Searching for a possible cane recipient

Bob Coughlin wrote us asking if we could help find out more about an ancestor that may have received the Boston Post Cane in Arlington:

I have been told that my great grandfather Arthur Coughlin  who died 11/5/29, born I think in 1843, maybe earlier, received the  cane for the Town of Arlington in the ’20’s.  I have no further info  on it and would appreciate hearing something about it and him, as he  seems to be the oldest Coughlin in my family history.

I have been told by my cousins, whom he lived with in the 20’s that he had received the cane for the Town of Arlington.  He died on Nov. 5, 1929, the month before I was born, and his name is Arthur J. Coughlin according to the grave stone.  I have been informed that he was born either in 1843 or 1837, probably the latter, if he received the cane.  I was hoping to get more info from the cousins, but they have been dying off, and the remaining one can’t find the historical data her sister had accumulated.  They were the O’Connell family from Arlington’s Norcross St., where he lived and died from.

If you have any information that might help Bob on his quest, please leave a comment here or send me an email and I’ll forward it to him.

Thanks!

End of year updates

Due to an exceptionally busy Fall, I fell behind with the updates from mid-October.  They are all now in their place and we’re just shy of 320 towns.

I appreciate all the updates, corrections and stories that come our way.  We share them all.

Happy Holidays from the Maynard Historical Society

Palmer Massachusetts locates its cane after a 50 year absence.

This cane likes to hide.   This is the second time it has been lost for 50 years!

Sarah Longden, who resides in Maine, recently opened a box belonging to her father who was a former Selectman in the Town of Palmer, Massachusetts.  Much to her surprise she found a cane that had been missing since 1952.

In a slightly ironic twist the last recipient of the cane, Daniel Splaine, received it in 1952 – 50 years after it was lost in 1909.   The Palmer Historical Commission is working to keep the cane safe from here forward.

Read more on this great find: Mass Live Article (pdf)

Thanks to John Sasur and the discoverer herself, Sarah Longden, for all the information on this great find.