Constable Coe and the Tobacco-Spitting Pickerel
— A Southwick Time Machine Original
People had long gathered at Southwick Ponds to fish in its spring-fed waters, but in 1886, a directive from the selectmen to crack down on illegal fishing placed a local constable at the center of disputes involving fishermen, members of two well-known local families, a prominent steamboat captain, and a debate over what truly counted as fishing.
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| Black Bass, Congamond Lake, Southwick, Masachusetts |
On Sunday, September 26, 1886, two groups of fishermen were at Southwick Ponds pursuing pickerel. Approximately nine men were involved. They fished from rowboats, with one person rowing while another attended to lines trolling in the wake of the boat.
The outing attracted the attention of Constable Addison H. Coe of Southwick.
Likely watching from his secret hiding place on shore, Constable Coe identified the men and had warrants sworn out, charging them with fishing with line and hook in Southwick Ponds on the Lord's Day.
When the men appeared in Westfield District Court on September 29, 1886, they pleaded guilty. Each paid an average fine and court costs of approximately $8. Constable Coe received $14 in fees and related expenses connected with the proceedings. (Two of the men evaded arrest by crossing the Connecticut border. They were identified as Newell Church and Victor Dubious. It's unclear if they were ever captured.)
The fishermen had argued that the charge was unfair because not every person in the boat was technically fishing. One man was rowing while another attended the lines. However, Constable Coe and the court did not accept that distinction.
The matter might have ended there, but only a few months later, two younger men connected to two of the most recognizable families involved in the earlier case found themselves facing the same accusation.
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| William S. Saunders, circa 1931 |
In 1886, William S. Saunders was part of the party of nine accused of fishing on the Lord's Day.
On a Sunday in December 1886, Alfred W. Granger and Arthur E. Saunders were arrested by Constable Coe for fishing through the ice at Southwick Ponds on the Lord’s Day. (Arthur and William Saunders were brothers.)
This time, however, the case would not end with a guilty plea.
The men explained that they had attempted to obtain a pickerel for a sick woman. They set out in search of one to buy. When they were unable to purchase one, they took a fish from a line they found in a hole cut in the ice.
The case reached Westfield District Court on December 18, 1886. The men waived examination and allowed the matter to go before the Grand Jury, but the judge ruled against that course and accepted their pleas of not guilty. A hearing was scheduled for December 23.
At trial, the defense presented witnesses who attempted to show that the catching of the fish was an act of charity rather than recreation.
One of Southwick’s physicians testified that he had ordered a fish for young Saunders’s mother, who was recovering from a serious illness.
Constable Coe presented a different account. He testified that from his secret hiding place on shore, he observed the young men skating about and setting up pickerel “types.” He said he saw them draw out a fish. According to Constable Coe’s testimony, because the fish was small, they threw it back into the water, but not before opening its mouth and spitting tobacco down its throat.
The court ultimately found that Constable Coe had failed to prove the charge, and Alfred Granger and Arthur Saunders were discharged. The unusual case attracted attention far beyond Southwick Ponds and was still being reported months later in newspapers across the nation.
Although Alfred Granger and Arthur Saunders escaped conviction, the controversy surrounding Constable Coe was far from over. Throughout 1886, the lawman found himself at the center of several highly publicized disputes at Southwick Ponds, earning both supporters and critics. Some newsmen even openly mocked Constable Coe in print.
The Fishing War at Southwick Ponds
Earlier in 1886, Southwick Constable Coe was directed by the town's selectmen to crack down on illegal fishing at Southwick Ponds, where large quantities of black bass and other fish were being taken unlawfully and peddled throughout the area. Because the use of seines and similar nets was prohibited, Constable Coe confiscated seines, pot-nets, and other fishing equipment and identified their owners for criminal prosecution.
Among the confiscated gear were nets belonging to Captain Butler, who had operated steamboats on Middle Pond. Months passed without the matter being resolved, and Captain Butler eventually decided the constable had held his property long enough. He went to Constable Coe's home and demanded the return of his nets.
