Discover Concord Spring 2025 by Discover Concord MA

CONCORD Discover

Soars High Concord’s Gregory Maguire

The President and The Sage: Abraham Lincoln and Ralph Waldo Emerson

Margaret Fuller : Asking the Right Questions His Majesty’s Tenth Regiment of Foot

“I

- Concord Resident

FOUNDERS from the

The Promise of

Spring, the Echo of Revolution

SSpring has sprung! Concord is so lovely this time of year –gardens are bursting to life, the days are longer, and all the town’s museums and attractions are open and eager to great visitors and residents alike. It’s a great time to visit and we are happy you are here!

The Umbrella Arts center helped welcome spring with a truly magical gala in honor of Gregory Maguire. The acclaimed author of Wicked and long-time Concord resident was celebrated for his outstanding contributions to literature, children’s literacy, and the arts. Read about his latest book and his thoughts on Concord on p. 54.

Patriots’ Day celebrations kicked off April 19 and the 250th anniversary of the first battles of the American Revolution have the town feeling festive and patriotic. You can look for Concord250 concerts, talks, art exhibits, and more in the lead up to the America250 celebration of the Declaration of Independence in 2026.

This is a perfect moment to learn more about His Majesty’s Tenth Regiment of Foot, the American Contingent - one of America’s preeminent reenactor groups. Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Lexington, MA, the Tenth Regiment includes three companies of soldiers as well as drummers, fifers, and civilians. They are committed to keeping history alive by providing historically accurate reenactments and education. Learn more about the original British Tenth Regiment and their modern-day counterparts on p. 14.

In March of this year a truly extraordinary group of scholars, interpreters, and artists came together to create a two-hour live event honoring the often-overlooked contributions of Black and Indigenous Patriots during the

American Revolution and the ongoing struggle for freedom and equality. Discover the stories of these unsung heroes in “A Fight for Freedom: Honoring Patriots of Color” on p. 16. Step inside four of the earliest battles of the American Revolution, from the battles of Lexington and Concord through the Battle of Bunker Hill. The war would continue for years afterward, but these first battles set the stage and became a rallying cry for the Revolution.

History tends to focus on the combatants in war, but we sometimes forget about the children who live through tumultuous times. What can we learn from these young observers whose earliest memories are of chaos, fear, and death? “The Child Witnesses of 1775” (p. 32) explores the impact of those early days on four children: Elizabeth Clarke, Anna Munroe, Charles Handley, and Dorothea Gamsby. From Lexington to Bunker Hill, children stood witness to the cost of freedom.

Concord has much to offer beyond revolutionary history. Literary legends continue to leave their mark, and you can learn their stories at our local museums. Parks, nature, arts and culture, as well as family-friendly things to see and do are all part of the fabric of this wonderful community. We hope the pages of this issue serve as a guide to help you make the most of a glorious spring.

Cynthia L. Baudendistel Co-Founder

Jennifer C. Schünemann Co-Founder

CO-FOUNDER

Cynthia L. Baudendistel

CO-FOUNDER

Jennifer C. Schünemann

ART DIRECTOR

Beth Pruett DISTRIBUTION

Wilson S. Schünemann

ADVISORY

COVER PHOTO:

The Concord River © istock.com/bpperry

AUTHORS/CONTRIBUTORS:

Cynthia L. Baudendistel Šárka Botner

Alexander Cain

Pierre Chiha

Victor Curran

Kevin Doyle

Stewart Ikeda

Jaimee Leigh Joroff

John J. Kucich

Rebecca Migdal

Justin Murray

Joe Palumbo

Karen Rinaldo

Jennifer C. Schünemann

Richard Smith

Carl Sweeney

Dave Witherbee © 2025 Voyager Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISSN 2688-5204 (Print) ISSN 2688-5212 (Online) For reprint and permission requests, please contact cynthia@voyager-publishing.com | 314.308.6611 FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION: Jennifer C. Schünemann at jennifer@voyager-publishing.com

The Tenth Regiment of Foot, Inc.

