Discover Concord Spring 2021 by Discover Concord MA

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CONCORD SPRING AWAKENS in Concord PATRIOTS’ DAY

2021 THE MYSTERY OF

Ponyhenge

PLUS!

THINGS TO SEE & DO THIS SPRING

SPRING 2021

LAFAYETTE: A Bridge Between Two

Revolutions

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SPRING

Looking back, we met spring 2020 with such high hopes. Winter was over, flowers were beginning to bloom, and the air felt full of promise. We had no way of knowing that just one week after our Spring 2020 issue went to press the world would change. Now, one year later, we greet spring once again. Not, perhaps, with the untroubled enthusiasm of prior years, but with confidence and hope that life will one day return to normal. For now, however, we continue our cautious vigilance. That is not to say that nothing happening in Concord, though! Concordians have been through struggles in the past and emerged battered, but with a renewed commitment and enthusiasm to their community, their nation, and the world. So, as we look forward to spring awakening and bringing a new season of hope, we bring you the Spring 2021 issue of Discover Concord. Patriots’ Day will be somewhat limited in scope but there are several special events planned. See our article on page 20 for both virtual and ‘in person’ events to commemorate the day. Not all revolutionaries were British back in 1775. The French Marquis de Lafayette played a pivotal role in this nation’s history. Learn more about this young Frenchman who became a friend to George Washington, fought in the American Revolution, and influenced the writings of the Transcendentalists in “Lafayette: A Bridge Between Two Revolutions” (p. 16). In 1775, Concord was home to about 1,500 inhabitants, including at least 24 enslaved men, women, and children. While people of color are not often referenced in the archives, they left their mark on the material world. Objects provide clues about how they lived and worked in Concord and help to tell a more inclusive story about those who risked everything on April 19. Learn more in “The Unheard Voices of April 19, 1775” (p. 22). The Transcendentalist philosophers of Concord are known worldwide and their work is an integral part of Concord’s heritage. One of those Transcendentalists with whom you might not be quite so familiar is Ellery Channing, the man

Discover CONCORD

| Spring 2021

Awakens that biographer Robert Hudspeth called “the most lonely Transcendentalist.” Find out what earned Channing that moniker and the legacy he left behind in “Ellery Channing: The Most Lonely Transcendentalist” (p. 40). Female anti-slavery societies were active throughout much of New England in the 1800s and one of the most important was the Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society. One of the things that distinguished this group of intelligent and committed women was the impact they had on the thinking of several Transcendentalist writers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Get to know these remarkable women in “The Concord Female AntiSlavery Society” (p. 52). As we welcome spring, we remember, and honor, Concord’s history as we look toward its vibrant future. Stay safe, stay well, and we look forward to seeing you in person again soon.

Cynthia L. Baudendistel Co-Founder

Jennifer C. Schünemann Co-Founder

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T h e A t t i a s G r o u p. c o m

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p.26 p.16

contents

20 22

26 30

Top Things to See & Do in Concord This Spring

An Illustrated Timeline of April 19, 1775 L afayette: A Bridge Between Two Revolutions Patriots’ Day 2021 The Unheard Voices of April 19, 1775 iserable: A British Fusilier’s M Journey to Concord leepy Hollow Cemetery: Beyond S Authors Ridge

p.20 p.10

Real Estate in 2021

A Duty So Severe: Concord and the Civil War

Mourning Victory: The Melvin Memorial

Ellery Channing: The Most Lonely Transcendentalist

List of Shops & Restaurants

Walking Maps of Concord Contents Continued on Page 6

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REVOLUTIONARY CONCORD

Michael Glick

CONCORD’S COLONIAL INN

Top Ten Tall Tales Told on Tours, Part II

Maria Madison THE ROBBINS HOUSE

Jennifer McGonigle

Revolutionary Reads for Springtime

JOY STREET LIFE + HOME

he Concord Female T Anti-Slavery Society lcott’s Hidden Critics: An A International Sleuthing Project

ommunity Supported C Agriculture Thrives ilent Witnesses: The Stone Walls of S Minute Man National Historical Park

Carol Thistle CONCORD MUSEUM

Jan Turnquist LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S ORCHARD HOUSE

Steve Verrill VERRILL FARM

Jerry Wedge THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER

Robert Munro

Jim White

THE ROBBINS HOUSE

MILLBROOK TARRY

COVER PHOTO:

Spring Awakens

Concord Trivia

Arts Around Town

The Mystery of Ponyhenge

Concord Coupons

Advertiser Index

Artist Spotlight tories of Mother: The Origin S of Mother’s Day and Famous Concord Mothers

Debra Stark

he Concord Spirit That T Paved the Way to Spring

© 2021 Voyager Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISSN 2688-5204 (Print) ISSN 2688-5212 (Online) For reprint and permission requests, please contact cynthia@voyager-publishing.com | 314.308.6611

Trinitarian Congregational Church ©Jennifer C. Schünemann AUTHORS/CONTRIBUTORS:

Susan Bailey Cynthia Baudendistel Victor Curran Susan Dee Beth van Duzer Julien Icher Jennifer Johnston Jaimee Leigh Joroff Anne Lehmann Erica Lome Alida Orzechowski Kevin Thomas Plodzik Jennifer C. Schünemann Richard Smith Nancy Snyder Lorraine Tosiello Dave Witherbee PUBLISHED BY:

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Kayaking on the Concord River

Enjoy the beauty of nature at Walden Pond, Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, and so many other wonderful parks and trails around Concord. Visit concordma.gov for maps and more information.

Every Path Laid Open: Women of Concord and the Quest for Equality includes rare artifacts from the Concord Museum collection that tell the story of Concord women of the past – some famous and some almost invisible. Each portrait, needlework, or piece of furniture reveals insights into the lives of ordinary citizens as well as prominent residents. There is also a special media component in the exhibition celebrating today’s women of Concord – from educators to entrepreneurs, firefighters to farmers, and artists to activists. May 7 – September 12. concordmuseum.org 10

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The Visitor Centers are reopening! The Concord Visitor Center opens seven days a week from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm starting April 19. Stop by or visit online at visitconcord.org for more information. The Visitor Centers at Minute Man National Historical Park and at The North Bridge reopen April 1. Visit their website at nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit/hours.htm for information on hours, COVID-19 restrictions, and more.

Enjoy al fresco dining! Our restaurants are eager to welcome you this spring. Many restaurants are offering outdoor dining this spring. Some of our favorites are Concord’s Colonial Inn’s front porch (resplendent in spring flowers) or the romantic, tucked away patio at Fiorella’s Cucina. See our “Where to Eat” list on p. 43 for more al fresco options.

Welcome spring sunshine with The Umbrella Artfest: Here Comes the Sun! This three-week series of cultural events will take place at The Umbrella Arts Center and all around Concord. Exhibits, an art auction, art installations throughout town, a musical production, and an outdoor open studio event will mark the re-emergence of spring under The Umbrella. April 24 – May 16. Visit theumbrellaarts.org/artfest for details.

Explore the unique shops, boutiques, and restaurants of Concord Center, West Concord, and Thoreau Depot. See our list of shops and restaurants – along with walking maps – in this issue.

Mimsey West, And earth and sky were as one airy hill, 2021

Photo Courtesy of The Umbrella Arts Center

in Concord this Spring

©Dave Witherbee

Things to See & Do

Earth Day 2018

©Nicholas Warchol

The Scholarship Fund of Concord and Carlisle’s third annual Shop & Support weekend is April 30 – May 1. Shop local and support our local shopkeepers and The Scholarship Fund of Concord and Carlisle, which is the largest provider of needsbased scholarships to students educated in Concord and Carlisle. Look for the ribbons designating participating businesses. Thescholarshipfundofcc.org

9 7

CELEBRATE EARTH DAY Do you wonder about the environmental impact of technology, food, fashion, and fuel? Concord Museum and Concord Bookshop are hosting a virtual forum with Tatiana Schlossberg, former New York Times journalist, as she discusses her book, Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have, about the unseen environmental and climate impacts of the Internet, technology, food, fashion, and fuel. April 22. concordmuseum.org The Umbrella Arts Center theme for Earth Day this year is air. Whether you want to learn to make a windsock, float a boat down the Concord River, or join a virtual workshop on birds of prey, you’ll find everything you need to celebrate Mother Earth at theumbrellaarts.org/ earthday. Through May 1.

covering the plot and themes, drawing connections to our current world, and speculating on potential stagings and adaptations. The meetings will include video presentation and live readings of select monologues and scenes. May 14 – May 23. Visit concordplayers.org for more information.

Join a free music appreciation workshop celebrating Earth Day. Sacred Green: The 11th Century Environmental Movement of Hildegard of Bingen, explores the sacred chants that honor ‘noble greenness’ in the context of modern environmental activism. Via Zoom on April 23 at 7:00 pm. concordconservatory.org/lecture_series

CELEBRATE PATRIOTS DAY Concord Museum reopens April 1! This is your chance to visit the April 19, 1775 Galleries in person. Visit concordmuseum.org for details. Join the Provincials as they muster to face the British Regulars in a fight that began an eight-year war for independence. Concord Museum presents a virtual evening with Curator, David Wood, Peggy N. Gerry Curatorial Associate, Erica Lome, and historian and author of The Minutemen and Their World, Robert Gross, for an inside look at the roles Provincials from communities across Massachusetts played in the events now celebrated on Patriots’ Day. Plus, get an inside look at the Museum’s new April 19, 1775 exhibition, including animations and signature artifacts like the signal lantern hung in the North Church that heralded the events of that fateful day. April 6 at 7:00 pm. concordmuseum.org/events/virtualcommunity-night

Do you love The Bard? Then join Concord Players’ Shakespeare Book Club and immerse yourself in Shakespeare’s epic collection of eight plays documenting eighty-five years of English history. Zoom meetings will be held every other Sunday evening during which a member of the troupe will lead a discussion of each play

The events of April 19, 1775 touched the lives not just of Concordians, but those of neighboring towns between Concord and Boston. The Concord Museum has recently completed a $1.2 million permanent exhibition that brings to life this conflict in engaging, emotional ways through

powerful animation, artifacts, recordings, and story-telling. These stories are not just about Concord but are equally about the surrounding towns from which the militia men converged to the battle sites. In-person events April 7 and 14. Visit concordmuseum.org/events/april-191775-community-night/2021-04-07 for more information on the towns that will be featured. Join in the events honoring the men and women who fought for a new nation on April 19, 1775. See our article on page 20 for more information. Join Concord Together and the Town of Concord’s Celebrations Committee in a festive show of the indomitable Spirit of Concord! Grab the kids and walk through town - or go for a drive - and see the Revolutionary era decorations on storefronts and porches around Concord.

Photo courtesy of Concord Museum

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AN ILLUSTRATED TIMELINE OF

What happened on April 19, 1775? Explore this illustrated timeline for the full story. BY ERICA LOME

2:00 am - 4:30 am

10:30 pm

The Regulars, still on the banks of the Charles River, have lost the element of surprise. They begin their march to Concord, which will take them through Lexington. Meanwhile, Lexington’s militia await their arrival at Buckman’s Tavern.

APRIL 18, 1775 On the evening of April 18, 1775, Provincial leaders in Boston learn that General Gage is sending 700 British Regulars to raid a stockpile of military supplies in Concord. Paul Revere arranges for two lanterns to be lit in the belfry of North Church, signaling that the Regulars are heading out by water. 2 1

10:30 pm - 12:00 am

Revere and William Dawes, another alarm rider, set out, while British Regulars cross the Charles River. Both the lantern signal and additional riders serve to spread the alarm in all directions. Provincial forces begin to mobilize around the countryside.

12:00 am

Provincial leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock receive the news and leave Lexington to avoid the Regulars. Revere and Dawes then race toward Concord but are captured by a British patrol. A new rider, Samuel Prescott, carries on and alarms the people of Concord. Lantern, about 1775. Concord Museum Collection, Gift of Cummings E. Davis (1886); M400a1 Still images from the April 19, 1775 animation at the Concord Museum. Produced by RLMG. 3 Clock movement and dial, 1769. Concord Museum Collection, Gift of the Decorative Arts Fund with assistance of Malcolm R. Mahan (1975); F2512. Reproduction case made by William Huyett, 2020. Gift of William and Lauren Huyett. 4 Silver-hilted Sword, about 1760. Concord Museum Collection, Gift of Mrs. Chandler; A2060.1 6 Beam from the North Bridge, Concord, Massachusetts. Concord Museum Collection, Gift of the Town of Concord (1956); M2130 1

2,5,7

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“Here once the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the world” — RALPH WALDO EMERSON, Concord Hymn, 1837

9:00 am

5:00 am

The Provincials stationed above the North Bridge are alarmed to see smoke rising from the center of Concord. Believing that Regulars are ransacking the town, they ready for combat and march toward the bridge.

Drumbeats summon Lexington militia to gather on the Lexington Common as the British approach. Major John Pitcairn’s advance companies of 100 Regulars encounter Captain John Parker and his 60 men. Despite orders on both sides not to engage, a shot rings out. In response, the Regulars open fire. Seconds later, eight Provincials lay dead and ten more wounded.

4:30 pm

Eventually, outnumbered two to one, the British face some of the harshest fighting of the day near present-day Arlington. Many Regulars abandon their arms to lighten their load on the return to Boston. By now, Provincial forces total 3600 men.

The 100 British Regulars at the bridge open fire, killing two Provincials: Isaac Davis and Abner Hosmer. Major John Buttrick orders his men to return fire – the famous “shot heard round the world.” Three minutes later, three Regulars are dead and several more wounded.

The advance companies regroup and rejoin the main column of Regulars. Together, the soldiers resume the march to Concord. 4

12:00 pm

Having accomplished their mission, the Regulars begin marching back to Boston. However, their path is impeded by Provincial forces who keep up an encircling fire on the main column. The march turns into a 15-mile long battle.

7:30 pm

7:30 am

The British Regulars arrive in Concord. By then, 450 Provincial militia and minutemen have assembled near the North Bridge. The Regulars split up to secure the town’s bridges and destroy military supplies. Luckily, the Provincials had relocated most of the stockpile shortly before the raid. The Regulars set on fire or throw in the mill pond what little they find.

With 243 men killed, wounded, and missing, the Regulars barely make it back to Boston by sundown. The Siege of Boston begins.

2:00 pm

In Lexington, the returning Regulars are joined by a relief column of 1000 Regulars. By this point, the Provincial forces have grown to over 1500 men, a number that continues to increase as militiamen from all over Massachusetts join the fray.

An alarm system that began with two lit lanterns summoned 20,000 Provincials from across the region. This massive force confined the British Army to Boston for 11 months, a siege that ended with George Washington’s capture of Dorchester Heights. The occupying British troops left Massachusetts in March of 1776, never to return.

See the events of April 19, 1775 unfold at the Concord Museum online and in person! The new permanent galleries tell the story of that fateful day as never before, guided by artifacts and multi-media animations. The exhibition continues online with the Museum’s new ‘Shot Heard Round the World’ microsite which was officially recognized by the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission. Shotheardroundworld.org and concordmuseum.org Erica Lome is the Peggy N. Gerry Curatorial Associate at the Concord Museum.

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evartsmcleanco.com Compass is a licensed real estate broker and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdrawal without notice. No statement is made as to the accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footages are approximate. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Nothing herein shall be construed as legal, accounting or other professional advice outside the realm of real estate brokerage.

