M. J. (Michael Joseph) Canavan

Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, on September 5, 1848, Michael Joseph Canavan studied at Harvard College, earning his A.B. in 1871, and later at Harvard Law School, where he received his LL.B. in 1875. He was admitted to the bar in 1877, traveled abroad in his younger years, and eventually spent much of his life in the Boston area.

After practicing law for about a dozen years, Canavan moved into business, though books and historical research remained central interests. A memoir published by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts describes him as a devoted reader and researcher who worked for many years in the Boston Public Library.

Canavan is remembered chiefly for Ben Comee: A Tale of Rogers's Rangers, 1758–59, published by Macmillan in 1899. The novel reflects his strong interest in early American and New England history and gives modern listeners a glimpse of the adventurous historical fiction enjoyed by readers of his time.