USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Canton > History of the town of Canton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts > Part 42
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"This mountain is therefore consecrate and hallowed ground, dedi- cated to Liberty and Independence.
" Let us, then, my countrymen, here renew yearly the pledge given by our ancestors fifty years ago, and pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor that while this mountain stands we will never give up our rights and liberty."
The orator 1 having finished, the reading of the Declaration
1 This William Dunbar was the first man who engaged in the practice of the law in Canton. He was born in the old manse, Aug. 15, 1780, and died May 6, 1848. He opened an office in Canton, at the Hardware, as it was subsequently called, near the residence of his brother, Deacon Thomas Dunbar. Here he displayed the first sign with gilt letters on a black ground that had been seen in Canton, and which was the wonder of the common folk, and the consterna- tion of debtors. He subsequently removed to Canton Corner, where he con-
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of Independence and toasts followed ; a slight rain coming on dampened the ardor of the audience and the uniforms of the militia; the twenty-four tar-barrels and the gun were covered, and so remained until night, when the whole country was illuminated by the light of the burning tar. Fifty years later, a gentleman, knowing of the bonfire on the semi-centennial, obtained permission to have a portion of the money raised for the centennial devoted to the same purpose; and on the night of July 4, 1876, the old hill was again dedicated to the liberty and independence of a land freed from rebellion and slavery.
The following year, 1827, the exercises were very unlike those of the semi-centennial. The new meeting-house at the Corner was thrown open. Gen. Elijah Crane sat in the pulpit as President of the day, and Col. F. W. Lincoln kept order over the concourse, which not only filled the pews, but stood in carts driven up to the windows. The body-pews were re- served for the veterans of the Revolution, who had collected to greet each other, and recall the days of former hardship and glory. The young pastor of the parish, as the orator of the day, addressed them in these words: -
"Some of you who hear me were actors in the glorious struggle of independence. You were born the subjects of another government, and grew to manhood under the institutions of another nation. You helped to strike the blow that set your country free ; you fought under the banners of Washington, and under his banners you conquered. Did you then anticipate the good that was in store for your country? To you it seems but yesterday since you held yourselves in readiness, at a moment's warning, to gird on your armor and contend with the proud soldiery of Britain. You seem to have slept but a night, and a new world has risen around you as by enchantment ; it appears to you like the disturbed and confused imagery of a dream. Your country, like your children, has suddenly and imperceptibly risen from infancy to maturity. You now see those principles and those institutions for whose establishment you fought, extending their blessings to the
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tinued the practice of the law until his death. He is said by his legal contempo- raries to have been a inan well read in the law, and to have had important cases intrusted to him.
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remotest limits of our empire, over the most prosperous, the happiest people the sun ever shone upon."
At the close of Mr. Huntoon's address, the veterans and invited guests adjourned to a large tent which had been erected in a field opposite the meeting-house, where a colla- tion was served.
The sixty-third anniversary of American Independence occurred July 4, 1839. The committee of arrangements were Lyman Kinsley, John Endicott, William McKendry, William F. Temple, Jesse K. Webster, Jonathan Robinson, Ansel, Rufus, and Samuel French, E. K. Rugg, Alfred Kinsley, S. P. Griffin, Samuel Leonard, Jr., Thomas J. Johnson, Charles K. Whitney, Francis Wentworth, Willard Lathrop, George Wat- son, and Ezra Swift. The exercises were held in the Baptist meeting-house. Mr. French presided, and the oration was delivered by Mr. Simmons. A pavilion was erected for the subsequent banquet on what is now the garden of Mr. Frank M. Ames. After the multitude were refreshed, a letter was read from the Hon. John Quincy Adams, who had been invited, but was unable to be present; it was as follows: -
Mr. Everett intimated a wish that, in place of my personal attend- ance, I should send a sentiment for the celebration at Canton, with my best wishes for the happiness of all the company. I offer the one below, and remain respectfully, My Dear Sir, Your Obedient Servant, J. Q. ADAMS.
The grand climacteric of our country, may her old age never fail to fulfil the promise of her youth !
After this sentiment was read and applauded, the President proposed the following : -
" The Sage and Patriot, John Quincy Adams, who,
' Born for his country, ne'er narrowed his mind, Nor to party gave up what was meant for mankind.'"