BY JULIEN ICHER

Concord, Massachusetts, is home to two important revolutions: a military one starting on April 19, 1775, and a moral, intellectual, and ideological one, epitomized more than half a century later by the Transcendentalist movement and its staunch support for the abolition of those enslaved in America. Few heroes in American history resonate so strongly with both of these movements as the iconic Frenchman, the Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette and the Fight for American Independence At age 19, influenced by the ideals surrounding the discoveries of the Western Enlightenment, Lafayette sailed to North America to help establish an independent nation that would guarantee the equal protection of the natural rights of individuals under the law. He befriended George Washington and was quickly elevated to the rank of Major General in 1777. Lafayette bled for America at Brandywine and served at Barren Hill, Monmouth, and Newport. He remained a staunch ally to the emerging United States and a trusted friend of Washington. His influence was instrumental in securing military support from France, which would ultimately lead to the victorious siege at Yorktown, Virginia, in October of 1781. In 1824, Lafayette was invited on a special tour of the United States by President 16

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Monroe and Congress in honor of the 50th anniversary of the American Revolution. From August 1824 to September 1825, he was the “Nation’s Guest,1” traveling more than 5,000 miles across the then 24-state union. As the last surviving Major General from the Revolution, the charismatic Lafayette was greeted with much pomp and circumstance wherever he went. His presence on American soil provided much-needed common ground between Americans amidst the deep partisan divisions polarizing the nation during the 1824 U.S. presidential election. Americans looked to Lafayette for clues, recognition, and reassurance of the success of the American Experiment. Lafayette, the close friend of Washington, consolidated the belief among Americans that the federal republican form of government adopted in this country was unique and worthy of pride. His visit led to an increased sense of national awareness, to a renewed interest in the conflict leading to national independence, and to a greater understanding that the ideals of the American Revolution ought to be preserved for future generations. Stopping in Concord on September 2, 1824, on his way back from Boston to New York City, Lafayette highlighted the importance of the shots fired at Concord in April 1775: “It was the alarm gun to all Europe, or as I may say, the whole world. For

e of Representa tives, Washingto n, D.C., 1823) fayette (U.S. Ho us

A Bridge between Two Revolutions

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it was the signal gun, which summoned all the world to assert their rights and become free.” His military service was honored by Concord residents, who claimed that “From the 19th of April 1775, here noted in blood, to a memorable day in Yorktown, your heart and your sword were with us.” An arch was erected in the town to welcome Lafayette. It bore the inscription, “In 1775 People of Concord met the enemies of liberty: In 1824, they welcome the bold asserter of the Rights of Man, Lafayette.”2 Lafayette – an Inspiration to Human Rights Advocates Lafayette was a lifelong champion of universal human rights and a staunch abolitionist. He consistently advanced this agenda, as he believed it would benefit the national interest. European philosophers such as Diderot and d’Alembert (1750s-1760s)3, Condorcet (1781)4, and Abbé Grégoire (1815)5 sought to explore the complex ways in which slavery affected enslaved persons. They laid out analyses combining philosophical and moral components to offer a path for ending slavery successfully. In the United States, Northern abolitionist societies increasingly advocated for the gradual emancipation of enslaved people. Legislation was passed in Pennsylvania (1780) and New York (1799) to promote the

LEFT: Jacques Nicholas Bellin, Carte de la Guyane, 1757 BELOW: Sentinel and Democrat (Burlington, Vermont, Friday, September 17, 1824)

SOURCES

idea.6 The Pennsylvania Abolition Society, chartered in 1775, changed its name in the 1780s to reflect this new consideration for “improving the condition of the African Race.”7 This position highlighted the emphasis on ending slavery while ensuring that any abolitionist agenda would lead to the longterm successful insertion of newly freed men and women into society. Many like Lafayette embraced the idea of exploring the lasting damage caused by a lifelong condition of bondage and that slaves needed to be “duly prepared for the rational enjoyment of freedom.”8 Lafayette’s intellectual proximity with these circles led him to conceive of the Cayenne Experiments. In a letter dated February 5, 1783, Lafayette challenged George Washington to address the dilemma of slavery in a society founded on universal human rights and invited his friend to join him in an experiment that would be “greatly beneficial for the Black part of mankind.”9 Unable to obtain the support of Washington,

Lafayette proceeded in 1785 with his plan in the French colony of Guiana (now French Guiana). The experiment focused on ameliorating the conditions of bondage on the plantation by eliminating any forms of corporal punishment, enacting laws to prohibit the usage of tools most associated with the violent treatment of enslaved workers, and by encouraging a sense of collective identity. Bridging Concord’s Two Revolutions When Lafayette visited in 1824, the debate around slavery was just as hotly contested in Concord as it was nationally, when The Missouri Compromise of 1820 established Missouri as a slave state, balanced by the free state of Maine. Lafayette consistently laid out a compelling link between the American fight for freedom and the plight of the enslaved in this country. And while Lafayette would never work alongside Emerson, Thoreau, or the Concord Alcotts, his words and his passionate support for

universal human rights would resonate with the generation that followed his momentous visit to Concord and further encourage them over the next several decades. His muchcelebrated visit in 1824 would serve as a bridge between the ideals of the American Revolution and the foundational philosophies espoused by the Transcendentalists to come. ——————————————————————— Julien P. Icher is a French native and Founder and President of The Lafayette Trail, a nonprofit organization with a mission to document, map, and mark General Lafayette’s footsteps during his Farewell Tour of the United States in 1824-25. It aims to educate the public about the national significance of Lafayette’s Tour and to promote a broader understanding of Lafayette’s numerous contributions to American independence and national coherence, in preparation for America’s 2024-2025 bicentennial celebrations. You can learn more about this initiative (and support it!) at thelafayettetrail.org.

1 Connecticut Gazette (New London, Connecticut, September 22, 1824). 2 Sentinel and Democrat (Burlington, Vermont, September 17, 1824). 3 Diderot, d’Alembert, Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, par une société de gens de lettres, 28 vols (Paris, France, 1751). 4 M. Schwartz (Condorcet), Réflexions sur l’esclavage des Nègres (Neufchâtel, 1781), 44p. 5 Grégoire, Henry, De la Traite et de l’esclavage des noirs et des blancs (Adrien Egron: Paris, France, 1815), 40p. 6 https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/gradual-abolition-act-of-1780/, http://www.archives.nysed.gov/education/act-gradualabolition-slavery-1799. 7 Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, Five Years’ abstract of Transactions of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery the relief of free negroes unlawfully held in bondage, and for improving the condition of the African Race (Merrihew and Thompson’s: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1853). 8 National Journal (Washington, D.C., May 12, 1825), 1. 9 “To George Washington from Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, 5 February 1783,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-10575.

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A Link to Louisa May Alcott

Courtesy Massachusetts Historical Society

(from our friend Jan Turnquist, Executive Director of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House)

A lady’s glove imprinted with the likeness of the Marquis de Lafayette.

Louisa May Alcott’s Great, Great Aunt Dorothy Quincy Hancock Scott (Marmee’s Aunt) and her husband John Hancock were good friends of Lafayette and would entertain him regularly in their home in Boston in the late 1700s. Lafayette and Dorothy Quincy would meet once more in Boston, during his Farewell Tour of the United States in 1824. Surrounded by more than 1500 horsemen, and greeted by 2500 school children dressed in white and blue, and bearing sashes and waving ribbons in honor of him, Lafayette was accompanied through the streets of Boston in a huge parade . As he passed in front of the home of Dorothy Quincy (now twice widowed), he halted his carriage to visit his dear friend. The glass punch bowl which had served President Washington in the Hancock home years before would be brought out to serve the Nation’s Guest, General Lafayette. Young Louisa May Alcott of Concord would have certainly heard tales of the courageous

Frenchman – and his unwavering belief in freedom and human rights – from her beloved “Aunt Hancock.” The story of the Boston parade even makes a cameo in one of Louisa May Alcott’s books. The story touched her so much, that Louisa May traveled into Boston by train to fetch the family heirloom to bring back to Orchard House for the Centennial celebrations in 1875 – when every house that had been home to a minuteman was opened to the public in a town-wide reception across Concord. As Timothy Hoar and his son had both been minutemen who lived in Orchard House in 1775, the Alcott’s home participated in this special celebration. Louisa May served punch to the visitors from this very same bowl that had served President Washington and General Lafayette! When the celebrations were over, Louisa May ensured the safe return of the historical punch bowl to her relatives in Boston.

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Patriots’ Day 2021

Before the pandemic of 2020, thousands of people from all around the globe came to Concord to celebrate the events that gave birth to a new nation. In most years, the events of April 19, 1775 would be remembered with parades, reenactments, candlelight processions, living history events, and more. This year, while we are still not able to gather in large groups, Concord and its cultural institutions have come together to provide a variety of experiences, both live and online, that will honor this important day in American history. The Town of Concord has several online events in store, including: A Dawn Salute: A livestream broadcast of the traditional 21-gun salute with musket and cannon fire traditionally held at 6:00 am on April 19 each year. Spectators will not be allowed due to COVID regulations, but you won’t want to miss it online. Patriots’ Day Parade: A video montage of current reenactment units, parade groups, and others capturing their well wishes, with brief interviews.

Go to visitconcord.org for additional information as more events are planned. For live events, visit Concord Museum’s new April 19, 1775 galleries and meet a minuteman! Also sponsored by Concord Museum will be a short walk from the Tavern to the Old North Bridge. Led by a trained Museum educator, you can learn about the events leading up to April 19, 1775 and the first battle of the American Revolution. Visit concordmuseum.org for more information and other events related to April 19, 1775 taking place during place during April. Visit the Acton Minutemen Encampment: “I haven’t a man who is afraid to go!” The Acton Minutemen mustered and marched to the North Bridge on the morning of April 19, 1775 where, under the leadership of Captain Isaac Davis, they were first in line of 450 Provincials who advanced on the British Regulars. Both Provincials who died at the North Bridge – Isaac Davis and Abner Hosmer – were Acton Minutemen. Visit this brave minute company in an encampment outside the Concord Museum on Patriots’ Day and see them prepare for battle! Courtesy of Acton Minutemen

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The Unheard Voices of April 19, 1775

On the morning of April 19, 1775, 71-yearold Martha Moulton witnessed a terrifying scene: hundreds of red-coated British Regulars marching into the town of Concord. These men were on orders from British General Thomas Gage to seize and destroy contraband military supplies stockpiled by the Provincial Congress. The ensuing conflict between the Regulars and Provincials sparked the American Revolution. For Moulton, the sounds of the fife and drum signaled imminent danger. By her account, the army of Regulars, “in a hostile manner, entered the town and drawed up in formation before the door of the house where I live...” While several companies split up to secure the North and South Bridges and search James Barrett’s farm, the remainder hunted for Provincial military supplies in the town center. They set on fire or threw in the mill pond what little they found, including wooden spoons, barrels of shovels, and cannonballs.

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BY ERICA LOME

Moulton watched in disbelief as the Regulars set fire to the gun carriages by the Town House, which spread to the building itself. Describing herself as an “unfortunate widow” and “very infirm,” she then “put her life, as it were, in her hand” and begged the men to put out the fire, knowing that it endangered the entire row of houses, including the school house. At last, “by one pail of water after another, they sent and did extinguish the fire.” Moulton recounted this brief episode in a petition to the General Court of Massachusetts to seek reimbursement for damages to her home. This legal document, tucked away in the state archives, provides historians a wealth of detail about the events of April 19th. Letters, diaries, and interviews also offer first-person insights into what people experienced on that day. Yet while these documents reflect a range of perspectives—Provincials, Regulars, men, women, young, ABOVE: Amos old— many voices Barrett powder remain unheard. horn. Concord The historic record Museum Collection, is weighted toward Gift of Frederick S. the most powerful Richardson, Peter members of 1770s H. Richardson, and Joan R. Fay 1994.63 society: landowning white men. The contributions LEFT: Living of women and the Historian Nick Johnson, April less wealthy are 19, 1775 Gallery, harder to track. The Concord Museum most significant omission, however, is that of people of color, especially if they were enslaved. In 1775, Concord was home to about 1,500 inhabitants,

including at least 24 enslaved men, women, and children. Concord’s white residents considered themselves British, not American. Their daily life reflected British fashions and customs, and this extended to the exportation of lumber, tobacco, and fur in exchange for goods and enslaved labor. Uncovering the experiences of the enslaved inhabitants requires deep investigation. While people of color are not easily located in the archives, they left their mark on the material world. Objects provide clues about how they lived and worked in Concord and help to tell a more inclusive story about those who risked everything on April 19th. A high chest in the collection of the Concord Museum offers one way of thinking about Concord in the 1770s. One of about a dozen pieces produced at Thomas Barrett’s sawmill by an unknown woodworker, this elegant form belonged to the upper echelon of Concord society. However, its construction was not at all typical. Most notably, the maker did not use any glue, thus adding many hours of work to the building process. The extra expense was apparently not added to the cost of the chest, suggesting the maker was not compensated for their work, nor were they brought up within New England’s cabinetmaking tradition. The exact identity of this maker may be a mystery, but the signs point to them being enslaved by Barrett, who used their labor to produce highly-sought-after furniture for the local economy. Based on the inscribed date of 1776 on the inside of the chest, it’s entirely possible that its maker joined the extended Barrett family at the North Bridge on April 19th, fighting for the liberties denied to others in their community.

Hannah Fayerweather Winthrop, Witness to April 19th A decendant of the first Massachusetts Bay colonists, Winthrop avidly supported the Provincial cause. In a letter to her friend Mercy Otis Warren, she described the scene of “frightened women & children” fleeing from the violence of April 19th.

All photos courtesy of Concord Museum

In the absence of written sources, objects are often the only tangible record we have of a person’s life. A looking glass collected by Cummings E. Davis in 1854 contains a label claiming that it belonged to Case Whitney, an enslaved man who died in 1822 at the age of 90. Aided by the memories of those who knew him, Davis held onto this object, one of a few documented possessions of an African American from the 1700s. Case Whitney’s alleged enslaver, Samuel Whitney, was a delegate to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and stored ammunition on his property. There’s little doubt that both Whitneys witnessed “the shot heard round the world” at the North Bridge. Case Whitney’s looking glass may have even followed him into military service as a volunteer in the Continental Army, through which he emancipated himself. The looking glass ultimately reflected the face of a free man.

Objects also carry the artistic legacies of otherwise forgotten figures. On April 19th, nearly every Provincial militiaman carried a powder horn for storing gunpowder. These horns frequently contained elaborate incised designs, the work of professional carvers, in a tradition stretching back to the French and Indian War. While earlier carved powder horns featured fanciful creatures or maps of forts, by the 1770s bold and stylized copperplate script was the fashion, attributed to the work of John Bush, a free man of color from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, who served at Fort William Henry. Bush’s decorated powder horns laid the groundwork for what’s now regarded as the Lake George School. His calligraphic style and decorative devices secured his reputation as one of the most important powder horn carvers in Colonial America. Powder horns carved before and after April 19th feature several of his signature elements, suggesting that many of his decorated horns were brought back to Massachusetts and inspired others during subsequent military conflicts. Approximately 40 men of color served the Provincial cause on April 19th. Archival records identify some of them, though they often paint an incomplete picture. One Brookline payroll lists three enslaved men who fought in the conflict, but identifies them via their enslaver, such as “Esq. Gardener’s Adam.” Meanwhile, a broadside listing the Provincial dead and wounded identifies “Prince Estabrook, a Negro man” as one of the militia men wounded on Lexington Common. In other cases, these people emerge in probate records, like Philip, an enslaved member of Col. Chest-on-chest. James Barrett’s Concord, about household who 1776. Concord was 14 years old Museum on April 19th; or Collection, Gift a child named of Cummings E. Nancy sold by Davis (1886); one Concord F803 resident to their

neighbor in 1740, and who would have been in her thirties when the Regulars marched into town. Few documentary records or objects survive to represent the range of experiences had by the men and women of color who lived in Concord on the eve of the Revolution. There is no equivalent to the pair of silk shoes belonging to twelveyear-old Hannah Hunt, another child who witnessed the raid on Concord; nor is there a similar testimonial to the one made by Martha Moulton. Yet, this does not mean giving up altogether. The Concord Museum is fortunate to have a collection of artifacts from April 19, 1775 that its curators use to tell different kinds of stories and center on new individuals. This ongoing work ensures that those whose voices remain unheard are not forgotten. The Concord Museum’s unrivaled collection of objects related to April 19, 1775 can be found in their new permanent galleries, open to the public in April 2021. “The new April 19, 1775 exhibition marries the Museum’s iconic artifacts with a multidimensional narrative to the foundational story like it has never been told before,” stated Concord Museum’s President, Ralph Earle. These galleries are the latest step in the Museum’s ongoing mission to explore new and different stories in Concord’s history. The Museum is committed to inclusivity at all levels of interpretation and programming. ———————————————————————— Erica Lome is the Peggy N. Gerry Curatorial Associate at the Concord Museum.

