Springfield Massachusetts

Biography of Arthur C. Wentworth

ARTHUR C. WENTWORTH, treasurer of the Springfield Cooperative Bank, was born in South Berwick, Maine, November 13, 1871. His father was Charles K. Wentworth and his mother Ellen M. (Plumer) Wentworth. His father was born on a farm at Berwick, Maine, in April, 1836, and followed farming for a number of years, afterwards living in South Berwick until his death in November, 1906. His mother was born in January, 1841, at South Berwick, Maine, and died in May, 1924. The Wentworth family derives its name from the lordship of Wentworth in the wapentake of Stafford, County of York, England, where … Read more

Biography of Lewis I. Bartlett

LEWIS I. BARTLETT. President of the Springfield Motors Specialties Company, Incorporated, was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, May 3, 1887, the son of William Cornelius Bartlett and Harriet I. (Wolcott) Bartlett, of Holyoke. He is a great-great-grandson of Elijah Bartlett, who was a soldier of the Revolution. Elijah Bartlett, his son Oliver, his son Lewis H., and his son, William C., were all of Northampton, Massachusetts. William C. Bartlett located in Springfield, in 1873, and after a successful career as builder withdrew to engage in the automobile business. He died in 1923. He was the victim of a peculiar accident about … Read more

Biography of Robert Sheperd Kneeland

ROBERT SHEPHERD KNEELAND – Prominent in the business life of Springfield, Massachusetts, as a lawyer of attainments, who enjoys the good will of the community-at-large as well as of his compeers in his own profession, is Robert Shepherd Kneeland, engaged since 1911, in a general law practice under his own name. He is the son of Frederick N. and Adelaide Frances (Dyer) Kneeland, both of Massachusetts, the father a banker. Robert Shepherd Kneeland was born at Northampton, Massachusetts, April 26, 1883. He received his preliminary education in the public and high schools of Northampton, after which he entered Amherst College, … Read more

Biography of Alfred Chester Dale

ALFRED CHESTER DALE – Having come from South Dakota to Massachusetts a little more than twenty-five years ago, when he was thirteen years of age, Alfred Chester Dale, of Pittsfield, is today secretary of the Dale Brothers’ Laundry, Inc., whose branch in that city is only one of five which the corporation operates in this State. The remarkable expansion of the Dale Brothers’ business covers a wide range of territory in two States and in four counties, not to mention the overlapping of much of the contiguous area. Mr. Dale was born in Wilmot, South Dakota, April 17, 1882, and … Read more

Robert Emerson Todd of Chicago IL

Robert Emerson Todd8, (Asa E.7, Asa6, Titus5, Titus4, Benjamin3, Michael2, Christopher1) born July 22, 1871, married Sept. 1, 1903, Henrietta Ellen, daughter of Edward Collins and Mary Welles Stone, of Hartford, Conn., who was born Sept. 28, 1874. Mr. Todd received his education in Springfield, Mass., and has been engaged in civic and social work all his life. After about nine years of social settlement work at Chicago Commons, Chicago, he was with the New York Bureau of Municipal Research, three years. For the last ten years he has devoted himself as a trained specialist to the subject of housing. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Silvio Martinelli

SILVIO MARTINELLI – As a pleader before the courts at Springfield, Mr. Martinelli represents the highest interests of his profession, and in civic matters he has proven a capable and popular official. He is the son of Clayton Martinelli, a lumber dealer, who was born in Italy, and Rosa (Nicoli) Martenelli, a native of Italy. Silvio Martinelli was born August 3, 1883, in Italy, where he attended the high school, afterwards graduating at the American International College, with the class of 1907, and he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws at the Valparaiso, Indiana, Law School in the class … 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

