History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 140

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 140

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This " newness," as it has been styled, soon domi- nated the village, and found its expression in many forms of the life and society of the town. It gave birth to and encouraged the literary efforts of that generation. Hawthorne wrote his " Mosses from the Old Manse," to which he had brought his bride in 1842, and in which Emerson had written his "Na- ture " a few years earlier. Thoreau wrote and pub- lished his works chiefly about Concord scenes, Chan- ning printed his poems, Alcott his conversations, his daughter Louisa her stories, Mrs. Austin her novels, and others, inspired by these examples, rushed into print till the alcove in the Free Public Library devoted to Concord books is nearly filled. So much of this literary work was done here that a distin- guished state and national officer, when asked by a fellow-traveler in the cars through Concord, “ What was the chief occupation of the villagers ?" promptly replied, "Principally writing for the Atlantic Month- ly." This dwarfed and soon overcame the business and political importance of the town, and although the railroad came here in 1844, the quiet repose of the place was hardly stirred by the locomotives.

One result of Mr. Emerson's address in 1835 should be recorded. The next year the town decided to build a monument at the battle-ground, a matter that had been too long neglected. A fund had ac-

cumulated in the town treasury for this purpose suffi- cient for a modest memorial. This money was origi- nally subscribed in this vicinity for the Bunker Hill Monument Association, which had planned to mark both the earlier battle-grounds of the Revolution with enduring monuments. Finding that the work on Bunker Hill was more than they could accomplish, that Association gave up their plan of building one at Concord and returned a part of the subscriptions to this town. Dr. Ripley, who had gained a title by pos- session to the old road leading to North Bridge, recon- veyed the same to trustees for the purpose of a me- morial.

A simple design was selected by a committee of the town, and from a granite boulder within the original limits of the "six miles square " the mnodest shaft was obtained and placed on the river-bank, where it now stands. The task of framing a suitable inscrip- tion was a difficult one. Several inscriptions had been sent in by persons asked to contribute, and while each had merits, no one exactly suited the committee. Thereupon, they made a composite, taking sentences from such as they approved, and inscribing this on the monument :

" Here, on the 19th of April, 1775, was made the first forcible resistance to British aggression. On the opposite bank stood the American militia. Here stood the Invading Army, and on this spot the first of the enemy fell . in the War of that Revolution which gave Independence to these United States. In gratitude to God and in the love of Freedom, this Monument was erected, A.D. 1836."

For the dedication of this monument July 4, 1837. Mr. Emerson wrote his immortal hymn, that was sung by the assemblage, and is copied below from the original printed slip :

" By the rude bridge that arched the flood, 'Their flag to April's breeze unfurled ; Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world.

" The foe long since in silence slept ; Alike the conqueror silent sleeps, And Time the ruined bridge has swept Down the dark stream that seaward creeps.

" On this green bank, by this soft stream, We place with joy a votive stone,

That memory may their deed redeem, When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

" O Thou who made those heroes dare To die, or leave their children free,-

Bid Time and Nature gently spare The shaft we raise to them and Thee."

A prayer by Rev. Dr. Ripley, then in the eighty-

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

seventh year of his age, and an address by the Hon. Samuel Hoar completed the simple exercises. On the 19th of April, 1838, the four rows of trees lining the avenue to the monument were planted by the towns people.

In 1841 the old meeting-house, built in 1712 and remodeled in 1794, was so changed and altered as to leave no trace of the old structure, either inside or out. The tall, slender spire surmounting the square clock-tower was torn down, and in its place the Gre- cian temple porchi, with the heavy wooden columns, was added. The old square pews and long gallery seats were replaced by modern slips. The high pul- pit, with graceful sounding-board above, gave way to the reading-desk, and those "who knew it so well would know it no more."

The alteration of the church of which he had been minister for sixty-three years was coincident with the death of Dr. Ripley, and his funeral was held in the Orthodox Church, where the Unitarians worshiped during the repairs.

This quiet of Concord was broken in the Presiden- tial campaigns of 1840 and 1844 by mass-meetings of the county, which gathered thousands of voters to renew on this historic spot their patriotism. They were addressed by distinguished speakers brought here from Maine to Georgia, including Webster, Choate, Winthrop, Lawrence, and others of this State. The effect of these on the town subsided when the election was over, and peace reigned.