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Join us for this New Museum Experience!

The Concord Museum has opened three dramatic new permanent galleries focused on April 19, 1775, a watershed moment in American history. Timed-entry tickets available online now.

www.concordmuseum.org

Image: Lantern, one of the two used as a signal April 18, 1775, on exhibit in the Earle Mendillo Family Gallery at the Concord Museum

A British Fusilier’s Attempted Journey to Concord

In 2020 or early 2021, did you try to visit Concord, or leave it to go anywhere? If yes, you might have experienced global variants of fate cannonballing you into history’s category of “people who tried to go somewhere and couldn’t quite make it.” And in this category, you would find First Lieutenant and Adjutant Welch Fusilier Frederick Mackenzie whose miserable attempted journey to Concord started in 1773, and like a stretching pandemic, never seemed to get better. The only son of an Irish merchant, Mackenzie was born around 1731. At a young age, he received a commission in the British Army’s 23rd Regiment of Foot, The Royal Welch Fusiliers. From his teenage years into his early thirties, he fought for England in both the War of Austrian Succession (174048) and the Seven Years’ War (1756-63). Ten peaceful years followed in which Mackenzie married and started a family. The launch of the miserableness started on April 24th, 1773, when Mackenzie, his wife, young son James, the 23rd Regiment of Foot, and several hundred other soldiers, boarded seven troop transport ships and set sail from England headed to the American Colonies where they were to join other King’s troops in controlling Colonists threatening insurgency against The Crown. 26

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Of varying ages and states of seaworthiness, the seven ships attempted to sail in formation: The Commodore’s ship in the front and a descending chain of command spread out behind. But, like pairing a Ferrari with a 1910 hand crank vehicle, the formation struggled with some ships straining to reign in their superior sailing power while others were stuck on the basics such as getting out of the harbor. In a letter home to his father, Mackenzie wrote, “The ship in which the Commodore was could not get out.” At last, the fleet was in formation and under sail. Wrote Mackenzie, “as soon as we got quite clear of the land, we found a great swell from the Westward, and the Northwest, owing as the Sailors say, to the frequency of the winds from the opposite points…. This caused a great motion in the ship.” For nearly 100 hours, the ship was tossed on two sets of waves from different directions. Mackenzie recounted, “[the endless] great swell made us all very sick.”

A ferocious storm entrapped the fleet for days, and Mackenzie observed that “the sea [ran] so high, that not having seen anything of the kind before, I really thought that it would have overset us.” For a few days, the seven ships lost each other, reuniting again just in time for the

swift attack of another gale. Mackenzie and his fellow officers got their men below deck where, for eight hours, they were tossed in the listing wooden hull. Noted Mackenzie, “the Ship rolled so much the Gunnels were under water, and the Sea washed over the deck.” The storms eventually calmed, but for Mackenzie, rest remained elusive. In stacked wooden bunks, Mackenzie shared a cramped

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sleeping cabin with his wife, young son, and Colonists of the troops’ movements. The several women passengers, one of whom element of surprise was compromised, and he described as a difficult, loud complainer. the race was on for Mackenzie and a fresh Suffering uncontrolled seasickness, this Brigade from Boston to get to Concord and disagreeable woman continuously vomited the back up Smith’s troops! entire seven weeks of the journey, especially As described by Mackenzie, around 9 am, at night when Mackenzie lay just feet from her he and approximately 1,100 of Percy’s troops in his cramped bed. The cabin was airless; the swiftly set out from Boston, marching over accumulated stench was so horrendous that what is today’s Massachusetts Avenue. Mackenzie feared his wife and child would They were unaware that at the same time, suffocate in there without fresh air. twenty miles away in Concord, a battle was Finally, Mackenzie’s ship landed in New occurring at the North Bridge, killing and York. Time passed, and two years and one wounding both Colonists and King’s troops. badly-behaved Boston Tea Party later, Near noon, Mackenzie’s brigade was Mackenzie and the 23rd Regiment of Foot nearing Menotomy (today’s Arlington) still pressing for Concord where, unbeknownst found themselves stationed in Boston, to them, Smith’s brigade was beginning a Massachusetts, where, in the early morning retreat to Boston. hours of April 19th, 1775, At 2 pm, with only Mackenzie and his company Related Concord four and a half more were awakened with an urgent Places to Visit: miles to Concord, order: Hurry and join Brigadier Concord’s North Bridge and Percy’s brigade arrived General Earl Percy in marching Visitor Center in Minute Man in Lexington. Recounted to Concord to back up another National Historical Park Mackenzie, “as we brigade of soldiers. advanced, we heard The night before, under Battle Road Trail in Minute [gunfire] plainer and command of Lieutenant Man National Historical Park more frequent… we Colonel Smith, approximately were ordered to form 700 King’s troops had marched Sources: the Line, which was from Boston under cover of MacKenzie, Frederick, immediately done by the midnight darkness and A British Fusilier in extending on each side headed to Concord town where Revolutionary Boston, Harvard of the road.” Stone walls their orders were to find and University Press, 1926 and trees interrupted destroy military provisions the line’s normal order, that spies had confirmed were French, Allen, The Day of but it would have to being hidden there to supply Concord and Lexington, The do for a fight was a rebel Army. The mission 19th of April, 1775, Little, descending on them. had not started well. Colonist Brown, & Co., 1925 Just ahead, pursued messengers, including Paul Fischer, D.H., Paul Revere’s by Colonists firing at Revere, and Concord Doctor Ride, Oxford University them, Lt. Col. Smith’s Samuel Prescott, had spread Press, 1995 exhausted brigade was the word that “the Regulars approaching. Spotting are coming out!” alerting the Bell, J.L., The Road to Concord, Westholme Publishing, 2016

Percy’s troops lined up to support them, they gave a loud cheer. For a few moments, their roaring voices seemed to halt the Colonists’ firing, but it soon started up again—from all directions— coming from unseen figures in the woods, behind stone walls, and in houses. For half an hour, Mackenzie and his men held the line, forming the rear guard and allowing the other King’s troops to reform a column. As the column moved back towards Boston, Mackenzie and his fellow Officers attempted to keep order, but fear ran high and Mackenzie’s men wasted valuable ammunition, firing blindly at adversaries they could not see. Wrote Mackenzie, “Several of the troops were killed or wounded… and the soldiers were so enraged at the suffering from an unseen enemy, that they forced open many of the houses from which the fire proceeded and put to death all those found in them.” Some soldiers seeking revenge lingered too long in houses and were set upon and killed by Colonists who had been hiding inside. Outside, the running battle lasted for hours. In total, Mackenzie estimated there were 4,000 Colonists to their approximately 1,500 soldiers (other sources suggest the King’s troops were near 1,700). The bloody day ended around midnight when the survivors of the King’s troops made it back to Boston. While Mackenzie emerged from the day physically unharmed, the memory of his miserable attempted journey to Concord was forever seared into his mind and history. ————————————————————————— A Concord native, Jaimee Joroff is Manager of the Barrow Bookstore in Concord Center which specializes in Concord history, Transcendentalism, and literary figures. She has been an interpreter at most of Concord’s historic sites and is a licensed town guide.

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The Prichard Gate, donated by William M. Prichard in 1891 and replaced with granite blocks in 1947.

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Beyond Authors Ridge

BY SUSAN DEE AND KEVIN THOMAS PLODZIK, Ed.D. Photo courtesy of Special Collections of the Concord Free Public Library

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, which is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, is the final resting place of many well-known luminaries like Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and others whose lives have been documented in numerous ways. But there is much more to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, including the burial sites of some fascinating people who may not be as familiar. Their graves can be located on the framed maps at the Cemetery entrances. James Underwood Crockett (1915 -1979) was a celebrity gardener as well as being known for his unique gardening books about outdoor flowers and plants. In the 1970s he was the original host of the popular TV show, “Crockett’s Victory Garden,” later named “The Victory Garden.” 3 Stow Avenue Emily Hosmer Daniels (1919-2011) and Marc Daniels (1912-1989), husband and wife, gained notoriety for their TV work. Emily supervised the script for the first hour-long dramatic show, “The Ford Theatre,” and coordinated the cameras for the first two seasons of “I Love Lucy.” Marc directed the first thirty-nine episodes of “I Love Lucy,” including Vitameatavegamin, as well as episodes of “Star Trek,” “Gunsmoke,” “Bonanza,” “Mission Impossible,” and “Hogan’s Heroes.” 83 Ridge Path Peter Hutchinson (c1799 - 1882) was a well-liked Concord resident known for his skills as a wood cutter and butcher, and the last African American owner of The Robbins House and farm. Peter’s Path, Peter’s Spring, and Peter’s Field are all Concord locations named in tribute to him. 159 Path H, Old Burying Ground

John Shepard Keyes (1821-1910) served as President Abraham Lincoln’s bodyguard at his 1861 Inauguration. As a United States Marshall appointed by Lincoln, he was close by on horseback during the Gettysburg Address. K Ridge Path Robin Moore (1925-2008) authored many books, including The French Connection and The Green Berets, both made into well-recognized films. 172 Gilmore Avenue Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1804-1894) founded kindergartens in America, the first in 1860 on Boston’s Beacon Hill. 248 Sleepy Hollow Avenue Thomas Whitney Surette (1862-1941) was a musician, composer, and teacher. In 1915 he founded the Concord Summer School of Music which operated until 1938. He is credited with starting the singing of Christmas carols by townsfolk at the Christmas tree in the Town Center on Christmas Eve, a custom that continues. 50 Glade Avenue Mary Lemist Titcomb (1852-1932) launched the first bookmobile in 1905, in Washington County Maryland, bringing books in a horsedrawn wagon to those who had no access to a library. G Chestnut Path Captain Artemas Wheeler (1781-1845) designed the first gun with a revolving chamber which later became the Colt revolver. 30 Path, Old Burying Ground As you walk through the Cemetery, you will see 25 trees indigenous to MA. Labeling was sponsored by The Friends, and locations can be found on www.friendsofsleepyhollow.org.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Susan Dee is a Concord native and fourth generation funeral director at Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Concord. She served on the Celebration Committee of the 150th Anniversary of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Kevin Thomas Plodzik is a retired teacher and middle school Principal. He is also President of the Board of Directors of the Concord Chamber of Commerce, and a Realtor® with Barrett Sotheby’s International Realty in Concord. The authors are appreciative to David Daniels, Anne Forbes, Rick Frese, Tish Hopkins, Nancy Reilly, and Priscilla White Sturges for their assistance.

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The Friends of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, incorporated in 2002, is defined by our Mission: the continuing enhancement and beautification of and education about the Cemetery. Our many projects, endorsed by the Town and detailed on our website, are possible solely through the commendable support of our donors. Tax-deductible contributions are invited from residents and others sharing our goals. Always acknowledged in grateful appreciation, gifts can easily be made via our website, www.friendsofsleepyhollow.org,

or by mail to: The Friends of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Inc. Post Office Box 313 Concord, MA 01742-0313 Town citizens volunteer time and skills as our Board of Directors: Bobbi Benson, Susan Dee, James Fannin, Rick Frese, John Gardella, Kevin Thomas Plodzik, Ed.D. (President), Nancy Reilly (Secretary), Paul Ressler, Sylvie Sawyer, Priscilla White Sturges, James Tenner, George Tisdale, CPA (Treasurer), Leo Carroll (Cemetery Committee Liaison )

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Concord’s Civil War Monument

Public Domain

Shock. Anger. Patriotism. Resolve. These were just some of the emotions that swept through the Northern states when Confederate forces fired on the Federal-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina on April 12, 1861. The Civil War had begun. Two days after Sumter’s surrender, President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 volunteers to put down the rebellion. Massachusetts answered the call with an overwhelming response, and nearly 160,000 Bay Staters would serve in the Union army and navy. Like the rest of the North, the people of Concord were angered and inspired, and the town of just over 2,000 inhabitants would ultimately do its part by sending 450 men off to the war. Colonel George L. Prescott The Concord Town Hall served as the recruiting center while, all around town, handbills appeared, encouraging patriotic men of virtue to volunteer. Crying “WAR! WAR! WAR!”, one recruitment poster insisted that “None but men good and true and who are willing to be ready for any emergency, at a MOMENT’S NOTICE, need apply!” It was no coincidence that it echoed the sentiment and spirit of Concord’s minutemen of 1775. There is no more patriotic day in Concord than April 19, and the minutemen are an important part of Concord history. It was also no coincidence that it was on April 19, 1861, when 82 volunteers from the Concord Artillery left for Washington D.C. in response to Lincoln’s call. These were the first men of Concord to go off to the war. One of the first to volunteer was the company commander, 32- yearold Captain George L. Prescott. Tall, strong, and charismatic, it was reported that Prescott was the beau-ideal of an officer, “a stalwart man, every inch of whose six feet is of soldier stamp.” He would soon become the Colonel of the 32nd Massachusetts Infantry and serve with distinction through some of the war’s bloodiest battles, including Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness. Sadly, Prescott would not survive the war. During the Siege of Petersburg, the 32nd was involved in a charge which drove the Rebels into their entrenchments; Prescott received a mortal wound, with the bullet passing into his left breast. He died the next day and was brought home and buried in Sleepy Hollow. Ralph Waldo Emerson would eulogize him as a man with “a patience not to be tired out, a serious devotion to the cause of the country that never swerved, a hope that never failed.” Recalling another hero, Emerson went on,

“A Duty So Severe”

Concord and the Civil War BY RICHARD SMITH

©Richard Smith

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Photos ©Richard Smith

Grave of Lt. Ezra Ripley at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

But one of the town’s heroes who died for the Union cause is not on the obelisk; his name was George Washington Dugan. Dugan was a 44-year-old African-American Concord farmer when he enlisted in Company A of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, the famed all-black regiment featured in the 1989 film, “Glory.” The regiment’s baptism of fire took place on July 18, 1863, when they attacked Confederate Fort Wagner outside of Charleston, South Carolina. The assault was a bloodbath; 281 men of the 54th were killed or wounded, including their commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. But 48 men from the Regiment were never accounted for, meaning that their bodies were never identified or recovered, and among those was George Dugan. The official record states that he was

saying that Prescott “was a Puritan in the army, with traits that remind one of John Brown — an integrity incorruptible, and an ability that always rose to the need.” Another soldier with deep Concord connections was Lt. Ezra Ripley, the son of Reverend Samuel and Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley. A Harvard graduate, before the war Ezra was a lawyer and abolitionist, a thoughtful and quiet man that Thomas Wentworth Higginson remembered as “a slender, delicate, sensitive, and peculiarly unwarlike person.” Not long after the war began, Ezra joined the 29th Massachusetts Infantry and fought through the Peninsular Campaign and the bloody Battle of Antietam, after which he wrote, “I have seen sights and gone through what I hope will never be my lot again.” Ripley was severely wounded in the leg during the Siege of Vicksburg and died on a boat on the Mississippi River as he was returning to Concord and his family home, the Old Manse. He was 36 years old. But Ezra believed in the Union cause wholeheartedly and has no qualms about dying for it; in one of the final letters to his family he wrote, “To think that we were in danger of losing a great and good government…made me almost frantic. If anything were needed to make me feel the necessity of working...to the last, to give the last drop to my country, this journey has convinced me. God forgive me if I hesitate or falter now...” Both Prescott and Ripley’s names are on the Civil War monument in Concord Center.

“missing since the assault.” Most historians presume that Dugan was killed in the attack. Dugan’s name was missing from Concord’s monument because his body was never found. That didn’t sit right with many Concordians. In February of this year, Dugan’s sacrifice was formally recognized when the Concord Select Board unanimously approved the installation of a tablet in his honor at the base of the monument. As Concord husbands, fathers, and sons enlisted to fight the Confederates, April 19, 1775, and the events at the Old North Bridge were never far from their minds. Their grandfathers fought to create our nation and the soldiers of 1861 were fighting to preserve it. Concord men with names like Barrett, Buttrick, and Hosmer answered their country’s call, just as their ancestors had done 86 years before.

