The Curious History of William H. Muggle

 — A Southwick Time Machine Historical Curiosity 

 

A fire of unknown origin destroyed a small vacant house on Granville Road in Southwick, Massachusetts, shortly after 10:00 p.m. on Halloween 1955. William H. Muggle owned the home, which had been abandoned for a year or two. 

 

Three of William Muggle's Children: Herbert, Minnie, Arthur

 

The Southwick Fire Department extinguished the blaze and spent about an hour wetting down the charred remains. Firemen speculated that faulty wiring caused the fire.

Earlier that evening, the Southwick Fire Department had responded to a tobacco barn fire near the rear of the junior high school on Powder Mill Road. Firemen extinguished that blaze before it caused any serious damage. 

Back in March 1955, friends of William Muggle threw him a surprise party for his 70th birthday. Less than a year after the Halloween fire, late in the evening of September 24, 1956, he died in Westfield, Massachusetts.

The 1955 Halloween blaze wasn’t Muggle’s first fire. 

The Muggles once owned a 150-acre farm on the corner of Hillside and Granville Road. They purchased it in 1932. The property had a 13-room farmhouse and a handful of outbuildings, including a stock barn, tobacco barn, and a shed. (The farmhouse was at today's 128 Granville Road.)

On the morning of July 19, 1939, a fire broke out in the stock barn. By the time firemen arrived, the structure was beyond saving. The barn burned quickly due to the extremely dry weather. Besides the barn and silos, the fire claimed thirteen tons of hay, a ton of grain, and all the dairy machines. The loss was estimated to be $5,000. 

At the time of the fire, Muggle’s stock barn was modernized and contained the latest dairy equipment. 

Fire wasn't the only unusual episode in William Muggle's life. 

In 1937, he and his wife were key witnesses in the Massachusetts State Milk Control Board’s case against the Westfield based milk and ice cream firm Maurice Casey, Inc.

 

Maurice Casey Delivery Truck

 

Local farmers testified that the payments they received from Casey did not match the weights of the milk that they computed before delivering to the firm. 

When the charges were first brought against the firm, company officials released a statement that read in part: "This concern has been in business for 42 years and in order to serve only the best to the public insists on all producers bringing in only the best of milk which is tested at the plant daily and rejected, if not satisfactory."   

Mr. and Mrs. Muggle testified that Casey employees declared their milk sour on six or seven occasions. On one occasion, Casey employees returned the milk to the Muggles, who placed it in a cooling tank. The next day they re-delivered the same milk to Casey, and the firm accepted it.

The State Milk Control Board found Casey guilty of deceiving and defrauding producers. The firm, which appealed the decision, agreed to install a new automatic scale. (In 1947, Muggle sold his Hillside farm and moved to the North Longyard section of Southwick.)

By 1954, William Muggle found himself involved in another highly unusual matter. 

Massachusetts State Police summoned William Muggle to Westfield District Court to answer a charge that would result in the first trial of its kind in the court.

On June 28, 1954, Muggle pleaded nolo contendere to discarding a refrigerator. Massachusetts lawmakers had recently made it mandatory to remove all locks, door catches, and similar fittings from a refrigerator before discarding it, to prevent small children from being trapped inside.

In Southwick, Massachusetts State Police found an abandoned refrigerator with its latch still attached. The investigating officer knocked off the latch to make the refrigerator harmless. Police traced the fridge to Muggle, then living with a son on Laro Road in Westfield.

The case was continued to August 28, 1954, but the outcome is unclear. 

William Sr. was married twice. He married his first wife, Anna Elizabeth Kelly, on July 2, 1906. They had a son, Herbert W. Muggle. He later went by Herbert Mogul. Anna passed away on March 16, 1908. On August 3, 1908, William Sr. married his second wife, Agnes M. Schnopp. 

 

 

 — Uncovered and preserved by the Southwick Time Machine

 

William Herbert Muggle 

March 23, 1885 – September 24, 1956

  

This article is based on original primary-source research, including official records and documents, census data, and period newspapers and directories.

 

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

Anna Elizabeth (Kelly) Muggle: March 13, 1884 –  March 16, 1908

Minnie E. (Muggle) Gelgut: August 9, 1913 – October 30, 2001. 

William H. Muggle, Jr.: March 5, 1929 –  February 23, 2013

Maurice Casey: abt. 1850 –  December 28, 1934 

William’s daughter lived next door to the vacant house.

