Edwin Andrews Seibel
Portrait of Edwin Seibel as a state legislator, and concurrently mayor,
c. 1954
34th Mayor of the City of Holyoke, Massachusetts
In office
1953–1957
Preceded byJames T. Doherty (acting)
Henry J. Toepfert
Succeeded bySamuel Resnic
Member of the
Massachusetts House of Representatives
from the 13th Hampden district
In office
1951–1954
Preceded byGerald T. Bowler
Succeeded byJohn J. Cavanaugh
Personal details
BornJanuary 9, 1902
Holyoke, Massachusetts, US
DiedSeptember 9, 1957(1957-09-09) (aged 55)
Holyoke, Massachusetts, US
Resting placeForestdale Cemetery, Holyoke
Political partyRepublican[1]
SpouseMargaret T. Keenan
Alma materTroy Conference Academy

Edwin A. Seibel (January 9, 1902 – September 9, 1957) was an American journalist, activist, legislator, executive director of the Holyoke Taxpayers' Association, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and the 34th mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts. Between his unorthodox lack of political allies, nomination by both Democratic and Republican parties in the same election, management style, and tenure as both a state representative and mayor concurrently, Seibel was described posthumously by a columnist for the Boston Traveller as “the most controversial mayor in Holyoke’s history”.[2] During his tenure, Seibel oversaw the reduction in size of the Board of Alderman, a predecessor of the city council from 27 to 11 members.[3][4]

Personal life

Edwin Andrews Seibel was born in Holyoke on January 9, 1902, to John and Cora L. Seibel (née Benhard). He attended Holyoke High School and graduated in the class of 1921, before attending Troy Conference Academy, better known as Green Mountain College. Subsequently he entered journalism and spent several years as sports editor for the Holyoke Telegram, prior to its merger with the Transcript. Following the merger Seibel joined the staff of the Springfield Union as a sports writer and general news reporter, publishing accounts for that paper as well as the T-T for nearly 17 years before his departure for the Taxpayers' Association. He took special interest in the Springfield Union's annual marble tournament, even producing a competitor who would go on to represent the paper's team in the nationals. He was a prominent member of the "Holyoke Fourth Estate", a reporters fraternity, and in his own interest wrote a length history of the athletic notables of the city at a school, college, and professional level. Seibel was also described as active in the Holyoke YMCA for many years.[5]

State representative

Elections

In his first election, Seibel enjoyed the backing of both political parties. While always identified with the Republicans, he was seen as an anti-establishment candidate, and was able to win an additional nomination from a Democratic Party split among 14 candidates before rules were changed to prevent cross-filing. This was not entirely unprecedented; while it would be for the non-partisan mayoralty, in a previous generation William Whiting II received endorsement from both party committees, though not as a candidate for state office.[6]

Massachusetts House of Representatives, 13th Hampden District,[lower-alpha 1] 1950
Candidates General election[7]
Votes %
Edwin A. Seibel (D-R)[lower-alpha 2] 6,024 71.3%
James R. Farrell (I) 2,429 28.7%
All Others 1 0.0%
Massachusetts House of Representatives, 13th Hampden District, 1952
Candidates General election[8]
Votes %
Edwin A. Seibel (R, inc.) 6,069 56.7%
James T. Doherty (D) 4,639 43.3%
Massachusetts House of Representatives, 13th Hampden District, 1954
Candidates General election[9]
Votes %
Edwin A. Seibel (R, inc.) 3,781 41.7%
James T. Doherty (D) 5,295 58.3%

Mayoralty

Elections

During his initial upset, during which he was described by his opponents as the "most unpopular man in Holyoke",[2] among supporters for Seibel were his predecessors Gregory J. Scanlon and William P. Yoerg, the latter of whom served as a public supporting figure in Seibel's first mayoral campaign.[10]

Holyoke mayoral special election, 1953
Candidates General election[11]
Votes %
Edwin A. Seibel 8,707 42.3%
Robert J. Greaney 5,063 24.6%
Ernest W. Brunault 3,487 16.9%
John J. Stiles 2,793 13.6%
Frank J. McKay 402 2.0%
Write-ins 133 0.6%
Holyoke mayoral election, 1953
Candidates General election[12][lower-alpha 3]
Votes %
Edwin A. Seibel (inc.) 13,257 53.2%
William F. Stapleton 11,663 46.8%
Holyoke mayoral election, 1955
Candidates General election[4]
Votes %
Edwin A. Seibel (inc.) 9,232 39.1%
Joseph Jubinville, Jr. 7,682 32.5%
John G. McLean 6,580 27.8%
Write-ins 136 0.6%

