USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Canton > History of the town of Canton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts > Part 44
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
Before the Revolutionary War the town's stock of ammuni- tion was in charge of individuals. In 1743 Major John Shepard was the custodian. In 1745 it was purchased in Boston, and deposited at the house of Mr. James Endicott; three large chests were made to hold it by Preserved Lyon. In 1758 it was confided to John Billings, who continued in charge until April 15, 1771, when Elijah Dunbar took charge of it. After the Revolution, ammunition was kept in the chaise-house of Elijah Dunbar; but in 1807 the matter of building a powder-house was agitated. Two years later, a committee was appointed to select a site, and ascertain the expense of building. The committee decided to place the powder-house on the hill back of the house now owned by Charles N. Draper, where it remained until about 1858, when it was removed to the town farm. The sides of the building were of stout plank, covered with boards; it was shingled and crowned with a hip-roof. It was seven feet square, and seven feet high, and was fastened to the rock
518
HISTORY OF CANTON.
with iron bolts. The powder-house and its contents were, after the death of Elijah Dunbar, in 1814, placed in charge of his son, James Dunbar. In 1817 James Bent, in 1819 Samuel Capen, and in 1823 Leonard Everett, had charge of it.
On June 19, 1812, war was declared between the United States and Great Britain. It was decided that Massachusetts should furnish ten thousand men as her quota; and a town meeting was held in Canton to see what encouragement should be granted to such persons as chose to volunteer and make up the proportion of men required from the town. The town voted that the pay of volunteers should be fourteen dollars per month, including what they might receive from the general government, provided they should go into actual service ; and to each non-commissioned officer and soldier who should volunteer, two dollars whether they should go into actual service or not.
A recruiting-office in charge of Lieutenant Wellington was soon afterward opened in what was known as the " Haines " house, now occupied by Billings Hewett, and built by Elijah Fisher in 1790. From it, at the time of which we are writing, proceeded daily the lieutenant in full uniform. Accompanied by his drummer, he marched to the westerly part of the town, thence to South Canton, and returned to the Corner, urging all suitable, mercenary, or patriotic persons to enlist. Job Hewett, among others, accepted the invitation. He was born July 15, 1788, and died Feb. 4, 1859. Soon after his enlistment he received the appointment of orderly sergeant, and at the battle of Lundy's Lane was wounded by a splinter which a shot from the enemy had torn from a fence behind which his company was stationed. The day following the action only seven men of this company reported for duty ; others also enlisted ; and the following men never returned to their homes: Henry Bemis, Josiah Thompson, Benjamin Bil- lings, Samuel Billings, and Joseph Holmes.
Two companies of militia were in existence at the break- ing out of the war, one under command of Capt. John Tucker, 2d, consisting of fifty-eight men. Captain Tucker lived at the end of a lane, called Tucker's Lane, leading
519
WAR OF 1812.
from Green Lodge Street, south of Capt. William Shaller's house, into what is now an open field. When this house was torn down, it was said to be the oldest house in Canton ; but this is an error, for it was not built more than a hundred years ago. It was erected for Joseph Billings, the grandson of Joseph, who bought the Monk place. It was afterward occupied by his mother-in-law, Mrs. Gookin. Capt. John Tucker, 2d, died April 7, 1858, aged seventy-two years. The other militia company in Canton consisted of seventy- nine men, and was commanded by Capt. Benjamin Mc- Kendry. He was the son of Archibald and Sarah (Crane) McKendry, and was born in 1781 ; he was a hatter by trade, and had a shop at Ponkapoag in 1810; he subsequently was a colonel in the militia. He died Oct. 26, 1833. From these two companies the following men enlisted and were stationed for some time at Fort Independence :
Samuel Billings.
Moses Hayden.
Newell Drake.
Nathan Henry.
Benj. Everendon, Jr.
Job Hewett.
Elijah Fisher, 2d.
Robert Legate.
Samuel H. Fisher.
Nathaniel Morse.
Macy Hall. Joseph Morse.
Frederic Harrington.
Sanford Simmonds.
Elijah Hawes.
Ramoth Wade.
Lemuel Hawes.
Seth Wentworth, Jr.
