Squier Family

At the center of the Squier Family papers is Theodore L. Squier, Sr., 1919 graduate of the University of Michigan medical school. T. L. Squier, Sr. organized and donated the majority of the collection personally; the numerous annotated envelopes and summary lists found throughout the collection are his work.

T. L. Squier, Sr., was the son of Charles A. Squier and Julia Hickman Squier. His siblings included two sets of twins, Dorothy and Daniel E., and Bernice and Blanche, as well as another brother, John. Daniel E. Squier served in both World Wars, and some of his correspondence from the Second World War is represented in this collection. Bernice and Blanche were co-founders of the Twinzy Toy Company of Battle Creek.

Charles A. Squier co-founded American Manufacturing Company, a tag manufacturer, with his father, Daniel Squier, in Battle Creek in the late 19th century. Daniel Squier of American Manufacturing Company was the fourth in a line of Daniel Squiers; his parents were Daniel Squier (III) and Patience Y. Simpson Squier. The Squier family papers also include a few documents related to the Simpson family.

T. L. Squier, Sr., attended the University of Michigan as an undergraduate student beginning in 1913. In 1919, during his last semester as medical student, he met Nina La Barge, a student in the Nurses' Training Program. Over the next two years, they courted largely through correspondence, as circumstances including an outbreak of influenza in Nina's hometown of Standish, Michigan in early 1920 frequently resulted in their separation. The two were married in Standish on July 1, 1920.

They had three sons: Theodore L. Squier Jr., John D., and Charles L. Theodore and John both served in WWII; their letters from that period are included in the collection. As the other two sons grew up and moved away, Theodore Sr. and Nina frequently wrote letters addressed jointly to Charles and Ted Jr., and later their families. Carbon copies of these letters form the bulk of the collection, and provide a detailed picture of the family's life through the mid-20th century.

From the guide to the Squier Family papers, 1843-1977, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)