USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lexington > Views and description history of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts > Part 2
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Concord > Views and description history of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts > Part 2
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28
LINE OF THE. MINUTE MEN
APPIL 19
1775
STAND YOUR GROUND DONT FIRE UNLESS FIRED UPON BUT IF THEY MEAN TO HAVE A WAR LET IT BECIN HERE
LAPTAIN PARKER
STONE BOULDER-LEXINGYON NASS.
STONE BOULDER, LEXINGTON, MASS.
This historic boulder marks the juisation of the " Minute-Men " when they were fired upon by the British. In the near, the house of Jonathan Harrington, who, wounded on the Common, April 19, 1775. dragged himself to the door, and died at his wife's feet.
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SOLDIER'S MONUMENT.
LEXINGTON.
In hast memoment of the Revolution rested in America. The burial place of Capt. Parker's men killed in the battle.
Revolutionary Soldiers' MMonument on the Battlefield BUILT IN THE YEAR 1799.
SACRED TO THE LIBERTY AND THE RIGHTS OF MANKIND !! ! THE FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE OF AMERICA, SEALED AND DEFENDED WITH THE BLOOD OF HER SONS.
This Monument is erected By the inhabitants of Lexington Under the patronage and at the expense of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, To the memory of their Fellow Citizens, Ensign ROBERT MUNROE, and Messrs. JONAS PARKEK. SAMUEL HADLEY, JONATHAN ILARRINGTON, JR .. ISAAC MUZZY, CALER HARRINGTON and JOHN BROWN. Of Lexington and ASAHEL PORTER of Woburn. Who fell on this field, the first victims to the Sword of British Tyranny and Oppression On the morning of the ever memorable Nineteenth of April, An. Dom. 1775. The Die was cast ! ! !
The Blood of these Martyrs
In the cause of their God and their Country Was the C'ement of the Union of these States. then Colonies, and gave the spring to the Spirit, Fitinndes and Resolution of their Fellow Citizens. They rose as one man to Revenge their Brethren"- Blood, and at the Point of the Sword, to Assen and defend their Native Rights, They Nobly dar'd to be Free ! ! The contest was long. Bloody and Affecting, Righteous Heaven Approved the Solemn Appeal Victory crowned their Arms : and The Peace, Liberty, and Independence of the United States of America was their Glorious Reward.
31
The Buckman Tavern
APPROACHING the Battleground from the southeast, on the right, a few rods from the street and directly opposite the Captain Parker Statue, stands the Old Buckman Tavern, build in 1692, and which is now known as the Merriam house.
This ancient structure with its timbers of oak betokens that it is of the fashion of the 17th century, and like many other ancient landmarks to be seen in this historic town, fittingly represents the spirit of the unconquerable colonists. Here many of Captain Parker's men gathered on the evening of the 18th o April to talk over the stirring events of the hour and to make ready for the threatened approach of the British troops, little dreaming what direful scenes they were to witness on the village green the following morning.
When compelled to disperse under the murderous fire of the enemy many of the patriots took refuge in this ancient hostelry, and from the doors and windows returned the fire. The perforated clapboards are evidence that the British acknowledged the compliment with return shots.
The place was long used as a tavern and for many years the first postoffice in Lexington was located in it.
The house shows no sign of decay, and from all outward appearance may stand for another two cen- turies as a memorial of the incidents of the Revolution.
32
BUCKMAN TAVERN -LEXINGTON MASS
BUCKMAN TAVERN, LEXINGTON, MASS.
" It was the rallying place of the Minute-Men on the night of April 18, and on the morning of the encounter at the Common. It contains bullet holes made hy the shots of the British soldiers, who were fired upon from the house."
HANCONGR-ELAK HOUSE; LEXINGTON MASS
HANCOCK-4 LARKE HOUSE LLNINGTON, MASS.
Banho , , odnale 1 k dom af Res. John Hammock fitty-five years, and of his successin, Rev. Jonas flukt, fifty years. Here Samuel Adams and John HammerEkin hopem. when aroused by Paul Revere, AApril i h 1275.