Threat on life

The note left in Seibel's mail the morning after the murder of Alderman Noel; neither Chief Potvin nor Seibel faced their would-be assailant, the case remains unsolved

On August 19, 1953, only months after assuming the mayoralty, the mayor and his appointed chief of police William H. Potvin would receive a death threat written as a crude ballot. The letter, written in a shaky hand, was received the morning after the murder of leader of the local Republican committee,[13] Alderman Henry H. Noel, in his home at 2am. On it, Noel's name appeared with an "X" along with the names of the other two. He, Potvin, and Seibel had received a number of calls in the wee hours of the morning, made from public pay stations in the city and laden with profanity and threats. It was reported that leading up to his murder, Noel's had been from multiple people, including at least one who spoke broken French, and at least one specifically blaming him for a recent shake-up in the police force. Several suspects in Noel's murder were rounded up and fingerprinted to compare with one lifted from a screen door at Noel's home believed to have been made during the incident.[14]

After receiving the note, Seibel phoned the FBI branch office in Boston which followed up with investigation, as well as an inquiry by the US Postal Service. Unfortunately the message had been handled by several city officials and members of the press before being checked for prints. During the investigation, a disagreement arose between the FBI and USPS and the Holyoke Police, with the latter believing the threat was from a fraud, and the former not discounting the notion that it had indeed been written in the hand of the murderer.[15]

Chief William H. Potvin, the youngest police chief appointed up until that time, faced an increasingly tense relationship with the Mayor in the year after Alderman Noel's murder

With the case remaining unsolved, by November 11, 1954, a rift had apparently arisen between Seibel and Chief Potvin, who had been the youngest appointed to the post when he had been installed on June 8 of the previous year.[16] In Holyoke's city government, mayors effectively serve as police commissioner, appointing and negotiating the terms of the police chief's contract directly. During Potvin's own tenure under Seibel, he had refused to comply with several orders from the mayor saying they were "unnecessary and inconsiderate", including one to place 1 patrolman to a car per beat.[17][18] At the time when he forced out the chief, Seibel dismissed concerns that his removal was politically motivated, but the chief would not discount this. He would tell the Springfield Union the mayor had demanded his resignation "for the good of the service" and when he initially refused, a point he made explicitly in his send-off note to the officers, he was given a termination of employment notice within hours of his meeting with the mayor. Potvin was replaced on November 10, 1954 by Col. William H. McGarry, a retired National Guard veteran was who immediately sworn in by City Clerk Joseph Jubinville later that afternoon. McGarry had previously served as chief under Mayor Gregory J. Scanlon in 1927, then-known by the title of "city marshal".[19]

Neither Seibel nor Potvin met their would-be assailant, and ongoing efforts by Holyoke Police across state lines through at least the 1970s turned up no new leads; to date Noel's murder, and the threats that followed, remains an open case.[20][21]

Legacy

Two years after Seibel's death, the Holyoke Housing Authority dedicated a 40-unit complex of studio apartments in his name on the corner of Nonotuck and Hampden streets at the edge of the Highlands. His wife Margaret would subsequently sit on the tenants' association for some duration,[22] and after more than 60 years and several renovations, Seibel Apartments still serves this demographic.

Notes

  1. ↑ Representing Holyoke wards 3 and 6.
  2. ↑ During this election Seibel won nomination from both local party committees and is listed in state statistics as a "Democratic-Republican"
  3. ↑ Unofficial tally, source mentions one precinct missing from tally.