Nor was the enthusiasm of the time confined to the younger men. The veterans of the Revolution signed the following patriotic document : -
" The United States having contended with the kingdom of Great Britain for her independence, and under God obtained it, therefore having become one of the nations of the earth, it of course follows that we have rights and privileges which ought to remain sacred to us and undisturbed by the polluted hand of any. nation, however pow- erful. The great highway of all nations (the sea) is claimed by Great Britain, still styling herself mistress thereof, and under a pretence of her right (established by usurpation) she impresses our seamen, plunders our property, and murders our citizens, and justifies herself therein in part by saying that she is impelled thereto by the Decrees
520
HISTORY OF CANTON.
of France, and partly by her having exercised those rights from time , immemorial. Our government, stung by these and the like outrages, that our commerce is at an end, and finding that supplications to the British Court for justice and indemnity are fruitless, and finding the only alternative that of contending by force with this imperious and piratical nation for the obtainment of our rights, or tamely yield up to her our independence, bought by the best blood of our fathers and revolutionary patriots.
" Impressed by these sentiments, our government choose the former, and in consequence have declar'd war against this aggressing nation, and Heaven, we believe, justifies the act.
" And whereas we may rationally look for foreign invasion, and have not a little to fear from internal combinations and conspiracies of men whose hearts are rancorous with an inveterate hatred against the peace and happiness of these States : -
" We the undersigned, notwithstanding our having passed the me- ridian of life, feeling that Godlike glow within our breasts which actuated our fathers in seventy-five, and hoping and believing that we are yet capable of contributing towards the public weal, do hereby vol- unteer our services, and covenant and agree that we will each and every one furnish himself with a good fire-arm and every necessary accoutrement for battle-array, that we will choose our own officers, and being formed into a company will be subservient to our officers, will hold ourselves in readiness and at a minute's warning to march and repel any foreign invasion, or to quell any intestine conspiracy that mav show its poisonous head. Done at Canton, this third day of August, A.D., 1812.
NATHAN CRANE.
BENJAMIN LEWIS.
JOSEPH BEMIS.
ABEL WENTWORTH.
ISAAC BILLINGS.
SAMUEL LEONARD.
SAMUEL BLACKMAN.
SAMUEL CANTERBURY.
BENJAMIN GILL. ELIJAH HOWARD.
SAMUEL CARROLL. MICHAEL SHALLER.
Ellis Ames says : -
" The volunteers of the year 1813, from the towns of Canton, Stoughton, and Sharon, all enlisted in Col. Thomas Aspinwall's regi- ment. In subsequent years I knew the survivors of the soldiers of his regiment from those towns, and often talked with them. At the mention of Colonel Aspinwall's name, their countenances brightened,
521
WAR OF 1812.
and they bore ample testimony to his bravery as a soldier and his great ability as an officer."
On the Ist of June, 1813, the summit of Blue Hill was cov- ered with anxious citizens of Canton, who watched with intense interest the smoke from the fight in Boston Harbor, between the " Chesapeake " and " Shannon."
The town made application to the government for twenty- five stands of arms, and sixty rounds of cartridges for each non-commissioned officer and soldier. They also voted in 1814 to make such addition to the pay of those drafted as should raise their compensation to eighteen dollars per month. We find that the town paid the board of several cartridge-makers. The men who were drafted and served three months, or procured substitutes in the United States service, were: Amos Upham, Jr., Elijah Hawes, William Shepard, 2d, Isaac Copeland, and John Shepard ; those for two months and thirteen days under the Governor of Massa- chusetts : Ezra Tilden, Jr., John McKendry, Nathaniel Tucker, Stephen Bazin, Thomas Piper, Artemas Pratt, Elisha White, George Downes, James Dunbar, and Apollos Southworth.
On the 13th of February, 1815, the news that peace had been declared reached Canton ; and the occasion was cele- brated by an old-fashioned "sing" at the tavern of Captain Upham, and arrangements were made for a more formal cele- bration on the 22d of February. The old meeting-house was opened, and the glorious news furnished John Bailey with a fruitful topic for an oration. This John Bailey was the son of Israel Bailey and Ruth (Fisher), and was born in Canton. In 1804-07, he taught school in Canton ; he gradu- ated from Brown University in the class of 1807. From this time until 1814 he remained at Providence as tutor and librarian. In 1814 he returned to Canton and was chosen for three successive years to the Legislature. Oct. 1, 1817, he was appointed by Mr. Adams to a position in the State Department, and while at Washington was elected Sept. 8, 1823, by his friends at home, a member of Congress, but was unseated on account of being a non-resident. In his state- ment to the committee on elections he says, -
522
HISTORY OF CANTON.
