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Kevin McNatt and Andrew Todesco MANSFIELD - Massachusetts law requires each city and town to contact its neighbors every five years and reaffirm the boundaries that separate them. This act is called perambulating and was handed down from ancient traditions in England. Perambulating involves locating and inspecting old granite markers or other landmarks that define town lines. And in the swampy wilds of southeastern Massachusetts that was not always easy. An early example of perambulation occurred on Nov. 26, 1793 when Mansfield selectmen John Dean and Jonathan Newcomb met two selectmen from the Town of Attleborough. They reported the following: “We began at a heap of stones for the southwest corner of Mansfield,” they reported. Next they found a second “heap of stones on ridge hill, on Balcom’s plain.” Then finally “a large heap of stones being the northwest corner of Mansfield and the southwest corner of Foxborough, and the southeast corner of Wren ....
OPINION COLUMN: Mansfield man guided first ship through Panama Canal Kevin McNatt and Andrew Todesco MANSFIELD - Ralph Dearborn moved to Mansfield with his family when he was 10 years old. Arriving from Somerville, the family settled at 17 School St. on the corner of Bliss Avenue. His father John Dearborn was the superintendent of the water department and served on the Board of Selectmen. In high school Ralph played baseball and was a member of the Mansfield High School Cadets. In 1911, during his junior year, he left Mansfield High to attend the Massachusetts Nautical Training School (now known as the Massachusetts Maritime Academy). That led Ralph to a unique distinction just three years later, when he would be at the wheel of the first ship to officially pass through the Panama Canal. He would go on to serve during World War I and enjoy an interesting career as a captain in the Merchant Marine. ....