Discover Concord Fall 2024

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Fall in Love …with Concord!

AAh, the fabulous season of Fall! Temperatures are dropping, the leaves are turning, pumpkin patches and cider donuts call, and it’s almost firepit time. Leaf peepers and history buffs alike delight in the many things to see and do in, and around, beautiful Concord. There truly is something here for everyone – stunning natural vistas, arts and culture, history and literature, shopping and dining – and we are here to help guide the way. A great place to begin is our Things to See & Do article on p. 10. Handy walking maps can be found on p. 42. And a list of where to shop, eat, and stay is on p. 41.

You may be aware that the 250th anniversary of the “Shot Heard Round the World” will take place on April 19, 2025. But that moment didn’t happen in a vacuum. An important step in the build up to the American Revolution began at Concord’s Wright Tavern and the First Parish. Read about the Provincial Congress meeting in Concord on October 11, 1774 – a pivotal moment in history that paved the way for victory in April 1775. Professor Robert A. Gross tells the fascinating story “In the Forefront of Revolution: the Massachusetts Provincial Congress” on p. 16.

When the alarm sounded on April 19, 1775, signaling the countryside that British Regulars were on the march, area minute and militia companies responded immediately. How were they able to react so quickly and effectively? Discover the history of militia in Massachusetts - who they were, how they trained, and how 32 companies of minutemen and militia, roughly 1,380 men representing ten towns, entered the fighting in Concord that fateful day in “Militia Companies and the April 19th Alarm” on p. 12.

Concord holds many fascinating tales – including one worthy of Halloween! Don’t miss Jaimee Joroff’s “The Unhanged Witch” on p. 46. Speaking of spooky, did you know that Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allen Poe’s careers became briefly entwined in the 1840s? Read “When Genius Collides” on p. 26.

“Agents of Change: The Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society” on p. 30 explores the remarkable group of 61 women who came together in their diversity to effect social change. Over the course of three decades, these women became important players in the abolitionist cause. You can also read about an inspiration of that cause (and attend a reenactment as well!) in “Lafayette Comes to Concord – and You are Invited!” on p. 20.

There is so much more in this issue – and we hope you enjoy each page, and everything Concord and the surrounding area has to offer. Happy Autumn, everyone!

Cynthia L. Baudendistel Co-Founder

Are you enjoying Discover Concord? If so, we hope you will consider supporting us by subscribing to our publication or by making a small donation. We are proud to donate our time to produce a magazine to share this beautiful part of New England with the world. But we can’t do it alone. We depend on the generosity of sponsors, advertisers, and subscribers to continue our work. Please consider subscribing at DiscoverConcordMA.com or reach out anytime at jennifer@voyager-publishing.com or cynthia@voyager-publishing.com. Thanks being part of this amazing community!

Jennifer C. Schünemann Co-Founder

© J Schünemann

Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House

n

n

n

CO-FOUNDER

Cynthia L. Baudendistel

CO-FOUNDER

Jennifer C. Schünemann

ART DIRECTOR

Beth Pruett

DISTRIBUTION

Wilson S. Schünemann

ADVISORY

Professor

Helen

COVER

Concord Soldiers’ Monument

© Richard Smith

AUTHORS/CONTRIBUTORS:

Cynthia L. Baudendistel

Pierre Chiha

Victor Curran

Julie Dobrow

Kathleen Fahey

Robert A. Gross

Shelley Drake Hawks

Jim Hollister

Jaimee Leigh Joroff

Marybeth Kelly

Anne Lehmann

Carolina Maciel

The National Park Service

Polly Peterson

David Rosenbaum

Richard Smith

Dave Witherbee

24 Fall Things to See & Do in Concord this

1

Welcome reenactor Benjamin J. Goldman as the American Friends of Lafayette and The Wright Tavern Legacy Trust commemorate the day and site where Concord gave General Lafayette a hero’s welcome two hundred years ago An extensive program of events is planned. See p. 20 for all the details. September 2. WrightTavern.org/programs

2

Concord has celebrated Ag Day for almost two decades. Join our area’s farmers for a day of fun, including veggie races, shopping at the farmers market, and more. Learn more about the history of this beloved tradition in our article, “Concord Celebrates the Nobility of Farming at 19th Annual Ag Day” on p. 60. September 7. ConcordAgDay.com

3

Discover the work of more than 100 local artisans as the 42nd Annual Codman Estate Fine Arts and Crafts Festival kicks off. Start your holiday shopping early as you browse extraordinary pieces of glass, paintings, woodworking, jewelry, and more. September 7. HistoricNewEngland.org

4

Follow Henry David Thoreau’s advice and saunter. Join historian Richard Smith and biologist Amity Wilczek on a walk as you discover the history of the former inhabitants of Walden Woods; who they were and why they were there. September 8. ThoreauFarm.org/ saunter

5

Visit Concord Museum’s newest exhibition, “Portrait Mode,” for an up-close look at portraits from the Museum’s collection. Opens September 13. ConcordMuseum.org

6

Experience the ultimate tag sale as the Concord Players clear out excess stock of costumes, wigs, props, artwork, and vintage items. You’re sure to find something unusual here! September 14. ConcordPlayers.org

7 Spend a morning on the farm. Grab the kids and head to Verrill Farm for games, hayrides, touch-a-tractor, live music, and more! September 14. VerrillFarm.com

8Experience “Thoreau, Landscape Scale Wildlands & Natural Democracy” with wilderness activist Jamie Sayen. Thoreau proposed the establishment of reserves decades before the designation of the first national parks. Discover what is being done – and not done – to protect and preserve the ecological integrity of the land. September 18. Walden.org/events/thoreau-landscapescale-wildlands-natural-democracy-withjamie-sayen

Courtesy of Concord Museum

nia holley

Jamie Sayen

© Fletcher Manley

9Stone Soup Dinner is back! Plan to attend the 13th annual Stone Soup Dinner. Profits will be donated to the Concord Agricultural Committee to keep farming alive and well in Concord. September 22. VerrillFarm.com

10 Join Thoreau Farm’s Literary Events as they present “A Conversation with Jeffrey Karp, Ph.D.” In an age of convenience and information overload, it’s easy to miss the opportunity to harness our potential for meaningful and impactful lives. Dr. Karp will explore nature as a vital source of wisdom, inspired action, and greatest good. September 24. ThoreauFarm.org/lit

11 Experience Emerson Out of Doors: Autumn Garden Tour. It’s the perfect season to stroll the garden and grounds of the beautiful Emerson House. September 26 (rain date Sept 27) RalphWaldoEmersonHouse.org

12 Visit Nummeehquantamūmun as nia holley, Nipmuc, reintroduces corn in the Museum’s interior courtyard as a process to reawaken the mortar and return corn to this place. This mortar is one of many mortars held by the Concord Museum that have been used for a variety of purposes by Indigenous communities, including processing food, medicines, and pigments. June 3 – September 30. ConcordMuseum.org

13 Join the annual Harvest Festival to Benefit Emerson Hospital Pediatrics. Bring the family and enjoy games and prizes, live music, pick-your-own pumpkins, 4H animals, and more. October 5. VerrillFarm.com

14 Thoreau Farm’s literary events continue with Followed By the Lark, author Helen Humhreys in conversation

with Jeffrey S. Cramer. Discover how similar the concerns of the early 19th-century are to our own and learn to listen for news of change. October 6. ThoreauFarm.org/ followed-by-the-lark

15 Join the Wright Tavern Legacy Trust and Concord250 as they commemorate the Provincial Congress that met in Concord 250 years ago. Enjoy a program of lectures and conversations about popular self-government in Massachusetts. Speakers will include noted scholars, legislators, and others. October 11. WrightTavern.org/history

16 The Wampanoag Nation Singers and Dancers return once again to recognize and celebrate Indigenous People’s Day at Concord Museum. Join these musicians and artisans from the tribal communities of Mashpee on Cape Cod and Aquinnah on Martha’s Vineyard for a moving performance of eastern social songs and dances. October 14. ConcordMuseum.org

17 Don’t miss Taste of Concord 2024 at Nashoba Brooks School. Spend an evening tasting the best from Concord’s restaurants, bakeries, and shops. You can even sample more than 50 wines, craft beers, mocktails, and artisanal spirits at this annual fundraiser for the Concord Chamber of Commerce. October 15. ConcordChamberofCommerce.org/ events/taste-of-concord-save-the-date

18

Celebrate the written and spoken word at the 32nd Annual Concord Festival of Authors. The Festival features dozens of exciting and inspiring authors and events. October 17-30. ConcordFestivalofAuthors.org.

19

Head down to Discover West Concord Day for music, crafts, food, sidewalk sales, pumpkin decorating workshop, and family fun! October 19. VisitConcord.org

20 Honor the Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society as the Friends of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery dedicate a flowering tree and brass plate near the burial plot

of the Bigelow family, hosts of a stop on the Underground Railroad. October 20. FriendsofSleepyHollow.org

21 Tell your story. Join Dr. Barbara Mossberg for a two-day workshop as you go “to the woods” – a place to find focus, inspiration, connection, and support for developing your memoir. Limited to 12 people. October 26-27. ThoreauFarm.org/ writing-your-story

22

Celebrate the Halloween season with events around town, including Trunk or Treat at Beede Center (concordrec.com), Halloween at Hartwell Tavern (nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit/ specialevent.htm), a tour through Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (concordmuseum.org), and Hallowe’en at The Wayside (nps.gov/ mima/planyourvisit/special-event.htm).

23

The TriCon Antiques Show, now in its 53rd year, is a Concord tradition. Three floors of dealers from all over New England offer a variety of antiques –furniture, artwork, books, jewelry, glassware, pottery, silver, and more. A great place to begin your holiday shopping! November 1-2. TriConChurch.org

24 Join author Sorayya Khan for “We Take Our Cities With Us” as she recounts her immigrant experience and beautifully illuminates the complexities of our evolving global world. November 3. ThoreauFarm.org/we-take-our-cities

Courtesy of Thoreau Farm

Barbara Mossberg

Courtesy of Thoreau Farm

Jeffrey Karp

Militia Companies and the April 19th Alarm

BY JIM HOLLISTER

AApril 19, 1775, marked the first battle of the American Revolution. On that day, 700 British soldiers marched from Boston to Concord to seize a stockpile of military arms and supplies. The expedition caused patriot leaders to raise the alarm and muster the militia. The scale of the response is truly staggering and hints at a surprising amount of organization.

Each town in Massachusetts was required by law to maintain one or more companies of part-time militia, consisting of men ages 16-60, and see to their training four days per year. In October of 1774, with the threat of war looming, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress recommended that towns raise “ companies of fifty privates; at the least, who shall equip and hold themselves in readiness on the shortest notice ” These were the

minutemen, volunteer soldiers ready at a minute’s notice. Many towns acted upon the recommendation. For example, by January of 1775, the town of Concord raised two companies of minutemen, 52 men each, and agreed they should turn out to “learn the art military” (drill) “two half day[s] in a week, 3 hours in each half day.” They would be paid “one shilling and four pence” for each half day. Captain David Brown commanded one company and Captain Charles Miles the other. The town also had two militia companies commanded by Captain Nathan Barrett and Captain George Minot.

On the early morning of April 19, 1775, the people of Concord were awoken by the tolling of the meeting house bell. Dr. Samuel Prescott reported that a large number of British Regular soldiers were headed for

Concord. In a short time, Concord’s four companies were assembled. Colonel James Barrett, who was responsible for the military supplies in Concord, detached men from the companies to help disperse whatever supplies were still in town.

Before dawn, the town of Lincoln arrived with a minuteman company under Captain William Smith (brother of Abigail Adams) with 62 men and a militia company of unknown strength. Together they awaited the arrival of the British troops while pondering rumors of shots fired in Lexington. They did not at that time know that eight militiamen were killed there and ten wounded.

When the British did finally arrive in Concord, around 7:30 in the morning, the minutemen and militia fell back through town and across the North Bridge to high ground

The North Bridge

Courtesy of the National Park Service.

Photo taken by Jim Hollister

beyond. The British also sent a force across the North Bridge to search Colonel Barrett’s Farm. They left 96 soldiers to guard the bridge.

Sometime around 9:00 am, the assembled minuteman and militia companies formed up in a pasture above the North Bridge, known since as the Muster Field. Joining the Concord and Lincoln companies were a Bedford minute company under Captain Jonathan Willson (who died later that day) and a militia company under Captain John Moore. Last to arrive were the men from Acton in three companies: a minuteman company under Captain Isaac Davis (the first Patriot casualty at the Bridge), and two militia companies under Captain Simon Hunt and Captain Joseph Robins. Anecdotal evidence also suggests there might have been small groups of men from Littleton and Westford. All told, the militia forces in the Muster Field numbered over 400 men.

Fighting erupted at Concord’s North Bridge around 9:30 that morning. Here, the first British soldiers died. Shortly after noon, the British began their long return march to Boston. In the words of Concord militiaman Thaddeus Blood “ it was thot [sic] best to go to the east part of town & take them as they came back.” As the British column approached Meriam’s Corner, about a mile east of Concord center, nine companies, nearly 400 men, from Reading, Chelmsford,

and Billerica arrived and attacked them. Pursuing from the west were the men from Concord, Lincoln, Acton, and Bedford. The British Regulars were outnumbered!

Just east of Meriam’s Corner was Brooks Hill, named for the family that owned it. Three companies from Framingham and six from Sudbury arrived here and engaged the British column from somewhere south of the road. A little further on, the road descended Brooks Hill, crossed Tanner Brook and ascended into the uplands of the town of Lincoln. Here, three companies from Woburn, about 180 men, joined the fight. As one exhausted British officer put it, “ their numbers increasing from all parts while ours was reducing by deaths, wounds and fatigue ”

All told, 32 companies of minutemen and militia, roughly 1,380 men representing ten towns, entered the fighting in Concord. By the time the fighting ended near Charlestown that evening, 81 companies from 27 towns, numbering over 4,000 men, arrived in time to engage the British column. Within a few days, 20,000 militiamen from across Massachusetts responded to the alarm and began a siege of British-held Boston. And the rest, they say, is history.

Jim Hollister is a park ranger at Minute Man National Historical Park.

Sources

Coburn, Frank W. “Muster Rolls of the Participating Companies of American Militia and Minute Men in the Battle of April 19, 1775,” Lexington MA, 1912.

Concord Free Public Library. (2021, August). Revolutionary-Era Concord Town Records. Retrieved from Concord Free Public Library: https://concordlibrary.org/ special-collections/revolutionaryera-concord-town-records

Hambrick-Stowe, Charles and Smerlas, Donna, “Massachusetts Militia Companies and Officers in the Lexington Alarm” Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1976.

Kehoe, Vincent J-R.. We Were There! April 19th 1775. Chelmsford MA: V. J-R Kehoe, 1974.

Sabin, Doug, “April 19, 1775: A Historiographical Study Part III, Concord,” Minute Man National Historical Park, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Concord, MA, 1987.

Small, Edwin, Boston National Historic Sites Commission, “The LexingtonConcord Battle Road: Hour by Hour Account of Events Preceding and On the History-Making Day April 19, 1775,” Concord Chamber of Commerce, 1960.

The Journals of Each Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in 1774 and 1775: And of the Committee of Safety, with an Appendix, Containing the Proceedings of the County Conventions-narratives of the Events of the Nineteenth of April, 1775-papers Relating to Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and Other Documents, Illustrative of the Early History of the American Revolution. Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, Printers to the state, 1838.

