Joel C. Squires Explained

Joel C. Squires
Order:3rd
Bank Comptroller of Wisconsin
Governor:Alexander Randall
Term Start:January 4, 1858
Term End:January 2, 1860
Predecessor:William M. Dennis
Successor:Gysbert Van Steenwyk Sr.
Office1:Member of the Wisconsin Senate
Constituency1:16th district
Term Start1:January 3, 1853
Term End1:May 1, 1853
Predecessor1:John Sharpstein
Successor1:James Wilson Seaton
Constituency2:6th district
Term Start2:January 5, 1852
Term End2:January 3, 1853
Predecessor2:John H. Rountree
Successor2:Duncan Reed
State3:Wisconsin
State Assembly3:Wisconsin
District3:Grant 1st
Term Start3:January 3, 1870
Term End3:January 2, 1871
Predecessor3:Joseph Harris
Successor3:Joseph Harris
Party:Democratic
Birth Date:11 December 1819
Birth Place:Vienna Township, Ohio, U.S.
Death Place:Platteville, Wisconsin, U.S.
Restingplace:Greenwood Cemetery,

Joel Cook Squires (December 11, 1819March 3, 1889) was an American carpenter, miner, Wisconsin pioneer, and Democratic politician. He was elected as the 3rd Bank Comptroller of Wisconsin, and also served in the Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly, representing Grant County.

Background

Squires was born in Vienna Township, Ohio, on December 11, 1819, and attended the public schools.[1] He came to Wisconsin in 1838 and settled in the Platteville area in 1841.[1] He died at his home in Platteville on March 3, 1889.[2]

Public service

Squires was Clerk of the Grant County Board of Supervisors for 1849, 1850 and 1851; he was Clerk of the Circuit Court in 1851 and 1852.[1] At that time a resident of Lancaster, Squires was elected to the State Senate from the Sixth District for the 1852 session. Squires, a Democrat, succeeded Whig John H. Rountree. At the time of election, he was 31 years of age and had been in Wisconsin for twelve years; he listed his occupation as "carpenter".[3]

After the Senate was re-apportioned and the Sixth District was shifted from the region around Platteville and the surrounding region to the Milwaukee area, Squires was succeeded by fellow Democrat Duncan Reed in the Sixth District, but was elected to the succeeding one-year term in the new Sixteenth District. On May 1, 1853, he resigned from the Senate; fellow Democrat James Wilson Seaton of Potosi was elected to fill his seat.[4]

He served as Register of the United States Land Office at Mineral Point, from 1853 to 1857, until he was elected the State of Wisconsin's Bank Comptroller (at that time an elected position), serving through the end of 1859.[5] He sought re-election in 1860, but was defeated by Republican Gysbert Van Steenwyk Sr.

In the Assembly

In 1870, now living in Platteville and working as a miner, he was elected for a single year term from the first Grant County Assembly district (the Towns of Hazel Green, Smeltzer and Platteville), succeeding Republican Joseph Harris. He received 465 votes to 437 forRepublican William E. Carter (Harris was not a candidate). He ran for re-election in 1871, but lost to Harris by 295 votes to 567 for Harris.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Bank Comptroller (1857, 1859)

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, November 3, 1857

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, November 8, 1859

Wisconsin Assembly (1869, 1870)

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, November 2, 1869| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, November 8, 1870

Notes and References

  1. News: Democratic State Legislature: Grant County. The Daily Milwaukee News. February 20, 1870. 2. Newspapers.com. June 24, 2017.
  2. News: Joel C. Squires. The Weekly Wisconsin. March 9, 1889. 7. Newspapers.com. June 24, 2017.
  3. Manual for the use of the Assembly of the State of Wisconsin for the year 1853 . State of Wisconsin . 1853 . https://images.library.wisc.edu/WI/EFacs/WIBlueBks/BlueBks/WIBlueBk1853/reference/wi.wibluebk1853.i0015.pdf . Members and Officers of the Senate . 85 . November 15, 2021 .
  4. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1871 The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin; Comprising Jefferson's Manual, Rules, Forms and Laws for the Regulation of Business; also, lists and tables for reference Tenth Annual Edition. Madison: Atwood and Culver, State Printers, Journal Block, 1871; p. 191
  5. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1870 The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin; Comprising Jefferson's Manual, Rules, Forms and Laws, for the Regulation of Business; also, lists and tables for reference Ninth Annual Edition. Madison: Atwood and Rublee, State Printers, Journal Block, 1870; p. 250