The exercises concluded with fireworks, which were set off in the evening on " Orthodox Hill:"
A boy's letter furnishes us with the only account of the celebration of 1842: -
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
" I had a first rate time on the Fourth. I went out to Canton. On the morning of the Fourth, we went up to the south part of the vil- lage, where we had an oration from father, after the oration in the Baptist meeting-house. The Washingtonians and the public school children formed in line and marched to a grove, where we all par- took of a dinner and had addresses. My grandfather was present from New Hampshire."
In 1845 there was no celebration. In 1846 the day was inaugurated as usual by the ringing of bells and the firing of a national salute, with a cannon cast for the occasion at Kins- ley's foundry. The service at the meeting-house consisted of the reading of the Declaration of Independence by the Rev. William B. Hammond, and " a spirited oration by Rev. Benja- min Huntoon." After which, twelve hundred persons partook of a sumptuous entertainment, and listened to an address in the new building there recently erected by Lyman Kinsley, Esq., for a machine-shop. The music was by the Neponset Band. Upwards of five hundred children marched in the procession.
There appears to have been a celebration at Canton in 1852; the only reminiscence that has been preserved of it is the ode which ends with the following stanza: -
" Thus Freedom has smiled o'er the land of the brave O'er hearts that were constant and true to the last. If the storm then sweep over our path, let it rave; We can stand to the toil and the blast. Let us stand to the present as truly as when The blood of our fathers was shed ; Let us fight for the the glorious future, like men, And be worthy the names of the dead."
The following account of the celebration of Washington's Birthday in 1862 is from the Boston " Traveller ": -
" At Canton it was celebrated with enthusiasm. The bells of all the churches were rung at sunrise, noon, and sunset. Services were held in the Orthodox church at South Canton, which was draped with the flag of the Union, at 11 o'clock, A. M. The President's Proclamation was read by Rev. Mr. Haskell ; selections from Scrip- ture by Rev. Mr. Jewell ; Washington's Farewell Address was read by
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Rev. Mr. Huntoon ; prayer was offered by Rev. Mr. Guild ; reading of hymn by Rev. Mr. Mason.
"""The Star-Spangled Banner ' and other patriotic songs were sung by a chorus from the several choirs in town, under the direction of S. B. Noyes, Esq. At noon a salute of one hundred guns, a new brass cannon - a twelve-pounder from the Revere Copper Company - being used. The services at the church were attended by a large congrega- tion. The presence of all the clergymen of the town in one pulpit was gratifying. The reading of the address by the venerable Mr. Huntoon was impressive. The whole thing was well managed by Messrs. Chapman, Brewster, Wattles, and Robley, and was the most enthusiastic celebration the town has had for many a day."
The semi-centennial of the building of the present meet- ing-house of the First Parish was celebrated on Jan. 26, 1875. The following extracts are from the remarks of the Rev. William H. Savary, then pastor. In speaking of the meet- ing-house of 1747-1824, he says, -
" Much of the frame of that oaken building may be seen under the floors and about the floor of this church. There are also immense hewn timbers in the sills of some of the surrounding sheds. The old key, large enough for a hammer, is now in the thick wood-encased lock at the front entrance."
Addresses were also made by Revs. N. H. Chamberlain, E. C. Guild, George F. Piper, former ministers of the parish. Mr. J. Mason Everett indulged in some reminiscences of the early days of the meeting-house, and Mr. D. T. V. Hun- toon spoke of the historical associations connected with the parish.
On the 13th of March, 1876, it was resolved by the Sen- ate and House of Representatives, at Washington, that it was desirable that on the centennial anniversary of our national independence, historical sketches of towns from their forma- tion should be delivered, and copies deposited with the clerks of counties and in the Congressional Library. In obedience to this request, on the Fourth of July the Hon. Charles Endicott delivered in the meeting-house of the First Con- gregational Parish an oration in which he sketched the his-
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tory of the town from its earliest settlement to the present time, -the landed history; the Indian Reservation ; the War of the Revolution; the formation of the government; the incorporation of Canton; the ecclesiastical history, - and gave much information that had not before appeared in print.
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CHAPTER XXXIV.
PROMINENT MEN OF THE NEW TOWN.
A MONG the distinguished citizens of ancient Stoughton who were active in the incorporation of Canton, we have frequently mentioned Elijah Crane. At the time of the division of the town he was in the prime of life. Hav- ing pleaded the cause of the petitions with success, General Crane received the unanimous suffrages of his people and had the honor to sit as our first representative in the Great and General Court.