Given Concord’s association with April 19, it should be no surprise that the 30’ high granite obelisk in the center of town was dedicated on April 19, 1867, the 92nd anniversary of the Battle of Concord. It was a day, Emerson would note, that is “in Concord doubly our calendar day, as being the anniversary of the invasion of the town by the British troops in 1775, and of the departure of the company of volunteers for Washington, in 1861.” In a symbolic gesture to tie together the two generations of patriots, a corner of the monument rests on a stone from the abutment of the original North Bridge. The inscription on one side reads, “Town of Concord Builds this Monument in Honor of the Brave Men Whose Names it Bears and Records with Grateful Pride that They Found Here a Birthplace, Home or Grave. 1866” while the east side of the monument simply states, “They died for their country in the war of the rebellion” and it lists the names and regiments of the men from Concord who lost their lives in the war. An estimated 700,000 men died in the Civil War, and 49 of them were from Concord; white and black, wealthy and poor, lawyer and farmer, these men of Concord made the ultimate sacrifice in the preservation of the Union and the destruction of slavery, and Concord has not forgotten them. As always, Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, about these men, these Concord heroes: “A duty so severe has been discharged, and with such immense results of good, lifting private sacrifice to the sublime, that, though the cannon volleys have a sound of funeral echoes, they can yet hear through them the benedictions of their country and mankind.” ————————————————————————— Richard Smith has worked as a public historian in Concord for 21 years, specializing in Henry David Thoreau, the Transcendentalists, the Anti-Slavery movement, and the Civil War. He has written six books for Applewood Books and is a tour guide for Concord Tour Company.

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“Mourning Victory” BY RICHARD SMITH Concord dead were three Before brothers, Asa, John and Samuel Melvin. The Melvin family were longtime Concord residents and had long been involved in the town’s history. One of their ancestors, Amos Melvin, rang the Concord courthouse bell on that fateful morning of April 19, 1775 when Dr. Samuel Prescott warned “the British are coming!” Asa was the oldest and was the first to volunteer in April 1861. His three-month term of enlistment ended after the Battle of Bull Run, but he re-enlisted and was joined by two of his brothers, John and Samuel. All three would serve in Company K, 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. James, the youngest brother, could not join the army in

Photos on this page courtesy of Concord Public Works

Among the luminaries buried at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, few made greater sacrifices for their nation than did Asa, John, and Samuel Melvin. Their story echoes down the years and reflects the courage, commitment and integrity of one of Concord’s oldest families. The Civil War began on the morning of April 12, 1861 when Confederate forces fired on the Federal-held Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Sumter surrendered after 36 hours of continuous bombardment. Two days later, President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 volunteers to come to the country’s aid. Four years of bloodshed, in a war that would claim over 600,000 lives, had begun. Nearly 160,000 Bay Staters would serve in the army and navy, and Concord did her part by sending 450 men off to war. Forty-eight of them would lose their lives on the battlefield or from disease. Among the

The Melvin Memorial

1861, but would do so in 1864. In the spring of 1864, General U.S. Grant’s Overland Campaign needed men, lots of them. He decided to move heavy artillery forces out of the forts and onto the front lines in Virginia. Men who had seen very little fighting – including the three eldest Melvin brothers - would now take part in some of the bloodiest battles of the war as

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2019 issue of Discover Concord. It has been updated for republication.

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Melvin, is mourning the loss of her three Concord sons. The monument was completed in 1908 and placed in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. It was dedicated on June 16, 1909, the 45th anniversary of Asa’s death during the Siege of Petersburg. Eighty-eight veterans of the 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery were in attendance, brought to Concord from Boston in two special railroad cars. There were © BayColonyMedia.com

Grant moved against Robert E. Lee and the Confederate capital at Richmond. John Melvin would be the first of the three brothers to die. In fact, he never made it to the fighting, succumbing to dysentery at the Fort Albany military hospital in Virginia before the campaign even began. John is buried in the Melvin family plot in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Asa would be killed on June 16 during the Siege of Petersburg, shot in the chest and buried in a mass grave on the battlefield. Sam Melvin was captured by the Confederate Army shortly after the Battle of Spotsylvania in May 1864 and sent to the infamous Andersonville prison in Georgia. He would languish there until September 25, 1864 when he died of disease and malnourishment. He is buried in Andersonville National Cemetery. The youngest brother, James, was stationed far from the fighting and had the good fortune to return to Concord unscathed. He became a successful Boston businessman. But, as the years passed, he never forgot his brothers. He vowed that someday he would dedicate a monument to their sacrifice. And he knew just the man to create that monument - his longtime friend (and Concord resident) Daniel Chester French. By the late 19th century, French was the preeminent sculptor in America. His first real claim to fame was his 1875 Minute Man statue that still stands at Concord’s Old North Bridge. French would go on to create a number of famous works, including the statue of John Harvard in Harvard Yard (1884), the Pulitzer Prize gold medal (1918), and in 1920 perhaps, his most famous sculpture, the huge seated figure of Abraham Lincoln that graces the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In 1897 French was commissioned by James Melvin to create “Mourning Victory”, a marble memorial in the classical Italian Renaissance style. In the center of the shaft stands “Victory”, shrouded in an American flag, looking down on three bronze plaques that bear the names of Asa, Samuel, and John Melvin. With downcast eyes, it is obvious that Victory, along with James

prayers for the three Melvin brothers, “who showed their love for their imperiled country” by laying down their lives. The Grand Army Glee Club sang Civil War songs, including The Battle Hymn of the Republic. During the ceremony Lieutenant Peter D. Smith spoke of the Melvins’ sacrifice saying they “gave the best of their years to the service of our country...their battle has been fought, their victory won, and they are now awaiting for those of us who tarry here a little longer, to come and join with them in the grand parade above.” After the services concluded, the aged veterans were escorted to the Colonial Inn, where James Melvin hosted the group as his guests for dinner in the main dining room. James spoke to the veterans, saying that he was “deeply

touched” that so many of them had come to Concord to honor his brothers. Interestingly, the Melvin Memorial is not the only version of ”Mourning Victory.” Four years later, James Melvin commissioned French to do another one for the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York City. In fact, Melvin himself donated the funds to the Met in order to have the replica created. Dedicated in 1915, the MET version is slightly different. In the statue at the MET, ”Victory” has her right arm outstretched with her left arm upraised, the exact opposite of the Sleepy Hollow version. This was actually French’s original design for the monument, and when Melvin commissioned him for the MET version, French carved it according to his original design. French had altered the Cemetery version because of its placement, which would have had visitors to Sleepy Hollow come down a path and see the statue’s face covered by her upraised elbow. By changing the arm positions, visitors would now see ”Victory’s” unobstructed face. The original ”Mourning Victory” still stands in Sleepy Hollow today. Known locally as “The Melvin Memorial”, a century’s worth of New England weather had taken its toll on the marble, bronze, and slate, leaving the monument cracked and discolored. In response, the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Committee and Concord Public Works undertook a complete restoration of the memorial, begun in August of 2018, that included thoroughly cleaning the memorial, repointing the joints between the marble, filling small cracks and spalls, and replacing the three slate tablets. With restoration completed, “Mourning Victory” was celebrated by Concord in a rededication ceremony on June 16, 2019, one hundred and ten years after the original dedication. James Melvin’s vision, brought to life by Daniel Chester French’s art, is once again a beautiful and fitting tribute to three brave Concordians who gave their lives for the Union. Roe, Alfred S. (Alfred Seelye), 1844-1917, ed; Riverside Press (Cambridge, Mass.) The Melvin Memorial. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts, a Brother’s Tribute; Exercises at Dedication, June 16, 1909.

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All photos courtesy Concord Free Public Library

Channing’s home on Main Street

Ellery Channing:

The Most Lonely Transcendentalist

BY VICTOR CURRAN

In the early spring of 1862, as the first buds began to appear, two men made their way along Main Street. Concord knew this pair well; over the last twenty years, these “knights of the umbrella and bundle”1 had rambled together from the Walden Woods to Montreal, from Cape Cod to the Catskills. Henry Thoreau had been the more vigorous of the two, but today the poet Ellery Channing offered Henry an arm to lean on as he paused to catch his breath. His tuberculosis was growing worse, and his faithful friend Ellery had come to walk this familiar path with him for what might be the last time. Ellery Channing’s great gift was friendship. His Concord compatriots stood by him through good times and bad. There were plenty of bad times, often of Ellery’s own making, but his conversation flowed with thoughtful insights, rowdy humor, and disarming candor. His writing was never more than passable—and he vehemently 40

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refused any editor’s efforts to improve it— but the writers in his circle swore that his companionship fueled their creativity. So why did biographer Robert Hudspeth call him “the most lonely Transcendentalist”?2 What secret alienation did he conceal beneath his engaging manner and ready wit? His life had an auspicious start. He was born in Boston in 1817, the son of the dean of the Harvard medical faculty. He was named after his uncle, William Ellery Channing, an influential Unitarian clergyman whom Waldo Emerson called the “Star of the American Church,”3 and the family called him “Ellery” to avoid confusion with his celebrated namesake. The path to wealth and comfort seemed laid out before him, but when he was only five, his mother died. The traumatic loss that haunted the child grew into a sense of betrayal in the man, and he condemned all the solid Yankee values that his family

cherished— progress, Ellery Channing prosperity, piety—often to his own detriment. He grew up brilliant but unfocused. He enrolled at Harvard but dropped out after fourteen weeks. On his own, he read Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, and Goethe and tried his hand at writing, even getting a few poems published in Boston periodicals. But for him, Boston embodied the bourgeois life he despised, so at age 22 he headed west. He ended up in Cincinnati, writing poetry and doing occasional newspaper work. A school friend sent a bundle of Ellery’s poems to Waldo Emerson, who was preparing to launch a new magazine, The Dial. Waldo took note of Ellery’s shortcomings—“[He] defies a little too disdainfully his dictionary and logic”—but

The Frank Sanborn house where Channing spent the last years of his life

he was won over by Ellery’s “highly poetical temperament and a sunny sweetness of thought and feeling,”4 and published his poems in almost every issue of The Dial. In Cincinnati in 1841, Ellery met Ellen Kilshaw Fuller, another young Massachusetts native trying her luck in Ohio. They were married less than two months later. Emerson urged his protégé to come with his new bride to Massachusetts, and this they did in 1842. They found Concord was already home to a thriving writers’ colony. Henry Thoreau and Margaret Fuller were frequent visitors at Waldo’s house, with Bronson Alcott and Nathaniel Hawthorne both living nearby. Ellery took a seat at the Transcendentalists’ table, not just as a contributor to The Dial, but now as brother-in-law to its editor, Margaret Fuller. Margaret found Ellery brilliant and witty, but she worried that a scribbler of middling poetry would be a poor breadwinner for her sister Ellen. He didn’t boost her confidence when he came early to Concord to prepare for his wife’s arrival, only to slip away for a chaste holiday with Caroline Sturgis, another Dial poet with whom he had had a flirtation several years before. When Ellen arrived, she seemed to take her husband’s truancy in stride, but his career as a family man was off to a rocky start. The contentment that eluded him at home he sought in nature, and in Concord he found the pastoral Eden he had gone west to pursue. He spent his days traipsing its woods and rivers, and his evenings composing hymns to its blooms and breezes: “A thousand flowers enchant the gale With perfume sweet as love’s first kiss, And odors in the landscape sail, And charm the sense with sudden bliss.”5 His rebellious spirit abandoned him when he put pen to paper; conforming to rules of rhyme and meter sapped his nature writing of its passion. But when he left his desk and plunged into nature, he showed an uninhibited joy that endeared him to Bronson Alcott and Waldo Emerson, who proclaimed him “Professor in the Art of Walking.”6 Even the famously aloof Nathaniel Hawthorne

found Ellery a welcome companion for “skating, rowing, smoking, or lounging.”7 Of all his Concord friends, Henry Thoreau was the closest. Soon after they met in 1842, they began daydreaming about building a writers’ retreat at Walden Pond, and in March of 1845, Henry got a letter from Ellery (who was in New York dabbling in journalism again) saying “build yourself a hut, and there begin the grand process of devouring yourself alive.”8 Ellery got himself fired in time to help Henry build his Walden house that summer, and even shared Henry’s cramped quarters for two weeks that August. Henry embodied Ellery’s ideal: A man who, unencumbered by marriage or mortgage, spent his days searching for truth and beauty and distilling them into immortal literature. He sang Henry’s praises in verse: “A Lake,—the blue-eyed Walden . . . . . . has added to its charm, For one attracted to its pleasant edge, Has built himself a little Hermitage, Where with much piety he passes life.”9 Another Channing scholar, Frederick McGill, noted that “each was an eccentric individualist who took obvious delight in rubbing against the grain of the town’s expectations. Neither would work steadily; neither paid much attention to his family.”10 Ellery’s wife Ellen bore his frequent absences and his temperamental presence until 1853,

when she took their children and moved out, leaving him to keep bachelor’s hall and spend his days sauntering with his friend, which he did until consumption left Henry too weak for outdoor adventures. During Henry’s final illness in 1862, Ellery was daily at Henry’s bedside and took him for walks when he felt well enough. When his life ended on May 6, Ellery composed a hymn that was sung at his funeral, and later included it in a reverent biography that Ellery published in 1873. “As long as Walden’s waters roll . . . His perfect trust shall keep the fire, His glorious peace disarm all loss!”11 Ellery outlived his companions. Hawthorne died in 1864, followed by Emerson and Alcott in the 1880s. Their camaraderie had been his great life’s work, and without them he retreated into a sad and solitary old age—truly the most lonely Transcendentalist—until his death in 1901. His legacy is this: His genius was the oil that consumed itself to make Concord’s literary lights burn a little brighter. ———————————————————————— Victor Curran writes and leads tours of historic Concord and is an interpreter at the Concord Museum. He teaches courses and writes articles about the men and women who made Concord the home of American independence and imagination.

