USA > Massachusetts > The story of western Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
William Garland Heeks graduated from the Con- cord, Massachusetts, High School in the class of 1919, after which he entered Brown University, grad- uating there in 1923 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then studied medicine in the Harvard University Medical School, and in 1927 graduated from that institution with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. After serving internships at St. Luke's Hospital and Babies Hospital, both of New York City, he practiced as a surgeon in New York City for the twelve years from 1930 to 1942. In 1942 he en- tered the service of the United States Army Air Force and was attached to the 12th and 15th Air Forces in Africa, Sicily and Italy, serving as a surgeon with rank of lieutenant colonel. He re- turned to civilian life in December 1945, and since that time has practiced as a surgeon in North Adams, where he is a member of the surgical staff of the North Adams Hospital. Doctor Heeks is a member of the Northern Berkshire Medical Society, the Massachusetts Medical Society and the Ameri- can Medical Association, and belongs also to the New York Surgical Society and the American Board of Surgery and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Fraternally he is affiliated with La- fayette Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons; Composite Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; St. Paul Commandery Knights Templar and Melha Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the North Adams Rotary Club. Doctor Heek's favorite hobby is deep-sea fishing.
He married at Scarborough-on-the-Hudson on September 9, 1933 Lucia Page of New York City, the daughter of Cecil and Daisy (Bell) Page. She is a graduate of the Emma Willard School of Troy, New York, and of Finch Junior College of New York City. Doctor and Mrs. Heeks have three children: Lucia Alexandra, born August 24, 1934; Carol Ann, born July 10, 1936; and William Garland Jr., born November 23, 1937. All three children were born in New York City.
EDMOND HOMER DUPONT-A prominent resident of Holyoke, and conducting a merchandising establishment at Granby, Edmond Homer Dupont has contributed substantially toward the commercial progress of these communities.
Mr. Dupont was born July 16, 1914, at South Had- ley Falls, the son of Arthur and Eva (Dube) Dupont. His father is retired, and his mother passed away, in 1946. Arthur Dupont pioneered in the early days of motion picture exhibitions as operator of the old Wonderland Theater, the first in Holyoke. The elder Mr. Dupont engaged in the express business about 1919, later became a silk weaver with William Skinner and Sons, and, until his retirement from active par- ticipation in business, operated a wholesale and retail florist establishment.
Edmond Dupont received his early training in the Granby public schools, and attended the School of the Immaculate Conception at Holyoke.
In 1929, after finishing his formal education, Mr. Dupont entered the wholesale flower enterprise at Granby in partnership with his father. For a number of years he continued in that city with the elder Mr.
Thomas & Lonely
275
WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Dupont. In 1941, however, he established a retail florist shop on Main Street in Holyoke, retaining the greenhouses at Granby. In 1945 upon the retirement of his father, he became the sole owner of the thriving wholesale and retail enterprise. Since then he has experienced steady success and today this business is one of the most widely known and liked of its type in the city. Mr. Dupont deserves a good share of the credit for the recent growth and success of the estab- lishment.
Mr. Dupont is active in politics as a Democrat. In religious preference he is a Roman Catholic. His hobby is trapping.
On October 23, 1937, at Holyoke, Edmond Homer Dupont married Doris Pollender, daughter of Alfage and Clara (Champagne) Pollender. They became the parents of the following children: I. Rosalie, who was born in 1941. 2. Edmond Homer, Jr., born in 1943. 3. Raymond, who was born in 1945. 4. Irene, born in 1946. 5. Linda Marie, born April 11, 1948.
THOMAS F. CONNEALLY-Prominently known throughout the state of Massachusetts as lawyer and judge, Thomas F. Conneally, of Great Barrington, has made significant contributions toward the growth and development of jurisprudence in this region.
Mr. Conneally was born March 6, 1901, at Great Barrington, son of Frank and Annie T. (Broderick) Conneally. His father, a native of Norfolk, Connecti- cut, died in 191I.
Thomas Conneally was graduated from the Searles High School at Great Barrington. He attended the College of the Holy Cross, and, in 1926, he was graduated from the Fordham Law School with the degree of Bachelor of Laws.
Two years after having completed his formal train- ing, Mr. Conneally was admitted to the New York Bar, and he practiced law in New York City until 1931. In that year he returned to Great Barrington to resume his law practice there, and he was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar.
