USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume III > Part 42
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On July 7, 1897, at Chittenango, New York, Nathan Prentice Avery married Kath- erine Barnes Van Valkenburgh, a descend- ant of an old Netherlands family of the Mohawk Valley. She was educated at Yates Academy and Miss Graham's School in New York City. Since her marriage she has been active in spheres of women's interest at Holyoke and is now a member of the
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executive committee of the Holyoke Cham- ber of Commerce, a member of the Wom- en's Club, the Qui Vive Club and other or- ganizations. She is also a member of the Second Congregational Church. Mr. and Mrs. Avery are the parents of two daugh- ters: I. Adelaide, a graduate of St. Mar- garet's School, at Waterbury, and of Smith College ; she married Frank E. Button, Hol- yoke attorney, and they have two children: Peter Avery and Laura Vail Button. 2. Katherine, a graduate of Bradford Academy and Smith College. She married Carlos E. Allen, an assistant vice-president of the Na- tional City Bank at Scarsdale, New York, and they have one daughter, Nancy Wins- low Allen.
FRANK EDWIN BUTTON-The legal profession in Holyoke is ably represented by Frank Edwin Button who has practiced law in this city for nearly all of his career. He is a native of Vermont, where his fore- bears have lived for several generations, and he was born August 9, 1902, at Brandon. His great-grandfather was Ira Button, who established a store in Brandon in 1820, that is now operated by a grandson. A son of Ira Button, Frank M., was born in Brandon and operated the hardware establishment. His one great excursion from Vermont was shortly after the discovery of gold in Cali- fornia when he joined the "Forty-niners" in the trek across the Continent in search of a fortune. He married Laura Morse, of Dorset, Vermont, and of their children was Edwin H. Button, the third to direct the destinies of the long established hardware business. He is a substantial citizen of Brandon, a Republican and a member of the Congregational Church. He married Grace Vail Ross, daughter of Charles H. and Mary (Vail) Ross, both natives of Brandon, and the granddaughter of Dr. Ross, a greatly beloved physician of the Vermont town.
Charles Ross was long associated with the Howe Scale Company, as treasurer, and in later years became a Brandon merchant.
Frank Edwin Button, son of Edwin H. and Grace Vail (Ross) Button, received the preliminaries of his formal education in the Brandon schools and Phillips-Andover Acad- emy. He matriculated at Amherst College, from which he was graduated in 1924 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then studied in the Harvard Law School, and completed his legal training in the office of Wayne C. Bosworth, at Middlebury. Ver- mont. Mr. Button was admitted to the Ver- mont bar in 1927, and to the Massachusetts bar a year later. He began professional practice in Holyoke, in 1928, associated with the law firm of Avery, Gaylord and Davenport. In 1932 he became a member of the firm, since then known as Avery, Healy and Button. He is a member of the Hampden County Bar Association, the Mas- sachusetts State Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. Among his non- professional connections are memberships in the Kiwanis Club, and the Mt. Tom Golf Club. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and St. Paul's Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Brandon, Vermont. He is a member of the Second Congregational Church of Holyoke. An independent in politics, his sole political office is that of local representative of the Massachusetts Civil Service.
On June 25, 1927, Frank Edwin Button married Adelaide Avery, daughter of Na- than P. and Katherine Barnes (Van Val- kenburg) Avery of Holyoke. Mr. Avery was born May 13, 1869, at Norwich, Con- necticut, the only son of Captain Edwin Prentice and Adelaide L. (Smith) Avery. He was graduated from Amherst College in 1891, Bachelor of Arts, and afterward took post-graduate courses at Clarke University.
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He was admitted to the bar in 1896, and is now senior member of the well-known law firm of Avery, Healy and Button of Hol- yoke. He married, July 7, 1897, Katherine Barnes Van Valkenburg, a descendant of an old Holland Dutch family of the Mohawk Valley, in New York State. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Edwin Button are the parents of two children : 1. Peter Avery. 2. Laura Vail Button.
THOMAS JOSEPH CARMODY-Al- though he is now retired from active busi- ness, Thomas Joseph Carmody remains an honored and well loved figure in the city of Holyoke, where for half a century he carried on one of the important commercial enterprises of the community as a partner in the plumbing firm of Sullivan and Car- mody. This long record of business enter- prise is equalled by his distinguished public service in the many municipal offices of re- sponsibility and trust to which he has been called.
