missouri Railroad, and there made his first start in a business career which has been so eminently successful; in 1857, he returned to Joliet, which since that time has been his permanent home. He became cashier for Messrs. Sanger & Casey, who had just obtained the contract for building the State Penitentiary. In 1858, he went to Alton as Deputy Warden of the State Penitentiary; then located in that city, the Warden being Samuel K. Casey, who resided in Joliet, and remained in the sole charge of the commerce and discipline of that institution until July, 1860, at which time he removed the last of the convicts to the new institution at Joliet; he then entered the law office of Judge Newton D. Strong, of St. Louis, having previously pursued his law studies in private; he was admitted to the bar in St. Louis on the 4th of April, 1861. On the breaking-out of the rebellion, he engaged in the construction of four monitors for the Government, viz.: the Tuscumbia, Indianola, Chillicothe, and the Etlah, the last being a full-blooded monitor; he afterward enrolled a battalion of 450 men, called the National Iron Works Battalion; was commissioned Major and placed in command of the battalion, and stationed in St. Louis for the defense of that city, where he remained until after the close of the war. In July 1865, Mr. Steel engaged with his father-in-law, Col. Lorenzo P. Sanger, in opening his present extensive quarries, the largest in the country, the firm being Sanger & Steel, and so continued till March 1, 1871, when he purchased Mr. Sanger's interest, and is now the sole proprietor. Among the prominent buildings for which Mr. Steel had furnished the stone may be mentioned the Custom-houses at Madison, Wis. and Des Moines, Iowa, about sixty Court Houses and Jails in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, among them the new Court House at Rockford, Ill., the finest in the State outside of Chicago, and the St. Louis Four Courts; the Government buildings at Rock Island, for which he furnished fully 30,000 car-loads of stone; the railroad bridge over the Mississippi River at Dubuque, the United States Marine Hospital at Chicago, and a portion of the stone for the new State Capitols of Illinois and Michigan, besides which are churches and private buildings without number. Stone from his quarries is to be found in the cemeteries throughout all of the Northwestern States. Besides his quarry interests, he sank and worked the first shafts in the Wilmington coal region. In March, 1870, Mr. Steel was licensed to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, and in the United States Court of Claims, Jan, 10, 1871; he has not followed the practice of the law except in the United States Courts at Washington, and then only attending the cases of himself and friends. He led the movement which procured the passage of an act of the Legislature empowering the city of Joliet to make an appropriation for the building of the Joliet Iron and Steel Works, the largest in this country, and with two exceptions, the largest in the world; this was accomplished in the face of the most violent opposition, not the least being the Governor's veto. He was married, Jan. 16, 1862, to Frances Louise Sanger, daughter of the late Col. Lorenzo P. Sanger, of Joliet, and has three children – Sanger (now a student in Racine College), Louise, and Frances. Mr. Steel has collected a very valuable library of 6,000 volumes, including works on law, medicine, theology, science and general literature, among which are many old and rare volumes, some of which were printed as long ago as 1537; a further notice of this library may be found in the history of this city, in another part of this work; he also inaugurated the first public library in Joliet, in 1867. Mr. Steel was first elected Mayor of Joliet in 1869, and has three times since been elected to the same office.
At the height of an illustrious career in the limestone quarry business, while living "in the enjoyment of an ample fortune, surrounded by a happy family and honored by all," he died in Joliet on 28 March 1879 as the result of a tragic accident, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Joliet. His wife died the following year, 30 July 1880.
Their three children were:
Sanger Steel (1863-1920)
Louise Steel, born 23 September 1866, died 8 February 1893; married Charles Manning Fish (1859-after 1920) on 1 February 1887.
Frances Steel, born 26 March 1870, died 1950; married Theodore Winthrop Robinson (1872-1948) on 3 June 1891.
Son of Stewart Steel and Myrtilla Sterrett. On 16 January 1862, in Joliet, Illinois, he married Frances Louise Sanger.