Hancock-Clarke House
LEXINGTON was blessed with two distinguished clergymen in the per-sus of Res John Hancock, the second minister of the town, and Rev. Jonas Clarke, his successor. They were not only timed for their talent and piety but for all those qualities which contribute towards good citizenship. They were esteemen and venerated by their own people and by the public at large, hence their influence was widely felt. In the truest sense of the word they were the " parish priests," beloved, honored and respected Says Mr. Hudson : " A history of Lexington without the mention of Mr. Hancock and Mr. Clarke, would be as de- fective as a history of the Jewish dispensation without the mention of Moses."
2025200
The Hancock-Clarke house, which stands about a hundred rods north of the Common, oh St., is, therefore, of especial interest to the visitor. The one-story, gambrel-roofed L was erected in 1699 by Mr. Hancock, and in this little house was born and reared his three sons and two daughters. The cklest son, John, followed his father's profession and was settled in Quincy, where his son John, of Revolutionary fame, was born. Thomas, the second son, who moved to Boston and became one of the wealthiest mer- chants in New England, made the additions to the present house, for the comfort and convenience of his parents, and here his father at the ripe old age of eighty-two passed away, in the fitty-fourth year of his ministry.
Rev. Jonas Clarke, who succeeded him, married Lucy Bowes, a granddaughter of Mr. Hancock, and here he lived from 1760 until the time of his death in 1805 The two clergymen thus completed a ministry in Lexington of one hundred and five years, and not less than twenty-five clergymen may be numbered among the descendants of Hancock and Clarke.
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The Town Hall (Lexington)
THE Town Hall, on Massachusetts Avenue, is a solidly built structure, pleasantly and conveniently lo- cated. The first floor is devoted to the Cary Library, and a Memorial Hall, dedicated to the memory of the men from Lexington who gave their lives to their country's service.
The library was founded by Maria Hastings Cary of Brooklyn, N. Y., a native of Lexington, and con- tains about 20,000 volumes. These are annually added to by an appropriation of the town and by the in- come of a fund. The walls are adorned by portraits and busts of distinguished personages. There have also been gathered here many valuable relics relating to the early history of the town, particularly to the Revolutionary period, all of which are of interest to the visitor.
On this floor has been set aside a convenient space as a memorial to the town's patriot dead. On marble tablets are inscribed the names and deeds of those who have fallen in battle, and in niches are marble statues of John Hancock, of Samuel Adams, of a Minute-man of 1775 and of a soldier of 1861.
In the main hall in the second story is a commanding picture of the battle of Lexington, painted by Sandham, at a cost of $ 4000.
The Library is open to visitors every week day from 2 to 8 P. M.
36
CONCORD
OLD NORTH BRIDGE - CONCORD MASS.
OLD NORTH BRIDGE CONCORD, MISS.
Here b ) place about n wm, Apal 1: 1 ": the principal engagement in Concord, the British being repul od, and retreating in great disorder.
The Battle at the North Bridge (Concord)
THE story of the fight at Concord has been told again and again. The people took a decided stand in favor of liberty from the time of the earliest controversy between England and the colonies. While admitting their "firm attachment and ardent love to Our Most Gracious Sovereign, King George," they declared in open town meeting that, "As men we have a right to life, liberty, and property." They denied the right of Parliament to tax them without their consent, and plainly signified their intention " never tamely to submit " to any infringement of their liberties.
Concord had been made the leading military post, and it was the intention of General Gage to either capture or destroy these supplies. Colonel Barrett, however, had been cautioned as to the probable attack of the British, and huid already taken measures to secrete many of them.
Paul Revere, in attempting to reach Concord after notifying Lexington, was captured by some British officers, and his companion, Dr. Prescott, who succeeded in eluding arrest, conveyed the intelligence. The militia and minute men, under Colone: Barrett, were hurriedly called together, and before daybreak their numbers had been greatly augmented by " minute companies " from Acton and other nearby towns.
