USA > Massachusetts > The story of western Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 35
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dent and treasurer of the Sunday school. A civic- minded citizen, he was active in the work of the Laurel Hill Association in Stockbridge, the oldest village improvement society in the United States, which he served at one time as a director.
Mr. Wurtzbach was interested in many sports and kept active with various hobbies. He enjoyed fishing and held memberships in the Lee Sportsmen's Club and the Stockbridge Sportsmen's Club. He was also an excellent bowler and played with teams on the Lee Brotherhood Alleys. Much interested in local history. he published numerous books on the subject. including: "History. 150th Anniversary of the First Congregational Church. Lee:" "History. 100th Anni- versary of the Congregational Church. Curtisville:" "Historical Sketch of Curtisville:" and "History. 125th Anniversary of Evening Star Lodge of Masons." He was widely known as a coin collector, possessing one of the finest collections in the country. He was a noted authority on large copper cents and Colonial coinage and wrote numerous articles on these subjects. In this connection he was a member of the American Numismatic Association, serving for two years as its president and as chairman of its board of governors. In 1932, while president of this organization. he was presented with a gavel which he loaned for the opening of the bicentennial ceremonies connected with the two-hundredth anniversary of Washington's birthday, February 22. 1932. The affair was held in Washington, D. C., and the gavel was used by Speaker of the House of Representatives John Nance Garner. and by Vice President Charles W. Curtis, as they presided over the meeting which heard an address delivered by President Hoover.
On October 13. 1887. Carl Wurtzbach married (first) Lizzie I. Curtis, of Curtisville, who passed away August 8. 1018. In 1920. Mr. Wurtzbach married (second) Helen Dunham Gillmor.
The passing of Carl Wurtzbach on August 30. 1047. was a cause of deep sorrow among the many members of his community who had come to look upon him as a trusted friend and adviser. The commercial and financial interests of Lee had lost a valuable member.
D. JOSEPH ST. GERMAIN-One of the most prominent. progressive, and far-sighted citizens of Western Massachusetts. D. Joseph St. Germain has gained an excellent and wide reputation for his work as a bank and insurance stock expert, a farmer, a real estate man, and his continuing interest in politics.
Mr. St. Germain was born in 1803, of humble par- ents, in a log cabin in the town of Ellenburg. in northern New York State. His early years were marked by long hours of the hardest farm work. with very little chance to attend school. At the age of eighteen he came to Springfield, and the next few years were spent doing the most rigorous kind of manual work for low pay, and attending night school.
In 1910 he served in General Pershing's expedition- ary forces on the Mexican Border, and is a veteran of World War I. He attended New York University School of Commerce. Accounts, and Finance for one year as a special student. After the war he worked as a securities salesman for several years. Finally in 1924. at the age of 31. he established D. J. St. Germain & Company, on Main Street, an investment firm spe-
Joseph St Germain
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cializing in bank and insurance stocks. Now, twenty- five years later, he still conducts his own business at the same stand. When asked why he continues to specialize in financial securities, he smiles and says that the shares of well managed banks and insurance companies continuously increase in intrinsic value, and that the institutions themselves are part and parcel of the capitalist system that has made America not only the greatest nation in the world, but the hope of the world. His knowledge of organization, finance, and markets has been brought to the assistance of more than one corporation which without his guidance might easily have gone out of business. He has taken the initiative in rescuing and rehabilitating several local concerns.
Mr. and Mrs. St. Germain are the parents of seven children, and, in 1936, with the idea of having a sum- mer place for them, he bought a tract of land with improvements from George M. Hendee, founder of the Indian Motorcycle Company. Quickly seeing the possibilities of reclaiming and developing this tract into useful farm land, he proceeded to have some of the land cleared and cultivated, and from time to time has added to it by purchasing old abandoned farms ad- jacent to, or in the vicinity of his own, until today he owns some five hundred acres. He has brought these abandoned farms back into production with well planned hard work and modern machinery. For years he has experimented with beef cattle, but has finally concluded that the Hereford is best adapted to the climate and grazing conditions of western New Eng- land. His country estate is known as Spring Lake Farm. Mr. St. Germain says that the trouble with millions of acres of land throughout America is that the owners mine it, rather than cultivate it. For many years he has been one of the foremost leaders in this community in the land conservation movement, and his well kept and well cultivated farm bears out his conviction that the real strength of this nation lies in the care and cultivation of its land. "The land never dies" is one of his favorite expressions. He feels that the agricultural emphasis in this part of New England should be in high grade pasturage to prevent erosion and build up the land, and that the product of the land should go to market in the form of meat animals. He is firmly convinced that for many years to come the United States will find it necessary not only to feed its own people, but to sustain millions abroad who have been left destitute by the ravages of war. He feels that rural electrification, good automobile roads, and mod- ern farm machinery will greatly accelerate the "back to the farm" movement, that there will be a rebirth of interest in American agriculture and that the future will see the American farmer enjoying the best living and working conditions he has ever known.
