The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Squires gives business a try
PUBLISHED: February 22, 2007
Editor's Note: This is the first in a two-part series on Arleigh Squires.
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Arleigh Squires had the perfect childhood –– perfect for becoming a farmer.
He grew up on a farm about eight miles southeast of Milan, where he heard family stories about his farming ancestors. His great-grandfather, William Squires, left Cayuga, N.Y., in 1829 by covered wagon in search of farmland out West.
There was an easier way, along the Erie Canal, which opened several years earlier. But William Squires took his wife, Mary, and eight children overland, sometimes through wilderness, all the way to Dundee. The youngest child was only 2 years old.
The new farm was set up along M-50 and Wilcox Road. Besides farming, William Squires had a second job, tending a toll booth along the highway from Monroe to Jackson. The first five children in that family were all girls. There also were three boys. Arleigh's grandfather was the youngest of the bunch, Jerome Bonaparte Squires, born in 1827.
The grandfather, Jerome, had a hard life. He had to clear a forest to create his farmland on 80 acres along Dennison Road. He joined Company H of the 18th Michigan Infantry in 1864. Jerome Squires was already 36 when he mustered in for one year. He did it to collect a $400 cash payment from a man who wanted to avoid military service.
When Jerome mustered out of the military in Nashville, Tenn., he was forced to literally walk home because few residents "down South" would offer a ride to a Yankee soldier.
Although he cleared forests and fought in the Civil War, deep down Jerome was always a farmer. He and his wife, Ruth, had four children. One of those children, Asa Newton Squires, was born in 1863 and became Arleigh's father.
Asa was the first of many "Newton" men in the Squires family, either as a first or a middle name. Arleigh did not escape the "Newton" label, and when he signed his name Arleigh "N." Squires, the "N" stood for Newton.
Arleigh's father, Asa, was part of the Squires farm tradition in southern Milan Township. He also had a side job, helping to grade the roadbed for the Wabash Railroad, using horses to drag the grader equipment. This was grueling work.
Today's photo of Asa Squires' family was taken in 1905, apparently in a professional studio. Asa Newton Squires is seated next to his wife, Alice Howe. Their daughter, Carrie Pearl, is seated on the left, and Arleigh is seated far right. Standing, left to right, are Jerome Bonaparte "Bony" Squires II, Ransom Earl Squires and Ernest Lyndon "Lyn" Squires.
The Squires farm was close to Cone, a community on Cone Road in Milan Township. Cone flourished about the time this family photo was being taken. Keep this picture handy so that when I write about Cone, you'll be able to look at "Bony" Squires of Cone Elevator fame.
Arleigh was about 8 years old when he sat for this family portrait. He looks cute and innocent in this picture, but in reality he was getting ready to jump past several stopping places in his schooling.
He graduated from the eighth grade at the Milwaukee County School, named for its location at Milwaukee and Petersburg roads. He attended Milan High School for only one year. Without pausing to graduate, he slipped right in to Clearly College in Ypsilanti, where he studied business and banking.
At this point, Arleigh put his schooling into high gear. Not bothering to finish college, he went into the office of the college president, "Mr. Cleary," and found out he had a job waiting in Detroit as a bookkeeper, even without a diploma.
Not every teenager would quit college and take off for the big city after being raised on a farm in a remote part of Milan Township. Many farm boys didn't even complete the eighth grade because there was too much farm work to do. But Arleigh was ready to try a new challenge in the great unknown.
He traveled by streetcar from Ypsilanti to Detroit in February 1915, and he reported for work.
A left-handed guy with impeccable writing, Arleigh used ink wells and ink pens to keep the books for Portland Cement Co. in the Ford building in downtown Detroit.
He found a place to stay nearby, taking the inter-urban train to Ypsilanti on weekends to visit the family and farm.
After just a year on the job, Arleigh became seriously sick. He had lung disease. A doctor told him to get out of the city, go back to the farm and drink some fresh milk. So in March 1916, he returned to the old farmhouse and his breathing recovered.
The doctor turned out to be correct. With all the soot in the air around larger cities, farming communities were much safer for the lungs. After all this adventure with college and a year of working in the big city, Arleigh was still only 18 years old. His whole life was ahead of him.
Thanks to Linda Squires for today's family photo, Bill Squires of Traverse City for additional photos and information, Adam Newton Squires for providing a genealogy essay and Iris Shaner for her background information.
Martha Churchill is a member of the Milan Area Historical Society. She can be reached at 1-734-649-6342 or Martha@marthachurchill.com.
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