WILLIAM EDWARD COONEY – Both the hotel and the general real estate interests of Northampton have benefited very materially during the past forty years through Mr. Cooney’s association with a development and management of both departments of activity, as his capable methods have been such as to bring substantial results to the community. In earlier years, an all-round printer of widely recognized ability, Mr. Cooney also observed and shared in the growth and advancement of this part of the State through the newspaper and publishing field, and his family have always been known for thorough workmanship in all their undertakings. His grandmother, Ellen (Hanley) Cooney, was the first of this branch to come to the United States; she died in Haydenville, Massachusetts, about 1880. Her husband, Michael Cooney, grandfather of William E. Cooney, lived and died in Ireland. His children were: Michael, of whom further; Elizabeth, who married Michael Keating; Katherine, who married Michael Hearn; Ellen, who married John Fogerty; Mary, who married a Dady; Johanna, who married a Davin.
Michael Cooney, who was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, died in Haydenville, in the town of Williamsburg, Massachusetts, in 1885. He attended school in Ireland, and came to the United States when he was nineteen years of age, stopping first in Brooklyn, New York, and thence coming to Leeds, Massachusetts, where he was employed for awhile in the Musgrave Woolen Mill. He then went to Haydenville, to work in the Japan Button Shop, and he was afterwards employed by the Haydenville Brass Company as a truckman. He married Rosanna Martin, who was born in Kings County, Ireland, and died in Northampton in 1892, aged sixty years. Their children were: Michael E., deceased, who left sons, Michael E. and William F.; Margaret, deceased; Ellen, died in 1924; Rosanna, deceased, who married William J. Larkin; William Edward, of whom further; Catherine, deceased; Elizabeth, who married Thomas H. Gilfoil, deceased; Mary, deceased; Annie. who married John T. Keating, a lawyer, deceased.
William Edward Cooney was born November 13, 1855, at Haydenville, in the town of Williamsburg, Massachusetts, where he attended school. When he was fifteen years of age, he came to Northampton, where he was employed in the printing office of the old “Free Press,” and where he remained four years. He then removed to Springfield, where he was employed as compositor on the “Union” and the “Republican,” so continuing two years, when he returned to Northampton, where he became associated with the office of the Star Printing and Engraving Company, and had charge of that office two years. It was at that time that he became interested in the hotel business, and for several years he had the management of the old Nonatuck Hotel. In 1905 he built the Hampton Hotel, which he afterwards sold, and for some years he has been retired. Meantime, he had been actively engaged in real estate enterprises, and he was the means of developing and building up sections of Northampton. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Nonatuck Savings Bank.
William Edward Cooney married, November 18, 1874, Catherine Roach, born in Ireland, February 5, 1854, daughter of John and Mary (Powers) Roach; and they were the parents of five children: 1. Michael E., born December 4, 1875, who met with an accidental death at the age of twenty-two years; he was a student of Holy Cross College, at Worcester, and was a contractor and a brick manufacturer. 2. Martin James, born January 20, 1881, died March 14, 1883. 3. William A., born February 18, 1884; was educated at the Northampton High School and Williston Seminary, and afterwards was given his degree in dentistry at the Medico Chirurgical and Dental College at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; is now a dentist with offices at Northampton; he married Maude Brown of the State of Maine and has two children, Bernardine and Ann. 4. Austin B., born October 18, 1886; is employed at the Northampton post office; married Emma Bouthelotte, of Northampton. 5. Bernard Joseph, born May 10, 1893; attended the parochial schools, and is engaged in the real estate business at Northampton; he entered the World War in the United States Army, in August, 1918, was assigned to southern camps, and served in the infantry, in the Quartermaster’s Corps, until he received his discharge in April, 1919. He married Ruth Davidson, of Campobello, New Brunswick. Mr. and Mrs. Cooney celebrated their golden wedding on March 18, 1924; a banquet at Boyden’s was a prominent feature. Both are members of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Northampton.