Mr. St. Germain has made many improvements in the real estate of the section of Springfield where he lives. He believes in modernizing and improving old buildings rather than tearing them down to save taxes. He calls this the positive approach, rather than the negative. Some years ago several large houses in his neighborhood were in danger of being obliterated, but he bought them, modernized them from. cellar to attic and turned them into paying properties that return more than four per cent on his investment after taxes, depreciation, insurance, and maintenance costs. He has been instrumental in getting the assessed value
of hundreds of thousands of dollars of Springfield prop- erty reduced to a realistic basis. In addition he has transformed many useless, uninhabitable houses into attractive dwellings. These properties have been rented or sold and in many cases the new owners have realized handsome profits during the past few years.
For many years Mr. St. Germain has taken an active part in the political life of the community. He ranks high among the Republican leaders of Massachusetts. On several occasions his name has been prominently and enthusiastically mentioned for the mayoralty of Springfield and for state-wide office. However, he has steadfastly refused to accept or run for any paid public office, his philosophy being that he can best make his contribution to the better working of the democratic process as a rank and file worker. He has filled all the offices of the Republican City Committee of Springfield, and has served as chairman in 1942-43-46- 47-48, and during this period he took the lead in bring- ing the local Republican party the only victories it has been able to garner over a period of a decade. In 1944 he was made president of the Republican Club of Massachusetts, the only man from Western Massa- chusetts ever to hold that office, although this state club has been in existence for nearly sixty years. He refused to serve as president for more than one year, but left the club with the largest membership and treasury in its history.
In 1940 he was elected a delegate from the Second Massachusetts Congressional District to the Republi- can National Convention at Philadelphia, and it is a matter of great pride to him that on every ballot he voted to draft Herbert Hoover for the nomination for president on the Republican ticket. In 1948 he was again elected a delegate from his district to the Re- publican National Convention at Philadelphia, and was among the three or four most prominent "Dewey for President" men from Massachusetts. As a result of his energetic activities in behalf of the Republican party over a period covering a decade, Mr. St. Germain has become one of the most favorably known political figures in the Commonwealth. During the early months of 1949, former President Hoover appointed Mr. St. Germain a member of the Citizens' Committee for the Reorganization of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Mr. Hoover publicly characterized this Committee as "the most impressive body of important citizens that has ever been put together." It is need- less to say that Mr. St. Germain is one of the hardest working members of this Committee.
He is a former treasurer, finance chairman, and member of the Executive Committee of the Greater Springfield Council of Churches, and in these capa- cities he has taken a leading part, during the past few years, in putting this organization on a sound and effi- cient financial and functional basis. Mr. St. Germain is a Congregationalist, and is a member and active sup- porter of the South Congregational Church of Spring- field, having served for some years as a member of the Finance Committee of that church.
He is an active member of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce and has served on as many as five com- mittees concurrently. Early in 1943 he was elected to membership on the Board of Directors by one of the largest votes ever given a director by that body. During his tenure of office, the organization gathered and disseminated a vast amount of information of local
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interest, particularly to the business men of this sec- tion, and launched the Transportation Bureau which has given outstanding service to the community. He has had an active and prominent part in helping to put this organization on a sound financial basis, and lifting its membership to more than two thousand, rep- resenting a unique cross-section of the business and professional life of Springfield and vicinity. He has had a leading part in infusing this great organization with a spirit of community service which earnestly ad- dresses itself to the task of having the press, the city government, and the public receive an authentic ac- count of its activities.
