Chicopee Massachusetts

Biography of George P. Dion

GEORGE P. DION – Many monuments to the artistic and architectural skill of George P. Dion engage the eye in Chicopee and vicinity. He has been closely identified with the various phases of building operations, inclusive of architecture, in his native city and elsewhere for more than forty years, and he takes rank as the oldest architect in point of, number of years of practice in Chicopee. He has attained not a little renown as the designer of many important structures in this section, chief among them, perhaps, in point of beauty, type and usefulness, being the new Church of … Read more

Biography of Charles S. Ferry

CHARLES S. FERRY – The firm of Charles S. Ferry & Son, lumber dealers of Pittsfield, which has been conducting one of the largest concerns of its kind in Western Massachusetts, was established by the late Charles S. Ferry, in 1886. In the rapid growth of Pittsfield during the past years this firm played a most important part, because it supplied the lumber and the builders’ materials for much of the construction work that has been done in Pittsfield and the surrounding country. It is over three and a half decades since Charles S. Ferry took over the business from … Read more

Biography of Charles P. La Riviere

CHARLES P. LA RIVIERE, city clerk of Chicopee since 1922, was born in St. Albans, Vermont, April 20, 1877, the son of Henry and Felanice (Perrins) La Riviere. His father was a machinist by trade, and was employed in the Overman Wheel Company in Chicopee and Chicopee Falls. The family moved to Chicopee when Charles P. was fourteen years old, and he was educated in the public schools of Chicopee, while he attended night school in Chicopee Falls after he had begun to work for himself. He was for three years in the draughting department of the Overman Wheel Company; … Read more

James Lewis Todd of Chicopee MA

James Lewis Todd8, (Asa E.7, Asa6, Titus5, Titus4, Benjamin3, Michael2, Christopher1) born Aug. 18, 1873, married June 25, 1902, Ethel Deane, daughter of Abijah and Mary A. (Deane) Hastings, who was born Oct. 27, 1875. They reside in Chicopee, Mass., where he is in the hardware business under the firm name of Todd & Baldwin. Children: 2342. Norman Hastings, b. March 7, 1910. 2343. Herbert Eaton, b. Aug. 25, 1913.

Biography of Hon. Zenas Ferry Moody

HON. Z.F. MOODY. – Zenas Ferry Moody, ex-Governor of the State of Oregon, was born on the 27th of May, 1832, in Granby, Massachusetts. His father was Major Thomas H. Moody. His mother was Hannah M. Ferry, an aunt of ex-Senator T.W. Ferry, of Michigan, formerly vice-president of the United States. Governor Moody comes of good old New England Revolutionary stock, his grandfather, Gideon Moody, having borne arms as a soldier during the Revolutionary war. He has proved himself worthy of his lineage; and the principles which he imbibed on New England soil have been the guide of his whole … Read more

Biography of Harry Joshua Tait

President of Tait Brothers, ice cream manufacturers of Springfield, Massachusetts, was born in Chicopee, Massachusetts, August 27, 1867. His father was James and his mother Mary Laurentine (Decatur) Tait. Mr. Tait attended the schools of Chicopee and afterwards continued his studies at Westford Academy for a year. His school days over he engaged in farming for a time and also in market gardening; but did not find either to his liking. His father sold his milk business to another son, George C. Tait, and Harry Joshua Tait entered the employ of his brother, selling milk to private families. Many other … Read more

Biography of Charles Gilkey

Charles Gilkey, a prominent resident of Cornish, who was formerly engaged in the gunsmith business, is a native of Plainfield, N.H., born September 29, 1826. Charles Gilkey, his grandfather, born in Connecticut, was the first of the family to come to Plainfield. He came originally as agent of a wealthy Connecticut family, and remained in their employ for some time. After failing in an attempt to buy a farm with the Continental money in which his salary was paid, owing to the depreciated value of that currency then, he succeeded in leasing one from the State for nine hundred and … Read more

Biography of George Gibert Tait

Vice-president of Tait Brothers, the large Springfield concern dealing in milk, cream, condensed milk and ice cream, is the third son of James and Mary Laurentine (Decatur) Tait. He was born in Chicopee, Massachusetts, November 5, 1872, and received his education in the schools of his native city. He was graduated from the grammar school and attended the high school for three years. Upon the completion of his studies he entered the employ of his uncle, George C. Tait, a milk dealer, with whom his brother, Harry J., was employed already, and has risen through successive posts to the vice-presidency … Read more

Biography of Frank Decatur Tait

As treasurer of Tait Brothers, of Springfield, Massachusetts, one of the largest and best known milk businesses in the country, is a prominent citizen of a town where his family has long played an important part in economic development The American progenitor was George Tait, born in Paisley, Scotland, about 1795, who settled for a time in Montreal, where he pursued his trade of tailoring, then in Terrebonne County, Canada, where he farmed until his death in 1878. His son, James Tait, born in St. Sophia, Terrebonne County, Canada, in 1839, died in Chicopee, Massachusetts, January 22, 1880. He established … Read more

Biography of Patrick M. Moriarty, M.D.

PATRICK M. MORIARTY, M. D., previous to the World War, began the practice of medicine in Springfield, that has been continued with pronounced success in Chicopee, where his professional abilities and his proven skill have received recognition throughout an extensive district. Doubtless the most active years of Dr. Moriarty’s training were those spent with the United States Army Medical Corps in field and hospital service in France and Germany, where, with his professional comrades, he gave unceasing aid to his comrades in arms. A prominent and thoroughly equipped physician, he has the highest regard of his medical associates and the … Read more

Biography of Charles S. Browning

CHARLES S. BROWNING-A successful druggist of Ludlow for nearly a half century, Charles S. Browning is also treasurer of that town and one of its prominent citizens. He is a banker, and active in all important public affairs. Charles S. Browning was born in Chicopee, July 7, 1854 the son of John C. and Joanna (Peck) Browning, both natives of Colerain, Franklin County, Massachusetts. Charles S. Browning was educated in the public schools of Chicopee. When he was sixteen years old he entered the employ of his brothers, A. W. and L. C. Browning, druggists, at Windsor Locks, Hartford County, … Read more

Descendants of Elder Nutter of Dover, MA

Isaac Newton Nutter

The family bearing this name in East Bridgewater, whose head was the late Hon. Isaac Newton Nutter, descends from an ancient and honorable family of early New Hampshire, and is connected by marriage in later generations with a number of the old and highly respected families of Plymouth Colony, among them descendants of the “Mayflower” Pilgrims. The emigrant ancestor,

Elder Hatevil Nutter, was born in England in 1603. He was one of those of good estate and of “some account for religion” who were induced to leave England with Captain Wiggins in 1633, and to found a town in New England on Dover Neck, in New Hampshire. His wife, Annie, and son, Anthony, accompanied him. He received several grants of land, and became a large holder of real estate. He was a ruling elder in the first church at Dover, and sometimes filled its pulpit. He filled various offices in church and state, was highly respectable, and possessed of a good share of this world’s goods. He died before June 28, 1675 (when his will was proved), at the age of seventy-one years, leaving a “present wife, Ann,” and three children.