Again in 1850 the repose of the town was inter- rupted by a union celebration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the battle. At this all the neighbor- ing towns that took part on the 19th of April, 1775, united in commemorating the day. The Legislature and the State officers attended, escorted by the An- cient and Honorable Artillery Company, and listened to the oration delivered by the Hon. Robert Rantoul, of Beverly. This, with the eloquent speeches of Hon. E. R. Hoar, who presided, and of the distin- guished guests at the dinner-tables, was printed by a resolve of the General Court as a legislative docu- ment. The last survivor of Concord fight, Amos Baker, of Lincoln, was present on this occasion, at the great age of ninety-four years and eleven days.

During these quiet years ending in 1860 Concord did some useful work by improving her public grounds, laying out the pleasant Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, establishing a Town Library, building a commodious Town Hall, and organizing various so- cieties that helped in many ways. In agriculture the railroad made a great change from the old general farming to the milk-producing and fruit-raising of the present. This was stimulated by a successful Farmers' Club, of which Hon. Simon Brown was the founder, and the profit of it increased largely by Hon. Ephraim W. Bull's discovery of the Concord Grape, the greatest vegetable improvement of the age. This grape, raised by him from seeds of the native wild

grapc, has extended to the Pacific, and across the Atlantic to Europe, while the mother vinc, from which millions have grown, still lives and bears here.

Through the great Civil War the manliood, the wealth and the spirit of Concord were poured out for the Union and to put down the Rebellion.

Her company left home on the memorable 19th of April, 1861, with full ranks, under the command of Lieut. George L. Prescott. They were duly muster- ed into the United States' service and sent forward to Washington by way of Annapolis, Maryland. On their arrival they were quartered for a time in the Senate Chamber of the Capitol. They took part in the first battle of Bull Run, and had four men taken prisoners by the Rebels on the retreat that day. At the expiration of their three months' term of service they were received on their return home with enthusi- astic greetings. Another company was soon re-enlist- ed by the same commander, now Captain Prescott, and were stationed at Fort Warren, guarding Rebel prisoners for some months, as a part of the Thirty- second Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers. This regiment was sent to the front in 1862, and saw ac- tive service in the Army of the Potomac at the great battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and others throughout the war.

Captain Prescott, promoted to colonel, was killed at Petersburg, Va., in 1864, giving his life for his country after a brave and honorable service. His name heads the roll of the illustrious dead on Con- cord's Soldiers' Monument.

A third company, under Captain Richard Barrett, served under Gen. Banks, in the Forty-seventh Regi- ment, in Louisiana for the nine months of that eam- paign. This regiment was stationed in New Orleans, and held that city in subjection during their term of service. By the skill and care of Captain Barrett every man of the company was brought back home on its return to be welcomed by the rejoicings and thanks of the town's people. Others enlisted in various regi- ments,-asquad of eleven, headed by Sergeant Love- joy, in the Fortieth Regiment, and nine in the Fifth Regiment, for one hundred days' service. In all, two hun-dred and twenty-nine men from Concord served in the war, making twelve over and above all demands on the town. Of these, thirty names are inscribed on the Soldiers' Monument in the public square as " Faith- ful unto Death," and the town "records with grate- ful pride that they found here a birth -place, home or grave."

To support their soldiers in the field and the fam- ilies left at home, Concord raised during the war near- ly twenty thousand dollars in money. Besides this, the donations and supplies to the Sanitary Commission, collected and forwarded by the ladies of the Soldiers' Aid Society, amounted to even more in value. The bandages alone, carefully prepared for wounds, ex- ceeded the dollars in number,

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This town also gave to the Sanitary Commission, in the person of Louisa Jane Barker, one of the most earnest, useful and indefatigable of their agents at Washington. She was the sister of William Whiting, Lincoln's solicitor of the War Department, and the wife of Rer. Stephen Barker, chaplain of Massachusetts Heavy Artillery Regiment. Her services and labors for the cause were of such interest and value as to merit a longer. and more enduring record than this mention.

Other brave men and fair women of the town did their utmost in thoughtand word, in help and counsel for the Union. who could not render military or hospital serv- ice. And the record of Concord in the putting down the Rebel ion is as patriotic as that of other Northern towns, and worthy of its historic fame. The completion and dedication of the Soldiers' Monument, one of the earliest in the State, shows how mindful of the duties and sacrifices of the war was this town. The plain, but severely simple structure, raised to commemorate her dead soldiers, was the first work to be done after the war ended, and Peace and Union were established.

The next work was to build a High School-house on the ample lot. generously given to the town by Cyrus Stow, who thus remembered his native town in his life-time, and at his death gave a fund of $3000 for the use of the High School. Soon after this the town built a large new almshouse.