On July 27, 1949, D. J. St. Germain & Company will observe its twenty-fifth anniversary which, incident- ally, will be Mr. St. Germain's fifty-sixth birthday.
HARRY H. BARD, M.D .- A native of Berkshire County, educated to his profession in Baltimore and in New York City, Dr. Harry H. Bard of Pittsfield returned to his native region to lay the foundations of a career which has made him one of the best known specialists in surgery in all of Western Massachusetts.
Dr. Bard's father, the late Henry E. Bard, was a papermaker by trade. He married Ellen Hewitt, now also deceased and, with her husband, buried at Adams. In that historic Berkshire Hills village, Harry H. Bard was born on August 30, 1884. As a boy, while attending school, he also worked at various jobs, and doing other tasks which, as he says, enabled him to make an honest dollar. His ambition was early fixed upon a career in medicine, and after gradu- ating from Adams High School, entered the Baltimore Medical College in the Maryland city of that name, from which he graduated with the class of 1908, re- ceiving at that time his degree of Doctor of Medicine. Subsequently Dr. Bard did postgraduate work at the New York Hospital in New York City.
From 1912 to 1913 Dr. Bard was associated with Dr. Charles W. Richardson, who was one of the great surgeons of his day, and who was moreover the moving spirit in the founding of the Hillcrest Hospital at Pittsfield. Having profited by his study under so illustrious and able a master, Dr. Bard in 1914 set up in private practice, specializing in surgery, as he has continued to do with such notable success from that time to the present writing.
In World War I Dr. Bard was enrolled in the United States Army Medical Corps, holding the rank of captain and being associated with the evacuation hospital of the Forty-fourth Medical Corps.
Now chief of the surgical staff at the Hillcrest Hospital, Dr. Bard holds membership on the board of trustees and on the board of governors at that in- stitution. He is also an associate member of the sur- gical staff at the House of Mercy Hospital and at St. Luke's Hospital, both in Pittsfield. He belongs to the American Medical Association, to the Massachu- setts State Medical Society, and to the Berkshire County Medical Society. He is also a member of the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Association of Military Surgeons. He is affiliated with the American Legion of Pittsfield. In religion he is a member of the Episcopal Church.
On August 20, 1919, Harry H. Bard was married at Bloomfield, New Jersey, to Alberta Loppacker, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Loppacker of that
city. Of this marriage there is one son, Henry H., who was born at Pittsfield on May 25, 1926. He is a graduate of the Berkshire School at Sheffield, and subsequently attended Princeton University at Prince- ton, New Jersey, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts with the class of 1945. During World War II Henry H. Bard entered the United States Army and saw service as a private in the ranks. Since his honorable discharge from the Army, he has been studying at the College of Physicians and Sur- geons in New York City, an affiliated part of Columbia University, with the intention of following the pro- fession in which his father has risen to such a leading position. Henry H. Bard is a member of the Ameri- can Legion of Pittsfield, of the Pittsfield Country Club, of the Princeton Club of New York City, and of the Colonial Club at Princeton University.
ARTHUR A. ADAMS, for many years member of a construction firm in Springfield, Massachusetts, found during his career considerable opportunity for public service. For many years he was superintendent of streets for Springfield; but the culmination of his public life came in 1918-1919, when he served as mayor of that city. His firm was the Adams, Birnie and Ruxton Construction Company, subsequently Adams and Ruxton; and he was active in banking and fraternal life.
Born February 23, 1871, in Springfield, Mr. Adams was a son of Benjamin Adams, who was an inventor and manufacturer in that city. There Arthur A. Adams received his early education, and graduated from Central High School. He then entered Dart- mouth College, and graduated in 1894, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He stood high in scholarship during his college years, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Early in his career, Mr. Adams was civil engineer for the Boston and Albany Railroad, after which he took a civil service examination with the United States Government for operating a dredging machine, and received appointment. This occupation he fol- lowed during one summer. On returning to his native Springfield at the close of his college education, Mr. Adams became associated with the Fred T. Ley Com- pany, which was engaged in construction. In this field he found his career, in which he was to make a lasting impress in the affairs of the city. He was thereafter appointed superintendent of streets for the city of Springfield, and served for a great many years until the time he went into business for himself. The firm was first designated as Adams, Birnie and Rux- ton Construction Company, but later Mr. Adams and Mr. Ruxton alone were partners. The firm engaged in construction of a general nature; and the city of Springfield affords many examples of their skilled workmanship.
