[Click on photos for larger image display, & photo info.] Samuel E. Cann was my grandfather. Since he died before I was born, my knowledge of him is purely anecdotal. Apparently the Cann family had been in Baltimore for some generations; the older members are buried at Greenmount Cemetery, since the family home at the time was only blocks away. Samuel had a sister, Emily, and a brother, Harry; all were children of John Henry Cann and Annie Cann. Samuel married Sara Jones but I'm not aware of the date this took place. I recall being told (I think by my mother) that Samuel and his brother Harry would go to evangelical camp meetings popular at the time, held either at Glyndon, and/or Hampstead, MD "in order to meet girls." Around 1903 or so, Samuel and Harry took a trip to Europe, visiting England and France. They were in Paris on Bastille Day, and wrote back home that it was hot & humid, and the french people were all dancing in the street having a great time celebrating. Samuel had a cane with him, and accidentally dropped it off of the Eiffel Tower while touring it. He recovered the cane, and there are no stories that anyone was injured. The cane has been handed down to me. While in England they made a point of visiting the site that inspired Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard." (I may have misquoted the title and/or author of this work.)
Sara and Samuel had three children, Ruth, the oldest; Dorothy (my mother, born Jan. 28th., 1911), and John, born around 1925. (John, before his untimely passing at age 50, resembled in appearance the late actor Jeffrey Hunter). Mother told me that when she was young, the family rented a cottage on the Magothy River to stay over the summers. Along with the cottage came a rowboat with an outboard motor, that father Samuel often had trouble starting. Mother said he would comment on this by good-humoredly saying, (after tinkering with the motor) "You do this, you do that, and it SHOULD go." Samuel's brother Harry founded a wholesale business dealing in children's toys, which was located in downtown Baltimore. It was named the Harry P. Cann & Co., and you can occasionally find postcards for sale on Ebay that were printed by this firm. Samuel and my father Robert Pool Sr. together ran a sporting goods store at 2311 N. Charles St. for a number of years. There is another story that Samuel and an assistant whose name was Mr. Oberender, would go on sales trips. This assistant was not particularly worldly or knowledgable. He was asked if, during these trips, there was anything in the hotel rooms that was interesting enough to occupy his time, and his reply was "No, just some old Gideon book." He was asked if he ever read this book, and if so, what did he think of it? His answer was, "It wasn't so hot." (!) There is another story my mother recently told me, that this same gentleman would have my grandfather Samuel and his brother Harry in fits of laughter in the Harry P. Cann store by saying inane things and "murdering the King's English." The example she remembered was that he was demonstrating to a customer the features of a bicycle, and was probably referring to the seat when he told the customer, "See? You can lower it or you can high-er it." Samuel must have been a bit of a teaser, as I just recalled another story that mother liked to tell. Samuel & family would go out to a restaurant to eat out, and after finishing the main course, Samuel would ask the waiter what flavors of ice cream were available. The waiter would verbally recite the list of all the flavors, and upon finishing, Samuel would say, "I'll have peach!" which was not one of the available flavors. Father had a story that he would recall with amusement, concerning a time he was helping Samuel clean up or do some yard work in the back yard of the Cann home on the Terraces in Mt. Washington. It must have been a hot and/or humid day, and Samuel said to father, "Why don't you go down to the Mt. Washington Tavern and bring us back some cold beers?" Father must have known this was something of a risky move, since Samuel's wife Sara was very anti-alcohol, and would not permit any to be brought into the house, and he must have known there would be a scene if Sara caught them imbibing. Father fetched the beers as instructed, and they both were taking a break enjoying it when Sara came out to catch them at it. Father would laugh at the memory of this incident, since the next thing that happened was that Samuel proceeded to blame father alone for them drinking beers! The Cann family was of Scotch-Irish extraction, and mother told me at one time that her father could read Gaelic. He had a set of 78-rpm records that were a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No.5, which mother said was his favorite. Mother said he owned a copy of, and would often read John Locke's "Essays on Human Understanding." He apparently enjoyed fishing as a hobby, and in 1948 was fishing and caught a particularly large fish. After catching it, the next task must have been to take it to the car, which was up a steep hill. In trying to do this, Samuel suffered a fatal heart attack.
