author
M. J. (Michael Joseph) Canavan
1848–1931
A Boston-area lawyer, local historian, and novelist, this writer moved easily between careful research and lively storytelling. Best known for Ben Comee, he also wrote widely about old New England, especially Boston and Lexington.
1 Audiobook
Ben Comee : A tale of Rogers's Rangers, 1758-59
by M. J. (Michael Joseph) Canavan
About the author
Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, on September 5, 1848, he studied at Harvard, receiving both an A.M. and an LL.B. in 1875. Alongside his professional life in the building-materials trade, he developed a deep interest in local history and became known for his work on early New England.
He published historical articles and papers focused especially on Boston and Lexington, and his surviving manuscripts show how closely he studied places, families, and landmarks from the colonial period. That same fascination with the past shaped his fiction, most notably Ben Comee: A Tale of Rogers's Rangers, 1758-59.
He died on October 15, 1931. Remembered as both a careful researcher and a storyteller, he left behind work that helps modern readers picture New England's earlier centuries with clarity and warmth.