USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Hampden county, 1636-1936, Volume III > Part 53
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not because of any political ambition, but solely with the desire to serve the city's in- terests. He held a number of public offices, both elective and appointive, and by his gen- erous support made easier the development of many worthy local institutions. On May 30, 1852, he married Jane D. Washburn of Kingston, Massachusetts, and they became the parents of two children : William Albert, of whom further, and Clara Jane, born Feb- ruary 18, 1862, married William B. Tubby of Greenwich, Connecticut. George Whit- ing Prentiss died at Holyoke on April 2, 1915, universally mourned in the city which had benefited so largely through the con- structive influences of his career.
William Albert Prentiss, his son, was born in Elmwood, now Bridgewater, Massachu- setts, on July 10, 1854. He was three years old when his parents moved to Holyoke and, after completing the course in local public schools, attended Williston Seminary and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was graduated in 1875 with the de- gree of Bachelor of Science. Immediately afterwards he joined his father's company, was admitted to partnership in 1877 and, when the company was incorporated, was elected to the office of treasurer. This he held for many years and with the death of his father succeeded him as executive head of the company. Under his leadership its fine traditions were fully maintained and its progress continued without interruption. Mr. Prentiss also became vice-president of the Holyoke Savings Bank and a director of the City National Bank and of the City Hospital. Like his father he has always possessed an enlightened regard for the pub- lic interest and a full sense of civic obliga- tion manifested in his performance of every duty of good citizenship.
On October 2, 1877, William Albert Pren- tiss married Helen Maria Hubbard, daugh- ter of Moses Nash and Julia J. (Parsons)
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Hubbard. They became the parents of one son, George William, and one daughter, Bertha Helen, who married F. S. Webber.
George William Prentiss was born in Holyoke on November 27, 1881, and received his early education in Holyoke public schools and Worcester Academy. Subse- quently he entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he was gradu- ated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1905. Returning to Holyoke, he joined his father and grandfather in George W. Prentiss and Company and was elected soon afterward to the office of secretary. Through his technical training, supplemented by practical experience in the plant, he was able to assume his full share of the operating re- sponsibilities and eventually became super- intendent of the company. On January I, 1917, he was elected treasurer and general manager and has continued to serve as such during the intervening years. He is now in active control of the organization, retaining the progressive policies which have been chiefly responsible for its success. George W. Prentiss and Company has always spe- cialized in the finer wire sizes, supplying all grades for every demand. They are experts in the manufacture of wire drawn from Swedish iron, Bessemer, Open Hearth and Crucible Cast Steel and have devoted much attention to meeting the needs of the New England textile industry which furnishes a natural market. Thus the firm's products have come to include steel heddle, twin-heddle, tem- pered card, ring traveler and other wires which are subject to exacting uses, while in the general products may be mentioned tinned annealed wire, rope wire, clip wire, millinery wire and miscellaneous wires, round and flat, all in the finer sizes. In the course of its history, the company has intro- duced many technical innovations which have proved their value through wide use.
In addition to his connection with George W. Prentiss and Company, Mr. Prentiss is a member of the Holyoke Chamber of Com- merce, the Rotary Club, the Mt. Tom Golf Club and Holyoke Chamber of Commerce. He has been interested in the Boys' Club movement, serving in former years as presi- dent and is still a member of that organiza- tion. Fraternally he is affiliated with Sigma Alpha Epsilon at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in religious faith is a mem- ber of the Second Congregational Church of Holyoke.
On June 8, 1910, George William Prentiss married Isabel F. Wheat, daughter of Wil- liam G. and Clara L. (Abercrombie) Wheat, of Springfield. She is also a member of the Second Congregational Church and has been active in the work of the Children's Aid Society.