Tom Wilson

12 Spring Things to See & Do in Concord this

Visit the exciting exhibition, Whose Revolution, at the Concord Museum. Whose Revolution offers a fresh, inclusive perspective on this pivotal moment in American history, focusing on the experiences of women, Indigenous communities, and free and enslaved Black people who grappled with the meaning of revolution in their own lives. Through September 1. ConcordMuseum.org

Join OARS for the inaugural Concord River Race, an exciting paddling event celebrating the beauty and adventure of the SuAsCo rivers! Open to all skill levels, this race follows a scenic stretch of the Concord River from Bedford to Lowell, offering a thrilling experience for competitive and recreational paddlers alike. Come paddle, race, and connect with the river community. May 4. Oars3Rivers.org

Come fly a kite at the annual Kite Festival at Rideout Park. There will be kites and kite kits for purchase or bring your own kite. Professional kite fliers will be on

hand to entertain, and the onsite ice cream truck will have all your favorite treats. May 4. ConcordRec.myrec.com

4Explore local Indigenous history and contemporary artistic practices through the new exhibit, Chemacheg Menuhki: Paddle Strong. Co-curated with Brittney Peauwe Wunnepog Walley (Nipmuc), the

exhibit will include a fiber basket created by Walley that features iconography exploring the story of the 58 Nipmuc individuals housed on the property of John Hoar in Concord in 1675-1676. Opening May 9. ConcordMuseum.org

Grab your bike and join the Concord Museum as they mark the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s Ride with a bicycle ride through Concord, Lexington, Lincoln, Bedford, and Carlisle. Choose a 21.3- or 32.4-mile loop on paved road, passing fascinating Revolutionary landmarks like the North Bridge, the Lexington Green, and more! May 17 ConcordMuseum.org

Tour the historic Buttrick Gardens at Minute Man National Historical Park. Kathleen Fahey, executive director of the Friends of Minute Man, will discuss the history and preservation of these beautiful gardens. The gardens feature viewing terraces, steps leading down to the Concord River, elegant wrought ironwork, and brick, bluestone, and cobblestone walkways.

Framed by ornamental trees and shrubs, the garden beds contain the Buttrick family’s award-winning iris and daylilies, colorful spring bulbs, and perennials that bloom from spring to fall. May 29 (in person), June 26 (in person), and July 31 (via Zoom). FriendsofMinuteman.org

7Go bird watching! Enter the fascinating world of bird watching with the Friends of Minute Man National Park. For many bird watchers, spring migration is the most exciting time of the year. Observe birds in their colorful breeding plumage, listen to their songs, and learn which are passing through on their way north and which will stay to nest at Minute Man National Historical Park. June 5. FriendsofMinuteman.org

Celebrate the art of gardening with the 2025 Concord Museum Garden Tour! The annual tour, organized by the Museum’s Guild of Volunteers, has been a tradition for more than 30 years. This year’s tour includes gardens that have a range of features, from

gazebos and greenhouses to sweeping lawns, large trees, and views of meadows and woodlands. New this year, gardens will also feature live music in partnership with Concord Conservatory and plein air painters from Concord Art Association. June 6 – 7. Concordmuseum.org

Don’t miss Porchfest 2025, the grassroots community music festival in West Concord. Enjoy dozens of live acts on neighborhood porches as you stroll around town. June 14. WestConcordPorchfest.org

Take a walking tour of the African American and anti-slavery history sites in Concord. Download a map at TheRobbinsHouse.org or pick up a printed

copy at The Robbins House, The Old Manse, or the Visitor Center in Concord Center.

Head over to West Concord for the annual Summer Concert Series. Each night a live band will take the stage to play all your favorite songs, old and new. At Rideout Playground. July 10 and 17. Visit ConcordRec.myrec.com for more concert dates.

