SAYS MAYOR IS WRONG IN WRIGHT CASE

 SAYS MAYOR IS WRONG IN WRIGHT CASE

Walter Salvo Takes Side of His Former Coach on Pension

Northampton, Aug. 8--A former schoolboy three-sport star at Northampton High School today took the side of David S. Wright, a member of the high school faculty for the past 38 years, in the latter's attempt to retire under the veterans' pension system and said, "the City of Northampton owes him that much, at least."

Walter Salvo, real estate agent and trustee under the Oliver Smith will, who played four years of baseball, basketball, and football under Wright during the latter's coaching days, stated Mayor James Cahillane should not be allowed to use the case of another School Department employee who retired last year as an example in refusing Wright's request.  

Salvo referred to a former member of the faculty at Smith's Vocational School, whose request to retire under the veterans' pension system a year ago was also turned down by Mayor Cahillane. Since then, the teacher in question, Chares Kilpatrick, accepted the state teacher's retirement pension and therefore, cannot change to the veterans' pension regardless of any future rulings.  

"This city would never be able to repay Mr. Wright for the service he has given in his long career to the School Department and the thousands of athletes who have had the privilege of learning under him.  This veterans' pension would not be a gift," Salvo said. "Wright has earned it and the law says he is entitled to be served under that system."

Salvo, also a football star at Columbia where he played end under Lou Little for two years, 1930-31, said he speaks for several other former students and athletes of Wright. "We all feel the same way," He said, "although we are not city officials and therefore cannot take an active part in the fight."

"Mayor Cahillane sets himself up above the laws of the state when he refuses to allow such a request," Salvo continued. "The law has been checked several times in recent weeks by many of us residents, including lawyers, and we find no place where the mayor has the right to take such a course of action."

The local businessman said he brought up the matter in a conversation with the mayor last Saturday and added, "but I didn't get any favorable results. Mayor Cahillane is using a previous case as a wedge as a means of making a decision in the Wright matter."

MAYER CLAIMS PUBLIC CANNOT BEAR EXPENSE

 MAYOR CLAIMS PUBLIC CANNOT BEAR EXPENSE

Cites Reason for Denying Wright Retirement Pleas Under Veterans' Act

Northampton, July 14--The request of Teacher-Coach David S. Wright to retire from the faculty at Northampton High School under the veterans' retirement fund was turned down by Mayor Cahillane "because the taxpayers would not be able to stand the extra expense."

So remarking Mayor Cahillane yesterday when informed that Legion officials are seeking advice from state headquarters in Boston as to what possible steps Wright may take to have his request approved. Wright, a teacher in the local system for 37 years and a well-known basketball coach for nearly 30 years, was forced to retire with a disability at the close of the school term last month.

It was pointed out that Wright can retire under the teacher's retirement fund, to which he has contributed during his many years of service to the school system, and receive approximately $200 annually. That money would be provided by the state ad with no expense to the city.

However, if he retires under the veterans' pension fund, he would only receive approximately $3600 annually but that amount would have to come from the city. At the same time, Wright would be eligible to collect between $8000 and $9000 in a lump sum, which he paid into the teachers' retirement fund.

Mayor Cahillane said. "I am very fond of Dave Wright and we both understand the problem. He knows his request was turned down because of the added expense to the taxpayers. But he wont be doing badly with $4200 coming in each year."

City Auditor John Curran backed up the mayor's decision and and said there are tooo many veterans in the city who would take advantage of the veterans' retirement fund, if approval was given to a certain few. Curran, it was said, handles the accounts for the veterans under the retirement pension system.

Implementing Photo Friday-1924 Mt. Katahdin Trip

 I have a number of old photos from both sides of the family which I have scanned.  I'd like to tie them into stories, but for now I am implementing a photo Friday section to get them posted.  This first batch are photos of a trip to Mt. Katahdin that My Grandfather Ervin Putnam and his brother Frank took in 1924.  