Mr. Carmody was born in County Kerry, Ireland, on October 9, 1856. He came to Holyoke with his parents in 1866, following the emigration of the family to America, and has made his home in Holyoke continuously since he was ten years old. Mr. Carmody received his formal education in the old North Chestnut Street public school and completed his schooling in the "college of hard knocks." He began his active career at an early age in a local wood screw fac- tory and later worked as a grocery clerk. In 1882, however, he became associated with the Holyoke plumbing firm of Ken- nedy and Sullivan and thus made his entry into the business which occupied him for the remainder of his life. Mr. Carmody spent four years in learning his trade and gaining experience in its various phases. At the end of that time, in 1886, he joined with Maurice F. Sullivan and Henry P.
Wesley in establishing the plumbing firm of Sullivan, Carmody and Wesley at No. 173 High Street. Following the death of Mr. Wesley in 1899, the name of the firm was changed to Sullivan and Carmody, and this style was retained by Mr. Carmody after the death of his long-time partner, Mr. Sul- livan, in 1926. Thereafter he continued the business alone until his retirement in June, 1934, after forty-eight successful years in the plumbing trade. In earlier years the Sullivan and Carmody store carried a full stock of ranges, stoves, lamps and hard- ware utensils, but later confined itself solely to plumbing and tinning work. Headquar- ters of the firm were continued at the orig- inal location on High Street until July, 1922, when they moved to No. 496 High Street.
Most of the important public buildings in Holyoke have plumbing that was installed by Mr. Carmody's firm and most of the plumbers of the city have worked for him at one time or another. In his time he has cured many a plumber of coming to work intoxicated and thus made it possible for him to get ahead in his trade. Among the many important buildings for which the firm of Sullivan and Carmody has received the plumbing contracts may be mentioned : the La France Hotel, the Holyoke National Bank, the homes of Dr. W. J. Brady, James Wakelin, R. Mc. Cookindale, A. Sampson, G. Osborne; the Lyman Mills Company plant, the Dean Steam Pump, the Gas and Electric Department office and plant, the City Hall Annex, the Police buildings, the City School Gymnasium, the Whiting School Building, the East Dwight Street Swimming Pool and the Mater Dolorosa Polish School, all in Holyoke. Others in- clude the United States Post Office at New Bedford; Hotel Readsboro at Readsboro, Vermont; the Ashley School Building at West Springfield; the Psi Epsilon Frater- nity building at Amherst, the Ames Acad-
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emy Building of Shelburne Falls, the Buck- land Grammar School at Buckland and the Conway Public Library at Conway, Massa- chusetts.
Mr. Carmody was president of the Mas- ter Plumbers Association of Holyoke for many years and was frequently a delegate to trade conventions. In addition to his own business he has served over a long period as a director of the Holyoke National Bank and the City Cooperative Bank of Holyoke, bringing to these duties the soundness of judgment gained in many years of business experience. In spite of the pressure of his business interests, however, he has devoted much time and effort to the service of his community and has held public office in Holyoke without remuneration for over fifty years. This is a record of devoted service seldom equalled in the history of any com- munity. Mr. Carmody was chairman of the Holyoke Water Board for twenty-one years until he relinquished it on February 5, 1933, to vote for Hugh McLean as his successor, meanwhile assuming himself the office of treasurer of the board, which he now holds. Thus he has been chairman twenty-one times, treasurer two times, vice-chairman on one occasion and secretary once during the existence of the city water board. Mr. Car- mody has also served as a member of the Holyoke Board of Aldermen, as a member of the school board, as overseer of the poor and as fire commissioner. He has held office under every mayor since the incorpo- ration of the city, with the exception of the first three, and has enjoyed the confidence and regard of all.
