The Great Blue Hill, ca., 1906 (Dan Keleher Collection)

Elijah Crane ¹ 

Elijah Crane was born in the town of Milton in 1754 and moved to Canton in the area of Ponkapoag in 1763. He led a diverse life working as a farmer, an innholder, and as a major general in the First Division of the Massachusetts Militia. He served as county sheriff and Master of the Rising Star Masonic Lodge of Stoughton. In 1789 Crane moved to Canton Corner and later on the site that would one day be the Crane School  in his honor. Elijah Crane died in 1834.

Resources¹

Canton Comes of Age, 1797-1997, by Canton’s Bicentennial Committee, 171.  

^{Canton Historical Society,  "Elijah Crane was a Colorful Character," http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/1496/history/ecrane.htm.}