USA > Massachusetts > The story of western Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 12
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beneficiary of Mr. White's long experience and repu- tation for first class work, should enjoy ever-increasing success in the busy post-war years, when such services as it is equipped to render will undoubtedly be much in demand.
Mr. White is a Roman Catholic in religion and a communicant of the Sacred Heart Church of that denomination. He belongs to the national Catholic fraternal order, the Knights of Columbus, as well as to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He holds membership in the organization known as the United Commercial Traveller, and is affiliated with the American Legion. His hobbies are hunting and fishing.
At Holyoke, on April 18, 1927, William Henry White married Julia K. Downing, of Holyoke, where she was born on March II, 1900. A daughter of the late David C. Downing, who died in 1917 and of his wife whose family name was Lilly and who passed away about the year 1907, Mrs. White was educated in the public schools of her birth place and at the College of Notre Dame at Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada. Of this marriage there are two children: I. Sheila, who was born at Holyoke on January 16, 1929. After passing through the public schools of Springfield, she entered Notre Dame Aca- demy at Tyngsboro. 2. Patricia Alice B., who was born at Holyoke on September 16, 1934, and is now a student at Miss Barker's School.
DONALD F. DE WOLFE-A native of Conway, Donald F. De Wolfe, after a notable career else- where, returned to his home town to become treas- urer of the Conway Savings Bank, and has thus enjoyed a well-rounded and varied business experi- ence.
His father, Charles F. De Wolfe, was a native of Nova Scotia. Settling in Conway in 1890, he en- tered the shoe manufacturing business, and married Grace Pease. Their son Donald F. was born July 23, 1908. Both parents are now deceased.
Donald F. De Wolfe was graduated from Spring- field Technical High School, and in 1926 took em- ployment with American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Engaged at first in maintenance work, Mr. De Wolfe travelled a great deal during his years with this company, and held various supervisory positions. During World War II he served the company as supervisor of teletype, and was stationed at Washington, D. C. His connection with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company con- tinued until 1946, when he returned to his native town of Conway. He became treasurer of the Conway Savings Bank, in March, 1947.
On June 1, 1946, Donald T. De Wolfe married, at Shelburne Falls, Yvonne Moreau of East Temple- ton, daughter of Joseph and Isabel Moreau. They are the parents of two daughters, Deborah Ruth and Martha Jane, both born in Greenfield.
WILLIAM ARTHUR HAWES ROBINSON- Descended from a long line of forebears notable in Massachusetts history since the time of the first white settlements on these shores, William Arthur Hawes Robinson has added credit to the name. A native and lifelong resident of Springfield, Mr. Robinson
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proved himself an able businessman, his name being associated for over sixty years with the jewelry busi- ness established by his father. The Robinson store on Main Street is among Springfield's best known, and most highly esteemed by the city's residents.
The story of the Robinson family begins with the Rev. John Robinson, leader of the Puritans in Eng- land in 1620, and pastor of the Pilgrims in Holland be- fore they sailed in the "Mayflower" and landed at Plymouth. He is the progenitor of a branch of the Robinsons of New England who proudly claim a heri- tage of intelligence and eminence seldom achieved by an American family, and still less often main- tained through successive generations. To Samuel Robinson, the founder of Bennington, Vermont, and his descendants, this honor belongs. In a single cen- tury his descendants claim to have had two representa- tives in the chair of governor, two in the United States Senate, six on the bench of a court of justice, includ- ing the highest degree, acknowledged leaders of the Democratic party in three gnerations, United States marshals, generals, colonels, state attorneys, town clerks, and lesser officials without number. Dartmouth College in 1790 had an honorary class and conferred degrees on Josiah Bartlett, Samuel Bass, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Hutchinson, Peter Olcott, Jonathan and Moses Robinson, of Vermont. They were allied with the ancestry of Governor Jonathan Trumbull, of Connecticut, and other notable New England families.