On February 5, 1936, Mr. Conneally was appointed special justice of Southern Berkshire by Governor Michael M. Curley. From 1943 until 1945 he served as an enforcement attorney for the Office of Price Administration. On October 31, 1945, he was ap- pointed by Governor Maurice J. Tobin to the life- time position of presiding justice of Southern Berk- shire. Justice Conneally is the sixth judge to hold this position in one hundred fifty years.
Justice Conneally is a former member of the execu- tive committee of the Berkshire County Bar Associa- tion. He is a member of the New York State and the Massachusetts State Bar associations, and the Berkshire Bar Association. Fraternally, he belongs to the Mount Everett Council No. 513 of the Knights of Columbus in Great Barrington, and he is a former grand knight of this organization. He is a member of the Great Barrington Rotary Club and the Wyan- tenuck Country Club, and in religious affiliation he is a Roman Catholic, attending St. Peter's Church. For recreation and exercise he enjoys a good game of golf.
On August II, 1930, at New York City, Thomas F. Conneally married Gertrude Raleigh, daughter of John F. and Sarah (Burke) Raleigh, of Rutland, Vermont. They became the parents of the following
children: 1. Thomas F., Jr., who was born October 20, 1931, in New York City, and is now attending Searles High School. 2. Joan Elizabeth, who was born May 17, 1933, at Great Barrington.
WILLIAM BRADFORD BROWNE-One of the able genealogists of New England is William Brad- ford Browne of North Adams, who compiled the Babbitt Genealogy, printed in 1910, and has worked on numerous other pieces of genealogical and his- torical research in the years since that date. Mr. Browne was for twenty-one years register of deeds for Berkshire County North District. Since leaving that office three years ago, he has been engaged in compiling the genealogy of the Jenks Family of America through a trust fund established by the Late Harlan Jenks of Washington.
William Bradford Browne was born in North Adams May 7, 1875, the son of Charles and Susan (McCallum) Browne. Mr. Browne is a descendant of Rev. Chad Browne of Providence and of twenty of the passengers on the "Mayflower." His late father, Charles Browne, was early connected with blasting in the Hoosac Tunnel, for he had invented the first electric fuse in the United States and this was used during tunnel construction. He made elect- ric fuses for many years.
After graduating from Drury High School in North Adams, Mr. Browne spent several years in the paper business and then worked in research and genealogy for many years. He helped to compile the Colonial Records of Berkshire County for the county com- missioners before becoming register of deeds for Berkshire County North District, a post he filled for twenty-one years. In addition to the Babbitt Genealogy, which was published in 1910, Mr. Browne compiled various articles published in the "New Eng- land Historical and Genealogical Register" and also assisted in the Arnold, Gardner, Peterson, Bradford, Browne and many other genealogical records which have been compiled and published. Mr. Browne main- tains an office in the Kimbell Building in North Adams. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum and of various historical societies, and has served as a trus- tee of the North Adams Library. Mr. Browne is a Congregationalist and a Republican.
On June 10, 1912 at Blackinton, North Adams, William Bradford Browne was married to Ruth H. Blackinton, the daughter of John and Delia (Archer) Blackinton. Mr. and Mrs. Browne have one daugh- ter, Ruth Blackinton Browne, born July 17, 1913.
BESSIE WARNER KERR, who until her retire- ment on December 31, 1947 was chief librarian of the Chicopee Public Library, was associated with the library over a period of forty-one years. She first entered the employ of the library in 1897 as as- sistant librarian, and with the exception of the ten years from 1909 to 1919 was in the library continu- ously until the end of 1947. She has played a promi- nent part in the cultural life of her community and through the years has made a host of friends for the library and for herself.
She was born in Palmer, December 6, 1877, the daughter of J. Chapin and Ellen Loraine (Howard) Warner. Her father was a farmer, and paper manu- facturer. He fought in the Civil War, serving in
276
WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Company K, 34th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteers.
Bessie Warner attended the public schools of Chico- pee, graduating from Chicopee High School on June 25, 1896. After leaving school she accepted a posi- tion in the Chicopee Public Library the following year, but continued her education through the years, taking a number of private courses in French, reference work and other subjects, and in 1905 was graduated from the Library School at Amherst, where she had a thorough training in library work. She served as assistant librarian from 1897 to 1909 and again from 1919 to 1939. On July 1, 1939 she became chief li- brarian of the Chicopee Public Library and filled this post until December 31, 1947. Mrs. Kerr is a member of the American Library Association, and she belongs also to the Travelers Club of Chicopee and the Western Massachusetts Literary Club. She serves on the board of directors of the Chicopee Community Center. A member and past president of the Con- gregational Woman's Society and a member of Stead- fast Circle of the King's Daughters in Chicopee, Mrs. Kerr has always been active in religious work. She attends the Third Congregational Church and also the Chicopee Federated Church.