To more fully understand the situation on the morning of the invasion by the enemy, let us take a glance at the topography of the village of Concord. It is situated on level ground, and is completely commanded on either side by hills. The approach from Lexington is from the southeast ; the road, before
39
The Battle at the North Bridge -continued
reaching the village, runs nearly a mile at a level grade, and along the side of a hill which rises abruptly from thirty to fifty feet, terminating at Monument Square. The top of this elevation forms a plain and overlooks the village. Concord river flows on the westerly side of the village, winding in its course and placid in its movements. The North Bridge, which crosses this river, was about half a mile from the meeting-house, and from the bridge was a causeway leading westerly over low ground in the direction of Acton. Several companies of the American forces took position on the west side of this bridge, upon an eminence now called " Battle Lawn," where the enemy's movements could be watched.
The British entered the town at about seven o'clock in the morning, marching in two columns, -one in the main road, and the other on the hill to the north. Reaching the village without opposition, they sent foward a detachment to secure the bridges, while the main body went in pursuit of the stores. The patriots from their point of view not only saw the British gathered at the bridge, but also saw smoke arising from the village ; and fearing for the fate of their families. determined to recross the bridge in the face of the enemy and march to the center of the town. The British seeing the Americans approach, recrossed to the east side of the bridge, formed in order of battle, and commenced taking up the planks. Seeing their object, the minute-men rushed forward, and when within a few rods of the bridge were fired upon by the British, wounding one of the patriots. Another and fatal volley followed, killing the brave Captain Davis and Abner Hosmer of the Acton company. Seeing this, Major Buttrick exclaimed : " Fire, fellow-soldiers, fire! for God's sake, fire!" A general discharge from the whole line of provincial ranks followed, killing two of the British soldiers and wounding others, The firing was followed by a
40
The Battle at the North Bridge-continued
general charge across the bridge by the patriots, the British fleeing precipitately along the road towards the village, joining the main body of the king's troops near the meeting-house.
The British, thwarted in their designs, and seeing the aggressive movements of the colonists, now greatly reinforced by arrivals from neighboring towns, became uneasy as to their own safety, and at noon commenced their retreat. At Merriam's Corner they were attacked by the Americans, and several were killed and others wounded. From this point it became a fight from every house, barn, wall, or covert, and finally the retreat became a rout. Back, back they fled, past the Lexington green, the scene of the morning battle, dispirited and well-nigh exhausted, and nothing but the timely arrival of Lord Percy with his reinforcements saved them from utter destruction.
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The Gray Old Manse
" ACROSS the meadows, by the gray old manse, The histone river flowed."
Ir was in 1842 that Nathaniel Hawthorne brought his bride to Concord and took up his residence at the old Emerson parsonage. In his introductory chapters of the " Masses from an Old Manse," he gives a delightful picture of this protracted honeymoon and his sequestered life, as tranquil as the placid stream near whose banks it was passed. From a little room on the second floor he could look out upon the shaded lane that led down to the "rude bridge that arched the flood" and see beyond the battlefield where the farmers of Concord turned back King George's men.
In this beautiful and quiet retreat nearly four years of unbroken happiness were passed, and the book the title of which is quoted above was the fruit of this seclusion.
The " Old Manse" was the parsonage built for William Emerson in 1765, a zealous patriot of the Revolution. In the opening chapter of his book, Hawthorne thus introduces the reader to his new abode : " Between two tall gate-posts of rough hewn stone (the gate having fallen at some unknown epoch) we behekl the gray front of the old parsonage, terminating the vista of an avenue of black ash trees. . . . It was worthy to have been one of the time-honored parsonages of England, in which, through many generations, a succession of holy occupants pass from youth to age. and bequeath each an inheri- tance of sanctity to pervade the house and hover over it as with an atmosphere."