Mt. Katahdin

West Side of Mt. Katahdin

South Peak of Mt. Katahdin

Up Abol Slide

Up Abol Slide

Table Land, Top of Mt Katahdin

Camping on Chamberlain Lake

Chase Carry Rips

Chase Carry Rips

Eagle Lake Camp, Ervin Putnam

Eagle Lake, Ervin Putnam

East Side Mt Katahdin

East Side Mt Katahdin

Lower Eagle Lake

Top of Mt Katahdin

On the Island in Eagle Lake, Ervin Putnam

Mt Katahdin

On Abol Slide, Millinocket Lake, Togue Lake Mt Katahdin

Smith Brook, Ervin Putnam

Umbazookus Stream, Ervin Putnam

Wright's Rightness

 Wright's Rightness

An outstanding chapter in Northampton High School's history is the excellent service given over a long period of years by David S. Wright as teacher, coach and athletic director. After graduating from Amherst College and serving in World War One, and then teaching chemistry, physics, and algebra, and serving as head of the science department. He coached baseball, football, and basketball, and was particularly successful in the latter.  His teams were outstanding in Valley League play and some in tournament play.

It was not only the success he attained, but the fine manner in which he performed. Modest and self-effacing, he kept himself much in the background and did his job so well he did not become a controversial figure. He knew how to handle boys and had their confidence and respect, and he was esteemed not only in Northampton but among rival coaches and players. His was not only a highly successful era, but a most pleasant one, covering a period of 36 years, an extra long time in such positions.

"Dave," as he was popularly known to many in the city and elsewhere, has done all his jobs well, and has left a fine influence among the boys and others whom he directed or with whom he worked in high school sports. It would be fitting if his name was spelled "Right." He has well won surcease from exacting duties of a long and active career and has the best wishes of hosts of friends for a well-earned rest and enjoyable retirement. 

A TERRIFIC HAIL STORM IN NORTHAMPTON YESTERDAY

This was clipped out of the newspaper by one of the Wright family, but they didn't include the date.  Has no real baring on genealogy but I thought I would transcribe it.

 A TERRIFIC HAIL STORM IN NORTHAMPTON YESTERDAY-Yesterday afternoon a little before three o'clock, a terrific hall storm accompanied by vivid lightning and heavy thunder passed over Northampton. Fortunately but little wind prevailed at the time and the hailstones fell with only a slight variation from the perpendicular. Had it been otherwise windows and blinds on the windward side of buildings must have suffered total destruction. For some time before the tempest burst upon us in its fury, an ominous roaring in the direction of the approaching cloud, indicated that hail were to be apprehended. A darkness almost like that of night overshadowed the landscape, and as the tempest, bore down from the hills into the valley, a gust of wind lashed the dust in the streets and plowed fields into smudder which filled the air like a fog. Before the advent of the hail however, the wind had a great measure subsided, and for some minutes after the hail commenced to fall only now and then a solitary stone made its appearance.  The first one observed by us struck in the road fronting our office and was larger than the largest sized hen's egg.

Thus far it had rained but a trifle, and we could hardly believe it to be a hail stone that we saw in the street, but soon a succession of others dispersed all doubts.  For the succeeding ten minutes the scene presented was equally grand and terrible.  Hailstones, solid, compact, round as an apple, and larger than any goose egg, measuring eight nine and often ten inches in circumference, came hissing through the air, bounding from the roofs pf buildings, clipping leaves and small branches from trees, and creating a din in their collision with the objects against which they struck that fairly drowned the thunder by which the tempest was accompanied.  Many of the larger ones either bounded to the height of a man's head when the fell, or crushed to powder, such was the velocity with which they were hurled from the back bosom of the cloud.

The quantity of hail that fell during the storm was not so large as often marks the passage of such tempests through this latitude; but the average size exceeded that of any similar storm in this vicinity, within the memory of the oldest inhabitant.

Merrick Smith's Funeral

 October 5th, `934

Funeral Tomorrow

The funeral of Merrick L. Smith of Risingdale will be held at the Methodist Episcopal Church tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock. Burial will be in Fairmont Cemetery, Lee. The committal service will be in charge of Cincinnatus Lodge of Masons of Great Barrington.