Elijah Crane, son of Major Thomas Crane, who was so prominent during Revolutionary times, was born in Milton, Aug. 29, 1754, and died at Canton, Feb. 21, 1834. He re- moved to Canton, residing at Ponkapoag in 1763, and at the age of twenty-one was in a company that marched on the Lexington alarm. This company is supposed to have been stationed in Roxbury, near the present Yeoman Street; for in after years, when attacked by newspaper articles, Gen- eral Crane is said to have replied, "A man that has stood guard at Lamb's Dam cannot be scared by squibs," which brought out in reply the toast, " While we venerate the eagle, we would not be unmindful of the Crane who stood sentinel at Lamb's Dam." It would not appear that the position was one of extreme danger. On the 6th of October, 1775, the provincials stationed there discharged their cannon at the regulars as they relieved guard at the lines, and one corporal was killed. We find no record of Crane's subsequent enlist- ment in the Continental army; but he used to speak of a dinner of hasty pudding and molasses which he received while driving a four-horse team with supplies for the army in New York State during the Revolution, which dinner he
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declared to be "the most luxurious he ever ate." In early life he was a farmer, afterward an innholder. Much of his time was devoted to church, parish, and public affairs, but it was in military life that he was most distinguished.
He rose through the subordinate offices to be brigadier- general, 1803, and major-general of the First Division of the Massachusetts militia, June 16, 1809, which position he held until 1827, so long that the officers under him grew tired of waiting for advancement, although he always said that he would resign when a gentleman should be proposed to fill his place. On one occasion, at a public banquet, they vented their spleen in the following toast, " Major-General Crane, may he be eternally rewarded in heaven for his ever- lasting services on earth!" Again, it was asserted that he had all the virtues except resignation. He first called a division muster at " Low Plain," now Readville, in 1815. When, Oct. 12, 1826, the muster was ordered at the same place, the Boston troops were much incensed at being called to such a distance from Boston, and various methods were devised to worry General Crane. The Boston " News-Let- ter," in speaking of the review to be held on the 12th, says, " Major-General Crane, in defiance of public sentiment and public feeling, of squibs, crackers, rockets, and pasquinades, seems determined to play his military farce at Dedham, on the twelfth instant ; the Boston Brigade, having no tents, must sleep under the canopy of heaven," - which the Editor thinks would be almost as bad "as standing sentinel on Lamb's Dam."
General Crane was determined to hold the review in spite of threats, caricatures, and lampoons, and it was a very cred- itable affair to the Commonwealth and the General. The same Boston papers which had spoken of the muster as a farce acknowledged after the event "that the manœuvres were highly to the satisfaction of all who witnessed them," and Col. John Gay of our own town says, "The First, Second, and Third Brigades were commanded by Major-General Crane, of Canton ; the troops performed their duty in a sol- dier-like manner." The two brigades which were reviewed
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by General Lafayette in 1824 were commanded by General Crane. Old men who were present at the review speak of his soldier-like appearance as he galloped up and down the line. His large form appeared to advantage on horseback, and he was as erect as when, a minute-man, he marched to the tune of the White Cockade down the streets of old Stoughton. Beside him, mounted on a tall jet-black horse with white face, rode the chaplain of his regiment, - his own pastor, whose handsome face and elegant horsemanship riveted the eyes. of all the citizen soldiery. General Crane wore his white hair cut short and brushed straight up from his head, and it is said that when he lifted his hat on review, he reminded the spectators of Andrew Jackson. In fact, he had many qualities in common with Old Hickory.
Bold and determined in his nature, he was not easily thwarted. If he decided to have a muster at Low Plain, the muster would be held. When he could not make his exit from the new church as quickly as he desired, he jumped out through the window, and side-doors were put in to accommo- date General Crane. In his day, his opinion was law; and his manner was so overbearing on one occasion in court at North- ampton, where he had been sent by the town to look after a pauper case, that Judge Parker said, looking directly at him, " Gentlemen must be more quiet; the High Sheriff of Hamp- shire does n't allow as much noise in his county as the High Sheriff of Norfolk." In social life, however, he was polite and courteous, plain, substantial, and upright, kind to friends, generous to enemies, inclined to have his own way, but prob- ably no more so than his position for twenty years as sheriff of the county warranted. General Crane was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity. He was Master of Rising Star Lodge in 1810. During the years 1820 and 1821 he was Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Massachu- setts ; in 1822 Senior Grand Warden, and in 1832 he was elected Grand Master. Shortly after his death the Grand Lodge passed the following resolutions :-
"That we hold in grateful remembrance his many and excellent personal, social, and Masonic virtues, and the services he hath ren-
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dered the fraternity, and that we respectfully sympathize with his afflicted family in their bereavement and loss of so valuable and lamented a friend."