Riley Keefe.

In the Forefront of Revolution: The Massachusetts Provincial Congress

BY ROBERT A. GROSS

When did the American Revolution begin? At the North Bridge on April 19, 1775, with “the shot heard round the world”? In Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, with the Declaration of Independence? John Adams thought the Revolution was over by the time the first guns were fired. It “was effected in the minds and hearts of the people.”

WArguably, that crucial turning-point occurred in Concord two hundred fifty years ago, when on October 11, 1774, delegates from all over Massachusetts, roughly 243 representatives from close to 200 towns, including the District of Maine, gathered in the Congregational meetinghouse (now First Parish) to deal with “the dangerous and alarming situation of public affairs” touched off by Britain’s harsh reaction to the Boston Tea Party. The mother country revoked the colony’s charter, issued in 1691 by William and Mary, and severely curtailed the popular role in government. Towns were prohibited from meeting more than once a year without the Governor’s consent. All judicial officers –judges, juries, and sheriffs – and members of the provincial council were made agents of the Crown. The port of Boston was closed to trade and the seat of government moved to Salem. And although the freeholders of each town could still send representatives to the General Court, the Governor could refuse to call the legislature into session.

That’s what happened in October 1774. The countryside was in uproar, as angry crowds

intimidated royal officials into resigning their posts and blocked courts from dispensing justice. Everywhere county conventions sprang up to denounce the new regime and call for a province-wide conclave. In this tense atmosphere Governor Thomas Gage saw no reason to invite still more trouble by bringing the people’s representatives together.

Barred from gathering as an official body in Salem, the assembly reorganized as a provincial council and convened in Concord. The meetinghouse was the venue for formal proceedings; committees met over drinks in Wright Tavern. Over the next eight months sessions would circulate among Cambridge, Concord, and Watertown. The proceedings were guided by such luminaries as John and Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Elbridge Gerry, Dr. Joseph Warren, and Benjamin Lincoln. On this provincial stage, despite professing loyalty to the King, the delegates steadily chipped away at imperial authority, until they had seized the reins of government. First, they claimed the power of the purse and commandeered the taxes collected by the towns. Then they applied the funds to secure the power of the sword. The Congress took control of the militia, amassed arms and ammunition, authorized an army, and established a system to alarm the countryside and foil the King’s men in case of “sudden” maneuvers by “our Enemies.” Without the Provincial Congress

there would have been no Patriot victory on April 19.

The Wright Tavern Legacy Trust and Concord250 will commemorate the Provincial Congress, 250 years to the day of its opening session and at the same site, First Parish meetinghouse, with a program of lectures and conversations about popular self-government in Massachusetts and the United States, past, present, and future. Participants will include noted scholars, Massachusetts legislators, teachers and students, and members of the public. For further details see WrightTavern.org/ history.

Robert A. Gross, James L. and Shirley A. Draper Professor Emeritus of Early American History at the University of Connecticut, is the author of The Minutemen and Their World (1976), winner of the Bancroft Prize and reissued in a revised and expanded edition in 2022 by Picador Press, and The Transcendentalists and Their World (2021), selected by the Wall Street Journal as one of top ten books of 2021. A trustee of the Concord Museum and member of the Concord Cultural Council, he is a Concord resident.

Daniel Bliss and John Jack Loyalty’s Cost, Freedom’s Price

BY VICTOR CURRAN

IIsabel Bliss hurried her three children, aged four through seven, off to bed on the night of March 20, 1775. The two men who had come to her door looked like local farmers seeking counsel from her husband, lawyer Daniel Bliss. They wore the homespun coats of plain country folk, but the muskets they carried told a different story.

As the men huddled with Daniel in the parlor, talking in whispers, Isabel was startled by another knock at the door. She opened it cautiously and was relieved to see the familiar face of a neighbor. The woman was out of breath, and tears stained her cheeks. She begged Isabel to forgive her, because she had given the two strangers directions to the Bliss home without knowing who they were.

Concord was a small community in 1775, with a population around 1,500, and the Bliss family lived right in the middle of it, on Walden Street just a few steps from the milldam. As the strangers approached their highly visible home, local patriots recognized them as officers of the occupying British army, disguised as civilians to gather intelligence for their commander, General Thomas Gage.

Squire Daniel Bliss was a prominent and respected member of the community, but just three months earlier he had exposed his loyalist sympathies at the Middlesex County Convention. “The colonies are England’s dependent children,” he declared. “Cut off from Britain, they will perish.” When army spies were seen going into his house, it wasn’t hard to figure out that he was giving them information about the caches of arms and ammunition concealed around Concord.

Now the woman who had given them directions stood in the Blisses’ front hall, sobbing that she had been threatened with tar and feathers for her mistake. Worse, she said, Concord patriots had given her a message for Squire Bliss: If he was still in town the next morning, he would pay for his treachery with his life.

Like the loyalists in this painting, Daniel Bliss and his family escaped to Quebec in 1775. Image: “Tory Refugees on Their Way to Canada” by Howard Pyle, 1901

The two spies—Captain John Brown and Ensign Henry De Berniere—at once proposed to escort Bliss out of town, defending him with their muskets if necessary. They left under cover of darkness via a back road that took them to Lexington and on to the safety of the British garrison in Boston.

The terrified Bliss had left Isabel and their three children behind in Concord. His neighbors’ rage had been directed at him, not them, but he knew they wouldn’t be safe for long. He sent word to his brother Samuel (also a loyalist), asking him to bring Isabel and the children to join him, and they soon fled to Canada.

Squire Daniel Bliss and his family settled in Quebec, where he served in the British army during the American Revolution and rose to the rank of colonel. In 1780 he and Isabel welcomed a fourth child, Hannah. After the war, he and his family moved to Fredericton, New Brunswick, where he resumed his law career. He prospered and went on to become the head of the New Brunswick Bar, and the Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas.

Bliss lived in New Brunswick until his death in 1806. His son, John Murray Bliss, followed his father into the legal profession, served as an officer in the War of 1812, and achieved some distinction in New Brunswick as a judge and politician.

Daniel Bliss might have been entirely forgotten in his native Concord, except for an epitaph he composed for one of his clients.

John Jack was born sometime around 1713 in Africa and was kidnapped into slavery. Enslavers rarely bothered to document the lives of the people they enslaved, so we know nothing of Jack’s life before he became enslaved to a Concord shoemaker named Benjamin Barron, whose home and workshop were on the Bay Road (now Lexington Road) where Jack learned the shoemaker’s trade.

Barron died in 1754, when slavery was still widespread in Massachusetts, and his probate inventory listed Jack among his other property as “One Negro servant named Jack . . . £120.” Barron’s daughter, Susanna, became Jack’s enslaver, and he labored for seven years to earn the money to purchase his own freedom, with enough left over to buy six acres of farmland in the great fields (near the Concord River along presentday Bedford Street).

As a free Black man, he was denied many of the rights his white neighbors enjoyed, such as voting, but in the words of historian Robert Gross, “His was a marginal place in the community, but it was nonetheless a real place.”1 To earn his living, he hired himself out as a farm laborer and butcher, and cobbled shoes. In 1772 his health began to fail, and with the aid of Squire Daniel Bliss, he drew up a will, naming Bliss as his executor and bequeathing his property to Violet, a Black woman who had also been enslaved in the Barron household.

At the time of his death, he owned eight acres of land, two oxen, a cow, a calf, a Bible and a psalm book, and seven barrels of cider. Jack died in March 1773, and was buried in Concord’s Old Hill Burial Ground. Daniel Bliss composed the inscription carved on his gravestone. The original stone was knocked down and damaged in the early 19th century, but thanks to the efforts of Rufus Hosmer, a Concord native who lived in Stow, a new stone was made and installed around 1830. The abolitionist Mary Rice, who lived near the burial ground, was the self-appointed caretaker of Jack’s gravesite.

Bliss’ epitaph contains a not-so-subtle jab at the neighbors who would force him to flee for his life two years later, who held others in slavery while they cried out for liberty. Those words have made John Jack’s grave one of Concord’s most memorable historic sites. “God wills us free,” it proclaims. “Man wills us slaves. I will as God wills. God’s will be done.”

Victor Curran writes and leads tours of historic Concord and is an interpreter at the Concord Museum and the Old Manse. He teaches courses and writes articles about the men and women who made Concord the home of American independence and imagination.

NOTES

1 Gross, Robert A. The Minutemen and Their World. Picador, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022.

Photo by Tom Brosnahan.

John Jack’s gravestone in Concord’s Old Hill Burial Ground, with the stirring epitaph composed by Squire Daniel Bliss

Detail of Concord from a map drawn in 1775 by the spies Brown and De Berniere

Lafayette Comes to Concord —

You

are invited!

BY SHELLEY DRAKE HAWKS

OOn Monday, September 2, 2024 (Labor Day), Lafayette reenactor Benjamin J. Goldman will come to First Parish in Concord, commemorating the day and site where the town gave the French general a hero’s welcome two hundred years ago. Though the First Parish Meeting House was different in 1824, the adjacent Wright Tavern, built in 1747, is largely the same. When Lafayette arrived, it was no longer a tavern but a bakery. Francis Jarvis’ bakery operated out of the Wright Tavern and supplied fresh bread for Lafayette’s banquet on the lawn. This year, the Wright Tavern opened its doors as a gathering space. American Friends of Lafayette, a national organization leading this 24-state reenactment, asked the Wright Tavern Legacy Trust to provide a local program to commemorate Lafayette’s stop in Concord.

The public is warmly invited to assemble on the lawn of First Parish to watch a reenactment of Lafayette’s visit to Concord at 3:00 this Labor Day. The celebration is family-friendly and free of charge. Escorted by the Concord Militia playing fife and drum, “the general” will begin his journey at the Concord Museum’s parking lot and proceed to the lawn of First Parish via Lexington

Road. Upon his arrival, the Old Concord Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution will greet him with a wreath-laying ceremony. Vermont Superior Court Judge Samuel Hoar, a descendant of the antislavery politician and attorney Samuel Hoar (1778-1856) who presided over the 1824 ceremony, will reenact his namesake’s speech. Tom Wilson, Chair of the Wright Tavern Legacy Trust, will read from the letter that President James Monroe wrote to Lafayette initiating the Farewell Tour.

The reenactment is just the beginning of the commemoration. Guests will move indoors to the First Parish sanctuary where a seated program, recorded and livestreamed on Zoom, will focus on Lafayette’s antislavery and human rights advocacy. Historian Robert Gross will draw from his 2021 book Transcendentalists and their World to provide insight on Lafayette’s 1824 trip to Concord. Jen Turner, Executive Director of the Robbins House, will speak on Lafayette’s transformation into an abolitionist. Sam Williams, Executive Director of Concord Prison Outreach, will honor Lafayette’s humanitarianism by reading an original poem addressing our contemporary times. Williams will invite audience members to write

1820-1840.

their own reflection on today’s issues and insert it into a time capsule to be opened one year later at the Wright Tavern. Anderson Manuel, Gospel Choir Director at First Parish, will lead guests in inspirational songs. A reception will follow at the Wright Tavern, featuring French cuisine, in honor of Lafayette’s commitment to liberty and equality and the indelible bond of friendship between the American and French people. Following his military service in America, Lafayette lobbied friends and fellow soldiers to live up to the American ideals they fought for. He dedicated himself to ending slavery. In a letter addressed to his daughters and granddaughters, Lafayette wrote: “there is only one point to which I decidedly cannot resign myself: that is, slavery and the antiBlack prejudices.” (April 15, 1825) Historians credit Lafayette’s repeated urgings as the reason why Washington emancipated the enslaved people on his plantation in his will. Upon returning to France, Lafayette became a central figure in the fight for a constitutional order; but during the Reign of Terror, he had to flee the country to avoid arrest. Austrian authorities intercepted and jailed Lafayette for five years. Imprisonment did not embitter Lafayette but rather, broadened his sense of empathy to include the incarcerated.

Come join us for this unique townwide celebration of Lafayette’s legacy!

Shelley Drake Hawks is a board member of the Wright Tavern Legacy Trust.

Lafayette about

Concord Museum Collection. Gift of Mrs. Louis A. Sohier; G299.

1824 silver medal with Lafayette on one side (shown) and Washington on the other, commissioned to celebrate Lafayette’s Farewell Tour of America.

14.5 mm. Struck from dies by Joseph Lewis.

Concord’s “Hidden Gem”of Boston Theater

Ithe stately 1929 former Emerson School building at 40 Stow Street, The Umbrella Stage Company’s recently constructed theater wing is a surprise and delight to all who discover one of the “best kept secrets” of the Greater Boston/ Metrowest theater scene.

Since becoming a professional theater company in late 2019, The Umbrella Stage Company (the live theater division of The Umbrella Arts Center) has strived to produce high quality work. Its reputation has steadily grown as audiences begin to return to live theater.

The Company’s team of designers, directors, actors, and technicians work out of a new facility that broke ground in 2017 and opened in September 2019. One of the most exciting additions to the region’s performing arts landscape in the last decade, this facility houses two venues, the 350-seat main stage Theater 144 and a 100-seat flexible Black Box space. With state-of-the-art technology and acoustics, support spaces, and comfortable furnishings, the theaters have housed not only the Company’s “bold, daring and innovative” brand of theater productions, but also film screenings, headliner music concerts, and rental

Designed by OMR Architects with theatre consultant Don Hirsch, and built by CE Floyd, the main stage was specially created with high-end musical productions in mind. With its completely unimpeded sight lines, excellent acoustics, comfortable cushioned seating with cup holders for refreshments, and a fully remote digital orchestra pit, Theater 144 proudly boasts that there is literally not a bad seat in the house. Also designed for ADA accessibility, the theater includes multiple wheelchair seating areas and restrooms accessible by elevators. The Stage shows also offer assistive listening technology.

With its convenient location, beautiful visual arts galleries, free parking, and very reasonable ticket prices, it was only a matter of time before regional theatergoers began to discover “the secret” and word-of-mouth spread.

The unique performances and star talent featured at The Umbrella Arts Center and its Stage Company attract an everwidening audience (superfans traveled from California for a chance to attend a concert by John Mayer in the intimate space) as well as critical attention. Since early 2024, Boston’s reviewers and professional awards committees have been making their way out to discover this “hidden theatrical gem” nestled inside the historic old Concord school building for themselves – with stunning results.

In its first full, uninterrupted season as a professional company, The Umbrella Stage Company earned six nominations for the Elliot Norton Awards – Boston’s version of the Tonys. More remarkably, these included nominations in three categories – Outstanding Musical (The Color Purple), Outstanding Play (The Minutes), and Outstanding New Script (Middleton Heights). Secret no more, The Umbrella Arts Center and The Umbrella Stage Company have earned a reputation for a superior audience experience and continue to contribute greatly to Concord’s cultural richness. Fall is a beautiful time of year to discover this hidden gem for yourself. Visit TheUmbrellaArts.org for this season’s lineup and to reserve tickets!

Inside

events ranging from the Thoreau Society meeting to a boutique guitar showcase.

