YOUR SILENT NEIGHBORS, Julius Hinman, Farmer   
by David K. Leff
Town Poet Laureate and Deputy Town Historian 

Born on a Canton farm the eighth of ten children, Julius Hinman (1810-1895) worked for the Collins Company as a young man, serving as forger, temperer, and inspector.  He then went on to purchase a farm not far from the one he grew up on.  He was said to be a “shrewd, conservative business man.”  A Democrat in politics, he subscribed to the Hartford Weekly Times for 65 years. 
  
Hinman died in tragic circumstances.  At 85 years of age, he was struck and instantly killed by train while crossing the track of the rail line that bisected his farm.  He was thrown 15 or 20 feet in the air and carried 90 feet away.  He suffered multiple broken bones and fractures.  His left shoulder and the upper part of his skull were crushed.  A similar incident had happened a couple years earlier at the public rail crossing just below his house.  This first accident had damaged his hearing and eyesight, and friends said that everything looked much further away to him than it was in actuality. 
  
In 1842, Hinman married Laura Mills of Harwinton.  The couple had no children when she died in 1854.  He married Pluma Drake in 1855, a widow with two children.  They had a son and five daughters, all of whom were alive and married at Hinman’s death.  There were 13 grandchildren. 
  
The funeral services were held at Hinman’s home with Reverend C. E. Stevens of Canton Center officiating.  His sons-in-law were pallbearers.   
  
Julius Hinman is buried in Dyer Cemetery, Canton. 
  
“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.