Laura Dassow Walls, Henry David Thoreau: A Life, University of Chicago Press, 2017. 2Robert Hudspeth, Ellery Channing, Twayne Publishers, 1973. Carlos Baker, Emerson Among the Eccentrics, Viking, 1996. 4Ibid. 5The Dial, Vol. III, No. 2, October 1842. 6Walls, op. cit. 7Hudspeth, op. cit. 8Megan Marshall, Margaret Fuller: A New American Life, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. 9W. Ellery Channing, Poems: Second Series, J. Munroe and Co., 1847. 10Frederick McGill, Channing of Concord, Rutgers University Press, 1967. 11W. Ellery Channing, Thoreau: the poet-naturalist: With memorial verses, Roberts Brothers, 1873. 1

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West Concord 48 Monument Concord Center Sq 21 Monument SqInn Concord’s Colonial North Bridge Inn

West Concord

32 Main St Concord Center

39 Art Main St Albright Supply 18 Walden Artinian Jewelry St 79 Main Artisans Way St 16Bookstore Walden St Barrow 69 Goods Main St Blue Dry 29 Walden St Brine Sporting Goods 9 Walden Cheese Shop of St Concord 65 Main St Comina 21 Walden St Concord Bookshop 77 Lowell Rd Shade Concord Lamp and 32 Main St Concord Market 9 Independence The Concord Toy Box Court 1 Walden St Copper Penny Flowers 32 Main The Dotted i St 4 Walden St Goldsmiths Fairbank and Perry 46 Main St FatFace 79 Main St Footstock Walden St Fritz &8Gigi Main St French40 Lessons 49Vassel Main Jewelry St George Main St Chocolate Gräem36Nuts and 16 Walden St Grasshopper Shop 14 Walden St Irresistables 17 Walden St J McLaughlin Main St Jack &25 Toba 44 MainGallery St Lucy Lacoste 28 Walden St Nesting MainAntiques St North59 Bridge Walden St Patina19Green 32Candy Main St Priscilla Shop 41 Main St Revolutionary Concord 81 Main St Sara Campbell Ltd Walden St Tess &13Carlos Walden St Thistle25Hill 28 Main St Thoreauly Antiques 38 Main St Vanderhoof Hardware 18 Walden St Viola Lovely 23Liquors Walden St Walden Walden Street Antiques Wheeler Rd Nine 11 Acre Corner Verrill Farm 93 Thoreau Thoreau Depot St

80 Thoreau St ATA Cycles 75 Thoreau Concord Optical St 111 Thoreau St Concord Provisions 82 Thoreau St Frame-ables Juju 113 Thoreau St. Period Furniture Hardware

A New Leaf Belle on 32 Main St Heels Concord 39 Main St Firefly ConcordStFlower Shop 18 Walden Concord 79 Main St Outfitters *Debra’sStNatural Gourmet 16 Walden Forever 69 Main St Tile Joy Street 29 Walden St Life + Home Rare Elements 9 Walden St Reflections 65 Main St Three Stones Gallery 21 Walden St West Concord Wine & Spirits 77 Lowell Rd 32 Main St 9 Independence Court 1 Walden St 32 Main St 4 Walden St Center Concord 46 Caffè Main St Nero 79 Main St Comella’s 8 Walden St Colonial Inn 1 Concord’s 40 Fiorella’s Main St Cucina 1 49 Haute Main StCoffee 36 Main St Restaurant Helen’s 16 Walden St Market & Café 1 Main Streets 14 Walden St Bakery & Food Shop Sally Ann’s 17 Walden St Cafe 1 Trail’s End 25 Main St 44 Thoreau Main St Depot 80 Thoreau 28 Walden St 1 Bedford 59 Main St Farms Ice Cream Chang An 19 Walden St Restaurant *Dunkin’ 32 Main St Farfalle 41 Main St Italian Market Café Karma 81 Main StConcord Asian Fusion 1 New London 13 Walden St Style Pizza Sorrento’s 25 Walden St Brick Oven Pizzeria Starbucks 28 Main St 38 Main St West Concord 18 Walden St Adelita 1 23 Walden St Club Car Café Concord Teacakes Dino’s Kouzina & Pizzeria 11 Wheeler Rd *Dunkin’ Nashoba Brook Bakery Reasons St to Be Cheerful 93 Thoreau 80 Saltbox ThoreauKitchen St Walden Italian Kitchen 75 Thoreau St Woods Hill 111 Thoreau St Table 1

Commonwealth Ave West74 Concord

Commonwealth Ave A New23Leaf 33Heels Commonwealth Ave Belle on 135Firefly Commonwealth Ave Concord 113 Flower Commonwealth Ave Concord Shop 98 Outfitters Commonwealth Ave Concord 45 Commonwealth *Debra’s Natural GourmetAve 49Tile Commonwealth Ave Forever 33 Bradford St Joy Street Life + Home 101 Commonwealth Ave Rare Elements 115 Commonwealth Ave Reflections Main St Three1215 Stones Gallery West Concord Wine & Spirits

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74 Commonwealth Ave 23 Commonwealth Ave 33 Commonwealth Ave 135 Commonwealth Ave 113 Commonwealth Ave 98 Commonwealth Ave 45 Commonwealth Ave 49 Commonwealth Ave 33 Bradford St 101 Commonwealth Ave 115 Commonwealth Ave 1215 Main St

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55 Main St Concord Center

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55 Main St 33 Main St 48 Monument Square 24 Walden St 12 Walden St 17 Main St 42 Main St 73 Main St 97 Lowell Rd

80 Thoreau Thoreau Depot St

68 Thoreau 80 Thoreau 1 St 10 Farms Concord Bedford IceCrossing Cream St Chang117 AnThoreau Restaurant 26 Concord Crossing *Dunkin’ 105 Thoreau St Café Farfalle Italian Market ThoreauAsian St Fusion 1 Karma71Concord 58 Thoreau New London StyleSt Pizza 159 Sudbury Rd Pizzeria Sorrento’s Brick Oven Starbucks

80 Thoreau St 68 Thoreau St 10 Concord Crossing 117 Thoreau St 26 Concord Crossing 105 Thoreau St 71 Thoreau St 58 Thoreau St 159 Sudbury Rd

Main St West1200 Concord

201Commonwealth Ave Adelita 59 Commonwealth Ave Club Car Café 1135Teacakes Main St Concord Main&StPizzeria Dino’s1191 Kouzina 152 Commonwealth Ave *Dunkin’ 110 Brook Commonwealth Ave Nashoba Bakery 84 to Commonwealth Reasons Be Cheerful Ave 92Kitchen Commonwealth Ave Saltbox 24Italian Commonwealth Walden Kitchen Ave Woods Hill Table 1 82 Thoreau St Call for 113 1 Thoreau St.al fresco dining options 1 Call for al fresco dining options

1200 Main St 20 Commonwealth Ave 59 Commonwealth Ave 1135 Main St 1191 Main St 152 Commonwealth Ave 110 Commonwealth Ave 84 Commonwealth Ave 92 Commonwealth Ave 24 Commonwealth Ave

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North Bridge Visitor Center F 174 Liberty St G Old Hill Burying Ground 2-12 Monument Sq H The Old Manse 269 Monument St I Ralph Waldo Emerson House 28 Cambridge Turnpike J The Robbins House 320 Monument St K Sleepy Hollow Cemetery & Authors Ridge 120 Bedford St L South Burying Ground Main St & Keyes Rd M The Umbrella Arts Center 40 Stow St N Walden Pond State Reservation 915 Walden St The Wayside O 455 Lexington Rd

A Concord Museum A 200 Lexington Rd B Concord Visitor Center 58 Main St C Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard 62 House 399 Lexington Rd D Minute Man National Historical Park 250 N. Great Rd (Lincoln) E The North Bridge

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Concord’s Colonial Inn Concord Players Comina Compass Real Estate Engel & Völkers Fiorella’s Cucina

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William Raveis Real Estate

Patina Green

North Bridge Antiques

Nesting

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Inkstone Architects

Concord Carlisle Community Chest

Brokerage (2 locations)

Coldwell Banker Residential

The Cheese Shop

Barrow Bookstore

Artisan’s Way

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Artinian Jewelry

Revolutionary Concord

The Concord Toy Box

Albright Art Supply + Gift

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THOREAU DEPOT

Concord Train Station

90 Thoreau St

United States Post Office

35 Beharrell St

West Concord Train Station

Commonwealth Ave & Main St

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A New Leaf Adelita

Appleton Design Group

The Attias Group

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*Debra’s Natural Gourmet Dunkin (two locations) Forever Tile Joy Street Life + Home

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NorthBridge Insurance Agency

Woods Hill Table * Money Saving

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Verrill Farm 16

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Louisa May Alcott’s grave and U.S. veteran marker honoring her service

TOP TEN Tall Tales Told on Tours (PART II)

See our winter issue for Tales 1-5...

6 | Thoreau-ly Misrepresented Perhaps none of Concord’s authors has been judged and characterized to the extent that Henry David Thoreau has, and interestingly, the claims about him span a complete spectrum. Upon their first visit to Walden, visitors are often surprised that Thoreau wasn’t the absolute mad-haired, isolated hermit they often assumed him to be, whereas those more familiar with Thoreau will often take the other extreme view, that since Henry would walk into Concord and go “home” to mom’s cooking and laundering skills his whole living in the woods experiment was actually a fraud. The truth lies somewhere in the middle; Thoreau wasn’t isolated, but he WAS often alone, and while he did grow his own crops and cook them, he sometimes enjoyed meals at home with his family. 48

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©Richard Smith

A COLLABORATIVE WORK BY ALIDA V. ORZECHOWSKI, BETH VAN DUZER, AND RICHARD SMITH OF CONCORD TOUR COMPANY

And what of the notion that Thoreau was “squatting” on the land near Walden Pond on which he built his cabin? While he does make light of this in a pun (“I put no manure whatever on this land, not being the owner, but merely a squatter…”) the truth is that Ralph Waldo Emerson was perfectly aware of and even encouraging of his odd tenant that took up residence — with permission — on the Emerson family wood lot. Thoreau paid no rent, but he was expected to clear brush and brambles, which he did so he could grow his beans. 7 | That Time Thoreau Went to Jail and Emerson Didn’t Visit The story is well known: in July of 1846, while walking into Concord from his Walden

Pond house to have a shoe repaired, Henry Thoreau was stopped by constable Sam Staples and asked to pay his poll tax for the year. When Thoreau refused, as a protest against the Mexican War, Staples arrested Thoreau and put him in the Concord jail. Thoreau would spend one night in the Concord jail. He would be released the next morning because the tax was paid — not by him, but by someone else, probably his aunt, Maria Thoreau. There is a story that claims that Ralph Waldo Emerson visited Thoreau while he was in jail. When he saw his young friend behind bars he asked, “Henry why are you in jail?” Thoreau cheekily replied, “Waldo, why are you NOT in jail?” A great story — but it NEVER happened. In fact, Emerson knew

8 | A Naughty Nothingburger Claim: Lidian Emerson and Henry David Thoreau had an affair. This one’s easy to debunk, though endlessly amusing in its persistence. After Thoreau left his cabin on the pond, but before he completed and published Walden, he moved in with the Emersons for a time. Waldo was leaving on an extended lecture circuit of England and thought it a win-win for everyone if Lidian and the children had an extra pair of hands around to help with everything from tutoring to splitting firewood during his absence. The arrangement was hardly scandalous and would probably never have become a thing but for a 2007 historical novel called American Bloomsbury in which, among other egregious insinuations, one is left with the impossibly hilarious idea that Lidian and Henry briefly danced a dalliance. But the truth isn’t nearly so salacious; while Thoreau and Lidian had great affection for each other, it was more of an older sister/younger brother relationship. 9 | Louisa, Feeling Testy There is no disputing that Louisa May Alcott was the first woman to register to vote in Concord, Massachusetts in July 1879. This oft-repeated tall tale starts with how she registered to vote. On August 23, 1879, an article in the Women’s Journal stated Louisa needed to pay her taxes before being allowed to register to vote, describing a back and forth banter between the assessor and Louisa that included snarky remarks and comical looks.

nothing of Thoreau’s arrest until the next day, after Thoreau had been released. So where does that story come from? Well, in a play called “The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail” by Robert E. Lee and Jerome Lawrence, Ralph Waldo Emerson does indeed visit Thoreau in jail, and the famous exchange between the two men takes place. First produced in 1970, that scene (taking a big dose of literary license) has been quoted as gospel ever since.

The Thoreau jail site marker where his friend Emerson did not come visit

Louisa refutes the August 23 story with her factual version in the October 11, 1879, Women’s Journal clearly stating the previous story was told by gossips. In her own words Louisa writes that she “showed my bill, was asked where I was born, age and profession; requested to read a few words from the Constitution to prove that I could read, to sign my name to the paper to prove that I could write, and that was all.” The gentlemen were courteous and made registering to vote as easy as possible. As for the literacy test Louisa was required to take, a number of states ratified them after the 15th amendment with the intent of keeping blacks from registering to vote. 10 | March to War? Anyone familiar with the story of Little Women probably remembers the touching mayhem that ensued when Mr. March, who had been away serving as a chaplain during the Civil War, sends the entire family into spasms of delight by returning home unannounced on Christmas day. While the real-life Alcotts as a whole were staunch abolitionists who participated in the Underground Railroad, it was Louisa and not her father who was able to serve her country as a nurse during the Civil War, beginning in December 1862.

For those visitors more familiar with the March family than the Alcotts, this sometimes confuses them upon arriving in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and spying a Civil War Veteran marker next to Louisa’s grave. Occasionally, someone will even feel compelled to move the marker thinking it belongs next to Bronson, or the Alcott family marker, but its true home is honoring LMA. Louisa served but six weeks as a nurse before she was struck down with typhoid pneumonia and returned to Concord, but the severity of the illness profoundly affected her health the rest of her notso-long life. The diminutive and endlessly readable book, Hospital Sketches, is a fictionalized account of her time at the hospital in Georgetown and, we feel, one of Louisa’s best works. ——————————————————————— Concord Tour Company (CTC) is a womenowned and operated, independent micro business that has been providing fun and unique tours and historical reenactments in Concord, MA for over a decade. CTC is proud to offer highly engaging and entertaining tours while never compromising on historic accuracy. Our guides are all experts and scholars in their fields who delight in sharing Concord’s history with all ages and interest levels.

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Revolutionary Reads for Springtime

Reprinted with permission from the Journal of the American Revolution

The Journal of the American Revolution is pleased to announce The Boston Massacre: A Family History by Serena Zabin (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) as winner of the 2020 Journal of the American Revolution Bookof-the-Year Award. Honorable Mention is awarded to A Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution by David Head (Pegasus Books). The award—an international award dedicated to nonfiction books on the 50

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Revolutionary and Founding eras—has been given annually since 2014 to the work that best reflects the mission of the Journal of the American Revolution: to deliver engaging, creative, and intelligent content that makes American Revolution history accessible to a broad audience. The award honors original research combined with a well-crafted narrative that appeals to scholars and non-academic readers alike. Past winners include Quarters by John Gilbert McCurdy, The Indian World of George Washington by

Colin G. Calloway, The Martyr and the Traitor by Virginia DeJohn Anderson, and Brothers at Arms by Larrie D. Ferreiro. The Journal of the American Revolution congratulates Ms. Zabin and Mr. Head. From our panel of judges: Any reader choosing to explore Serena Zabin’s book The Boston Massacre: A Family History will be surprised that the book only briefly covers the infamous event. Instead, Zabin has provided an original perspective

“The tragedy was not the killing of five Bostonians, but rather the societal damage done to the close family relationships that had been formed…”

of Boston in 1770. The tragedy was not the killing of five Bostonians, but rather the societal damage done to the close family relationships that had been formed between the colonists and the British soldiers who they encountered and often welcomed into their homes. Zabin tells the story of how the British forces were accompanied by their own families, who became a part of the The panel also considered these finalists for this year’s award: The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution by Lindsay M. Chervinsky (Belknap Press/Harvard University) Providing a fresh take on Washington’s presidency, Lindsay M. Chervinsky examines the assertive role that Washington exercised in both the creation of the Cabinet and in America’s acceptance of it. Along the way, Chervinsky provides snapshots of the relationships between Washington and his Cabinet members and examines the ways in which Washington

insular community that was at the forefront of the tensions. She writes about both men and women in a unique situation, and the focus is not on the Sons of Liberty or John and Samuel Adams. Serena Zabin’s excellent social history is one-of-a-kind, offering a brand-new outlook on the Imperial Crisis. David Head’s book A Crisis of Peace: George Washington, the Newburgh Conspiracy, and the Fate of the American Revolution reminds us that the surrender of the British at Yorktown in 1781 was surely not the end of the difficulties General Washington had to face. While looking over his shoulder to see what the British might do next, he had to contend with the plight of his own soldiers. The Revolution was not over for him because his men were tired, hungry, and financially strapped. The American public shaped his team as well as the office of the Presidency as he created the institution that has endured as a key part of the office. Captives of Liberty: Prisoners of War and the Politics of Vengeance in the American Revolution by T. Cole Jones (University of Pennsylvania Press) This innovative study in a largely overlooked area of the Revolution traces the evolution of prisoner treatment and the ways in which it changed the character of the war itself. In this concise and readable volume, T. Cole Jones provides a convincing argument that the

did not seem to care about the army’s situation. It was during this time that some of Washington’s officers planned on marching on Philadelphia and forcing the Congress to address their grievances. A Crisis of Peace is an intense retelling of what could have been the end of the new American nation. His narrative is both enthralling and entertaining, and although the conclusion is known, David Head keeps his readers in suspense. The book is also an interesting view of Washington as a military leader who cared deeply about the difficulties his men faced. treatment of prisoners occupies a central place in the Revolution and changed the character of the war into one of a truly revolutionary nature. Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership by Edward J. Larson (William Morrow) In this oneof-a-kind dual biography, Edward J. Larson tackles the longstanding working relationship between George Washington and Benjamin Franklin and examines the ways in which their lives intersected as each played a central role in the founding of the United States.

