USA > Massachusetts > The story of western Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 14
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In the winter of 1898 Mr. Parker entered the Auch- muty Trade School in New York City, but because of ill health did not complete the course until the following winter.
In 1900 he established a partnership with Edgar E. Ford, under the firm name of Ford and Parker, a plumbing concern located at 397 Main St., Dalton. This partnership existed for forty years, when Mr. Ford retired. Mr. Parker purchased his partner's in- terest and has continued as sole owner to the present time. Besides general plumbing, steamfitting, and water-heating installations, the present firm deals in hardware and paint.
Mr. Parker is a member of the Richard Dowling Camp, Spanish War Veterans; belongs to the Osceola Lodge No. 125, in Pittsfield, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a past master of the Bartonville Grange, No. 23. He is also a twenty-five year member of the Massachusetts Hardware As- sociation and Disston Twenty-five Year Club.
Lyle B. Parker was married in Dalton, June 15, 1904, to Edna M. Groesbeck, daughter of Frank N. and Harriet Maynard Groesbeck, natives of Dalton. The Parkers have three children: I. Harriet M., who married Gilbert E. Adams of Dalton. They are the parents of three daughters, Shirley, Ruth and Beverly. Mrs. Adams is a graduate of Dalton High School, Bay Path Institute in Springfield, and also attended Mid- dlebury College in Vermont. 2. Ruth, a graduate of Dalton High School and Damrosch School of Music in New York City, is a talented violinist. She married William Hayes in Broadway Tabernacle, New York City, and they reside in Tenafly, New Jersey with three daughters, Patricia, Elizabeth, and Mar- gery. 3. Esther G., a graduate of Dalton High School and Simmons College, Boston, is married to Dr. Ralph O. Clock, a resident of New York City.
Mrs. Lyle B. Parker belongs to the Peace Party Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolu- tion in Pittsfield, and is well-known for her paintings. A member of the Pittsfield Art League, her work has been represented in many art exhibits, and she spe- cializes in still life. The Parkers belong to the Con- gregational Church in Dalton.
JACK WESTON WHEELER-A leading expert in the metal industry of Massachusetts, and a resident of North Wilbraham, Jack Weston Wheeler has ex- hibited unusual ability and devotion to duty. He has earned an enviable reputation for his excellent work with outstanding organizations in this field, and has a host of close personal friends and business associates.
Mr. Wheeler was born March 3, 1908, in London, England, son of Reginald George and Lena Gertrude (Satherley) Wheeler. His father, who was an electrical engineer, and who served as a sergeant in the British Army during World War I, died in 1944. His mother also died in 1944.
Mr. Wheeler received his education at the Bosth- wick College of Engineering and the University of Birmingham, in England.
In 1932, after having completed his formal educa- tion, Mr. Wheeler entered the light metal alloy in- dustry, accepting the post of general manager for the Perry Barr Metal Company, remaining with this or- ganization until 1936. In that year he joined the Rolls Royce Company in charge of development and re- search. In 1944, he became associated with the British Army Air Forces as controller of the supply of air- planes for American production of Rolls Royce Mar- lins. In 1945, he became associated with the Reynolds Metals Company as consultant and assistant to the president. Late in 1946 he formed the Wheeler Con- sultancy, Inc., which is engaged in the applications of cast light metals.
Active in his community, Mr. Wheeler is a member of the American Foundrymen's Association, the American Society for Metals, the Institute of Metals, the Institute of British Foundrymen, the Institute of Production Engineers, the Smithsonian Institution,
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the Engineering Research Club and the Chamber of Commerce. During World War II he served as a battery commander.
On May 15, 1936, at Derby, England, Jack Weston Wheeler married Edna Hilary Cruise, and they be- came the parents of Verna Joan, who was born March 14, 194I.
EDWARD C. ASHWORTH-A prominent towns- man and member of the State Legislature, Edward C. Ashworth has stamped himself as one of the outstand- ing public officials of Monterey, and of the Common- wealth of Massachusetts.
Mr. Ashworth was born April 2, 1899, at Whitins- ville, son of Edward and Mary Alice (Chadwick) Ashworth.
Edward Ashworth attended Arlington High School, and was graduated from Peter Stuyvesant High School in New York City, where he made his home with an aunt after the death of his parents.
During World War I Mr. Ashworth served in the United States Army, enlisting and being assigned to Fort Slocum. However he soon received a medical discharge from the service because of a heart condi- tion, which had been induced by an attack of rheu- matic fever in his youth.
