1890 Buchanan and Delaware Counties History pgs. 470-472
SEYMOUR S. SQUIRES, an enterprising and successful
farmer of Hazel Green township, Delaware county,
was born in Lapeer township, Cortland county N. Y., May 23,
1833. His
parents, John A. and Laura (Sessions) Squires, were natives of the same county,
grew up there, and were there married, residing in that and Tioga county, that
state, until 1851, when they came to Iowa, settling in Jones county. During the
year 1852 they were residents of Delhi, Delaware county, but, returning to Jones
county in 1853, they passed the remainder of their married life in that county,
the father dying there July
7, 1865,
aged fifty-five, the mother still living, being now eighty-three years
old. The Squires stock came originally from Massachusetts, the parents of John Squires, whose
names were John and Hulda Squires, having been natives of that state. They
moved to New York in the latter part of the last century, where they
afterwards lived and died. Our subject's mother's family came from Connecticut. Her father's name was Uriel Sessions and her mother's maiden name was Sallie Cowdry.
These also moved to New York at an early day and subsequently
lived in that state and there also died. Both the Squires and
Sessions families represented old New
England stock and furnished to the colonies, in their struggles for
independence, as well as in the War of 1812,
brave soldiers, whose names and personal deeds of daring and
fortitude are preserved only in family tradition, but whose services, like
those of all veterans, survive nevertheless in the hearts of a grateful
people.
John
A. and Laura (Sessions)
Squires were worthy representatives of the stock from which they
were descended, being patriotic, intelligent, thrifty people, steady in habits,
sober in disposition and possessing strong religious views, to which they gave
a practical meaning in their every-day lives. They
raised to maturity nine children, most of whom are now living. Seymour S., the subject of this sketch,
is their eldest child; their eldest daughter, Sarah, who became the wife of
John A. Fields, of Jones county, Iowa, is now deceased; Uriel
J. was for a number of years a farmer of Honey Creek township, Delaware county,
being now deceased; Salem C. is a farmer, residing in Union township, Delaware
county; Nacy V. is the wife of William Davis,
residing in Plymouth county, Iowa; Achsa A. is the wife
of Allen B. Wheeless, residing in Hopkinton, Delaware
county; James H. is a druggist of Tobias, Nebr.; George M. and Thomas J. are
both farmers-the former residing in and the latter near Holton, Kans.
Seymour S.
Squires was reared in New York, growing up on his father's farm and
passing his boyhood and youth in those pursuits common to farm life in the
locality where he lived. His educational advantages were fair for the time in
which he grew up, and, with his parents' assistance and kindly-counsel, he
availed himself of these opportunities in a way for which he has not since had
cause to regret. Accompanying his parents to Iowa in 1851, he continued in
agricultural pursuits, coming with them to Delaware county a
year later. August 5, 1858, he married, and two years afterward
purchased the farm in Hazel Green township, on to
which he moved and where he has since resided. Beginning in an
humble way, as all beginners must, who start out in life on limited means, Mr.
Squires' earlier years were marked by great activity and were not without the hardships
and privations which fall to the lot of the ambitious poor young man. He proved
equal, however, to every emergency, and his fortunes rose gradually with the
passing years. The "small patch" on which he first settled spread out
by successive purchases into a farm of broad acres, now well tilled and
yielding an abundance of the products for which Delaware county has become
distinguished-corn and hay. His primitive cabin has given way to a substantial,
neat and comfortable residence, and the ship-lap, clap-board stable of other
days has renewed itself into splendid barns, large enough to house the raw
products of the farm and give needed shelter to all the stock on the place. The
nakedness of the prairie has been hidden with useful and ornamental groves,
skillfully planted and tastefully kept; carefully constructed fences inclose his fields, where the most improved machinery
tickle the soil into smiles of vegetation, or where the best specimens of the
four-footed animal kingdom, suitable for man's use and enjoyment, wander at
will. Mr. Squires also owns other land, some in Delaware county and some in Sac county, this
state; but his chief landed possession and the pride of his life, is his
homestead, the tract above mentioned.
In the
public affairs of his township, Mr. Squires has shown commendable zeal, also
having held all the offices in the township, the duties of which he has
discharged with fidelity, and has given an active support to every interest
looking to the welfare of the community. His name has always stood pledged for
order, morality and good government, and, recognizing the fact that all virtue
has its origin in intelligence, he has from the beginning advocated, without
ceasing, a high standard of education for the young, and he has illustrated his
principles in this respect with a splendid practical example, educating his
children in the best schools within his reach. In this labor he has been ably
assisted by a wife of rare intelligence and discriminating judgment, and to her
is due in no small measure the credit for having afforded to their children the
educational advantages which they have enjoyed.
Mr. and
Mrs. Squires were married, as we have noted, in 1858. Mrs. Squires
was then residing in Jones county, Iowa, her parents having settled in that
county in 1855. Mrs. Squires' maiden name was Sarah J. Whitcomb, and she was born in
Susquehanna county, Pa., August 26,1836. She is a daughter of Aaron and Sabrina
(Newton) Whitcomb-the father a native of New Hampshire, and the mother a native of Vermont. Her parents were
married in Vermont, and subsequently moved to Pennsylvania, and thence to Iowa, the father dying in Jones county in 1859, aged
fifty-four, and the mother in Delaware county, in 1884, aged
seventy-seven.
Mrs.
Squires is one of five children born to her
parents, two of whom are living and three
deceased. The eldest, Miriam died in infancy; Helen E., who became the wife of Thomas Fields, of Linn
county, this state, is now deceased; Mrs. Squires is the next in order of
birth; Martha E. died in infancy, and Mary A. is the wife of Jabish Haven, of Fremont, Neb.
Six
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Squires, all but one of whom are
living. Their eldest, Dora L., a graduate of Lenox College at Hopkinton, is an
accomplished teacher, has been teaching for some years in the public schools of
Delaware county, and is the wife of James A. Ritchey, Ph. D., of Clarion
county, Pa.; theirnext, Bertha, a student of Lenox College,
is the wife of George O. Walkup, of Delaware county. They have one
child, Stella F. Mr. and Mrs. Squires' next
child, a son, Willard S., died at the age of two; Angie M., their third
daughter, is the wife of Fred S. Tracy, of Delaware county. They have three
children, Reginald S., Merlin S., and Frank S. Mr. and Mrs. Squires' two
youngest children, Jennie S. and Frances S., are still at home with their parents.
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