(I) William Robinson, immigrant ancestor of this branch of the Robinson famiy, was born about 1640. The first record obtainable shows that he was living in Watertown, Massachusetts, as early as 1670. He then had a farm of two hundred acres on the narrow neck of land claimed by both Concord and Watertown. He was a signer of the original petition for the separa- tion of Newtowne and Cambridge in 1678. He married in Cambridge as early as 1667, Elizabeth Cutter, born in Cambridge, July 15, 1645, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Williams) Cutter. Elizabeth Williams is said to have come with her father, Robert Williams, in the ship "John and Dorothy" to Massachusetts, April 8, 1637. Robert Williams was born in 1608, in Nor- wick, Norfolk County, England, and was a cordwainer. His wife Elizabeth was born in 1626 in England, and was admitted to the church at Roxbury in 1644. She died in Cambridge, March 5, 1662. Children: I. Eliza- beth, born at Cambridge, 1669, married, December 20, 1693, Daniel McGregor. 2. Hannah (Ann), born at Concord, July 13, 1671, died at Cambridge, October 5, 1672. 3. William, born July 10, 1673, married Eliza- beth Upham; died at Newton, 1754. 4. Mercy, born August 7, 1676. 5. David, born May 23, 1678, died at the age of ninety-five, and was "lame and helpless" in old age. 6. Samuel (twin), born April 20, 1680, re- sided at Grafton and Hardwick, Massachusetts, and was a prominent man. 7. Jonathan (twin), born April 20, 1680, of whom further.
(II) Samuel, twin of Jonathan, son of William and Elizabeth (Cutter) Robinson, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts Bay Colony, April 20, 1680. Jonathan removed to Cambridge farms in 1706 and it is probable that about 1735 on the organization of the town of Grafton, William, the father, with his son Samuel and other members of the family removed to the new town, the place they settled being set off as. Hardwick in 1739. He married Sarah Manning. He was a soldier
in the French and Indian Wars and a founder of Ben- nington, Vermont, with his sons. He died there in 1767.
(III) Samuel (2), eldest son of Samuel (1) and Sarah (Manning) Robinson, was born in Cambridge April 1, 1707, and was brought up in that place and re- moved to Hardwick in 1735 and thence to the disputed territory known as New Hampshire Grants in Vermont in 1761, locating at Bennington. While in Massachu- setts he had been a captain in the Massachusetts troop through the several campaigns in the vicinity of Lake George and Lake Champlain, in the French and Indian Wars. He was commissioned first justice of the peace in Bennington, by Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire, and figured prominently in the struggles between New Hampshire and New York authorities. Captain Robinson was deputed by the settlers of the New Hampshire Grants, in 1765, to go to Albany and try to save the lands on which they had settled, against the claims of speculators. His efforts were unavailing. He was sent in 1766 as an agent for the settlers to England to present their claims to the British ministry, and died in London from smallpox, October 27, 1767. His eldest son, Colonel Samuel Robinson, was elected one of the town committee of Bennington to succeed his father. Captain Robinson married, while a resident of Hardwick, Massachusetts, Mercy Leonard, daughter of Moses Leonard, and their children were: I. Samuel, of whom further. 2. Moses, born March 20, 1741. He attended Dartmouth College, and removing to Bennington was made the first clerk there in 1762. He became a colonel in the militia, member of the governor's council, and first chief justice of the new state, which office he held until 1789, was elected governor of Vermont before its ad- mission as a state, and was an agent from the state to the Continental Congress in 1782. He was a mem- ber of the United States Senate, 1791 to 1796, there- after serving in the state legislature. 3. Nathan. An alumnus of Williams College, he was a state legislator in both houses, thrice Democratic candidate for gover- nor of Vermont, and once elected, a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, at Charleston, where he died, April 25, 1860. 4. David, born November 22, 1754, who became a major general in the state militia and United States marshal. 5. Jonathan, born August 24, 1756, who was admitted to the bar, served as town clerk of Bennington and member of the general as- sembly thirteen times before 1802; chief justice of the supreme court of the state; was United States senator from 1809 to 1815; judge of probate for Bennington County, and died in Bennington in 1819.
(IV) Samuel (3), eldest son of Samuel (2) and Mercy (Leonard) Robinson, was born in Hardwick, Massachusetts, August 15, 1738. He succeeded his father as committeeman in the controversy over the New Hampshire grants. A captain during the Revolu- tion, he was in command of a Bennington company during the battle there, and rose to the rank of colonel. He was the "overseer of the Tory prisoners," 1777- 1778, represented the town in the general assembly of Vermont, 1779-1780, and was a member of the board of war. He was the first justice of peace of the town of Bennington, appointed under the authority of the new state of Vermont in 1778, and a justice of the special court for the south shire of the county and as such presided at the trial of Redding. He married Mary Leonard, and had a son Marcus.