From 1918 until 1922, Mr. Ashworth conducted a Packard renting establishment at Forty-fifth Street and Broadway in New York City. However, in the spring of 1922, he moved permanently to Monterey, the place where he had been spending his summers since 1914. He moved there upon the advice of a physician. In this town he established a trucking and taxi business which he carried on successfully until 1934. At the same time he became a partner of Her- bert Enoc in an enterprise which embraced a general store, a gasoline station, and automobile accessories department. He is still a partner of the latter con- cern.
In 1930, Mr. Ashworth was elected to the position of town auditor for Monterey. Later he was elected to membership on the Board of Selectmen, and finally, in 1943, was elected to the Great and General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a represen- tative of the Fifth Berkshire District, which district includes ten towns. He has served in this capacity since with distinction.
In connection with his public service, Representative Ashworth is a former president of the Berkshire Se- lectmen's Association and a former vice president of the State Selectmen's Association. He is also a mem- ber of the Monterey Grange. In 1934, he built a beautiful home at Monterey.
On June 14, 1922, at Hillsdale, Edward C. Ash- worth married Eleanor V. Leppert, daughter of John E. and Mary Ellen Leppert. Her father for many years was associated with the New York Edison Company. They became the parents of the following children: 1. Eleanor V., born at Great Barrington, was graduated from Searles High School there, and attended Blue Ridge College in Virginia; she married John J. Keefe, Jr., of Quincy, who served during World War II as a lieutenant in the United States Army; they became the parents of one child, Jeffery Keefe, who was born in New York City. 2. Mar- guerite Alice, born October 30, 1925, at Great Bar-
W.Mass. IV-7
rington, was graduated from Searles High School, attended Bethany College, of Bethany, Pennsylvania, and is now associated with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company.
DONALD SIDNEY GILMAN-An interestingly varied career has been that of Donald Sidney Gilman in peace and war. A practicing architect in his own right, his skill in modern design has been much in demand by public utility and other companies, and his progressive ideas have had a wide influence upon living conditions throughout the Connecticut Valley.
A native of Connecticut, born at New Britain on October 16, 1908, Donald Sidney is a son of Nathan and Fanny (Cohen) Gilman, who are both living, his father being engaged in the retail clothing busi- ness. Nathan Gilman is a son of Michael Gilman, now a resident of New Britain, and of his wife Maria, who is now deceased. Nathan Gilman himself was born in Russia, while Mrs. Fanny (Cohen) Gilman is a native of Rumania.
Beginning his education in the public schools of Springfield, Donald Sidney Gilman graduated from Classical High School and, having discovered that architecture seemed to be his vocation, he enrolled at the College of Architecture of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and in due time received from that institution the degree of Bachelor of Science in Architecture. Subsequently Mr. Gilman has ex- tended his knowledge and competence in his chosen profession by means of various extension courses.
The young architect's first employment was in de- signing modern kitchens for Breckinridge, Inc., a firm of distributors. For two years he also operated a Kitchen Planning Institute, and this project he purchased when the original company dissolved. Sub- sequently Mr. Gilman's skill and knowledge were availed of by a number of public utilities, furniture establishments and appliance dealers, while at the same time his architectural practice steadily grew.
In 1942 Mr. Gilman entered the service of the H. O. L. C., a Federal agency, as a conversion analyst in connection with war housing developments through- out the Connecticut Valley. In the following year lie took his place in the active prosecution of World War II by joining the organization popularly known as the Seabees, and in this he served for two and a half years as chief petty officer, seeing much action in the Pacific Theater of Operations. This period of his experience began at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands, from which he was sent to Eniwetok, to the islands of Saipan and Guam, to Tinian, and finally to hard-fought Okinawa. In December, 1945, having been returned to the United States, Mr. Gilman re- ceived his honorable discharge at Boston.
Promptly in January, 1946, Mr. Gilman resumed his private architectural practice, and equally prompt- ly he was retained by the Springfield Gas Light Com- pany to supervise an All Gas Kitchen Program for that company's dealers. This is centered in the Spring- field area, but Mr. Gilman's services as an architect are in demand throughout the Connecticut Valley. He is a member of the Registered Architects of Mas- sachusetts. In local affairs he is an active member of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and of the Sinai Temple Men's Club, connected with Sinai Tem- ple, of which Mr. Gilman is a member. He also be-
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longs to the Michigan Union, the Springfield Michi- gan Club, to the Beth El Men's Club, and to the A. Z. A., of which he was first president in New- England. His fraternal affiliations are with the na- tional Jewish order of B'nai B'rith, where he holds the office of second vice president, with Z. O. A. and with the Sacred Order of the Golden Dragon. He was also a member of the 35th Regiment and of the 186th Battalion. In politics he is an independent voter.