JOHN MILTON NEWTON-John Mil- ton Newton was born February 25, 1890, at Brimfield, Massachusetts, son of Frank R. and Mary (Callahan) Newton. His father was born at Brookfield, this State, on February 28, 1857, and lived until March 28, 1895, the date of his death in Brimfield. He was a farmer all his life. Politically he was a staunch Democrat, and for eighteen years served as a selectman of his township. He was a member of the Congregational Church. His wife was born June 8, 1858, in Warren, Massachusetts, and now makes her home in Springfield. The paternal grand- parents of John M. Newton were Cheney F. and Jane (Rice) Newton. Cheney F. Newton was born July 19, 1816, in Brook- field, Massachusetts, and died in Brimfield in 1900. He also was a farmer, and spent a part of his life as a shoemaker. He fought in the Civil War, serving the North as a corporal in Company G of the 46th Regiment of Massachusetts. Jane (Rice) Newton was
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a native of Brookfield. The great-grand- father of John Milton Newton was Foster Newton, of Brookfield, who married Betsy Stoddard; and the great-great-grandfather was Jonathan Newton, of Brookfield, a Revolutionary soldier. On the maternal side of his house, John Milton Newton was a grandson of Patrick and Julia (McMahon) Callahan. Patrick Callahan was born in Ire- land, and died in November, 1883, at the age of sixty-four years. He was employed for many years in the foundry at Warren, Massachusetts. His wife, Julia (McMahon) Callahan, was also a native of Ireland. Both of them died in Warren, Massachusetts, she being only thirty-nine years old at the time of her death on August 15, 1864.
John Milton Newton was graduated in 1907 from Brimfield Academy, and then studied at the Clayton and Craig Electrical School, where he was graduated in 1909. For a time he lived in Northampton, Massa- chusetts, where for a year he was employed . as electrical helper. His next move was to come to Holyoke on September 16, 1910. Here he became associated with the Roland T. Oakes Company as electrician's helper, so continuing for one year. Until 1917 he was in the engineering and estimating de- partment, and then the World War for a time interrupted his professional career.
On April 2, 1918, he enlisted in training at Fort Meyer, Virginia, joining the 37th Engi- neers. Until June 30, 1918, he was with that unit. Then he went overseas with E Com- pany of the same regiment, remaining on the other side of the Atlantic until he was hon- orably discharged on April 28, 1919, in France. At the time of his discharge he held the rank of sergeant. After a short visit to Scotland and England, he again took up his work in Holyoke. His war record was an important one, including active participation in five major engagements.
Rejoining the Roland T. Oakes Company as an engineer, he remained as such until July, 1928. He then was made president of the company. The Oakes company is an old one, which traces its history far back through the years. Roland T. Oakes started his business in March, 1885, as an electrical engineering contractor. His first site was in High Street. He had a partner, Arthur J. Newell, of Holyoke, who remained with the enterprise until its incorporation on January 2, 1892. Roland T. Oakes then became presi- dent and treasurer of the organization, so continuing until his death, which occurred in February, 1919. He removed the com- pany to its present address in 1908. On October 1, 1934, the Oakes Electrical Sup- ply Company took over the wholesale branch of the enterprise. When Mr. Oakes died, his partner, Arthur J. Newell, became president and treasurer of the company, continuing in that office until his death in July, 1928. Then John Milton Newton was chosen president and a director, and he has remained in this office to the present. The Roland T. Oakes Company has the distinction of being the oldest organization of its kind in the United States, it is said, the half-century mark in the firm's history having been reached on March 4, 1935.
Along with his business activities, which have kept him constantly absorbed, John Milton Newton is deeply interested in the affairs of his community, county and State. He is a Republican in politics, and a mem- ber of the Congregational Church in Spring- field. He belongs to the Springfield Post of the American Legion. In the Free and Ac cepted Masons he is affiliated with Esoteri. Lodge, holds the thirty-second degree of Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, is active in Connecticut Valley Consistory, and is an initiate in Melha Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
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He is a member and past president of the Holyoke Rotary Club, past president of the Engineering Society of Western Mas- sachusetts, past chairman of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Along with his other activities, Mr. Newton is in- terested in the Oakes Acorn Smokers' Club, of Holyoke, which holds meetings once a month in the winter. It was organized in January, 1928, by the Oakes company, and represents a very original plan of organi- zation, having no officers and no dues. There are six meetings per year. The purpose of the club is to dispense information on the whole general subject of electricity and the electrical industry without in any way con- sidering sales questions or efforts.
On February 18, 1922, John Milton New- ton married, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Dorris M. Beach, who was born June 17, 1890, in Winthrop, New York, daughter of James and Mary (Kellum) Beach, both now deceased. Her parents lived in South Hamp- ton, Massachusetts. Mrs. Newton attended the schools at Winthrop, New York, her birthplace, and was graduated from West Springfield High School and Baypath Insti- tute, of Springfield. She belongs, as does her husband, to the Congregational Church. Mr. and Mrs. Newton have become the par- ents of two children: I. John Milton, Jr., born May 20, 1923. 2. James B., born Feb- ruary 25, 1927.
