(2009)
Benjamin Lancy [I] (1780-1863) | Hamilton.
Along the north edge of Hamilton Cemetery is Lancy territory: three obelisks memorializing members of a family that stretches from the 18th century into the 20th. Benjamin I, who was born in Marblehead, ensured that the street plan of Provincetown would have one of its best-known eccentricities: the 90-degree eastward jog made by Commercial Street in the far West End. Lancy lived at what is now 104 Commercial Street and maintained a salt works behind his house. When the county commissioners proposed bisecting his property with an extension of the road, Lancy objected forcibly. “Whoever saws through my salt works saws through my body,” he declared, according to The Provincetown Book by Nancy W. Paine Smith. To which Joshua Paine is said to have replied, “Where’s a saw?” Nonetheless, Lancy prevailed and a dogleg was created that was known by some as Lancy’s Corner. (Its official name since 1938 has been Louis Ferreira Square, honoring one of the men of Provincetown who died in the Great War.) Benjamin’s home had been reduced to a near ruin in 1939 but, at the request of Gertrude deWager, president of the Research Club, its fireplance mantle, corner cupboard, and wainscoting were donated to the Historical Mansion at 230 Commercial Street — a Second Empire concoction built by Lancy’s grandson, Benjamin Lancy [III] (1847-1923). [Lot No. 7.]
¶ Last updated on 23 January 2018.
Find a Grave Memorial No. 51204307.