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Your Silent Neighbors

Take a tour through the past with “Your Silent Neighbors", which introduces readers to people out of Canton’s past.

“Your Silent Neighbors” introduces readers to people out of Canton’s past.  Readers are encouraged to visit these gravesites and pay their respects to the people who have helped make our community what it is today.

Choose a name from the list to begin your journey into Canton's past:

8/31/2021 - Sebrey G. Weeks

“Your Silent Neighbors” has appeared in Canton Compass for the past few years. Going forward it will be presented on the Town's website and social media only. I want to express my deep gratitude to John Fitts for all he has done to deliver these snippets of Canton’s past. I wish to thank Town Clerk Linda Smith for her willingness to continue this effort.
-David K. Leff, Canton Town Historian

YOUR SILENT NEIGHBORS
by David K. Leff
Canton Town Historian

Sebrey G. Weeks, Fifty-Six Years a Collins Man

Born in Pomfret, Connecticut in a family of eight children, Sebrey G. Weeks (1810-1904) came to Collinsville as a young man and worked continuously for the Collins Company for a record 56 years. At 93 years and six months he was the oldest man in Canton at his death.

Most of Weeks’ work life was spent in the Collins tempering shop. During the Civil War, he spent his time on bayonets and ramrods for the Union Army. He was a schoolmate and close friend of Nathaniel Lyon, in 1861 the first Union general to be killed in the war.

He joined the Collinsville Congregational Church in 1842. He was among those who helped rebuild the church after it burned in January 1857.

Despite his age, Weeks was a particularly vibrant individual until his last illness, and “his mind especially clear for a man of his advanced age,” according to one newspaper. Although for a number of years he could read only on particularly bright days due to impaired eyesight, newspapers were read to him each day enabling to him to abreast of current events. His last two birthdays were a cause for celebration at his home. On one of these occasions, the average age of those in attendance was 82.

In 1833 Weeks married Susan S. Andrews of Promfret with whom he had five children. She died in 1878, and all but one of his children predeceased him. He lived with his last surviving child, his married daughter, Ida. He died in their home.

For about six months before his death, Weeks was largely confined to bed. In the last month, he was expected to die any day. “His remarkable vitality,” the newspaper opined, “had kept him alive when death seemed almost certain.”

Sebrey G. Weeks is buried in the Village Cemetery, Collinsville.


“Your Silent Neighbors” introduces readers to people out of Canton’s past.  Readers are encouraged to visit these gravesites and pay their respects to the people who have helped make our community what it is today.

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