Holyoke, Mass

[Note: this obituary was adapted from the 28 May 1957 edition of the Holyoke Transcript.  This person happens to be a connection in my own genealogy files, though not a direct one.  Still, if you are related, do drop a line and say hello.]

Mrs. Annie (Halket) Jenkins, 84, of 133 Sargeant St., died this morning in Westfield State Hospital, Westfield after a short illness.  She was the widow of William C. Jenkins.

Mrs. Jenkins, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, was born Septemeber 14, 1872, and came to this country and to Holyoke 64 years ago.  She lived here since.

She held membership in the First Presbyterian church and also belonged to Group W. of the church and the Daughters of Caledonia.

continue reading

No Comments »

[Adapted from the Holyoke Transcript, December 1882.  Interesting this concerns an invention by a woman.]

Some time ago notice was made of the patenting of an invention by Mary Martin, an employe of Buchanan & Bolt’s Fourdrinier wire works, of an improved seam for dandy rolls, which leaves no mark on the paper and has other advantages over the seam previously in use.  The patent runs for seventeen years and the improvement is now in use in the manufactory of Buchanan, Bolt & Co.  Quite a contest is likely to arise over this patent by a claim which has lately been put forth by Cheney, Bigelow & Co. of Springfield.  Their claim is that the one previously invented and used has been assigned to them, and that the new one is an infringement on that patent, and they have sent an open circular to various manufactories warning them against making use of the manufacture of Buchanan, Bolt & Co.  The new seam differs in important particulars from the old one, and those who are now using it do not, of course, believe that the claim of infringement will be maintained, and will defend their rights in the matter.  It is an important thing to the firm in this city and there will probably be a legal contest.

Related Links
Fourdrinier Paper-Making Machine
Bigraphy of Henry Fourdrinier

No Comments »

[From the Holyoke Transcript, December 1882.  How times have changed.]

Thomas Connor, who poured oil on the groceries of Adelide Campagna, a few months ago, was proven guilty of the mean crime yesterday and Peter Connor was convicted of knocking down James Mullins with a stone.

No Comments »

[From the Holyoke Transcript, 29 December 1882.]

The Wedding Boom

The wedding of Mr. Frederick S. Morrison and Miss Lucy Higgenbottom took place Thursday afternoon, at the home of the bride’s sister, Mrs. E. G. Whiting.  The hour of the ceremony was half past four.  Only the family friends were present, but they were sufficient in numbers to make a considerable party.  The ceremony was performed by Rev. Mr. Foote.  The bride received many beautiful and appropriate gifts, from her friends at this city and at the West.  The bridal costume was white trimmed with Spanish lace and the bride’s traveling suit was a pretty and tasteful combination of dark green and maroon.  The wedded couple left the city on the evening train and will spent two or three days in New York before seeking their future home in Wallingford.

Mr. George E. Hamel and Miss Julia E. Fitzpatrick made each other a Christmas present for life.  Mr. Hamel, formerly of this city, is now foreman of the finishing department at the Collins Depot paper mill, and the bride has been employed at Whiting’s paper mill.  Collins Depot will be their home for the present.

Another of the holiday weddings was that of John J. Clifford of ward one and Miss Bridget Barrett.  Their wedding day had been set last summer, but was deferred by the sudden death of Mrs. Clifford’s mother.  They were married the day after Christmas.

The wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur B. Grimes, which occurred at the bride’s home on Newton street Wednesday evening was a quiet one and the young couple are spending their honeymoon in New York.  The bride was Miss Mary Wood, better known to her friends as Miss Mary Oliver, the latter surname being the name of her stepfather.

A correspondent writes that Carrie L. Lowell, formerly of Holyoke, was married at Auburn, Maine, to Clarence Chase.

The last marriage license issued was taken by a Cuban, the first one ever issued to one of that nationality in this city.  He was born in Cuba of Spanish parentage, and his wife’s birth-place was Ireland.

No Comments »

In the city news section in the Dec. 11, 1882 issue of the Holyoke Transcript are the following articles about one Michael O’Brien, discovered dead near the railroad tracks and the Connecticut River (last seen attending the wake of a cousin). With a bit of speculation regarding the death itself.

His Last Walk.

This morning, a little before seven o’clock, Patrick Shea came to the police station and gave notice that the body of a man who had been killed by the cars was lying beside the track of the Connecticut River road ledge at the dam.  At the same time a telephone message came from the man at the wheel house who had just discovered the body.  The corpse was lying about a foot from the track, with both legs broken and the head cut.  A hat was found about 20 feet from the body.  It appeared as if the man had been struck by the train and thrown against the ledge, from whence the body had fallen or rolled back to the ground near the track and had been dragged along some feet.  The probabilities are that the man was struck either by the five o’clock freight train or the six o’clock passenger train, the likelihood being that it was the former.

The body was taken to the morgue in the city hall and was identified as that of Michael O’Brien, a man who separated from his wife a week or to ago an has since been boarding with relatives on Fountain Street.  He had one child, by a former wife, whom he kept with him, the second wife living at South Holyoke since their separation.

It is stated that O’Brien had been attending a wake on Chestnut Street previous to that accident.  He was not a man of steady habits.  He had been employed in a dye-house and previously at the Holyoke Paper mill.

Medical Examiner Tuttle viewed the body at the morgue and will hold an inquest.

continue reading

No Comments »