Constable Coe initially agreed to let Captain Butler take the nets. However, before Captain Butler had driven out of the yard, Constable Coe changed his mind and insisted he would not surrender the property without an order from the selectmen. A brief tussle followed.
The disagreement quickly spilled into the courts. Captain Butler filed a civil suit seeking compensation for damage allegedly done to the nets while they were in Constable Coe's custody. As part of the action, he attached Constable Coe's tobacco crop as security for the claim. In response, the constable obtained a warrant from Westfield District Court charging the captain with violating the public statutes by taking fish from a public pond with a seine.
The feud became something of a local spectacle. Some residents reportedly viewed Captain Butler as a hero for standing up to the constable, while some newspapermen observed that arrests and legal issues in Southwick, mostly around Southwick Ponds, occupied about half of the cases in Westfield District Court. They speculated that the number was likely to grow substantially as tourism at the ponds exploded in popularity.
When Constable Coe and Captain Butler appeared in court on October 30, 1886, they reached an amicable settlement. The captain agreed to withdraw his civil suit, while the constable made arrangements to have the criminal charge against him entered as “nolle prosequi”, bringing the dispute to an end.
Captain Butler was well-known at Southwick Ponds. He went by Captain Fred. In 1883, he converted his barge into a steamboat, and ran two of the largest and handsomest steamers on Middle Pond: the stylish side-wheel "Ida Lee," and the larger, more popular, "Josephine."
To attract customers, he sometimes hired musicians to perform on his steamers. Captain Butler died on Sunday, July 22, 1888. The following year, Captain Chapman owned and operated the Ida Lee and Josephine.
The Families Behind the Fishing Dispute
Alfred W. Granger was believed born on January 17, 1864, in Southwick, Massachusetts. The date is calculated from his reported age at death. He was the son of Wesley Granger. By 1880, Wesley was working in a powder mill and Alfred was a general laborer.
At the time of the 1886 fishing case, Alfred was living in Westfield. He died on August 29, 1890, at Springfield Hospital at the age of 26 years, 7 months, and 12 days. His reported cause of death was empyema.
Arthur E. Saunders was the son of William and Emeline Saunders, whose family owned and operated the Congamond Grove, a popular picnic grove and boat livery across the street from the Lake House at Southwick Ponds. Arthur was also living in Westfield at the time of the fishing case.
He moved to Beverly, Massachusetts, working for several years at the United Shoe Machinery Corporation, which made machines for shoe manufacturers. He started off as a carpenter, then became superintendent, and later worked as a pattern maker for the company.
Arthur Saunders married music teacher Florence A. Childs in Springfield on November 24, 1887. It was Florence’s second marriage and Arthur’s first.
In 1907, the Saunders household attracted attention because their parrot, named Kato, laid an egg. The Saunders claimed that Kato, originally thought to be a male, had laid two eggs annually for the past ten years, something incredibly rare. Her eggs were white in color and about the size and shape of a pigeon's eggs.
Kato’s cleverest stunt, however, was that he would imitate a person using a telephone. She was able to recognize many of the numbers the household routinely called and her command of the English language made some of the calls extremely entertaining. (Kato's double egg-laying was odd
enough that it may or may not have attracted the attention of Robert Ripley of
Ripley's Believe It or Not! fame.)
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| Saunders Boat Livery |
Arthur and Florence Saunders — Automobile Stories
On the rainy, foggy evening of October 8, 1921, Florence Saunders found herself at the center of a complicated three-car accident. Her automobile had developed a flat tire and was parked beside the road, raised on a jack while repairs were being made.
As a Studebaker approached and attempted to pass Saunders's disabled machine, it became involved in a collision with a Ford touring car. What happened next became the central question in a $5,000 personal injury lawsuit filed against the Studebaker’s driver by Saunders and the owner of the Ford.
Saunders and the Ford’s owner alleged that the Ford struck the Studebaker with such force that it shoved the car across the roadway and into Saunders's parked automobile, knocking it off the jack, throwing it several feet, and bending the rear axle, spring, wheel, and other parts.
