Harold Winslow cut the very figure of the dashing sea captain that he was. At 45 his shock of black hair swept up from his prominent forehead, and his eyes still had the twinkle of wistfulness for the Atlantic Ocean. Winslow thought back on his career and smiled softly to himself, yet his body winced […]
When it was built, it was the largest public structure in Canton. A grand memorial to the men of the Civil War, we named it Memorial Hall. All across America the soldiers who fought in the War Between the States were beginning to pass away, and for the great masses of men who fought, there […]
Anyone who lives in an old house can tell you that there are stories in every corner of that home. We are simply caretakers of old homes — owning them within a long line of homeowners both in the past and the future. For a family that really never had their own home, the Harrisons […]
Chris Fisher lives on Indian Lane here in Canton. Fisher’s hobby is making scale models — not airplanes or cars, but buildings, which are his passion. Having spent months working on his masterpiece, a scale model of one of Canton’s most historic landmarks, all that remains now for Fisher is to find a place to […]
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 […]
