Allegations of voter fraud in Southwick, Massachusetts, had residents questioning the integrity of the voting process following the arrest of Clinton Aldrich, who was charged with illegal voting on Election Day, 1868. The case attracted considerable interest throughout the region. Aldrich appeared in the afternoon session of Westfield Police Court on Saturday, November 14, 1868, with Judge M. B. Whitney presiding. Massachusetts State Senator Henry William Fuller was counsel for the defense, while H. B. Stevens represented the Commonwealth.    Henry William Fuller, circa 1868   Southwick Selectman Aurelius Moore was called as a witness on behalf of the Commonwealth. Under direct questioning, he testified that he saw the young Aldrich place a piece of paper into the ballot box, but he was not sure what, if anything, was on it. Upon being recalled, Moore testified that when he counted all the ballots, each was filled in for either Republican or Democrat, and that there were ...

On July 10, 1951, a Holyoke, Massachusetts, judge fined Gus W. Vasilocosta of Suffield, Connecticut, five dollars for failing to slow down at an intersection. It was a minor traffic violation, one of thousands routinely handled in local courts. Two years later, on Monday, December 14, 1953, Vasilocosta was driving his convertible coupe westward along Thompsonville Road in Suffield. At the same time, Paul O. McGinnis of New Salem, Massachusetts, with his passenger Anthony M. Symanski of Hatfield, was traveling south on East Street in a 2½-ton truck carrying four work horses. East Street and Thompsonville Road intersected just ahead of them. The two vehicles approached the crossing. Locals had a name for it: “Death’s Corner.” At 11:31 a.m., they collided.   Gus Vasilocosta’s wrecked coupe following the collision at “Death’s Corner"   The impact forced Vasilocosta’s coupe into a cement retaining wall as the truck continued forward before overturning. It also tossed the horses fro...

—  A Southwick Time Machine Historical Curiosity     In 1971, Massachusetts lawmakers approved the creation of a state lottery, an ambitious effort designed to provide local aid to all 351 cities and towns across the Commonwealth. The following spring, that idea became reality with the promise that ordinary people might suddenly find themselves extraordinarily lucky. On March 22, 1972, the first ticket for  “ The Game ”  was sold. Just weeks later, on April 6, the first drawing took place at Boston’s Faneuil Hall, where seven winners each claimed $50,000.  On October 3, 1972, the Massachusetts Lottery held its seventh “Million Dollar Game.” The drawing took place at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, where more than a hundred finalists from every New England state except Vermont gathered, each hoping their name would be called for the top prize: $1 million, paid in annual installments of $50,000 over twenty years. Alongside the million-dollar prize were additional ...

      — A Southwick Time Machine Original   Eleanor “Ellen” R. Rowley died at her home on Smith Hill in Colebrook, Connecticut, on May 6, 1920. She was 97 years old, having passed just 12 days after her 97th birthday. At the time of her death, she was the oldest resident of the town. Her health had declined following a fall in her home about seven weeks earlier, from which she never fully recovered. She was the last surviving member of a family of at least 16 children. Ellen had at least nine children of her own; six survived her. Among them was her son, Waldo, who was born on Smith Hill but later relocated to neighboring Tolland, Massachusetts, where he spent most of his life, aside from a few years in Naugatuck.    The Rowleys (Waldo top left; Eleanor seated) Waldo was known locally for his farming. In 1899, he took first prize at the New Boston Agricultural Fair in Sandisfield, Massachusetts, for exhibiting a yearling colt described as “very fine.” Trage...

    — A Southwick Time Machine Original   Farmers in Southwick, Massachusetts, and the surrounding hill towns didn’t speak of “agricultural science” in the modern sense, but their records tell a story of extremes: outsized harvests, enormous livestock, and seasons that refused to follow the rules. (Image inspired by the story) About 1756, a farmer in Granville, Massachusetts, believed to be Luke Hitchcock, rode horseback all the way to New York and returned with just four potatoes, then still a novelty. Two froze on the journey home. From what remained, he planted fourteen small hills, and by season's end,  harvested four full bushels. From almost nothing came abundance. Decades later, the pattern continued. In 1822, a single apple grown in Granville weighed one pound, seven ounces. That same year, a cabbage grown in Granville measured more than three feet, five inches in circumference after all of the loose leaves were trimmed away. Not long after, in 1827, workers ...