References

  1. ↑ "This is How I See It: Herter's Exploit Over Dever Still an Enigma; Capeless' Role in Pittsfield Draws Interest". Boston Herald. Boston. November 17, 1952. p. 18. Two years ago Edwin A. Seibel of Holyoke was elected to the House with both the Republican and Democratic nominations. He is a Republican and never has concealed his party affiliation. Under a law passed by the current Legislature, all candidates were required to run under their genuine labels...Rep. Seibel ran as a Republican in one of the strongest Democratic districts in the entire state.
  2. 1 2 Dalton, Cornelius (September 13, 1957). "Holyoke Ed Seibel Career Unusual". Boston Traveller. Boston. p. 25.
  3. ↑ "Aldermen Will Fight Plan to Cut Numbers; Seibel's Scheme for Nine-Man Board Meets Opposition". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. June 3, 1953. p. 26.
  4. 1 2 "Grocki Wins In Chicopee; Holyoke Re-Elects Seibel; Warner Westfield Victor; Incumbent Wins Second Term in Three-Way Race; Mayor Defeats Jubinville, McLean; Aldermanic Bd. Reduced from 28 to 11 Members". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. November 9, 1955. p. 1.
  5. ↑ "Mayor Seibel Of Holyoke Is Dead at 55; City's Chief Executive, Former State Representative, Taxpayers' Head and Newspaperman, Succumbs in Hospital Following Long Illness; Resnic to Serve as Acting Mayor". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. September 10, 1957. pp. 1, 9.
  6. ↑ Brooks, Archibald (1950). Mount Tom Lodge A. F. & A. M. 100th Anniversary. Anker Printing Company. p. 10.
  7. ↑ Edward J. Cronin (ed.). Massachusetts Election Statistics 1950. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. p. 292.
  8. ↑ Edward J. Cronin, ed. (1952). Massachusetts Election Statistics 1952. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. p. 394.
  9. ↑ Edward J. Cronin, ed. (1952). Massachusetts Election Statistics 1954. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. p. 277.
  10. ↑ "Seibel Files Bill Proposing Nine-Man Aldermanic Board; Yoerg, Scanlon, Former Mayors View Plan With Favor; Present Setup Called Unwieldy; Coughlin Voices Opposition, Seeing Tool Being Put in Mayor's Hands". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. May 15, 1953. p. 12.
  11. ↑ "Seibel is Elected Holyoke Mayor; GOP Legislator Gets 8707 Votes For Easy Victory". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. May 13, 1953. pp. 1, 2.
  12. ↑ "Holyoke". Boston Traveller. November 4, 1953. p. 38.
  13. ↑ "INTRUDER SLAYS HOLYOKE OFFICIAL; Massachusetts Alderman Shot by Masked Gunman Who Broke Into His Home". The New York Times. New York. August 19, 1953. p. 54. Henry H. Noel, 71 years old, a Holyoke alderman and a Republican party leader in western Massachusetts
  14. ↑ "FBI and Postal Inspectors to Join Noel Murder Probe; Will Investigate Threat Made to Mayor and Chief; Alderman Ouelette Also Revealed to Have Received Obscene Calls". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. August 20, 1953. p. 1.
  15. ↑ Reynolds, Ruth (August 21, 1955). "DEATH Enters—Without Knocking; Was 2:30 A.M. Caller After Money–Or a Man's Life?". Boston American. Boston. p. 42.
  16. ↑ "Mayor Fires Holyoke Chief". Boston Daily Record. November 11, 1954. p. 4 – via Associated Press.
  17. ↑ "Walking Betters Health of Cops". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. July 7, 1953. p. 11. General Order No. 13, which limits the occupancy of the police cruiser cars to one patrolman, was read at the midnight roll call of the police by directive from Police Chief William H. Potvin
  18. ↑ "Potvin Hints He Will Give Statement; Ousted Police Chief Says Farewell to Personnel; McGarry Takes Over". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. November 12, 1954. p. 44.
  19. ↑ "More Ousters Seen Likely as Potvin is Fired; Sources Predict Seibel May Dismiss Others in Official Family". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. November 11, 1954. p. 30.
  20. ↑ "Noel Slaying 8 Years Old, Still Probed; Police Hoping for Break to Close Case; $1000 Reward Stands". Springfield Union. August 18, 1960. p. 42.
  21. ↑ "Anna Noel, 91, was widow of alderman". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. December 2, 1978. p. 22. Anna (Hagen) Noel, 91, of 1439 Northampton St., widow of Alderman Henry H. Noel, died Thursday in Holyoke Hospital. He was shot and killed Aug. 18, 1953 in his home, a murder which never has been officially solved
  22. ↑ "Margaret T. Seibel, 91, widow of Holyoke mayor". Springfield Union. Springfield, Mass. October 11, 1985. p. 18. She was past president of the Seibel Apartments Tenants' Association
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