—  A Southwick Time Machine Original Tragedy   On Halloween night, 1924, six-year-old Francis J. Sullivan, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. John F. Sullivan of 32 Atwater Street, Westfield, Massachusetts, was celebrating the ghoulish holiday in his neighborhood with some other boys.    Halloween decor, circa 1920   Francis was carrying a jack-o'-lantern when the candle inside fell over, igniting his clothes. The flames spread quickly. He panicked and started screaming as he ran down the street toward home, completely engulfed in flames. Mr. Joseph Sample, the Sullivans’ neighbor at 33 Atwater Street, heard the commotion and raced to help. He quickly overtook Francis and wrapped his coat around him, smothering the fire. Nearly all of the boy’s clothes were burned off his body. Even though he had severe, painful burns on his head, hips, and right arm, witnesses thought he would recover.    Mr. Sample, circa 1964 Dr. Norton was summoned. He had Franci...

 – A Southwick Time Machine Historical Mystery Shortly before 8:00 p.m. on September 25, 1952, Isabel Root of Southwick, Massachusetts, was sitting in the living room of her Springfield Road home with her daughter, Sandra, when they saw an intense, bright light in the sky. Mrs. Root went to the front door to investigate. Looking skyward, she saw a strange light slightly larger than a car headlight. She debated reporting the mysterious light to authorities because she feared people would ridicule her if it turned out to be nothing. The light, however, scared Sandra. Mrs. Root finally decided to call the local Civil Defense director, but her attempt was unsuccessful. She then rang Deputy Director William F. Buschmann and told him what she had seen. She said that the mysterious bright light lasted approximately two minutes. She also told him that the light did not float or waver. After speaking with Mrs. Root, Mr. Buschmann called the ground observation tower atop Westfield High Schoo...

  —  A Southwick Time Machine Historical Curiosity     A fire of unknown origin destroyed a small vacant house on Granville Road in Southwick, Massachusetts, shortly after 10:00 p.m. on Halloween 1955. William H. Muggle owned the home, which had been abandoned for a year or two.    Three of William Muggle's Children: Herbert, Minnie, Arthur   The Southwick Fire Department extinguished the blaze and spent about an hour wetting down the charred remains. Firemen speculated that faulty wiring caused the fire. Earlier that evening, the Southwick Fire Department had responded to a tobacco barn fire near the rear of the junior high school on Powder Mill Road. Firemen extinguished that blaze before it caused any serious damage.  Back in March 1955, friends of William Muggle threw him a surprise party for his 70th birthday. Less than a year after the Halloween fire, late in the evening of September 24, 1956, he died in Westfield, Massachusetts. The 1955 Ha...

Author’s Note: This story has been particularly challenging to research because the historical records contain several conflicts surrounding names, dates, and places that cannot always be reconciled. Like every story on the Southwick Time Machine, it is a living document. The story will get updated if additional information is uncovered.       — A Southwick Time Machine Original     From Russia to Trouble on Point Grove Road Albrecht Maske was born on October 15, 1905, in Russia. As Albert Maske, he crossed the Atlantic from Bremen, Germany, aboard the S.S. Friedrich der Große with his grandmother, Pauline (Mizel) Maske. They arrived in America on July 14, 1909. (Albert sometimes wrote his date of birth as October 15, 1902, which is what he did on his draft card in 1942.)   Believed to be Albert (Maske) Maskill  (Photograph from a user-submitted online family tree; original source and date unknown) According to the ship’s records, one of Pauline’s so...