Photos © Jim Sabitus

Alisa Amidor

Sowing the Seeds of Thoreauvian Studies in Brazil

BY CAROLINA MACIEL

TThe First Online Thoreau Conference, if briefly presented, could be described as a collaborative effort between students, scholars, and educators based in Brazil, who are dedicated to the study and outreach of Henry David Thoreau’s work. However, such a description wouldn’t do much justice to the interconnectedness of readers of Thoreau across the globe. It would be borderline impossible for me to explain how the Online Thoreau Conference came to be in July 2024, without explaining how I got into reading and studying Transcendentalism in the first place.

I started reading Walden at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and felt completely enthralled not only by the book itself, but by Thoreau and his broader contexts, which made me decide to read a Ph.D. thesis centered on exploring the ways in which Thoreau can be studied as a moral philosopher. In order to get there, the scholar who wrote it, Professor Eduardo Vicentini de Medeiros, based in Southern Brazil, analyzed the influence of Unitarianism in Thoreau’s formal education and overall upbringing.

While simultaneously reading both Walden and the thesis, I eventually found unique resources that influenced the processes that converged into this year’s event. That was when I discovered that Medeiros and a team of scholars had organized a bicentennial event, held in person, recorded, and posted on YouTube. It was an enterprise of the Philosophy Department of the Federal University of Santa Maria. A Thoreau-themed magazine was also published in partnership with Unisinos (Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos/University of the Sinos River Valley). It was an event centered around philosophy, and it enormously helped my own process of slowly starting to grasp Transcendentalism, Thoreau, and his circle of intellectual ancestors, as well as American history and philosophy.

Years passed since I first encountered materials on Thoreau in Portuguese, and by late May of 2024, I reached out to Professor Medeiros and, while we talked about possibilities for outreach and sharing the processes of our research, he suggested we should work on an online conference centered around Thoreau in July, when readers remember his birthday and the Thoreau Society holds its Annual Gathering.

Since scholars are scattered across the country, the main objective was to be able to offer easily available resources. And while funding an in-person conference isn’t always sustainable or even viable, we decided it would be an online only event, at least for now. It was a way of simplifying our work, but also of adding layers to the diversity in Thoreau scholarship in Brazil and beyond. For weeks, we reached out to our own scholarly networks and worked on publicity through social media, in order to curate a selection of

contributions that ended up encompassing Thoreau and literature, religion, the history of New England, translation, decoloniality, and civil disobedience. All twelve programs are available on YouTube, through the channel “Departamento de Filosofia da UFSM”. Two of them are in English, since they were delivered by American scholars. YouTube. com/@DepartamentoFilosofiaUFSM

Our most watched program to date is a conversation with Denise Bottmann, translator of Walden, where she explored a myriad of subtleties of the translation process. Also popular is Marcio Serpa’s talk on Thoreau and decolonial thought, grounding his reflection in botanical observations of Thoreau himself and scholars like Paraná-based Klaus Eggensperger. Igor Nascimento, on the other hand, explored parallels between The Iliad and Walden, mediated by his reading of Stanley Cavell. In my lecture, I deliberately didn’t take the time to dismantle what I call the “Laundry Gate”, but rather explained some of the religious and political background of Thoreau’s life and influences that shaped his work and personal stances, first learned from Thoreau’s own journal, Medeiros’ thesis and the work of Philip Gura. One of my arguments was that indirect nods to Concord are not completely foreign to popular culture and mainstream media in Brazil, but they’re hardly ever woven into a cohesive web of literary references. As I mention in my presentation, lots of people from different generations have read Little Women or The Scarlet Letter in Portuguese, but they’ll rarely realize the connection between Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. I trust that by connecting the dots, Transcendentalism might feel more inviting and palatable for people in general, especially those whose interests and pursuits aren’t necessarily scholarly ones.

While the Thoreauvian community in Brazil may not be expressive in numbers, at least in our conference, it gathers people who

Public domain

Retouched picture of Henry David Thoreau by Benjamin D. Maxham

are committed to unraveling both primary and secondary sources. Though most of us can read and speak English, we aimed to create relatable and accessible resources for Portuguese speaking people.

I would dare to say that in Brazil, Thoreau would currently lean toward a niche interest rather than total obscurity. In fact, despite an abyss of differences, and the often-claimed premise of American exceptionality, both Brazil and the U.S. share similarities in history

and even culture. Thoreau’s abolitionist writings and his nature observations, for instance, can still be relatable to non-U.S. based audiences, and there lies a huge potential in terms of scholarship.

There’s a sense of anticipation that this event, and more specifically, the fact that it was live-streamed to YouTube, may serve as a useful resource to other people in the future; no matter if they are dipping their feet in the subject out of sheer curiosity or are

seasoned scholars studying the reception of Thoreau, and that we can more easily foster a community of readers and scholars in general.

One of our lecturers, Tiago Ribas, who is currently translating A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers to Portuguese, once mentioned that in Brazil, Thoreau’s work is akin to an exuberant cypress. May it be so, and may we make it so.

For more information, visit Sites.google.com/view/thoreauwebinar/home?authuser=0.

Carolina Maciel is a Transcendentalism enthusiast, educator, and Unitarian Lay Ministry student. She has translated works from Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Ellery Channing from English to Portuguese and has also contributed to Thoreau Society and Thoreau Farm initiatives.

Courtesy of the author

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When Genius Collides: Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe

BY RICHARD SMITH

BBy 1845, the careers of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe were on very different tracks. Hawthorne was a struggling writer living in Concord, Massachusetts, while Poe was in New York City, a celebrated writer and literary critic known around the country. Yet, in the 1840s, the two men’s careers became briefly entwined.

Poe and Hawthorne never met but were familiar with each other’s work. Living at The Old Manse, Hawthorne had only one book to his credit – a collection of previously published stories called Twice-Told Tales. It garnered him some success when it was published in 1837, but when a second volume was released in 1842 it caught the eye of Edgar A. Poe.

By 1842, Poe had produced some of his best-known works, including “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839), “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841), and “The Masque of the Red Death” (1842). He was also highly regarded as an influential literary critic; his reviews of books and poetry could make or break a career.

Poe wrote a glowing two-part review of Twice-Told Tales for the April and May 1842 issues of Graham’s Magazine. He praised Hawthorne’s originality as “remarkable,” and said the stories in the book “rivet the attention.” Furthermore, “The style of Hawthorne is purity itself. His tone is wild, plaintive, thoughtful, and in full accordance with his themes We look upon him as one of the few men of indisputable genius to whom our country has as yet given birth.”

In June 1846, Hawthorne’s second book of short stories, Mosses From an Old Manse, would be published. Less than two weeks after its release, he would write to Poe to

inquire if the critic had received a copy of the book to review. And he took the opportunity to tell Poe how much he liked his work:

“My Dear Sir, — I presume the publishers will have sent you a copy of ‘Mosses from an Old Manse’ the latest collection of my tales and sketches. I have read your occasional notices of my productions with great interest — not so much because your judgment was, upon the whole, favorable, as because it seemed to be given in earnest. I care for nothing but the truth; and shall always much more readily accept a harsh truth, in regard to my writings, than a sugared falsehood. I confess, however, that I admire you rather as a writer of tales than as a critic upon them, I might often dissent from your opinions but could never fail to recognize your force and originality in the former.”

It’s a good thing that Hawthorne preferred “harsh truth” over “sugared falsehood.” Poe responded with a lengthy review of Mosses in the November 1847 edition of Godey’s Lady’s Book, and the effusive praise he’d given Twice Told-Tales had vanished! He called the stories in Mosses “unoriginal” and found Hawthorne’s writing “peculiar.” Furthermore, the stories were “monotonous;” they would “deprive [Hawthorne] of all chance of popular appreciation.”

Poe then took Hawthorne to task for associating with the New England literati and, in particular, Concord Transcendentalists. He wrote that Hawthorne had “imbibed” too often from the “phalanx atmosphere” (a reference to Hawthorne’s time at Brook Farm), and while he had “the purest style, the finest taste, the most available scholarship, the most delicate humor, the most touching pathos, the most radiant imagination, the most

by

Edgar Allen Poe in 1849

Nathaniel Hawthorne circa 1850

consummate ingenuity” he needed to “come out from The Old Manse, cut Mr. Alcott [and] hang (if possible) the editor of The Dial ” if he wanted to achieve true literary success.

Poe had a long, simmering feud with the Transcendentalists. He considered Concord itself a “nest of overvalued mediocrities” and disliked the “sophists and pretenders” among them. He thought Emerson to be a pale imitation of Thomas Carlyle, a man “with whom we have no patience whatever – the mystic for mysticism’s sake.”

In return, Emerson wasn’t impressed with Poe. He called him “the jingle man” and found Poe’s writings to be “almost without the first sign of moral principle or the simpler affections of the heart.”

Hawthorne’s reaction to Poe’s scathing review is unknown. He probably didn’t respond; by 1845 he was more concerned about earning a living than reading reviews. Writing was not paying the bills and he needed to find a job that would. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that a full-time position “would inevitably remove” the Hawthornes “from our present happy home” –a real job would mean leaving Concord.

A lifelong Democrat, Hawthorne turned to the political world for a job and was soon offered a position at the Custom House in his home town of Salem, Massachusetts. The appointment was approved by President Polk, and Hawthorne was sworn in on April 9, 1846, as surveyor for the Port of Salem, a position that earned him an annual salary of $1,200.

Poe was also having a hard time making ends meet. He’d left Graham’s Magazine in 1842, and while his stories like “The Gold Bug” and poems like “The Raven” were hugely popular, popularity didn’t necessarily translate into money. He, too, was looking for a government position, possibly at the Customs House in Philadelphia. He even went so far as to go to Washington to try and meet President Tyler, but for whatever reason (the story is hazy), either they never met, or Poe was drunk when they did meet. Regardless, Poe did not get a position.

In 1849, Hawthorne lost his Salem job when the Whig candidate Zachary Taylor became president, and the Democrats lost power.

Hawthorne was stoic, writing, “There is no use in lamentation. It now remains to consider what I shall do next.” What he would do next is pick up his pen and turn his experience into a short sketch called “The Custom-House.” It would be published the following year as the introduction to his masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter. Other successes followed; by the time of his death in 1864 Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the most famous writers in America, his fame secure.

Poe continued to write poetry and short stories for various periodicals. His wife died from tuberculosis in 1847 and he never recovered emotionally. He himself was in poor health throughout 1849, and in October he was found in Baltimore at a local tavern, disheveled and incoherent. He died on October 7, 1849. There are many theories about his last days; ironically, the man credited with creating murder mysteries left this world surrounded in mystery.

Like Hawthorne, Poe’s reputation lives on. The two men are today the leading examples of what literary critics call the “Dark Romantics.” They wouldn’t mind that; either one would probably use it as a title for a short story.

Richard Smith has lectured on and written about antebellum United States history and 19-century American literature since 1995. He has worked in Concord as a public historian and living history interpreter for 25 years. He has written eight books for Applewood Books and is a regular contributor to Discover Concord

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A Rare Opportunity to Experience Native American Art Comes to Concord

AArtisans Way, located at 18 Walden Street in Concord Center, has been representing American craft and fine art for 13 years. From their early days dating back to 2011, Native American jewelry as well as hand-carved spirit animal fetishes from the Southwest have always been included in their collection. This fall will mark the 9th anniversary of a specialized Native American Jewelry and Craft show over the weekend of October 19-20. Artisans Way sources most of their Native American-made product through Diane Whitman of Sandia East (who has been involved in the Native American jewelry industry for over 35 years). Whitman travels to New Mexico several times a year and hand-selects each piece of jewelry made by members of Native American tribes.

Cuff and bangle bracelets, earrings, pendants, and rings, are all made of solid sterling silver in the tradition of the Navajo Nation. Beaded heishi necklaces are designed by the natives of the Santo Domingo Pueblo using local stones and shells. Earrings, bracelets, and pendants featuring stone setting and inlays, are created by the Zuni tribe members. This work is related to an ancient technique of setting turquoise, shell, or jet on a base of wood, bone, or shell. Examples of both traditional and contemporary styles are sure to appeal to all appreciators of Native American crafted jewelry.

The Zunis are also known for creating hand-carved animal fetishes. The fetishes, said to house a spirit which can give assistance to the owner, have been used by southwestern Native Americans since prehistoric times. Beads of shell, coral or turquoise, feathers, or a small carved arrow may be tied to these animals to increase their power or as offerings to the fetish in return for favors granted. A wide variety of different animals (believed to possess specifically assigned characteristics) are carved from a variety of beautifully colored stones.

On Saturday, October 19 & Sunday, October 20, Artisans Way will host Diane Whitman in the gallery showcasing hundreds of Native American jewelry pieces and hand carved spirit animal fetishes from the Southwest. For only the second time in the history of the show, a range of traditional Native American pottery will be included. Individually selected pieces created by both Navajo and Acoma Pueblo tribe members employing techniques of etching and coloring on traditional “horsehair” and black-and-white ceramics will be available in addition to the jewelry items.

Artisans Way is both excited and honored to be representing and promoting the exceptional work of the Native American people. A collection this extensive, of unmatched quality and variety, is rarely found outside of Native American territory. The public is invited to this free event from 10am – 6pm on Saturday and 12pm – 5pm on Sunday. During the show, all Native American jewelry and ceramic purchases will be discounted 10%. For additional information or details, please call (978) 369-4400 or email artisansway@verizon.net.

Agents of Change: The Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society

BY JULIE DOBROW

WWhen we think of Concord’s history, images of Walden Pond, the Old North Bridge, Transcendentalists, and Little Women might come to mind. We don’t always think about a remarkable, diverse group of women from Concord’s past dedicated to eradicating slavery. We might not even know their fascinating story. The Concord Female AntiSlavery Society worked diligently across three decades, becoming important players in the abolitionist cause, and helping to more widely promote its messages.

Women across the 26 states admitted to the Union by the mid1830s were becoming involved with the nascent abolition movement. They often played significant, if behind-the-scenes roles. William Lloyd Garrison, Boston-based editor of the anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator and founder of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, once referred to female abolitionists as “the great silent army.” But the women weren’t silent. They left behind letters, petitions, and diaries documenting their many and varied roles supporting and shaping the abolition movement.

Since Concord’s early days, women had been active in social reforms like temperance and various charitable efforts. But in the 1830s, something was changing. There was more buzz about abolition. This came about in part through widely circulated copies of The Liberator and other papers excoriating the wrongs of slavery. It came in part through sermons delivered by ministers like John Wilder, a staunch abolitionist who took the pulpit at Concord’s Trinitarian Church in 1833. And it came about in part through speakers at

the Concord Lyceum, formed in 1828 for the purpose of “improvement in knowledge, the advancement of Popular Education, and the diffusion of useful information throughout the community.”

In the early fall of 1837, abolitionist sisters Angelina and Sarah Grimké gave a series of talks in Concord. They were the guests of Mary Merrick Brooks, and attended dinners

meeting was “an event noticed but little by the inhabitants of the town,” members of this group would work together to transform what historian Lori Ginzberg calls an “ideology of benevolence” into actionable public activism.

The Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society was unusual among its sister female abolitionist groups because of its diversity. The women were Black and White, young and old, with different levels of education and economic security. Some of the women came from well-known Concord families, like Cynthia Dunbar Thoreau and her daughters, Helen and Sophia; some from families whose names have become familiar only in more recent times, like Susan Robbins Garrison and her daughters, Susan and Ellen. Mary Wilder, wife of Reverend John, was elected CFASS’ first president, Helen Thoreau, vice president, and Mary Merrick Brooks, secretary/treasurer.

hosted by Mary Heywood and Lidian Jackson Emerson. As historian and Concord resident Bob Gross has written, most of Concord’s prominent men were hesitant about abolitionist activism; some even opposed it. After the Grimké’s inspirational events, Concord’s women decided it was time to organize and act, themselves.

