USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Holyoke > Complete program of Holyoke's seventy-fifth anniversary and home coming days > Part 7
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Shakers found money enough to construct an apartment block opposite the North Chestnut Street school, a building which Daniel O'Con- nell later was to own for almost half a century. Other structures of note were the Ball block, the Loomis block, the Madison Chapin block and the Samosett House on Maple Street.
THE PEOPLE OF THE TOWN
Well-known merchants of the town included the firms of Mitchell & Pierce, clothiers and tailors ; E. W. Loomis, books and confectionery ; J. E. Morrill, druggist ; D. P. Indington, Ex- change drug store, R. B. Johnson, dry goods ; W. L. Martin, coal dealer ; H. Antehins, N. W.
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HOLYOKE HOUSE-(Hotel Hamilton)
Quint, H. Orvis, furniture; R. P. Crafts, gen- eral store.
Joel Russell, who had come from Andover to Ireland Parish, bought out the firm of Snow & Flanders, purveyors of horseshoes, draw knives, wagon wheels, lanterns, buggy-whips, butter churns, and the like, in 1850. At that time he gave the firm the name which it has borne through the century of mercantile growth in Holyoke. From the first JJoel Russell the reins of the business were handed down to Robert Russell in 1875. In 1879, Henry L. Russell came into the business and initiated the great era of expansion which has continued to the present day. At the present time Stuart A. Russell and Robert H. Russell are maintaining the Russell tradition in which vision, hard work, and service rank high. A third brother, New- ton, joined the firm in 1911, and devoted him- self to the business until his death in 1934.
Interesting people of the town during this significant period were Stephen Hohman, the first principal of the High School; Lester Newell, the first attorney to be admitted to the bar; C. II. Branscombe, and W. B. C. Pearsons, also attorneys. Reverend Pierce was the first pastor of the Second Congregational Church. Jones S. Davis was agent of the Lyman Mills, and characterized as "Holyoke's Greatest Ben- efactor." He built a hotel at Ingleside.
Father O'Callaghan, the priest of the new St. Jerome parish was an able scholar. Some of the works written by him at that time are still
in print. Opposed to hired pew sittings, he be- lieved that all should have opportunity to wor- ship without price and that every one should contribute to the full extent of his ability. Single-handed he raised ten thousand dollars for his new edifice "from friends throughout the valley, including quite a few Protestants." His death was coincidental with the completion of the church about 1860.
II. Wheeler was the only dentist in the com- minity and was beloved because he tried to pull teeth with as little pain as possible. George Brown was the highest priced plumber. L. A. Taber lived in a stone house on Dwight Street just above Linden. Dr. Long could cure most il's of suffering humanity by means of the vapor bath. The patient was stripped of his clothes, bundled in blankets, and placed over an oven of hot stones onto which were thrown vinegar, water, and medicinal curatives. The treatment was regarded as excellent for "membraneons cronp," and "lung fever." Dr. Pierce and Dr. Chase also were respected physicians of this period.
W. Perkins and the three Allyns held a con- trol of the meat business of the town. They butchered their own beef and many were the contented cows which wended their way onto their premises of a morning only to find them- selves reduced to roundsteak for the Holyoke hungry by the next afternoon.
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RELIGIOUS GROWTH
Oftentimes a period of rapid community ex- pansion is characterized by chaotie social con- ditions and relative absence of cultural activity.
SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH
Con . appel
Holyoke during the township period was the exception. With the chartering of the city, a temporary plateau of physical growth was reached, and with it a social awakening.
The earlier great reform period of American History, from the '20's to the '50's, when pul- pit and platform of New England were holding forth on the viciousness of African slavery, the evils of demon rum, the inhuman treatment of the mentally siek, the ernelties of penal confine- ment, and the injustice of woman's position in the world had left Ireland unmoved ; largely because it was only a little back country settle- ment. The Lyceum movement which had sought to spark intellectual interest through endless argumentation reached only the priv- ileged upper crust of Holyoke society.
In the following decades, however, social im- provement in the city was of a down to earth, practical nature, reaching all the people, intel- ligently directed in the presence of concrete needs. The driving force behind it was an awakened social consciousness among the Chris-
tian forces of the town. The motivating genius of what was little less than a social ernsade was the Rector of St. Jerome's Parish, Father Pat- rick J. Harkins.
