That old silk flag must have been glorious. The boys that carried her would have looked resplendent in their uniforms. They were dressed in gray coats, white pantaloons, smart belts, and caps. In the fashion of the early uniforms of West Point, they were magnificent on that day. Atop their heads a leather shako cap […]
Below is the second in a two-part story about the Gelpke twins of Canton. Click here to return to part one, “Giving Thanks.” Bob and Roy Gelpke, twins that had never spent a day apart, left Canton together in May 1943. They can be seen smiling on a troop transport train as it leaves North […]
Below is the first in a two-part series about the Gelpke twins of Canton by True Tales author George T. Comeau. Many families in Canton had reason to celebrate and give thanks on Thanksgiving Day on November 22, 1945. The war in the European Theatre had ended on May 8 as Americans and Allies erupted […]
It is perhaps our most ancient roadway and most traveled. Washington Street, the main thoroughfare that begins at the foot of the Great Blue Hill and departs at Cobb Tavern in Stoughton. It is a spine that almost perfectly bisects Canton. If there were an East and West Canton, the dividing line is surely Washington […]
Linda Little has fond memories of her grandfather Leland’s home in Washington state. Looking back upon her time with him, she now knows what rooted her curiosity in archeology. “He had a room in the back of his house; it was a little museum,” Linda recalled. The room, filled with shelves and glass cases, held […]
Canton smells different today. We take advantage of clean air and fresh water and expect it as a given. As you can well imagine the Canton of the mid 1800s was a far different place than the world we know today. It is likely that you can count on one hand the number of pigs […]
There are over 30 historic photographs and artifacts connected to dogs in the archives of the Canton Historical Society. In some cases, the same dog appears across many photos throughout the life of a given photographer. We also have several historic dog licenses, some dating back to the Civil War period. Not to have a […]
On the 10th day of March 1863, nine men were granted a dispensation to organize a Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in Canton. These men, stalwarts of the community, began to assemble a membership with a history and lineage that connects through Stoughton to Most Worshipful Paul Revere and Bro. Richard Gridley. To trace […]
This story originally appeared in the Canton Citizen on March 1, 2012 One of the sounds clearly in my childhood memory is that of the distant shotgun through the fields and woods of Canton. It is a sound that has been relegated to my childhood, since the discharge of firearms has largely been regulated in […]
You are never really finished honoring the dead. Long after they are gone, our ancestors, both actual and inherited, are given respect and devotion. In Canton, the earliest of our founding families are buried in a small cemetery on Washington Street. And over the past several months we have been honoring our pioneer families. It […]
