USA > Massachusetts > The story of western Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 41
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She was president of the Elizabeth Whittier Club of Amesbury in 1900; regent of the Josiah Bartlett Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution of Amesbury in 1910-12; vice president of the Dan- vers Women's Club in 1914-16; chairman of the Massachusetts State Commission on Forestry Con- servation in 1916-18; and since 1916 she has been regent of the Gen. Israel Putnam Chapter of the
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Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Emer- son is an active member of the New England Ge- nealogical Society and was leader of its round table discussion on "Heredity vs. Environment." She is a member of the Exeter, New Hampshire, Historical Society, the Exeter Women's Renaissance Club, the Smith College Alumnae Association, the Women's Republican Club of Massachusetts, the Zonta Inter- national Club, the English Speaking Union, the American Association of University Women, the League of Women Voters and the Nineteenth Cen- tury Club. Her religious ties are with the Con- gregationalist Church.
On October 5. 1904. Susan Mabel Hood was mar- ried to George Waldo Emerson, who was born August 20, 1862, the son of Charles Wesley and Susan (Littlefield) Emerson. He died August 27, 1947. To this union were born the following children: I. Edward Everett; 2. Elizabeth Capen (Mrs. William Arthur Kelley) ; 3. Miriam Putnam (Mrs. Macdonald Peters) ; 4. Galo Putnam; 5. John Endicott, a graduate of Dartmouth, who is now business manager of both the Burnham School and the Stoneleigh Prospect Hill School; 6. Eunice Abigail (Mrs. John Raymond) ; and 7. George Waldo, Jr., a graduate of Amherst College, who was teacher of psychology at the Burn- ham School and secretary of the Stoneleigh Prospect Hill School at Greenfield. He is now a member of the firm of Doer-Anderson Advertising Agency in Louisville, Kentucky.
FRANK A. SLOWICK, M. D .- Among the leaders of the medical profession in Western Massa- chusetts, Dr. Frank A. Slowick of Pittsfield is a qualified orthopaedic surgeon, a specialist whose ser- vices have been many to the victims of crippling inflictions, and particularly to crippled children.
Dr. Slowick is a native of a village that no longer exists-Greenwich, Massachusetts, which has now been taken over by the Metropolitan Water Com- mission. His parents are Joseph E. and Caroline (Cygan) Slowick, his father being a retired railroad man, long associated with the Boston and Albany Railroad, a division of the New York Central sys- tem. When Frank A. Slowick was about four years of age, the family moved to Palmer, where he attend- ed the public grade and high schools, graduating from the latter with the class of 1919. Medicine seems to have been his choice of a career from an early age, for after leaving high school he entered the medical division of Tufts College, and subsequently studied at the Tufts College Medical School, from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine upon graduating with the class of 1927. His year of gen- eral internship, 1927-1928, was spent at the Spring- field Hospital in the Massachusetts city of that name, and in 1928 he began his independent pro- fessional career in his home town of Palmer, where he engaged in general practice until some time in 1931.
In the latter year Dr. Slowick was appointed to a residency in orthopaedic surgery at what was then known as the Hospital of the New York Society for the Relief of Ruptured and Crippled, which is now the Hospital for Special Diseases in New York City.
Sometime in 1932, he was called to Boston to fill a residency in bone and joint surgery at the Boston City Hospital, and there he remained until 1933. It was in 1934 that Dr. Slowick came to Pittsfield, and since that time has resided and practiced in this beautiful little city of the Berkshire Hills, specializ- ing in orthopaedic surgery. He is attached to St. Luke's Hospital in Pittsfield, and is also on the staff of the Hillcrest Hospital in that city. Dr. Slowick is a diplomate of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He serves as visiting ortho- paedic surgeon at the Berkshire Crippled Children's School in Pittsfield, and is a consultant in orthopaedic surgery to the State Crippled Children's Programme He is also an associate surgeon of the House of Mercy. He belongs to the Berkshire Medical Society and to the Massachusetts Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
In addition to being a busy medical specialist and consultant. Dr. Slowick holds membership in the Pittsfield Country Club at Pittsfield, where, among other places, he indulges in his favorite form of recreation, which is golf. He is an ardent sailor and deep sea fisherman.