Visit Journal of the American Revolution at allthings.liberty.com

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The Concord

Female

ANTISLAVERY

Society BY NANCY SNYDER

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| Spring 2021

Female anti-slavery societies were In 1837, Concord, Massachusetts was not gaining footholds in much of the a town recognized for its great abolitionist Northeast, with strong societies in stance against slavery. During the 1830s Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and and the 1840s, Concord was a town of Vermont. The Societies held the common nearly 2,000 residents with only a few dozen giving abolitionism much thought — conviction “that slavery was a sin that, as women, they had a religious duty to let alone taking any action against slavery. eradicate.”1 Concord’s transformation from a town that considered abolitionism as The Concord Female Anti-Slavery something of little concern to a town Society would evolve into one of the internationally recognized as a strong hub most active and influential of all the in the abolitionist movement began in the female antislavery societies throughout home of Mrs. Samuel Barrett. For years, the country. prominent Concord women would rotate What distinguished the Concord meeting in each other’s homes and talk of Female Anti-Slavery Society was the whom and how to help Concord’s neediest women that founded and supported residents. They the organization. called themselves These were the the Concord wives, mothers, Female Charitable aunts, sisters, and Society and the neighbors of some charitable work of the most revered they accomplished and prominent was admirable. The Transcendental Charitable Society writers. The women also served as a of the Concord political voice for Female Anti-Slavery these Concord Society used their women — a close relationships welcome outlet to influence the given the prescribed thinking of these and narrow roles writers. Although for women at Emerson had that time. Mary Merrick Brooks reached international In 1837, during a recognition for his meeting at Mrs. Samuel Barrett’s home, the remarkable essays and public thought, Concord Female Charitable Society became at the time the Society was founded, the Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society. Emerson had never spoken nor written At that historic meeting were Mrs. Lidian about slavery. Given the tenor of the Emerson (wife to Ralph Waldo Emerson) times, not discussing slavery was a and her daughter Ellen; the indomitable noticeable absence in Emerson’s work. Mrs. Mary Merrick Brooks, the Society’s It was not until 1844, after the relentless primary organizer who would become a lobbying of his neighbor, Mrs. Mary legendary figure in Concord history; Mrs. Merrick Brooks, and of the innumerable Cynthia Dunbar Thoreau (mother of Henry abolitionist meetings organized by his David Thoreau) and her two daughters wife Lidian that dominated their home, Helen and Sophia (sisters to Henry David); that Emerson spoke out against slavery at Mrs. Abigail Alcott (mother of Louisa May); one of the annual fairs the Society would Susan Garrison, resident of Concord’s hold for fundraising. From that moment Robbins House and the sole woman of on, Emerson became one of the country’s color, and Mrs. Lucy Brown. leading abolitionists.

ABOVE: Concord Anti-Slavery Invitation RIGHT: Concord Anti-Slavery Ball

them with a Sword, but he has slain thousands by his Word.”2 Mrs. Mary Merrick Brooks, wife of the Concord lawyer Nathan, earned a reputation as an effective organizer and leader, but also something of a pest. Mrs. Brooks envisioned her abolitionist work as a great Christian endeavor, as a moral imperative, and thus would not consider “no” whenever she asked someone to give their time and money to the abolitionist cause. Mrs. Brooks would then offer suggestions - but never relented with her request - to arrive at a favorable resolution. For example, Mrs. Brooks knew that gaining Emerson’s support would be critical to the success of the Society, and although it took seven years she did not relent in her friendly harassment of Emerson. The charitable and political work of the Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society continued during and after the Civil War. Abigail Alcott worked with Harriet Tubman collecting essentials for the impoverished African American citizens of Concord. Lidian Emerson brought attention to

All photos courtesy of Concord Free Public Library

When Henry David Thoreau arrived home to Concord after his years as a Harvard student, he would find some of the town’s most radical abolitionists in his own family homestead, including his mother Cynthia and his sisters Helen and Sophia, his aunts Maria and Jane Thoreau, and the family’s great friends, Mrs. Prudence Bird Ward and her daughter, Prudence Ward. Little wonder then, where Henry David Thoreau received his influence and fortitude during the years before the Civil War. Although Thoreau soon found himself craving solitude in this busy household of radical women and embarked for Walden Pond, without them would he have written Civil Disobedience and spent his historic night in jail? Mrs. Abigail Alcott and her husband Bronson, parents to Louisa May Alcott, were known as stalwarts of anti-slavery thought and action throughout Concord and New England. Abigail and Bronson Alcott undertook some very risky actions, including visiting the historic abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison in a Boston jail after he was almost lynched and welcoming the famous abolitionist John Brown to their dinner table. Abigail hosted many meetings of the Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society and, like the Thoreaus, the Emersons, and Mrs. Mary Merrick Brooks, was personally distraught when John Brown was executed for his actions at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. Abigail Alcott wrote in her diary, “John Brown’s martyrdom has perhaps been the event of 1859…The hour and the man both came at last to reveal to the south their sins - and to the slaves their Savior, He came to

the Concord townspeople regarding the brutal treatment of Native Americans and Concord’s responsibility to change its stance on Native Americans. A few years after the Society was formed, one of its members wrote about its founding, “an event noticed but little by the inhabitants of the town, or noticed but to be ridiculed; nevertheless, an event which is destined to have an immense bearing on the temporal and eternal interests of its founders, and to do not a little towards swelling that great tide of humanity, which is finally to turn our world of sin and misery into a world of purity, holiness, and happiness.”3 ———————————————————————— Nancy Snyder is a freelance writer who, after 30 years working at the City and County of San Francisco, is now absorbed in learning everything about Henry David Thoreau.

1 Petrulionis, S. (2001) “Swelling That Great Tide of Humanity”: The Concord, Massachusetts, Female Anti-Slavery Society. The New England Quarterly, 74(3), 385-418. doi:10.2307/3185425 2Ibid 3Ibid

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“ ‘Tis the good reader that makes the good book.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Barrow Bookstore RARE AND GENTLY READ BOOKS

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“Alcott’s Hidden Critics:” An International Sleuthing Project

BY SUSAN BAILEY AND LORRAINE TOSIELLO

What was your response to Little Women? Did you write it down? Is there a record from your grandmothers, mothers, or aunts? So many readers remember their first impressions of the iconic tale, documenting that experience in diaries, letters, or school projects. Independent scholars Susan Bailey and Lorraine Tosiello have set out to collect these responses for posterity.

Preserving the readers’ responses Sadly, Alcott destroyed most of the fan mail that reached Orchard House. While in Europe in 1870, she wrote to her family, “Don’t send me any more letters from so cracked girls.”1 In Jo’s Boys, Jo comments, “Emerson and Whittier put these things in the waste-paper basket and...I will follow suit.”2 Alcott scholar Anne Boyd Rioux noted that, with a few exceptions, “...virtually none of her other fan letters survive.”3 Mindful of this loss, Bailey and Tosiello intend to preserve the ongoing legacy of readers’ responses. This project’s genesis occurred to Tosiello when she found the book report about Rose in Bloom she had authored at age ten. She wondered, “How many other such diaries, letters, and school projects exist, and how could we find them? Such material would be valuable for scholars and teachers, shedding new light on the book’s impact over its 150-year history.” Creating a movement “Any reader can be a ‘Hidden Critic,’” Bailey explained. “If you jotted down your annoyance with Amy in your journal or corresponded with a friend about Beth’s death, we want to know about it.” “We hope to motivate a movement to collect and preserve these remembrances,”

Tosiello said. “We want to have people ransacking their attics, finding those family archives. We encourage them to pass on the call through social media to invite other fans to join in a fun and significant project. Teachers and librarians could encourage readers to send in their findings.” Archiving the 1926 publication of Little Women with illustrations by Jessie Wilcox ©Susan Bailey responses The entries will how to fill out the documentation form be cataloged and stored on the website and submit copies of their original of the Louisa May Alcott Society. Society notations about Little Women. Write to president Gregory Eiselein thinks the call louisamayalcottismypassion@gmail.com for documentation of readers’ responses to with any questions. “We are enthusiastic Little Women is an “exciting project.” The about what we will find,” says Tosiello. LMA Society “would like to host the online ——————————————————————————— version of this project on the emerging Susan Bailey is the author of two books Alcott Archives section of the society (Louisa May Alcott: Illuminated by The website,” he says. Jan Turnquist, Executive Message and River of Grace) and webmaster Director of Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard for the Louisa May Alcott is My Passion blog House, agrees. “I am excited about this at louisamayalcottismypassion.com. She is project and Orchard House partnering.” a correspondent for the Catholic Free Press Capturing the enthusiasm of the many and contributes regularly to BookTrib.com. visitors to the Alcott homestead will be Lorraine Tosiello is a practicing physician essential to a full survey of “Hidden Critics.” and a lifelong Louisa May Alcott fan. Her novel, Only Gossip Prospers, portrays Alcott “Hidden Critics” instructions in New York City in 1875. Her second Alcott Readers can visit louisamayalcott related novel, The Bee and the Fly, will be ismypassion.com for instructions on published in 2022.

Reisen, Harriet, Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. NY: Henry Holt and Company 2009, 232. 2 Alcott, Louisa, Jo’s Boys, and How They Turned Out. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1886, 50. 3 Rioux, Anne Boyd, Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why it Still Matters. NY: W. W. Norton, 2018, 69. 1

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Spotlight

BY JENNIFER M. JOHNSTON

RAY CIEMNY Metal artist Ray Ciemny spends his days creating beautiful iron and steel railings, banisters, fountains, and other objects for homes in the New England area. In his free time, Ray loves turning discarded and unused metal into stunning works of art for homes and gardens. Working in wrought iron, copper, bronze, brass, and other architectural metals, Ray assembles his unique, often edgy (no pun intended) pieces of art. He has turned a snow sled into a flying angel, thin winding metal thread into a large horse reminiscent of a cave drawing, and different colors of roof metal into abstract sculpture. His whimsey and technique invite us into a world of exciting fresh perspective. Ray is a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art and has taught metal sculpture, forging, and blacksmithing for many years. Ray is also the founder of Artisan Iron, his custom metalworking business. You can find Ray’s work online at artisaniron.com and rayciemny.com and on display at Three Stones Gallery in Concord, MA. 56

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| Spring 2021

Artist

In this ongoing series, we highlight two of the many talented artists in the Concord area. Concord and the surrounding area have a rich artistic culture. In Concord alone, we have The Umbrella Arts Center and Concord Art as well as the Artscape artist community operating out of the Bradford Mills Building in West Concord. We also have two excellent commercial galleries, Three Stones Gallery in West Concord, and the Lucy Lacoste Gallery in Concord Center. As well, Village Art Room in West Concord provides a wonderful gathering place offering projects and classes for art making and creative community outreach in our town. So, whether your passion is for the visual, performance, or decorative arts, there is likely a community of those artists in the Concord area.

LYNNE D. KLEMMER A resident of Lexington, MA, Lynne is a graduate of Skidmore College and New England School of Art and Design. Lynne has traveled widely throughout her life and frequently draws inspiration from different cultures, including Inuit and Aboriginal art. In her latest series, titled Redux, she weaves Inuit, Aboriginal, and American folk-art references throughout her paintings. One fascinating aspect of the Redux series is how Lynne has painted entirely new pieces on top of the canvas of an older piece. This approach creates a multilayering where original paint peeks through parts of her new piece. Her palette is rich and complex while her completed paintings are both simple and sophisticated, bright, fun, engaging, mysterious, and accessible. Visit Lynne’s website at ldk-art.com or see her work on display at Three Stones Gallery in Concord, MA. ————————————————————————————————————————— Jennifer M. Johnston is a fine art photographer and mixed media artist who has lived in Concord for twenty years with her two daughters. She is the owner of Three Stones Gallery in Concord, MA and Rockport, MA. She has an MA in Expressive Therapy from Leslie University.

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Stories of Mother: The Origin of Mother’s Day & Famous Concord Mothers

BY ALIDA V. ORZECHOWSKI

public domain

Stories of symbolically powerful mothers A very long time ago, before Hallmark was transformed significantly in medieval England even a twinkle in the corporate eye, reverence for mothers was expressed in stories that were and while the reverence remained, it became narrowed within the strict confines of shared and passed on, rather than greeting approved religious attributes so that stories cards. Take for example the ancient Egyptian of powerful mothers were often replaced by tale of Isis, who really, really wanted to have stories of obedient ones. The personification a baby with her husband Osiris. The fact that of the Church as the ‘Bride of Christ’ and the Osiris was dead and probably dismembered was but a trifle to a competent motherto-be like Isis, and accordingly, she reassembled and resurrected her late husband just long enough for him to participate in the conception of their son. The end result was baby Horus who would grow up to become the first ruler of a unified Egypt, thus ensuring Isis’ new title and esteem as Mother of the Pharaohs. Elements of this long-told tale eventually meandered across the Mediterranean where Greeks preferred their own version, Rhea, the “mother of the gods.” Rhea is credited with saving Zeus from his father Cronus who had developed the rather unsavory habit of devouring his children upon the occasion of their birth. But Rhea, understandably exasperated with Cronus’ questionable diet and a constant loss of offspring, played a clever trick. When she presented Cronus with their newborn son and he predictably noshed Anna Jarvis the offered bundle, it turned out to contain not a baby, but a stone wrapped veneration of Mother Virgin Mary entwined in swaddling clothes. The real Zeus was the two such that Mothering Day in England secreted away to a cave where the doting still celebrates one’s “mother church” in Rhea thoughtfully provided him with her tandem with one’s “earthly mother.” version of a nanny and an endless supply of While this observance was mostly lost Go-Gurt in the form of a golden dog and a in the American Colonies, a determined magical milk-laden goat, and thus the god woman named Anna Jarvis wished to of sky and thunder was saved. 58

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once again honor the achievements of individual mothers by remembering their stories, beginning with her own. Three years after her mother’s death, Anna dedicated herself to campaigning for an official celebration of motherhood, culminating in President Woodrow Wilson signing into law the Mother’s Day proclamation of 1914. Anna’s satisfaction in her achievement was short-lived, however, when soon after its creation, her sentimental, special day was appropriated and fully commercialized by the greeting card and floral industries. So appalled was she with what it had become, Anna began a petition to rescind Mother’s Day, but by then the holiday had found a permanent home among our collective celebrations. Fortunately, the tradition of sharing stories of remarkable mothers lives on, especially in Concord, where three mothers, in particular, stand out as having made essential contributions to the town, their families, and ultimately, our national story. Beginning with one of the most beloved mothers in literature, the real-life inspiration for Marmee in Little Women, Abigail May Alcott. While raising her four daughters and supporting the many progressive adventures of her husband Bronson, ‘Abba’ as she was also known, involved herself in the causes of women’s suffrage, temperance, relief for the poor, abolition, and was one of the first paid social workers in Massachusetts. For a time, the entire family lived at Fruitlands, the communal farm in Harvard where Abba put in long hours of hard labor. Louisa

Abigail May Alcott

would illustrate this particularly exhaustive episode of her mother’s life during a fictional exchange in Transcendental Wild Oats, where she has a visitor ask if there are any beasts of burden at the farm. The thinly disguised Abba-like character tersely replies “only one woman.” Yet even in the face of hardship and toil, much like the unshakable warmth and affection of Marmee, Abba’s “peculiar maternal love” was said to have blinded her to all else. Although Cynthia Dunbar is mostly known via relation to her son Henry David Thoreau, our second Concord mom can clearly stand on her own, and often did. Described by one modern biographer as “the vocal defender of liberal causes,” the nineteenth-century village preferred to think of her as “gifted with opinions, curiosity, [and] a racing interest matched by a ready flow of talk.” Frugal in finances yet generous in spirit, Cynthia often shared the family table with those less fortunate. She participated in the Female Charitable Society and became a founding member of the Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society. Cynthia and husband John were known for their mutual love of nature and their long rambling walks together (an amusing rumor suggested one of their children was almost born on a local hilltop rather than at home) which directly influenced the four Thoreau kids, in particular young Henry. So obviously was something of Cynthia imbued in her