In Springfield, on September 29, 1941, Donald Sid- ney Gilman married Charlotte Steinberg, daughter of the late Jacob Steinberg and his wife, Ida Steinberg, who is also deceased, and who were long residents of Springfield. To Donald Sidney and Charlotte (Steinberg) Gilman one child, a daughter whom they have named Ina Judith, was born on November II, 1943.
THOMAS JOSEPH LYONS-In the course of an active, constructive career, Thomas Joseph Lyons was at various periods required by the nature of his duties to live and work in cities more or less distant from his native Chicopee, but in the end he came back, if not to his birth place, at least to neigh- boring Springfield, where, at the age when many men seek retirement, he remains in the discharge of re- sponsible duties, and continues to be an influential figure in business and civic circles and in fraternal life.
Mr. Lyons' father, Thomas Charles Lyons, a life- long resident of Chicopee Falls, was a veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted in the Union Army at the age of seventeen years. A member of Company C under Captain Ellerton and General Benjamin F. Butler, he served for three years, eight months and twelve days, taking part in nine major battles. At the close of the war he was stationed at New Or- leans. Returning to Chicopee Falls, he practiced his trade of stone mason there for the rest of his active days. Thomas Charles Lyons married Mary Houli- han, and of this union the son Thomas Joseph was born at Chicopee on February 22, 1878.
After passing through public and parochial schools at Chicopee Falls, and attending Mount St. Vincent at nearby Holyoke, Thomas Joseph Lyons took his first employment in 1893 as an apprentice to W. E. Donnelly, who conducted a plumbing business in Chicopee Falls. During the nine years of his associa- tion with Mr. Donnelly, Mr. Lyons became a register- ed plumber. At the end of that time he joined the Susquehanna Light, Heat and Power Company, and operating gas company also located in Chicopee Falls, having charge of a section of their piping and mains. After two years with Susquehanna, he became, in October, 1905, the assistant sales manager of the Springfield Gas Light Company, in the city of that name. During his five years with this concern he was in charge of the distribution department.
In 1910 Mr. Lyons became associated with Stone and Webster, and for three years was sales manager in the Woonsocket, Rhode Island, branch of 'that great corporation. In 1913 he accepted an offer of the sales managership of the New York State district for the Michigan Stove Company, a firm with head- quarters in Detroit, Michigan, and the largest manu- facturer of stoves in the world. This association endured for ten years, but in 1923 Mr. Lyons became the travelling representative in New York State of
the Glenwood Range Company of Taunton, Massa- chusetts.
In 1925 Mr. Lyons became Eastern sales manager for the George D. Roper Company of Rockford, Illi- nois, and this position he retained until 1930. In that year he returned to Springfield, becoming sales man- ager of the Springfield Gas Light Company, with which he had been associated twenty years before. Re-organizing the sales department, he has contri- buted greatly to the growth and progress of this concern, and has continued to hold the office of sales manager to the present time. Mr. Lyons holds mem- bership in the American Gas Association and the New England Gas Association. He also belongs to the National Federation of Sales and to the Sales Managers Club.
In local affairs Mr. Lyons has been particularly active and to the fore in the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, serving on both the membership com- mittee and the meetings committee of that body. He is also a member of the Lions Club of Spring- field and of the Springfield Executives Club, as well as of the Tuesday Club. A Roman Catholic in re- ligion and a communicant of the Holy Name Church in Springfield, Mr. Lyons belongs to the Catholic fraternal order of the Knights of Columbus, being a fourth degree member. In the fraternal field he also belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Widely known in the Springfield-Chicopee- Holyoke section of the state, Thomas Joseph Lyons is as widely respected for his ability, his co-operative- ness and his high qualities of character and integrity.