By the liberality of Mr. William Monroe, also a native of the town, a library building was erected, and, with a fund for its preservation and increase, giv- en to a Library Corporation as trustees of the public. To this Concord handed over the books and funds of the Town Library, and the new building was opened in 1873, and has proved the great attraction of the town. It has already required enlargement to hold the twenty-two thousand volumes mentioned in the last report of the trustees.

Water-works had become a necessity for Concord. Looking for a source of supply, Walden Pond was found insufficient in size and height to be used with- out pumping ; Nagog Pond, in Acton, too far away ; Sandy Pond, in Lincoln, the most available. This clear sheet of one hundred and fifty acres, about two miles from and ninety feet above the village, was selected. It is fed wholly by springs, has three hun- dred acres of water-shed, a large outflow, a sandy bot- tom and but two houses within its drainage limits. The water, by analysis, contains less than two grains, chiefly vegetable matter, to the United States gallon. Having obtained an act of the Legislature authoriz- ing the taking of this source, the town, by its water commissioners, secured a favorable contract, under which a ten-inch main, one and three-fourths of a mile in length, was laid to the Common, and branches of suitable sizes to all the streets of the village. The water was let on December 2, 1874, and has proved a real blessing to the town. The supply is ample for all uses, the pressure sufficient for fire in any build-

ing within the water limits, and the interest on the cost, with one per cent. to a sinking-fund, has been paid by the water rates from the start. The system has been since extended to the west to supply the Reformatory, Concord Junction and Westvale, requir- ing another main to the pond and a reservoir on Nashawtuck Hill. The whole work was executed under the direction of William Wheeler, civil engin- eer, a native of this town, a graduate of the State Ag- ricultural College, and president of the Agricultural College in Japan for two years.

That was an interesting town-meeting in 1873, when on one side of the platform were the plans of the water-works, and on the other the model of the statue of the minute-man, by Daniel C. French, a Concord youth, shown for the inspection and adop- tion by the voters of the town after a full examination and discussion.

Some feeling had always existed among the older citizens that the monument at the battle-ground stood on the wrong side of the river; that it was on the British and not on the American ground of the fight. This feeling was specially cherished by Ebenezer Hubbard, who led the solitary life of a bachelor on his farm in the middle of the town for ninety years.

He had accumulated by the frugal ways of an odd and queer recluse some money, and inherited strong prejudices as well as the old house in which Hancock and Adams lived while attending the Provincial Congress. To carry out his patriotic sentiments, he left by his will the sum of $1000 to Concord towards building a monument on the spot where the Ameri- cans fell on the opposite side of the river from the present monument "in the battle of the 19th of April, 1775," and further provided that if it "is not built, nor sufficient funds for that purpose obtained within five years after my decease," then the sum is to be paid over to Hancock, New Hampshire. As showing the habits of Mr. Hubbard, he found, some years after the time for redeeming them had expired, six one hundred dollars bills of the Concord Bank care- fully hidden in an old family Bible. These he presented at the bank, and as the president of the Concord National Bank offered, though not legally obliged, to redeem them, Mr. Hubbard gave the sum to him for the purpose of re-building the old North Bridge across the river to make a way to the new monument he wished built. A committee of the town recommended the acceptance of this legacy and gift, in 1873, and the erectiou of a statue of a minute-man on the right bank of the stream. Stedman Buttrick, Esq., gave the land for this purpose, and at the town- meeting before named the project was voted almost unanimously. The statue was finished by the sculp- tor, Mr. French, and cast in bronze from condemned cannon given by Congress by a resolve passed on the anniversary of the fight, through the influence of the Hon. E. R. Hoar, then Representative of this dis- trict at Washington. The bridge was built. The statue

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IHISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

was set up on a granite pedestal cut from the same boulder as the older monument, with the first verse of Emerson's hymn, before quoted, for an inscription on the front, and the dates " 1775, 19th of April, 1875," on the rear panel.

