The Incorporation Of The
Town Of Canton In 1797

The story of the Incorporation of Canton begins in 1630 with the incorporation of the Town of Dorchester. At this time the Dorchester boundary came south to the top of Blue Hill. On November 2, 1637, Dorchester expanded her southern boundary to the Town of Wrentham. At this time Dorchester was the largest town in New England.

In 1662 the Town of Milton was set off from Dorchester, other towns followed, Wrentham was set off in 1724, Stoughton in 1726. When Stoughton was Incorporated it comprised the present day towns of Stoughton, Canton and Sharon with some minor boundary line changes. The Town of Dedham was incorporated in 1636 and Sharon in 1765 and Foxborough soon followed in 1778.

On February 23, 1797 Canton was set off from Stoughton, prior to the incorporation of Norfolk County in 1793, this area was part of Suffolk County. On January 1, 1870, the Town of Dorchester became part of the City of Boston.

The desire to have the Town of Stoughton divided, did not originate in the part now known as Canton. In 1782, Stoughton voted to take measures to divide the town. On April 18, 1782 a town meeting was held, the second article on the warrant was, " To hear the petition of Benjamin Bird and others praying for a division of the town into two townships." It was suggested at one time to call the proposed new town "Freedom", but a few days later the name "Danbury" seems to have been preferred. In 1793 an article was inserted in the warrant; To see if the town will vote to set off the First Parish in Stoughton, as it is now bounded, as a distinct and separate town.

The inhabitants appeared to be in favor of the article, and on May 27,1793 the parish voted that Nathaniel Fisher, Benjamin Gill, Nathan Crane and Henry Bailey be a committee to present to the General Court, a petition that the First Parish may be incorporated as a separate town. The parish wanted to amend the original petition and appointed James Endicott, William Wheeler, Joseph Bemis and Adam Blackman to amend the petition. On June 13, 1793, the petition was presented to the General Court. On September 16, 1793, the town was notified that the petition was to be discussed by the General Court. A committee was appointed to appear before the General Court and support the petition. By order of the General Court on June 26, 1794, a map of the Town of Stoughton was drawn by Nathaniel Fisher, surveyor.

In 1795 the First Parish again appointed a committee to draft a petition for the division of Stoughton. The committee consisted of Elijah Dunbar, Esq., Col. Benjamin Gill, Col. Nathan Crane, Joseph Bemis, Esq., and Capt. Elijah Crane. They prepared the petition as requested. This petition of April 17, 1795 was signed by 143 inhabitants of the First Parish and was presented to the General Court on June 11, 1795, by Col. Nathan Crane, Capt. Elijah Crane and Col. Benjamin Gill.

The Second Parish, now Stoughton appointed Samuel Talbot, Samuel Shepard, Joseph Richards and James Pope as a committee to do all in their power to prevent the secession of the First Parish, now Canton. The result was a remonstrance headed by Lemuel Drake, with a following of 169 registered voters, which was presented on January 13, 1796, to the General Court.

On August 26, 1796, the Honorable Seth Bullard of Walpole, Judge Bullock of Rehoboth and John Hewins of Sharon were directed by the General Court to repair the Town of Stoughton, to view and consider the expediency of dividing it. They met the selectmen at the house of Capt. Elijah Crane, and the matter was discussed for four days. They made their report to the General Court on September 3, 1796. The report was favorable to the division.

On December 5, 1796, James Endicott, Esq., Elijah Dunbar, Esq., Col. Benjamin Gill, Joseph Bemis, Esq., Col. Nathan Crane, Capt. Elijah Crane, Capt. William Bent, Deacon Benjamin Tucker, Adam Blackman and William Wheeler were appointed to prepare an Act of Incorporation. On December 6, 1796, the wisdom of the parish decided that the name of the New Town should be Canton. Elijah Dunbar said that this town was directly antipodal to Canton, China and for that reason the town should be so called. This appears to be a common theory around the country. Cantons also exist or existed in; Arkansas, Connecticut, Dakota (before it was divided), Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, two in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Had the town retained the aboriginal name Ponkapoag or had the name of one of the signers of the petition such as "Gridley" or "Crane", it would have been a worthwhile tribute to the valuable efforts of our distinguished townsmen. The name "Freedom" , would have been a fitting tribute to the events at the Doty Tavern in the 1770's. If it were not for some of our townsmen, the British may have won the Revolution.

The original Act of Incorporation was written by James Endicott and was completed at the house of Captain Elijah Crane on January 9, 1797. The act passed the House on February 22nd, and on February 23rd, passed the Senate and was approved by the Governor, Samuel Adams. On February 23, 1797, Canton became a separate town.

Labin Lewis notified the inhabitants of Canton qualified to vote in town affairs, to meet at the meetinghouse in Canton on March 6, 1797, at 1:00 p. m, to choose town officers. Elijah Dunbar, Esq., was chosen as Moderator, Elijah Crane as Town Clerk, and Deacon Benjamin Tucker, Elijah Crane and Col. Nathan Crane as Selectmen and Assessors. Joseph Bemis was chosen as Treasurer and Constable. This was the slate of the first Town Officers in the new Town of Canton.

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