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(V) Marcus, son of Captain Samuel and Mary (Leonard) Robinson, was born in Hardwick, October 3, 1799. He married, about 1833, Deborah Brown, of Hardwick, and lived in that town where seven chil- dren were born to them: William, Marcus Franklin (of whom further), Melissa, Caroline, Susan, Louisa, and one daughter whose name is unknown.
(VI) Marcus Franklin, second son of Marcus and Deborah (Brown) Robinson, and father of William Arthur Hawes Robinson, was born in Hardwick, Mas- sachusetts, July 2, 1834. He was educated in his native town and in Pelham, to which place his parents moved during his early life. From this town, as a young man, he went to Amherst where he learned the jewelry trade and later started a retail jewelry store at Chico- pee, which he conducted until ill health compelled him to return to his former home in Pelham for recupera- tion. He again started in business, opening his store in Springfield, on the site of the present Five Cent Savings Bank. M. F. Robinson moved his business several times until April 1907, when it was installed in its present location, 360 Main Street. Mr. Robinson conducted the business alone until 1899, when he took into partnership his son, William Arthur Hawes Rob- inson, and the firm then became known as Robinson and Son. For some years prior to his decease, Mr. Robinson's health had been so poor that he could not take active part in the concern, which from that time was managed by his son. Marcus Franklin Robinson married Mary A. Tucker, daughter of Edwin Post and Mary Rice (Dwight) Tucker, of Belchertown. Edwin P. Tucker was born in Enfield, Massachusetts, and was a manufacturer of straw bonnets and palm- leaf hats in Belchertown. He afterwards became a hotel keeper in New York, Philadelphia, Springfield, and Palmer, Massachusetts, operating the Nassawanna Hotel at the latter place and dying there January 21, 1857. His widow died in Springfield, January 8, 1887. Children of Marcus Franklin and Mary A. (Tucker) Robinson, all born in Springfield: I. Grace Edna, April 5, 1867. 2. William Arthur Hawes, of whom fur- ther. M. F. Robinson died November 14, 1907, one of the oldest, most prominent and most respected mem- bers of his community.
William Arthur Hawes Robinson was born Decem- ber 9, 1869. Reared in Springfield, he was educated in the local schools, and after graduation from Central High School became associated with his father in the jewelry business. He was chiefly responsible for its management during his father's declining years, and headed the firm from the time of the latter's death in 1907 until his own passing forty years later. Under his able direction, the firm continued to grow in favor with the public, and has long been a Spring- field commercial landmark. In recent years, a third generation of the Robinson family has been engaged in the business, which is now known as the W. F. Robinson Company.
Prominent in lodge activities, Mr. Robinson was past cxalted ruler of the Springfield Lodge, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, and a past district deputy of his lodge. A member of the Roswell Lee Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, he attained the thirty-second degree, Scottish Rite, and was a member of Melha Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He was for many years a member of the Oxford Country Club, a charter member of the Longmeadow Country Club, and belonged to the
George Washington Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution.
William Arthur Hawes Robinson married Grace Denver, and to them was born a son, William Frank- lin, who now manages the jewelry establishment. Grace (Denver) Robinson was born in Springfield, September 4, 1871, daughter of John J. and Eliza- beth (Riley) Denver, was a resident of Springfield all her life, and was a member of the South Congre- gational Church, the Springfield Women's Club, the Hampton Club and the Happy Hour Club. She sur- vived her husband only a short time, passing away in 1948.
On September 30, 1947, William Arthur Hawes Robinson died, and his city noted in his passing the loss of a beloved business and civic leader.
William Franklin Robinson was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, July 5, 1898. He married Elizabeth Jane Osborne, of Holyoke, Massachusetts, June 18, 1927. They are the parents of two sons: I. William Osborne Robinson, born October 5, 1928 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, a sergeant in the Marines. 2. Doug- las Hugh Robinson, born December 31, 1933 in Holy- oke, Massachusetts.
LEWIS JAMES LAMONT-For more than a quarter of a century a member of the banking pro- fession in Western Massachusetts, Lewis James La- mont of Holyoke has become one of the leaders in that field in that section. He is treasurer and a trustee of the Peoples Savings Bank of Holyoke.
Mr. Lamont was born in Holyoke on June 2, 1902, the son of James and Myra (Jones) Lamont. His father, for twenty-one years a dispatcher for the Holyoke Street Railway Company, was later steward of the Holyoke Canoe Club.