William Muggle resided in Southwick for about 26 years.

At the time of his death, William was living with son Herbert on Mechanic Street in Westfield. 

Shortly after buying their Southwick farm in 1932, William and Agnes had a tort of action attached.

Massachusetts State Police arrested Muggle Sr. in March 1934. One source says he was charged with assaulting his second wife, Agnes. Agnes was born Agnes Schnopp. Another source later reported that in March he was arrested for assaulting his daughter. In both reports, alcohol was a factor. But it's not clear if there were two incidents and the person was just misidentified in the reports or if there were actually two incidents involving two different people. 

William sometimes went by his middle name: Herbert. He also had a son named Herbert who used the last name Mogul at times.  

Herbert W. (Muggle) Mogul was arrested for hitting his stepmother in 1932.  Born a Muggle, he sometimes went by Mogul. 

Herbert Sr. and his son, Herbert Jr., were a motorcycle racing team.  

Some of William's children had significant age gaps.  

The junior high school opened in October 1954. It became a junior-senior high school in 1960. It was named Powder Mill School after the new Southwick High School opened in 1970-1. 

Agnes Schnopp accused Clarence Bingham of assaulting and raping her. In April 1908, the court found no evidence  that a crime was committed. 

Muggle's son, Arthur J. Muggle was arrested with another man on warrants charging them with stealing three shotguns from Ernest Hollister of Southwick in 1934.  The charges were later dismissed for lack of prosecution.

William Sr. was taken to the hospital on July 15, 1934 for a severe cut to his right wrist. He had been working on his farm when his arm became caught between a chain and a lever on a piece of farm machinery.   

The home at 128 Granville Road was built around 1900. Some sources say circa 1857, which appears incorrect based on old maps (1857 and 1870). An 1894 map shows some outbuildings on the property. 

Maurice Casey started in the milk business on January 6, 1896. He branched out to ice cream in 1926. 

Maurice Casey was born in Ireland. He arrived in America around 1874. 

Maurice Casey, Inc. became a snack food distributor.   

Maurice Casey's lawyers in the 1937 case was former Massachusetts governor Joseph B. Ely (Democrat) and his brother, Atty. Charles Ely. 

Minnie (Muggle) Gelgut was granted a divorce in 1960. She died on October 30, 2001.  

The Town of Southwick issued warnings to Minnie and her husband operating a junk and used car business from their Granville Road property without proper permits and zoning.  

Inspectors with the Massachusetts State Health Department summoned Maurice Casey, Inc., in 1938. The Commonwealth charged that Casey misrepresented pasteurized milk in accordance with new state testing laws. Casey pleaded not guilty. Other milk companies reportedly had similar issues.  

On April 4, 1943, William Jr. lost his third finger, the tip of his middle finger, and had a bad gash in his left hand when a homemade plaything made of bolts and heads of matches went off before being properly adjusted.  

William Sr. and William Jr. both had multiple arrests for wet driving.   

William Jr. was struck by a car as he attempted to cross the street in Westfield on July 23, 1945.

In 1949, Muggle was arrested following complaints on August 18 that he was driving an automobile around a tobacco farm in Westfield and knocking over the tobacco baskets. He was fined $50 for operating under the influence.   

In 1932, William's son, Arthur, was accused of having an illegitimate child.

  

William Muggle's Son, William Jr.

On September 3, 1955, William Muggle's son, William Jr., was convicted of having committed rape in Sharon, Massachusetts, on July 9, 1955. The offense came four days after William Jr. suffered a back injury while working in Providence, Rhode Island. While jailed in Massachusetts, he petitioned to continue collecting workers' compensation from Rhode Island.

On July 17, 1957, the Rhode Island commissioner denied William Jr.'s claim. The commissioner did allow payments of no more than $22 per week from the date of the work accident until the date of his conviction. He also ordered William Jr.'s former employer to pay all reasonable medical and hospital bills related to the accident.

For the rape case, the county district attorney's office had sought to commit him under the terms of a law providing for the segregation and treatment of sex offenders. The judge denied the motion, ruling that a course of conduct must be shown and that one act of sexual relationship count not be construed a course of conduct.  

Back in 1950, local police in Westfield arrested Muggles Jr. in an Elm Street restaurant on a charge of drunkenness, disturbance and accosting a person of the opposite sex.  

Muggles Jr. was found guilty during his arraignment  in May. The judge issued a default after Muggles Jr. failed to appear in court on June 17.