Biographical Sketch of Aldrich, P. Emory

Aldrich, P. Emory, was born in New Salem, Franklin County. His ancestors came from England in 1635, residing at first in Dorchester and Braintree, and afterwards settling in Mendon, Worcester County. After obtaining his early education at the public schools, he fitted for college at the Shelburne Falls Academy, and in private study mastered a collegiate education. He studied law while engaged in teaching at the South, and later attended the Harvard law school. In 1845 he was admitted to the bar in Richmond, Va., but the following year returned to Massachusetts, and after studying for six months with Chapman, … Read more

Biography of James F. Egan

JAMES F. EGAN – Possessed of brains, initiative, energy, and capacity for thorough and profound study, James F. Egan has already made a name for himself as a dependable young lawyer. He has a wide circle of acquaintances whom he has impressed with his quality, and he is constantly extending his clientele. James F. Egan, son of James and Winifred (Tighe) Egan, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, June 20, 1896. His father, a hard-working and reliable brick mason, was born in Ireland, September 4, 1866, and his mother was born there May 3, 1868. James Egan, senior, died in 1922, … Read more

Biography of Charles Frederick Minott

CHARLES FREDERICK MINOTT – The Minotts are an old Massachusetts family who, however unlike most of the original New England settlers, are of predominating Dutch and French origin. To mention only the immediate ancestry we know that the grandfather of Mr. C. F. Minott, of Greenfield, was of French origin, while the grandmother was of Dutch descent. Their children were: 1. Henry. 2. Aaron. 3. Charles. 4. William H. 5. Frank. The grandfather was engaged in the time-honored and old-fashioned trade of welldigging. William Horatio Minott, father of Charles F. Minott, was a native of Jamestown, New York, born in … Read more

Biography of Isaac Mills

ISAAC MILLS – Descended from a sterling New England ancestry, Isaac Mills was born in Southwick, Massachusetts, January 29, 1826, the son of John Mills; who was a notable figure in that region and the State, and served as United States District Attorney and State Senator. Isaac Mills attended the private schools of Mr. Lawton and Mr. Lombard, where many leading citizens received their early training. For a time he also attended Monson Academy, but was not graduated from that institution. He entered business life as a railroad clerk in the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad office at … Read more

Biography of Julian Lee Perkins

President of the Perkins Appliance Company, Incorporated, of Springfield, Massachusetts, one of the outstanding industries of a great industrial community, is a native of Vermont. He bears a name which appeared in English history back in the reign of Richard II. He was born in Bridgewater, Vermont, August 23, 1879, and attended the public and high schools at Woodstock, Vermont. His father, Charles A. Perkins, likewise born in Bridgewater, was a farmer. His mother, Eliza M. (Dinsmore) Perkins, was born in Lansing, Michigan. The name was derived from Peterkin, and had several spellings. Peter Morley, Esquire, alias Perkins, was an … Read more

Biography of John F. Malley

A well and widely known throughout Western Massachusetts as a lawyer of proved ability, and as an efficient Federal official, and while he no longer makes his home in that part of the State, being now a resident of Newton Center, his business and family connections have kept him still a part of his native Springfield. Mr. Malley was born in that city on January 29, 1878, a son of James and Mary A. (Connelly) Malley. He received his early education in the public schools there, and was graduated from the Springfield High School in June of 1896. After a … Read more

Biography of John Wilson

JOHN WILSON-The family of Wilson, of Greenfield, is of Scotch Origin, Robert Wilson, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, having been the father of Mr. John Wilson, who is the founder and senior partner of the firm of John Wilson & Company, of Greenfield Robert Wilson was born in Glasgow in 1839, and died in New Cummock, Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1870, in the part of the country that Robert Burns, at the early age of thirty-one years, made famous the world over. He was general manager of the Bank Colliery at New Cummock, was a hard worker and had to apply … Read more

Anthony Family of Bristol County Massachusetts

Edmund Anthony

The Anthony family of Bristol County Massachusetts descend from one John Anthony of Hampstead England who travelled in the Hercules to New England and settled in Rhode Island in 1634. This family, under the entrepreneurship of Edmund Anthony, became prominent publishers of many early Massachusetts papers, some of which were prominent in the establishment of the Republican Party and it’s causes.

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