Man About Canton: Nov. 19 Preview
By Joe DeFeliceDid you know …
The town of Canton is located in eastern Massachusetts and is bordered by Sharon and Stoughton on the south; Randolph and Milton on the east and northeast; Dedham, Westwood, and Norwood on the west; and Boston on the north.
General Richard Gridley was appointed by George Washington as the first general of American artillery and also as chief of the Corps of Engineers. He moved to Canton in 1773 at the age of 62 and died on June 21, 1796. In 1770 he purchased one half of Massapoag Pond in Sharon. The Gridley School building on Washington Street stands as a monument to the general.
Reservoir Pond, Bolivar Pond and Forge Pond are all artificial ponds.
Elijah Dunbar named the town Canton because he believed it was directly antipodal to Canton, China. On February 23, 1797, Canton was made a separate town from Stoughton. Elijah Dunbar was born on September 2, 1740, and died on October 25, 1814. Dunbar also graduated from Harvard College, Class of 1760.
The number of people in Canton in 1930 was 5,816. In 1940, it was 6,381, and in 1950, it was 7,465. In 1960, it jumped 70 percent to 12,771; and in 1970, it jumped 34 percent to 17,100. Today the population of Canton is 20,700, an increase of only 21 percent over the last 45 years.
The normal annual precipitation in Canton is 47.5 inches.
The average normal temperature in Canton in January is 27.0 degrees Fahrenheit while in July it is 70.9 degrees.
The elevation at Canton Town Hall is exactly 100 feet above the mean sea level.
Canton’s first town counsel was Attorney Eugene J. Galligan. EJ, as he was known, served from 1940 to 1972 as the town of Canton’s legal counsellor.
Elijah Adams Morse founded the Rising Sun Stove Polish Company in Canton in 1864. Morse was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1876. He also served in the state senate in 1886 and 1887 and was an unsuccessful Prohibition Party candidate for lieutenant governor of Massachusetts in 1876. He became a congressman in 1889 and served until 1897. Mr. Morse presented the bronze statue of a volunteer Civil War solider that was recently restored and placed in front of the town hall. Morse was born in 1841 and died in 1898 at the age of 57 …
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Posted by Joe DeFelice
on Nov 20 2015. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion.
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