It was an extremely emotional time. I was holding the skull of these same Indians who were friends of Sassamon and Eliot. Each day revealed new information about their burial practices and the lives they lived in Ponkapoag.
Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving, and while the roots of the traditional story are well told, there are elements of the contact between the native population and the Puritans that heralded the end of a civilization. In Canton, there are abundant reminders of what once was, but could never survive. The facts are startling: Put […]
Quincy Shaw Lowry loved bugs. In particular, it was worms and larvae that captured his attention. Early in his career, Lowry studied the Phorbia brassicae Bouche — the cabbage maggot. Becoming an expert in worms and insects would be a lifelong passion for this Canton boy. Lowry was born in June 1890 to Martin and […]
Since I began writing these stories over two years ago, what strikes me is how much of what I write about is simply gone and vanished from our town. Really, in over 300 years of recorded history and almost 12,000 years of inhabitation, we have lost so much of our heritage over time. Many people […]
Take a walk with me. As the autumn leaves swirl around us, we will take the path that enters the Canton Corner Cemetery quite near the side of the Unitarian Church. The faint scent of pine greets us as we duck around the chain-link fence. Walk down past the stone receiving tomb, the crunch of […]
For almost 28 years, Joe Moakley, a South Boston politician, represented Canton in the U.S. Congress. Moakley’s hallmark quote had to do with people and neighborhoods. Explaining relationships, he observed, “You live with the people upstairs, downstairs, and over the back fence.” For the past 25 years, the Canton Citizen has been an integral part […]
There is a dull patina to the bell that sits on my writing table. The box arrived just last week, and after prolonged negotiations with the seller, I tendered the sum of $50 for a small piece of Canton’s history. What makes this bell special is that taped to the underside is a small piece […]
One of the things that we tend to forget here in Canton is the fact that at one point we were once a small rural farming community. Basic human needs were met, in simpler times, through the use of the resources that existed within a small radius. The trees that were cut down to build […]
This story was written nine years ago. And as time passed, my dear friend embraced aging with an ever-burgeoning family. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren blossomed and this kind man smiled. There is a poignancy in growing old and wise. A day before I learned of Larry’s passing last week, I dreamed of the two of us […]
Canton has certainly come a long way since it was once part of Dorchester in the mid 1500s. And for folks who complain about traffic, here they join in a recurring theme throughout the history of the town. With over 440 public and private ways and perhaps a cumulative length of 115 miles of roadways, […]