She married on November 6, 1907 Charles Andrew Kerr, the son of the Rev. George and Margaret (Kofod) Kerr. Mrs. Kerr has two children: George Chapin Kerr, born August 10, 1910 at Chicopee, and Loraine Margaret Kerr, born August 22, 1913 at Chicopee.
MARVIN CHAPIN BIRNIE-Among the first citizens of the city of Springfield must be numbered Marvin Chapin Birnie, both as representative in this generation of some of the oldest families of Western Massachusetts, and as an important figure in business circles.
Marvin Chapin Birnie is a son of William and Har- riet (Chapin) Birnie. William Birnie has been both a railroad contractor and a builder of water works. Mrs. Harriet (Chapin) Birnie is a descendant of Dea- con Chapin, who was one of the founders of Spring- field. In that city Marvin C. Birnie was born on January 10, 1881. His formal education was obtained in the public schools of this native city. In the year 1917 he first took employment with C. L. Goodhue, known as builders of water works. For this concern Mr. Birnie served during his active business life, for twenty years, as manager of various plants. In 1927 he retired from these activities, and since then has engaged only in real estate operations.
He is affiliated politically with the Republican party, and he belongs to the Colony Club.
Marvin C. Birnie has been twice married, the first time on April 15, 1903, to Mabel Galacar, a daughter of Charles E. and Minerva Galacar. The second Mrs. Birnie was the former May Sharpe. Mr. Birnie is the father of one child, a daughter, Harriet, who was born on May 7, 1905, and is now the wife of Turner Marsh, of Longmeadow.
HIRAM FISH BATTEY-With the exception of one short interlude in the field of business, the career of Hiram Fish Battey, superintendent of schools at
Lenox in the Berkshires, has been devoted to educa- tion. A product himself of New England schools and Colleges, Mr. Battey acquired almost entirely in New England the extensive and varied experience which gives him the background for his eminently success- ful administration of his present responsible position.
Mr. Battey's father, the late Charles Crossman Bat- tey, was also a native of Massachusetts, born at Ox- ford. As a young man he went to work in railroading, beginning at the foot of the ladder, so to say, as a trainman on the old Connecticut River Valley Rail- road, which was eventually merged with the exten- sive system of the Boston and Maine Railroad. With the latter company Charles Crossman Battey rose to responsible position, having been promoted to superintendent of bridges and buildings for the Boston and Maine Railroad prior to his death in 1932. He is buried in his birthplace, Oxford.
Charles Crossman Battey married Grace Irene Fish, who was a native of Jericho, Vermont. The wedding occurred at Springfield, Massachusetts. Mrs. Grace Irene (Fish) Battey survives her husband and is now living at Woodside, Vermont.
To this couple the son they called Hiram Fish was born at Springfield, on June 24, 1899. During his later school days he resided in Brookfield, and it was from the Brookfield High School that he graduated in 1917, before enrolling at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont. From Norwich he graduated with the class of 1921, receiving the degree of Bache- lor of Science. As a result of subsequent graduate study, he took his degree of Master of Arts at Co- lumbia University in the City of New York in 1933.
Mr. Battey began his teaching career in 1921, when he became the principal of the Chelsea High School at Chelsea, Vermont, a position he held until 1923. In that year he went to Portland, Connecticut, teach- ing there until the following year, when he became associated with the S. S. Kresge Company, in the retail chain store field, in Springfield. In 1925, how- ever, Mr. Battey returned to his chosen profession, accepting a post in the high school at Northampton, where he remained through the following year.
In 1927 Mr. Battey became principal of the Deer- field High School at Old Deerfield, and this position he filled until 1945. In that year he was called to Lenox to take over the superintendency of the schools in that town. His attainments and long experience fit him for the administration, guidance and improve- ment of a school system which is in keeping with the standards of life in that distinguished Berkshire com- munity.
