From Southwick Summers to Curious Thefts

  — A Southwick Time Machine Original

On Saturday morning, August 31, 1918, Franklin A. Latimer Jr. had just completed business at the Third National Bank in Springfield, Massachusetts, and was returning to the offices of the Bradstreet Company in the Whitney Building at 310 Main Street, where he served as the company’s representative for Western New England, a territory consisting of 250 cities and towns.

 

Crowds at the Third National Bank in downtown Springfield around Christmastime, 1912

 

Around 10:30 a.m., Franklin stepped into the building's small, crowded elevator cage and began the ride upward toward his office on the fifth floor.

The elevator was crowded for nearly the entire trip. At one point, the passengers suddenly surged backward and forward inside the cage, jostling everyone aboard. Franklin thought little of the commotion. When the elevator stopped at either the first or second floor, three men stepped off before the car continued upward.

Between the third and fourth floors, Franklin instinctively reached inside his coat.

His bankbook, containing $575 in crisp new bills, was gone.

He hurried back downstairs, but the three men had already vanished. The theft caused considerable excitement inside the building, while passersby on Main Street mistakenly assumed the growing crowd had gathered because of the heavy traffic at the corner.

Detectives were quickly notified, and two lieutenants from Springfield's detective bureau took charge of the investigation. They soon learned that the suspects had left the elevator, rushed down the stairwell, and escaped onto Main Street, disappearing into the crowd before anyone realized a crime had been committed.

The incident was an unusual interruption in the life of a man whose career had been built on trust, business, and reputation.

 

The Whitney Building - where the crime took place

 

Franklin Ami Latimer Jr. was born in Simsbury, Connecticut, on October 14, 1865. He graduated from high school in Middletown, Connecticut. He entered the teaching profession in 1885. He later became principal of grammar schools in Avon and Farmington before moving to Springfield around 1891.

There, he entered the mercantile business and eventually became associated with R. G. Dun & Co., a company known for gathering commercial information about businesses. After several years as a traveling agent, Franklin joined Bradstreet’s Mercantile Agency, a competitor of Dun’s.

He served on his ward’s common council and school committee and was active in the Masonic fraternity.

 

Franklin A. Latimer Jr. circa 1913

Like many city families of the era, the Latimers spent their summers seeking the quieter pace of rural life.

In 1914, the Latimers left their home on Beechwood Street in Springfield and leased the sprawling farm of Frank W. Noble in Southwick’s Longyard section for their summer residence. Noble was better known throughout the region as Southwick’s “Popcorn King.”

On the afternoon of August 15, 1914, the family hosted a gathering at the Noble farm. About seventeen guests were treated to an old-fashioned clambake. Long tables were scattered across the lawn beneath the shade of maple trees. Nearby, a pit was dug, where the host and masculine guests steamed clams and roasted corn.

Later that afternoon, around 5:30, guests changed into bathing suits and made their way to Sandy Beach at North Pond for a refreshing dip.

Ices and cakes brought the outing to a close, marking one of the most memorable gatherings of the 1914 Southwick Ponds summer tourist season.

The Latimers enjoyed their time in the Longyard so much that they leased Frank Noble’s farm again for the summer of 1915.

Years later, another unusual disappearance would interrupt Franklin’s otherwise steady life.

In July 1929, Franklin and his wife boarded the steamship Yarmouth for a three-week vacation to Nova Scotia. The vessel, operated by Eastern Steamship Lines, sailed out of New York City and Boston. It carried passengers along the eastern seaboard between the United States and Canada.

 

Eastern Steamship Lines' Yarmouth Steamship

 

On the trip, Mrs. Latimer discovered that several pieces of her fine jewelry were missing from her luggage. Among the lost items were two strings of pearls and two gold bracelets. An investigation determined that the jewels disappeared when the Latimers’ baggage was transferred from the steamer to a railroad station. Authorities questioned the crew, although it remains unclear whether the jewelry was ever recovered or insured.

The missing jewels and the elevator theft more than a decade earlier became curious episodes in the long life of Franklin A. Latimer.

In the spring of 1932, after more than thirty years with the Bradstreet Company, Franklin resigned. Less than a year later, R. G. Dun & Company acquired Bradstreet’s business and assets, eventually bringing together two of the nation’s largest commercial information firms. The combined company would become the modern Dun & Bradstreet, a name still recognized around the world today.

Franklin and his wife celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary in 1942. He died a little over a week later on July 6, 1942, in the same Connecticut town where his life had begun.

— Uncovered and preserved by the Southwick Time Machine

Franklin Ami Latimer

 

 October 14, 1865 — July 6, 1942

This article is based on original primary-source research, including official records and documents, census data, period newspapers, directories, and various resources on the history of Springfield, Massachusetts.

 

Southwick Time Machine stories are living documents. Research is ongoing, and this account may evolve as new information comes to light.

 

Photographs accompanying this story are authentic, unless otherwise noted. In keeping with historical preservation standards, some of the images may have been digitally enhanced for clarity and detail, without altering the original subjects.  

 

 

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Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes

 

Franklin and his wife wed on June 27, 1888.

Eastern Steamship Lines operated from 1901 to 1955. The Eastern Steamship Company was created through the consolidation of the Boston and Bangor Steamship Company, the Portland Steam Packet Company, and the International Steamship Company. Much of its fleet was sold to the United States government for use in World War I. During World War II, Eastern Steamship served as operator for the War Shipping Administration.

At the time of the buyout, Bradstreet had 166 offices in the United States and R. G. Dun had 172. They also had offices in other parts of the world. Today, Dun & Bradsheet is a well-known global company.

Franklin and his wife were known to throw great parties (i.e., clambakes, Christmas, dinner). Most seem to be between 15 and 20 guests. 

Downtown Springfield was once a bustling city full of industry. It was very common for the sidewalks to be crowded with folks shopping, dining, working, etc. 

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