Private Raymond M. Flynn

Another interesting e-mail was in my in-box this morning.  This time it was in regard to Raymond M. Flynn of Holyoke, pictured above.

Raymond Flynn was born 22 Feb 1893 to Daniel and Bridget Flynn.  I am assuming this is the correct Raymond Flynn since he is the only one found in the 1910 Federal Census.  The Census has him living on Center Street with his parents and 5 siblings.

Raymond joined the Army and served during WWI, his draft card signed in June 1917 has him living in Manhattan on W. 102 Street.  He is listed in Holyoke In the Great War on page 162 as “Private, Company E. 308th Infantry.  Entered service December 6, 1917.  With American Expeditionary Forces. (With the “Lost Battalion.”)

A film was made about the Lost Battalion in 1919 and much later, in 2001 a TV film was made also.  Details are on the Wikipedia entry, linked above.

In 1919, Raymond M. Flynn, along with Alexander T. Hussey wrote a book entitled “The History of Company E, 308th Infantry (1917-1919)“, Knickerbocker Press, New York.  The 1920 Census shows Raymond Flynn living in Manhattan with his friend and co-author Alexander Hussey.

I am not sure if Raymond ever returned to Holyoke.  Anyone know this Flynn family?  I have quite a few Flynns from Holyoke in my genealogy database, but not Raymond.  If anyone has a familial connection, please let me know.

Returning to the e-mail I received, the writer explained that her husband’s uncle is Alexander T. Hussey, Flynn’s co-author.  She is seeking  to pass on information to the Flynn family of Holyoke that the book is now out of copyright and a digital version is available free to read online or download from the Internet Archive at the following link:

http://www.archive.org/details/historycompanye00flyngoog)

“According to the 1910 US Census, my grandparents were living on Potvin Avenue in Holyoke, MA at that time. However, after extensively searching various Internet map sites I could not locate Potvin Avenue in Holyoke, MA.

I would appreciate very much if you could let me know whatever happened to Potvin Avenue after 1910.”

Potvin Ave was new to me — I had to look up Potvin Avenue in an old atlas and did find it in 1911, here is a photo of the location (click to see a larger version).

Potvin Avenue 1911

Potvin Ave was a small street, and judging by the building owners nearby (marked on the map), one sees rather clearly how it likely got named.

The sequence of events surrounding the ownership of the larger lot marked “Holyoke Water Power Company” is unknown to me,  but I do know by 1955 this lot had become the site for a First National Supermarket with an owner in Danbury, CT.  I did find a reference to a dispute between the City of Holyoke and the the property owner, one Lazarus L. Heyman of Danbury about the property value of the site.  The difference in numbers would have made a significant change in property tax — Heyman claiming it was valued at $75,000 (Realtor Francis B. Woods testified to this); the City Assessors claiming the value at $97,500; and a third figure coming in at a value of $200,000 (submitted by Realtor Edward S. O’Donnell on behalf of the City).

I don’t mean to keep anyone hanging here in terms of the resolution of value in this dispute — I do not know the outcome of the case.  But it shows that in 1955, through the legal discussion and description of the property, Potvin Ave did still exist.

Does anyone know or remember when Potvin Avenue actually stopped existing as a street?  This is what that same area looks like now, courtesy of Bing.com maps (again, click on map to see a larger version).

Foremer Potvin Avenue location, map by Bing.com

So sorry no weekday posts, duty calls here.  However, of course I will be around a lot more during the off-season …

If you are interested in blogging here occasionally, let me know!

Mrs. Mary Jubinville of 30 High street was 90 years old yesterday.  Coming to Holyoke at the age of 12, she has seen the city grow from a hamlet with a few hundred souls to a city of 58,000.  Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Lague, came here from Canada in a “covered wagon.” The wagon conveyed some 24 people who came to Holyoke to work in the Lyman mills.  The Lague family was the second French family to settle in Holyoke.  The journey took 10 days from St. Cesaire to Holyoke.

From The Springfield Republican.

The Bud

Back again in the Finger Lakes after a brief holiday including a few days in Holyoke.

In January I was in Holyoke for a couple of days, but it was far from a pleasure trip and there was no time to look around . I haven’t been to Holyoke in maybe 7 years.  When my son moved out of MA, I lost the easiest lodging place and then, well, life just “got in the way. ”

This time around there was driving around time and frankly I was stunned at the number of buildings ready to be demolished. Some  — such as The Bud — were no surprise of course, but others were.  And I was to some extent reminded of my tenure in Brooklyn where the symbols denoting condition were on many buildings — many of them historic buildings — that had been left to rot on their own to make demolition possible.  Not saying this is true in Holyoke, but it was in Brooklyn.

I don’t mind new buildings done well, but it doesn’t happen all that often, and it saddens me to know next time around many places I saw during this last visit will be gone.

More Than 50 People in peril

Three Persons Injured Seriously and Several Escape With Cuts and Bruises.

Just at the close of yesterday’s ball game at Holyoke, when the crowd made its first rush for the exits, there was a loud cracking and snapping sound, followed by a crash, and the nine seats at the north end of the grand stand slipped down in the cellar, followed by between 50 and 75 men, to the great astonishment of Patrick Cray and John Brown, who were below.  Some fell through the edge and some slid down the incline made by the sloping and broken flooring and planks.  The cry went up through the grand stand, “The Stand is breaking down!” and women’s screams were added to the shouts of the men.  Among those who went down were two or three doctors, so medical aid was “on the spot.”  In view of the likelihood of serious accident, the management sent for the hospital ambulances, but they were not needed.  The only three men to be seriously hurt were J. F. Leary of Hatfield, John Buckley of Hampden street and Joseph M. Toepfert of 40 Laurel street, Holyoke.

