The South Longyard Plant  A federal Prohibition agent and two Massachusetts State Police officers descended on Luther Hosmer's farmhouse in the desolate part of the South Longyard section of Southwick at about 10:00 p.m. on April 27, 1928.  There, authorities smashed their way in and found a large-scale liquor operation, but not a soul around.  The manufacturing setup was so extensive that they dubbed it "The South Longyard Plant."  F. B. Arnold & Sons Tobacco Luther Hosmer had rented the property to others, perhaps tricked into thinking they would operate the farm. Instead, the so-called renters installed equipment, creating a plant capable of producing large amounts of alcohol, presumably for wholesale.  The plant was so complete that it took workers until late the next day to dismantle the equipment, which included: a 1000-gallon still, two 300-gallon and six 1200-gallon galvanized iron tanks, seventy-five tanks filled with the finished product, a large b...

—  A Southwick Time Machine Original True Crime Feature   Calvin Fuller and Edward Cooley arrived at Jesse Hall Jr.'s house in Tolland, Massachusetts, around 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 2, 1837.  Jesse was sitting inside his house reading from a bible; a bottle of rum sat on the table next to him. He invited his visitors to partake in the drink. Drinking alcohol was frowned upon in certain circles, especially on the Lord's Day. About an hour of drinking had passed, and not wanting to be known for keeping an ill house, Jesse would later claim that he asked both men to leave, which Edward did. Before Calvin could go, the pair, at least according to Jesse, started conversing about Jesse's second wife, Lucy, whose whereabouts were unknown.  The topic of Lucy appeared to have started (again, according to Jesse) after Calvin mentioned that he was heading to Granville in the morning. Jesse requested that Calvin stop at Noah Cooley's store to inform the clerk that Lucy had des...

Tobacco growers in Southwick, Massachusetts, and Simsbury, Connecticut, filed suits against Kutinsky, Adler & Co. of New York and Luther M. Case of Winstead, Connecticut, with Constable George B. Woodruff of Suffield, Connecticut, serving the defendants papers on August 11, 1906. Constable Woodruff also placed attachments on the tobacco, about $10,000 worth, that Kutinsky, Adler & Co. had stored in Suffield. (Serving Case was a formality as a court-approved petition forced him into bankruptcy in June.) Below is a list of the Southwick tobacco growers and the amount of each suit against Case and Kutinsky, Adler & Co. (Some growers also sued Starr Bros., who Case did business with or for.) Fred Arnold $6,000 ($5,500 tobacco, $500 damages) Adrian Coe $2,500 L. A. Fowler $2,500 Llewyn Wetherbee $1,800 Cooley Griffin $1,600 Fred Warner $1,200 Clement Robinson $1,200 Charles Noble $500 Walter S. Steer $400 Robert Nicholson $300 Fred Miller $300 Firms Boyle & Avery $1,500 Boyl...

On August 23, 1929, seven Massachusetts State Police officers went to Southwick, Massachusetts. At 5:45 p.m., they smashed their way into a popular resort on North Pond at Congamond Lake.  When the raiding party arrived at the Point Grove Inn, they found the doors locked. Busting in, they surprised the proprietress and her son, who had sat down for supper.  The long-planned raid on the inn (and two adjacent cottages) netted eight gallons of assorted liquors (mostly moonshine whisky), 2,040 bottles of beer (85 cases containing 24 bottles), and two arrests: Margaret (Shea) LeFeave, charged with keeping and exposing liquor for sale, and her son Walter, illegal selling and manufacturing. The pair were taken to Westfield and later released on bail. (Walter: $500, Margaret $200).  In court, the judge fined Walter $100 for illegal liquor manufacturing and $50 for selling liquor; Margaret was fined $100 for keeping and exposing liquor for sale.  About one week later, just af...

The Rum Train Massachusetts State Police at the Agawam Barracks received word that a Packard Twin Six was leading a couple of Hudsons and a Chrysler toward Southwick (from Connecticut) on March 28, 1926. Connecticut State Police were already pursuing the train of vehicles, the second one carrying illegal spirits. Still, they could not stop them before they crossed the state line into Massachusetts at Southwick. Massachusetts State Police joined the chase, taking the lead, Connecticut following. But their machines were no match against the mighty powerful Packard.   One of the Hudsons (the one loaded with 150 gallons of illegal, high-grade, high-priced wholesale liquor) broke down. With the police hot on their trail, there was no time to unload the goods, so the Chrysler towed it.  Meanwhile, Massachusetts State Police officers were waiting in front of infamous Southwick physician Dr. Harry Carr's house on College Highway, ready to pounce on the bootleggers.  Catching...