HON. JOHN HILDRETH-Judge John Hildreth, of Holyoke, was born October 18, 1851, in Bradford, England, son of Richard and Martha (Wood) Hildreth, both natives of that English community. His father died in Bradford, England, and the mother in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Richard Hildreth was a cloth inspector for many years with the Farr Alpaca Company, of Holyoke.
John Hildreth, who for years has occupied a place of prominence here as a member of
bench and bar, received his early education in the English public schools, attending classes at the Mechanics' Institute in the evenings to prepare himself for the active labors of his career. In 1866 he became an employee of the firm of Chamberlain, Herd and Donner, while still in England, and it was on June 22, 1875, that he sailed for the United States. On July 5, that year, he ar- rived in the city of Holyoke, and a little later he associated himself with the Farr Alpaca Company. In 1875 and 1876 he was superintendent of the Musgrove Alpaca Company, at Chicopee Falls, and from 1876 to 1886 he was again with the Farr Alpaca Company. He then went with the Columbia Refining Company, of New York, remaining with it until 1890. This work in the business in which his father before him had been in- terested enabled John Hildreth to gain a foothold in the establishment of his career.
Meanwhile, he served as secretary of the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce and in spare time studied law in the office of the late H. K. Hawes. He carried on his profes- sional studies in a quiet way over a five-year period, from 1888 to 1893, and then, in 1893, being admitted to the bar of the State of Massachusetts, began his active practice. Since that time he has been carrying for- ward his professional work, although his activities on the bench have considerably curtailed his private practice of law. He holds a position of high standing in his pro- fession, and is referred to as dean of the Holyoke bar.
His public career has closely paralleled his professional work. A Republican in his political views, he served in 1889 and 1890 as a member of the Massachusetts State Legislature. For a time he was on the Re- publican State Committee, and he was for years a leader in that body. For twenty-six years he was a member of the Holyoke Board of Fire Commissioners and secretary
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of the board. In 1910 the Republicans nom- inated him for mayor of Holyoke, and in 1912 the Progressive party chose him as its candidate for Attorney-General of this Com- monwealth. He was appointed associate judge of the Holyoke Police Court in 1898, and later was made special justice and senior judge. Since 1898 he has been pre- siding over court sessions in Holyoke and rendering invaluable public service. His other public activities have included service on the Board of Aldermen of Holyoke from 1887 to 1889, and the chairmanship of two committees in the State Legislature-the committee of public service and the com- mittee on public buildings. His committee on public buildings was in charge of details concerning the addition of a new part to the State House in Boston. Judge Hildreth's long service to the people of Massachusetts has been all the more remarkable in view of the fact that he was not born in this country, but was formally naturalized on October 21, 1886, and since that time has been continu- ously engaged in useful public projects of one sort or another.
Many of his semi-public organizational ac- tivities have been outstanding. From 1888 to 1909 he acted as vice-president of the Young Men's Christian Association, in which he has been a member of the board of trustees since 1910. He is active also in the Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to Nonituck Lodge and having served sev- eral times as its chaplain. He belongs also to the Royal Arcanum, the Mount Tom Golf Club, the Senior Golf Club of Apawamis, and the Rotary Club. On October 28, 1930, he was presented the golf cup, on which was the following inscription :
JOHN HILDRETH-A Good Sport. Presented by Members of the Mount Tom Golf Club.
Judge Hildreth takes a lively interest in the general business life of his community.
He is a member of the board of corporators of the People's Savings Bank. His religious affiliation is with the Baptist Church. Since March 6, 1877, he has been a member of the Second Baptist Church of Holyoke. From 1894 to 1919 he served as clerk of the con- gregation, and in 1929, was made deacon for life. Since 1874 he has taught in the Sun- day school. In 1923 and 1924 he was presi- dent of the Westfield Baptist Association, and from 1924 to 1931 he was a member of the continuing council of that association. He served at one time as a member of the executive board of the Massachusetts Bap- tist convention.