42
OLD MANSE - CONCORD Y
THE OLD MANSE, CONCORD MASS
The parsonage built on Rev, Walham I'mguem vit, a zealotts patriot of the Resolution Ank " Mosses hom an Old Man-e
THE WAYSIDE=(HAWTHORNE'S HOME| CONCORD MASS
. THE WAYSIDI," HAWTHORNE'S HOME, CONCORD, MASS
Papelaria in desuga a by Hawthorne in ross, and m which he resided until his death in 104. His study, called by Mrs. Hawthorne his " Mount of Vision."
" The W'ayside of Nathaniel Hawthorne"
IN 1852, Hawthorne, after an absence of several years, returned to Concord and bought the Bronson Alcott home, situated on the Lexington road at the foot of a long steep hill, thickly grown with hemlock and pine, a place especially suited for one of his solitary disposition and well calculated to permit full scope to his imaginative faculty. To this place he gave the name of " The Wayside," and on the crest of a hill near the house, which Mrs. Hawthorne called his Mount of Vision, he was accustomed to take his solitary walks while he brooded over his last romance.
On the main structure he had erected for his study a large square room which he called " the tower." This tower was entered by a trap-door, and upon this door Hawthorne would place his chair when writing to secure his seclusion from all intruders.
Although Hawthorne spent much of his life away from his fellow-men and apparently preferred so to do, there are touching passages in his note books showing his sense of loneliness and his wish for recogni- tion from the world. Here he was at work on "Septimus Felton," the scene of which was " The Wayside" and the period the Revolution, when death overtook him, and the romance was left unfinished.
" There in seclusion and remote from men The wizard hand lies cold, Which at its topmost speed let fall the pen. And left the tale half told."
45
The Minute-Man Still Holds His Ground
THE splendid statue of a Minute-Man, an engraving of which is given on the opposite page, is located on the " Battle Lawn," a little way beyond the North Bridge where the militia and minute-men stood watching the British forces on the morning of their entrance into Concord, April 19, 1775, and near the spot where the gallant Captain Davis fell, pierced by a British bullet.
It was designed by a native sculptor, D. C. French, whose powers in the delineation of pose and ex- pression are wonderfully effective and life like. It was dedicated on the one hundreth anniversary of the "Concord Fight," and embodies to perfection the spirit of the day it is intended to commemorate, sym- bolizing not the act of any one individual but of every sturdy and virtuous yeoman of that day who left his plow in the furrow to seize his musket and powder horn, prepared to defend with his life his country's rights.
The statue will stand as an abiding memorial of their sacrifice and a monument to their heroism. From its base of granite it proclaims to the world the truth of these hardy sons' resolve: "That he can never die too soon who lays down his life in support of the laws and liberties of his country."
46
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MINUTE MAN-CONCORD MASS
Situated on the " Ba'the Lawn," mon the Oll North Bridge Kreitud hy the town of Concord . memonal to those who fell in the hatth , and dedw ated un the rooth Anniversary of the Battle of Concom April 19, 1925. Designed by D ( French, a native sculptor
LOUISE M. ALCOTT.
HAWTHORNE.
A GROUP of CELEBRITIES CONCORD, MASS.
4.5
. EMERSON .
. THOREAU .
GROUP OF CELEBRITIES, CONCORD, MASS.
LOUISA MAY NICOLL Born 1832, Died 198, Author of " Little Men," " Aunt Jo's Scrap Bag, "ett NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE - Born 1804, Thed 1864. American Novelist and Essavist. RALPH WALDO EMERSON - American Philosopher, Essayist and Poet. Bonn (503, Died isss HENRY DAVID THORIAL Born 1817, Died 1802. Poet Naturalist.
