Forge Village Postmaster
By James VanBever with Robin Connell and Lynne Hartley
Josephine (Socha) Connell was born in Krakow, Poland, on March 10, 1899, to Philip and Katarzyna Socha. Philip and Katarzna and their four children moved to the United States in 1901 and found their way to Gilbertville, Massachusetts. The family lived in Gilbertville for six years.
In 1907, Mrs. Socha saw a job advertised in the paper by the Abbot Worsted Company. They were looking for someone to run a boarding house for their workers. Mr. Socha was not in favor of the venture, but Mrs. Socha traveled to Forge Village with her daughter Josephine, who was eight years old at the time and would help interpret during the interview. She landed the job, and they all moved to the house on Bradford Street in Forge Village. Mr. Socha was hired to work in Abbot Worsted’s sorting area. He worked for the company for the next 37 years. Mrs. Socha ran the boarding house successfully, added a healthy daughter to the family in 1913, and scrimped and saved to buy a two-family home on Prescott Street.
Josephine attended Cameron School. While a student at Cameron, she acted as an interpreter for local immigrants since she spoke four languages. Josephine aided these migrants in such matters as applying for citizenship or doctors’ appointments. She was especially kind to elderly migrants in need of help.
Following her graduation from the Cameron School, Josephine entered Westford Academy (WA), where she became an outstanding student. While a student at WA, Josephine won first prize at a speaking contest that was held at the Westford Town Hall. The title of her speech was “The Polish Boy.” She also took part in a three-act comedy play entitled “The Voice of Authority,” also held at the Town Hall.
She graduated from WA in 1917 and was a class Valedictorian. Her Valedictorian essay was titled “America’s Duty to the World’s Democracies.” As a reward for her academic achievements, Josephine was awarded free membership to the Tadmuck Club of Westford.
Josephine attended The Wood’s School in Lowell and pursued studies in Business. After graduating, she worked for Judge Frederic Alvin Fisher in Lowell, who was “a prominent man at the time.”
In 1922, Josephine married Harold F. Connell. They lived on the second floor of a two-story building at 2 West Prescott Street in Forge Center, which was formerly the Prescott Tavern. On the first floor of the building, they ran a variety store/ice cream shop and the Forge Village post office. It was an ideal location for the post office since the train stopped directly across the street making mail drop-offs and pick-ups convenient.
Josephine became the acting Forge Village postmaster in 1925 after the existing postmaster became ill and had to resign.
After passing the postal exam, Josephine Connell was commissioned postmaster in 1928 by President Calvin Coolidge. It was a position that she would hold for more than forty years, and she cherished it. She was commissioned by seven different presidential administrations, including Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy. Mrs. Connell retired from the post office in 1966.
Josephine was extremely dedicated to her role as Postmaster. Her daughter Patsy remembers her working long hours and sometimes opening the post office outside of normal business hours for important mailings, usually from Abbot Worsted. She became a single mother after Harold died in 1944, and the position gave her a steady income to support and raise her young family of two boys (Fred and Bobby) and one daughter (Patsy). It also provided travel opportunities to many Postmaster’s Conventions held in various states, including New York, Washington D.C, and Hawaii. *
In the 1950s, it was necessary to find a new location for the Forge Post Office. Josephine took on the project of buying land and constructing a building at 5 West Prescott Street that the government rented from her to house the new post office. This took courage and was an undertaking ahead of the times for a single woman in the 1950s. The building is still used for the same purpose today. *
In addition to her dedication to the US Postal Service, Josephine was active in local charitable causes and fund-raising events. She led causes to raise funds for infantile (polio) paralysis, coordinated food sales for town causes, ensured Christmas gifts for veterans, arranged whist parties for St. Catherine’s church, and fund-raising for the Red Cross. Many of these events were held at her home or at the Forge Village post office.
She was involved in the Westford Post 159 American Legion Auxiliary and was nominated secretary and eventually president. Josephine was also a member of the VFW Mattawanakee Post 6539, the Tadmuck Club of Westford, and an officer of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Postmasters of the United States.
After Josephine retired in 1966, a testimonial was held at the Elks Club in Forge Village. Many friends and well-wishers attended the event. In 1986 Josephine was chosen as Kiwanis Citizen of the Year and was featured in Westford’s Apple Blossom Parade.
Josephine Margarete Connell died on February 2, 1992, at the age of ninety-two at Littleton House in Littleton, Massachusetts. She was buried at Saint Catherine Cemetery in Westford.
Sources:
* Special thanks to Josephine’s granddaughters, Robin Connell and Lynne Hartley.
“Westford”, Lowell Courier Citizen“, May 25, 1917, p. 17.
Ibid. “President Nominates Josephine Connell”, December 7, 1928, p. 2.
“Nominated Postmaster”, Lowell Sun, December 23, 1932, p. 9.
Ibid. “Westford”, August 8, 1940, p. 41.
Ibid. January 21, 1942, p. 44.
Ibid. “Forge Village”, May 10, 1943, p. 9.
Ibid. “Westford”, February 24, 1944. p. 39.
Ibid. “Forge Village”, March 10, 1947, p. 11.
Ibid. “Forge Village”, March 12, 1952, p. 11.
“Meet your neighbor”, Westford Eagle, December 10, 1980.
Ibid. May 22, 1986, p. 1.
Ibid. “Former Forge Postmaster celebrates 90th birthday”, March 16, 1989, p. 13.
“Report of Academy”, Westford Town Report, 1917, pgs. 14 & 28.