On October 18, 1837, 61 women gathered to form the Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society (CFASS). Though they suggested this

Women chose to join the Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society for different reasons. Some saw slavery as a political, social, or religious issue. But it wasn’t just hearing about the moral turpitude of slavery that inspired some of Concord’s women. Some of them knew from personal experience or direct observation about slavery’s iniquities. Mary Merrick Brooks’ family had enslaved people. Historian Tiya Miles suggests that Louisa May Alcott, who loved to wander Concord’s woods and fields, no doubt encountered Concord’s small Black population living on the town’s outskirts; some of them had been enslaved people. Susan Garrison’s husband,

Antislavery sampler

John, and her father, Caesar Robbins, were both formerly enslaved people.

Part of what we know about CFASS and its activities comes from Prudence Ward’s letters. She and her mother came to Concord in 1833, moving in with longtime friends Elizabeth, Maria, and Jane Thoreau, Henry David’s aunts. We find out from Prudence how Mary Merrick Brooks became CFASS’ de-facto leader, and how the women worked to bring prominent anti-slavery speakers like Harriet Tubman, Wendell Phillips, and Frederick Douglass to Concord. We also learn how the CFASS women became active in the petition movement. Although they did not have the right to vote, themselves, women knew that their signatures in great numbers on petitions about abolitionist issues to state and national legislators still carried some weight.

Women in CFASS were also active in the abolition movement in other ways. They organized fairs and sold home-baked goods – including Mary Merrick Brooks’ famous Brooks Cake –sewed pieces with anti-slavery slogans and made other crafts to raise money for antislavery endeavors.

Mary Merrick

Brooks and others became active in regional women’s groups, like the Middlesex County Anti-Slavery Society; some even traveled outof-state to attend large conventions where women shared abolitionist strategies.

Some of the CFASS women were involved with the underground railroad. We know, for instance, that the Thoreaus, the Bigelows, the Rices, and others were active participants.

According to Ann Bigelow, after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in the 1850s, “nearly every week” some freedom seeker “would be forwarded with the utmost secrecy to Concord to be harbored overnight.”

Another activity engaging some of the CFASS women was their effort to get local icon Ralph Waldo Emerson to speak up and speak out against slavery. Women including Mary Merrick Brooks and, of course, Lidian Emerson, were savvy enough to know that if Waldo were to make his renowned voice heard on this issue, people would listen. Their pressure campaign eventually worked.

Several CFASS women pursued their efforts even after the Civil War and slavery had officially ended. Some would become educators, going south to teach in schools for newly freed Black people. One of those who pursued this path was Ellen Garrison.

Historian Sandy Petrulionis points out that although grassroots reforms during the antebellum era were nearly always a communal effort, most histories tend focus on the individual men involved in developing the ideals that supported them. In Concord, we can note and celebrate the fact that women also played a critical role in supporting and promoting the anti-slavery movement. One such recognition effort comes from the Friends of Sleepy Hollow: because the great majority of the CFASS women are buried there, the Association will be adding a prominent marker about these brave and important women of Concord’s past.

Julie Dobrow is a professor at Tufts University. She is a co-founder of the Half the History Project, which uses short-form biography, film, and podcast to tell the untold and under-told stories of women’s lives.

Courtesy of Concord Free Public Library

Lidian Emerson with Edward W. Emerson

BELOW: Flyer, Concord Female AntiSlavery Society

Courtesy of Concord Free Public Library

The Cause of the Paiute Indians Comes to Concord

BY POLLY PETERSON

IIn 1883, Lidian Emerson, widow of Ralph Waldo Emerson, hosted a gathering in her Concord home for Sarah Winnemucca, a Native American woman whose book Life Among the Piutes, Their Wrongs and Claims had recently been published. Mrs. Emerson and her friends were stalwart campaigners for human rights, and Sarah was on a mission to win justice for her people. This was just the kind of gathering that might help Sarah’s cause.

Throughout much of 1883, Sarah had been living in Boston at the home of Elizabeth Peabody and Mary Peabody Mann. Her homeland, though, was near Pyramid Lake in the northwestern part of Nevada. Sarah’s grandfather, Truckee, and her father, Winnemucca, were well-known leaders of the Northern Paiutes.* Sarah’s Paiute name was Thocmetony (“Shell Flower”), but to white people she was Sarah Winnemucca—or sometimes “Princess Sarah.”

Sarah had come East on a lecture tour seeking supporters. The U.S. government had forcibly relocated her people, and she was determined to help them regain the right to live on at least some portion of their own land. Her performances on stage

were riveting and heart rending, but it was impossible in a single lecture to fully explain the wrongs her people had suffered. She wanted to write a book that would tell her story more fully, and the elderly Peabody sisters encouraged her to do so.

Both Elizabeth and Mary had extensive experience in editing, writing, and publishing, and their expertise would be essential to this project. Sarah had learned English while young, but, as an Indian, she had been denied formal schooling. Her extemporaneous speaking was impressive, but spelling was, as Mary put it, “an unknown quantity to her.” Sarah wrote down the stories she had been telling from the lecture stage, while Mary corrected the orthography.

Now that the book was in print, Peabody and Mann were making every effort to bring Sarah’s compelling story to their reformminded friends and to circulate a petition urging the U.S. government to rectify some of the wrongs done to the Paiutes. The sisters knew that Sarah’s cause would find a sympathetic audience in Concord.

As far back as 1838, more than 200 Concord women had signed a petition protesting the forced removal of the Cherokee from their traditional homelands.

Peabody and Mann had deep connections to Concord themselves. The two of them had made a home there together, along with Mary’s sons, after the 1859 death of Mary’s husband Horace Mann. Their sister Sophia also lived in Concord during the 1860s with her husband Nathaniel Hawthorne and their children. Elizabeth’s connection to the town went back even earlier. Her friendship with Ralph Waldo Emerson began when they studied Greek together in their teens and continued through his move to Concord and his marriage to Lidian.

At the time of the Emerson marriage, Elizabeth was working as a teacher in Bronson Alcott’s Temple School in Boston. Her 1835 book Record of a School, which documented Alcott’s teaching methods,

Sarah’s book.

Sarah Winnemucca in her stage costume

not only made Alcott famous, but became an opening salvo of the movement known as Transcendentalism. Elizabeth Peabody remained a central figure in that movement, best known for promoting other people’s careers. She had an extraordinary talent for lifting up others.

Peabody and Mann were both dedicated to educational reform. A book they coauthored in 1863 highlighted the importance of play and of time outdoors in nature. During her time with them, Sarah became almost like another sister. Like Elizabeth, Sarah was a gifted linguist. She spoke English and Spanish in addition to three indigenous languages, and she firmly believed in the power of education to bring intercultural understanding. Her descriptions of how Paiute children were raised bore a remarkable similarity to the educational ideas promoted by Peabody and Mann. Convinced that the two cultures had much to learn from each other, Mary wrote: “[W]hen something like a human communication is established between the Indians and whites, it may prove a fair exchange, and the knowledge of nature which has accumulated may enrich our early education as much as reading and writing will enrich theirs.”

This was a radical idea at the time, and one that was heartily rejected by American policymakers.

After the publication of her book, Sarah Winnemucca continued lecturing to large

audiences. She traveled to Washington, D.C. where her petitions with hundreds of signatures were delivered to Congress, and she testified movingly before the House Subcommittee on Indian Affairs. At last, when it seemed she had done all she could, she headed back to Nevada to realize her dream of establishing a school for Paiute children. Despite immense obstacles, she managed to open a bilingual school, which she called the Peabody Institute. Even though the children at her school were clearly thriving under her tutelage, opposition to the school was unrelenting. Government policies of the 1880s were committed to establishing boarding schools far from the children’s

families, where Indian children would be “Americanized” by losing all contact with their own language and culture.

Elizabeth Peabody stood in fierce opposition to such policies. After Mary’s death in 1887, Elizabeth’s devotion to Sarah’s exemplary school continued unabated. She met with government officials, wrote newspaper articles, and sent what aid she could—but white opposition, financial difficulties, and Sarah’s failing health brought the school to an end in 1889.

Sarah Winnemucca’s Indian school in Nevada was doomed to failure by the prejudices of her time, yet Elizabeth Peabody never regretted devoting the final years of her life to Sarah’s cause. Recalling his aunt, Julian Hawthorne wrote, “The last time I saw her was on the threshold of a little hut in Concord; she stood in her wrapper, her soft gray hair floating down her back, her face seraphic with holy purpose. As I turned at the gate, she threw up her right arm and called out, ‘I am the champion of the Indians.’ She said it half laughingly, for she was never deficient in the sense of humor; but she meant it.”

Polly Peterson is the author of Stirring the Nation’s Heart: Eighteen Stories of Prophetic Unitarians and Universalists of the Nineteenth Century. A former resident of Concord, she has worked as a guide at Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House and served on the Board of the Robbins House. She continues to be inspired by 19th-century Transcendentalists, writers, and reformers.

The Bostonian, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Author unknown, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Elizabeth Peabody

Mary Peabody Mann

RIGHT: Statue of Sarah Winnemucca at the Capitol Visitors’ Center, Washington, D.C.

Prophets of Truth and Enchantment: Thomas Carlyle and the Transcendentalists

BY RICHARD SMITH

OOf all the writers and philosophers who influenced the New England Transcendentalists, none had a bigger impact than Thomas Carlyle. Born in Scotland in 1795, as an essayist, historian, and philosopher, Carlyle had a profound influence on the 19th century, not just in the United Kingdom, but also in America, particularly with the writers in Concord, Massachusetts.

Virtually every member of the Transcendentalist circle read Carlyle’s writings with great enthusiasm; Bronson Alcott, Orestes Brownson, Theodore Parker, William Henry Channing, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Frederic Henry Hedge, George Ripley, and Henry Thoreau all drew inspiration from Carlyle. In particular, it was his writings on Germanic literature that lit a flame under the Transcendentalists. He was the main channel through which Göethe, Kant, Schiller, and Hegle flowed into Concord.

Like the writings of the Transcendentalists, much of Carlyle’s work was concerned with the human spiritual condition; he was the first writer to use the expression “meaning of life,” and in Sartor Resartus (1831), Carlyle developed a philosophy of religion based on what he called “Natural Supernaturalism,” the idea that all of nature can reveal divinity and that existence itself is miraculous, filled with elements that cannot be defined by science. It should be no surprise that Carlyle, much like his hero Göethe, and the Transcendentalists after him, was accused by many for being pantheistic and blasphemous.

From the very first time that he read Carlyle in 1827, Emerson was enamored, calling his works “by far the most original and profound essays of the day.” He saw in the Scotsman a kindred spirit and they would meet in 1833 when Emerson, grieving the death of his first wife and traveling through Europe, went to Scotland. They spent 24 hours together,

“talking thro’ the whole encyclopedia.” Both Carlyle and his wife Jane commented that seeing Emerson was like a visit from “an angel,” that he’d made their day “look like enchantment.” It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.

They would meet face to face only a few more times, in 1847, 1872, and 1873, when Waldo was in the United Kingdom, but their correspondence would go on for 40 years; there were 173 letters in all between them. It’s obvious from their letters that they genuinely admired one another. Carlyle called Emerson “Brother,” writing that, because of Waldo, “New England is as much my country as Old England” (although he never visited America). In return, Emerson called Carlyle the “Truth-Speaker” and the “best Thinker of the Saxon race.”

In the 1830s, Emerson became a key player in getting Carlyle’s books distributed in America. He personally arranged for the publication of Sartor Resartus (1836), The French Revolution (1837), and the Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1838–39) by James Munroe & Company and Little & Brown of Boston. These editions brought Carlyle a wider audience, while earning him £655 in much-needed royalties.

As the years went by, the friendship of Emerson and Carlyle would gradually cool. By the 1840s Carlyle was not as “transcendental” as he seemed the previous decade, and he saw Emerson’s writings as “mystical” and “airy.” Also, Carlyle was growing more conservative in his politics, and his writings

© Richard Smith. Used with the permission of the National Trust

“A Chelsea Interior (The Carlyles at Home with their Dog Nero at 5/24 Great Cheyne Row, London)” by Robert Scott Tait, 1857 -1858.

Carlyle’s study

revealed deeply held racist views; in his book Occasional Discourse on the Negro Question (1849), he openly opposed the abolition of slavery, while at the same time Emerson was speaking out more and more in favor of abolition. Their correspondence would continue well into the 1870s, and while they disagreed on much, there was still a genuine warmth and affection between them.

Like Emerson, other members of the Transcendental circle made their pilgrimage to Chelsea. Bronson Alcott visited in 1842, with Emerson introducing him to Carlyle as “a great man.” Carlyle found Alcott “a genial, innocent, simple-hearted man, of much natural intelligence and goodness, with an air of rusticity, veracity, and dignity all bent on saving the world by a return to acorns and the golden age.” He thought Alcott’s vegetarianism odd, but he informed Emerson that they got on well: “Let him love me as he can, and live on vegetables in peace, and I living partly on vegetables will continue to love him!”

Margaret Fuller visited England in the spring of 1846, and Emerson looked forward to Carlyle meeting “this wise, sincere, accomplished, and most entertaining of women.” Both Carlyle and his wife Jane were impressed with Fuller. He later wrote to Emerson that he had found her a “highsoaring, clear, enthusiastic soul.” To his brother John he was more honest, commenting that Fuller was “a strange, lilting, lean old maid, not nearly such a bore as I had expected.”

The story is often told in conversation (and it may be apocryphal) that Margaret supposedly told Carlyle, “I accept the universe,” implying that the universe was to feel complimented by her declaration. Posterity (if not the historical record) noted Carlye’s reply, “By Gad, she’d better!”

As a historian, Carlyle wrote on his “Great Man” theory, contending that history is shaped by exceptional individuals. He gave six lectures on the subject in 1840, all of which were published in his book On Heroes, Heroes Worship, and the Heroic in History in 1841. These lectures caught the eye of Henry Thoreau, and while he never met or corresponded with Carlyle, he was a devoted reader of Carlyle’s works. While living at Walden Pond he wrote a lecture called “The Writings and Styles of Thomas Carlyle,” which he delivered at the Concord Lyceum in February 1846. It’s obvious he was impressed:

“Such a style — so diversified and variegated! It is like a New England landscape, with farmhouses and villages, and cultivated spots, and belts of forests and blueberry swamps with the fragrance of shad-blossoms and violets on certain winds. And as for the reading of it it is like traveling, sometimes on foot, sometimes in a gig tandem; sometimes in a full coach, over highways, mended and unmended [But] you have got an expert driver this time, who has driven ten thousand miles, and was never known to upset; can drive six in hand on the edge of a precipice...”

Thoreau’s lecture would be serialized into two parts and published as “Thomas Carlyle and His Works” in the March and April 1847 issues of Graham’s Monthly Magazine.

