The James Pine Story
James Pine checked into the Allen House in Westfield around 8:00 p.m. on December 4, 1888. Although from Southwick, he registered from Easthampton and was given keys to a room on one of the upper floors.
When the servants knocked on his door the following morning, they received no response. After a second try in the afternoon produced the same result, the hotel's proprietor, D. L. Allen, attempted to enter Pine's room, only to find the door leading from the hallway locked.
He then tried to access a door in an adjoining room, but it, too, was fastened by a key left in the lock.
After Allen finally gained entry, at about 3:00 p.m., he saw Pine's lifeless body stretched out on the bed. Next to him was an empty bottle of laudanum. In one hand was a seven-chamber revolver with one cartridge fired.
Allen summoned the authorities, who decided that an autopsy was not necessary as it was clear, based on the gun, the poison, and the position of the bullet hole in Pine's head, that he had taken his own life.
Authorities had been looking for Pine, who had an outstanding warrant for about two years for his part in the liquor theft from the Southwick freight depot in 1886. The other thieves were all captured, but Pine escaped and seemingly went into hiding.
The Allen House was located on the eastern side of Broad Street, directly across from Park Square. Depending on room type, daily rates at the Allen House in 1882 were $1. to $1.50. Commercial travelers received a special rate of $4.50 to $5 per week, which included room and board.
D. L. Allen ran into a string of bad luck, and the resulting hard times forced him to sell his namesake hotel, which he did in January 1890 for $2,000.
The new owner of Allen House rebranded it Union House with plans to make it into a first-class hotel. However, the property lacked one crucial thing: a liquor license.
A large wagon pulled up to the Union House one day in June 1890 as authorities surrounded the building. They entered through the front and rear doors of the hotel in a surprise raid, only to find themselves welcomed by the hotel's proprietor as they searched the hotel from the top of the attic down to the muddied cellar floor and turned up nothing.
Meanwhile, a large crowd of spectators gathered in front of the hotel. As authorities left empty-handed, the smiling proprietor handed out cigars to everyone.
A raid conducted around the same time at the Southwick Hotel (today's Southwick Inn) proved more successful. There was a lot of speculation that somebody tipped off the Union House about the raid; the Southwick Hotel was not so lucky.
The Union House shuttered in November of that same year.
Sometime around June 1891, the upper floors of the Union House were converted into a boarding house, and the lower level and back of the hotel became storage.
James Pine: abt. 1863 - December 5, 1888.