Marion (Wade) Squires (1861-1910) Suicide

AI Generated Photo Marion (Wade) Squires

Marion Wade (1861–1910): The Powder Plant Daughter, A Nurse Who Lives A Life One Tragedy After Another.

If ever there was a woman whose life stitched together tragedy, perseverance, and quiet strength, it was Marion Wade, my second great-grandmother. Her story begins in New York, where she was born in 1861 to Jared Enoch Wade (1823–1870) and Ellen Mason (1828–1897)—a young family with 5 siblings together in a rapidly changing America. She is the middle child who are: William Henry (1857-1887)Martha Ellen (1857-1857) Marion (1861-1910), Richard Beebe (1866-1930) and Sarah L (1869-unk). The Civil War had barely ended, and the nation was still finding its footing. For the Wades, that footing would soon shift them back to east coast where Marion’s parents, Jared Enoch Wade and Ellen Mason, both were born and married.   Her father being a mariner and seaman is probably what took the family to New York and subsequently to Santa Cruz for work.  Eventually after tragedy struck, the family found its way back to Connecticut. 

From Connecticut to New York to Santa Cruz

Sometime before 1870, Jared and Ellen packed up their family and headed west to Santa Cruz, California from New York—a booming coastal town that was as full of opportunity as it was of danger. Jared found work at the California Powder Works, an industrial hub manufacturing black powder for mining and construction. It was a perilous job, and fate would deal the Wade family a devastating blow.

In  March of 1870, a massive explosion at the Powder Works shattered the quiet of the San Lorenzo Valley. Jared Enoch Wade was among those killed—leaving Ellen a widow and nine-year-old Marion and her siblings fatherless. The tragedy was one that would ripple through generations. Marion, barely a child, suddenly found herself in a house forever changed by grief.

1870 United States Federal Census: Santa Cruz, California

Marriage, Motherhood, and New England Roots

About 1877, at just sixteen or seventeen, Marion married William Clayton Squires, a man from Greenport, New York. The couple eventually settled in New London, Connecticut, a bustling whaling port that must have felt a world away from the redwoods of Santa Cruz.

Together, Marion and William had five children, though by 1900, only three were living, as noted in the census. Infant mortality was heartbreakingly common then, but each loss would have left its mark on a mother’s heart.

Family records show that the Squires household was often filled with motion—children coming and going, boarders staying, and William’s work keeping him busy. But by the turn of the century, cracks in the marriage had begun to show. Sometime near her 1910 death, William divorced Marion and returned to New York, leaving her alone in Connecticut to navigate life in Connecticut with her sons. 

Loss upon Loss

The years that followed were not kind. Her son, John Francis Squires (1877-1907), the pride of her life—a hardworking man whose tragic death in 1907 made the papers. He was killed in a train accident, and the news must have pierced Marion’s already fragile spirit. Three years later, in 1910, Marion took her own life.

It’s a stark and sorrowful ending to a life that began with promise, adventure, and resilience. The woman who had crossed a continent as a child, who survived industrial disaster, widowhood, and heartbreak, had finally faced more grief than she could bear.

The Lost Husband and the Lingering Questions

Marion’s ex-husband, William C. Squires (my second great grandfather), remains an elusive figure after their separation. His paper trail fades after his return to New York—perhaps he remarried, perhaps he lived quietly, or perhaps, as often happened, he simply disappeared into the folds of another census record waiting to be rediscovered. It is possible this is he who is found boarding a room in New York as a widow months after the death of his wife. 

Possible Census sheet for William Clayton Squires

1910 Unites States Federal Census, New York

Details of The Tragic Ending of Her Own Life

News articles detailing Marion Wades suicide.  I can't image a son finding his mother.  It is also a wonder how she must have lived her life after her husband deserted her.  The question is did he desert her because of her illness or did her illness and suicidal thoughts come after he left.  Only she knows. 

Even though these articles are difficult to read just in principle, let alone the quality of the stories.  The idea is not lost.  All articles are from Newspapers.com 

And that's a wrap, another thread in the quilt of our family story....

Until next time and another tragic story : Jared Enoch Wade