Today, you can visit the home in Chelsea, London, where Carlyle met his Transcendental admirers. Walking into the home one can imagine not only the presence of Carlyle and his wife Jane, but also that of the Concord “gossips” (as Emerson described them to Carlyle) in the same rooms; the parlor where Emerson and Carlyle discussed literature and philosophy; the dining room where Alcott surprised the Carlyles with his vegetarian diet; the sitting room where Margaret Fuller charmed her hosts. Theodore Parker visited here, too. As did Thomas Wentworth Higginson. The home has been restored to the way it looked when they were all there.

dining room. A print of a young Carlyle was sent by Carlyle himself, and when Waldo framed it, he cut Carlyle’s name from some correspondence and placed it on the print. A second image, taken in 1867, shows an older but still powerful-looking Carlyle.

And so, the Sage of Concord and the Sage of Chelsea stay forever connected. Carlyle wrote “the history of the world is but the biography of great men,” while Emerson echoed this sentiment with, “All history is biography.” Separately and together, their lives and writings influenced not only each other and their generation but generations far beyond the 19th century.

The walls of the house are filled with images of Carlyle’s heroes. Göethe is there, of course, and Frederick the Great. But there are also pictures of Carlyle’s friends. Walking up the stairs to the second floor you’ll recognize a familiar face, and another photo of that same man hangs in Carlyle’s third floor study: smiling back from the walls of a 300-year-old Georgian townhouse, some 3,300 miles from Concord, is Ralph Waldo Emerson.

There are two portraits of Carlyle in Emerson’s home as well, both hanging in the

Richard would like to thank the staff of the Carlyle House in London for giving him a wonderful tour of the house in May 2024. To visit the Carlyle House online or in person: NationalTrust.org.uk/visit/london/ carlyles-house

Richard Smith has lectured on and written about antebellum United States history and 19-century American literature since 1995. He has worked in Concord as a public historian and living history interpreter for 25 years. He has written eight books for Applewood Books and is a regular contributor to Discover Concord.

© Richard Smith. Used with the permission of the National Trust

Photo of Emerson in the Carlyle House

Daguerreotype of Thomas Carlyle, sent to Emerson in April 1846

domain

Feathers, Flags, and Fables: Unraveling Early American Myths

BY ANNE LEHMANN

EEarly American history is rich with stories that have become legendary. However, a closer look at some beloved beliefs reveals a slightly different tale. Let’s dive into the myths surrounding Benjamin Franklin’s turkey, Betsy Ross, Paul Revere, and the true date of Independence Day.

Myth: Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be part of the national emblem. Writing to his daughter, Franklin said, “The Bald Eagle is a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly He is too lazy to fish for himself.” The Franklin Institute refers to this quotation as well as commentary in a letter written to Franklin’s daughter, where he jests that the species simply swoops in and takes the feasts of other lesser birds instead of hunting for prey on its own. This leads Franklin to

the bird resembled a turkey rather than an eagle. Perpetuating this myth, in 1962, the cover of the New Yorker illustrated the point with the subtitle, ‘What the great seal of the United States might look like if the turkey was our national emblem.’ However, in the end Franklin did not rebuke the final version of the national seal which featured the bald eagle prominently. His humor may have helped perpetuate the turkey myth.

Preliminary version of the Great Seal of the United States by Charles Thomson, the Secretary of Congress.

question if the bald eagle is truly the best choice to symbolically represent the country.

Three successive committees toiled over how best to represent this new nation symbolically. Understandably, it was a monumental task to establish these symbols depicting core characteristics of the new country, as they would be embossed on every piece of U.S. currency, the seal of presidential correspondence, and used throughout the military insignias. When the early renditions of the seal were reviewed by Franklin, he joked that the artistry of

Myth: Betsy Ross sewed the first American Flag. As noted in the Colonial Williamsburg journal, this tale was told by her grandson William Canby. In 1870, he publically shared the story about how Ross was pivotal in designing and sewing the nation’s flag after some delegates from Congress came into her Philadelphia shop. George Washington, a family friend and frequenter of her shop, was among the delegates. He introduced Ross to a draft as to what the flag could resemble. As a practiced seamstress Ross was quick to note that a fivepointed star would be more agreeable than a six-pointed star, simply because of a sewing technique. As the story continues, Washington revised the drawing on the spot and then commissioned Ross to prepare the flag. She began the work in 1776, a year before Congress passed the flag resolution on July 14, 1777.

However, prior to Ross’ involvement and commission, other flags flew as the inaugural American flag, including on the battlefield. The earliest flag was designed by the Sons of Liberty who made a simple flag of alternating red and white stripes, varying in size, to symbolize colonial unity. It was unique in design as it could have been displayed

The earliest flag was designed by the Sons of Liberty who made a simple flag of alternating red and white stripes, varying in size, to symbolize colonial unity.

horizontally or vertically. This may have been one reason why we have red and white stripes as a core part of the flag design today. A second flag under which soldiers fought, according to Drexel University, was similar to the Sons of Liberty flag with smaller red and white stripes, but it had the British union jack in the upper left corner. These two specific flag designs and colors may have had an impact on our final stars and stripes.

Myth: Paul Revere warned Concord that the British were coming.

We all know Paul Revere’s famous ride, but did he alone warn that the British were coming? Not quite. On April 18, 1775, Revere rode from Boston to Lexington to alert Samuel Adams and John Hancock that British Regulars were heading to Concord to seize or destroy military stockpiles. Along the way, he warned residents from Medford to Lexington.

He later joined forces with William Dawes and Samuel Prescott. While Revere was captured on the outskirts of Concord, Prescott managed to reach Concord and deliver the crucial warning. So, while Revere played a key role, he wasn’t the lone hero of that night.

Myth: The Declaration of Independence Was Signed on July 4.

In this case, the devil is in the details. The Fourth of July marks America’s independence, but the Declaration wasn’t signed on that day. The Congress received a draft statement of independence for the colonies on July 3rd. The discussion took two days and on the afternoon of July 4th, after some revisions, the final text of the Declaration was adopted but not signed by Congress, therefore not yet official. According to the National archives, Timothy Matlack, a clerk in the Pennsylvania State House was

the scribe charged with the task of taking quill to parchment. It took 28 days for Matlack to properly prepare the document. On August 2, 1776, Congressional delegates signed the document. Interestingly they signed following the custom that signatures were listed in order of state by location, beginning with the northernmost New Hampshire to the southernmost Georgia. Therefore, it was not until August 2nd that the Declaration of Independence became official. These myths offer a glimpse into the complexities and nuances of early American history. By unraveling these fables, we gain a deeper appreciation for the true stories that shaped the nation.

Anne Lehmann is a business consultant, journalist, and freelance writer. She has written for the Boston Globe and a number of other metro west publications.

MAKE LIFE MORE DELICIOUS!

At Fiorella’s we put our passion for life and our love for hospitality into everything we do. Life is flavored by sweet moments, and we truly want you to cherish them all. Bring life’s best ingredients together with the ones you love, and savor every bite.

CONCORD & Surrounding Areas

WHERE TO SHOP

Acton

The Bee’s Knees British Imports 566 Massachusetts Ave

First Rugs 13 Great Rd

Concord Center

Albright Art Supply 32 Main St

Artinian Jewelry 39 Main St

Artisans Way 18 Walden St

Barrow Bookstore 79 Main St

Best of British 29 Main St

Blue Dry Goods 16 Walden St

Bobbi Benson Antiques 25 Walden St

Brine Sporting Goods 69 Main St

The Cheese Shop 29 Walden St

Comina 9 Walden St

Concord Bookshop 65 Main St

Concord Lamp and Shade 21 Walden St

Concord Market

Lowell Rd

The Concord Toy Box 32 Main St

Concord Walking Tours 79 Main St

Copper Penny Flowers 9 Independence Court

The Dotted i 1 Walden St

Fairbank & Perry Goldsmiths 32 Main St

Footstock 46 Main St

Fritz & Gigi 79 Main St

French Lessons 8 Walden St

George Vassel Jewelry

Main St

Gräem Nuts and Chocolate 49 Main St

Grasshopper Shop

Irresistibles

J McLaughlin

Jack + Toba

Lucy Lacoste Gallery

Nesting

North Bridge Antiques

Patina Green

Priscilla Candy Shop

Main St

Walden St

Walden St

Walden St

Main St

Main St

Walden St

Main St

Walden St

Revolutionary Concord 32 Main St

Rewind Estate Watches

Sara Campbell Ltd

Tess & Carlos

Thistle Hill

Thoreauly Antiques

Three Stones Gallery

Vanderhoof Hardware

Walden Liquors

Walden Street Antiques

Area Farms

Hutchins Farm

Scimone Farm

Verrill Farm

Thoreau Depot

ATA Cycles

Period Furniture Hardware

Main St

Main St

Main St

Walden St

Main St

Main St

Walden St

Walden St

Thoreau St

Thoreau St

West Concord

Barefoot Books 23 Bradford St

Belle on Heels 23 Commonwealth Ave

Bloom Floral Studio 10 Commonwealth Ave

Clay Art + Concept 114 Commonwealth Ave

Concord Firefly 33 Commonwealth Ave

Concord Flower Shop 135 Commonwealth Ave

Concord Outfitters 113 Commonwealth Ave

Debra’s Natural Gourmet 98 Commonwealth Ave

Doe + Fawn 105 Commonwealth Ave

Joy Street Life + Home 49 Commonwealth Ave

Lawless Upholstery 119 Commonwealth Ave

Loveday 115 Commonwealth Ave

Potager Soap Company 152 Commonwealth Ave

Puck and Abby 84a Commonwealth Ave

Reflections 101 Commonwealth Ave

Vintages 53 Commonwealth Ave

West Concord Wine & Spirits 1215 Main St

WHERE TO EAT

Concord Center

Caffè Nero 55 Main St

Comella’s 33 Main St

Concord’s Colonial Inn 48 Monument Square

Fiorella’s Cucina 24 Walden St

Haute Coffee 12 Walden St

Helen’s Restaurant 17 Main St

Main Streets Market & Café 42 Main St

Sally Ann’s Bakery & Food Shop 73 Main St

Thoreau Depot

80 Thoreau 80 Thoreau St

Bandoleros 195 Sudbury Rd.

Bedford Farms Ice Cream 68 Thoreau St

Dunkin’ 117 Thoreau St

Farfalle Italian Market Café 26 Concord Crossing

Karma Concord Asian Fusion 105 Thoreau St

New London Style Pizza 71 Thoreau St

Sorrento’s Brick Oven Pizzeria 58 Thoreau St

Starbucks 159 Sudbury Rd

West Concord

Adelita 1200 Main St

Club Car Café 20 Commonwealth Ave

Concord Teacakes 59 Commonwealth Ave

Dino’s Kouzina & Pizzeria 1135 Main St

Dunkin’ 1191 Main St

Nashoba Brook Bakery 152 Commonwealth Ave

Saltbox Kitchen 84 Commonwealth Ave

Walden Italian Kitchen 92 Commonwealth Ave

West Village Tavern 13 Commonwealth Ave

Woods Hill Table 24 Commonwealth Ave

WHERE TO STAY

Concord Center

Concord’s Colonial Inn 48 Monument Sq

North Bridge Inn 21 Monument Sq

West Concord

Residence Inn by Marriott 320 Baker Ave

Appleton Design Group

The Attias Group

Barefoot Books

Concord Flower Shop

Concord Teacakes

Debra’s Natural Gourmet

Dunkin’ (two locations)

Puck and Abby

Reflections

Verrill Farm

Vintages

Photo courtesy of John Collins

“I do plead not guilty.”

~ Mary Bradbury

LLike the greased loops on a hangman’s dropped noose, the lives of Concord writers Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Louisa May Alcott are forever tightly bound together by a tale of witchcraft that began as follows:

February 8, 1601: Led by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, a plot to overthrow the government of Queen Elizabeth I and seize London was thwarted by the Queen who, with only a moment’s notice of the impending attack, sent armed soldiers into the street to meet her traitorous subjects. Conspirators scattered, and measures were taken to hide their actions. Letters of correspondence discussing what is today called “Essex’s Rebellion” were thrown into fires, burning to nothing at 451 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature realm at which paper burns.

Among the conspirators was Englishman Ferdinando Gorges. To save himself, Gorges shape-shifted into a rat and testified against his cohorts. Forgiven, Gorges regained favor with the Royal Court, was knighted, and became Governor of Plymouth, England. In 1622 and 1639, he was granted a land patent and Royal Charter to settle and govern

The Unhanged Witch

BY JAIMEE LEIGH JOROFF

the Province of Maine in the New World. Sir Gorges tried to sail to Maine but, upon launching from England, his ship fell over in the harbor and he never made it, relying instead on a team of agents to represent him in the colonies.

Sir Gorges’ agents included English-born Thomas Bradbury, who appeared in Maine in 1636. Bradbury’s reputation and connections in Maine were wide, as was the region; it was too remote for Bradbury, so he relocated to the neighboring Massachusetts Bay Colony and became a founder of Salisbury.

Thomas Bradbury settled in Salisbury with his new bride, Mary Ellen Perkins. The Bradburys lived on Mudnock Road next to another early town settler, George Carr. For the next several decades, George Carr and his children, including James, John, Richard, and Ann, watched with envy as their neighbors became one of the leading families in the town. Thomas Bradbury was a town clerk, magistrate, and Captain of the Militia. Mary was known for her benevolence and piety. Everyone loved the perfect Bradburys and their perfect eleven children, including widow Rebecca Wheelwright

whom James Carr was courting but who gave her hand instead to William Bradbury, Mary’s middle son.

Spurned, James Carr fell under a protracted unknown ailment, his distress lingering for years as William and Rebecca lived the life that should have been his.

A series of other disputes between the Bradburys and Carrs festered, ending for George Carr and his son John when they died but continuing with Ann Carr when she married Thomas Putnam, moved thirty miles to Salem Village and had a daughter named Ann Putnam Jr.

February 1692: Led by accusations from young girls, including Ann Putnam Jr., witch hysteria exploded in Salem Village. Massachusetts Governor William Phips appointed a special Court of well-regarded men to investigate the claims. Judges included John Hathorne and Samuel Sewall.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson later wrote in his essay “History,” “A Salem hanging of witches” began.

May 1692: Ann Putnam Jr. and members of the Carr family accused Mary Bradbury of witchcraft. Despite Thomas’ protestations,

77-year-old Mary was arrested and carted away to the cramped Salem jail to await trial.

September 1692: Mary was forced to stand in the docket before the special Court. Ann Putnam Jr. took the stand, swearing that she believed “Mistress Bradbury the most dreadful witch.” Next, James Carr testified, seizing his “it’s not me, it’s you” moment. It was her, Mary Bradbury, who had made his desired bride, Rebecca Wheelwright, turn her heart to William Bradbury, Mary’s son. Mary had also used her devilish arts to inflict a sickness upon him and later appeared to him as a cat, paralyzing him in his bed.

Richard Carr joined the accusers, swearing that, years ago, he had seen Mary Bradbury shape-shift into a blue boar that darted below the hooves of their father’s horse, attempting to harm horse and rider. The Carrs also blamed Mary Bradbury for the death of their brother John. She was a witch, a murderer, and a tormenter—not-so-perfect now!

Despite her pleas of innocence and a petition signed by over a hundred Salisbury residents in her defense, the Court found Mary guilty and sentenced her to hang.

Around the same time, five other women were sentenced to the same fate. One confessed and was spared; the other four went to the gallows. But Mary disappeared. What happened is the subject of speculation, but one tale that is supported

by Catherine Moore, a descendant of Mary Bradbury, suggests that Thomas Bradbury bribed the jailor, put Mary in a cart, covered her with hay, and drove her up to Maine to wait out the witch hysteria.