The banking executive is a graduate of Holyoke's elementary and high schools, with special training in the school of the American Institute of Banking, of which he is also a graduate. At the age of nineteen, Mr. Lamont began his banking career with the Had- ley Falls Trust Company. He worked for that in- stitution until 1935, or a period of fourteen years. During that time he held various positions, including that of teller and as an executive in the real estate department.
In 1935, Mr. Lamont resigned from the Hadley Falls Trust to accept appointment as manager of the real estate department of the Peoples Savings Bank of Holyoke. In May 1936, he was promoted to assis- tant treasurer of the bank and the following year to treasurer. Since 1946 he has also been a member of the board of trustees of the institution.
Mr. Lamont is a member of the William Whiting Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and the Lions Club of Holyoke. He worships at the First Congregational Church of Holyoke and is a Republi- can.
Mr. Lamont married Betty Rowe, daughter of Theodore and Bessie Rowe, in Springfield on October 15, 1935. They are the parents of two daughters: Patricia Ann, born on November 28, 1938, who in 1947 was a student at the Highland Grammar School, and Prudence, born on April 19, 1943.
ORLANDO JOSEPH CIRCOSTA is one of the leading members of the industrial life of Springfield,
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and is widely known among New England manufac- turers for his interest in advanced production methods. Mr. Circosta was born in Springfield, May 28, 1909, the son of Frank Dominick and Henrietta (Plante) Circosta. His father, a pattern maker, was born in 1885, and his mother was born in 1890. Educated in Springfield public schools, Mr. Circosta went to work in 1923 with the American Optical Company, and a year and a half later he joined the Chapman Valve Company as pattern-maker's apprentice. For eight or nine years he worked for various pattern makers in New England and New Jersey. In 1938 he organized the Manufacturer's Pattern and Model Works with A. D. Zancan. In 1947 the firm was in- corporated with Mr. Zancan as president and Mr. Circosta as treasurer. The organization manufac- tures wood and metal patterns for the casting trade. Mr. Circosta also is treasurer of the Mill River Foundry.
Mr. Circosta is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is active in many civic and business groups, including the Springfield Cham- ber of Commerce, the American Society of Tool Engineers, the Purchasing Agents Association, the Smaller Business Association of New England, and the New England Pattern Manufacturers Association. He worships at the Holy Name Catholic Church.
Mr. Circosta was married in Springfield on May 15, 1941, to. Miss Leona I. Marsh, who was born in Springfield, May 4, 1915, the daughter of William H. and Mary Agnes (Bruso) Marsh. Mrs. Circosta's father, a railroad employee, died in 1944. Her mother died in 1943. Two children have been born to them: Marilyn Agnes, born May 5, 1943, and Marcia Lee, born August 10, 1946.
KENNETH H. RICE, M. D .- Conducting a gen- eral practice of medicine in South Deerfield over a period of twenty-five years, Dr. Kenneth H. Rice has earned an excellent reputation and has served in a number of professional connections in his locality.
He is the son of Eugene A. and Jennie C. (Crans- ton) Rice, both natives of Florence, Massachusetts, where he too was born January 21, 1897. His father was a merchant conducting a coal business as well as a retail store at Northampton. Both parents are still living.
Kenneth Rice graduated from Northampton High School in 1915, and continued his education at Dart- mouth College, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1919. His medical studies were pursued at the University of Vermont Medical School, where he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1921. Dr. Rice interned, and took ad- vanced courses in medicine and surgery, at the Wor- cester City Hospital from 1921 to 1923, and since that date he has been engaged in a general practice at South Deerfield. Formerly he was school phy- sician and member of the school board of South Deerfield, and he is a member of the staff of the Franklin County Hospital at Greenfield. Dr. Rice's professional affiliations include membership in the Franklin County Medical Society, of which organi- zation he was president from 1944 to 1946; and in the Massachusetts Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. Active in the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Dr. Rice is a member of the
Eastern Star Lodge of South Deerfield. He worships at the Congregational Church.
During World War I, Dr. Rice served his coun- try in the United States Navy as a hospital apprentice first class.
At Greenfield, in October, 1926, Dr. Kenneth H. Rice married Charlotte D. Hamilton, daughter of Harry E. and Fannie (Dunham) Hamilton. Their three children, all born at the Franklin County Hos- pital, Deerfield, are as follows: I. Kenneth H., Jr., born August 20, 1935. 2. David H., born September 15, 1937. 3. Rachael Ellen, born September 20, 1940.
