Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2021

Timothy Canty was born about 1822 in Ireland, and arrived in Lower Canada, and then to the United States.

He came to Holmes Landing (Shakopee) as an employee of Thomas A. Holmes. Some said that Timothy came on the flat boat Wild Paddy in the fall of 1851, though others think he arrived a short time later. He came to file on a tract of eighty acres granted him by the government because of his involvement in the Mexican-American War, also known as the Invasion of Mexico.

The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) marked the first U.S. armed conflict chiefly fought on foreign soil. It pitted a politically divided and militarily unprepared Mexico against the expansionist-minded administration of President James K. Polk, who believed the United States had a manifest destiny to spread across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. When the dust cleared, Mexico had lost about one-third of its territory, including nearly all of present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Timothy married Margaret O’Keefe. Margaret was born in County Waterford in Ireland. She left Ireland to America in 1851, and lived in Ohio and Chicago, Illinois for two years. Then Margaret moved to St. Paul in 1853, where he met the acquaintance of Timothy Canty. Timothy and Margaret married in St. Paul and moved near Marystown to their farm in 1854. They had two sons, John and Daniel.

After working with Thomas A. Holmes in Shakopee, Timothy worked on the steamboats, including Greek Slave and Pocahontas. When the Civil War arrived, Timothy wanted to go, but he couldn’t leave his wife, who was blind at that time.

Tim said one day that he knew General William Tecumseh Sherman. “He is a fine officer and a real man,” he observed to a group of settlers in Geyermann’s store on Lewis Street.

Most people didn’t believe him.

In the late 1860s, news brought up the Minnesota River said Sherman was making a tour of the west, and would stop in Shakopee.

“Where’s Canty?” some of the settlers asked. “He ought to be there since he claims he knows Sherman well.”

Tim didn’t say much.

A few of the townspeople hinted that Tim couldn’t make good with his claim.

On the day of the visit, a cloud of dust was seen down the trail.

“Here they come!” someone shouted.

The stage came into view, drawn by four large horses. The driver swung around the corner at Strunk’s Drug Store and stopped with a flourish.

A cheer arose and General Sherman put his hand out of the window to acknowledge the greeting.

A cheer arose and General William Tecumseh Sherman put his head out of a window to acknowledge the greeting. His eyes roved over the crowd as he spoke. Suddenly, he stopped and the watchers saw his attention was riveted on a man in the rear of the crowd. Timothy Canty was there, having come to Shakopee to get his scythe sharpened. He was still carrying the scythe.

“Hello Tim!” Sherman called. “Don’t you remember me?”

Tim came forward and shook hands.

For some time their hands were clasped and the embarrassed settlers who had doubted Tim’s claim saw tears welling in the eyes of the two veterans – the general of all the armies and the humble homesteader.

Timothy Canty died in 1885 in Louisville Township, and was buried at the Calvary Cemetery in Eagle Creek.

Margaret then moved in with her son, John Canty, for the next 16 years.

Margaret O’Keefe Canty died on June 16, 1900, and was buried next to her husband, Timothy, at the Calvary Cemetery in Shakopee.