On June 13, 1883, the Hon. John Hildreth married Kate Barker Story, a native of Gloucester, who was born there November 9, 1852, daughter of Cyrus and Catherine (Bruce) Story, of that place. Mrs. Hildreth was educated in Gloucester High School and at the old Maplewood Seminary, Pittsfield. Her father was a distinguished musician, known throughout New England, and he fitted her for a career in music. At the age of thirteen she was organist in a Unitarian Church in Gloucester, and at fifteen she be- came organist of the First Baptist Church. After completing her studies at Maplewood, she became a teacher in the public schools of Gloucester. In 1881 she came to Holyoke to be organist in the Second Baptist Church, and it was here that she met John Hildreth, who was a teacher in the Sunday school. She joined the Second Baptist Church in Gloucester, and has continued active in the same denomination in Holyoke. She has be- longed to the Year Round Club since its in- ception, and is a member of the Holyoke Woman's Club and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. From 1887 to 1927 she was secretary and treasurer of the Baby Mission Band. From 1896 to 1923 she was superintendent of the Junior Department of
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the church. In 1898 she was made State vice-president of Home Missions, and in 1900 became president of the Women's League. Judge and Mrs. Hildreth are the parents of the following children: I. The Rev. Ellison Story Hildreth, a minister in Cabot, Vermont. 2. Kate Wood Hildreth, who died in 1896. 3. Richard Bruce Hil- dreth, died in 1901. 4. Charles Hanson Hil- dreth, died in 1891. 5. Fannie Hildreth, a teacher in Springfield, Massachusetts.
JOSHUA LORING BROOKS-The place Joshua Loring Brooks has made for himself in New England life and affairs renders an introduction to the present generation un- necessary. All that is attempted here is to name in a brief survey some of his many ac- tivities, to serve as a permanent record for future reference.
Mr. Brooks was born at Brookline, Massa- chusetts, January 19, 1868, son of Lyman B. and Maria Cordelia (Loring) Brooks, and a direct descendant from John Alden and Priscilla Mullen, of the "Mayflower." Both the Brooks and the Loring names are fa- miliar to the students of New England an- nals from the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Joshua Loring Brooks was educated in the Newton High School and Boston University, class of 1890. The year before he left college, he founded the Brooks Bank Note Company, at Springfield, of which he has been president, treasurer and a director since 1889. This initial enter- prise, inaugurated when he became of age, marked the beginning of his long connection with the manufacture of commercial and color lithography and folding paper boxes. He became, in 1910, the president and a di- rector of the Lyman B. Brooks Company, founded in 1861, continuing in office until 1929. when the Brooks Bank Note Company absorbed the Lyman B. Brooks Company. Mr. Brooks is a director of the Springfield
Street Railway Company ; of the Third Na- tional Bank, of Springfield ; and is the owner and proprietor of Newagen Inn and Cot- tages, Newagen, Maine, which he estab- lished in 1923.
Mr. Brooks' well recognized abilities as a business executive have been widely drafted for public service in greatly varied and highly important capacities. As early as 1916 he was awarded the William Pynchon Medal, for "distinguished public service" and his activities in this line have increased with the years. In 1929 he was honored with the Massachusetts State Medal, "for outstanding service to agriculture." He joined the Springfield Chamber of Com- merce as a young man and was its presi- dent in 1913 and 1914. In 1914 he was one of the founders of the Eastern States Expo- sition, of which he since has been the presi- dent and chairman of the trustees. He was, in 1915, a member of the executive commit- tee which established the Associated Indus- tries of Massachusetts, and remained on the committee for three years. In 1925 Mr. Brooks was elected to the New England Council, for a year's term, and was reelected in 1926, for two years. He was vice-presi- dent of the body in 1927 and also was made the chairman of the Massachusetts Division of the Council, at that time. He was re- elected vice-president and chairman for the Massachusetts Division of the New England Council, in 1928. Mr. Brooks is a member and a director of the Springfield Young Men's Christian Association, of Junior Achievement, Inc., of the Hampden County Improvement League, and was an incorpo- rator of the Springfield Hospital, and is a trustee of many years standing. His World War period activities were especially nota- ble and may be listed as: Chairman of the Third Liberty Loan, Springfield ; chairman of the Springfield War Chest Drive; mem- ber of the State Food Committee ; appointee
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of Herbert Hoover for special work organ- izing the Massachusetts Division of the Fed- eral Food Committee; and chief of the In- dustrial Section, United States Army Ord- nance Department.
