Before enlisting into the 21st Regiment of the Ohio Infantry, George Squire lived with his parents, Virgil and Rebecca within the 1860 corporation limits of Defiance. Virgil, born in Connecticut, had done well for himself as a merchant, reporting $10,000 of personal estate. George's mother, Rebecca, 44, was seven years younger than her husband and had three sons at home. Charles, 23, worked as a telegraph officer, while George, 18, and Edward, 11, were students. They had a domestic servant, Frances Felix, 22.
In the next year, on August 21, 1861, George would enlist as a sergeant in Company E of the 21st Infantry Regiment. His three year term and more was filled with warfare at some of the most important battles of the War Between the States.
Of the earlier battles in Tennessee, the Battle of Stones River and others nearby inspired George to write two letters home to his father and mother. Copies were discovered in the Ohio Regimental Files held at Stones River Battlefield. (The originals are in the hands of his grandson.) The first is short and will be included here, while the other letter is of some length, and will be accessible through a link below.
"In line of Battle Near Murfreesboro
Jan. 4, 1862 (actually 1863)
Dear Father and Mother,
Once more I am permitted by kind Providence to pencil you a few lines - I have went through two very severe battles, besides several skirmishes without a scratch. Our killed in the Comp. are 2. Wesley Johnson and Sherman ? Mussen of Hicksville, 10 wounded and 3 missing - the loss in the Regt. are 181 killed, wounded and missing. Brewster is back somewhere showed the white feather and left us. Cheney all right - brave as can be.
Day before yesterday the enemy attacked Sheriden's Division - drove them across the river. Our Regt. laid down close to the river, let Sheriden's men run over us - then rose up, pitched into them, chased them, waded the river, wasn't deep, took 3 cannons and chased them 3/4 mile until our ammunition gave out, then reinforcements came up and charged on and took seven more cannons. The Rebels suffered terribly.
Can't write any more. Good Bye. If I go through all right, I'll write soon.
Write soon.
George"
LINK to LETTERS FROM GEORGE T. SQUIRE
George was promoted to full Sergeant of Company E on January 14, 1863, to full Quartermaster on February 15, 1865, and to First Lieutenant on February 15, 1865. He mustered out on July 3, 1865, and returned to his family in Defiance.
Ina Asenath Carey became the bride of George Thomas Squire on September 22, 1868 in Lake County, Ohio. By the 1870 census, they were settled in at Maumee, Lucas County, Ohio. George, 28, was a railroad agent, while Ina A., 21, stayed home to care for their first child, Virgil, 1.
George's name was found for the first time in a Defiance newspaper of August, 1877, when he was appointed chairman of the Working Men's Club organizational meeting. In 1879, he was a salesman for "the Great Singer Sewing Machine," but he also was establishing himself as the city telegraph operator. He built a building as a telegraph office that year.
In the 1880 census, he and his family lived at 286 Warren Road, Defiance. George's occupation was listed as a telegraph operator. Four sons now completed the family: Virgil, 10; Edward C., 7; Guy P., 5, and George T., 1. Mary Schindler, 19, a servant, and Harriet Davis, 20, a telephone clerk and boarder, also lived there.
In January, 1881, George managed the Bell Telephone Exchange was substituted for the Edison Exchange. In 1882, he was sent to Joliette, Illinois, according to the Defiance County Express of June 29th, to take charge of that city's Western Union Office. The family remained in Defiance at that time, perhaps because their first daughter, Rebecca, born in January 1881, was just about 5 months old.
Before May 1886, when their last daughter, Dorothy, was born in Dakota, the family settled in the Dakota Territory, in what would be South Dakota. Records indicated that he applied for land through the U.S. General Land Office that was issued to him after his death. Two parcels in Edmunds, South Dakota, were issued in November, 1888, and July, 1890.
George T. Squire passed away in Bowdle, Dakota, on September 17, 1888. A notice was published in the Defiance County Republican Express on September 21, 1888:
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| Riverside Cemetery |
The Ohio Soldiers Grave Registration for George indicated that he died of pneumonia. However, a recent find in a National Archive newspaper database contradicted that conclusion.
The Dickinson Press of Dickinson, Stark County, Dakota Territory on September 22, 1888 printed this death notice for George:
"George T. Squire, Milwaukee agent at Bowdle, committed suicide Monday by shooting himself."
So did the family use pneumonia as a coverup for suicide? What really happened and why?
Ina Squire lived on until her death in 1927, raising her six children, several of whom were quite young when their father died.
(This is part of a series on Civil War veterans of Defiance County who were part of the G.A.R., Bishop Post, that headquartered in the city. Formed in 1879, the post was named after a local man, Captain William Bishop, Company D, 100th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army who died as a result of wounds received in battle. The veterans' photos are part of a composite photo of members that has survived. If you have other information or corrections to add to the soldiers' stories, please add to the comments!)
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