Robbins House). Susan’s daughter Ellen youngest boy that one neighbor remarked it Garrison Jackson would herself grow up was like the “father and mother over again, to become a lifelong champion of African Nature and Art lovers, son like the mother, American rights and is often referred to as daughter like the father…” upon “Concord’s Rosa Parks,” thanks to observing Henry and his the example set by her own sister Sophia exploring mother’s brave activism. the woods together. If you’d like to hear Less well known more about Concord’s today than laudable ladies and her Concord magnificent moms, contemporaries, a guided walking Susan Robbins tour, or a tour of Garrison played any of our historic an equally vital house museums role in the town’s (when they’re open) abolitionist is a great place to start. movement. But no matter how you Daughter celebrate Mother’s Day of formerly this year, don’t forget enslaved Concord to give a little nod of Revolutionary War thanks to Anna Jarvis veteran, Caesar Silhouette of Cynthia Dunbar by William King who brought us this day Robbins, she in the first place, and, in support of a worthy married Jack Garrison who had courageously and ancient tradition, maybe tell a few stories escaped his own enslavement in New Jersey. of your own. Susan signed petitions against slavery, the ———————————————————————— slave trade, the forced removal of Cherokee Alida Vienna Orzechowski has served as the from their homeland, and likely helped to Director of Marketing and historic interpreter found the First African Baptist Church in at The Old Manse, Board Member of Thoreau Boston. She was the only woman of color Farm Trust, and a member of the Concord listed as a member of the Concord Female Historical Collaborative. She is the founder Anti-Slavery Society and even hosted a of Concord Tour Company and is a licensed meeting in the home she shared with Jack Concord guide. and their four children (now known as The

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Silhouette of C Dunbar courtesy of Concord Museum Collection; Gift of Mrs. Leander Gage, through her grand-daughter Miss Mabel Carleton Gage (1939). Pi1313

public domain

Regrettably, no image of Susan Robbins Garrison exists, but she lived at The Robbins House from 1823-1837

BY ANNE LEHMANN

Bounty of the season at Verrill Farm

Farming has been an institution in Concord and Carlisle for centuries. As early as 1775, Concord was a busy hub of trade partly because of its access to Boston but also given the topography of land and climate agreeable to farming. This tradition continues today, with approximately 812 acres of working farmland between the two towns. Community supported agriculture (CSA) is an integral part of these farms, ensuring the farmers a sustainable source of funding and providing residents with fresh, healthy produce spring through fall. In a CSA, residents purchase a ‘subscription’ for produce or other farm products that can then be picked up as they are harvested. CSAs are very popular in the Concord area and tend to sell out quickly. Jen Verrill of Verrill Farm noted that they have three types of CSA plans; a full (weekly) CSA share offering 12-20+ items/week, a bi-weekly CSA share, and a speedy CSA 60

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share providing 8-12 items per week. If you select speedy share you receive a pre-packed bag of produce delivered right to your car for contactless service. In addition, due to COVID restrictions, Verrill Farm is adding a second day for market-style pick up of CSA baskets as well as a second tent for gathering your produce, which will allow for social distancing. Jen mentioned that one of the reasons she enjoys her work is due to the CSA members. She smiles when hearing them share recipes using produce picked up that week or enjoying the chance to see friends, even at a distance. “Pick-up day is my favorite day of the week, not only for the fresh produce but to connect with my good friends.” is a sentiment that Jen overhears often. For more information visit verrillfarm.com. A new twist at Clark Farm is the opportunity to pick your own! Andrew Rodgers, the farm manager, changed how their CSA worked in response to COVID

restrictions. He found that opening the fields to CSA members and extending the hours has many advantages. “I found that members were enjoying the activity of harvesting their share and then lingering to enjoy the vistas, fresh air, and simply being outdoors.” The longer hours afforded many the flexibility to pick early or late depending on their schedules. In addition to the mainstays of produce, Rodgers and his team have ventured into planting some unusual produce which has been a delight to many. Green luobo radish, Mexican sour gherkins, dragon beans, Indian spinach, and bitter melon are just a few items that have brought back childhood foodie memories for some members. They are unearthing recipes and tossing in these hard-to-find ingredients. For hours and additional information go to their website clarkfarmcarlisle.com. Can a farm be a hidden jewel and a mainstay at the same time? Now in its

Courtesy of Verrill Farm

Community Supported Agriculture Thrives

©Clark Farm

The concept of community supported agriculture (CSA) began in Massachusetts in 1986. Jan Vander Tuin, Susan Witt, and Robyn Van En were the early innovators of the idea, working to ensure farmers could co-exist with steadily increasing national and international competition. Recently, when talking with Susan Witt, she shared that the transition from farmer to communityfinanced farming was a pivotal shift in philosophy, enabling many farms to continue and prosper in the face of expanding competition. She and her two business partners founded Indian Line Farm to create “exuberant

Bitter gourd at Clark Farm

episodes of import replacement.”

Green luobo radish at Clark Farm

They focused on ensuring that small-scale, economically and environmentally sustainable agriculture could thrive locally. It all began when Susan was the treasurer of a food group buying club. While paying the bills, she found that storage carrots, squash, and garlic were coming in bulk from California to the Berkshires in Massachusetts where she lived. Susan put an ad in the local paper to see if any farms

could fill their co-op order locally eighth year, Barrett’s Mill Farm is just that — a key part of the food fabric in Concord. Continually reinventing and adapting, they have accommodated the COVID rules by adding canopy tents to the farm stand area, increasing the open-air space for all customers. One part of their CSA process involves farm stand selection, and the second part is pick-your-own in every CSA pick up. When you come to the farm during your scheduled time for pick up, a list of produce available is written on a clipboard near the tents and each member selects approximately 16 bulk items, then they head out to the farm to pick specified items from the fields. This two-fold approach allows for more people to participate because they are spaced out. Melissa Maxwell, one of the co-owners, shares that there are now three CSA options; regular 20 weeks, extended

24 weeks, and flexible - where you pick up 20 weeks out of the 24 offered, providing flexibility for your schedule. Their CSA farm stand is on target to be fully stocked and ready to go. CSA members can even call ahead to order and it can be delivered to your car, providing contactless service. For more information visit barrettsmillfarm.com. ————————————————————————— Anne Lehmann has merged two disciplines, business consulting and journalism. Working for GE, Andersen Consulting, and Fidelity Investments she uses this business background and now adds freelance writing for metro west publications, including the Boston Globe, into the mix.

and, voila, partnerships began and local farmers sourced their orders. Over the years as the affordability of farm ownership became challenging, she and her partners mapped a plan for farm adaptability; a partnership between farm, farmer, and community. The plan uses a simple method of matching community support and financing for small, locally operated farms. Committed consumers buy shares with the guarantee of a regular, sustained parcel of produce from the growing season… and just like that CSAs took off. Today there are more than 20,500 CSAs in the country.

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Silent Witnesses:

When thinking of famous walls in history, what are the first that come to mind? The Great Wall of China, Hadrian’s Wall, and the Berlin Wall are all common answers. What about the stone walls at Minute Man National Historical Park? Those simple barriers might not be the first wall you think of, but their role in history is just as important as the more well-known walls. Before glaciation, the Merrimack River continued its southward flow right over Concord. The rocks in our area are rounded thanks to the flow of that ancient river. Once glaciers mashed and molded the land as they receded, the Merrimack took a sharp turn in what is now Lowell and left a land full of rounded stones behind. These stones proved useful for Concordians. After Europeans settled the town in 1635, the founding farmers worked the land. While tilling, they discovered fields full of stones. These stones were collected and used as boundaries to make the farmland more usable and give the natural material a purpose. The stone wall allowed the new residents to have a visual border for their property. As the area became more deforested, using the alternative and plentiful materials left behind by the receding glaciers was necessary. Perhaps the first famous image of a stone wall in American history is Amos Doolittle’s Print III: The Engagement at the North Bridge in Concord. The image shows three Redcoats on the Old Manse side of the rock wall while the rest of the Regular Army stretches out on the other side. Additionally, Ensign Jeremy Lister of the 10th Regiment of Foot mentions 62

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The Stone Walls of Minute Man National Historical Park BY BETH VAN DUZER in his journal how the Colonists used the stone walls as cover during the battles of April 19, 1775. More recently, scholar Robert M. Thorson posited that the stone wall between the Old Manse and the North Bridge “is a touchstone for millions of people that visit.” The walls in the park are an overlooked but essential piece of history. Visitors to the park often wonder if there are any walls Amos Doolittle’s Print III: The Engagement at the North Bridge that are original to the area. to occur before stating what portions of the Yes. Some walls are as old as park’s walls are older than others. the Revolutionary War, some are older, and Next time you visit Minute Man National some are newer. Various land use over the Historical Park, take a second glance at years means that walls you may have overlooked before. not all of the walls Sources: The stone walls were property borders, have original stones Lister, Jeremy. Concord Fight: offered cover for the Colonists, and and not all of the Being the Narrative of the were silent witnesses to a new nation’s walls are original. Tenth Regiment of Foot During beginning. Unlike other historical walls, Thorson noted in a the Early Months of the Siege Minute Man National Historical Park’s talk he gave to the of Boston Kessinger’s Legacy stone walls are an expected part of the Friends of Minute Reprints. Harvard University landscape with an unexpected history. Man National Press: Cambridge, MA, 1931. ——————————————————————— Historical Park that Thorson, Robert M. Stone Beth van Duzer is the General Manager at least one rock by Stone: The Magnificent of Concord Tour Company and recently at the bottom of a History in New England’s received her MA in History from wall on Battle Road Stone Walls Bloomsbury: Southern New Hampshire University. has a mark that New York, 2002. On walking tours, she enjoys sharing shows it was cut Thorson, Robert M. “Stone Concord and its residents’ histories with a steam drill Walls of Minute Man and how their stories continue to bit. Accordingly, National Park” Friends of shape the present. more studies need Minute Man Winter Lecture, Zoom, February 27, 2021.

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SPRING

Awakens STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE WITHERBEE

Caterpillars, bees, butterﬂies, and other insects are many and active. They attract the birds and other critters that want protein.

Waterway ownership has to be sorted out.

Spring is an awakening of Nature… along with arguments! Buds, birds, insects, plants, amphibians, and animals gather energy and burst forth. Arrivals from the South are seen each day. Color brightens and the chatter of birds, insects, and animals is heard as they say “That is mine!”

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Young critters are ﬁnding their way.

| Spring 2021

Spring is beautiful, colorful, and stimulating! The male red-winged blackbirds arrive a few weeks before the females to ﬁnd the best patch of cattails. Then they defend their patch while they wait for the females to arrive. Once the females are here, the blackbirds will sing to attract the ladies to them and the nice nesting site they’ve chosen.

Nest building is most everywhere.

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Barrow Bookstore Presents:

CONCORD

Trivia Spring is arriving! Using a spring flower that can be abundantly found in Concord, complete the title of this 1878 book written by Louisa May Alcott: Under the _________. a) Apple blossoms b) Daffodils c) Lilacs d) Primrose e) Yucca

Within a half mile of Concord Center, you can find a non-edible “Apple Slump.” Where and what is this?

April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, but in 1844 an April drought in Concord made the ground like a tinderbox. Unfortunately, one unsuspecting famous Concordian brought the match to the party, accidentally starting a fire that burned over 100 acres near Concord Center. The accidental arsonist was: a) Louisa May Alcott b) Henry David Thoreau c) Ralph Waldo Emerson d) Frank Sanborn e) Nathaniel Hawthorne

In Little Women, which month did Louisa May Alcott call “The most disagreeable month in the whole year?” a) November b) December c) January d) February e) March f) Any month involving COVID-19

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True or False: The first pasteurized juice was made in Concord, Massachusetts.

In 1775, if you were in Concord, Massachusetts and saw a Revolutionary War Officer (British, Colonist, or French) wearing a crescent-shaped metal or leather piece over his clothing and around his neck, you would know he was: a) A gentleman by birth b) On leave c) On duty d) A dandy e) A secret Son of Liberty

In Little Women, Louisa May Alcott’s four March sisters were called Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. What were the characters’ full names?

Riddle: Popular in late 18th century Concord and America, I was affectionately known as Bess, but I was anything but affectionate. Part of me was no more than 3’10” long/tall, and I weighed between 10-14 pounds. Who/what was I?

If you were a child in a Colonial household in 18th century Concord, and your mother started telling you to fetch the “bucking tub, cheesecloth, ashes, and lye”, you would know your household was preparing to do which of the following? a) Laundry b) Make soap c) Bake hardtack d) Clean a soapstone sink

In 17th and 18th century Concord, before you washed a newly dyed piece of clothing, you would need to “set the dye” so it wouldn’t wash out. To do this, you might soak the material overnight in: a) Ale b) Simmering buttermilk c) Distilled birch bark d) Urine e) Whiskey

Q 1

A 2. Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House located at 399 Lexington Road. Louisa’s father, Amos Bronson Alcott, purchased the property in 1857 (eleven years before Louisa wrote Little Women). It came with an apple orchard of over 40 trees, ten woodland acres, a well, two dilapidated houses (one, a c. 17th century Manor House, and the other an early 18th century tenant house), and several ruinous outbuildings. Bronson did extensive repairs and renovations, including moving the tenant house and attaching it to the back of the main house. While the apple orchard inspired Bronson to call the dwelling “Orchard House,” Louisa jokingly referred to the sloping and uneven combined house as “Apple Slump,” the name of a popular dessert in which the batter was poured on top of cut up apples and “slumped” in all directions after baking. Orchard House is now a museum and while it is temporarily closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, visit their website for fascinating articles, virtual tours, and more. And if you would like to enjoy an Apple Slump dessert, order the Little Women Cookbook online at louisamayalcott.org. 3. b) Henry David Thoreau. While cooking a fish on the shore of Fairhaven Pond, sparks from Thoreau’s fire caught

1. c) Under the Lilacs. Published ten years after Little Women, Under the Lilacs is a children’s novel about a circus runaway, Ben Brown, his dog Sancho, and sisters Bab and Betty Moss who take Ben and Sancho under their wings.

first pasteurized juice. “Welch’s” became a company, and its headquarters is now located in Concord, Massachusetts.

the dry grass, traveling through root systems and taking off faster than Thoreau could extinguish it.

6. b) On duty. Named after the French word for throat (gorge), gorgets were decorative pieces worn around the necks of commissioned officers when they were on duty. The gorget might be engraved with regimental affiliations, coats of arms, or other designs meaningful to the wearer. 7. Meg = Margaret; Jo = Josephine; Beth = Elizabeth; Amy is just Amy.

4. a) November. From Little Women, “’November is the most disagreeable month in the whole year,’ said Margaret, standing at the window one dull afternoon, looking out at the frostbitten garden.” 5. False, but if you guessed true you were very close because the first pasteurized juice was made from Concord grapes whose seeds had been developed and sold by Concordian Ephraim Wales Bull. Bull’s disease resistant seeds were planted throughout much of America, including some that ended up in the garden of a New Jersey dentist, Dr. Thomas Bramwell Welch. Using his Concord grapes, Welch produced the

8. I am a Brown Bess musket, the standard infantry weapon of the British Army for over 100 years until being replaced in the mid-19th century. I had several names and forms, and my nickname “Brown Bess” appeared in print in 1784. 9. a) Laundry 10. d) Urine. In addition to setting dye, urine could be helpful in removing stains from everyday laundry. As written in The Compleat Servant-Maid, a 1677 guide by Hannah Wolley, “Before that you suffer it to be washed, lay it all night in urine, the next day rub all the spots in the urine as if you were washing in water; then lay it in more urine another night and then rub it again, and so do till you find they be quite out.”

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The Concord Spirit that Paved the Way to Spring

Concord Together volunteers pick a winner in a shopping passport event. Pictured here (left to right): Marie Foley, Beth Williams, Stephen Crane, Sharon Spaulding, and Jennifer Schünemann

BY JENNIFER C. SCHÜNEMANN

The COVID pandemic strained communities around the globe, and Concord was no exception. We watched as friends and neighbors struggled with loss, illness, and financial crisis. We lost friends and loved ones of our own. And in our beautiful town, we saw shops and restaurants that had been a part of the town’s fabric for decades shutter their doors forever. The call for help was loud and clear. Many answered that call. In the same spirit that sparked the formation of the Minutemen in the 1700s, residents all around Concord jumped to action. High school students did everything from raising funds for local charities, to writing cards to lonely older citizens cut off from their families at care facilities, to helping shop keepers connect online with people staying at home. Restaurants cooked thousands of meals to support health care professionals working around the clock to care for the sick (and citizens rallied to fund that effort).

