Albion 100 Years Ago

Perhaps you’ve noticed that newspapers across the country have been running those "100 Years Ago" history columns on a weekly basis in preparation for the new millenium. I’ve decided to present our local version once each month for the remainder of this year. This will give our readers a glimpse of "what was happening" here in town during the waning months and weeks of 1899 on the verge of the 20th century.

Local news, week of June 1, 1899: "At about 2 o’clock Tuesday morning, burglars attempted to enter the residence of Dr. George C. Hafford at 209 Irwin Avenue. Mrs. Hafford saw men at the window and aroused the Doctor, but he thought that probably that men unfamiliar with the house had come to call him for professional services, and arising quickly he could see two men on the front porch. He dressed and went to the door, where he could hear the men whispering. When he opened the door both men fled so quickly that he could get very little idea of their appearance. They did not return, and in the morning, a long pole with grab book was found on the premises."

"Last Thursday afternoon about 4 o’clock the attention of Mrs. T J. Free, of 210 W. Mulberry St., was attracted by screams coming from the house of Mrs. Elizabeth Squires located at the corner of Mulberry and Clinton Sts. Before Mrs. Free could reach the house, Mrs. Squires had rushed into the yard and was trying frantically to extinguish the flames, which had gotten in her clothing and was rapidly gaining head way. It is not known exactly how the accident occurred. By Mrs. Free’s assistance the fire was extinguished, but not until the trunk of Mrs. Squires’ body had been burned into a crisp and her face and hands were severely blistered. Medical assistance was immediately summoned and everything was done to relieve the sufferer. The wounds, however, were so severe that she died Friday morning about 9 o’clock. Mrs. Squires was one of the oldest settlers of Albion. She was born in Onondaga County, N.Y., and in September would have been 82 years old. She came to Albion in her early childhood and has been a resident here ever since."

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
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