What is known for sure is that convicted witch Mary Bradbury escaped the noose, survived the Salem witch trials, and returned home to Salisbury where she died in her home of old age in 1700. In 1711, the Massachusetts General Court officially exonerated Mary Bradbury of all charges. Her family was awarded £20 restitution.

In time, Mary Bradbury became the 4th-great-grandmother of Concord writer Ralph Waldo Emerson. And, via her son William, the 7th-great-grandmother of famed American science fiction writer Ray Bradbury. Bradbury is best remembered for his novel Fahrenheit 451 about a dystopian society that was on a witch hunt to burn books and extinguish independent thought.

For the judges of the Salem witch trials, however, there was no covering their roles in extinguishing the lives of twenty “witches.”

In the years following the trials, Judge Sewall’s family suffered tragedies that led Sewall to believe God was punishing him. Wracked with guilt, in 1697 Sewall publicly apologized for his actions in the Salem witch trials, earning him the nickname “The Repenting

Judge.” He became an early anti-slavery advocate in Massachusetts and passed on his abolitionist spirit to his third-greatgranddaughter, Louisa May Alcott.

Despite having earned the nickname “the hanging judge” for his propensity to hang everyone— even if an accuser recanted— Justice John Hathorne did not repent. His second-great-grandson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, believed a generational curse had been placed on his family as penance for “the hanging judge’s” shame. To distance himself, Nathaniel added the “w” to his surname. Yet Nathaniel did not distance his writing from the witch hysteria; instead, he “suffered a witch to live,” weaving tales of witches, dark arts, and early New England history into his tales, some of which were written at the Old Manse in Concord. Tales such as Feathertop, where a scorned witch seeks revenge, The Hollow of the Three Hills, where a young woman plays a dangerous game with an old crone, and The May-Pole of Merry Mount, a tale of a strange man who had once been an agent for Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the man with whom this tale began on a paper-burning night that tied all these characters to Mary Bradbury, the unhanged witch.

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.

For a list of sources, email barrowbookstore@gmail.com.

Historic Ironwork and Hidden Paths: The Buttrick Gardens Restoration

BY KATHLEEN FAHEY

TThe Buttrick Gardens at Minute Man National Historical Park look better than ever after several years of hardscape preservation projects that enhance the natural beauty of the historic gardens. Owned by the Buttrick family from the colonial period until the 1960s, the gardens were installed and expanded by three generations of the Buttrick family from 1911 to 1962, when they conveyed the property to the National Park Service. The park recently rehabilitated the historic ironwork in the gardens, returning it to its former glory. The Buttrick Gardens include many fine examples of early to mid-twentieth-century wrought-iron gates, balustrades, and railings. The high-style ironwork is beautiful and functional, providing an elegant solution to the many steep overlooks and terraces that offer stunning views of the Concord River and the North Bridge. The black-painted wrought iron, with its curving scrolls and floral motifs, complements the garden’s colorful blooms from spring through fall and provides a lovely contrast to snowfall in winter. Preservation efforts included repairs, replacing missing elements, sanding, priming, and repainting the ironwork so that it will continue to adorn the gardens for years to come.

The ironwork preservation project also uncovered a few secrets in the Buttrick Gardens, including reclaimed gates and a secret pathway near the sunken garden. The Buttrick family installed two sets of ornate, arched gates to the sunken garden in the 1930s. One-half of the east gate had been missing for many years; staff member Margie Brown retrieved it from storage in a nearby park building. It is now restored and installed in the sunken gardens, welcoming visitors to pass through and explore the adjoining terrace garden.

The area beyond the west gates, locked for many years, revealed a secret bluestone pathway discovered and unearthed by one of our summer garden interns. As David Griffith explains, “Shortly after I started clearing the debris, all of a sudden, my shovel hit a stone. I kept digging, and before long, I had discovered an old pathway in the garden that had long been buried!”

With the pathway revealed and restored, visitors may now experience the Buttrick gardens uninterrupted, from the west slope garden to the sunken garden to the east

All images © Kathleen Fahey

View of the historic Buttrick Gardens through the elegant 1930s wrought-iron gate. Wrought iron is remarkably strong, long-lasting, and more resistant to weather compared to cast iron. Wrought iron’s composition and manufacturing process lends itself to the scrollwork designs seen in the garden gate.

terraces. Like many historic gardens of the twentieth century, the Buttrick Gardens comprise a series of interconnected garden “rooms” to explore. The stately ironwork helps to delineate each garden room and provides an intimate setting.

The ironwork restoration follows the brick, bluestone, and cobblestone pathway preservation project completed in the past few years. After a hundred years of use, many walkways had settled, were uneven, or contained broken stones. The preservation project included resetting, stabilizing, and replacing cracked stones, resulting in improved walking surfaces for visitors. The

park hired skilled artisans to retain the historic integrity of the gardens while preserving the pathways and the project received a preservation award from the Town of Concord Historic Preservation Committee.

We welcome you to visit the newly restored Buttrick Gardens and discover all they have to offer. Whether you are looking for a spot to meet friends, a place for quiet contemplation, or as an inspiration for your next art project, the Buttrick Gardens are a must-see in Concord. The gardens are located at 174 Liberty Street, next to the North Bridge Visitor Center at Minute Man National Historical Park; they are free and open from dawn to dusk, year-round.

Kathleen Fahey is the Executive Director of the Friends of Minute Man National Park. Before joining the Friends of Minute Man in 2019, Kathleen Fahey spent over 20 years as a curator and material culture historian at local historical sites and has a background in landscape and garden history.

View of the sunken garden in the historic Buttrick Gardens. Spring blooms include yellow iris, white peony, pink foxglove, and blue delphinium.

LEFT: View of the Concord River from Buttrick Gardens overlook. The North Bridge and Minute Man statue are visible in the background. This wrought iron railing includes floral elements made of iron that were pressed in a mold and then welded to the railing. This railing appears in photographs from the early 1940s.

Donation information:

The Friends of Minute Man is the park’s non-profit partner and a proud supporter of the Buttrick Gardens.

Your donation to the Friends of Minute Man Buttrick Gardens Fund provides seasonal maintenance, removal of invasive species, rejuvenation of historic plants, and reestablishing native pollinators. Visit FriendsofMinuteman.org/ Buttrick-Gardens to donate online or mail a check to The Friends of Minute Man National Park at 174 Liberty Street, Concord, MA.

ABOVE:

West Concord is the Place to Be this Fall for Family Fun!

WWest Concord is embracing Fall fun, with events and activities for the whole family this year. From music and arts to the village’s biggest annual birthday bash, you won’t want to miss the chance to discover what makes West Concord such a vibrant place for shopping, eating, and exploring.

Get in touch with your musical side on Saturday, September 7 from 1-3pm at the Concord Conservatory of Music with their Discovery Day Open House. Both kids and adults can explore different instruments and even enjoy a 30-minute demo class at this free event. 1317 Main Street in West Concord. More at ConcordConservatory.org/events/ open-house

The foundation of Discover West Concord Day (October 19 from 10-3) is the annual birthday bash for Debra’s Natural Gourmet. This tradition is now in its 35th year and the whole community jumps in to make it an event to remember! Like any great party, it’s more fun with friends, so please come out to join us. You are warmly invited to be a

part of a fun-filled day of celebrating the character, charm, and family fun vibe that makes this part of town so special.

Activities include sidewalk sales, arts and crafts, face painting, pumpkin decorating, food from a dazzling array of vendors (as Adam Stark, owner of Debra’s Natural Gourmet says, “it’s free – really – just come down and enjoy!”), live music, and even games and nontoxic nail painting for the kiddos. Plus, there is birthday cake and a raffle with thousands of dollars’ worth of gift baskets. It’s truly an event you don’t want to miss.

Concord Flower Shop has pumpkin decorating fun for kids and adults alike. Reflections holds a sidewalk sale with some of their best prices of the year. Potager Soap does a workshop where kids can make their own bath bomb. Art for All is always up to something fun to spark your creative energy. And many other merchants offer product demonstrations, samples, and great deals.

After a fun day of exploring, stop into one of West Concord’s delicious eating

establishments for a refreshing break. From the casual vibe of Adelita’s, Saltbox Kitchen, Concord Teacakes, or West Concord Village Tavern to the elegant farm-to-table options at Woods Hill Table, there is something for everyone’s taste. Prefer to head home and relax? Stop into Vintages or West Concord Wine and Spirits for the perfect pairing.

Looking ahead to November, be sure to mark your calendars for the annual Early Bird Sale, November 23 (the Saturday before Thanksgiving). Starting at 5am until 9am, Debra’s Natural Gourmet offers 20% off everything – including sale items. This lighthearted morning brings neighbors together for a fun celebration. Show up in your pajamas, and you’ll be treated to a free muffin.

For an up-to-date listing of events in West Concord, visit DiscoverConcordMA.com/events

*This article made possible with the support of the West Concord Business Community

© Maia Kennedy Photography

Courtesy of Debra’s Natural Gourmet

© Maia Kennedy Photography

Cider Donuts & Pumpkin Patches: Autumnal Rites of Passage in New England

BY DAVID ROSENBAUM

Autumn is a special time in New England. For my family, September means an excursion to a local orchard for apple picking, apple cider, and apple donuts. Then in October, it is off to the farm for pumpkin picking.

AFor anyone who is new to New England, or somehow has never had a cider donut, let me tell you these are a delicious fall treat! The best donuts are fresh from the fryer, covered in cinnamon sugar. They have a delicate crust and a warm, bready interior that is redolent of apple cider and cinnamon. When you bite into one of these treats, it is heavenly. Yum!

If you feel inspired to make your own donuts, you can find good recipes on the internet. But why do that when there are so many great options right in the Concord area? You could buy cider donuts at the supermarket, but for my money, the best place is the local apple orchard or farm stand. Concord’s own Verrill Farm has delicious cider donuts, as well as a variety of pumpkins: large and small, white or yellow, oblong or round, and anything in between! Millbrook Farm is another great choice for cider donuts, as well as mums and other fall flowers - just down the road from the Concord Museum.

Farm in neighboring Lexington has award-winning cider donuts, made fresh onsite each weekend in the early fall. Great options also abound in nearby towns like Stow or Bolton where apple orchards are a legacy of Johnny Appleseed. Of the self-pick orchards in the Concord area, Shelburne Farm and Honeypot Hill Orchard are two of my favorites for cider donuts, especially with some freshly pressed, hot, cider. Or you can visit a slew of other farms in neighboring towns. We have a list of options for you on the next page.

As October rolls into Concord and the days and nights become even cooler, Halloween is just around the corner. Pumpkins, whether carved into beautiful jack-o-lanterns or displayed in your yard, are a true symbol of fall. These wonderful gourds fulfil the purpose of food, decoration, and even punch bowls for many of us. Pick-your-own pumpkin farms are close by and welcome the whole family, so bring the kids, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.

Wherever you go, make sure you stop by the farm stand after you finish your pumpkin picking to get some fresh baked goods, cider, or other farm produce.

You may want to plan out your visit to pick apples around your favorite varieties. Many of the orchards in the area post a schedule of which weeks are the best for the varieties they offer. Your favorite apple may only be available for a short time! Plan ahead to pick your faves! Have a wonderful fall!

David Rosenbaum is a Concord resident. When he’s not enjoying cider donuts and seeking the perfect pumpkin, his day job is Solutions Engineer for Kaltura, Inc.

Resources:

Mass Department of Agriculture

Pick your Own finder: https://massnrc.org/farmlocator/ map.aspx?Type=PYO%20(Pick%20 Your%20Own)

Cider Donut recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/ recipe/235088/apple-ciderdoughnuts/

DIY Pumpkin punchbowl: https://www.liquor.com/articles/ pumpkin-punch-bowl/

Wilson

© Wilson Farm

Cider Donuts at Wilson Farm

Where to look for delicious cider donuts near Concord:

Belkin Family Lookout Farm 89 Pleasant Street, Natick lookoutfarm.com (508) 651-1539

Carlson Orchards 115 Oak Hill Road, Harvard carlsonorchards.com (978) 456-3916

Carver Hill Orchard 101 Brookside Avenue, Stow carverhillorchard.com (978) 897-6117

Derby Ridge Farm 438 Great Road, Stow derbyridgefarm.com (978) 897-7507

Barrett’s Mill Farm

449 Barrett’s Mill Road, Concord barrettsmillsfarm.com (978) 254-5609

Brigham Farm Stand & Greenhouses

82 Fitchburg Turnpike, Concord brighamfarmconcordma.com (978) 287-4334

Carlson Orchards

115 Oak Hill Road, Harvard carlsonorchards.com (978) 456-3916

Carver Hill Orchard

101 Brookside Avenue, Stow carverhillorchard.com (978) 897-6117

Doe Orchards 327 Ayer Road, Harvard doeorchards.com (978) 772-4139

Drew Farm 31 Tadmuck Road, Westford drewfarm.com (978) 807-0719

Farmer Dave’s at Hill Orchard 4 Hunt Rd, Westford facebook.com/ westfordhillorchard (978) 392-4600

Honey Pot Hill Orchard 138 Sudbury Road, Stow honeypothill.com (978) 562-5666

Clark Farm

201 Bedford Road, Carlisle clarkfarmmarket.com (978) 254-5427

Colonial Gardens Florist & Greenhouses

442 Fitchburg Turnpike, Concord colonialgardensflorist.com (978) 369-2554

Derby Ridge Farm 438 Great Road, Stow derbyridgefarm.com (978) 897-7507

Doe Orchards

327 Ayer Road, Harvard doeorchards.com (978) 772-4139

Dowse Orchard

30 Rockwood Street, Sherborn dowseorchards.com (508) 653-2639

Honey Pot Hill Orchard 138 Sudbury Road, Stow honeypothill.com (978) 562-5666

Hutchins Farm 754 Monument Street, Concord hutchinsfarm.com (978) 369-5041

Millbrook Farm 215 Cambridge Tpke, Concord (978) 429-3250

Nicewicz Family Farm 116 Sawyer Road, Bolton nicewiczfamilyfarm.com (978) 779-6423

Old Frog Pond Farm 38 Eldridge Road, Harvard oldfrogpondfarm.com (978) 456-9616

Schartner Farm

279 West Berlin Road, Bolton schartnerfarm.com (978) 779-6293

Shelburne Farm 106 West Acton Road, Stow shelburnefarm.com (978) 897-9287

Verrill Farm 11 Wheeler Road, Concord verrillfarm.com (978) 369-4494

Westward Orchards Farm Store 178 Massachusetts Ave. (Rt. 111), Harvard westwardorchards.com (978) 456-8363

Wilson Farm 10 Pleasant Street, Lexington wilsonfarm.com (781) 862-3900

Marshall Farm 171 Harrington Ave, Concord marshallfarm.com (978) 369-4069

Millbrook Farm 215 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord (978) 429-3250

Nashoba Valley Winery Orchard & J’s Restaurant 100 Wattaquadoc Hill Road, Bolton nashobawinery.com (978) 779-5521

Nicewicz Family Farm 116 Sawyer Road, Bolton nicewiczfamilyfarm.com (978) 779-6423

Old Frog Pond Farm 38 Eldridge Road, Harvard oldfrogpondfarm.com (978) 456-9616

Rotondo Farm

737 Bedford Street, Concord Schartner Farm 279 West Berlin Road, Bolton schartnerfarm.com (978) 779-5588

Scimone’s Farm 505 Old Bedford Road, Concord (978) 337-8504

Shelburne Farm 106 West Acton Road, Stow shelburnefarm.com (978) 897-9287

Sunshine Farm 41 Kendall Avenue, Sherborn sunshinefarmma.com (508) 655-5022

Verrill Farm 11 Wheeler Road, Concord verrillfarm.com (978) 369-4494

The Walden Woods Project Farm 1047 Concord Turnpike, Concord walden.org/property/ the-farm-at-walden-woods (978) 369-2724

Westward Orchards Farm Store 178 Massachusetts Ave. (Rt. 111), Harvard westwardorchards.com (978) 456-8363

T HREE S TONES G ALLERY

Jennifer Johnston

Jonathan MacAdam

Colleen Pearce

Stewards of the Battlefield

FROM THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

EEarly this year, National Park Service archeologists working at Minute Man National Historical Park discovered five musket balls that were fired during the world-changing event known as “The Shot Heard Round the World” on April 19, 1775.