Rent a bicycle at the Visitor Center and explore Concord and the surrounding area! Nature lovers will enjoy biking along the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, and history buffs can take in the many sites of the battle road in Minute Man National Historical Park. VisitConcord.org

Museum

The Robbins House

Buttrick Gardens

Baltimore Oriole

Concord Museum Garden Tour

A Creating an Enduring Legacy: Collaboration in Community

April 19, 2025, in Massachusetts was a festive occasion with hundreds of thousands of people from around the world gathering to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the first battles of the American Revolution. Across Concord and surrounding towns, hundreds of volunteers, museums, shops, restaurants, art galleries, and town staff worked tirelessly for months leading up to the commemorations. They worked hard to showcase the very best of the historic region to visitors from around the world – from American Revolutionary history to literary legends, beautiful parks and nature, and a wide array of cultural institutions.

As the historic moment approached, two independent, women-owned Concord publishers – Barefoot Books and Voyager Publishing – rose to the occasion and created lasting tributes to this historic anniversary.

Voyager Publishing, the creator of Discover Concord, launched Discover the Battle Road – a stunning commemorative issue in honor of the 250th anniversary of the first battles of the American Revolution. Focused on the period from the Boston Massacre through the Declaration of Independence, and the geographic region covering the Battle Road communities and the Minute Man National Historical Park, the dedicated issue celebrates the courage that forged America. The keepsake publication features powerful stories of the men and women of the time, including those whose stories are less well known, vibrant photography, walking maps, and information on the museums and cultural institutions throughout the region.

“We take our responsibility for sharing our regional history with the nation and the world seriously,” said co-founder Cynthia Baudendistel. “We are grateful for the

support and collaboration of the National Park Service, Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area, the Concord250 Corporation, and a host of local historians, docents, reenactors, photographers, and writers who brought their knowledge and talent to help us create Discover the Battle Road.”

Barefoot Books, known for its thoughtful and engaging children’s books, released Rise Up! Powerful Protests in American History. Written by Rachel C. Katz and illustrated by Sophie Bass, the book is a powerful reminder for young readers that activism is woven into the fabric of America.

Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House, the Robbins House, the Scout House, and the Wright Tavern play in preserving and sharing Concord’s history. Both publishers donated proceeds from the sale of the books during the Concord250 celebrations back to these museums to support their ongoing work.

“Activism and democracy go hand in hand,” says Barefoot Books CEO and Co-Founder Nancy Traversy. “At a time when voices for justice are being challenged, Rise Up! reminds children that standing up for what’s right is not just part of history – it’s part of their future. This book is a celebration of resilience, courage, and the enduring spirit of protest that has shaped and will continue to shape America.”

Barefoot Books and Voyager Publishing saw an opportunity to collaborate closely during the 250 celebrations – both to lift up one another’s publications, and to shine a spotlight on the important role that cultural institutions such as the Concord Museum,

More than 30 families generously donated to make it possible to send a copy of Discover the Battle Road to every public high school in Massachusetts.

“Collaboration is a wonderful process,” said Jennifer Schünemann, co-founder of Voyager Publishing. “By sharing resources, ideas, and expertise, this incredible group of people was able to make a significant impact in an important moment in our nation’s history.

I’ll probably never work on anything more important than this project as a support of my community. Sharing this effort with friends and colleagues across the town made the experience truly unique – a memory I will always cherish.”

Tom Wilson of Wright Tavern and Jan Turnquist as Louisa May Alcott celebrate with Nancy Traversy and Jennifer Schünemann

His Majesty’s Tenth Regiment of Foot

BY THE TENTH REGIMENT OF FOOT IN AMERICA, INC.

TThe reenactment group, His Majesty’s Tenth Regiment of Foot, American Contingent (the Tenth Regiment), was founded on July 15, 1968, by Chelmsford native Vincent J-R Kehoe. Having seen the earlier reenactments at the Old North Bridge in Concord, where men portrayed British Regulars by dressing up in red bath robes and papier mâché caps, Kehoe had a vision to accurately portray and honor the British soldiers who fought at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Kehoe selected the Tenth Regiment out of the numerous British regiments in Boston in 1775 as an homage to his own service in the United States Army 10th Mountain Division in WWII.