Mr. Carmody is a Democrat in politics but has always been an independent voter. He was president of the Holyoke Country Club for fifteen years and was made a life member of the club in 1928. Although he has been a member of this organization for twenty years he has never played a game
of golf, an odd circumstance which, it is interesting to note, has been used by Ripley in his well known syndicated article "Be- lieve It or Not." In addition to his other connections, Mr. Carmody was a member of the Holyoke Rotary Club, is an honorary life member of Holyoke Lodge, No. 902, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; a member of the Catholic Order of For- esters and of St. Jerome's Roman Catholic Church. He is fond of motoring and travel which constitute his principal diversion. Mr. Carmody's unostentatious philanthropy is best known to its many beneficiaries, but his support for worthy causes has been promptly forthcoming and every meritori- ous plea for assistance has received a sym- pathetic hearing at his hands. Despite his retirement, he maintains the keenest inter- est in public affairs and especially in the work of the Water Department, which has received his attention for so many years. The high esteem in which he is held in the community was reflected in the many trib- utes paid him on the occasion of his retire- ment. One of these which gave him special pleasure was the testimonial held on the morning of July 2, 1934, one week after his retirement as head of the plumbing concern of Sullivan and Carmody. In his new of- fices in the Holyoke National Bank Build- ing, a group of friends and admirers gath- ered and there presented him with a bou- quet of forty-eight roses, symbolizing his forty-eight years in business, and with a handsome radio receiving set. The execu- tive board of the Holyoke Chamber of Com- merce presented the guest of honor with a typewritten letter, signed by Secretary Con- rad Hemond, extending congratulations upon his half a century of service to the city and wishing him many more years of close association with the city of his adoption. "The sterling character of your citizenship," concludes this tribute, "offers an everlast-
Frederick D. Billett
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ing inspiration to the young men of New England today."
On November 15, 1887, at Holyoke, Thomas Joseph Carmody married Mary T. Ryan, who was born in Holyoke in 1860, daughter of Michael and Ann Ryan, both natives of Ireland. Mrs. Carmody died in this city on April 8, 1932.
FREDERICK HUNTINGTON GIL- LETT-During almost forty years of serv- ice as a member of the United States Con- gress, Frederick Huntington Gillett achieved a record of notable distinction. He was three times elected Speaker of the House, was subsequently United States Senator from Massachusetts, was the friend and adviser of five Presidents and in his entire legislative career so conducted himself as to bring high honor both upon the Congress and upon the constituency which he served.
Senator Gillett was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, on October 16, 1851, a son of Edward Bates and Lucy Douglas (Fow- ler) Gillett. He was named for the cele- brated prelate, Bishop Frederick D. Hunt- ington, who had been a classmate of his father at Amherst College. Edward Bates Gillett was one of the ablest lawyers of the Commonwealth, a man of broad culture and fine attainments. He served for a quarter of a century as district attorney, was a direc- tor of the Boston and Albany Railroad, a trustee of Amherst College and a trustee and vice-president of Smith College. Lucy Douglas (Fowler) Gillett, the mother, was a daughter of James Fowler, a prominent citizen of Westfield. She was a woman of remarkable beauty and culture, possessing a voice of rare power and sweetness, trained under the best teachers of singing in Bos- ton of her generation.
Frederick Huntington Gillett spent his boyhood in Westfield and received his pre-
liminary education in local schools. Subse- quently he spent a year of travel and study in Germany and on his return to the United States entered Amherst College, from which he was graduated in 1874 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1877 he took the further degree of Master of Arts at the same institution, and having meanwhile decided to adopt the profession of law, enrolled at Harvard Law School, from which he was graduated in 1877. In 1906, in recognition of his distinguished career, the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by Amherst College. As an un- dergraduate, he was a prominent figure at Amherst, taking both scholastic and athletic honors and was one of the editors of "Am- herst Student." He was a baseball and ten- nis champion in his youth and retained his fondness for athletic sports until the last.
Following the completion of his profes- sional training, Senator Gillett practiced at Springfield for two years. At the end of that time he went to Boston as assistant at- torney-general of Massachusetts, but in 1882 resumed the practice of law in Springfield until 1893. In Boston he was in partnership with Judge Soule, returning to Springfield when Mr. Soule was appointed to the bench. Later he was a partner of W. W. McClench, afterward president of the Massachusetts Life Insurance Company.
"He was very effective," Mr. McClench once said of his young partner. "Always courteous, never harrying or intimidating a witness, he made a very good impression on juries. He showed a keen grasp of whatever matter he had under consideration, and in his arguments before the Supreme Court particularly showed splendid ability."