The house in which General Crane resided from 1789 until his death stood nearly on the site. where stands the schoolhouse now named for him. General Crane owned at one time a mill on the street called Bolivar, and planted, in the spring of 1819, the willows now standing on that thoroughfare.
Another character who often divided honors in town af- fairs with General Crane was Joseph Bemis, commonly called Squire Bemis. He came to Canton from Boston, at the age of twenty-four. With Elijah Crane he had followed the drum of the minute-men in. Endicott's company in 1775 ; and he taught the district school almost every year from 1781 to 1813. He received all the offices that it was in the power of the town to bestow upon him. He was time and again moderator of the annual town meetings, and the following anecdote is told in this connection : -
" Bemis was politically opposed to the famous sheriff, General Crane, and many times they tilted with each other in town meetings. Bemis was usually moderator. The meetings were held in the old meeting-house. On one occasion Bemis occupied the deacons' seat, which was under the pulpit. General Crane took a position in the pulpit to overawe and criticise Bemis. Some one called, ' Mr. Mod- erator ! I rise to a point of order,' and asked a question. Mr. Bemis replied, ' I am not able to answer that question, but there is one above who can,' and pointed to the General, who was made mad, and called Bemis a great many hard names."
For twenty years he was Representative to the General Court; and during the years 1812, 1814-18, he was a sena- tor. He also held in 1807, and for some years, the office of Justice of the Court of General Sessions. He married Sally, a daughter of Thomas Stone, and the " old Thomas Shep- ard" estate passed into his hands. The house he lived in still stands, and is one of the most comfortable and sub- stantial-looking of the old-fashioned houses in Canton. It
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is at present the home of Thomas Bailey Aldrich. From the Bemis family, the estate passed into the hands of Lewis Babcock, who learned the trade of a pianoforte-maker from Benjamin Crehore, the first in this country to make piano- fortes. Babcock occupied it until about 1865; it then be- came the property of Hon. Henry. L. Pierce.
A stone in the Canton Cemetery bears the following inscription : -
HON. JOSEPH BEMIS died Oct. 23, 1825, aged 79 years.
James Hawkes Lewis, one of the petitioners for the incor- poration of Canton, and the son of John and Deborah (Hawkes) Lewis, was born at Hingham, Dec. 27, 1724, and died at Canton, April 8, 1802. He married, Dec. 7, 1749, Lydia Pratt, and having purchased the house and farm of James Andrews, removed from Hingham to Canton in 1753. The house he occupied was built about 1740, taking the place of one erected in 1714; it was situated on the hill at Ponkapoag, not far from the Reservation Line; a clump of lilac bushes and other shrubs that once bloomed near it now marks its site. On April 15, 1815, the house took fire, the old widow of Mr. Lewis, then in her eighty-sixth year, and utterly helpless, being carried out in her armchair from the burning building. The old chair is still preserved.
Mr. Lewis was a man well read in ancient history and translations of classical literature. He brought with him to Canton a fine library of nicely bound books, - a rare pos- session in those days, except in the families of the rich or the libraries of professional men. He instructed his children, es- pecially in English history. He is said to have kept school at Canton Corner for a dollar a week, and boarded himself. Mr. Lewis appears to have been active in church and town affairs; he was one of the committee in charge of the town's salt-works at Squantum during the Revolution. With his son Laban he was out in the service during the war. He presided often at the precinct meetings, was school commit- tee-man for the Blue Hill Branch, and on Sundays kept
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
order over the boys. One of his sons, Elijah, who was born March 3, 1773, left home as a boy, and went to Dorchester, where he established himself in business, became a wealthy man, was prominent in Dr. Porter's church, and was for many years one of the selectmen. His daughter was the second wife of Rev. Benjamin Huntoon, and, his son the last Mayor of Roxbury. Benjamin, another son, born Nov. 13, 1766, and who died May 20, 1860, long resided in Can- ton on Pecunit Street; he was one of the petitioners for the incorporation of Canton.