HON. W. A. STEEL, proprietor of the Joliet Stone Quarries, Joliet; was born in Blairsville, Penn. Oct. 11, 1836; his father Hon. Stewart Steel, was a lawyer of eminence in that State; Mr. Steel, when about 17 years of age, spent a short time in mercantile business in Cumberland, Md., and Pittsburgh, Penn.; in 1855, he came West and spent a short time in Joliet on his way to Missouri, where he built six miles of the North Missouri Railroad, and there made his first start in a business career which has been so eminently successful; in 1857, he returned to Joliet, which since that time has been his permanent home. He became cashier for Messrs. Sanger & Casey, who had just obtained the contract for building the State Penitentiary. In 1858, he went to Alton as Deputy Warden of the State Penitentiary; then located in that city, the Warden being Samuel K. Casey, who resided in Joliet, and remained in the sole charge of the commerce and discipline of that institution until July, 1860, at which time he removed the last of the convicts to the new institution at Joliet; he then entered the law office of Judge Newton D. Strong, of St. Louis, having previously pursued his law studies in private; he was admitted to the bar in St. Louis on the 4th of April, 1861. On the breaking-out of the rebellion, he engaged in the construction of four monitors for the Government, viz.: the Tuscumbia, Indianola, Chillicothe, and the Etlah, the last being a full-blooded monitor; he afterward enrolled a battalion of 450 men, called the National Iron Works Battalion; was commissioned Major and placed in command of the battalion, and stationed in St. Louis for the defense of that city, where he remained until after the close of the war. In July 1865, Mr. Steel engaged with his father-in-law, Col. Lorenzo P. Sanger, in opening his present extensive quarries, the largest in the country, the firm being Sanger & Steel, and so continued till March 1, 1871, when he purchased Mr. Sanger's interest, and is now the sole proprietor. Among the prominent buildings for which Mr. Steel had furnished the stone may be mentioned the Custom-houses at Madison, Wis. and Des Moines, Iowa, about sixty Court Houses and Jails in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, among them the new Court House at Rockford, Ill., the finest in the State outside of Chicago, and the St. Louis Four Courts; the Government buildings at Rock Island, for which he furnished fully 30,000 car-loads of stone; the railroad bridge over the Mississippi River at Dubuque, the United States Marine Hospital at Chicago, and a portion of the stone for the new State Capitols of Illinois and Michigan, besides which are churches and private buildings without number. Stone from his quarries is to be found in the cemeteries throughout all of the Northwestern States. Besides his quarry interests, he sank and worked the first shafts in the Wilmington coal region. In March, 1870, Mr. Steel was licensed to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, and in the United States Court of Claims, Jan, 10, 1871; he has not followed the practice of the law except in the United States Courts at Washington, and then only attending the cases of himself and friends. He led the movement which procured the passage of an act of the Legislature empowering the city of Joliet to make an appropriation for the building of the Joliet Iron and Steel Works, the largest in this country, and with two exceptions, the largest in the world; this was accomplished in the face of the most violent opposition, not the least being the Governor's veto. He was married, Jan. 16, 1862, to Frances Louise Sanger, daughter of the late Col. Lorenzo P. Sanger, of Joliet, and has three children – Sanger (now a student in Racine College), Louise, and Frances. Mr. Steel has collected a very valuable library of 6,000 volumes, including works on law, medicine, theology, science and general literature, among which are many old and rare volumes, some of which were printed as long ago as 1537; a further notice of this library may be found in the history of this city, in another part of this work; he also inaugurated the first public library in Joliet, in 1867. Mr. Steel was first elected Mayor of Joliet in 1869, and has three times since been elected to the same office.
At the height of an illustrious career in the limestone quarry business, while living "in the enjoyment of an ample fortune, surrounded by a happy family and honored by all," he died in Joliet on 28 March 1879 as the result of a tragic accident, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Joliet. His wife died the following year, 30 July 1880.
Their three children were:
Sanger Steel (1863-1920)
Louise Steel, born 23 September 1866, died 8 February 1893; married Charles Manning Fish (1859-after 1920) on 1 February 1887.
Frances Steel, born 26 March 1870, died 1950; married Theodore Winthrop Robinson (1872-1948) on 3 June 1891.