In May, 1934, Frank A. Slowick was married to Olive Elizabeth O'Brien, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John L. O'Brien of Palmer, where the wedding cere- mony took place. Mrs. Slowick is a graduate of the Worcester State Teachers College. Of this marriage there are three children: I. Frank, Jr., who was born in December, 1935. 2. Brian Anthony, born in July, 1939. 3. Paula Ann, born in July of 1943. All three children were born in Pittsfield.
ALBERT CORYDON WHITE, JR .- A well- known and respected figure in the business world of Springfield and Western Massachusetts is Albert Corydon White, Jr., who brought to the field of estate management, real estate and insurance, a mature and practical quality of judgment gained in many years of experience in the automotive business.
In both family lines Mr. White's ancestors were notable, both in peace and in war. Dr. Cornelius Corydon White, his paternal grandfather, a native of Ohio, where he practiced medicine with great success in the capital city of Columbus, was a veteran of the Civil War, in which he served throughout the dura- tion of the conflict as a physician and surgeon of the Union Army, with the rank of major. His son, the late Rev. Albert Corydon White, though his adult years were spent in the service of the Prince of Peace, was not only patriotic but martial in spirit in his tender boyhood. At the age of exactly nine years and twenty- nine days he was enrolled in the Federal Army as a drummer boy with Company D in the 64th Ohio In- fantry regiment, attached to General Sherman's Bri- gade, thus becoming, it is said, the youngest participant in the Civil War. In his later years as a Unitarian minister he filled a number of pulpits in different com- munities in New England, Ohio and Florida. A na- tive of Newark, Ohio, he passed away in Florida.
Albert Corydon White, Sr., married Harriet Ellen Welch, who was one of the thirteen children of Coloncl James W. Welch. A native of Maine, James W. Welch made a notable record as a soldier in the
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Civil War. In answer to President Lincoln's call for volunteers to save the Union, he organized a company at his own expense and offered its services to his country. His company was accepted into the Union Army and he was commissioned its captain. He took part in a number of important battles, and during the course of hostilities won promotion to the rank of colonel. After the Civil War, Colonel Welch became the general superintendent of the F. W. Devoe Paint Company in New York City, and he continued to be associated with this concern until his death, which occurred in New York City. His family, including the eight of his thirteen children who lived to adult years, resided at Augusta, Maine, and had a summer residence at Cobbossee Contee, East Winthrop, in that same state.
To the Rev. Albert Corydon and Harriet Ellen (Welch) White were born eight children, five sons and three daughters. The son whom they named for his father was their first child and was born at Co- lumbus, Ohio on November 22, 1883. He attended public school in Ware and Pepperell, Massachusetts, graduating from high school at the latter place in 1901. The following year he graduated from Dean Academy at Franklin, Massachusetts. In continuation of his studies, he entered Ohio State University where he remained for eighteen months. Upon leaving col- lege, he took employment with the White Sewing Ma- chine Company in Boston. This firm later became known as the White Company and has been ever since a leading manufacturer of automobiles, automotive trucks and busses, at Cleveland, Ohio.
Albert Corydon White, Jr., remained associated with the White Company for twenty-seven years, being at various times stationed at Providence, Brock- ton, Boston, Worcester and Springfield. For seven years up to 1930, he was manager of the Springfield branch of the company. In that year, however, he left the automotive field and entered the real estate busi- ness. This came about through his becoming the successor of the late Frank L. Dunlap, as manager of the properties of the late Horace A. Moses of Spring- field. About 1937 Mr. White formed his own com- pany under the name of A. C. White, Jr., Realtor, for the management and acquisition of business real estate, specializing in property management. He has built up a prominent service staff for handling both his own and other's real estate and also engages in a general in- surance business.