During World War I Mr. Battey served in the United States Army, and subsequently was a member of the United States Cavalry Reserve, from 1921 to 1933, with the rank of a second lieutenant. Upon the organization of the Massachusetts State Guard to re- place the National Guard of Massachusetts in World War II, Mr. Battey joined the State Guard, serving from November 1941 to June, 1946, holding the rank of major at the time of his honorable discharge.
Mr. Battey is an ardent Mason, being a member and past master of the Mt. Sugarloaf Lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Deerfield. He is interested in civic affairs, and belongs to the Ki- wanis Club of Lenox. His professional affiliations are with the Massachusetts School Superintendents
Boy In Wright
277
WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Association and with the New England School Super- intendents Association.
On August 18, 1923, Hiram Fish Battey was mar- ried at Burlington, Vermont, to Kathryn Angela Vas- sar of Middlebury in that State. Mrs. Battey is a daughter of the late Fred C. Vassar and his wife. She is a graduate of Middlebury High School and of Teachers Training School of Middlebury College in her native town.
ROY M. WRIGHT-A prominent excavation con- tractor in Springfield for more than twenty years, the late Roy M. Wright, who died on February II, 1948, had many friends in that city.
He was born November 6, 1891 in Stanstead, in the province of Quebec, Canada, the son of William and Martha (Alexander) Wright. He received a pub- lic school education in the town where he was born and in 1908 at the age of fifteen came to the United States and started work as a cabinetmaker for the Watson Car Manufacturing Company of Laconia, New Hampshire. After about five years he went to Sharon, Vermont and worked on the construction of the dam there. In time he came to Springfield and entered the employ of the Fred T. Ley Construction Company, where he learned the trade of steam shovel operator. While associated with the Ley Company, he fulfilled assignments in a number of other states, in addition to his work in Springfield. In 1920 he worked on the Memorial Bridge in Springfield, fol- lowing which he operated equipment for the Adams & Ruxton Company, remaining with this concern from May, 1921 until 1925. In that year he formed his own company to handle his business, principally as a subcontractor, making use of the valuable con- tacts he had already developed. Over the years from 1925 to his death in 1948 he performed numerous large excavation, and fill projects, and many road jobs for the State, his business developing from year to year until it reached substantial proportions. Mr. Wright was a member of Local 98 of the Hoisting Engineers Union and the Building Trades Employers Association. He was a communicant of Our Lady of Sacred Heart Church. A man who was devoted to his home and family, Mr. Wright had also the ability to make friends of those with whom he came in contact in his business life, and he had a high reputation in his own field.
He married on October 11, 1915 Florence E. Bushey, the daughter of Victor and Emma (Gay) Bushey, and they had three children: I. Edward Francis, who was associated with his father in the business. 2. Charles Victor, also associated in the business. 3. Rita Mae.
Roy M. Wright died on February II, 1948 and was buried in St. Michael's Cemetery. The business is being carried on by Mrs. Wright and her son Charles Victor Wright.
JOHN JOSEPH WHALEN-Among the better known and more prominent of the firms engaged in paper manufacturing in Western Massachusetts is the American Pad & Paper Company. The company enjoys the distinction of a national institution; a prominent feature of its business practice being sales promotion literature that has been for years the sub- ject of study by art and advertising professional prac-
titioners as well as students. John Joseph Whalen, presently a director and sales manager of the Ameri- can Pad & Paper Company, of Holyoke, has been as- sociated with that concern for all his more than thirty years of business life, and he has been a member of the sales staff for practically two thirds of that tenure. He has been and is an active personage in the business, community and fraternal circles of Holy- oke.
John Joseph Whalen was born December 17, 1900, at Holyoke, the son of John Joseph, born in 1868 and died in 1913, a paper maker and one of the call men of Holyoke old fire department, and of Sarah Louise (Sullivan) Whalen, who was born in 1870, at Rhine- beck, New York, and who is still living. He received his formal education in the primary and secondary schools of his native city and in 1916, began his career as an office boy with the American Pad & Paper Company. He became, in sequence, timekeeper, pay- master, and estimator and in 1929 he joined the sales staff. He was thereupon transferred to the New York office. His territory, which he covered for a full eleven years, was New York, New Jersey and New England. In December 1940, he was recalled to Holyoke, to enter upon duties as sales manager, a post he still maintains. In 1943, he was elected a director of the American Pad & Paper Company, in recognition of his valuable services in promoting the firm's welfare.