On one occasion, when Mr. Gillett was called upon to deliver an argument before Judge Horace Gray of the State Supreme Court, the jurist was so impressed that he
Hampden-19
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called the young attorney into his chambers afterwards and congratulated him upon his effort. Senator Gillett's natural predilec- tions inclined him toward the judiciary, which was his early goal and in which he took a deep interest throughout his life. Three years after his first election to Con- gress, he was offered an appointment to the Massachusetts Supreme Court by the Gov- ernor but after prolonged consideration he decided to continue in the path of public service upon which he had already em- barked.
In 1890, Senator Gillett served in his first elective office as a member of the Spring- field Common Council and in the same year was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he represented the Sixth Hampshire District from 1891 to 1893. His wit was an able weapon and the very apparent quality of his talents led him to be referred to by the press as "one of the com- ing leaders of the House."
Senator Gillett began his long career in Congress in 1893 and thereafter was con- secutively reelected to every Congress until he retired to enter the Senate in 1925. He interested himself at once in many neces- sary reforms. His first speech in the House was an attack upon Tammany Hall, which immediately established his position in the Republican party on a national scale. One of his earliest efforts was the introduction of an anti-gambling bill and another was concerned with the passage of a uniform divorce law. His greatest victory in earlier years, however, was in the fight for civil service reform. In that, he had the enthu- siastic support of Theodore Roosevelt dur- ing his Presidency, and the two men, alike high-minded and courageous, became inti- mate friends. By introducting into the House bills prohibiting the sale of liquor in the then newly-acquired territories of Hawaii and the Philippine Islands, Mr. Gil-
lett foreshadowed the progress of the pro- hibition movement.
In 1900, he was appointed a member of the House Appropriations Committee and through diligent study of the problems con- cerned became one of the best-informed men in the country on methods of government administration. He insisted on the presen- tation of a budget by every department requesting appropriations before his com- mittee and in this way he and his colleagues were able to pass upon demands before committee recommendations were submitted to the House. Economy and fairness ruled during his incumbency. He made it a rule never to be absent when the House was in session, and he kept this rule. Thus he ac- quired an exact and in many ways phenom- enal knowledge of government affairs. He served at various times as a member of the Committee on Military Affairs, Merchant Marine, Reform in the Civil Service, For- eign Affairs and Appropriations, and be- came through continuity of service, senior member of the House. Courage, intelligence of broad calibre and initiative, supplemented by perseverance in the face of seemingly insuperable obstacles, won for him the es- teem of his colleagues and the confidence of the Nation at large.
Senator Gillett's career in the House reached its climax with his election as Speaker in 1919, following the recapture of the lower legislative body by the Repub- lican party in the preceding election. The contest for this office had quickly resolved itself into a struggle between Mr. Gillett and Representative James R. Mann, of Chi- cago. In the Republican caucus of February 27, 1919, Mr. Gillett was overwhelmingly elected. It was then that he issued the fol- lowing statement :
I have reached the goal of my ambition, a hap- piness which I suppose comes to few men. I feel the deepest gratitude to my generous supporters, but
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I have no tinge of hard feelings against anyone. My ambition now will be to establish harmonious coopera- tion among all Republicans, that we may cope suc- cessfully with the prodigious problems of the com- ing session.
To this task he devoted himself during the following three terms. As Speaker, he presided over the deliberations of the House with uniform tact and courtesy and with a fine dignity which did credit to the office. He was neither a legislative despot of the type of Speaker Cannon, nor a partisan like Speaker Clark; instead he considered him- self in many ways a judicial officer and governed himself accordingly. His consid- eration won him the regard of both parties and the sincere good-will of all members of the House.
