Harvey J. Daniels

CHESHIRE -- Harvey John Daniels, 84, of Rolling Acres Farm, 743 North State Road, died Tuesday morning at North Adams Regional Hospital, where he had been admitted last week after a brief illness.

Known as "Mr. Cheshire," he was a longtime selectman, local businessman and poultry farmer.

Born in Clarksburg on Jan. 21, 1921, son of Peter and Nina Battis Daniels, he attended schools in North Adams, until leaving school in the ninth grade to pursue a career in farming.

Mr. Daniels raised chickens for many years at Rolling Acres Farm, which he purchased from the late John Dilego in 1953, after managing it since 1950. He later expanded to beef and slaughtering operations and sold the farming business to the former Astro Beef Co. of Lanesboro in 1969. He first worked for the late Ira Whitney on his Stamford, Vt., farm, and, in 1939, began managing a farm on East Road in Clarksburg for the Florini family, raising food for the former Florini's Italian Gardens Restaurant in North Adams.

He and his wife, the former Laura Grace Mahan, owned and operated the former Chicken Stop Restaurant, known for its landmark giant chicken, on Route 8 from 1963 until selling it in 1971 to the Gaylord family, which ran it as the Country Charm Restaurant until closing it in December.

Mr. Daniels also had been one of the largest landowners in North Berkshire, buying and selling a number of well-known local properties, including the former Rondeau farm at the base of Mount Greylock, the Pine Brook Club and the 1792 Richardson House, now the Harbour House Inn bed and breakfast.

He was a former chairman of the Board of Selectmen, on which he served from 1967 to 1976, and again from 1979 to 1988. He also had served as the town's police chief in his capacity as board chairman in the 1960s, and was given a plaque of appreciation by the Police Department when he stepped in as interim chief in 1980. He also was a member of the executive board of the Berkshire County Selectmen's Association and the Cheshire Capital Budgeting Committee.

He enjoyed fishing and hunting.

He and his wife were married June 14, 1942, in Churchville, Md.

Besides his wife, he leaves two sons, John M. Daniels Sr. of Cheshire and James A. Daniels of Decatur, Ala.; four grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. A daughter died at birth in 1943.

FUNERAL NOTICE -- Services for Harvey John Daniels, who died Feb. 8, 2005, will be Saturday, Feb. 12, at 11 at First Baptist Church in Cheshire. Calling hours will be Friday from 4 to 8 at DERY-CHESHIRE FUNERAL HOME. Burial will be held in the spring in Cheshire Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Hoosic Hose Company, First Baptist Church, St. Mary of the Assumption Church or to First United Methodist Church, all in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 445, Cheshire, MA 01225. He was predeceased by his brothers Howard, Kenneth and Edward, and his sister, Dorothy.