Church membership expanded too during the town period and church activity took on a "brother's keeper" overtone. Many new churches were created within the Protestant denominations. New church buildings were creeted.
THE CHURCHES
Many of the most precious values of civiliza- tion in the world today are nurtured and main- tained under the protective influence of church and religion. So it has been through the long upward reach of the centuries, when man, fear- ing not his fellow nor the fiends, vet grew rov- erent before the symbol of the gentle Christ.
Holyoke, through the length of its history, has been richly blessed in its churches, and of wonderful good fortune in those men of God who have been its leaders, who have shaped it .: spiritual destiny and played a major part in moulding its moral, social, and educational pat- tern. What Holyoke is today it owes in gen- erons measure to those valiant spiritual leaders who so long have led its people in the paths of righteousness and peace.
As has already b.n explained, the first re- ligious society organized within the limits of the present city of Holyoke was the Third Con- gregational Church of West Springfield, which became the First Congregational Church of Holyoke. The story of the Church on the Hill and the Rand pastorate is the story of the be- ginning of this church.
It is also the story of the beginning of the First Baptist Church, organized four years later and continued in direct line down to the present day. The Baptist Church in Ehnwood and the Congregational Church in the High- lands are the present meeting houses of these two original societies of Baptist Village. That these two First Churches are not at the center of the city is due to the fact that the center of the city was settled later than the ontlying com- mimities.
In 1849, a number of persons were dismissed from the First Baptist Church for the purpose of forming a new society in the growing settle- ment of Ireland Depot. These, with others to the number of 42, organized the Second Baptist Church which, with the growth of the city's population down town, in time surpassed in numbers the congregation of the mother church. The first place of worship was the Gallndet and Terry Block. Deacon Edwin Chase was a lead-
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er of this organization ; Reverend Asahel Chapin the first pastor. Dr. R. J. Adams served as the pastor of this church from 1869 to 1886, and his leadership proved to be eventful in the building of the present church at the corner of Appleton and Chestnut Streets.
REV. DR. EDWARD A. REED
SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
The Second Congregational Church was founded also in the year 1849. The 18 organ- izing members were: William S. Bosworth, Laura Ann Johnson, Lucius Morton, Harvey King, Nancy C. Morton, Sarah B. King, El- bridge G. Pierce, Isaac Osgood, Charles N. In- galls, Hannah Thorndike, Hannah A. Ingalls, Ambrose Snow, JJulia A. Giddings, Mary Snow, Dianna M. Quint, Clark G. Pease, William J. Johnson, Margarette Watson. Reverend Asa C. Pierce was installed on September 20 of that year.
This society was brave enough to erect a building at the northeast corner of High and Dwight Streets in 1852, while without pastor. Reverend John L. Trask was pastor of this church for 15 years during which time much of the work for raising the money and building the new church at the corner of High and Appleton Streets was undertaken. The new church was dedicated on January 29, 1885. Reverend Wil-
liam H. Hubbard, father of William Hubbard of the Skinner Mills, also served this church as pastor. Dr. Edward A. Reed, father of Mrs. William C. Hammond, wife of Holyoke's be- loved organist and grand old man of music, was installed as pastor on December 28, 1886. He served for many years in this position and at- tained the position of civic leadership in Protes- tant circles which Father Harkins held at St. Jerome.
It was said at this time that any worthwhile project for social progress or civie betterment found these two powerful religious leaders work- ing side by side. An old story goes that one day Dr. Reed and Father Harkins met on the street near the corner of Appleton and High. It was a time shortly after the installation of the new rose window in the Second Church, and the minister invited the priest inside to see it. The theme was the Ascension. As the two men stood drinking in the beauty of color and design, with the morning sunlight streaming through, one is reported to have remarked, "You live by that.
REV. E. B. ROBINSON
as I," to which the other answered, "Yes, and you," and they shook hands. The story prob- ably was not true in fact, bat symbolically it was representative of the two men and the Hol- yoke for which they stood.
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GRACE CHAPEL
An important department of activity of the Second Congregational Church in the early days was carried on in South Holyoke in what was known as Grace Chapel. The work was started as a Sunday school in 1879, by mem- bers of J. S. MeElvain's class. In time a build- ing was erected there and mission work done for more than ten years, mainly for children.