The original Tenth Regiment of Foot was raised as the Earl of Bath’s Regiment in 1685 under the orders of King James II. Renamed the Tenth Regiment of Foot in 1751, the regiment served in Ireland for a number of years before traveling to North America,

reaching Quebec in 1767. The regiment was called to Boston in 1774 after being stationed at forts around the Great Lakes. On April 18 - 19, 1775, under orders from General Gage, the commanding officer of the regiment, Lt. Colonel Francis Smith, led the British column of approximately 700 men to Concord to search for military supplies that were being stored to support a potential rebellion against His Majesty’s government. The Tenth Light Infantry Company was present on Lexington Green as well as Concord’s North Bridge when the first shots of the American Revolution were fired. The Tenth Grenadier Company also took part in this expedition and the desperate battle along the retreat to Boston. The regiment served in numerous battles throughout the war, including the Battle of Bunker Hill, the invasion of Long Island, and the Battles of Germantown and Monmouth. The regiment returned home in September 1778.

A typical British regiment in 1775 consisted of 10 companies totaling approximately 470 officers, non-commissioned officers (NCOs), and private soldiers. There were eight battalion companies and two flank companies, the Grenadier Company and the Light Infantry. The Grenadier Company represented the most senior company in a British infantry regiment. Made up of the tallest and strongest soldiers, the Grenadiers would advance close to the battle front and throw grenades into the enemy line. Though this practice had been discontinued by the time of the American Revolution, the company remained, forming on the right flank of the regiment. Wearing the iconic bearskin caps, the forerunners of those worn by the Grenadier Guards in London today, the Grenadiers have maintained an elite status for hundreds of years.

The Colonel’s Company was one of eight battalion companies in a British regiment; the

© Justin Murray Photography

battalion companies making up the majority of a regiment. The battalion soldier was the most common soldier of the 18th century and is what one often pictures when they think of a British soldier. These soldiers wore the iconic “cocked” hat and were trained in every aspect of military life and duty that was expected of them. The battalion companies were ranked by seniority, with the most senior of those companies being the Colonel’s Company. The Colonel of the Tenth Regiment of Foot in 1775 was Major General Edward Sandford, who oversaw the needs of the regiment but remained in England during the American Revolution. The day-today running of a British regiment was left to the Lt. Colonel, Francis Smith being the Lt. Colonel of the Tenth Regiment. His company, the Lt. Colonel’s Company, was the next most senior of the battalion companies. Third in line was the Major’s Company with the remaining companies bearing numbers.

Light Infantry companies were formed in 1771 to adapt to the terrain of North America. The Light Infantry was the second flank company and formed on the left of

a regiment. This company consisted of men who volunteered from the battalion companies. They were well trained in both the standard drill of British infantry soldiers, as well as specialized tactics developed to be successful in the North American terrain, which was much different than the open field of Europe. These soldiers wore a slightly different uniform, including shorter coats and small leather caps, to help them move through the woods. Being highly trained, these men were often first into battle, forming thin skirmish lines and operating in an irregular, more guerrilla style, compared to the large company fronts of the other companies.

Each regiment also had a compliment of drummers and fifers. Not only would these soldiers keep a cadence while the regiment was marching, but they also were used as signal men both in battle and around camp. During battle, when voices were often drowned out by musket fire, the drums could reach the ears of soldiers to order them to load, fire, and move. Around camp, they would signal times for waking up, duties, meals, and turning in for the night. Perhaps the best-dressed soldiers in a regiment, drummers and fifers had very ornate uniforms. They had bearskin caps similar to those of the Grenadier Company, and in many regiments, their coats were of opposite colors. Whereas the Tenth Regiment had red coats with yellow facings (cuffs, collar, and lapels), the drummers and fifers had yellow coats with red facings.

It is important to remember that the British Army did not only include soldiers. Soldiers’ families often followed their loved ones on campaign. Wives and children were a part of everyday life in the Army and contributed greatly to the operation of the Army by taking up trades and duties that helped the Army from day to day, such as tailoring, laundry, cooking, and even working in the hospital. The Corps of Civilians in the current day Tenth not only represent camp followers but also civilian lifestyle in the 18th century, which is often under-represented at reenactments.