Mr. Whalen is one of the incorporators of the Peo- ples Savings Bank, of Holyoke. He is a member of the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce and of the Na- tional Stationers Association. Long affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Holyoke Lodge No. 902, he is a Past Exalted Ruler. A com- municant of the parish of Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, he is a member of the Holy Name Society. He is an ardent philatelist. In politics he is an in- dependent Democrat.
John Joseph Whalen married, October 22, 1929, at Holyoke, Kathryn O'Neil, the daughter of Joseph and Mary Therese (Fell) O'Neil. Mr. and Mrs. Whalen are the parents of two children: I. John Joseph, born April 7, 1931, a student at Monson Academy. 2. Richard Edward, born March 29, 1934, a student at Highland Junior High School.
CLIFFORD MAXSON GOODRICH-In the Berkshire Athenaeum of the Pittsfield Public Library, stands a table and lectern as a memorial to veterans of World War II-the product of the cabinet and mill- work shop of Clifford Maxson Goodrich, Pittsfield. The lectern and table are, in a sense, a monument to Mr. Goodrich also, for it is a tribute to his skill and to the high esteem in which he is held that he was chosen to execute this work.
C. M. Goodrich was born in Pittsfield on January 28, 1899, the son of the late Charles J. and Lizzie May (Smith) Goodrich, both of whom were also na- tives of Pittsfield, The Goodrich family settled in Berkshire County in pioneer days and C. M. Good- rich's grandfather, Clark B. Goodrich, was prominent as a farmer at Hancock. Charles J. Goodrich was a carpenter and builder.
C. M. Goodrich is a graduate of Pittsfield's ele- mentary and high schools and of the Sloyd Training School in Boston. He was a member of Sloyd's class of 1918. For a time after completing his educa-
278
WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
tion he taught manual training in the schools of Calais, Maine and Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In 1931 he established his cabinet making and millwork busi- ness in Pittsfield and has since become one of the leaders in his field in Berkshire County. The World War II memorial is only one of the many outstanding achievements of his career.
Active in civic affairs in Pittsfield, Mr. Goodrich is a former president of the Lions Club and is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. His church is the Baptist.
Mr. Goodrich married Dorothy Ferry of Pittsfield in that city on August 15, 1923. The daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Charles K. Ferry, she is also a graduate of Pittsfield High School. Mr. and Mrs. Goodrich are the parents of Kinsley M. Goodrich, born in Pittsfield on February II, 1925. A graduate of Dalton High School, the son served in World War II as a carpenter's mate, first class in the United States Navy Construction Battalion (Seabees). He was in the service from June, 1943, to March, 1946, and served in both the European and the Pacific Theaters of Operations.
WILLIAM HENRY WHITE-Associated with the plumbing, heating and engineering business in Western Massachusetts for many years, William Hen- ry White, of Springfield, now the head of a firm oper- ating under his own name, is one of the substantial businessmen of that city, and a well-known and popu- lar figure in fraternal circles.
Born at Amherst, on April 18, 1893, William Henry is a son of John J. and Nora (Murphy) White. His father, well-known as a horseman and a horticulturist, was a resident of Amherst all his life and until his death in the year 1900. Nora (Murphy) White, a native of Troy, Rensselaer County, New York, was born on December 16, 1866, and now resides in North- ampton, Massachusetts. The young William Henry White attended public school in Amherst, graduated from high school there, and subsequently attended the Northampton Commercial College. After leaving school he took employment with the Mutual Plumb- ing and Heating Company as an apprentice, and with this concern he learned his trade until the time of his enlistment in the armed services of our country in World War I. Attached to the air service, he was inducted at Fort Slocum, New York City, in June, 1917, and, after receiving his training at Kelly Field in Texas, he was assigned to train pilots at Issodun, France. He was also stationed at Field Number Two for some time before his honorable discharge at Fort Devens, with the rank of sergeant.
In April, 1919, Mr. White became an assistant to the erecting engineer of the New England territory for the Heine Safety Boiler Company of St. Louis, Missouri. Shortly thereafter he became associated with the Springfield Plumbing Supply Company, re- presenting this concern as a salesman throughout the New England States. This remained his occupation for some five and a half years, until in 1925 he estab- lished the firm of White and Crowley, Inc., which engaged in wholesale plumbing, heating and supplies. After twenty years of successful and lucrative opera- tion, this concern was dissolved, and in 1944 Mr. White formed the William H. White company in the same field of business. This new concern, the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.