At Chicopee on November 15, 1900, Thomas Joseph Lyons and Jeannette B. Carr were married, the bride being a daughter of the late John Carr, a native of Red Falls, New York, and his wife the late Johanna (Riordan) Carr, a native of Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland. Of this marriage there are five children: I. George L., who was born at Springfield on September 24, 1901. 2. Mary Calvary, born November 14, 1903. She married Charles L. Stanton at Syracuse, New York, in 1921, and is the mother of Thomas C., born in 1922, and Charles L., born in 1924. Both of these young men are veterans of World War II, in which also both of them saw service in the European Theater of Operations. 3. Helen L., born at Chicopee in 1905. In 1924 she was married to Albert H. Robinson in Syracuse, New York, and of this union there is one child, Joan, born in 1925. Joan Robinson in 1944 became the wife of William Uhle, of Syracuse, by whom she is the mother of a daughter also named Joan, who was born in 1946. 4. Thomas Joseph, Jr., who was born in 1910. He married Una Gagne, of Ludlow, by whom he is the father of two children, Loretta, born in 1940, and Kathleen, born in 1945. 5. Jeanne B., born on February 23, 1923, and now the wife of James F. Keenan, Jr., of Springfield, by whom she is the mother of four children, namely James F., who was born on December 25, 1942; Jeanne B., Jr., born in 1944; Kathleen Ellen, born in 1945; and Karen Ellen, born in 1947.
DANIEL LINCOLN HOOD-For about three- quarters of a century a resident of this State and for nearly four decades a citizen of Pittsfield, Daniel Lincoln Hood, of Pittsfield, is a leader in the sheet metal trade in this region.
Daniel L. Hood.
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Mr. Hood was born on July 10, 1870, in Glover, Vermont, son of Calvin H. and Mary (Bickford) Hood, and one of eight children. Calvin Hood was born in Holland, Vermont. His wife was a native of Sheffield, Vermont. He was a farmer, and enlisted in the 15th Vermont Volunteers in response to Presi- dent Lincoln's second call for volunteers. Henry C. Hood, a brother of Daniel Hood, resides in Puyallup, Washington.
Daniel Hood attended the public schools and the high school in Turners Falls, to which town his par- ents had removed from Glover in May, 1872, when he was less than two years old. During the years from 1888 until December of 1891, Mr. Hood was em- ployed by the firm of Manchester and Ward of Turners Falls, engaged in tinsmithing, heating, plumbing, and sheet metal work. Turners Falls was then a mill town of consequence, and Manchester and Ward serviced the paper mills there.
Until early in 1892, Mr. Hood attended the New York Trade School where he took a plumbing course. Later in that year he went to Westfield, where he followed his trade of plumber and sheet metal worker. In 1898 he established his own plumbing, heating, and sheet metal business in Westfield, and also ran an electrical department in conjunction with his other trades. Eventually this became an active force in supplying electric lighting for the residential districts of the neighborhood. In 1909 Mr. Hood sold his Westfield business and moved to Pittsfield where he established the Berkshire Sheet Metal Company of which he is now treasurer and a director. It became the Berkshire Sheet Metal Corporation in 1927.
Mr. Hood is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, a charter member of Pittsfield Lodge, and a member of the Springfield Council of Royal and Select Masters. He has affiliations with Berkshire County Commandery of Knights Templar and a life member of Melha Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in Springfield. He belongs to the Pittsfield Rotary Club and is a member of the South Congregational Church.
On April 5, 1916, Mr. Hood married Ethel Wood- ward, of Pittsfield, daughter of John and Flora (Thomas) Woodward. John Woodward was a native of England, while his wife was born in Ilion, New York.
EDWARD JOSEPH BASHAW-After a varied experience in business and industries, Edward Joseph Bashaw, of Springfield, organized, a decade ago, the City Stamp Works, with which he was identified until August 1947. As a progressive citizen he has been to the fore in civic affairs, and is a devout churchman.
A native of Springfield, born October 22, 1901, Ed- ward Joseph Bashaw is very much a man of the present century both as regards birth and ideas. He is the son of Edward Joseph and Anna (Feeney) Bashaw. Edward Joseph Bashaw, Sr., operated a bowling alley, and pool and billiard establishment. An independent in politics, and fraternally affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, he worshipped in the faith of the Roman Catholic Church. He was born in Brandon, Vermont, and died in Springfield. His wife, who was born and died in
Feeney, both natives of Ireland, and who died in Springfield.