Influential in the counsels of the Republi- can party in Massachusetts, Mr. Brooks was a delegate to the Republican National Con- vention of 1932. His club is the Colony Club of Springfield ; in his religious affiliations he is a Congregationalist. "If a tree can be known from its fruits, it should not be diffi- cult to judge a man's character and worth from his interests, associations and achieve- ments."
On June 6, 1894, Joshua Loring Brooks married Margaret Robinson, of Gardiner, Maine, and they are the parents of four sons: Lawrence, Robert Permain, Joshua Loring, Jr., and John Dudley Brooks.
RAYMOND FREDERICK HEIDNER -As president and treasurer of the music business of J. G. Heidner and Son, Inc., of Holyoke, Raymond Frederick Heidner takes an important part in the affairs of his city. He is a native of Holyoke and one of the very highly esteemed citizens of his com- munity and of Hampden County.
Mr. Heidner was born November 11, 1889, son of Joseph G. and Anna (Belding) Heid- ner and grandson of Frederick and Mary (Yenney) Heidner. His paternal grand- father was a native of Germany, and his grandmother came to the United States from Switzerland. They lived near Glovers- ville, New York, where Mr. Heidner was a lumberman and farmer. Joseph G. Heidner, their son and the father of Raymond F. Heidner, was born in Bleecker, New York, and died in 1931 in Florida. He spent most of his life in Holyoke, founding the present business of which he was treasurer. J. G. Heidner and Son, Inc., situated at Nos. 288- 290 Maple Street, Holyoke, sell pianos, ra-
dios, and band and orchestra instruments. Joseph G. Heidner first worked for his brother, Frederick A. Heidner, in what was known as the "Toy Store," and later the two brothers were partners under the firm name of Heidner Brothers ; their store was then on Dwight Street, near the Prentiss wire fac- tory, but later was moved to No. 309 High Street where J. G. Heidner conducted a very successful sewing machine business. In about 1895 Mr. Heidner determined to turn his attention to the piano business, in which he established himself at Nos. 408-410 High Street, trading under his own name until 1912, the year in which his son became asso- ciated with him. First they conducted the business as partners, then they formed the corporation of J. G. Heidner and Son, Inc., of which the elder Mr. Heidner was treas- urer until his death. He was a Republican and an attendant and supporter of the Sec- ond Congregational Church, of Holyoke. His wife, Anna (Belding) Heidner, was born in Easthampton, Massachusetts, and died in August, 1923, in Holyoke.
Their son, Raymond Frederick Heidner, president and treasurer of the business, re- ceived his formal schooling in Holyoke, where he was graduated from high school in 1908. He then attended Hamilton Col- lege for three years, after which he entered into partnership with his father. When the business was incorporated, in 1912, he be- came president, and after his father's death, in April, 1931, he added the duties of treas- urer.
Continuing at the head of the Heidner music business down to the time of writing, Raymond F. Heidner also takes a deep in- terest in Holyoke affairs and participates in the work of a number of useful organiza- tions. He is a Republican in his political views, as was his father before him, and, is a member of the Second Congregational Church, of Holyoke. He also serves on the
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Church Council. He belongs to the Holyoke Rotary Club, the Holyoke Chamber of Com- merce, the Holyoke Canoe Club, and the Orchards Golf Club. At college he became a member of the Sigma Phi Fraternity and was a leader in college musical affairs. Music, as it happens, is not only a business with Mr. Heidner, but an art he loves. He particularly enjoys playing the violin and is gifted with a fine musical understanding. He appears with numerous orchestral and string quartet organizations from time to time, and is widely known in musical circles in Hol- yoke and vicinity.
In June, 1917, Raymond F. Heidner mar- ried, in Holyoke, Ruth Hubbard, of this city, daughter of Jeremiah and Annie (Bur- nett) Hubbard. Her father, who was a member of the printing firm of Hubbard and Taber, is now deceased. Her mother lives in Holyoke. Mrs. Heidner herself is a grad- uate of Holyoke High School and Mount Holyoke College. She is a member of the Second Congregational Church, of this city, and serves as its assistant organist. She is also deeply interested in music and is a teacher of piano. Mr. and Mrs. Heidner have two sons and two daughters : I. Robert H. 2. Raymond F., Jr. 3. Margaret. 4. Elisabeth Ann.
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