As we celebrate the Semiquincentennial, His Majesty’s Tenth Regiment of Foot in America continues to uphold the vision of Vincent J-R Kehoe. With approximately 70 people in the organization, the Tenth Regiment accurately portrays the British Army of 1775, including three different companies of soldiers, Grenadiers, Colonel’s (Battalion), and Light Infantry, but also drummers, fifers, and civilians.

His Majesty’s Tenth Regiment of Foot in America fulfills its mission to educate people by bringing this important part of our history to life through demonstration, interpretation, and collaboration with other non-profit organizations and historical sites. The Tenth encourages all those with a passion for history to visit our website at Redcoat.org, visit us in person at a monthly drill or event, and to join an amazing organization, whether it be as a soldier or civilian. Positions within The Tenth are open to everyone regardless of gender identity.

© Justin Murray Photography

A Fight for Freedom: Honoring Patriots of Color

BY JOE PALUMBO

LLast fall, the Town of Concord and Concord250 were proud to be among the 37 selected recipients of a Massachusetts250 Grant provided by the Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism. The grant funded the project “A Fight for Freedom: Honoring Patriots of Color.”

For many months, scholars, interpreters, and artists collaborated to create this signature event. The program launched in March at The Umbrella Center for the Arts with a two-hour live event dedicated to uncovering and honoring the oftenoverlooked contributions of Black and Indigenous Patriots during the American Revolution and the ongoing struggle for freedom and equality over the past 250 years.

In 1775, between 20 and 40 colonists of African and Indigenous descent fought alongside their fellow revolutionaries on the Battle Road during the opening conflict of

the American Revolution. Excluded from formal militia service before the war, these individuals were among the earliest Patriots to take up arms for liberty. By the end of the Revolutionary War, approximately 5,500 people of color had served in the Continental Army or local militias, risking their lives for the promise of freedom.

Despite their significant role in founding the United States, these Patriots’ stories and their descendants’ experiences have often been erased or overshadowed by historical bias. Their sacrifices have been obscured by narratives written by others. By sharing their stories and honoring their service, we expand our understanding of the nation’s founding. Their bravery and resilience remind us that the struggle for freedom has always been fought by people from all backgrounds and walks of life.

Those who attended the live event at The Umbrella were guided by historical interpreters through the stories of individuals who fought for independence, including Brister Freeman, Caesar Robbins, George Washington Dugan, and Ellen Garrison. The program also featured inspiring performances through spoken word, theater, music, and song as well as two original theater pieces: Voices of Patriots of Color and The Visit. The Visit imagines historical figures from Concord discussing “what we should remember and celebrate in 2025.” Together, they

convey a crucial message, articulated by Caesar Robbins in the theatrical piece:

“We’ve always been here. We’ve always been fighting for freedom. We’ve always done our share to help make this country better. That’s what you need to tell people. That’s what people need to know. It can seem dark out, but every time, somehow, we figured out how to work together as a people and make our nation just a bit more free, just a bit more just, just a bit more equal. We can’t stop the fight.”

The event concluded with a community reflection and dialogue on the importance of recognizing the diverse voices and contributions that shaped the nation’s history, past and present. A full theater audience participated in this meaningful event of learning, reflection, and recognition, honoring the courageous men and women who fought for freedom—stories vital to understanding our nation’s full history.

Concord Visitor Center offers free Patriots of Color Walking Tours through June 30. Visit visitconcord.org/visit/walking-tours/ for more information.

Joe Palumbo, a Concord native, grew up on a farm along Battle Road, surrounded by history. He holds a BA in history from Boston University and a master’s in educational leadership from California State University. He currently works as a historical interpreter in the Boston area and serves as Co-President of The Robbins House Museum.

Soloist

Shy’Kira Allen inspires as she performs songs of triumph and freedom

BRISTER FREEMAN

Brister Freeman, born in 1744, who had been given as a wedding gift to Dr. John Cuming between the ages of five and nine, lived in captivity for the first thirty or so years of his life until he gained his freedom after fighting in the Revolutionary War. During his service, Brister marched under Colonel John Buttrick to Saratoga in 1777 and watched British General Burgoyne surrender. Two years later, after being documented with the name Brister Cuming, he enlisted under the name Brister Freeman, announcing his newly acquired freedom.