Mr. White has long been active in general business circles and has given generously of his time and talents to civic endeavors and good causes for the benefit of the community. He is a member of the Springfield Real Estate Board, having served as treasurer for a number of years and as president for the years 1948 and 1949. Other business affiliations are the Massa- chusetts Real Estate Association, National Associa- tion of Real Estate Boards, the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, and the Massachusetts Asso- ciation of Insurance Agents. He has served as treas- urer of the Springfield Apartment Owners Association for the past six years. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce of both Springfield and West Springfield, and has been prominent in the affairs of the Springfield Kiwanis Club, being a past president of that organiza- tion as well as past lieutenant governor of Division II of New England Kiwanis International. He was long
active in a series of shows presented by the Kiwanis Club to secure funds for their Welfare Fund for under- privileged children. For four years Mr. White was president of the Springfield Safety Council and for two years held a similar office in the Springfield Taxpayers Association. He is, at this time, a member of the board of directors in both Springfield and Long- meadow Taxpayers associations. The Young Men's Christian Association has been one of his particular interests and for many years he has been a member of the board of directors and was chairman of the board of management of the Springfield Central Branch of that organization. He has also been asso- ciated with Junior Achievement, the Hampden County Improvement League and the Hampden Council of Boy Scouts of America. Since 1930 he has been ac- tively associated as a trustee and official of Eastern States Exposition and is vitally interested in the educa- tional, agricultural and industrial objectives of that or- ganization. For three years Mr. White has been general chairman of the annual Fund Campaign of the Springfield Chapter of the American Red Cross. Prior to World War I he was a member of the First Corp Cadets of Boston. During World War II Mr. White was active in the Civilian Defense for Western Massa- chusetts in Region II, being comptroller of the Spring- field Warning Center and then Regional Director of the area.
His religious affiliation is with Faith Congregational Church of Springfield in which he was a member of the board of deacons for three years, and president of the Faith Church Men's Club for two years.
Mr. White is a member of the Colony Club of Springfield, an alumnus of the Theta Chapter of the fraternity Phi Delta Theta at Ohio State University. He is a Thirty-second degree Mason, a member of Springfield Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Ma- sons, serving as chaplain for over fifteen years, and a member of the Scottish Rite and Melha Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is affiliated with Lodge No. 61 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
He is intensely interested in the conservation of our natural resources, enjoys fishing and all outdoor ac- tivities and in this connection has for several years been a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America and the Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock, a group sponsored by the former organization, serving for several years as one of its vice presidents. He is a member of the Springfield Sportsman's Club and the Izaak Walton League.
On June 9, 1906, Albert Corydon White, Jr., was married to MaBelle Land Storey, who was born in La Porte, Indiana, the daughter of George H. and Flora Allen Storey. George H. Storey was a water and heating engineer of La Porte. He and his wife are now deceased. Mrs. White was educated in the public schools of La Porte and at Akely, a girls' finish- ing school in Grandhaven, Michigan. She is a member of Faith Congregational Church, Springfield Garden Club, the Longmeadow Women's Club and the Wes- son Hospital Auxiliary. The Whites' residence is adjacent to the shore of the beautiful Connecticut River in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
To Albert Corydon, Jr. and MaBelle (Storey) White, two sons have been born: 1. Albert C., III, on April 10, 1907. After attending public school in
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Worcester, and graduating from Wilbraham Academy, he entered the University of Virginia, from which he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in architecture. He is now associated with his father in the real estate business. He is married to the former Dorothy Drake of Springfield and they have one son, Allen Corydon, who was born November 7. 1945. 2. Allen Storey, born on June 11, 1909. He also attended public school in Worcester and graduated from Wilbraham Academy, after which he became a student at Duke University in Durham, North Caro- lina, receiving a degree from this institution. He now has his own general insurance business, under the name of Allen S. White Insurance Agency, Inc., at South Hadley Falls, Massachusetts. He is married to the former Jane Miller of Portsmouth, Virginia.
WILLIAM ERNEST KELLER-The field of William Ernest Keller's interests comprises every phase of engineering and manufacture. His experi- ence has been extensive and varied, and while still of a youthful age, when many men are merely get- ting started on their careers, Mr. Keller became one of the founders and incorporators of a consulting engineering firm which is finding wide opportunities of profitable usefulness in the era of post-war ex- pansion.