The most serious case seemed to be that of Mr. Buckley, who was rendered unconscious.  He had a scalp wound and was badly bruised and was suffering severely from the shock.  Last evening he was improving.  He was attended by several doctors at the ground and by Drs. E. J. Mahoney and J.P. Shine at his home. Mr. Toepfert had a rib broken, and was taken in one of M. J. Laporte’s hacks to his home on Laurel street, where he was attended by Dr. T. E. Cavanaugh.  He also had other minor injuries.  J. F. Leary went to Holyoke for the first time to see the match baseball game.  He went home with a broken rib and other small bruises as souvenirs of the occasion.  He was taken by T. F. Ryan to Dr. McIntee’s office in the Ball building.  There were several others who had teeth knocked out, clothes torn, or cuts and bruises on arms or legs, but none required medical attendance or were unable to go to their homes by trolley.  One feature of the affair was the number of ruined hats,m some dozen or so who were in the crash being obliged to go home bare headed, including City Messenger W. T. Welch, Mark Carpenter and D. J. J. McCabe.  City Clerk Sheehan was also in the pile.  One little girl caught the side of the stand as the flooring crashed down, and was helped down by E. F. Dowd.  No women were in the crash, fortunately.

The reason for the breakdown was very evident from even the most cursory examination.  A strong eight by eight beam runs along the north end of the stand, on which were laid, or should have been laid, the eight by eight timbers upon which the framework and flooring of the stand rest.  By some cheap job work one of these eight by eight beams, instead of being so laid, was put up end on to the beam and supported only by a piece of two-inch plank spiked to the upright.  When wind and weather rotted the end of the sustaining beam the rush of the crowd was sufficient to push off or break off this rotting piece and the flooring joined to it went down with it.  The question of who was responsible for the accident that followed was widely discussed last evening.  It seems to be for the lawyers to decide whether the baseball club or the Holyoke park association is liable.  The escape from loss of life or more serious accident was almost miraculous.

From The Springfield Republican.

Springfield and Holyoke Supply Promising Material — Judge Richard Irwin Presides.

The naturalization sitting of superior court, Judge Richard W. Irwin presiding, ended yesterday after 295 had been admitted to citizenship, 215 in Springfield and 80 at Holyoke.  The applicants admitted at the Holyoke sitting are as follows: –

David Laman, Wojeiech P. Kania, Lawrence Mokrzycki, Theodore J. Langlois, Elizabeth J. Moorhead, Charles Lines, Edydar Courchaine, Alphone Morrissette, Ovila Cote, Charles Dillon, Jerry Devine, Sarah Hyslop Moorhead, Marcy C. Murdoch, Lena E. Kane, Adolph Seney, Hermas Lariviere, Greenwood Bentley, Della A. Mahoney, Ernest J. Labrarre, Ella Young, Denise Caron, Annie R. Wright, Mary T. Kane, May B, B, Greenlaw, Mary J. R. Lemaire, Bridie T. Palmer, John Gilmore, Joseph Gauthier, Emil A. Gauthier, Joseph T. Goulet, Joseph Brault, Maxime Goulet, Oscar A. Begin, Peter J. Carey, Joseph O. Laflamme, Gelore G. Beaufrault, Michael J. Woods, Joseph Miller, James J. Doherty, Anthony J. Padden, Johanna M. Bowler, Catherine M. Bowler, Nellie T. Shea, Nellie Bowler, Lizzie McGregor, Annie Young, Philomena M. Philbert, Jane Hay, Margaret Donoghue, Bessie Donoghue, Katherine M. Sullivan, Sarah A. L. Hughes, Mary J. Bresnahan, Adelard J. Corbeil, Margaret D. Stevenson, Alfred Langlois, Edauard L. J. Crailfre, John Fosko, Giovanni Lamanna, Edward Debuck, Rose Barowsky, Martin K. Parsighlan, John N. Nickelaidas, Henry J. Sabourin, Wilfred LaBrecque, Jozef Mocarski, Louis Walz, Paolo Catalano, Leonell Mazzolini, William Schott, Daniel Renner, Adolf Lapinski, Andro Glinski, Paul H. Blaurock, Karl G. Kuehner, Lawrence Gacek, Abndrew Orsini, Peter Petri, Josef Wudyka, Francois Zurlinden, Alojkzy P. Sharbek, Josephine Niedzielska, Stanley Andrew, Anthony Razukevich.

From The Springfield Republican.

The 6-years-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Alexis Biron of 74 West street was drowned soon after 6 last night in the second-level canal, near the Norman paper company’s mill.  Officers Rourke and Vachon dragged the canal for two hours to recover the body, but were unsuccessful, and the search will be renewed this morning.

From The Springfield Republican.

Ad for the June 22 opening of the newly decorated roof garden of the Roger Smith Hotel “Casino in the Sky.” (click image to enlarge)

Roger Smith Hotel Ad, 1946

From The Springfield Republican.