Early analysis of the 18th-century musket balls indicates they were fired by colonial militia members at British forces during the North Bridge fight. The North Bridge battle site in Concord, Massachusetts, is a key location within Minute Man NHP and marks the moment when provincial militia leaders ordered members to fire upon their own government’s soldiers for the first time. The event was later termed “The Shot Heard Round the World” by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his 1837 “Concord Hymn” because it immediately escalated an already boiling conflict between colonial rebels and British forces.

The musket balls were found in an area where, according to contemporary accounts, British soldiers formed up to resist the river crossing. Further analysis of the musket balls indicates that each one was fired from the opposite side of the river and not dropped during the process of reloading.

“It’s incredible that we can stand here and hold what amounts to just a few seconds of history that changed the world almost 250 years ago,” said Minute Man Park Ranger and historic weapons specialist Jarrad Fuoss. “These musket balls can be considered collectively as ‘The Shot Heard Round the World,’ and it is incredible that they have survived this long. It is also a poignant reminder that we are all stewards of this battlefield and are here to preserve and protect our shared history.”

The North Bridge musket ball discovery opens another window to the events of April 19, 1775, and presents the tangible reality citizens of Massachusetts faced nearly 250 years ago. Each year, succeeding generations commemorate the events of that day known collectively as the Battle of Lexington and Concord.

On that day, roughly 800 British soldiers marched from Boston to Concord to destroy military supplies that

colonial rebels had gathered. Thousands of militia members intercepted the British advance thanks to a system of midnight riders who gave warning the night before. Near dawn, a brief encounter between militia members and British soldiers on Lexington Green left eight militia dead and 10 wounded. Once the British Regulars arrived in Concord, a detachment of roughly 200 Redcoats marched over the North Bridge as they headed for the home of Col. James Barrett. British informants believed Barrett had stockpiled military goods on his farm, including several artillery pieces. At the North Bridge, British forces left 96 soldiers to protect the river crossing.

Soon, the number of militia members and local Minute Men grew on the hills northwest of Concord. A plume of smoke rising above the town center spurred the militia into action, as they feared British troops had started to burn the colonists’ homes. The militia loaded their weapons and began to march. As the head of the militia neared the North Bridge, the British soldiers panicked and began firing. Musket balls slammed into the provincial soldiers, and Maj. John Buttrick of Concord issued his famous order: “Fire! Fellow soldiers. For god’s sake, fire!” The militia fired heavily into the British ranks and charged across the bridge. Under heavy gunfire, the British ranks dissolved, and the soldiers retreated to their reinforcements near Concord center. The fighting at the North Bridge lasted less than three minutes; but when the smoke cleared, 18 men lay dead or wounded. Three British soldiers killed in the engagement remain buried in Concord to this day.

To learn about the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution at Minute Man National Historical Park visit: Nps.gov/mima/mima250.htm

Celebrate the life and principles of General Lafayette

Labor Day, September 2 | 3 - 5pm

First Parish Lawn Welcome Lafayette*, along with the Concord Minutemen Fife and Drum.

First Parish Sanctuary Program including speakers and music, featuring: Robert A. Gross, historian

Jen Turner, Robbins House

Wright Tavern Reception and further conversations following the program

Sam Williams, Concord Prison Outreach

Anderson Manuel, First Parish

Please help support us as we transform the Wright Tavern into an Experiential Museum for all to enjoy – please donate today!

* Reenactor

ArtistSpotlight

BY CYNTHIA BAUDENDISTEL

ŠÁRKA BOTNER

Šárka Botner was born and raised in Prague, Czech Republic. Often called the “the city of a hundred spires,” Prague is a stunningly beautiful city where merchants, artists, and inventors have met since the Middle Ages. Raised in this environment, Šárka says, “I believe each of us has a creative code that is hardwired into our imagination. My creative impulses, such as capturing details, restoring frescos, putting brushstrokes on a canvas, and translating three-dimensional spaces into two dimensions, are comforting and exciting. When I paint, all my senses become fully engaged, and I seek the intelligence behind the creative process and the relationship that emerges from it.”

Šárka’s work reflects spaces that are both real and emotional. “I am inspired by the old masters’ realism, the sense of ancientness that comes through recognizable spaces. But I also find significant value in the more contemporary abstraction of a landscape. Often, I am trying to discover that space on the edge – that sweet spot in between – the ambiguity of its shape and form – light and dark - finding the balance between representational and suggestive, the playing and hinting at information, rather than prescribing it too much or too little,” says Šárka.

Šárka recognizes artistry as the basic form from which to explore, engaging all of her senses while seeking the intelligence behind the creative process. Šárka says, “Art gives me the lens through which to interpret and to find the freedom to explore both the inner and outer world where transformation takes place in a captivating and engaging way. Beyond being an artist, as a researcher, clinician, and a philosopher, I enjoy pushing the boundary of human perception and consciousness.”

Find more of Šárka‘s work at SharkaStudio.com, Instagram.com/sharkastudio, Facebook.com/sharkabotner, and Patreon.com/sharkastudio.

I

In this series, we highlight the many artists who contribute to the deep creative culture of Concord. Across town, many organizations are dedicated to uplifting the visual arts and artists through exhibitions, educational programs, performances, and workspace.

North Bridge Abstract

Inside of The Old Manse

Main Street

All images © Šárka Botner

Concord Celebrates the Nobility of Farming at 19th Annual Ag Day

BY MARYBETH KELLY

Would you be strong? Go follow up the plough; Would you be thoughtful? Study fields and flowers; Would you be wise? Take on yourself a vow

To go to school in Natures’ sunny bowers.

Fly from the city; nothing there can charm –Seek wisdom, strength and virtue on a farm.

~ The Farmer’s Every-Day Book, 1853

CConcord’s famed artist, Daniel Chester French, created the iconic Minuteman Statue at The Old North Bridge to honor the place where the American Revolution began in earnest on April 19, 1775. It depicts a farmer leaving his plow to join the patriot forces at the Battle of Concord. “Here once the embattled farmers stood, and fired the shot heard round the world” are the words created by the great sage of Concord, Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose grandfather, the patriot minister William Emerson, stood witness to the bloody skirmish.

Concord Ag Day has its roots in Massachusetts history. In 1794, the country’s first agricultural society was formed. Its activities were centered in Concord beginning in 1820 with the first annual cattle show. Premiums were awarded for the best in various categories of produce, livestock, farm products, handiwork, etc.

In the 1980s, Concord, like many communities in Massachusetts, adopted local “Right to Farm” bylaws in an effort to create public awareness and to highlight the importance of farming as a valued and accepted activity. In 2006, Concord’s Select Board established the Agricultural Committee to serve as a forum for matters of interest to farmers and to advise the Board on how the Town can best support farming. The objective of these bylaws and Board was to protect active farmers from nuisance lawsuits from neighbors who seemed too busy to slow down for tractors. The Board helped to organize the first Ag Day nearly two decades ago. Some of my fondest memories are of weekly

Concord Ag Day is September 7, 2024. For more information, visit: ConcordAgDay.com and follow Concord Farms on Instagram @FarmsofConcord

trips to local farm stands to buy fresh-offthe-stalk corn, mouth-watering tomatoes, and pumpkins perfect for carving. I recall sitting on my dad’s shoulders as a young child, happily batting away flies, and peering into the cow pasture while waiting in line for home-made ice cream. Today, I never miss a chance to stop and wave to the farmers driving their tractors through Concord. This is part of the quiet elegance of a town that honors the noble farmer.

The Annual Concord Ag Day is a fun way to enjoy the land of the transcendentalists. The philosophy of the divinity of nature is a helpful reminder to residents and visitors alike that stopping to smell the roses, and buying local produce, is one of life’s great joys.

With gratitude to the following: Steve, Joan, and Jen Verrill (VerrillFarm.com) Anke Voss, Curator of Special Collections, Concord Free Public Library

Marybeth Kelly is Lead Historic Interpreter for The Trustees of Reservations at The Old Manse Museum. She is the author of Flipping the Script: The Women of The Old Manse and a regular contributor to Discover Concord magazine. She lives and works in her beloved Concord.

Courtesy of the author

Farm tractors 1900s

Arts Around Town

BY CYNTHIA L. BAUDENDISTEL

MUSIC

CONCORD BAND

51 Walden | concordband.org

HOLIDAY POPS

Holiday Pops has been a Concord tradition since 1976! Bring the family and kick off the holiday season. December 9

CONCORD CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC

1317 Main Street | ConcordConservatory.org

PIANO INSPIRATIONS

Don’t miss award-winning pianist Yelena Beriyeva as she performs Brahms’ introspective Klavierstücke, followed by Debussy’s Estampes, inspired by sounds of the middle and far east. The program will conclude with Mussorgsky’s iconic Pictures at an Exhibition. October 25

CONCORD ORCHESTRA

51 Walden | ConcordOrchestra.com

THE CONCORD SONATA

Join Canadian pianist Louise Bessette as she performs The Concord Sonata by Charles Ives Piano Sonata No. 2, “Concord, Mass., 1840-1860”. September 8

RESOLVE

Immerse yourself in music as the Concord Orchestra presents “Resolve,” a program of Johannes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture, Samuel Barber’s Music for a Scene from Shelley, Claude Debussy’s Petite Suite, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2. October 19 - 20

THE UNKNOWABLE

Join the Concord Orchestra for “The Unknowable,” a program of Lili Boulager’s D’un Matin de Printemps, Gerald Finzi’s The Fall of the Leaf, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, Piotr Tchaikovsky’s March Slave, and Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 7. December 6 - 7

Courtesy of Concord Orchestra

Resolve

Jupiter String Quartet

BELLE TERRE

THEATRE

CONCORD PLAYERS

VISUAL ARTS

THREE STONES GALLERY

32 Main Street | threestonesgallery.com

EDGE OF DREAMS

Welcome fall with works by Patti Ganek whose exuberant painting style redefines still lives. Guest artist Natasha Dikareva exhibits surreal sculptures that seem like conduits to another universe where meditative contemplation resides. Inspired by the Japanese tradition of kintsugi (mending with gold), artist Lyca Blume presents abstract acrylic paintings with gold leaf evoking healing of the psyche through dream fragments. September 11October 20 (Reception: September 21)

Beautiful Lands or “Belle Terre” focuses around three artists whose work draws directly from the Earth. Jonathan MacAdam captures the memory of a place and the tranquility of standing in a mesmerizing New England landscape, where the splendor of the sky is palpable. Jennifer Johnston presents her photographic series of light infused flowing water and hardened rock, and Colleen Pearce exhibits joyful and fluid interpretations of geological formations and plantlife, using oil on yupo. October 23 - November 24 (Reception: November 2)

BENEFIT FOR OARS

Three Stones Gallery will host a benefit for OARS, a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect, improve, and preserve the Sudbury, Assabet, and Concord Rivers, their tributaries and watersheds, for public recreation, water supply, and wildlife habitat. Learn more at Oars3Rivers.org. October 26

ARTISANS WAY

18 Walden Street | artisansway.net

NATIVE AMERICAN JEWELRY AND CRAFT SHOW

Don’t miss the 9th anniversary of this cherished showcase of exceptional work from Native American artists, including animal fetishes, jewelry, and pottery. October 19 - 20

51 Walden Street | concordplayers.org

HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE

Winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this darkly humorous play tells the tale of a woman’s complicated relationship with her charismatic uncle as she discovers family secrets, navigates growing pains, and develops her own sense of right and wrong. November 8 - 23

THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER

40 Stow Street | TheUmbrellaArts.org NETWORK

Don’t miss this provocative new multimedia stage adaptation of a cinematic masterpiece. The 1976 film dominated the Academy Awards and was a prophetic masterpiece. Nearly 50 years later, the story remains relevant as the world grapples with truth, authenticity, and the search for meaning in a digital age. September 20 – November 3

NOW. HERE. THIS.

A musical jaunt full of humor, heart, and selfdiscovery that reminds us of the importance of life’s simple moments and the power of human connection. October 4 - November 10

Courtesy of Three Stones Gallery

Natasha Dikareva. You are in My Heart

Jennifer Johnston. Catskills II

Courtesy of Three Stones Gallery

Courtesy of Artisans Way

Courtesy of Concord Players

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Create art from the beautiful autumn leaves with these kid-friendly fall activities!

AUTUMN LEAVES SUNCATCHER

YOU’LL NEED:

• sheet protectors

• tissue paper in fall colors

• leaves from outside

• pencil or pen

• scissors

• glue

• tape

Decorate your windows with translucent leaves that let the sun shine through!

LET’S GET STARTED:

1. Take one sheet protector and tear it apart so it lies open like a book. Apply a small amount of glue to one side.

2. Tear the tissue paper into multiple pieces and arrange them to your liking on the glue side of the sheet protector. You may need to apply more glue where the tissue overlaps.

3. Apply glue to the other side of the sheet protector, then fold it over and press down firmly to sandwich the tissue paper. Set it aside to dry.

4. While the protector dries, go outside and collect leaves of different shapes and sizes.

5. Use the leaves you gathered and trace them onto the dried sheet protector. Carefully cut the leaf shapes out.

6. Tape the completed suncatchers to your window, or use a hole puncher and string to make a mobile or bunting!

After tracing and cutting your suncatchers, you can make smaller ones with the leftover pieces.

Illustrations adapted from Listen, Listen (Barefoot Books), written by Phillis Gershator and illustrated by Alison Jay

Tip

LEAF RUBBINGS

YOU’LL NEED:

• leaves

• clipboard (optional)

• white paper

• string

LET’S GET STARTED:

1 . Look around your garden or near where you live for a wide variety of leaves. Autumn is a great time for this, but you can do this activity at any time of year. The best leaves for this activity will have veins that stick out on the bottom, so make sure you turn them over to check for those. Collect around 5 leaves as different from one another as possible.

2. Place all of your leaves on a clipboard if you have one or any hard surface, such as a table. Arrange the leaves in a way that you like, then place your paper on top of the leaves.

PRESSED-LEAF CANDLES

YOU’LL NEED:

• basket

• leaves

• 2 pieces of plain paper

• 4 big, heavy books

• paintbrush

• glue

• plain candle

• large cooking pot

Leaves come in all shapes, sizes, and textures. Let’s gather a pile of different leaves and use them to make something beautiful! Use fallen leaves to make beautiful candles, which can be wonderful decorations or gifts.