William Ernest Keller's father, John George Kel- ler, is a native of Glasgow, Scotland, who came to the United States many years ago and has been long established as a plumbing and heating contractor in Greene, New York. He married Louella Pearl Murphy, who was born on October 10, 1885, in New York State. In that State also William Ernest Kel- ler was born on August 5, 1913. He graduated from high school at Greene, New York, and with his in- clination toward engineering already strongly mani- fested, he entered the Engineering College of Syra- cuse University in the city of that name, where he took the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1934. From that time on for several years his studies and his work in the engineering field overlapped. In 1936 he took an extension course in electricity in the theater at the Cooper Union in New York City, and in the following year completed another exten- sion course in a special field of electricity at Colum- bia University in the same city. In 1941 he studied industrial electronics at Worcester Polytechnic In- stitute.
His employment began in 1934 when he became a student in the engineering department of the In- ternational Business Machines Corporation, with which he remained for five years. At the beginning of this connection he worked at the plant of this corporation located at Endicott, New York, but later this department was transferred to New York City. His competency was early recognized, and he was put in charge of the two International Business Machines Corporation installations at the World's Fair which opened in New York City in 1939.
After leaving the International Business Machines Corporation, Mr. Keller was for two years a free lance consulting engineer, serving clients in various counties in New England. From 1941 to 1944 he was associated as consulting engineer with William E. Wright and Sons of West Warren. This firm
was engaged in the development of the special ma- chinery needed for slitting synthetic fabrics, and, at the same time, in the development of devices for the high production manufacture of cargo parachutes.
It was in the spring of 1944 that Mr. Keller be- came one of the incorporators and stockholders of Associated Engineers, Inc., with offices in Spring- field and Worcester. Of this corporation, which specializes in mechanical industrial problems, Mr. Keller has been from the start the chief engineer, and in this position finds scope for his notable natural ability in engineering and his varied and accumulated experience.
Mr. Keller is a member of the Western Massa- chusetts Engineering Association. A devotee of flying, who has his own plane for business and pleas- ure use, he holds membership in the National Aero- nautics Association. Locally he belongs to the En- gineering Research Club of Springfield. He is also a member of American Society of Mechanical En- gineers. His fraternity is Sigma Beta. An Episco- palian in religion, he is a communicant of Saint Mark's Church of that denomination in Ware. In politics he is a supporter of the Republican party.
At Ware, Massachusetts, on September 20, 1940, William Ernest Keller was married to May Alice Taylor of Toronto, Province of Ontario, Canada. Mrs. Keller's parents, C. W. and Frances Taylor, were both natives of England. Mr. Taylor is a sales- man; Mrs. Taylor is now deceased. Mrs. Keller came to the United States in 1924. She is a graduate of the high school of Orange, New Jersey. To William Ernest and May Alice (Taylor) Keller, a son, Wil- liam John, was born on November 13, 1943.
LEO PAUL SENECAL-During a distinguished career of public service, Leo Paul Senecal has been state ·representative, mayor of Chicopee, and is at present county treasurer of Hampden County. In addition to these civic posts, he has found time in an active life to be a draftsman, a soldier, a contractor, and to engage in the real estate business. His ac- complishments in each direction have been impres- sive, for he is a man of varied talents.
Mr. Senecal was born in Holyoke September 22, 1893. His father, Adelphis Senecal, born in Champ- lain, New York in 1856, died in 1908, was a mason and contractor in Holyoke, and married Victoria Lavoie. She was born in 1859 and now lives with her son. Leo Paul Senecal began his education in the public and high schools of Chicopee, and continued his studies at Suffolk Law School. Much of his edu- cation, however, was gained while working, for at the age of fourteen he became an apprentice drafts- man in the Dean Steam Pump Company, which is now the Worthington Pump Company. He earned his full rating as a draftsman during eleven years of able work in several plants. Thereafter he entered military service and upon discharge took an active interest in the real estate and contracting business until 1929.
Some time previous to this, Mr. Senecal had made his acquaintance with political life. He had been state representative from 1920 until 1924. Later he was a member of the board of assessors and of the Chicopee School Committee. In 1940 the citizens of
Les P. Senecal
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Chicopee, in recognition of his competence in public offices, elected him their mayor, and in this office hie served until 1943. Since that time he has been Hamp- den County treasurer. Among his business connec- tions is directorship of the Aldenville Credit Union.