Still another son, Laban, was born April 12, 1764, and died at Canton, July 17, 1842. He married Rebecca, daughter of Philip and Rebecca (Fuller) Withington, Dec. 26, 1799. He lived at first in a house which stood, in 1785, in the lane which runs from the Ponkapoag schoolhouse to Green Lodge Street. It was known as the Fitzgerald house; it makes the L to the two-story house now standing, and owned by one of the descendants of Mrs. Franklin Curtis, which was built by Laban in 1816. In 1803 he erected a cider-mill, and made the first year over three hundred barrels of cider. He was prominent in all that related to the welfare of the town.
Silas Kinsley signed the petition for the incorporation of Canton. He was presented by his wife Prudence (Bent), March 20, 1797, with a son named Rufus Bent Kinsley, who was to become the founder of the Kinsley Express Company. Silas Kinsley was employed in the transportation of merchan- dise before the days of railroads; and his son, having thor- oughly learned the business, started to convey parcels and baggage between Boston and Newport. Successful in this, he soon established a line of stages, and the stages from Newport and Taunton that passed through Canton in 1824 bore the name of young Kinsley. He established the well- known Kinsley Express Company, which was consolidated with the Adams Express Company, of which he was a direc- tor and one of the principal stockholders. He died in New- port, Feb. 5, 1870. His funeral took place at Canton from the house where he was born, the beautiful estate at the cor-
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ner of Washington and High streets. He was buried in the Canton Cemetery ; a marble monument there, and a memo- rial window in the Channing church at Newport, R. I., per- petuate his memory.
William Royall, the son of Isaac, was born May 10, 1710. He graduated at Harvard College in 1730, and was taxed here in 1731. His father gave him a deed of one quarter of the iron-works called "London New," in 1734, on which he was taxed until 1743. He was one of the assessors in 1740; for many years he was town clerk, having been first chosen in 1743, and continuing in office successively until 1759. He resided in the old homestead occupied formerly by his father, where he seems to have lived a queer life. He was the owner of several slaves; but from tradition we should infer that he was the slave and they the masters. It is said that his male slaves would go into the field near his house, opposite the Doty tavern, and defy their master to leave the house; and that he was afraid either to go out, or to command them to come in. When a visitor ap- proached the house, the negroes would leave their work in the field and reach the house first; but the visitor saw noth- ing of them. Should he, however, chance to cast his eyes toward the top of the room, he could distinctly see the whites of many pairs of eyes, rolling and blinking, through the crevices of the floor above. On Dec. 11, 1778, William, then seventy years old, was awaiting the return of his slave Cæsar from Milton Landing, where he had been with a pair of oxen to carry a load of wood for the use of the Stough- ton salt-works at Squantum. The night was excessively cold, with a terrible snow-storm, and the team did not return until near dawn; the oxen stood in the yard waiting to be un- yoked. Old Royall went out to the team, and on the floor of the cart found Caesar frozen to death. When the new Constitution was adopted in 1780, the slave-holders of Massa- chusetts deemed their property insecure, and Royall took measures to turn his to account. He procured a gang of men, who arrived late one night from Boston, with a large covered wagon; the house was surrounded, the wagon
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HISTORY OF CANTON.
backed up to the door, and the slaves were ordered to dress by their master. They at first showed signs of re- sistance, but they were driven to the door and into the wagon; being securely bound, they were conveyed to Bos- ton, placed on board a ship bound for Barbadoes, and car- ried into perpetual slavery. This was the end of slavery in Canton. Hector and Pero managed to escape, and after- ward asserted that had they known the intention of their master, he would not have lived long enough to accomplish his object.
The master, William Royall, having reached the age of eighty-three years and five months, died on the 23d of Sep- tember, 1792-3. There is a tract of land not far from the Royall house, near Little Blue Hill, which still bears the name of the Cato farm, so named from one Cato, who was, say the ancient records, a slave of William Royall, and who was married to Diana, also a slave of Royall, Dec. 15, 1746. This house was subsequently occupied by Col. Abner Crane, Edward Wood, and William Hunt.
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