The Canton Historical Society held a special exhibit at the Canton Public Library as a way to showcase the breadth of nationally recognized artifacts from the collection. On display, the public had a firsthand opportunity to see the Martha Howard Whole Cloth Quilt which is the oldest and perhaps finest of its kind in America. The exhibit was the brainchild of Marie Gibbs, who has tirelessly devoted her passion and energy to preserving our early textile collection. In addition to two quilts., the exhibit also featured the premiere of the Martha Howard Petticoat which had been conserved through a generous grant by the Canton Community Preservation Act (CPA). The petticoat, dating to the early 1820's, had most recently been painstakingly preserved by Windsor Conservation in Dover, MA. The process took almost a year, and now is a resplendent  example of a period dress that was made by one of Canton's leading citizens.

Also on display was the 1822 Crane's Guards Drum that had been conserved by the Society two years ago. By the side of the drum the Society chose to share the Crane's Guard Flag which is the subject of a 2016 CPA  Grant that will conserve and protect this nearly two hundred year-old silk militia flag. The importance of this artifact is that it depicts one of the earliest painted military flags with the Great Seal of Massachusetts on its face. On the obverse is a scene of the Canton Militia mustering at a meeting house with the Great Blue Hill in the background. The flag, once conserved, will be a primary source for scholars and researchers hoping to glean an in-depth understanding of early militias in New England.

Also on display were a series of rare textile samplers., maps and important colonial documents. All of the items were either candidates for preservation or had been recently preserved by experts. The breadth of the collection on display helped illuminate the importance of preserving our local history in the context of regional and national connections.  The Canton Historical Society is proud to share our stories and artifacts with a greater audience, and the public display certainly made great strides in connecting the donations, grants, and gifts with a wider public and the citizens of Canton. 

On the evening of April 6th, Darcy Kuronen, Curator of Musical Instruments at the MFA, presented a look at the invention and development of the harmonica in the early 1800’s. On hand for demonstration and examination were some rare examples of “mouth organs” by James Wheatstone of London and James Bazin of Canton, Massachusetts. Mr. Kuronen borrowed James Bazin’s early reed creations from the Canton Historical Society for the demonstration. Darcy actually played tunes with these early instruments.

We know Bazin (pronounced Bay-Zahn) continued to develop more intricate and larger reed instruments. In our museum we have several Bazin collectibles including a small harp, 2 organ piano fortes from 1853, couple of reed based lap organs and of course his rare pitch pipe, first harmonica and two trumpet harmonicas. We are told Mr. Bazin played his reed trumpet accompanying the choir at the Unitarian Church in Canton Corner. It is claimed that you could hear his music a mile away! 

Contemporary harmonicas were also discussed and demonstrated by jazz harmonists, Mike Turk. Mike entertained the audience with wonderful tunes from his latest harmonica. 

Learn more about James Bazin, and next time you are at the Histy - ask to hear one of the earliest reed instruments in America.