The defense presented a different account. The Studebaker's driver testified that Saunders's automobile displayed no taillight, making it difficult to see in the rain and fog. He claimed that when he finally noticed the disabled vehicle, he swerved to avoid it and, in doing so, collided with the Ford.
The case ultimately turned on an unusual question: Could a Ford touring car traveling about 35 miles per hour strike a Studebaker moving roughly 15 miles per hour with enough force to push it across the road and into Saunders's parked automobile?
After hearing the evidence, the jury found in favor of Florence Saunders and the other plaintiff.
Another incident occurred on April 16, 1924. Eleven-year-old Joseph Roy was walking down the street with his older sister, Mary, when he was struck and seriously injured by Arthur Saunders’s automobile. Joseph was taken to the hospital in Saunders’s vehicle with Mary riding on the automobile’s running board. While passing through Ellis Square, Mary fell into the street but was not injured. At Beverly Hospital, Joseph was placed on the dangerous list, having suffered a fractured skull and other internal injuries.
Wesley Granger Assault
Alfred Granger’s father, Wesley Granger, was involved in another Southwick-area incident in 1879.
On May 4, R. S. Legate, the brother of the owner of the newly opened Lake House at Southwick Ponds, and William Keenan went to Granger’s home. After calling him outside under the guise of having business to discuss, Keenan seized Granger while Legate beat the heck out of him. Legate was arrested, but Keenan fled across the Connecticut border to avoid prosecution.
William Keenan was no stranger to authorities.
In 1888, Keenan and at least one other man broke into the Lake House’s ice-house and stole all of the liquor. About a month or so later, on July 26, officers captured him in West Granville, Massachusetts, after tracking him for several weeks. He was working under the alias Underwood when arrested. The next morning, he appeared in Westfield District Court, where he pleaded guilty to the theft.
He was under indictment by the grand jury for breaking into the Southwick railroad depot. Keenan was indicted by a grand jury on September 27, 1888.
— A Curious Story from the Southwick Time Machine
Constable Addison Henry Coe
February 9, 1851 — September 24, 1918
Captain Edward Frederick Butler
abt.1836 — July 22, 1888
This article is based on original primary-source research, including official records and documents, census data, and period newspapers and directories.
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Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes
Saunders and Granger have been well-known Southwick names for more than 150 years.
Cross Road was renamed Coes Hill Road for Constable Coe whose large farm whose farmhouse and outbuildings sat at the base of the hill - appearing to face what is today's College Highway.
Coe appeared to own at least 25 acres of tobacco fields along today's Coes Hill Road. He appears to have owned about 40 acres of land overall.
William and Emeline Saunders have appeared on the Southwick Time Machine before. Most notably for Emeline's mother's tragic death in 1856.
By 1900, Addison Coe and his family were still living in Southwick. They had two servants living on their farm. One of Coe's sons was a milk peddler.
Some sources say Arthur was born in September 1864 and his wife in October 1861.
Arthur’s brother worked at Saunders’s picnic grove. His older sister Belinda? (27) was a school teacher. In 1880, the parents were in their early 50s. Their kids' ages ranged from 27 to 6. Edward was the youngest at six years old.
Addison Coe was born in Tolland, Massachusetts. He lived in Southwick for about 35 years. He died suddenly on September 24, 1918. His widow died in 1925.
Saunders took the property from the Berkshire Ice Company through adverse possession. (See parts 1-3 of the Berkshire Ice Company)The Coe family used to sell their tobacco crop to Kutinsky, Adler, & Co. (See Arnold v. Kutinsky, Adler & Co. story)
The steamer Josephine could carry 150 passengers.
Captain Butler usually went by Captain Fred. On his steamers, he was known to give guests a history lesson on various points of interest around the lakes.
Addison H. Coe became involved in Massachusetts politics. He ran a handful of times, mostly as a Republican.
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| William S. Saunders |
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