Canton, Massachusetts: Difference between revisions

From the 1630s to the 1670s, increasing encroachment by year-round English settlers on lands traditionally inhabited only part of the year, devastating [[Virgin soil epidemic|virgin soil epidemics]], and [[Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England|English colonial policy]] pushed native people in to [[Praying town|Praying Towns]], a precursor to modern day [[Indian reservation|Indian reservations]]. The modern town of Canton was the site of [[Ponkapoag]], the second Praying Town in the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]], which was set off from [[Dorchester, Boston|Dorchester]] in 1657, three years after English colonists resettled a group of Nemasket there from Cohannet, modern day [[Taunton, Massachusetts|Taunton]]. The so-called [[Praying Indian|Praying Indians]] that settled in Ponkapoag are known today as the [[Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag]]. ▼

In 1674, [[King Philip's War]] led to significant depopulation of Ponkapoag, which found itself on the fault lines of one of the bloodiest conflicts in North American history,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lepore |first=Jill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NcJ6PXii2y0C |title=The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity |date=2009-09-23 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-48857-2 |language=en}}</ref> and in October 1675 those [[Praying Indian|Praying Indians]] that remained were forcibly removed to [[Deer Island (Massachusetts)|Deer Island]] by order of the [[Massachusetts General Court]]. After the war, in part because of the loss of life and the fleeing of native refugees north to join the [[Wabanaki Confederacy]], the General Court disbanded 10 of the original 14 towns in 1677 and placed the remaining four, including Ponkapoag, under the supervision of colonists. Over the next hundred years although Ponkapoag remained an official entity, loss of self-determination and privatization of collective lands led to the gradual intermixing of native and settler populations in the area.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Praying Towns {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/praying-towns |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>▼

In 1726, [[Stoughton, Massachusetts]] split from the large original territory of Dorchester; then on February 23, 1797, Canton was officially incorporated from the territory of Stoughton. The name "Canton" was suggested by Elijah Dunbar and comes from a belief that [[Guangzhou|Canton, China]] was [[antipodes|antipodal]] to it.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/93206/Canton Canton (Massachusetts, United States) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia] (Retrieved on April 21, 2009)</ref> This is not possible, since they are both well north of the Equator; they are, however, about 2 degrees from being antipodal ''in [[longitude]]'', ignoring latitude. In addition to being a prominent Canton citizen, Elijah Dunbar was the first president of the [[Stoughton Musical Society]] from 1786 to 1808.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Old Stoughton musical society: an historical and informative record of the oldest choral society in America, together with interesting data of its organization, meetings, reunions and outings, and a complete list of past and present officers and members|last=Standish|first=Lemuel|publisher=[Stoughton Print Co.]|year=1929|location=Stoughton, MA}}</ref> Now named the Old Stoughton Music Society, it is the oldest choral society in the United States.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TQPXAQAAQBAJ&q=Oldest+choral+society+united+states&pg=PA766|title=Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories that Shaped our Culture [4 volumes]: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories That Shaped Our Culture|last=Ph.D|first=Jacqueline Edmondson|date=2013-10-03|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313393488|language=en}}</ref>▼