Mr. Adams, a lifelong Republican was elected to the office of mayor of Springfield in 1918, serving dur- ing that year and the next. He was offered by his party the candidacy for congress, which he refused, as he likewise refused to succeed himself in the office of mayor. For many years Mr. Adams was a director of the Hampden Savings Bank.
Arthur Adams belonged to the lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and was locally affiliated with the Rotary Club, the Reality Club, and the Diver-
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sity Club. In religious faith he was an attendant at South Congregational Church.
In Springfield, October 22, 1902, Arthur A. Adams married Carrie R. Cooley, daughter of Charles B. and Eliza A. (Kelly) Cooley. Mr. and Mrs. Adams be- came the parents of two daughters: I. Elizabeth C., who married George H. Ross, and became the mother of three children: George H., Jr., Mary Elizabeth, and Charles Adams. 2. Eleanor A., now Mrs. Palmer. They have two children: Richard A. and Elizabeth.
Mr. Adams died in Springfield, April 6, 1934. As a builder of the community, he played a vital part in its commercial life; as a public servant, his achieve- ments were memorable; and as a citizen of integrity, he had won the friendship, and stood high in the es- teem, of his fellow men.
ALBERT STEIGER-The owner of one of the largest department stores in the New England and Middle States, Albert Steiger, held a high place in the esteem of the commercial world of his time. The results of his wise planning and intelligently directed industry became apparent in the operations of wide scope, importance, and benefits, and the details of his career are impressive in their evidence of fundamental human values.
Born May 12, 1860, in Ravensberg, Germany, Albert Steiger was the eldest child of Jacob and Mary (Feier- abend) Steiger. Jacob Steiger was born in St. Gall. capital of the canton of St. Gall, Switzerland, in 1839, and died in Huntington, Massachusetts, in 1872. Ja- cob Steiger's father, John U. Steiger, born in 1809, had been a manufacturer of fine goods and muslins in Switzerland, and had preceded his son to Huntington, and lived there until his death at the age of sixty-two. John U. Steiger and his first wife, Marcia, were the parents of eight children: John, Marcia, Ulrich, George, Jacob, Edward, Matilda and Robert. Jacob Steiger's wife, Mary Feierabend, born in Cherhofen, Germany, April 28, 1838, was the daughter of Bap- tiste and Ettule (Konig) Feierabend. They were the parents of five children: Jacob, Jr., died in Germany ; Albert, subject of this sketch; Mary J., who married
John H. Ashley (q.v.); a daughter who died when her parents reached Huntington, and Freda, who mar- ried Robert C. Hollister. As a partner in the firm of Steiger and Deschler, Jacob Steiger helped direct one of the largest firms among the textile mills of Württemberg. He worked up to foreman of this mill, and in 1869 joined his father in Huntington, Massa- chusetts, where the latter had become associated with the firm of Little and Stanton, engaged in the manufacture of bedspreads. He designed a power loom, which was patented and installed in this mill.
A night school education was the background of a career in which Albert Steiger acquired much knowl- edge through self-study and careful observation. With- in three years after reaching Huntington he lost his father, grandfather, uncle and brother, leaving him head of the family, then consisting of his widowed mother, himself and two young sisters. He left school at the age of thirteen to begin selling goods in a small way, obtaining his stock from the mill with which his father had been connected. Mr. Gilette, a Westfield merchant, became attracted to the boy and took him in his employ, giving him a warm and last- ing friendship. Albert Steiger continued working W. Mass. IV-17
in his Westfield store for twenty years, at the same time working out his own course of action. In 1894, after determining that he had mastered a plan to enable department stores of smaller cities to give better service and earn more profit, he opened a dry goods store at Port Chester, New York, later establish- ing a store on High Street in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The latter store more than justified his hopes and he developed it so successfully that it became an out- standing success, and now is operated as A. Steiger & Company. He soon became widely regarded as New England's merchant prince, and the head of a chain of stores which included: Steiger-Schick Com- pany, in Port Chester; the Steiger-Dudgeon Company, New Bedford; Steiger-Cox Company, Fall River; three stores in Springfield, the Albert Steiger Company; the Poole Dry Goods Company, and the Poole Court Square Store, of which Mr. Steiger was the creator and president. In Hartford, Connecticut, he opened Albert Steiger, Inc., at the corner of Main and Pratt streets. He bought the business of the C. S. Hills Company, the oldest dry goods store in Hartford, negotiated long-term leases for the site and erected a five-story department store building regarded as one of the finest in New England. The business of this store system totaled many millions.