" They, the inhabitants of the Norfolk District, undoubtedly sup- posed that a person who was a native of that district, whose imme- diate connections nearly all resided in it, and who had represented a portion of it in the State Legislature for several years, could not be held to have expatriated himself without some clear and unequivocal proof, of which none whatever existed. They had seen me go to a neighboring State, Rhode Island, and spend four years at college in my education, and then return to my native State. They had seen me at the end of a year revisit the same college, and spend six years there as one of the instructors, and then return again to my native district. And though they had at the time of the election seen me employed nearly as long by the government at Washington as I had been in the second instance in Rhode Island, they did not doubt that my attach- ment to my native district continued, and that my avowed intention to return was sincere."
Again, he says : -
"My library, consisting of between seven and eight hundred vol- umes, and constituting nearly all my visible property, I left in the house of my father, where I had resided, and where they still remain for my use on my return. Though this may seem trifling property to those whose fortunes are splendid, yet as it happened to be the own- er's all, its humble nature is as significant in its application to the pres- ent question as would be the treasures of the affluent."
In 1824 he returned to Massachusetts and acquired a resi- dence ; he was re-elected and took his seat, which he held from 1823 to 1831, serving at one time on the Committee of Public Expenditures. In 1831 and 1834 he was a State sena- tor, and the latter year ran as anti-Masonic candidate for governor against " Honest John Davis," the incumbent being the regular Whig nominee. He died in Dorchester, June 26, 1835. In person he was tall and delicate. His disposition was generous, and his memory is warmly cherished by many now living.
The festivities upon the return of peace were completed by an immense fire on the top of Blue Hill ; and on the 13th of April a general thanksgiving was held.
In 1814 we find the names of Patrick Lambert, Gregory Doyle, James Kavanagh, Peter Ledwith, and Thomas Riley
523
WAR OF 1812.
certified to be members of the Roman Catholic Church by John Cheverus, Bishop of Boston, afterward Cardinal-Arch- bishop of Bordeaux. These men were probably the first Irishmen in Canton.
On Sept. 23, 1815, the " great gale " occurred; it uprooted trees, damaged houses, and unroofed many barns.
Feb. 17, 1817, is recorded as having been the coldest day for over one hundred years, but the recorder neglects to inform us of the degree of cold.
-
524
HISTORY OF CANTON.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
ROGER SHERMAN.
T HE matter of providing a suitable house where the poor of the town could be collected and taken care of had engaged the attention of the inhabitants of Canton as early as 1759, when an article was inserted in the warrant to see if the town will build an almshouse. The subject was agitated in 1761, and again in 1766 and 1783. In 1786 the committee reported that it would be for the best interests of the town to build or hire a house, but in case the town should decline to do so, that then it would be advisable for the overseers, or wardens, as they were often called, to let out the poor at the cheapest rate. It had been the custom in the town, from the first settlement, to put up paupers at auction annually, the lowest bidder taking the unfortunates to his home to provide lodging, nursing, washing, mending, and doctoring. This system, at best a bad one, became scandalous at the beginning of the present century; the insane were put up at vendue with the paupers; the persons who agreed to take care of them often abandoned their contract with the town, and it was no uncommon sight to see demented persons wandering about, a disgrace to the town and a terror to its inhabitants. Aside from this, the expense of boarding out paupers was much greater than if they were convened in one place. But it was not until 1816 that the town-farm was purchased from the estate of Andrew Capen. It was deemed best at one time to unite with the towns of Stoughton and Sharon, but this plan was abandoned. The purchase of this estate for $2,750 did not meet expectations. The paupers did not care to go to the poorhouse, and con- sequently received no aid. In 1820 the project of selling the farm, or a portion of it, was attempted; and the depression
525
ROGER SHERMAN.
in real estate at the time seems to have been the only reason it was not disposed of. It was finally sold in March, 1823, to Elisha White, for $2,125; nor was it until 1837 that it was repurchased for $3,500, - the money received from the surplus revenue, - a superintendent appointed to take charge of it, and the paupers transferred to the home, which was thus occupied until 1888.
