From the Introduction - This is the story of more than a century in the life of the Timpany, McConnell, Riley, and LaRoche families against the background of the rise and fall of the chairmaking industry in Gardner, Massachusetts. It is a family and social history of people moving from one country to another, showing who we were and who we became. It is a local history as well, providing a rich picture of Gardner’s everyday life and special moments in time. Gardner, Massachusetts, is located in Worcester County, not far from the New Hampshire border. In 1785, just before the town of Gardner was incorporated, there were sixty families living within what would become its boundaries. Constance (Connie) is the great granddaughter of Albro McConnell who emigrated in 1869 from Nova Scotia to Gardner, Massachusetts, to work in the chair factories. Her grandfather James Timpany emigrated in 1888, worked in the toy and chair shops, and became Mayor of Gardner in 1933. Riley is also a pioneer, earning a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts at age fifty while the mother of eight children. She cofounded the Central Mass. Genealogical Society (CMGS), organized Lucy Stone Commemorative Projects, coordinated Women’s Centers in Gardner and Fitchburg, has been active in the Peace Movement from the Vietnam War to the present, and in itiated the “Magic of Books” Program to distribute free books to low income children. Riley is recognized in Greater Gardner Women Who Made a Difference.