Mr. Senecal has a military career as conspicuous as that in public service. He is a veteran of both World Wars. During 1917 and 1918 he was a cor- poral in the Signal Corps. When World War II came he was again eager for action; and, resigning as mayor of Chicopee, took a commission in the Al- lied Military Government, serving in the European Theater from 1943 until 1946 with the rank of lieu- tenant colonel. His outstanding services were recog- nized by the governments of several allied nations, and he received the Croix de Guerre avec Palme from the Belgian government, while the Dutch con- ferred upon him their coveted Order of Orange Nas- sau, degree of Officer with the Swords. In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Senecal was awarded the Bronze Star by his own Government.
Mr. Senecal is a member of the American Legion, as well as the Reserve Officers Association. His lodge is the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and he is a member of the Kiwanis and the Beavers Club of Holyoke. He serves on the Springfield Chamber of Commerce. A foreign honor of which he is parti- cularly proud is that of Eere-Berger, or honorary citizen, of the city of Maastricht, Holland. Mr. Sene- cal is of Catholic faith, and worships at the Church of the Nativity. In his youth, Mr. Senecal was an ardent baseball player, and at one time member of a professional team. His interest in the game has not waned, and it remains his hobby today.
Since his return to civilian life and to an office of public trust, Mr. Senecal makes his headquarters at the County Courthouse in Springfield. He resides at 805 Chicopee Street, Willimansett. He is un- married.
J. W. SIBLEY HARTSHORN, D.O.S .- In the practice of his profession and in community life, Dr. J. W. Sibley Hartshorn has contributed to the tradi- tions of his ancestors in his activities. Since his graduation from New York Institute of Optometry, New York City, he has been an optometrist in Con- necticut and Massachusetts, maintaining offices in Springfield.
Dr. Hartshorn was born in Painesville, Ohio, on May 27, 1890, son of Newton T. and Anna Belle (Evans) Hartshorn. His father, who was born in Amherst, New Hampshire, in February, 1842, died at Springfield, March 15, 1922. He had been a promi- nent artist, a portrait painter, having painted General Ulysses S. Grant when he was President of the United States, and also many of our governors. He was an elder of the Congregational Church, a Republican in politics, and a veteran of the Civil War with the rank of captain. He was the son of Benjamin and Betsy (Gay) Hartshorn, both natives of Hillsboro, New Hampshire, and both died at Amherst, this state, where he was engaged as a farmer. The progenitor of the Hartshorn family was John, who came from England in 1640 and settled in Reading, Massachu- setts. Anna Belle (Evans) Hartshorn, daughter of William L. and Carolina (Sibley) Evans, was born
in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father, born in Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, died at Hot Springs, Virginia. He had been engaged as an insurance agent in Cincin- nati, and later was an accountant for various firms. Her mother, born in Rochester, New York, died in Cincinnati, the daughter of Derick Sibley, a prominent merchant in Rochester, New York, who had served in the New York Legislature longer than any other man up to that time.
After completing his formal education in Winsted, Connecticut, J. W. Sibley Hartshorn matriculated at the New York Institute of Optometry, which later was absorbed by Columbia University, New York City. After being graduated with the class of 1909, a Doctor of Optometry, he became associated with E. J. Brown of Hartford, Connecticut, a connection that was continued for one and a half years. He then was with Scantlebury and Monroe, Springfield, for four years. His next move was to purchase the Bur- dick Optical Company, at No. 1301 Main Street, Springfield, where he has conducted an optometric practice with exceptional success ever since.
Along the line of his profession, Dr. Hartshorn is a member of the Massachusetts Society of Optome- trists and the American Optometric Society. A past vice president of the Springfield Kiwanis Club, Dr. Hartshorn has a perfect attendance record for twenty years. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Young Men's Christian Association, and served on the physical committee, and also as president of the Business Men's Club. He is a member and past president of the Crescent Lake Association. Fond of all forms of sports, he is an active tennis player, having won many trophies. He plays volley ball in the winter, being an officer in the Volley Ball Club of the Young Men's Christian Association, and is also very fond of swimming. By right of notable ancestry he is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. A member of the Park Congregational Church, he is a member of the board of trustees, currently serving his second term. Fraternally, Dr. Hartshorn s affiliated with Hampden Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; a member of the Spring- field Commandery, Knights Templar.
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