Tragedy and Success: Southwick's Popcorn King
— A Southwick Time Machine Original | Biographical Reconstruction
Frederick Lovatus Noble was born in Southwick, Massachusetts, on August 25, 1822. Known by his middle name, Lovatus, he grew up in a wealthy and highly respected Southwick family. He later married Julia Ann Sarah Warner of Suffield, Connecticut, on April 23, 1851. The newlyweds settled in the Long Yard section of Southwick.
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| The Noble Homestead in the Longyard |
Their first son, Frederick “Freddie” Lovatus Noble, was born on March 12, 1854. Two years later, on May 12, 1856, they welcomed another son, Frank Wilbur Noble.
Lovatus was a man of exemplary character. He earned his living peddling whips for a manufacturer in Westfield, Massachusetts. In November 1857, he was returning home from a business trip when he stopped at the Granby, Connecticut, home of Jeremiah “Jeremy” H. Holcomb, an acquaintance with whom he had arranged to spend the Sabbath.
Lovatus stayed at the Holcomb residence for a day or two. On the evening of Saturday, November 21, 1857, he retired to bed around 10:00 p.m. Jeremy’s brother, who was also living in the house, slept in a room directly below Lovatus. He retired at the same time.
The following morning, November 22, the brother heard a loud noise around 7:00 a.m. He later described it as sounding like someone jumping out of bed.
About thirty minutes later, Jeremy went upstairs to call his guest to breakfast. Receiving no answer, he slowly opened the chamber door.
What he found was horrifying.
Lovatus's body was suspended by the neck from his cravat, which had been tied to a hook in the ceiling over the corner of the bedstead. His knees were nearly touching the floor.
Jeremy called for his brother, who raced upstairs. Lovatus appeared dead, but the brothers did not give up hope. Together, the men cut Lovatus’s body down and summoned Dr. Sanford of Tariffville, but it was too late.
There was nothing the doctor could do.
An inquest was ordered, and the jury ultimately concluded that Lovatus’s business trip was not as successful as he had hoped and that he had met his death by "hanging whilst in a fit of temporary derangement."
He was just 35 years old.
Tragedy struck again on June 7, 1859, when young Freddie passed away.
Following her husband’s death, Julia married his older brother, William Amos Noble, on April 27, 1875.
Growing Up in the Long Yard
Around the time of his marriage, Lovatus had built a house on South Longyard Road in Southwick for his bride on property adjoining the large farm of his father, Horace Noble.
That house remained central to the family's story.
Frank Wilbur Noble grew up there and would eventually purchase the property outright, keeping the homestead in the family.
William Amos Noble died on January 1, 1892. About a year later, Death returned. On the evening of January 26, 1893, Julia rose during the night to get some medicine. She stumbled while carrying a lighted lamp. When the lamp hit the floor, it exploded, setting her clothing on fire. Julia died the next morning from the severe burns she suffered.
As a young man, Frank showed an unusual interest in business. By the time he was twenty years old, he was growing and marketing his own crops, selling much of his produce to customers in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Demand quickly exceeded what he could grow himself.
To keep up, he began purchasing crops from neighboring farms. Before long, he was buying produce from much of the Long Yard.
Among the crops that particularly interested him was popcorn.
At the same time, he was also raising tobacco on his Southwick farm.
In 1878, Frank officially established himself as a grower and dealer in Superior Rice Popping Corn and other varieties. As his business expanded, he constructed a large warehouse in Southwick around 1892 for packing tobacco.
But popcorn was proving to be the better opportunity.
Eventually, Frank abandoned the tobacco business and focused entirely on popcorn.
The decision would make him famous.
"Always Pops"
Frank Noble's popcorn quickly developed a reputation for quality. His superior rice-popping corn production was highly impressive, but once again, demand outpaced supply.
Rather than limiting growth, he expanded. As his business grew, he began contracting with large farmers in the Midwest. Soon, he was purchasing the entire annual production of some of the largest popcorn growers in the country, including growers in Iowa and Nebraska.
As his operation expanded, Frank gradually withdrew from growing popcorn himself and concentrated on buying, processing, and marketing it.
His business became enormous.
Large warehouses in the East handled shelling, cleaning, storing, and packaging corn for shipment. Most of Noble's popcorn was sold in bulk to retailers, wholesalers, grocers, and popcorn vendors.