In his later life, Brister purchased an acre of old wood lot in Walden Woods with Charlestown Edes, a fellow African-American Revolutionary War soldier, and set up a two-family household. He was the second man of African descent to purchase Concord land. Other formerly enslaved people followed, and Walden Woods became one of three Black enclaves that sprang up in Concord following gradual emancipation in Massachusetts. Walden Woods was home to as many as fifteen formerly enslaved people and their families.

Brister passed away in 1822, but his burial site is neither marked nor known. Today, the land is Town Forest and is stewarded by the Town of Concord. The ditch fence Brister dug around his property to keep animals enclosed is still visible to passers-by. In commemoration of his life, The Robbins House placed a boulder marking the Freeman Family home site in 2011, and the site is also addressed by a nearby plaque.

CAESAR ROBBINS

Enslaved at birth in nearby Chelmsford, Caesar Robbins served in two wars. At just 16 years old, he fought in the French and Indian War, with his enslaver receiving his payment. In his early 30s, on April 19, 1775, Caesar was enslaved to Captain Israel Heald of Acton, who mustered at the North Bridge. It’s likely that Robbins fought alongside Heald’s company that day.

Caesar went on to serve in the Revolutionary War and, through his military service, earned his freedom. In 1776, at 31 years old, he fought under Captain Heald to help fortify Dorchester Heights in Boston. Later that summer, he marched to Fort Ticonderoga in New York. By 1779, Caesar enlisted for the last time. Records from 1784 show that at 40 years old, Caesar Robbins

was a free man and the head of his own household. By 1790, he was farming on a small plot of land in Concord, which was owned by Humphrey Barrett. Over the years, Caesar married twice and had six children. He died in 1822, and the following year, his son Peter purchased over 13 acres of land, including the home that would become the Robbins House. In 1823, Caesar’s children, Peter and Susan, became the first residents of the house.

PHILLIP BARRETT

Phillip Barrett, born about 1760, was enslaved by Colonel James Barrett. On April 19, 1775, it is unclear what role Phillip played however it is likely he aided in the removal of military supplies from Barrett’s farm before the arrival of British Regulars. When James Barrett died in 1779, his will stipulated that his son inherited Phillip and that he remain enslaved until Phillip turn thirty. Phillip enlisted in the Continental Army in 1780 and was soon stationed at West Point, New York. It is not evident if Peter Barrett freed Phillip prior to his enlistment, however there is no record of what became of Phillip following his military service.

THOMAS NICHOLS

Thomas Nichols was a free man of color married to a person of Indigenous descent on the morning of April 19 when he was locked in the Concord jail. A paper breathlessly reported that “By a Gentleman arrived here from Boston, we are informed, that last Week a free Negro was apprehended at Natick, in MassachusettsBay Government, and, after Examination, committed to Concord Jail. It appeared that said Fellow has for some Time past been employed in forming a Plot to destroy the white People; for that Purpose he had enlisted Numbers of his own Complexion, as Associates, and they only waited until some Disturbance should happen that might occasion the Militia to turn out, and in their Absence it was proposed to Murder the defenceless Inhabitants.” Nichols was still in Concord’s jail when the Revolutionary War broke out. He witnessed British troops, under Major John Pitcairn, force their way into the jail yard. Interestingly, later that day, more than one of his cousins was fighting with the Patriot forces along Battle Road. This family’s story is a striking example of the complex and often contradictory experiences of people of color at the outbreak of the war.

THE STOCKBRIDGE TRIBE

Historically, the Mahican, Housatonic, Wappinger and Tunxis people called themselves ‘Muh-he-con-neok’ or ‘People of the Waters that are Never Still.’

They played a primary role in trade along the Hudson, relaying communications between Algonquian and Iroquoian nations. Dutch land speculators took possession of Stockbridge-Mohican lands while native warriors were away assisting the British near Canada in the Seven Years (French and Indian) War. A delegation of Stockbridge-Mohican leaders then sailed to England in 1766 seeking royal intervention for the return of their lands, but to no avail.