Sara and Samuel had three children, Ruth, the oldest; Dorothy (my mother, born Jan. 28th., 1911), and John, born around 1925. (John, before his untimely passing at age 50, resembled in appearance the late actor Jeffrey Hunter). Mother told me that when she was young, the family rented a cottage on the Magothy River to stay over the summers. Along with the cottage came a rowboat with an outboard motor, that father Samuel often had trouble starting. Mother said he would comment on this by good-humoredly saying, (after tinkering with the motor) "You do this, you do that, and it SHOULD go." Samuel's brother Harry founded a wholesale business dealing in children's toys, which was located in downtown Baltimore. It was named the Harry P. Cann & Co., and you can occasionally find postcards for sale on Ebay that were printed by this firm. Samuel and my father Robert Pool Sr. together ran a sporting goods store at 2311 N. Charles St. for a number of years. There is another story that Samuel and an assistant whose name was Mr. Oberender, would go on sales trips. This assistant was not particularly worldly or knowledgable. He was asked if, during these trips, there was anything in the hotel rooms that was interesting enough to occupy his time, and his reply was "No, just some old Gideon book." He was asked if he ever read this book, and if so, what did he think of it? His answer was, "It wasn't so hot." (!) There is another story my mother recently told me, that this same gentleman would have my grandfather Samuel and his brother Harry in fits of laughter in the Harry P. Cann store by saying inane things and "murdering the King's English." The example she remembered was that he was demonstrating to a customer the features of a bicycle, and was probably referring to the seat when he told the customer, "See? You can lower it or you can high-er it." Samuel must have been a bit of a teaser, as I just recalled another story that mother liked to tell. Samuel & family would go out to a restaurant to eat out, and after finishing the main course, Samuel would ask the waiter what flavors of ice cream were available. The waiter would verbally recite the list of all the flavors, and upon finishing, Samuel would say, "I'll have peach!" which was not one of the available flavors. Father had a story that he would recall with amusement, concerning a time he was helping Samuel clean up or do some yard work in the back yard of the Cann home on the Terraces in Mt. Washington. It must have been a hot and/or humid day, and Samuel said to father, "Why don't you go down to the Mt. Washington Tavern and bring us back some cold beers?" Father must have known this was something of a risky move, since Samuel's wife Sara was very anti-alcohol, and would not permit any to be brought into the house, and he must have known there would be a scene if Sara caught them imbibing. Father fetched the beers as instructed, and they both were taking a break enjoying it when Sara came out to catch them at it. Father would laugh at the memory of this incident, since the next thing that happened was that Samuel proceeded to blame father alone for them drinking beers! The Cann family was of Scotch-Irish extraction, and mother told me at one time that her father could read Gaelic. He had a set of 78-rpm records that were a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No.5, which mother said was his favorite. Mother said he owned a copy of, and would often read John Locke's "Essays on Human Understanding." He apparently enjoyed fishing as a hobby, and in 1948 was fishing and caught a particularly large fish. After catching it, the next task must have been to take it to the car, which was up a steep hill. In trying to do this, Samuel suffered a fatal heart attack.
[Click on photos for larger image display, & photo info.] Samuel E. Cann was my grandfather. Since he died before I was born, my knowledge of him is purely anecdotal. Apparently the Cann family had been in Baltimore for some generations; the older members are buried at Greenmount Cemetery, since the family home at the time was only blocks away. Samuel had a sister, Emily, and a brother, Harry; all were children of John Henry Cann and Annie Cann. Samuel married Sara Jones but I'm not aware of the date this took place. I recall being told (I think by my mother) that Samuel and his brother Harry would go to evangelical camp meetings popular at the time, held either at Glyndon, and/or Hampstead, MD "in order to meet girls." Around 1903 or so, Samuel and Harry took a trip to Europe, visiting England and France. They were in Paris on Bastille Day, and wrote back home that it was hot & humid, and the french people were all dancing in the street having a great time celebrating. Samuel had a cane with him, and accidentally dropped it off of the Eiffel Tower while touring it. He recovered the cane, and there are no stories that anyone was injured. The cane has been handed down to me. While in England they made a point of visiting the site that inspired Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard." (I may have misquoted the title and/or author of this work.)