Around 1890, preaching services for adults on Sunday were begun, and a pastor engaged. The work grew and a church building was erected on the corner of Race and Cabot Streets. Reverend Edward Bradford Robinson and his charming wife have devoted their lives to the service of this church with rich rewards in Christian association The zeal of the member- ship of the congregation is proverbial. For many years Mr. JJoseph A. Skinner was super- intendent of the Sunday school.
The First Methodist Church society was or- ganized in 1853. Reverend Thomas A. Marcey, Superintendent of Schools at Northampton at the time was the first preacher. The present church at the corner of Eli and Appleton Streets was completed in 1890, during the pas- torate of Reverend G. C. Osgood.
The Presbyterians organized in 1886. Barak Wilson and Dr. George P. Bill were installed as ruling elders, and William Scott and Alex- ander Paul as deacons. Reverend J. M. Craig was the first pastor. It was under his leader- ship that the present church at the corner of Chestnut and Cabot Streets was built. Its membership was largely of Scotch lineage. This church was dedicated in 1889.
An Episcopal parish under the name of Trin- ity Church was established as early as 1849, of which Henry W. Adams was rector. Because of the small size of the congregation the organ- ization was abandoned until 1863, when a new church was attempted and a first rector, Rev- erend James Kidder called. The movement to build the present church edifice was begun at the Easter meeting in 1888.
The Unitarian Church in Holyoke was found- ed in 1874, with Reverend W. S. Heywood as the first pastor. The Water Power, following its usual custom, gave the Unitarians a lot of land on Maple Street. Here a house of worship was completed in 1876.
The German Evangelical Lutheran Church was first holding services in a schoolhouse in South Holyoke in 1866. and a year later had erected a house of worship. Reverend Frankel was the first pastor. Reverend August Brunn served this church over a long period of years.
The German Reformed Church was begun in 1892, and two years later built the edifico at the corner of Sargeant and Eln Stree's. The first pastor was Reverend Albert Buchles. Rov- erend Steubi was pastor of this congregation for many years.
Father O'Callaghan came to Holyoke in the year 1854, and remained here the rest of his life. For several years he said Mass in the old Exchange Hall for the members of the St. Jerome Parish. An Irish priest of the old school, he was fluent in the use of the Irish language and often used it in conversation with his pe ?- ple. The parishioners reverenced him as a saint- ly man and respected him as a scholar. It is said that the little children of the community used to greet him and then run around the square so they could meet him again.
The story told far and wide attributed ex- treme holiness to him. It seems that upon an occasion of his crossing Lake Champlain, a great storm arose and it seemed as though all on board were doomed to destructiou. Father O'Cal- laghan knelt and began to recite the Rosary. All passengers on board. Catholic and Protes- tant, joined in the prayer. The storm abated and the passengers were saved. The happening was regarded as almost a minor miracle.
REVEREND PATRICK J. HARKINS
Father Harkins came to Holyoke as a young priest of 33 years in 1866, beginning a pas- torate that was to last for 44 years and to be fraught with such influence for good in the com- munity as to be beyond estimation. His was the driving force for spiritual uplift and moral betterment for at least two-thirds of the people of the community while Holyoke was growing from a town of 5000 people to a city of 50,000. He was an educator, effectual as few of his time were fortunate enough to be, inspired, practical, constructive.
They called him Father Harkins, the Builder, and well did he deserve the name; not alone in the sense of the creation of far flung physical properties of the church which he loved. but in the much more significant sense of the up- building of morale and moral standards and spiritual acknowledgment. Toward the end of his long term of years he was an authoritarian, but always as a true and humble servant of God. Out of the whole cloth he built the organ- izational and physical structure, and indicated the directional lines of the Roman Catholic Church of Holyoke wherein eight or nine out of every ten members of the present-day Hol- yoke community worship.
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MONS. P. J. HARKINS
In the first eight years of his service at St. Jerome's he had secured all the land regnired for the needs of his own parish and that of the new Sacred Heart Parish soon to be estab- lished. He had bought the land and parish house in South Hadley Falls, and erected a church for the people there. In the cause of education he had established a school for girls and a school for boys and built a convent for the Sisters of Notre Dame. When the first school was opened in the fall of 1869, 207 girls reported to the Sisters who were in charge. This was the first parochial school in Holyoke. The Catholic Institute building, completed in 1872, served as a chapel for the parish and a school for boys.