The centennial of the battle was set for the dedica- tion of the new memorial, and the statue was unveiled in the presence of Gen. Grant, President of the Uni- ted States, his Cabinet, the Governors of all the New England States, with their staffs and body guards, the Legislature of Massachusetts, escorted by the Boston Independent Corps of Cadets, the Fifth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, and an immense concourse of people. The exercises at the battle- ground were an address by Mr. Emerson, a poem by James Russell Lowell, an oration by George William Curtis, and speeches at the dinner table by Speaker Blaine, Secretary Boutwell, Senator Hawley, Governors Peck and Ingersoll and others. Judge Hoar pre- sided, General F. C. Barlow was marshal, and the cel- ebration was in all respects fit to begin the long line of centennials of the Revolution. As the first of these it attracted attention throughout the nation, and the only limit to the attendance upon it was the inability of the railroads to bring all who wished to come. The estimates of the number present varied from 15,000 to 20,000, while the severely cold weather and the crowds at the car stations kept as many more away. The festivities closed with a splendid ball in the agricultural building, where the decorations gath- ered from the United States navy yards, the music of the Marine Band from Washington, and the brilliant company made an unequaled display.

A decade later, in 1885, Concord celebrated her 250th anniversary. As a preparation a large com- mittee designed and set up in the right places, tablets of stone or bronze inscribed thus. On the rock at the junction of the rivers :

"ON THE HILL NASHAWTUCK AT THE MEETING OF THE RIVERS AND ALONG THE BANKS LIVED THE INDIAN OWNERS OF MUSKETAQUID BEFORE THE WHITE MEN CAME."

On a slate in the wall of the Hill Burying-Ground :

"ON THIS HILL THE SETTLERS OF CONCORD BUILT THEIR MEETING-HOUSE NEAR WHICH THEY WERE BURIED. ON THE SOUTHERN SLOPE OF THE RIDGE WERE THEIR DWELLINGS DURING THE FIRST WINTER.

BELOW IT THEY LAID OUT THEIR FIRST ROAD AND ON THE SUMMIT STOOD THE LIBERTY POLE OF THE REVOLUTION."

On a bronze plate sct in granite near the square:

" HERE, IN THE HOUSE OF THE REVEREND PETER BULKELEY, FIRST MINISTER AND ONE OF THE

FOUNDERS OF THIS TOWN,

A BARGAIN WAS MADE WITH THE SQUAW SACHEM, THE SAGAMORE TAHATTAWAN AND OTHER INDIANS, WHO THEN SOLD THEIR RIGHT IN THE SIX MILES SQUARE CALLED CONCORD TO THE ENGLISH PLANTERS AND GAVE THEM PEACEFUL POSSESSION OF THE LAND, A.D. 1636."

On a stone west of the three arch bridge :

"ON THIS FARM DWELT SIMON WILLARD

ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF CONCORD WHO DID GOOD SERVICE FOR TOWN AND COLONY FOR MORE THAN FORTY YEARS."

On a bronze plate on the west side of the Square :

"NEAR THIS SPOT STOOD THE FIRST TOWN HOUSE USED FOR TOWN-MEETINGS AND THE COUNTY COURTS 1721-1794."

On a stone by the road northwest of the minute- man :

"ON THIS FIELD THE MINUTE MEN AND MILITIA FORMED BEFORE MARCHING DOWN TO THE FIGHT AT THE BRIDGE "

On a stone at the junction of the Old Bedford and Boston roads :

" MERIAM'S CORNER THE BRITISH TROOPS RETREATING FROM THE OLD NORTH BRIDGE WERE HERE ATTACKED IN FLANK BY THE MEN OF CONCORD AND NEIGHBORING TOWNS AND DRIVEN UNDER A HOT FIRE TO CHARLESTOWN "

The other arrangements for the occasion included a reception of their guests by the town's people, on the evening of the day before. And on Saturday, Sep- tember 12, 1885, the usual procession, oration and dinner. The weather was perfect, in marked contrast to that of ten years previous. The attendance of former residents and natives of the town added to the interest, and the exercises were of a high order of merit. The report upon the historic tablets by Charles H. Walcott, the address by George F. Hoar, the remarks after the dinner by the Governor, George D. Robinson, by James Russell Lowell, William M. Evarts, George W. Curtis and Concord citizens, were

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appropriate and eloqueut. Much of the success of the celebration was dne to the chairman of the com- mittee, Henry J. Hosmer, and the chief marshal, Richard F. Barrett.

Rev. B. R. Bulkeley, a descendent of the first min- ister of the town, was the chaplain, and John S. Keyes, son of the president of the bi-centennial, pre- sided at this anniversary. A gratifying feature of the day was the gift by Hapgood Wright, of Lowell, of a fond, to this, his native town, of $1000, to accumulate for fifty years, the interest then to be spent on the tri-centennial, and the principal to be again invested for terms of the same length; so on indefinitely, thus providing for future semi-cen- tennials. Concord accepted this gift and will keep and use it carefully.

