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Alson Streeter
Alson Streeter
Member of the Illinois Senate; from the 24th district
	In office; 1885–1888
Preceded by	John Fletcher
Succeeded by	Orville F. Berry
Member of the; Illinois House of Representatives; from the 22nd district
	In office; 1873–1874
Personal details
Born	Alson Jenness Streeter; January 18, 1823; Berlin, New York, U.S.
Died	November 24, 1901 (aged 78); New Windsor, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Other political; affiliations	Greenback (1880); Anti-Monopoly Party (1884); Union Labor Party (1888)
Spouse(s)	Deborah Boone; Susan Menold
Children	7
Parents	Roswell Streeter (father); Eleanor Kenyon (mother);
Education	Knox College

Alson Jenness Streeter (January 18, 1823 – November 24, 1901) was an American farmer, miner and politician who was the Union Labor Party nominee in the United States presidential election of 1888. He was also an early member of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry following its foundation in the 1860s and supported Granger Laws while in office.

Early life and education

Alson Streeter was born on January 18, 1823, in Rensselaer County, New York, to Eleanor Kenyon and Roswell Streeter. The family later moved to Allegany County, New York in 1827 and Lee County, Illinois in 1836.^[3]^[4]^[5] He lived with his parents until his father's death in 1840, after which he became a miner and farmer. He attended Knox College in Illinois in 1846 and graduated in 1849.^[6]

Career

In 1849, he moved to California, but returned to Illinois in 1851. In 1853 and 1854, he returned to California for a short time to drive cattle.^[7]

During the Civil War, he supported the War Democrat faction of the Democratic Party. In the 1860s, he entered politics as an unsuccessful candidate for Illinois General Assembly. In 1862, he joined the Mercer County Board of Supervisors.^[8]^[9] Streeter was elected as a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives for the 1873–1874 session from Mercer County. In 1874, he became a member of the recently founded Greenback Party.^[10]

In 1878, he was the Greenback nominee for Congress for Illinois's 10th congressional district, and was the party's nominee for Governor of Illinois in 1880, coming in third with over 28,000 votes. In 1884, he was elected under a Greenback-Democratic fusion ticket to the Illinois State Senate and served until 1888.^[11]^[12] In the 1891 United States Senate election, he was narrowly defeated by former Governor John M. Palmer for Illinois' seat in the United States Senate by eleven votes.^[13]

In 1884, he served as the temporary chairman of the recently founded Anti-Monopoly Party.^[14] In the 1888 presidential election, he won the Union Labor Party's nomination by acclamation on the first ballot, with Charles E. Cunningham as his running mate. Streeter and Cunningham finished fourth in a field of six in the election, garnering 149,115 votes or 1.31 percent of the nationwide total.^[15]^[16]

Personal life

He was married twice, to Deborah Boone Streeter and Susan Menold Streeter. Streeter had three sons and four daughters.^[17]

On November 24, 1901, Streeter died at his home in New Windsor, Illinois from diabetes and was interred in New Windsor Cemetery in Mercer County, Illinois.

Electoral history

Alson Streeter electoral history

1878 Illinois Tenth Congressional District election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Benjamin F. Marsh	11,814	44.50%	−6.59%
	Democratic	Delos P. Phelps	11,238	42.33%	−6.05%
	Greenback	Alson Streeter	3,496	13.17%	+12.64%
Total votes			'*26,548'*	'*100.00%'*

1880 Illinois Gubernatorial election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Shelby Moore Cullom	314,565	50.57%	−0.01%
	Democratic	Lyman Trumbull	277,532	44.61%	−4.74%
	Greenback	Alson Streeter	28,898	4.65%	+4.65%
	N/A	Other	953	0.15%
	Prohibition	Uriah Copp Jr. (write-in)	122	0.02%	−0.01%
Total votes			'*622,070'*	'*100.00%'*

1888 United States presidential election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Benjamin Harrison	5,443,892	47.80%	−0.48%
	Democratic	Grover Cleveland	5,534,488	48.63%	−0.22%
	Prohibition	Clinton B. Fisk	249,819	2.20%	+0.70%
	Labor	Alson Streeter	146,602	1.31%	+1.31%
	N/A	Other	3,203	-0.01%
	Socialist Labor	Slate of unpledged electors	2,068	0.02%	+0.02%
	Independent	James Curtis	1,615	0.01%	+0.01%
	Independent	Robert Cowdrey	1,032	0.01%	+0.01%
Total votes			'*11,383,320'*	'*100.00%'*

1891 Illinois Senate election first ballot
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John M. Palmer	101	49.51%
	Republican	Richard J. Oglesby	100	49.02%
	Populist	Alson Streeter	3	1.47%
Total votes			'*204'*	'*100.00%'*

1891 Illinois Senate election second ballot
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John M. Palmer	103	50.49%
	Populist	Alson Streeter	92	45.10%
	Republican	Richard J. Oglesby	9	4.41%
Total votes			'*204'*	'*100.00%'*

References

^ Illinois Blue Book 1913-1914 page 384
^ Illinois Blue Book 1913-1914 page 390
^ "The Light That Failed". Chicago Tribune. 11 March 1891. p. 2. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Alson J. Streeter biography at the Political Graveyard
^ "Alson Jeness Streeter". Our Campaigns.com. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
^ "Alson J. Streeter, Union Labor Candidate For President". The Summit County Beacon. 11 July 1888. p. 8. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Busy Life Of Sage Of Windsor Ends". The Dispatch. 25 November 1901. p. 2. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "New Windsor's presidential candidate: Alson Streeter". The Dispatch. 8 February 1988. p. 11. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Streeter In Rock Island". The Rock Island Argus. 19 October 1860. p. 2. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Alson J. Streeter Passes Away". The St Louis Republic. 25 November 1901. p. 5. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Rose, James A., compiler and publisher. Blue Book of the State of Illinois 1909 Danville, Illinois: Illinois Printing Company, 1909; pp. 281, 292, 294, 338
^ BATEMAN, NEWTON (1905). HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS. CHICAGO: MUNSELL PUBLISHING COMPANY. p. 512.
^ "IL US Senate". 19 October 2018.
^ "First In The Field". The Ottawa Free Trader. 17 May 1884. p. 3. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ 1888 Presidential General Election Results
^ W. Newcombe, Alfred (1945). "Alson J. Streeter: An Agrarian Liberal". Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 38 (4): 414–445. JSTOR 40188174.
^ "Alson Jennese Streeter". Our Campaigns.com. Retrieved 16 August 2012.