Once in answering a sick call in a boarding house Father Harkins fond a young woman suffering from lack of proper care. When he protested, the landlady told him that she was running a boarding house, not a hospital. The incident made a deep impression upon him and probably marked the beginning of his determi- nation to get a hospital for his people.
In the year 1873, he made a visit to King- ston, Ontario, and invited the Order of the Sisters of Providence to come to his parish and carry on their work of nursing, and teaching, and looking out for the orphans, and caring for the needy. In that year they came to Holyoke and opened up an asyhon for orphans and a hospital for the sick in the parish honse at Sonth Hadley. In 1878, they took over the Parsons
property on Dwight Street which Father Har- kins had bought in the name of the Bishop in 1874. They added one story to this building and made it into a home for the sisters and a hospital for the siek. This was the beginning of the institution that has been a blessing to Holyoke for almost three quarters of a century, Providence Hospital.
In 1876. Father Harkins began the erection of the Sacred Heart Church. The parishioners volunteered their labor in excavating for the foundation, following the example of those de- voted members of the mother church who cheer- fully dug the cellar for St. JJerome's with their own picks and shovels, many of them after work- ing a 12 or 13 hour day on the canals. The first
FATHER CREVIER
Mass was said in Sacred Heart on Christmas Day, 1876.
In 1880, the St. Jerome Rectory was built and in 1882, a new brick structure for the Girls' School costing nearly $50,000. The property at Ingleside was purchased by the Sisters of Prov- idenee in 1881, and Father Harkins supervised the erection of the first building there. Finally he constructed out of his own funds the Har- kins Home for Aged Women. He had finished the material and physical construction of the parish ; the most complete of any parish in the diocese.
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HOLY CROSS CHURCH
FATHER JOHN C. IVERS
-----
FATHER JOHN F. GRIFFIN
HOLY ROSARY CHURCH
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SACRED HEART CHURCH and RECTORY-(Early Picture)
For his great services to the ehnreh. on the 40th anniversary of his ordination, Father llarkins was invested with the purple robe of Prothonotary Apostolic ad instar, an honor which gladdened the hearts of the people of Holyoke. Father Harkins died on December 4. 1910, bereaved alike by all peoples of all creeds. St. Jerome's was his only pastorate. He had spent all his religious life in its service.
In January, 1895, Bishop Beaven bought from the Ewing heirs the site of the present Holy Cross Church. Ten years later he ap- pointed Reverend John C. Ivers, then pastor at Williamstown, as the first pastor of a newly constituted parish, carved out of the St. Jerome parish and constituting much of the region that is known as the Highlands.
Father Ivers was not new to Holyoke. He had served as eurate for a time in the Holy Rosary parish and later for many years as curate at St. Jerome's under Farher Harkins. Hle had endeared himself to the old Monsignor and to the people of the parish. His appoint- ment was most pleasing to both.
Father Ivers organized the new parish and devoted long years of his life to the planning, raising funds, and finally the construction of the stately Holy Cross Church which is one of the most beautiful churches in all New Eng- land.
An influence that will be remembered as long as Holyoke endures is that of the revered Fa- ther Griffin who served in the Holy Rosary Par- ish for almost thirty years. Father Griffin was a dynamic personality and a tireless worker. With vision that penetrated the years, he real- ized that in the education of youth in Christian faith was the foundation of character. A saintly man, he possessed rare charm of personality and distinguished power as an orator. It was his depth of human understanding, however, that endeared him to his people.
Father Griffin was a staunch defender of fam- ily life. He insisted that the school and the family must work with the church to accom- plish the finest results in children. He knew every family in the parish intimately, blessed them and counseled them in their problems, re- joinced with them in their successes and brought consolation in sorrow.
IFis influence on the youth of the parish was strong and he was tireless in his work for the schools. As the enrollment of the high school increased he built an addition to the main build- ing and enlarged the school capacity. A sig- nificant feature of his education of youth was a program of weekly conferences.
Father Griffin was one of the speakers at the Semi-Centennial Celebration in 1923.
