George Jones Sr. George Jones Sr. left his Otis home in Cold Spring to attend church in the village center around 9:00 a.m. on September 7, 1862. As he started down the road, his son George asked if he could go. When his father told him, "Next time," - a decision he would later regret - young George returned home to where his mother, Emily, and his younger sister, Sarah, were.  Emily planned on making a berry cake for supper, so with a bucket in hand, she and her two children went into the woods about a half-mile from their home to pick wild berries.     Meanwhile, Thomas Callender and his son James ran out of food and decided to go on a sheep-stealing excursion. They planned to meet in some woods, which they did. There, they partook in drinking a quart of whiskey.  The Callenders were well-known in the region. Not only did they have a bad reputation and run-ins with the law, but they were the frequent topic of town gossip due to Thomas being African-American an...

 The Log Cabin Grove at Southwick Ponds was very popular as a day resort. The original structure was expanded before it burned down. It was rebuilt with sixteen rooms, 13 of which were guest rooms. It also had a ballroom and a dining room.  Guests could look forward to clambakes, dancing, live music, a "beautiful lawn, and grove … swings, steamboats, rowboats, fishing tackle, etc." (Roundtrip bus fare from Springfield to Southwick Ponds costs .50¢.) The Log Cabin Grove 1823: John Milton Hatheway is born in Suffield, Connecticut, on March 12.  1846: The Mexican-American War starts on April 25. 1847: During the Battle of Chapultepec (September 12-13), Lieutenant Hatheway picks up a dead sergeant's musket and fires several shots, effectively killing a Mexican sharpshooter who had picked off several men and was taking aim at him from up in a tree. (Author's Note: This is one of several heroic deeds done by Hatheway.) 1848: The Mexican-American War ends with the signing of...

A. Waldron Miller 1895: A. Waldron Miller is born to Henry and Ida Miller in Suffield, Connecticut, on October 9. (Born Alvin "Allie" Waldron Miller). 1923: Henry Alvin Miller dies. (He was a charter member of Southwick Grange and had one of the finest collections of Indian relics in Connecticut.) c. 1924: A. Waldron Miller radically transforms his family's massive lakefront property into a popular tourist destination, Miller's Beach.  1926: Miller's Beach starts a new advertising campaign announcing the opening of their new water toboggan and bathing pavilion; the campaign also touts Miller's as the safest of all Congamond beaches. Florence Luke of Thompsonville, Connecticut, is struck when a rider in a toboggan behind her crashes into her while riding down the popular incline water coaster off Miller's Beach in August. (Luke obtains prominent lawyer Samuel Sisisky to represent her in her $10,000 suit against Miller's Beach, which accuses slide owner ...

1901: Harmon A. Smith is born in New Haven, Connecticut, on June 12.  1932: Miller's Beach encourages Connecticut swimmers to enter its aquatic meet being held on June 19. Participants should send entries to John Pollard or Harmon Smith, c/o Miller's Beach, or call Southwick 77 and reverse the call.  1935 Ad 1935: The Young Democratic Club of South Windsor, Connecticut, holds its July meeting at Smith's Beach in Southwick, Massachusetts.  1936: Harmon Smith, the athletic coach at Agawam High School, purchases Smith's Beach. He previously rented the property for several years, containing about 38 acres of land and 1,500 feet of lakefront. (Smith started coaching in Agawam in 1924. He worked at Miller's Beach in Southwick and at the pool at Riverside Park.) 1937: Seven-year-old Evelyn Fennelly sustains severe injuries after being struck by an automobile while at Smith's Beach on June 13. She is taken to Noble Hospital for emergency treatment before being transfe...