The Southwick warehouse, however, held a special distinction.
It was the only location where Noble's Superior Rice Popping Corn was primarily packaged into one-pound packages intended for retail grocery stores and home consumers.
Customers became familiar with the company's famous slogan:
"Always Pops."
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| Correspondence from Frank W. Noble, 1913 |
His packaging even included recipes for Crystalized Corn and Corn Balls.
By the early twentieth century, Noble's Popcorn was being shipped by the carload throughout the East Coast, into the Central States, and into Canada. Some shipments even went overseas.
The Southwick businessman had become one of the largest popcorn dealers in America without sacrificing quality.
Eventually, he earned two nicknames. The first was "The Popcorn Man," and as his business expanded, he became known as "The Popcorn King."
Building a Popcorn Empire
Frank's success continued to grow.
In 1912, he secured a trademark patent for his "Noble's" popcorn on the cob.
The following year, he purchased a $17,000 farm in Iowa, placing him even closer to some of the nation's most productive popcorn-growing regions.
By this time, he was shipping popcorn in tremendous quantities and had become the second-largest popcorn dealer in the United States.
Although he moved to Springfield around 1908, he never abandoned Southwick. He maintained his Longyard estate and continued to spend time there.
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| Advertisement circa 1900 |
In 1914, he even leased the estate for several months while managing his expanding business interests.
His success brought considerable wealth.
In 1919, Frank built a mansion along the riverfront in Seabreeze, Florida. The palatial residence cost $20,000, an extraordinary amount of money for a private residence at the time. He made additional alterations to the home in 1921.
Frank also accumulated substantial real estate holdings in and around Seabreeze, which became part of Daytona Beach in 1926. His influence became so significant that city officials reportedly named a street in his honor: Noble Street.
Family Life
Frank Noble married Alice Jeannie Fowler in Southwick on October 24, 1883.
The couple had two daughters.
In 1912, Frank, Alice, and their daughters embarked on an extensive overseas trip that included Egypt, Italy, France, and England. The family spent an entire month in Egypt before returning home in March.
That summer, however, Alice became seriously ill.
She died at the family's Springfield home on December 7, 1912.
Frank later remarried. On March 21, 1915, he married Annie (Miller) Gilmore in New York City.
Tragedy Returns
Despite Frank's extraordinary success, tragedy continued to visit the Noble family.
Frank's daughter, Mildred Doris Noble, was born in Southwick on September 26, 1891, though some sources give her birth year as 1890.
By the 1930s, she was living in the Seabreeze section of Daytona Beach, Florida.
In April 1934, Mildred suffered severe burns from hot water. While recovering from those injuries, she suddenly suffered an internal hemorrhage and died at her home at 3:00 p.m. on May 13, 1934.
Four days later, on May 17, her body was transported by train to Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Final Years
On January 5, 1935, one of Frank's automobiles, driven by his chauffeur, skidded on the wet Seabreeze Bridge in Florida. The chauffeur reportedly swerved to avoid a fisherman, causing the vehicle to plunge off the bridge and into the water below.
Fortunately, he escaped serious injury.
Another incident followed on November 16, 1936.
After returning home and parking the family automobile in the garage, the vehicle caught fire. The blaze spread to the garage ceiling and a storage loft overhead before firefighters extinguished it around 6:00 p.m.
The automobile and garage both suffered significant damage.
Less than a year later, Frank Noble's remarkable life came to an end.
He died on August 4, 1937, at the Blandford, Massachusetts, home of his daughter, where he liked to spend his summers.
He was 81 years old.
Around 1978, the former Popcorn King’s Seabreeze mansion was demolished to make way for condominiums.
— Reassembled through the Southwick Time Machine
Frank Wilbur Noble
May 12, 1856 — August 4, 1937
This article is based on original primary-source research, including official records, census data, property records, period newspapers, directories, old maps, and the "History and Genealogy of the Family of Thomas Noble of Westfield, Massachusetts."
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Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes
- Seabreeze officially became part of Daytona, Florida, in 1926. Frank Noble had taken part in the official voting to become part of Daytona, but it’s unclear how he voted. In 1926, Daytona voted to change its name to Daytona Beach after merging Daytona, Daytona Beach, and Seabreeze together.