• hot plate or stove (for an adult helper)

• knife (for an adult helper)

• 0.5 lb paraffin wax (available in craft stores)

• tin can larger than the candle

• pliers

• wax paper

3. With one hand, hold down your paper on top of your leaves, so it can’t move. With the other hand, pick up a peeled crayon. Turn it on its side, then put the flat edge down on your paper. Rub the crayon on the paper, over the leaves. You should start to see the shape of the leaves coming through!

4 . Use as many different crayons as you like to make each leaf look different, or for different parts of the paper. Keep going until you love how your Leaf Rubbings look!

You can take a Leaf Rubbing, cut around the shape of the leaf, then glue it onto a piece of card to make a birthday card, bookmark, scrapbook decoration, or anything else you’d like!

LET’S GET STARTED:

1. Go into the garden and collect a basketful of fallen leaves of different shades. Look for leaves that have fallen but still look whole and healthy.

2. Place the leaves between your 2 pieces of paper. Then place your 2 pieces of paper inside the pages of one of the heavy books. Place the remaining books on top.

3. In about 2 days, your leaves should be dry and flat. Take them out of the book, paint glue onto the backs of your leaves, and stick them to your candle.

4. Ask an adult to fill the large cooking pot about two-thirds full with water, warming it over a low heat.

Adult Helper Needed!

5. While the water is heating up, ask the adult to use the knife to chop up the paraffin wax.

6. Place the chopped wax into the tin can and rest it in the pot. Allow the wax to melt.

7. Once the wax has melted, ask an adult to use the pliers to hold the candle by the wick, dip it into the paraffin wax, and pull it out.

8. Place the candle on the wax paper to allow it to dry. As it dries, press in any leaf parts that are sticking out. Be very careful; the candle might still be hot.

9. Once the wax is dry, ask an adult to dip the candle one more time. You’ve now made a Pressed-Leaf Candle!

Text and illustrations adapted from Kids’ Garden (Barefoot Books), written by Whitney Cohen, Life Lab and illustrated by Roberta Arenson

Text and illustrations adapted from Kids’ Garden (Barefoot Books), written by Whitney Cohen, Life Lab and illustrated by Roberta Arenson

A walking tour with a Certified Interpretive Guide is a great way to go deeper into the fascinating history of Concord.

Walking tours also make great gifts – and are a wonderful way to entertain family and out of town guests!

Our tours include: APRIL 19TH

Perfect for the fan of American history LITERARY LUMINARIES

Explore the fascinating Authors Ridge in Sleepy Hollow TWO REVOLUTIONS

Perfect for the group that wants to learn about the American Revolution AND the Transcendentalists

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S CONCORD

Fans of Little Women and Louisa May Alcott won’t want to miss this!

LEGENDS AND LORE

Dive into the lesser-known town tales of Concord! GRAVE DETECTIVES

A family friendly tour exploring the iconography and stories of Old Hill Burying Ground

Book your tour today and walk with us, where history happened!

Historic Concord: Plan Your Visit

Concord has many historic sites of interest. Below is contact information for each, along with their hours of operation. Please check the website before visiting, as sites may be closed on holidays or for private events.

CONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Concordlibrary.org

Main Branch: 129 Main Street (978) 318-3300

Monday: 10 am – 8 pm

Tuesday through Thursday: 9 am – 8 pm

Friday and Saturday: 9 am – 5 pm

Effective Oct 6: Open Sundays 1 pm - 5 pm

Special Collections: 129 Main Street (978) 318-3342

Monday: 10 am – 5 pm

Tuesday through Friday: 9 am – 5 pm

CONCORD MUSEUM

Concordmuseum.org

53 Cambridge Turnpike (978) 369-9763

Tuesday - Sunday: 10 am - 4 pm

Effective Nov 30:

Tuesday - Friday: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Saturday - Sunday: 10 am - 5 pm

CONCORD VISITOR CENTER

Visitconcord.org

58 Main Street (978) 318-3061

Every day: 10 am - 4 pm

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S ORCHARD HOUSE

Louisamayalcott.org

399 Lexington Road (978) 369-4118

Open every day 11 am - 5 pm

Effective Nov 1:

Monday - Friday: 11 am - 3:30 pm

Saturday: 10 am - 5 pm Sunday: 1 pm - 5 pm

MINUTE MAN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

Nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit/ minute-man-visitor-center.htm

250 N. Great Road (Lincoln) (781) 674-1920

Grounds are open year-round from sunrise to sunset. Visitor Center open Wednesday - Sunday: 9 am - 5 pm Closes Oct 31 for the season

THE NORTH BRIDGE & VISITOR CENTER

Nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit/ north-bridge-visitor-center.htm

174 Liberty Street (978) 369-6993

From Sept 3 - mid-November, the view of the bridge is best enjoyed from the scenic overlook at the Buttrick Gardens at the North Bridge Visitor Center. The trail on both sides of the bridge is being improved to correct poor drainage and eroding trail surfaces. Parking capacity at the Monument Street parking lot will also be limited, with spaces available to access the Robbins House. Visitor Center open every day 10 am - 5 pm. Closes Oct 31 for the season

OLD HILL BURYING GROUND

FreedomsWay.org/place/old-hillburying-ground 2-12 Monument Square

THE OLD MANSE

Thetrustees.org/place/the-old-manse 269 Monument Street (978) 369-3909

Check the website or call for hours.

THE RALPH WALDO EMERSON HOUSE

Ralphwaldoemersonhouse.org

28 Cambridge Turnpike (978) 369-2236

Thursday - Saturday: 10 am - 4:30 pm Sunday: 1 pm - 4:30 pm Closes Oct 1 for the season

THE ROBBINS HOUSE Robbinshouse.org

320 Monument Street (978) 254-1745

Fri - Sun: 11 am - 5 pm

Closes Nov 1 for the season

SLEEPY HOLLOW CEMETERY, INCLUDING AUTHORS RIDGE FriendsofSleepyHollow.org 120 Bedford Street (978) 318-3233

SOUTH BRIDGE BOAT HOUSE 469 Main Street (978) 369-9438

Monday through Friday: 10 am - 6 pm

Saturday - Sunday: 9 am - 6 pm Closes December 1

SOUTH BURYING GROUND

Concordma.gov/1958/SouthBurying-Ground Main Street and Keyes Road

WALDEN POND STATE RESERVATION

Mass.gov/locations/waldenpond-state-reservation 915 Walden Street (978) 369-3254

Open daily – see website for hours

THE WAYSIDE

Nps.gov/mima 455 Lexington Road (978) 369-6993

Call for hours and events

TriviaCONCORD

QThe 250th Anniversary of the April 19, 1775, battles of Lexington and Concord is approaching. Test your knowledge of what was happening in the area in the fall of 1774:

1

True or false: In the fall of 1774, Concord residents of European ancestry were considered British subjects.

2

In 1774, if you asked a Concord resident who was their King, they might tell you:

A. King Charles I

B. King George II

C. King George III

D. Something not fit for print

3 In the fall of 1774, who was the Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay?

A. General Thomas Gage

B. John Hancock

C. Thomas Hutchinson

D. William Phips

4 In 1774 you are visiting a friend in Concord who is a supporter of the patriot cause. Sitting by their fireplace, your friend offers you a “dish of Bohea”. Are they offering you:

A. A cup of hot chocolate

B. A cup of tea

C. A bowl of soup

D. A piece of mutton

Questions 5 - 7: Going out, or not?

5You are the mother of five single daughters of marrying age. You live in Concord Center across the street from the tavern of Mr. Taylor (today’s Wright Tavern). On October 11, 1774, you see a large gathering of men arriving in town and heading towards the tavern. You don’t know why they’re here, but the men are well-dressed and include men of standing (and wealth!) that you have seen before. Putting Jane Austen’s future Mrs. Bennet (Pride and Prejudice) to shame, you scream for your daughters to quickly go put on their best caracos. You’re going out! What is a caraco?

A. Silk shoes with turned heels

B. A silk gown

C. Wigs with an updo and curl cascade at the top

D. A fitted jacket that flares at the waist

6As you’re trying to hustle your single daughters out of the house and across the street to meet the eligible gentlemen gathering at Mr. Taylor’s tavern, your youngest and dimmest daughter asks if she should don a sugar-loaf. You say no! What is a sugar-loaf, and why should she not wear it?

A. Pointy undergarments; no, because it will make her look like she’s trying too hard

B. A blue dress whose dye could come from boiling the blue paper in which sugar cones came wrapped; no because, since sugar was expensive, the blue dress color would be a flaunting of wealth.

C. A tall pointy hat; no, because that is so last century!

D. A bread basket; no, because, just, no.

7You’ve finally got your daughters to the door and are about to push them outside when your husband appears, blocks the door and forbids you to leave! Your husband is a loyalist and always wanted a son called “George,” but he is still fond of most of his daughters and, pointing across the street to the tavern, swears, “No daughter of mine will have anything to do with anyone over there!” What is going on across the street? Why are these men assembling in Concord? Are they here for:

A. A meeting with presidential candidate George Washington

B. An assembly of the First Provincial Congress

C. An agricultural meeting to discuss planting local tea plantations

D. Dancing lessons for uncoordinated bachelors

8In

1774, Concord’s Reverend William Emerson was invited to be the Chaplain of the First Provincial Congress. Rev. Emerson lived at The Old Manse and later died during the Revolutionary War after falling ill with camp fever. In 1842, Nathaniel Hawthorne rented The Old Manse where he wrote his short-story collection Mosses from an Old Manse. In it, he described his real-life experience in the Manse which he said, “was haunted.” Hawthorne wrote that “our ghost” did which of the following? Select all that apply:

A. Gave deep sighs

B. Walked around creating the sound of a minister’s silk robe moving

C. Rustled papers as though writing a sermon

D. Wished Hawthorne to edit and publish a chest full of discourses that remained in the attic

La Pieta in Concord Center

Barrow Bookstore Presents:

The Old Manse

1. True. In 1774, loyal or not, Concord residents were considered British subjects.

2. C or D. King George III, or something not fit for print.

3. A. General Thomas Gage. Gage succeeded Governor Thomas Hutchinson who had been governor from March 1771 through May 1774. Following the December 1773 Boston Tea Party, the British royal government lost faith in Hutchinson’s ability to control the Province of Massachusetts, and replaced him with military officer General Thomas Gage.

A4. B. A cup of tea. Beginning in the early 1700s, Bohea tea referred to the finest type of black tea. After the unpopular Tea Act of 1773 led to the boycott of Britishsupplied East India Company teas in Massachusetts, many colonists made their own tea from local herbs. The word “bohea” was so commonly used to refer to tea that it could also have referred to home-grown versions as well as British imported tea (such as the ruined tea sitting in Boston harbor where it was dumped during the Boston Tea Party).

5. D. A caraco is a fitted jacket that flares at the waist.

6. C. A tall pointy hat; no, because that is so last century. Usually black, sugar-loaf hats were worn by men and women from the late 1500s through the mid-1600s.

7. B. An assembly of Massachusetts’ First Provincial Congress. In a proclamation written on the 28th of September 1774, Governor Thomas Gage ordered that due to “recent tumultuous behavior” and “the present disordered and unhappy state of the province” he would not be attending an assembly of elected representatives from Massachusetts and no one else should go either because the patriots were too badly behaved, and it was time for a crackdown and enforcement of British governance. Many Massachusetts elected representatives said “OK, thanks.” and arranged to assemble anyway. Composed of representatives from across the province, an un-sanctioned shadow-government formed, and the first meeting of Massachusetts’ Provincial Congress met in Concord from October 11 - 14, 1774. For a description of what happened at Wright’s Tavern, see Prof. Robert A. Gross’ article “In the Forefront of Revolution: The Massachusetts Provincial Congress” on p. 16.

Concord, MA,and look out for the Manse’s special Halloween tours!

For a list of sources, email barrowbookstore@gmail.com.

8. All of them! But that was not the only ghostly encounter Hawthorne experienced in The Old Manse! Find out more by reading Mosses from an Old Manse. Visit The Old Manse Museum at 269 Monument

For more than 50 years, Barrow Bookstore has been a favorite of residents and visitors alike, specializing in Concord authors and history, children’s books and literature. The shop also provides a wide array of gently read and rare titles ranging from paperbacks to first editions and original manuscripts. Staff members have all worked as tour guides and reenactors in Concord and are happy to share their knowledge about the town and its history. Discover more at barrowbookstore.com.

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Jewelry

A Season of Change

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE WITHERBEE

The colors of Concord in fall are so beautiful they bring a glow to our minds and a smile to our faces. The reds, oranges, and yellows against a green background are emphasized as they reflect in our waterways. The early morning and evening mists soften views such as Gowing Swamp behind St. Bernards Cemetery. The swamp has much vegetation that likes the acidic terrain, such as blueberry bushes that turn red in the fall. The tower at Great Meadows also shows lovely fall colors.

Fall 2024

Advertiser Index

ANTIQUES

17 Bobbi Benson Antiques

65 North Bridge Antiques

17 TriCon Antique Show

ARCHITECTURE, CUSTOM BUILDING AND INTERIOR DESIGN

7 Anderson Landscape Construction and Horticulture Preservation

1 Appleton Design Group

80 CS Bailey Landscaping

37 Driscoll Contracting

9 The Domus Group

64 Inkstone Architects

C3 Platt Builders

ART AND GUITARS

74 Minuteman Guitars

55 Three Stones Gallery

BOOKS AND OTHER MEDIA

28 Barefoot Books

64 Barrow Bookstore

71 The Concord Bookshop

2 Discover Concord

CATERING, RESTAURANTS, AND SPECIALTY FOOD AND WINE SHOPS

78 Adelita

54 The Cheese Shop

59 Concord Teacakes

5 Concord’s Colonial Inn

78 Debra’s Natural Gourmet

59 Dunkin’

40 Fiorella’s Cucina

75 Vintages

14 West Concord Wine & Spirits

55 Woods Hill Pier 4

15 Woods Hill Table

CLOTHING

68 Blue Dry Goods

15 Reflections

65 Sara Campbell

EXPERIENTIAL

59 Concord Museum

24 Concord Players

68 Concord Walking Tours

65 Lexington School of Ballet

45 Revolution 250

74 South Bridge Boathouse

14 The Taste of Concord

21, 39 The Umbrella Stage Co

57 The Wright Tavern

FARMS

61 Hutchin’s Farm

61 Marshall Farm

61 Scimone Farm

23, 61 Verrill Farm

24 Wilson Farm

FLORISTS

71 Concord Flower Shop

HOME FURNISHINGS, DÉCOR, AND UNIQUE GIFTS

75 Artisans Way

54 The Bee’s Knees British Imports

64 First Rugs

68 Nesting

75 Patina Green

15 Puck and Abby

JEWELERS

14 Artinian Jewelry

36 Fairbank & Perry Goldsmiths

65 Merlin’s Silver Star

LODGING

5 Concord’s Colonial Inn

PHILANTHROPHY

71 Concord-Carlisle Community Chest

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

75 Camden Writers

71 Cruise Planners

71 Northeast Numismatics

69 Pierre Chiha Photographers

75 Spotless Cleaning Services

REAL ESTATE

3 The Attias Group

C2 Barrett Sotheby’s Int’l Realty

36 Carleton-Willard Village

C4 Compass

25 Landvest

TOYS

65 Concord Toy Box

VISITOR RESOURCES

74 Concord Visitor Center