Courtesy of Concord Together

Concord Together formed, led by Sharon Spaulding and John Boynton. They created a group of more than 20 business leaders and volunteers (including Town leadership) who have met every single week for a full year to create awareness and events to keep the shops and restaurants top of mind for residents. These efforts and so many others have not only made a difference; they have given hope to the merchants who are trying every day to weather the storm. The Town of Concord and its various committees jumped in as well — helping businesses get access to PPE, fasttracking outdoor dining for restaurants, making outdoor heaters and air filters more affordable for merchants trying to protect their clients, suspending parking meter charges for more than half a year, reimbursing partial license fees for restaurants, establishing a dedicated liaison to help businesses identify — and apply for — grants and loans to keep them going, sponsoring a drive-in movie for families eager to have a fun night out, and

showing up every single week to collaborate with Concord Together. Discover Concord did all we could think of to help. We joined Concord Together immediately and leveraged our social media network and the pages of the publication to raise awareness. But as the holiday season approached and we realized how pivotal those precious weeks would be to helping the recovery, we felt we had to do more. Then we had an idea…perhaps the best way to support our fellow small businesses in Concord (in an environment where so many were staying at home) was simply to bring the businesses into the households where our fellow Concordians were sheltering in place. Something akin to the old Sears and Roebucks catalogues from holiday seasons past. We didn’t have a lot of time to think it through. We had already lost 8 shops in town and more were struggling. The holiday season would literally be “make or break” for many. We had to act quickly. So we decided to just do it — we were going to pull together, photograph, and write about more than 100 local businesses and more than 25 local nonprofits. We were going to produce and print 12,000 continued on pg. 72

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The team celebrates the freshly printed Holiday Guides as they load up the trailer. One hour later, they were ‘live’ in Concord!

catalogue-style magazines to give out around town. We were going to mail a copy of this special edition to every single household in Concord. We envisioned the Discover Concord Guide to Holiday Gift Giving 2020. And we were going to do it in just three and a half weeks. With no planned team, design, or financial support. We were just going to do it. And we were going to make sure that any business that needed the help would be able to participate at no cost to them. We knew that we would be taking a big hit — but we also felt deeply in our hearts that it was the single biggest impact we could have in helping the town we love. And then something truly magical happened… Word got around. People felt as moved as we did. And suddenly, it all just…fell into place. Shop owners dropped everything and created ideas for text and images for the catalogue in a matter of days. A professional catalogue designer volunteered to train us and to help set up photo shoots all around town. Our printer heard what we were doing and helped us with pricing. Commercial landlords and real estate companies heard what we were up to and jumped in to help cover the cost of printing and mailing. A GoFundMe campaign popped up and dozens of friends chipped in. The town pivoted to help with the resources they had. Businesses that were doing well gave a little more to make sure that those who were struggling could be included. And all of this incredible energy culminated in an idea that worked. 72

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Individuals who were lonely and isolated received something in the mail that reconnected them with the friends and neighbors they knew at their local shops. People wondering how to help suddenly had an easy way to shop local without risking their health during the Holiday helpers hand out surprise gift height of the pandemic. Word envelopes from Concord Together spread quickly and then the phones starting ringing at local restaurants survive being closed for several shops. Websites lit up with orders. The months. Grant funds helped access PPE, needle moved. reconfigure storefronts for safety, and keep “I was blown away by the impact the 2020 doors open and lights on during one of the Guide to Holiday Gift Giving had on my holiday most difficult times our town centers had sales,” said Jennifer McGonigle, Owner of ever been through. None of this would have Joy Street Life + Home. “Customers literally happened without the incredible generosity walked into my shop, pointing to my ad in the of the many, many people who donated Guide and asking if they could purchase the more than $200,000 to this emergency item – it was an absolute success!” fund. Thanks to all of this hard work and The town also rallied around museums generosity, more than 50 local shops and and non-profits that had been closed under restaurants have been supported with a vital COVID. “How wonderful that non-profit life line to better times. organizations are included in this ConcordSpring is here. The days are longer and focused outreach,” said Jan Turnquist, the sun is shining again. There is light at the Executive Director of Louisa May Alcott’s end of the COVID tunnel. We are all looking Orchard House. “We sold several Little forward to the day when life returns to Women gift bundles, as showcased in the normal. As the town comes back to life in so Guide, which helped raise awareness and many ways, we wanted to take a moment to some funding for us at a time when our doors express our deep gratitude. Concord is such had been closed due to COVID. It was truly a special place. To have seen firsthand the heartwarming.” generosity, innovation, and selflessness of And the giving didn’t stop there. The so many during such a hard moment in our Concord-Carlisle Community Chest joined collective history planted a seed in our hearts forces with Concord Together to launch a that will bloom for a long time to come. grant specifically designed to help shops and Thank you.

Take a Stroll With Us Through Living History Unique and Fun Walking Tours for All Ages Bring History Alive for your Kids Reenactments & Living History Featuring: The Rude Bridge Tour The Real Little Women African American History in Concord Wide Awake in Sleepy Hollow And many more!

For more information about our safe, socially distanced, and fascinating outdoor tours, please visit us online or call 978.399.8229 | concordtourcompany.com

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Courtesy of Concord Conservatory

Arts Around Town

As we move into spring, many of Concord’s beloved cultural institutions are presenting new and exciting exhibitions, performances, and more. Some are live, others online. All celebrate the talent, vision, and creativity of Concord’s artistic community. Join them in welcoming spring!

MUSIC

CONCORD CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC 1317 Main Street | concordconservatory.org The Concord Conservatory has three fascinating Zoom lectures for spring. Whether your interest is in how the Black Death impacted creativity and the arts, the history of jazz, or exploring sacred chants in the context of modern environmental activism, these talks are sure to entertain and inform. After the Plague, Vocal Music of the High Renaissance: April 10 at 10:00 am Jazz History in a Nutshell: April 14 at 5:30 pm Sacred Green – The 11th Century Environmental Movement of Hildegard of Bingen: April 23 at 7:00 pm CONCORD ORCHESTRA 51 Walden Street | concordorchestra.com Join the Concord Orchestra for POPS May 21 & 22 at 8:00 pm and May 23 at 2:00 pm Presenting the music of Josef Suk, Pablo Sarasate, George Gershwin, Bernard Hoffer, Kurt Weill, John Williams, and John Philip Sousa.

VISUAL ARTS CONCORD ART 37 Lexington Road | concordart.org Join artist Katy Schneider and poet Jim Armenti as they explore the world of everyday objects in Silver Linings: Paintings, Process, and Poetry. Katy and Jim began a collaboration at the beginning of the pandemic. Each day, Katy created a tiny, exquisitely rendered painting of an object found in her home and emailed an image of the 74

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| Spring 2021

completed work to Jim. In return, he sent her a poem inspired by the painting. Visit Concord Art to see how these everyday items inspired two very different artists. Katy’s paintings and Jim’s poetry will be on display April 1 – May 13. THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER 40 Stow Street | theumbrellaarts.org Artfest: Here Comes the Sun opens April 24 and runs through May 16. This three-week series of cultural events will take place at The Umbrella Arts Center and all around Concord. Exhibits, an art auction, art installations throughout town, a musical production, and an outdoor open studio event will mark the re-emergence of spring under The Umbrella. The spring exhibition, Change is in the Air, is on display in The Umbrella’s main gallery through May 1. The Umbrella challenged artists to capture the essence of an invisible element – air. The results are stunning. Visit the exhibition in person or view it online. THREE STONES GALLERY 115 Commonwealth Avenue | threestonesgallery.com Enter the interior worlds of three unique artists. Lynne D. Klemmer and Brigitte de Sautels draw us into the world of abstract art, while Robert Steinem’s hyper-realistic paintings of the natural world bring us back to the beauty of nature. Inner | Outer Scape will be on display through April 8.

THEATRE Concord’s live theatres are still closed as of March 2021, but they are looking forward to returning to live presentations when it’s safe to do so. Check their websites for updates on what’s coming up later this spring and summer. The Umbrella Arts Center | theumbrellaarts.org Concord Players | concordplayers.org Concord Youth Theatre | concordyouththeatre.org

Please consider supporting the Annual Campaign which ends April 30, 2021. All gifts directly support local non-profit human service organizations serving Concord and Carlisle residents in need.

Your one donation makes a big impact. WAYS TO GIVE: ONLINE: www.cccommunitychest.org TEXT: NEIGHBOR to 707070 CALL: 978-369-5250 MAIL:19 Main Street, Suite 2, Concord, MA 01742

THANK YOU!

100 YEARS of Farm to Table

Visit our Farm stand for a wide variety of fresh produce, baked goods and take away foods to enjoy at home, New England specialty foods and local cheeses CSA memberships for 2021

Curbside Dinner Pick-ups for Easter and Mother’s Day

Our Own Specialty Tomato Seedlings Ready in Late May Visit our website for Upcoming Happenings

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11 Wheeler Rd. | 978-369-4494 | Verrillfarm.com

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The Mystery of Ponyhenge

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| Spring 2021

horses set up to begin a gallop off to the races. Local lore says that this realignment happened during the start of the Triple Crown race season. Given the proximity to the road, it is amazing that no one has been witness to (or has shared the knowledge about) the changing of formation. It is nice to see a bit of childhood nostalgia available for everyone to enjoy. Walking around Ponyhenge brings back memories of childhood rocking horses and merry-goround horses that have a joyful element to them — a bit of fun and whimsy.

the bridle to help little ones hold on tight while riding their pony. The springs in the base provide the giddy up for young riders. The ponies range in color from hot pink to blonde/chestnut bodies with ivory and skyblue saddles. Some have a theme — a silver knight in shining armor, a Gene Simmons KISS face, and a lone rocking duck are just a few. Each is adorable, unique in its own right and ready to be admired! At times, magically, the herd has changed its formation from concentric circles to what appeared to be a straight line of

©Anne Lehmann

A wonderful outcropping of rocking horses has become a bit of a hidden institution in Lincoln, Massachusetts. The unofficial name, Ponyhenge. Little is known about why or how the first horse was placed in the fields, but now more than 48 bucking broncos have joined the herd. Winding down the two-lane country roads with bucolic fields falling to the right and left provides part of the attraction. Signature New England stone walls hem the drive the nearer you get to the henge. If you are looking to unwind and have a bit of fun, just getting to Ponyhenge can provide a sense of calm. Head towards route 126, then onto Waltham road (which then turns into Old Sudbury Road) and there you will find Ponyhenge. Sitting politely, tucked into the side of the road, is a group of children’s rocking horses arranged in concentric circles. The arrival of rocking horses began years ago, though no one knows (or is saying) how or why. Over time, the ponies have grown in number year after year. They are varied in style and material. Some are classic solid wood rocking horses with yarn manes and wood rockers. Others are large plastic horse figures decorated with looped stirrups, footrests, and handles near

BY ANNE LEHMANN

D I S C O V E R

STUDIO 111 D I S C O V E R

Y O U R

A R T S

STUDIO 210 D I S C O V E R

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Barbara Willis, Fiber Arts barbara-h-willis.com

Lonnie Harvey, Printmaker lonnieharvey.com

STUDIO 303 D I S C O V E R

STUDIO 306A D I S C O V E R

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Jean Lightman, Fine Art in the Boston School Tradition jeanlightman.com

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Lois Andersen, Painter & Art Instruction loisandersenfineart.com

STUDIO 312 D I S C O V E R

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Jill Goldman-Callahan, Contemporary Art for People Who Live the Mystery jillgoldman-callahanstudio.com

STUDIO 113 D I S C O V E R

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STUDIO 218

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D I S C O V E R

Deborah Richardson, Handcrafted Sterling Silver and 14k Gold Jewelry deborahrichardson designs.com

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Louise Arnold, Landscape Paintings, Giclée Prints & Cards louisearnoldart.com

STUDIO 301B D I S C O V E R

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A R T S

Ilse Plume, Children’s Book Illustrator ilseplume.com

OPEN STUDIOS 2021 | MAY 1, 2, 8 & 9 part of the umbrella artfest : here comes the sun TheUmbrellaArts.org/Studio-Arts | 40 Stow Street

Free donut with any purchase at any of our Concord locations. Limit one per customer. Expires 5/31/21

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98 Commonwealth Ave. West Concord

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115 Commonwealth Avenue, Concord • threestonesgallery.com

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FALL 2020

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ON CONSCIENCE & KITTENS:

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THINGS TO SEE & DO THIS FALL

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Spring 2021 ANTIQUES 63 North Bridge Antiques ARCHITECTURE, CUSTOM BUILDING & INTERIOR DESIGN 47 Appleton Design Group 78 Forever Tile 67 Inkstone Architects 81 Platt Builders ARTS, GUITARS & ART SUPPLIES 20 Albright Art Supply 77 Barbara Willis 77 Deborah Richardson 77 Ilsa Plume 77 Jean Lightman 77 Jill Goldman-Callahan 77 Lois Anderson 77 Lonnie Harvey 77 Louise Arnold 36 Minuteman Guitars 78 Three Stones Gallery BOOKS, MAGAZINES & SCHOLARLY WORKS 32 Barefoot Books 54 Barrow Bookstore 78 Discover Concord 75 The Thoreau Society CATERING, RESTAURANTS, AND SPECIALTY FOOD & WINE SHOPS 24 Adelita 18 Concord Cheese Shop 66 Concord Teacakes 78, 82 *Debra’s Natural Gourmet

Advertiser Index 78 57 75 71 24

LODGING 28 Concord’s Colonial Inn

*Dunkin’ Fiorella’s Cucina Verrill Farm West Concord Wine & Spirits Woods Hill Table

JEWELERS 71 Artinian Jewelers 63 Merlin’s Silver Star

CHARITABLE GIVING 75 Concord Carlisle Community Chest 75 The Scholarship Fund of Concord and Carlisle

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES 78 Lincoln Physicians 78 My Virtual Assistant 24 Northbridge Insurance Agency 37 Oliver Capital Management

EXPERIENTIAL 25 Concord Museum 73 Concord Players 73 Concord Tour Company 57 Pierre Chiha Photographers 66, 77 The Umbrella Arts Center

REAL ESTATE 3 The Attias Group 1, 19, 80 Barrett Sotheby’s Int’l Realty 36 Carleton-Willard Village 5, 7, 8 Coldwell Banker 14, 29, 67 Compass 42 Engel & Völkers 31 LandVest 21 William Raveis

FLORISTS 78 Concord Flower Shop HOME FURNISHINGS, DÉCOR & UNIQUE GIFTS 67 A New Leaf 66 Artisans Way 54 The Bee’s Knees British Imports 66 Comina 32 Joy Street Life + Home 63 Nesting 63 Patina Green 20 Revolutionary Concord 67 Woven Art

TOYS 20

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Articles inside

Ellery Channing: The Most Lonely Transcendentalist

Top Ten Tall Tales Told on Tour Part II

The Mystery of Ponyhenge

From the Founders

Arts Around Town

The Concord Spirit That Paved the Way to Spring

Spring Awakens

Barrow Bookstore Presents: Concord Trivia

Silent Witnesses: The Stone Walls of Minute Man National Historical Park

Community Supported Agriculture Thrives

Stories of Mother: The Origin of Mother’s Day and Famous Concord Mothers

Artist Spotlight

The Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society

Alcott’s Hidden Critics: An International Sleuthing Project

Revolutionary Reads for Springtime

Mourning Victory: The Melvin Memorial

A Duty So Severe: Concord and the Civil War

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery: Beyond Authors Ridge

Lafayette: A Bridge Between Two Revolutions

The Unheard Voices of April 19, 1775

Miserable: A British Fusilier’s Journey to Concord

Real Estate in 2021

Patriots’ Day 2021

Top Things to See Do in Concord This Spring

An Illustrated Timeline of April 19, 1775