RUSSELL CHAPIN-Beginning his career in the field of manufacturing, Russell Chapin, of Springfield and Indian Orchard, while still a young man was attracted to the profession of the law, and having by the requisite studies prepared himself for admis- sion to the bar, he engaged in general legal practice for some twelve years with great success. Business, however, in the end appeared to be his truer vocation, and in 1940 he again turned to manufacturing, and has been a major factor in the development of what promises to be one of the notable industries of West- ern Massachusetts.
Born at Springfield, Massachusetts, on December 15, 1898, Russell Chapin is the son of the late Henry Gardner Chapin, who also was born at Springfield, on January 3, 1860. Henry Gardner Chapin was trea- surer of the Chapin and Gould Paper Company, an important concern in the manufacturing end of that great New England industry. He married Susie Rus- sell, a native of Springfield, where she was born on July 10, 1866, and where she passed away on January 25, 1937. Her husband had pre-deceased her by twenty years, the date of his death being May 31, 1917.
Russell Chapin's education began in the public schools of his birth place, and he graduated from Springfield's Technical High School before going on to Milton Academy and, after graduating from that institution, to Harvard University, where he received his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1920.
In 1923 Russell Chapin took employment in the or- ganization of the Chapin and Gould Paper Company and proceeded to learn the business. It was in 1925 that he turned from business to the law. His legal education was obtained at the law school of Colum- bia University in the city of New York, and there he received his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1928. In that same year he established himself in the practice which he pursued with success and profit until 1940.
Turning again to the manufacturing field, as we have noted, in 1940, Mr. Chapin became associated with Arnold Aronson (q.v.) in organizing the Na- tional Transparent Plastics Company. This concern, engaged in the manufacture of a wide variety of trans- parent plastic containers and other articles and prod- ucts of use, has made great progress and, under able management, may be expected to make still further progress in a business already important, yet with a future before it certainly far greater than in its past. Among Mr. Chapin's other business interests are the New Boston Inn, at New Boston, Massachusetts, a well-known tourist and resort center in the Berkshire Hills, and the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Inc., of which he was president of the board of directors from 1945 to 1947.
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During World War I Mr. Chapin was a member of Students' Army Training Corps. He is a Republican in politics. His club affiliations include the Colony, of Springfield, the Longmeadow Country, and the Metropolitan, of New York City.
On April 22, 1925, Russell Chapin married in Boston Rosamond Young, of that city. Mrs. Chapin was edu- cated in Boston and at the Milton Academy. She is a daughter of the late Frank Y. Young, a native of Boston who was a prosperous manufacturer of fish oils, and who died in that city in 1935, and his wife Minnie (Jones) Young, who also passed away in Boston, in 1928. The children of Russell and Rosa- mond (Young) Chapin are: I. Isolde, who was born on July 5, 1926, in New York City. Her education began in Springfield, where she graduated from the Classical High School, and was continued at the Gardner School in New York City and at Vassar Col- lege in Poughkeepsie, New York, from which she graduated in 1946. She was awarded the key of Phi Beta Kappa for scholarship. For a time she served as associate editor of the "Dance Magazine." 2. Diana Sumner, who at this writing is beginning her second year as a student at Vassar College.
STANLEY PRINDLE BENTON-For many years a widely known business executive of Pittsfield, Stanley Prindle Benton has made outstanding con- tributions to the industrial development of this region of the state.
Mr. Benton was born October 20, 1887, at West Brookfield, son of John C. and Fannie P. Benton. His father was a merchant.
Stanley Benton was graduated from Searles High School at Great Barrington, and, in 1910, received a degree at Williams College, Williamstown.
The year of his completion of his higher education saw Mr. Benton associated with the Vermont Marble Company, of Proctor, Vermont. He remained there two years. and then moved to New York City, where he joined the firm of Folsom and Adams at 55 Wall Street. He stayed with this concern until enlisting in World War I, in which he served at a first lieutenant in the Ordnance Department. After returning to civilian life, he came to Pittsfield and joined the E. D. Jones and Sons Company. He served this enterprise in several responsible capacities, demonstrating his abilities. In 1928, he was made a director and presi- dent of the firm, the position he held until 1946, at which time he became chairman of the Board of Di- rectors. In 1947, he retired from business, respected and admired by his many associates and colleagues.
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