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ECONOMIC ACTIVITY-(Churchill, 1880)
THE PAPER CITY
Then came war. The great Lincoln was elected President in 1860, on the indictment of the moral aspect of slavery and a pledge to prevent its extension into the territories. When the Southerners fired on Fort Sumpter, and Lincoln ealled for 75,000 volunteers, men of Holyoke responded with a will. In the course of four years, more than 400 soldiers and sailors responded to the call of the colors, and more than 50 of these gave their last full measure of devotion. Holyoke's honored dead in the war of the Rebellion were: Captain Myron C. Pratt, Joel M. Lochling, John Minehan, John H. Wild, Maurice Hemnan. Thomas S. Holman, Sergt. Roland S. Williston, Corp. II. A. Eaton, Sergt. Amos Pettis, JJr., Sergt. John Walker, Corp. Hiram K. Bean, Corp. James Baldwin, Corp. Osmyan B. Paul, John Barry, James W. Burr, Herbert J. Boyington, Levi W. Brooks, Anthony Cain, James Connors, William H. Estes, JJohn Falvey, Michael Gorham, Charles E. Hovey, .Joseph Maguire, Abner D. Otis, Robert J. Stew- art, Simeon P. Smith, Daniel D. Shea, Steven- sou Sill, Capt. John D. Frazier, Patriek Cush- ing, Josiah Gleason, J. W. Bartlett, Corp. Richard Curry, Henry Lyman, B. F. Mackin- ster. Robert McDonald, James Sullivan, Lieut. Frank A. Cook, Corp. W. C. Van Valkenburg, Patriek Devine, John Donahue, Maleolm Smith, Corp. Charles R. Avery, Daniel Cronan, Rich- ard Wall, Fred S. Fairbanks, James P. Brooks, William Prentiss, Ir., George M. Williston, EI- bridge G. Pierce, volunteer surgeon.
During the first year of the conflict, a cannon was placed at the rear of Orrell's store, corner of High and Hampden Streets, most of the en- tire adjacent block being vacant at the time. A salute was fired whenever news was received of the victory of Union Arms.
As the war went on and volunteer enlistments failed to supply the requisite number of sol- diers, the Government called upon all loyal States for able-bodied citizens between the ages of 21 and 45 years, and able to meet the phys- ieal requirements of a soldier. A number of Holyoke citizens were drafted, some being sum- moned to Springfield for examination. All who passed were offered the alternatives of enlist- ing, furnishing a substitute, or paying $300. Different men reacted in different ways, but there were no draft riots or similar disturbances in Holyoke as there were in some of the larger cities of the North.
In this war Holyoke could indeed be prond of her vonth. Youngsters tried all manner of schemes to enlist and to take their fathers' places at the front. Boys of fair size between 14 and 17 years of age would say they were 18. Some resorted to the incongruous device of get- ting hats and trousers a couple of sizes too large, with interesting results.
On January 2, 1861, all New York banks sns- pended specie payment. Gold beeame scarce. A more or less organized gold market was es- tablished in a eellar in New York City down near the present Curb Market. Day by day the premium on speeie mounted higher and the pur-
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THE PAPER MILLS
chasing power of paper money deteriorated. When Lee marched up through Pennsylvania in 1863, heading for Gettysburg, one gokl dol- lar commanded almost three of the paper dol- lars, and flour sold at the unprecedented price of $22 a barrel. Postage stamps were sometimes used as currency, and barter was the order of the day. The goverment issued fractional pa- per money in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 15, 25, and 50 cents. As the war progressed inflation- ary trends were considerably aggravated through the more extensive printing of the greenback.
Because one of the major Northern objectives was to throttle the exportation of raw cotton from the South, and because New England could not trade with the enemy, the supply of raw cotton for the Lyman Mills ran ont during the second year of conflict. Even before that, short time and shut-downs had been in order. More than 600 employees were thrown out of work. The Hampden Mill, however, was able to keep going, largely as a result of large stores of cot- ton accumulated while the war clouds were gath- ering. This mill enjoyed great prosperity dur- ing the whole period of conflict.
INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION
The Machine Shop of the Water Power Com- pany was sold to N. Whitin of Whitinsville, just before the outbreak of hostilities, and enjoyed its full portion of wartime prosperity. Several new woolen mills. constructed in the southern
part of the Water Power holdings to manufac- ture woolen cloth for army overcoats, consti- tuted the beginning of an industry which has prospered and contributed substantially to llol- yoke's industrial life ever since. Wire mills wore expanded. Holyoke was more prosperous at the end of the war than at the beginning, a condition not winsnal in Northern industrial communities.
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