Although he attained his greatest ambi- tion with his election as Speaker, further honors were in store for Mr. Gillett. In 1924, against his own inclinations, he was drafted to run for United States Senator from Mas- sachusetts against the redoubtable Demo- cratic campaigner, the incumbent, Senator David I. Walsh. Undertaking this task only because of his party loyalty, and given but scant chances of success, he nevertheless was successful in the election by a margin of some 20,000 votes and on March 4, 1925 took his seat in the Senate. Although his status as a new member of the upper house brought him no seniority rights, he was pleased by his appointment to the important Judiciary Committee, a place for which he was ideally qualified by experience and training. After the defeat of Senator Butler in 1926, Senator Gillett as the only Repub- lican Senator from Massachusetts, came to be regarded in some additional measure as a senatorial spokesman for the White House. His relations with President Coolidge were always cordial and friendly, as they were with his Republican predecessors Roosevelt and Taft, and his successor, Herbert Hoover.
Senator Gillett continued his duties in Washington for the duration of his term, retiring on March 3, 1931 after thirty-nine years of continuous service in Congress. As a political figure he was something of an anomaly. A gentleman and a scholar, of fastidious tastes and broad culture, he some- times seemed out of place in the rough and tumble of the political world. Yet few men have moved more securely along its devious paths or won in greater degree the respect and affection of their associates.
Following his retirement, Senator Gillett devoted much of his time to preparing a biography of the distinguished Massachu- setts statesman, Senator George Frisbie Hoar, to whose papers he had access through a family connection. He also prepared ma- terial for his memoirs and was at work upon them when he was stricken. Although inactive in politics in his last years, he fol- lowed its developments with interest and occasionally allowed himself to be inter- viewed on public questions of moment. Senator Gillett was also much interested in the closing period of his life in the West- field Atheneum, which stands upon the site of his birthplace and of which he was pres- ident from 1930 until his death. He was a director of the Springfield City Library Association, an honorary member of the Springfield Kiwanis Club, a member of the Springfield Country Club, upon whose golf course he was a familiar figure, and a mem- ber of many other organizations both local and of broader scope.
On November 25, 1915, Frederick Hunt- ington Gillett married Christine (Rice) Hoar, widow of the late Congressman Rock- wood Hoar, of Worcester, who was the son of Senator George Frisbie Hoar. She is a daughter of William E. and Frances (Rand- lett ) Rice.
Senator Gillett died at Springfield on July 31, 1935, in his eighty-fourth year. The ter-
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mination of his long and notable career was a major loss not only to the Commonwealth but to the country at large, and many prin- cipal figures of the State and Nation paid tribute to his exceptional talents, his fidelity to every duty and rare personal charm. The record of his life remains as an enduring monument to his fame.
GEORGE WILLIAM RITTER- For more than thirty years George William Ritter has been an active member of the Holyoke bar, rising to a position of rec- ognized prominence in his profession. Mr. Ritter was born in Dalton, April 14, 1881, son of Frank and Wilhelmina (Forbrig) Ritter. His father, who was born in Mylau, Saxony, Germany, was employed abroad in a textile commission house of Saxony and after coming to the United States was a textile worker at Monson, Massachusetts. He died there in 1897. Wilhelmina (For- brig) Ritter, his wife, was also born in My- lau, Saxony, and died at Monson in 1902.
George William Ritter received his pre- liminary education in the public schools of Monson and at Monson Academy, from which he was graduated in 1899. He pre- pared for his professional career at the Uni- versity of Maine, from which he was grad- uated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1902, and in the same year was admitted to the Massachusetts bar. Immediately afterward he entered practice at Holyoke, continuing alone for a number of years, during which time he firmly established his professional reputation. Subsequently he became associated in practice with Judge John Hildreth.
Mr. Ritter has never limited his practice, but has specialized particularly in real es- tate and banking law. He possesses an authoritative knowledge of these fields and now serves as attorney and examiner of titles for the Holyoke Savings Bank, the
Cooperative Bank and the Peoples Savings Bank of Holyoke; the Amherst Savings Bank of Amherst and the Franklin Sav- ings Institution of Greenfield. In addition to these connections he is a director of the Holyoke Cooperative Bank, a trustee of the Peoples Savings Bank and a member of the board of investment of the latter institution. Mr. Ritter is a member of the Hampden County Bar Association, the Kiwanis Club of Holyoke and the Second Congregational Church of this city. He is affiliated frater- nally with William Whiting Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons and with Holyoke Lodge, No. 902, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Ritter is a Republican in politics, but an independent rather than a partisan voter. He has traveled exten- sively both in this country and abroad, find- ing therein his principal recreation.
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