Crane Bros. Mill Robert B. Crane of the Cane Bros. paper mill in Westfield starts buying land in the Hillside District of Southwick at the end of 1896. The land borders Mouse Hill at New Road.  He continued his buying spree well into 1897, paying $250 for 24 more acres and 42 rods, according to a deed dated March 8.  Crane accumulates hundreds of acres. Wasting no time, he contracts George W. Smith, a stone mason in Westfield, to excavate and lay the foundation for a large barn to be built at his newly named Sunnyside Ranch. Smith starts the project around the week of March 22.  In addition to crops, Crane’s enormous, state-of-the-art ranch specializes in sheep and other high-grade stock. The farm is known for producing superior products. Even with the passing of its visionary founder, Sunnyside’s reputation for quality remains shown when its lambs, unequaled for their excellence, are featured at W. O. Sheldon’s State Street market in Springfield in 1910.   Over...

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, tha...

William Storey of Southwick, Mass., was making deliveries with his milk wagon in the Highland section of neighboring Westfield on November 18, 1900, when a couple of men waved him over to the Shurtleff's place across from the Pine Hill Cemetery. (The Shurtleff home was not part of his regular milk route.) Shurtleff's Home Meanwhile, Car No. 4 had just exited the carhouse and was slowly picking up pace. The trolley driver saw Storey's milk wagon ahead of him parallel to the tracks. But just then, Storey reigned his horse in the men's direction, and as the horse turned, it crossed in front of the electric car. The driver repeatedly sounded the bell which went unheard by Storey.  The horse crossed safely, but the electric car hit the milk wagon, toppling it and drenching Storey in milk. There was considerable damage to the wagon, but no one was injured, including the horse.  William Edward Storey: May 30, 1879 - November 26, 1944.