Mr. Steiger also held directorships in the American Dry Goods Company, the Chapin Bank of Springfield, the Hadley Falls Trust Company of Holyoke, and the W. D. Kinsman Realty Company. He was a member of the following clubs: Mount Tom Golf, of Holyoke, Springfield Country, Nayasset and Colony, of Springfield, and the Merchants and Bankers of New Bedford. He was a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and liberally supported all churches and good causes.
In 1884 Albert Steiger married Izetta Allen, daugh- ter of Chauncey and Celia (Norton) Allen. They were the parents of five sons: I. Ralph A., now president of the Steiger Group. 2. Philip C., vice president. 3. Chauncey A., who served in the Navy in World War I, now treasurer of the Steiger Group. 4. Robert, now deceased. 5. Albert E., now deceased.
Such is the story of Albert Steiger, who entered the mercantile world as a thirteen-year-old boy sales- man and rose to become one of the outstanding commercial leaders of a highly advanced section of his adopted country. His death on September 9, 1938, closed the chapter of a thrilling business life that be- gan with a boy taking merchandise on foot to the hill towns of an outlying district, a boy who built on dreams and inspirations for a better service to society.
MARGARET EVERS GANLEY-One of the out- standing attorneys of Springfield, Margaret Evers Ganley has demonstrated exemplary qualities of lead- ership and devotion to duty. In her service to this city she has made many valuable contributions toward its progress and development.
Miss Ganley was born in New York City, daughter of John T. and Margaret C. (Ryan) Ganley. Her paternal grandfather, John Ganley, a native of Ireland, came to this country, settled in Hartford, Connecticut, and engaged in business as stonemason contractor. He married and his son, John T. Ganley, father of Margaret Evers Ganley, was born at Hartford, and
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like his father was a stonemason contractor. He married Margaret C. Ryan, daughter of John and Margaret (Savage) Ryan, both natives of Ireland and residents of Springfield until their passing. Margaret C. (Ryan) Ganley was born February 5, 1871, at Springfield, and is now residing at Longmeadow.
Margaret Evers Ganley received her early educa- tion at the Sixteen Acres Grade School, and in 1906 was graduated from the Central High School of Springfield.
At this time she became associated with Ralph W. Ellis as a clerk in his offices. Mr. Ellis was a promi- nent lawyer and former Springfield mayor. In 1913, Mr. Ellis organized the Ellis Title and Conveyancing Company, and Miss Ganley continued with the firm, holding important and responsible positions. In 1924, while still associated with Mr. Ellis, she matriculated at Northeastern University School of Law, from which institution she received the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1928. The following year she was ad- mitted to the Massachusetts bar. She remained with the Ellis Title and Conveyancing Company until 1936, at which time she and Douglas Crook formed a law partnership known as the firm of Ganley and Crook. The firm specializes in real estate conveyancing, pro- bate and corporation law. At present the partner- ship is flourishing, due in no small measure to the efforts and splendid ability of Miss Ganley.
Active in many organizations of importance in the professional, civic and social life of Springfield, Miss Ganley serves her community in many ways. She holds membership in the Hampden County Bar As- sociation, organized and was first treasurer of the Springfield Business and Professional Women's Club, is a trustee of the Springfield Taxpayers Association, serves as a director of the Zonta Club of Springfield, and is a member of the Lake Placid Club, Lake Placid, New York, and of the Ice Birds Figure Skating Club in Springfield. In politics, she is a staunch Republican, and follows party activities with ardor. In religious belief, she adheres to the Roman Catholic faith, and attends the St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church at Longmeadow.
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