CHAPTER XLV.

CONCORD-(Continued).

Courts, Schools, Societies, Donations, Etc.

CONCORD COURTS .- This was a shire-town as early as A.D. 1692, and the Courts were held here first in the meeting-house. In 1721 a court-house and town- house was built on the west side of the square, chiefly out of the materials of the former church. This new building was nearly square, with a hip roof and a tur- ret on the top, in which a bell was hung and the whole snrmonnted by the vane of the old meeting- house, bearing the date of 1673, which is still pre- served. A new and commodious court-house was built in the year 1794 on the opposite side of the square by the county, and had a double lantern tower rising seventy-five feet from the ground. This furnished room for the Supreme and Com- mon Pleas Courts, the Probate Court and the Court of Sessions, and for the county treasurer's office. In this, by the gift of the lot of land on which it stood, the town had the right to hold their town- meetings, and many other gatherings were accommo- dated. The militia, or " old shad " companies assem- bled in its spacious lower entry ; the fruits and vege- table at the cattle shows were here exhibited. Stowed away in its dark recesses were the stocks in which many a poor fellow had sat to expiate his offences, and the gallows on which a man had been hung, the only execution in Concord of which there is a record. This took place in the field east of the burying-hill, and was witnessed by a great crowd, and under circumstan- ces so remarkable as to be worth noting. It seems by the court records that "Isaac Moore and Samuel Smith, both of Sndbury, on the night of the 21st of June, 1799, broke and entered the dwelling-house of William Tuck- er, in Sherburne, with intent to steal, and stole seven yards of tannin, worth $2.90; five yards shalloon, 38-ii

worth $2; thirteen yards of mode, worth $2; two and one-half yards check linen, worth $1.25 ; seven yards muslin, worth $5.75; nine yards gauze, worth $3.50 : eight pounds sewing silk, worth $8; three pair spec- tacles, worth $1.25; 500 needles, worth $2.50; three and one-half yards tow cloth, worth $1.16; eight handkerchiefs, worth $10; three yards calico, worth $1.84; six pair hose, worth $2.50 ; three and one-half yards India cotton, worth $1.16; twelve knives, worth $2.16; 24,000 pins, worth $4.68; two hats, worth $2.12; twelve sticks of twist, worth $0.68 ; one pound of thread, worth $1; one tea canister, worth $0.50; two pounds tea, worth $1.32; thirty yards stuff, worth $11.68, of the goods and chattels of William Tucker, in the dwelling-house aforesaid. To the in- dictment Moore and Smith plead not guilty. Levi Lincoln (afterwards Governor) and Timothy Bige- low, Esquires, were appointed by the Supreme Judi- cial Court couusel for defendants, and they were tried at the October term, 1799, for the offence. The jury found Moore not guilty of the burglary, but guilty of the stealing and found Smith guilty of both. Moore was sentenced to be "publicly whipped on the naked back twenty stripes, to be confined at hard labor three years, to pay William Tucker $170, which, with the goods restored, is treble value of the goods stolen, and to pay the costs of prosecution." Novem- ber 9th the attorney-general moved for sentence of death on Samuel Smith, and the Court, after asking him if he had anything to say and his replying nothing additional to what had been said before, sen- tenced him to be hanged by the neck until he was dead.

The warrant was issued by the Governor and Coun- cil November 19, 1799 and the day of the execution was set for the 26th of December 1799. On the day . before (Christmas), Smith was taken to the meeting- house and a sermon preached to him by Dr. Ripley, and on the 26th, the dread sentence of the law was executed on him by Sheriff Hosmer.

Smith must have been a hardened offender, or the extreme penalty of the law would not have been in- flicted. Tradition " says that he sold his body to the doctors, and while waiting execution spent the money received from them for ginger bread for his own con- sumption."

In front of the court-house stood the large elm-tree, planted in 1776, that was used for the whipping-post for the culprits who, at each term of the court, re- ceived their thirty-nine lashes on their bare backs, their hands being tied up to the big staple long since grown over by the bark. In this court-house many important trials took place; that of the rioters who burned the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown in 1836, about whom so excited was the feeling of the community that the officers of the Court were armed and juries disagreed, so that only one boy was con- victed and punished; and the Phoenix Bank cases, in which Daniel Webster, Rufus Choate, Sidney Bart-

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II, Part 140

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1226

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed. cn
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1226