The following is an excerpt from “End of the Line,” the latest installment of True Tales from Canton’s Past by local historian George T. Comeau. Henry Crane Jr. was the first Crane to live in what is now Canton. He received his property on what is now Green Street in the best way possible — […]
The following is an excerpt from “Massacre at Cobleskill,” the latest installment of True Tales from Canton’s Past by local historian George T. Comeau. The story details the military service and sacrifice of former Cantonite William Patrick. … Little is known of Patrick’s early Army career. We do know that he was once captured by […]
The following is an excerpt from “I Am Guilty,” the second in a two-part story about Jack Battus, one of Canton’s most notorious murderers. Battus sensed the worse and picked up a rough stone, weighing about 15 pounds
The following is an excerpt from Worlds Collide, the latest installment of True Tales from Canton’s Past by local historian George T. Comeau. The story is part one in a series about Jack Battus, one of Canton’s most notorious murderers. … As a boy, Battus lived a typical life under the roof of the Blackman […]
Under the light of a dim moon, on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, the brigadier general known as “Old Rough and Ready” hastily wrote a letter to his son-in-law. The days had been filled with battle, and victory was in the hands of Zachary Taylor. He wrote, “So brilliant an achievement could not […]
The following is an excerpt from “Bolsterisms,” the latest installment of True Tales from Canton’s Past by local historian George T. Comeau. There is a certain charm and nostalgia to folklore. Many of the stories that we choose to pass down to successive generations are built from the collective memories of the people who share […]
It is the glue, the paper, the ink that all decompose over time and produce that smell that is all too familiar to historians — old books. And stacked deep on the shelves of the Canton Historical Society are three enormous and ancient volumes of records that carry the smell of both time and history. […]
In late December 1800, Paul Revere at age 65 wrote, “I have engaged to build me a Mill for Rolling Copper into sheets which for me is a great undertaking, and will require every farthing which I can rake or scrape. For the Houses which I must necessarily build, I shall want fifteen thousand of […]
As an old and distinguished man, he had earned a well-deserved rest in the autumn of his life. Yet Paul Revere was not like his contemporaries of the day; throughout his life he remained driven and entrepreneurial. And at age 65, he was about to undertake his most ambitious project yet. He needed a secure […]
On May 31, 1921, the eyes of the world were on Dedham, Massachusetts, as one of the most famous trials in America was underway. Only a year earlier, a heinous crime had occurred in South Braintree when two men approached a couple of security guards who were delivering the payroll for the Slater and Morrill […]