October 6th, 1934

SMITH FUNERAL THIS AFTERNOON

HOUSATONIC, Oct. 6-The funeral of Merrick L. Smith of Risingdale, who died Wednesday afternoon at a Pittsfield Hospital, was held this afternoon. The service was held at the Methodist Episcopal Church at 2 o'clock. The Rev. Edward G. Walh of Goshen, N.Y., a former pastor, and the Rev. Purdy Halstead were the officiating clergymen.

The body was taken to Lee for burial in Fairmont Cemetery, Members of Cincinnatus Lodge of Masons of Great Barrington, conducted the committal service led by William H. Smith of this village. The bearers were, Irving Lobdell, Karl N. Peiffer, Roy Parsons and John S. Watson of this village; Clayton Smith of West Springfield, a nephew of the deceased, and Allen Brooks of Lee.

Ancestry has updated their DNA information

 These test results for the various ancestry tests have been updates so I thought I would do another comparison. So here are my results.  This shows that they corrected the results to having more in England &Northwestern Europe and Scotland.  a decrease in Ireland and a complete drop of Norway.

My Results	July 2020	September 2021
England & Northwestern Europe	32%	46%
Ireland	38%	29%
Scotland	20%	25%
Norway	10%	0%

The table below gives the DNA results for the Wright side of my tree.  We are lucky enough to have results for my mother, her sister Catherine and one of her brothers.  

Wright Side Regions	My Results	Florence Caroline Wright	Catherine Wright	George Wright
England & Northwestern Europe	46%	53%	54%	55%
Ireland	29%	29%	26%	29%
Scotland	25%	8%	14%	3%
Norway	0%	0%	4%	0%
Sweden & Denmark	0%	7%	2%	0%
Wales	0%	3%	0%	13%

There are a number of DNA communities identified on the Wright side.  One interesting oddity is that I am showing up with a number of communities that are not showing in my Mother's results but show in her siblings.  I think this is down to sampling error in the results.  The results for for Northern Mayo make me question some of the information I have for John McCann.  I found a family that may match to him in Northern Ireland, but family legend says that he came from County Mayo and the DNA results support that connection.

Wright Side DNA Communities	My Results	Florence Caroline Wright	Catherine Wright	George Wright
Early New England Settlers	X	X	X	X
Vermont, New Hampshire & Central Massachusetts Settlers	X	X	X	X
Coastal Maine Settlers	X
Northern Mid-Atlantic Settlers	X		X	X
Southwestern New York & North Central Pennsylvania	X		X	X
Southern New York & Northern Pennsylvania & New Jersey Settlers			X	X
New Jersey & Eastern Pennsylvania Settlers	X			X
Mid-Atlantic Settlers	X			X
Northern New England Settlers	X
Southwestern Maine, New Hampshire & Northern Vermont Settlers	X
Early Connecticut & New York Settlers		X	X	X
Connecticut & Northeast New York Settlers		X	X	X
Connacht, Ireland		X		X
North Connacht		X		X
North Mayo		X		X

On the Putnam Side, My father passed away before the DNA tests were available, but luckily my Uncle has taken a test.  I don't seem to have inherited the DNA from Norway and Germanic Europe.   

Putnam Side Regions	My Results	My Uncle
England & Northwestern Europe	46%	39%
Ireland	29%	25%
Scotland	25%	30%
Norway	0%	3%
Germanic Europe	0%	3%

Wright Side DNA Communities	My Results	My Uncle
Early New England Settlers	X	X
Vermont, New Hampshire & Central Massachusetts Settlers	X
Coastal Maine Settlers	X	X
Northern Mid-Atlantic Settlers	X
Southwestern New York & North Central Pennsylvania	X
New Jersey & Eastern Pennsylvania Settlers	X	X
Mid-Atlantic Settlers	X	X
Northern New England Settlers	X
Southwestern Maine, New Hampshire & Northern Vermont Settlers	X