- Seabreeze, Florida, was an independent coastal town from May 24, 1901, until January 1, 1926.
- Frank Noble transformed a simple agricultural product into a nationally recognized brand.
- Originally known as the Long yard, it later became Longyard. The spelling varied over the years and the space between long and yard was removed.
- In 1905, Frank Noble purchased the interest of the tobacco firm Hudson & Doherty.
- Mildred Noble died at 437 North Halifax Avenue in Seabreeze, Florida.
- Frank was a member of the Springfield Rotary Club.
- Frank Noble’s trademarked popcorn, packaged under the familiar "Always Pops" slogan, made him one of the most successful businessmen Southwick ever produced.
- A 1908 advertisement proclaimed: "Noble's Popping Corn Always Pops."
- A 1914 Connecticut advertisement promoted "Noble's Popcorn on cob, the finest money can buy. 5 cents the pound."
- Frank had different varieties and styles of popcorn including on the cob, white, and shelled.
- Miller & Olson, Inc., was known for selling high-quality groceries and provisions. They had five stories in New Britain, Connecticut. In 1915, they advertised Noble's Popcorn at three packages for twenty-five cents.
- Bibeau's, a prominent grocery, bakery, and catering business in Meriden, Connecticut, carried Noble's Popcorn for many years. By 1918, Bibeau's was one of the last grocers in the region to offer full service in all departments. The company maintained three telephone lines for customer orders and provided free daily delivery service.
- At Bibeau's, Noble's Popcorn could be purchased by the pound. Wholesale customers could purchase 100 pounds of Noble's Rice Pop Corn on the Cob for $4.25, while the retail price was five cents per pound.
- Like Noble's Popcorn, Bibeau’s was the “world’s standard of quality.”
- Horace Noble's wife's name was Dolly (Smith). She died on August 21, 1868.
- Several of Horace and Dolly's children died within a year or so of being born.
- In 1924, Frank sat on the Board of Directors for the newly organized First National Bank of Seabreeze, Florida.
- Cheaper yellow corn eventually became dominant in the commercial popcorn industry during the 20th century because they generally produced larger flakes, stored and transported well, and were economical to grow. White corn was widely considered superior due to its size and texture.
- Notable Florida architect John A. Rogers designed Frank’s Seabreeze mansion. The palatial home, described as a “showplace,” grand, and palace-like, had four large bedrooms on the second floor. The manicured grounds included many large trees. It stretched from Halifax Avenue to the river. The spectacular property had approximately 100 feet of frontage.
- The Nobles were proud of their new Seabreeze home. For New Year’s 1920, they sent cards and a folder containing a booklet with a painted photo of their spectacular new Florida winter home to friends and family in New England.
- The Estate of Frank W. Noble sold Noble’s mansion to a doctor in 1943. The home was purchased fully furnished. As soon as the sale closed, the new owner started making renovations.
- Noble's Popcorn was sold in numerous states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota.
- Frank Noble was also known for his beautifully illustrated company letterheads.
- In 1915, Frank traveled to California aboard the Union Pacific Railroad and visited both the San Diego and San Francisco expositions. During the trip, he also briefly crossed into Mexico before returning east on the Santa Fe Railroad.
- Before building his mansion, Frank and his family would rent a large home in Florida to escape the cold New England winters. Frank would ship one of their automobiles from Springfield to Seabreeze. Sometimes they stayed from November to June. They would then return to Southwick and spend the summer at the Noble family home on South Longyard Road.
- During the 1920s, Iowa was experiencing a major agricultural boom.
- William's first wife died of consumption in 1874.
- Jeremy Holcomb died in 1883. However, an interesting dispute surrounding the interpretation of his will took place in 1910.
- During a hunting outing on his Longyard estate in October 1915, Frank and a friend reportedly bagged six squirrels, three partridges, a pheasant, and a woodcock. A few days later, Frank entertained friends with a game supper at the estate.
- On May 11, 1916, a fire started while a man employed by Frank Noble was burning underbrush on the Longyard estate. The blaze spread across a large area and destroyed a tobacco barn on an adjoining farm despite the efforts of several volunteers who eventually brought the fire under control.
- It appears that William and Frank maintained a uncle-nephew relationship versus a stepfather-stepson relationship.
- Jeremy Holcomb served on the jury of a high-profile murder trial.
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