Edward Joseph Bashaw, Jr., attended the schools of his birth city and was graduated from Springfield High School, class of 1921. His first employment of note was with the Phelps Publishing Company, of Springfield, where he learned the trade of printer, which he followed for eight years, and by which time he had become an expert compositor. He then became ledger clerk with the Westinghouse and Manufactur- ing Company, but after two years joined the Smith- Springfield Body Company, continuing this association for about three years. His next move was to the Olm- stead Corporation of Springfield, as shipper, where he remained for two years. He then joined the staff of the R. H. Smith Manufacturing Company, and did various jobs for this concern, which engaged in the manufacturing of steel, brass and rubber devices for the marking of these materials.
After eight years, Mr. Bashaw, in 1937, initiated a partnership with Jack Jambazian, to form the City Stamp Works, the business that has since been de- veloped to unusual importance under able manage- ment. The concern, originally located at 1245 Main Street, was moved in 1943 to its present location at 317 Dwight Street, where they make steel dies and rubber stamps on a large scale. Like his father be- fore him, Edward J. Bashaw is more interested in the election of worthy political leaders than in their party affiliations. He figures popularly in the Chamber of Commerce, belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Holy Name Society, and is a member of the Holy Name Roman Catholic Church, a liberal supporter of religious and charitable projects and organizations.
On November 14, 1932, Edward Joseph Bashaw married Beatrice M. Plourd, born in Westfield, and died in Springfield, November 17, 1944. She was the daughter of Edward M. and Katherine (Aylward) Plourd, her father a contractor and builder in Spring- field.
PATRICK J. GERAGHTY, manager of the Hoosac Mills Corporation of North Adams, was born in Holyoke on December 1, 1896, the son of Michael J. and Minnie (San Soucy) Geraghty, both now deceased and buried in North Adams. Michael J. Geraghty was a textile employee.
Patrick J. Geraghty was educated in the public schools, his family moving to North Adams about 1908. In 1915 he entered the employ of the Hoosac Cotton Mills, now the Hoosac Mills Corporation, as a worker in the cloth room. In course of time he was transferred to the cost department of the mills, and in 1929 was made superintendent, a post he filled until he became manager in 1945. The plant employs a force of about five hundred persons and manufactures dress goods, linings, and other staple fabrics, giving considerable attention to rayon textiles of late years, although at the time Mr. Geraghty first began work, it manufactured cotton fabrics.
During World War I Mr. Geraghty served as a
Springfield, was the daughter of Thomas and Mary private in the 29th Heavy Artillery of the United
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States Army. He is a member of the American Legion, a member of the Young Men's Christian Association, and a past president of the North Adams Rotary Club. He serves as a trustee of the North Adams Savings Bank. Mr. Geraghty and his family worship at the First Universalist Church.
He married at Adams on June 1, 1930 Katherine Golden of Adams, the daughter of Henry and Anna Golden. Mr. and Mrs. Geraghty are the parents of one son, Patrick J. Geraghty Jr., born in North Adams on November 4, 1932 and now a student at Drury High School.
JOHN BLACKHALL SMITH-School superin- tendent of Stockbridge, John Blackhall Smith has been active for years in the schools of New England.
Mr. Smith was born, in 1908, at Glasgow, Scotland. As a youth he came to this country and settled in New England. He attended Rhode Island State Col- lege and received the degree of Bachelor of Science there, in 1932. He received the degree of Master of Education at Boston University and also attended the Northeastern Law School and Springfield College.
After finishing his formal education, Mr. Smith taught school for a few years, first at Tilton, New Hampshire, then in Springfield, Worcester, and Stockbridge. In 1943, he became a coach at Williams High School in Stockbridge and remained in this capacity for two years. His abilities were recognized, and, in 1945, he was made principal of Williams High School. He is now superintendent of schools for the town of Stockbridge.
Mr. Smith is active in many professional organi- zations. He is a member of the New England Associ- ation of School Superintendents, the Massachusetts Superintendents Association, is a director of the University of Massachusetts Basketball Tournament, and the Principals' Association Committee on Ath- letics and holds membership in the Stockbridge Pro- fessional and Businessmen's Club. Fraternally, he belongs to Lambda Chi Alpha.
In 1932, John Blackhall Smith married Ruth W. Robbins, and they became the parents of one son, Neil Blackhall Smith, who was born in 1933.
ROBERT STEELE-The career of Robert Steele has combined those of farmer and progressive busi- ness man. He has succeeded equally well in both as- pects of his undertaking, and his farm-dairy combine has been steady in its growth, an example of a sound basic idea and good management.
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