The Aug. 15, 1930 edition of The Berkshire Eagle highlighted the charging of strongman swimmer Harry Pincus in connection with the murder of a Bennington, Vt., taxi operator.
Pincus, who was suspected of driving the getaway car, was on the lam for a decade. Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series. Part 2 will be published later this month.
I continue to be amazed at the stories that can be discovered researching “ordinary” homes for clients. For example, a closer look at a local multifamily house revealed not only had Barry Manilow’s ancestors lived there, but their residency was closely intertwined with a bizarre saga involving former boxers, a strongman performer, a mysterious flapper actress, and two brutal murders. Bear with me, there’s a lot to unpack here.
Harry Pincus (1898-1959) came to Pittsfield in the early 1920s with his wife, Anna, and infant son Harold. He lived first on Burbank Street, then in a duplex on Grove Street, with his brothers who operated the old Berkshire Glass Co. While a traveling salesman for them, he also became well known around Western Massachusetts and eastern New York performing as a swimming strongman.
Billed as a “human tug boat,” Harry would tow boats of passengers across lakes like Pontoosuc, often with the rope between his teeth or with one hand behind his back. This photo of Harry Pincus and his wife, Anna, holding infant son Harold, appeared in the Aug. 15, 1930, edition of The Berkshire Eagle.
In 1922, local.