The Stockbridge-Mohican then switched their allegiance to the American provincials and their impending battle against the king’s Redcoats, enlisting other native nations such as the Oneida in central New York.

Dozens of Stockbridge warriors rushed east to Cambridge after receiving the alarm of April 19th, 1775. Rev. William Emerson mentioned in his journal that the Stockbridge fighters shared clams with him while amongst their ‘wigwams’ during the Siege of Boston.

Others noted Stockbridge bravery as warriors engaged in independent skirmishes against the king’s troops near Charlestown. British sentries were routinely harassed and killed by Stockbridge warriors in 1775, and a shower of their arrows killed a British sailor, thwarting an attempt to move British military supplies along the Charles River.

The Stockbridge-Mohican lost prominent warriors at Bunker Hill and went on to fight in most of the northern battles of the American Revolution. Significant numbers of Stockbridge fighters were killed in battle or by disease,

After the war, Stockbridge widows and families found themselves further displaced from their homelands - this time by Americans. Their only thanks from George Washington: a document of acknowledgement and an ox to slaughter for a feast. Subsequently, the StockbridgeMohican were left to seek refuge with the Oneida nation in New York state and eventually both nations were forced out of New York to Wisconsin. Shawano County, Wisconsin is where the StockbridgeMunsee Band of Mohican Indians continue today.

THE BATTLES OF LEXINGTON AND CONCORD: The Revolution Begins

BY ALEXANDER CAIN

TThe Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, marked the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The British, seeking to suppress a growing colonial rebellion, dispatched 700 elite troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith to seize a stockpile of arms and ammunition in Concord, Massachusetts. News of this impending operation quickly spread through the colonial network, alerting local militias.

The operation began with British troops crossing the Charles River to Cambridge and marching toward Concord under darkness. The confrontation began at Lexington Green, where a small contingent of colonial militiamen, under the command of Captain John Parker, faced a significantly larger British force. As the Regulars approached the town common, Parker told his men to “Stand your ground, don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!”1

The precise sequence of events remains debated, but a shot from an unknown source was fired as the British troops approached the militia. The Regulars fired at point-blank range into Parker’s company, resulting in the deaths of eight colonial militiamen. Ten additional Lexington men and one British soldier were also wounded during the fight. Undeterred, the British continued their march to Concord. Upon arrival, Smith

sent some of his soldiers across the North Bridge to Barrett Farm, where the stockpile of arms and ammunition was believed to be hidden. Hundreds of minutemen watched the British from a nearby hill. Suddenly, the colonists spotted a plume of thick smoke billowing from the center of town. Unknown to the militia soldiers, this fire was caused by British Regulars burning wood carriages for cannons. Colonel James Barrett ordered his men to march across the North Bridge and protect the town. As they approached the bridge, the Regulars opened fire. Major John Buttrick responded by shouting, “Fire! For God’s sake fire!”2 and the minutemen returned fire. Three British soldiers and two men from the town of Acton, Massachusetts, were killed. An additional nine Regulars were wounded.

Around noon, the British troops withdrew from Concord to return to Boston. However, they encountered fierce resistance from over four thousand colonial militiamen who had converged from surrounding towns. Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, the British were forced to retreat along a perilous route back to Boston, facing a continuous barrage of fire from concealed colonial positions. By the

time the British reached Boston, seventy-three soldiers had been killed, one hundred and seventy-four had been wounded, and twentysix were missing. By comparison, forty-nine colonists were killed, an additional 41 were injured, and five were missing.

The battles demonstrated the effectiveness of colonial militia tactics. The militia’s military capabilities, including rapid movements and hit-and-run tactics, proved a formidable challenge for the more conventional British army.

The legacy of Lexington and Concord extends far beyond the immediate military consequences. These battles became a rallying cry for the growing revolutionary movement. They instilled a sense of national unity among the colonists and fostered a collective determination to fight for independence.

