True Tales from Canton’s Past: Paul Revere bells

In the mid 1970s a trunk would be found in the loft of the stable in Canton of Anna and Margaret Revere’s house (Paul Revere’s great-great-granddaughters) that contained a treasure trove of company records. Edward Stickney was given access to the records, and amazingly, more than 500 more bells would be added to the company output. When Cape Cod Lane was developed, the Revere House at the top of the hill was razed. When the Revere ancestors died, they were buried in the Canton Corner Cemetery, near their family church with the Revere bell tolling as they were buried.

The First Parish Church in an undated drawing soon after it was constructed (Courtesy of the Canton Historical Society)

While the Stickney’s have recorded 969 bells in their list, there are only 150 or so left. Many of the bells were destroyed by fire or were recast after being broken. But of course there is always more to discover. And knowing that Canton has one Revere & Son bell, who could resist the opportunity to visit the relic?

In 1824 Captain William McKendry built the Unitarian Universalist Church at Canton Corner. It is among the earliest surviving Gothic Revival churches in Massachusetts. Look closely at the photographs and you see a slightly different church than is there today. The design of this church was far ahead of its time: gothic crenellations, pinnacles at the towers, and superb fanciful wooden details, now damaged or lost by incarceration in vinyl.

The trip to the steeple takes a bit of doing; there is a trap door in the ceiling above the choir loft, a small ladder leans against the wall, and it is about ten feet up. Once in the attic of the church, the midday light floods through the stained glass windows. Along the wooden casings of the windows there are hundreds of names written over the years — “George Summer, July 4, 1870, Wentworth – 1840, and Amy Downes” — so many names of those who have walked across the same floorboards and up the ladder to the belfry. Oh, and surprise, “George Comeau, October 26, 1986,” something that I had long forgotten.

Another ladder leans against a far wall — this one is aluminum, leading up to the belfry perhaps 30 feet up. Not for the faint of heart, the climb takes you through a smaller trap door and into an open space below the steeple. It is here that she hangs, the bell that has been ringing since 1824. The Revere bell is in an open belfry and the room is quite tight. The floor to ceiling openings can be a bit vertigo inducing, but all this is forgotten as you touch the bell, touching history.

The patina of the years has certainly aged her gracefully. The soft greens and greys of time and weather wash down her face as she bears witness to all the changes that have occurred in Canton since she was hung. The carriage that holds the bell is massive; it has to be to support the weight. According to the records, Revere bells were sold by weight at about 45 cents per pound. A bell can weigh around 700 pounds, so the bell in Canton might have cost around $300, and today may be valued at over $50,000. Of course, these bells are priceless to any town fortunate to have one within earshot.

Photo by George T. Comeau (click to enlarge)

On the northern side of the bell is the wheel; this is attached to the rope below, which when pulled strikes the bell as she swings in the carriage. The children of the congregation are the ones who ring the bell today, and on Sunday’s after 10:30 a.m. you might hear the bell ringing to announce the morning services. Under the bell is the clapper and surprisingly more names written in paint. Over the years folks found ways to paint their initials in the bell for posterity’s sake.

To photograph the bell for this story, I leaned over the carriage and with a small piece of chalk outlined the name and date. As I drew over the raised letters, it was possible to feel the weight of history and know that this bell tolls for Canton and the strong connection to Paul Revere.

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Posted by George T. Comeau on Mar 15 2012. Filed under Canton History, Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.