This farm possesses a very interesting history. It was originally occupied by William Sherman, the father of Roger, the signer of the Declaration of Independence. William was the son of Joseph Sherman, of Watertown, and grandson of the emigrant settler, Captain John, who came from Ded- ham, Essex County, England, in 1635. He was a shoemaker by trade, and earned his living by going from house to house with his kit, and furnishing the families of those days with their yearly supply of shoes. On Sept. 3, 1715, he married Mehitable, daughter of Benjamin Wellington, of Watertown. He soon afterward removed to Newton, where, April 19, 1721, a son was born to him, whom he named Roger, and who was to bear a distinguished and honorable part in the councils of his country.
It is probable that when Roger Sherman was about two years old his father removed to Stoughton. He was a resi- dent here in 1723, as the record of the baptism of his daughter Elizabeth proves. The land on which he settled he owned jointly with John Wentworth, under a deed given them by the Indians in 1732. The property was sub- sequently divided, and Sherman became the sole owner of the land on the westerly side of the " way leading to the Dor- chester Swamp," now Pleasant Street. In Roger's day the farm consisted of seventy-three acres, and was bounded on the southerly side by land of John Wentworth and Dorches- ter line; westerly, by land of Joseph Tucker; northerly, by land of Daniel Stone and Nathaniel Moseley; and north- easterly by land of Benjamin Gill and Joseph Esty. Here Roger lived with his father and mother until the former died. Roger accepted the estate at the assessed valuation, agreeing to pay off the other heirs. In 1743, under date of February 7,
526
HISTORY OF CANTON.
Roger Sherman, of Stoughton, cordwainer, deeds to Stephen Badlam, of Dedham, the " home lot " of his father.
As there was no school in the vicinity of his father's house, Roger was obliged to walk to Canton Corner, then called Old Stoughton, in order to obtain his winter schooling. Attend- ing school at any other time was out of the question, for the duties of agriculture occupied a portion of the year, and the craft of shoemaking another portion. His father early in- structed him in this latter craft, and it was in due time to be of great advantage to him; for it is related that in after years, being appointed by Congress on a committee to examine into the accounts of certain contractors who had been employed by the government in making boots, he astonished the Senate by his knowledge of the cost of the materials, and proved that the contractors were swindlers. When questioned as to the method by which he became so familiar with the exact cost, he was not ashamed to acknowledge that he had himself been a shoemaker.
On the 14th of March, 1742, he became a member of Mr. Dunbar's church, and on the 28th of August of the following year, was, by vote of the church, "dismissed and recom- mended to the church of New Milford."
It is related that when Roger left Canton, he wheeled all his worldly effects in a barrow to Canton Corner, ready for transportation to Connecticut. Allen, in his biographical dictionary, says he went with his kit on his back. His object in removing to New Milford was to follow the busi- ness of a surveyor. In the introduction to an almanac which he prepared in 1749, he writes, -
" I have for several years past, for my own amusement, spent some of my leisure hours in the study of mathematics ; not with any intent to appear in public, but at the desire of many of my friends and acquaintances, I have issued this book ; if it shall find acceptance, perhaps it may encourage me to serve my country this way for time to come."
It would appear that he left his mathematical studies for a short time in November, 1749, for on the 7th of that
527
ROGER SHERMAN.
month we find him again in Canton, but not at the old . homestead. On the road leading to Walpole, there stands a house built in 1789, and commonly called the Kollock house. This modern house stands a little to the northward of one which was burned, which was built and owned by Joseph Hartwell. He was a native of what is now Lincoln, and was born Aug. 1I, 1698. He purchased this farm of Capt. John Vose and Joseph Tucker, in 1725. It was that part of the Twelfth Division known as the eighth lot, and bounded on the northerly side by the Neponset River. Deacon Joseph Hartwell married Mary Tolman on the 8th of December, 1725; their first daughter, Elizabeth, was born Aug. 31, 1726, and it was to make her his wife that Roger Sherman in 1749 made his journey to Canton. Ruth, the second daughter, born Sept. 3, 1738, married Col. Benjamin Bussey, and Abigail, the youngest, married Feb. 13, 1755, Jeremiah Ingraham, Jr., and became the ma- ternal ancestor of the celebrated Williams family of Maine. Roger Sherman's wife died in October, 1760, and three years later he married Rebecca Prescott, of Danvers. The owner of the old Hartwell place died Feb. 7, 1786; his son John lived on it until his death, Sept. 24, 1809; it then passed into the possession of his son David, if not already owned by him, who sold it to Thomas Kollock. A brook which runs through this ancient domain, and a street which crosses the farm, perpetuate the name of this family of early and worthy remembrance. At the death of Thomas, commonly called " Queue " Kollock, the farm passed into the possession of his son, Deacon Jeremiah, who resided upon it until 1867. The house now forms a part of the town almshouse.