HON. W. A. STEEL, proprietor of the Joliet Stone Quarries, Joliet; was born in Blairsville, Penn. Oct. 11, 1836; his father Hon. Stewart Steel, was a lawyer of eminence in that State; Mr. Steel, when about 17 years of age, spent a short time in mercantile business in Cumberland, Md., and Pittsburgh, Penn.; in 1855, he came West and spent a short time in Joliet on his way to Missouri, where he built six miles of the North Missouri Railroad, and there made his first start in a business career which has been so eminently successful; in 1857, he returned to Joliet, which since that time has been his permanent home. He became cashier for Messrs. Sanger & Casey, who had just obtained the contract for building the State Penitentiary. In 1858, he went to Alton as Deputy Warden of the State Penitentiary; then located in that city, the Warden being Samuel K. Casey, who resided in Joliet, and remained in the sole charge of the commerce and discipline of that institution until July, 1860, at which time he removed the last of the convicts to the new institution at Joliet; he then entered the law office of Judge Newton D. Strong, of St. Louis, having previously pursued his law studies in private; he was admitted to the bar in St. Louis on the 4th of April, 1861. On the breaking-out of the rebellion, he engaged in the construction of four monitors for the Government, viz.: the Tuscumbia, Indianola, Chillicothe, and the Etlah, the last being a full-blooded monitor; he afterward enrolled a battalion of 450 men, called the National Iron Works Battalion; was commissioned Major and placed in command of the battalion, and stationed in St. Louis for the defense of that city, where he remained until after the close of the war. In July 1865, Mr. Steel engaged with his father-in-law, Col. Lorenzo P. Sanger, in opening his present extensive quarries, the largest in the country, the firm being Sanger & Steel, and so continued till March 1, 1871, when he purchased Mr. Sanger's interest, and is now the sole proprietor. Among the prominent buildings for which Mr. Steel had furnished the stone may be mentioned the Custom-houses at Madison, Wis. and Des Moines, Iowa, about sixty Court Houses and Jails in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, among them the new Court House at Rockford, Ill., the finest in the State outside of Chicago, and the St. Louis Four Courts; the Government buildings at Rock Island, for which he furnished fully 30,000 car-loads of stone; the railroad bridge over the Mississippi River at Dubuque, the United States Marine Hospital at Chicago, and a portion of the stone for the new State Capitols of Illinois and Michigan, besides which are churches and private buildings without number. Stone from his quarries is to be found in the cemeteries throughout all of the Northwestern States. Besides his quarry interests, he sank and worked the first shafts in the Wilmington coal region. In March, 1870, Mr. Steel was licensed to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, and in the United States Court of Claims, Jan, 10, 1871; he has not followed the practice of the law except in the United States Courts at Washington, and then only attending the cases of himself and friends. He led the movement which procured the passage of an act of the Legislature empowering the city of Joliet to make an appropriation for the building of the Joliet Iron and Steel Works, the largest in this country, and with two exceptions, the largest in the world; this was accomplished in the face of the most violent opposition, not the least being the Governor's veto. He was married, Jan. 16, 1862, to Frances Louise Sanger, daughter of the late Col. Lorenzo P. Sanger, of Joliet, and has three children – Sanger (now a student in Racine College), Louise, and Frances. Mr. Steel has collected a very valuable library of 6,000 volumes, including works on law, medicine, theology, science and general literature, among which are many old and rare volumes, some of which were printed as long ago as 1537; a further notice of this library may be found in the history of this city, in another part of this work; he also inaugurated the first public library in Joliet, in 1867. Mr. Steel was first elected Mayor of Joliet in 1869, and has three times since been elected to the same office.
At the height of an illustrious career in the limestone quarry business, while living "in the enjoyment of an ample fortune, surrounded by a happy family and honored by all," he died in Joliet on 28 March 1879 as the result of a tragic accident, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Joliet. His wife died the following year, 30 July 1880.
Their three children were:
Sanger Steel (1863-1920)
Louise Steel, born 23 September 1866, died 8 February 1893; married Charles Manning Fish (1859-after 1920) on 1 February 1887.
Frances Steel, born 26 March 1870, died 1950; married Theodore Winthrop Robinson (1872-1948) on 3 June 1891.
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