Prominent businessman Thomas P. Temple and his wife left their home in Waterbury, Connecticut, on the morning of September 19, 1923, to head to the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Massachusetts.  Bird's-Eye View of the Eastern States Exposition Driving through Southwick, Massachusetts, Thomas accelerated his luxurious five-passenger Jordan touring car and passed a Ford approaching the Springfield grade crossing on the Feeding Hills - Southwick highway.  Meanwhile, a southbound ice train on the Northampton Division of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, running about 20 minutes late, gave its signal as it approached the Springfield grade crossing. It also rang its bell. The train, consisting of a tender followed by a locomotive (the Congamond Switcher) pulling a caboose, was traveling at a higher rate of speed than usual to make up for lost time. (The tender was in front of the locomotive switcher instead of in its typical spot behind it.) Upon not...

Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Latham Ellis Latham lived in Brooklyn, New York. He was the head of the Latham Automatic Registering Company, which had offices in New York City and Boston. He was also the vice president of the Latham Machinery Company, a maker of bookbinding equipment headquartered in Chicago, where he hailed from. Ellis and his wife had a summer residence in Granville, Massachusetts, at Stow Farm, named for its original owners, Volney and Marshall Stow. Stow Farm had spanned across the original Wildcat Road (a section loosely called Stows Road) at the then-junction of the Westfield and Blandford-Granville roads in an area once known as the Stow District, complete with its own schoolhouse. (The Town of Granville established the Stow School District on April 3, 1815.) In addition to hundreds of acres of farmland and forest, the Stow homestead at one time included at least three homes and several outbuildings, mainly barns and sheds. The Stow family also owned a gristmill and a sawmi...

George Gasper was born in Hungary in April 1866. Seeking a better life, he decided to go to the Land of Opportunity. Arriving in America in 1884, he settled in Westfield, Massachusetts, before purchasing a farm in the Hillside section of neighboring Southwick around 1890. (His future wife, Caroline, came over in 1886. The pair wed in Westfield on November 22, 1889.) With Caroline becoming pregnant in 1890, the Gaspers needed extra help on their farm, so George enlisted the help of his mother, Anna, and stepfather, Andreas, to move from Hungary. But, with more and more children added to the Gasper household, George's aged parents could only do so much, so he hired a young farmhand named Andrew in the spring of 1902. (Between 1890 - 1900, the Gaspers had seven children. Sadly, one died at birth, and one died within two months of being born.) When Andrew fell ill that summer, Anna gave him her full attention while caring for him. After he recovered, Anna continued catering to him, eve...

  Mrs. Dintzner Mrs. Dintzner was born in Montpelier, Vermont as Joyce Fidelia Joslin. (Her middle name was chosen in honor of her grandfather's sister.) Joyce was active in the Waitsfield (Vermont) Federated Church and her local 4-H Club. Later in life, as Mrs. Dintzner, she would pass along the skills she learned as a little girl in 4-H to younger folks, having been the arts and crafts instructor for the Southwick Parks and Recreation Commission's Summer Playground Program for several years.  By age 10, Mrs. Dintzner was performing piano solos. As part of a 1954 piano recital, she performed "Musetta's Waltz," from the 1896 opera La bohème,  and "Desert Night." At that same recital, she performed a duet with a classmate - using one piano, they performed "Sheep May Safely Graze," composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1731. In 1956, young Joyce, who attended the Bethany School of Dance in Montpelier, tap danced with her sister at Waitsfield's...

In early 1948, Albert S. Adams purchased a lot on College Highway in Southwick, Massachusetts, and started constructing a building to house what would become his namesake clothing store. (Southwick was rapidly growing during this period, which saw the opening of Congamond Cleaners and Battistoni's new hardware store in the center of town that same year.) Adams Clothing held its grand opening on July 1, 1948. Believed to be Southwick's first clothing store, it carried a variety of men's fashion and ladies' apparel, shoes, and the complete line of Hanes underwear.        Albert's store was an instant hit with residents. Thieves liked it, too.    Adams Clothing sold Eskiloos (circa 1964)       The first break-in at Adams Clothing occurred on December 17, 1948, with thieves entering the store through a cellar window and making off with a large quantity of merchandise. Thieves struck the store again on September 28, 1950. But this time, they would...

Authorities arrested Augusto Rotelli in 1916 in Southwick, Massachusetts, for violating the state's Masher Act. (It was reportedly the first arrest in Southwick under the act.) At his arraignment on December 5, Augusto pleaded not guilty to insulting a woman in Southwick. The court issued a continuance and set his trial date for Saturday, December 9. At his trial, Augusto turned the tables on his accuser, testifying that she led him to his flirtatious behavior and that the two had been flirting for about two weeks.  Victorian Era Hatpin The judge halted Augusto's disparaging testimony and found him guilty. However, His Honor decided that he would impose no penalty because Augusto and the woman complainant said and did things so reprehensible that the testimony was deemed unprintable. The complainant, believed to be Mrs. Frances Liska, accused Augusto of making advances on her in one of the American Sumatra Tobacco Company's barns in Southwick, where they both worked. The Ma...

In the mid to late 1800s, thousands of tourists took the New Haven and Northampton Railroad to Southwick Ponds to escape the summer heat and have a good time. Special trains stopped at the lake during the summer tourist season. In 1878, railroad officials, looking to capitalize on the growing popularity of the lake, announced their intention to build a handsome hotel on their grove near Middle Pond. The railroad purchased additional land in Southwick in 1879, on which they constructed a $6,000 dining and dancing pavilion. The railroad formally dedicated its new two-story pavilion on August 16, 1879. (In 1879, officials estimated that some 40,000 people would visit Southwick Ponds during the summer tourist season.) The Railroad Hotel at Southwick Ponds opened circa 1880. R. V. Cooley managed the hotel for the railroad. The hotel faced Middle Pond and was just a few short rods from the original location of what would become the railroad's Congamond Station. The hotel opened on a seas...