Roger Sherman never forgot the home of his youth ; it was his custom to visit Canton nearly every year, and renew the friendships of former days. An ancient record informs us that on June 21, 1767, " Esquire Sherman with his wife and two boys, here to meeting; " he was accompanied by his brother, the Rev. Nathaniel, who was born in this town, March 13, 1726, died July 18, 1797, and who on this occasion " preached in the afternoon."
528
HISTORY OF CANTON.
The life of Roger Sherman, the Canton schoolboy, belongs to the history of our country. He was treasurer of Yale. College, and from that institution received the degree of Master of Arts. He was Judge of the Superior Court, and a member of the Senate of his adopted State. In 1774 he was elected a member of the First Congress. On the 7th of June, 1776, Richard Henry Lee presented the resolution " that these colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States," and a committee was appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence, consisting of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. His name appears as a signer to the Declaration. John Adams said of him, " He was one of the most sensible men in the world, with the clearest head and the steadiest heart;" Jefferson, "that he was a man who never said a foolish thing in his life; " and Fisher Ames, " If I am absent during the discussion of a subject, and conse- quently know not on which side to vote, I always look at Roger Sherman, for I am sure if I vote with him I shall always vote right."
Roger Sherman died at New Haven, July 20, 1793 ..
Paul Revere.
529
THE RISE OF SOUTH CANTON.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE RISE OF SOUTH CANTON. - MANUFACTURES.
T HE village of South Canton presents to-day a busy scene. On all sides is heard the sound of machinery ; in all directions are indications of active labor, and the smoke from many chimneys rises in the air. The history of the rise of South Canton is like the history of many New England manufacturing towns. Slowly at first, depending upon the stream which flows through it, the village has grown larger. The discovery of steam-power has materially assisted its growth; and the water-power, which in early days was suf- ficient for the lumber and grist mills, is now but an auxiliary force.
The land on which South Canton stands was owned by one or two persons. At the date of our incorporation there was little that was attractive about the hamlet; the road was narrow'and uneven. The farmers drove their cattle through the brook where it crosses Washington Street, or over a wooden bridge sixteen feet wide, situated about twelve feet farther up stream than the present one. The street, if street it could be called, was not lined as now with neatly painted houses furnished with every convenience of modern civiliza- tion, with smooth and wide sidewalks and over-arching trees. Not one of the five houses of public worship was in existence. The only meeting-house was at the Corner, and those who went to service there, passed between the brook and the church seven houses, while between the brook and Sharon line there were but ten. A writer in 1785 'says, -
"The principal business of the town has been the sale of lumber ; but the custom of sending timber, firewood, charcoal, etc., to Boston, has been of so long standing that the inhabitants cannot now be per-
34
.
530
HISTORY OF CANTON.
suaded to change their mode of living in this way for any other, per- nicious as it is to them, inasmuch as it occasions a neglect of agriculture."
During the latter part of the eighteenth century a copart- nership was formed by Jonathan Leonard and Adam Kinsley, for the purpose of manufacturing useful implements from iron. They owned the privilege on Washington Street in . South Canton, and here erected buildings suitable to their business. "Quaker" Leonard, as he was commonly called, because he was admitted to the Society of Friends in the spring of 1795, was descended from men who had always been engaged in the iron business. They had delved, dealt, and worked in iron in the old country; and when they left Pontypool, England, they brought with them a full knowl- edge of all the methods then known of working iron. In 1652 James and Henry Leonard erected a furnace in what is now the town of Raynham, the third establishment of its kind in the colony.
During the Revolution steel became very scarce. The father of "Quaker" Leonard was making guns at Easton, and found great difficulty in procuring steel to complete the manufacture of his arms. He accordingly began to experi- ment, and was so far successful that he continued in the steel business for many years. Eliphalet Leonard, then, is believed to have been the first manufacturer of steel in this country.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.