Jerome Bonaparte Squier (1838 – 1 June 1912) , which cites the ''Clarinda Herald'', Clarinda, Iowa, 25 July 1912. was a

British-American British Americans usually refers to Americans whose ancestral origin originates wholly or partly in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland and also the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, and Gibraltar). It is prima ...

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

. "J.B." Squier was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

immigrant who arrived in

Battle Creek, Michigan Battle Creek is a city in northwestern Calhoun County, Michigan, United States, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a tota ...

in the latter part of the 19th century. A farmer and shoemaker who had learned the fine European art of violin making, he moved to

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in 1881 where he built and repaired violins with his son, Victor Carroll (V.C.) Squier. Squier made 600 instruments during his career. He made his own amber-brown, lustrous varnish. Among his notable

violins The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino pic ...

were a dozen violins each named after one of the

twelve apostles In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...

. Other instruments were named after

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

and

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. Most of his violins were patterned after

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...

, notably the Alard Stradivarius. The tonal quality of Squier's violins was brilliant and clear. Squier taught the art of violin making to Charles Kinney, father of Edward Kinney. In 2007, the owner of one of Squier's violins claimed that it had an estimated worth of

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

100,000 because of its tonal quality. However, this is unlikely, as the auction record for this maker is $11,400 in May 2010, for a viola. Squier married Olive Brown Raymond and the couple had three children. One of their children, Victor Carrol Squier, also went on to work in violin-making and became renowned for his violins and violin strings. The

Squier Squier is an American brand of electric guitars owned by Fender. The former manufacturing company, established as "V. C. Squier Company" was founded in 1890 by Victor Carroll Squier in Battle Creek, Michigan, producing strings for violins, ban ...

company went on to manufacture violin, banjo and guitar strings and was acquired by Fender in 1965.

References

* 1838 births 1912 deaths British emigrants to the United States People from Cuyahoga County, Ohio Bowed string instrument makers {{Ohio-bio-stub