Sara and Samuel had three children, Ruth, the oldest; Dorothy (my mother, born Jan. 28th., 1911), and John, born around 1925. (John, before his untimely passing at age 50, resembled in appearance the late actor Jeffrey Hunter). Mother told me that when she was young, the family rented a cottage on the Magothy River to stay over the summers. Along with the cottage came a rowboat with an outboard motor, that father Samuel often had trouble starting. Mother said he would comment on this by good-humoredly saying, (after tinkering with the motor) "You do this, you do that, and it SHOULD go." Samuel's brother Harry founded a wholesale business dealing in children's toys, which was located in downtown Baltimore. It was named the Harry P. Cann & Co., and you can occasionally find postcards for sale on Ebay that were printed by this firm. Samuel and my father Robert Pool Sr. together ran a sporting goods store at 2311 N. Charles St. for a number of years. There is another story that Samuel and an assistant whose name was Mr. Oberender, would go on sales trips. This assistant was not particularly worldly or knowledgable. He was asked if, during these trips, there was anything in the hotel rooms that was interesting enough to occupy his time, and his reply was "No, just some old Gideon book." He was asked if he ever read this book, and if so, what did he think of it? His answer was, "It wasn't so hot." (!) There is another story my mother recently told me, that this same gentleman would have my grandfather Samuel and his brother Harry in fits of laughter in the Harry P. Cann store by saying inane things and "murdering the King's English." The example she remembered was that he was demonstrating to a customer the features of a bicycle, and was probably referring to the seat when he told the customer, "See? You can lower it or you can high-er it." Samuel must have been a bit of a teaser, as I just recalled another story that mother liked to tell. Samuel & family would go out to a restaurant to eat out, and after finishing the main course, Samuel would ask the waiter what flavors of ice cream were available. The waiter would verbally recite the list of all the flavors, and upon finishing, Samuel would say, "I'll have peach!" which was not one of the available flavors. Father had a story that he would recall with amusement, concerning a time he was helping Samuel clean up or do some yard work in the back yard of the Cann home on the Terraces in Mt. Washington. It must have been a hot and/or humid day, and Samuel said to father, "Why don't you go down to the Mt. Washington Tavern and bring us back some cold beers?" Father must have known this was something of a risky move, since Samuel's wife Sara was very anti-alcohol, and would not permit any to be brought into the house, and he must have known there would be a scene if Sara caught them imbibing. Father fetched the beers as instructed, and they both were taking a break enjoying it when Sara came out to catch them at it. Father would laugh at the memory of this incident, since the next thing that happened was that Samuel proceeded to blame father alone for them drinking beers! The Cann family was of Scotch-Irish extraction, and mother told me at one time that her father could read Gaelic. He had a set of 78-rpm records that were a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No.5, which mother said was his favorite. Mother said he owned a copy of, and would often read John Locke's "Essays on Human Understanding." He apparently enjoyed fishing as a hobby, and in 1948 was fishing and caught a particularly large fish. After catching it, the next task must have been to take it to the car, which was up a steep hill. In trying to do this, Samuel suffered a fatal heart attack.
Sara and Samuel had three children, Ruth, the oldest; Dorothy (my mother, born Jan. 28th., 1911), and John, born around 1925. (John, before his untimely passing at age 50, resembled in appearance the late actor Jeffrey Hunter). Mother told me that when she was young, the family rented a cottage on the Magothy River to stay over the summers. Along with the cottage came a rowboat with an outboard motor, that father Samuel often had trouble starting. Mother said he would comment on this by good-humoredly saying, (after tinkering with the motor) "You do this, you do that, and it SHOULD go." Samuel's brother Harry founded a wholesale business dealing in children's toys, which was located in downtown Baltimore. It was named the Harry P. Cann & Co., and you can occasionally find postcards for sale on Ebay that were printed by this firm. Samuel and my father Robert Pool Sr. together ran a sporting goods store at 2311 N. Charles St. for a number of years. There is another story that Samuel and an assistant whose name was Mr. Oberender, would go on sales trips. This assistant was not particularly worldly or knowledgable. He was asked if, during these trips, there was anything in the hotel rooms that was interesting enough to occupy his time, and his reply was "No, just some old Gideon book." He was asked if he ever read this book, and if so, what did he think of it? His answer was, "It wasn't so hot." (!) There is another story my mother recently told me, that this same gentleman would have my grandfather Samuel and his brother Harry in fits of laughter in the Harry P. Cann store by saying inane things and "murdering the King's English." The example she remembered was that he was demonstrating to a customer the features of a bicycle, and was probably referring to the seat when he told the customer, "See? You can lower it or you can high-er it." Samuel must have been a bit of a teaser, as I just recalled another story that mother liked to tell. Samuel & family would go out to a restaurant to eat out, and after finishing the main course, Samuel would ask the waiter what flavors of ice cream were available. The waiter would verbally recite the list of all the flavors, and upon finishing, Samuel would say, "I'll have peach!" which was not one of the available flavors. Father had a story that he would recall with amusement, concerning a time he was helping Samuel clean up or do some yard work in the back yard of the Cann home on the Terraces in Mt. Washington. It must have been a hot and/or humid day, and Samuel said to father, "Why don't you go down to the Mt. Washington Tavern and bring us back some cold beers?" Father must have known this was something of a risky move, since Samuel's wife Sara was very anti-alcohol, and would not permit any to be brought into the house, and he must have known there would be a scene if Sara caught them imbibing. Father fetched the beers as instructed, and they both were taking a break enjoying it when Sara came out to catch them at it. Father would laugh at the memory of this incident, since the next thing that happened was that Samuel proceeded to blame father alone for them drinking beers! The Cann family was of Scotch-Irish extraction, and mother told me at one time that her father could read Gaelic. He had a set of 78-rpm records that were a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No.5, which mother said was his favorite. Mother said he owned a copy of, and would often read John Locke's "Essays on Human Understanding." He apparently enjoyed fishing as a hobby, and in 1948 was fishing and caught a particularly large fish. After catching it, the next task must have been to take it to the car, which was up a steep hill. In trying to do this, Samuel suffered a fatal heart attack.
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