In 1868, a labor dispute in Westfield’s cigar industry exploded into a dramatic—and deadly—conflict. And before it was over, threats had turned into violence, police were chasing fugitives, and a bullet fired in Southwick would bring the whole thing to a shocking end. It all started with one woman.  A Factory, a Union, and One Bold Hire Harrison & Carpenter was one of the largest cigar manufacturers in Westfield. In what the company described as a charitable act, it hired a German immigrant woman who was supporting both an aging mother and a fatherless child. Management saw it as an act of kindness. But for members of the Tobacconists Union Association—a powerful cigar makers’ union—the woman’s hiring was a betrayal. She was not a union member, and the act of hiring outside the union was viewed as a direct challenge to their authority. Despite her circumstances, union members demanded she be fired. When Harrison & Carpenter refused, the union went on st...

On January 4, 1916, Charles Grace, a night watchman for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NYNH&H), discovered something troubling in Plainville, Connecticut. While inspecting a sixteen-car freight train on the New Haven line, he noticed a boxcar with a broken security seal. At first glance, the seal appeared intact—but on closer inspection, Grace saw that someone had cleverly twisted it back into place to conceal the breach. Sensing something was amiss, he began a thorough inspection of the entire train. To his alarm, eleven boxcars had similarly tampered seals—all carefully manipulated to disguise the fact someone had opened them.   Grace immediately alerted trainmaster John Snezeley.  A subsequent inventory revealed the extent of the theft: two bicycles from Westfield Manufacturing Company (later known as Columbia), a complete set of sixteen law books, a typewriter, seven chairs, sixteen pairs of high-end men's shoes, and—remarkably—two en...

In 1947, Michael Tysz of Southwick, Massachusetts, was enrolled at the Commercial Trades Institute, a technical school located in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. He was studying refrigeration, auto repair, and auto body work. Also attending the school was Anthony Godek from Feeding Hills, Massachusetts. The two men would stay at rooming houses, and they co-owned a truck, which they sometimes lived in. On October 28, Michael received a letter from the school regarding his poor academic performance. Upon reading it, he remarked to Anthony, "Gee, a guy in a mess like I'm in ought to shoot himself." Anthony dismissed the comment at the time, thinking little of it. A few days later, on November 3, Anthony returned from classes to a grim discovery. Inside their truck parked in front of their rooming house at 1604 Lunt Avenue, he found Michael's body with a bullet hole through his head. Michael was holding a knife in his hand, and a .22 caliber rifle lay n...