The widow Mary Sullivan had experienced a truly awful year. Just months earlier her husband had died, leaving her with six mouths to feed. Sadly, two of her children also died, leaving her in a filthy tenement building with four small children and a backdrop of desperation. It was June 1914, and Boston was teeming […]
History takes a very long view of conflicts, and as divided as the country is today, this is not the first time that deep divisions split our society. Of course the Civil War is a great example of the kind of rift that divides a nation, but it is crystal clear that our nation, born […]
Every so often a mystery begins simply with a question, a curiosity. So it is no surprise that recently when a slip of paper fell from the leaves of a donated book, a flurry of questions would ensue. At the top of the paper was printed “Lines in Memory of Freddie.” What followed was a […]
On Pleasant Street there is a granite marker that is the dividing line between Canton and Stoughton. At 8 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, August 28, 1948, three Canton selectmen stood in the heat and haze of the morning sun. Selectman Maurice Ronayne shifted as he kicked up dust from the road. Selectman John […]
The seeds of a woman’s right to vote were sown in many places across New England. In Canton, they began at the stately home of Congressman Elijah Morse. As Mary Livermore alighted from her carriage on Washington Street, she looked over the ground of the mansion Morse had built. Morse was extremely wealthy and drew […]
Preservation Massachusetts, in partnership with The 1772 Foundation, is pleased to announce the awarding of a historic preservation grant to the David and Abigail Tilden House at Pequitside Farm. The circa 1725 Tilden House, which is being transformed into a living history center under the leadership of the Canton Historical Society, was awarded a $3,480 […]
On a quiet Sunday afternoon the sounds of Brahms would lift through the lazy air and people would gather on the sidewalk to listen. The music flowing from the small house at 847 Washington Street was indescribably beautiful. Inside the house Ms. Lillian Shattuck held the attention of her assembled guests. For anyone who heard […]
It has been hard to write about historical times in Canton’s history. My editor kept poking me to get back to it, and I have thus far resisted. Well, until now. I think it has been particularly difficult because it feels like we are indeed living in a history of our own. And, as yet […]
The modest white house at 154 Dedham Street is most unassuming, yet it is one of our most important unmarked national historic sites owing to the family that moved there in the early 1900s. And while much has been written about Augustus Hinton, little has been written about his daughters and wife. Augustus (Gus) Hinton […]
The following is the second in a two-part series. Click here to read part one. Perhaps they weren’t quite friends; they certainly were well acquainted. Everett Ellis was only 15 years old and had been in trouble before. In most instances, Ellis’ mother was able to buy him out of trouble. There was an incident […]