The Group That Gave to Concord its Literary Atmosphere
IN 1842 the four who gave to Concord much of its literary atmosphere were all gathered near the banks of the winding, silent river. Emerson was thirty-one ; Alcott, the father of Louisa May Alcott, was thirty-five ; Hawthorne was thirty and Thoreau twenty-five. Thus we see Miss Alcott was removed a generation from the others. Her father was an idealist ; benign, saintly, unworldly and impracticable. His attempts to carry out his theories were seldom successful, and his business ventures were fraught with little pecuniary benefit to the family. Miss Alcott's early life was made up of noble sacrifices and heroic effort. She lived, however, to see her work crowned with success and to enter at last into the full enjoyment of the fruit of her labors. Among the widely known and appreciated stories which she wrote, " Little Women " and " Little Men," founded on her home life, touched the popular chord. They were not only reprinted and sold in England but were also translated into several foreign languages. Her remains rest with those of her kin on Authors' Ridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord.
Ralph Waklo Emerson was descended from the best New England stock - what might be called the intellectual aristocracy. He was the prophet of the sect known as transcendentalists and Concord was the mecca. He must have been acknowledged not only the head but the brain of the Concord School of P'hi- losophy. Says a writer : "Of this group, the most conspicuous in its domain that has ever existed in America, Mr. Emerson was easily chief ; and during his strongest years perhaps he was more." He was
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The Group that gave to Concord its Literary Atmosphere-continued
the acknowledged exponent of New England thought, and as a keen philosophic seer he was accorded rank among the master minds of the world. But with all his philosophy, Mr. Emerson managed to retain enough of his saving common sense to enable him to command the respect and veneration of his fellow-citizens.
Henry David Thoreau, the " poet naturalist," and native disciple of Emerson, lived in the woods about Walden. Emerson speaks of him in his biography as " homely in appearance, a rugged stone hewn from the cliff. Though living in civilization he was the keenest observer of external nature I have ever seen. He had the trained sense of the Indian, eyes that saw in the night, his own way of threading the woods and fields, so that he felt his path through them in the densest night. Ile saw as with microscope, heard as with ear trumpet, and his memory was a photographic register of all he saw and heard." " He possessed a mind singular for its independence, its resolute confronting of the problems of life, its insight into nature, its isolation and its waywardness."
The life of Nathaniel Hawthorne in Concord has already been spoken of in these pages. He does not seem to have been entirely in harmony with the teachings of the two last characters, and never came into sympathy with their ideas of " God, Freedom and Immortality." Emerson spoke of his writings as of "the terrible, the grotesque, and sombre."
The four, however, have helped the village of Concord do more for American literature, than has any great metropolis of the nation, and there are few places where associations, both poetic and patriotic, cluster so thickly.
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VIEWS OF LEXINGTON AND CONCORD.
LEXINGTON VIEWS.
Paul Revere entering Lexington, April 19, 1775 Munroe Tavern Stone Cannon Old Belfry
Battlefield
Capt. Parker ( Bronze statue surmounting Hayes Memorial Foun- tam
Stone Boulder
Revolutionary Soldiers' Monument Buckman Tavern Hancock-Clarke House
CONCORD VIEWS.
Old North Bridge
Concord Minute Man
The Wayside | Hawthorne's Home )
The Old Manse
Group of Celebrities
Louisa May Alcott. Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau Soldiers' Monument
Orchard House . Alcott's Home
Emerson Group His study - His grave - His home
Any of the above subjects may be obtained in the following sizes and styles :
PASSEPARTOUTS . Ring Backs) :
41 x 64 + 15C
6 × 8 . 20€
7 x 9
. 250
PHOTOGRAPHS :
Under Bevelled Glass, Easel Backs .
According to size
25€, 35€, 50C.
Photographs Platinum Paper: 250 Double Views .Under Glass ) Mounted on Ribbon 25c
Magnifying Paper Weights 25c
Calendars 100, 150, 25C
Unmounted Prints of Lexington and Concord ( in sets of 15)
Guide Books, 50 pages, 17 Illustrations, 25c
Leather Bound (Souvenir Book ) 75C Historical and Picturesque Superior Coated Paper
For sale by O. G. SEELEY, Druggist and Stationer
Brick Block /
Lexington, Mass.
MAIL ORDERS PROMPTLY FILLED.
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