Alexander Cain is the Director of Career and Technical Education for a Massachusetts non-profit and frequently lectures on the military and social influences of April 19, 1775. He owns the critically acclaimed blog and podcast “Historical Nerdery.”

1 Deposition of Sergeant William Munroe, April 25, 1822; Frank Warren Coburn, Battle of April 19, 1775, (Place of publication not identified: Nabu Press, 2010). 2 National Park Service. “Major John Buttrick (U.S. National Park Service),” accessed January 25, 2025, www.nps.gov/people/major-john-buttrick.htm.

Amos Doolittle, The battle of Lexington, April 19th. 1775. Plate I.

The ConCord orChesTra

MusiC direCTor Zeke FeTrow | ConCord, Ma

Michael Kurth Everything Lasts Forever

W. A. Mozart

Concerto No. 4 in D Major Young Artist Concerto Competition Winner Jihye Yun, Violin

Arturo Marquez Danzon No. 2

Ottorino Respighi Pini di Roma

Saturday May 31, 8pM

with a pre-concert recital at 7:15pm featuring Young Artist Concerto Competition Runner Up Lorenzo Ye, Cello

Sunday June 1, 2:30pM

with a pre-concert recital at 1:45pm, featuring Young Artist Concerto Competition Runner Up Lillian Arnold Mages, Violin

THE BATTLE OF MENOTOMY: The Bloodiest Engagement of the Day

BY ALEXANDER CAIN

TThe Battle of Menotomy was a skirmish fought as the British retreated to Boston on April 19, 1775. The fight, often overshadowed by the Battles of Lexington and Concord, was brutal and bloody.

After the Battles of Lexington and Concord, British troops retreated to Boston. However, they were relentlessly harassed by thousands of militiamen who ambushed them from the surrounding woods and houses. The British soldiers, now under constant fire, were forced to slow their pace and fight their way back to safety.

As the Regulars approached the Village of Menotomy (known today as Arlington), they discovered the town’s layout, with with its sloping road flanked by houses and stone walls, provided the perfect opportunity for the colonial forces to set up ambushes and snipe at the advancing British soldiers.

The Regulars, determined to push through the village, were met with fierce resistance from the hidden militiamen. The fighting quickly devolved into a brutal house-tohouse and hand-to-hand struggle. Lieutenant John Barker of the 4th Regiment of Foot described how no quarter was given to the enemy. “We were now obliged to force almost every house in the road, for the Rebels had taken possession of them and galled us exceedingly, but they suffer’d for their temerity for all that were found in the houses were put to death.”1

During the fight, the retreating British troops ambushed Captain Gideon Foster’s company from Danvers and militiamen from the nearby towns of Lynn and Needham. Desperate to escape, the colonists fled

toward Jason Russell’s house, suffering heavy casualties along the way. British soldiers pursued the survivors inside. By the end of the skirmish at the Russell House, twenty-one Massachusetts men inside or on the property were dead, with Danvers’ company experiencing the heaviest losses.

The Battle of Menotomy was the bloodiest engagement of April 19, 1775. At least forty British soldiers were killed, while colonial casualties included twenty-five dead and many more wounded. The town itself was also heavily damaged, with houses burned and property plundered by the retreating British troops. A few weeks later, Hannah Fayerweather Winthrop wrote to her friend Mercy Otis Warren to describe the carnage she observed the day after the fighting. “What added greatly to the horror of the Scene was our passing thro the Bloody field at Menotomy which was strewd with the mangled Bodies, we met one Affectionate Father with a Cart looking for his murderd Son & picking up his Neighbours who had fallen in Battle, in order for their Burial.”2

Crown oppression. While it may not be as famous as some of the other battles of the war, Menotomy remains a crucial part of American history.

————————————————————————

The Battle of Menotomy served as a stark reminder to the British of the fierce resistance they would encounter in their efforts to suppress the rebellion. It also underscored the brutality of the April 19 fight and the human cost of the conflict. Menotomy helped strengthen Massachusetts’ resolve to combat

1 “THE DIARY OF LIEUTENANT JOHN BARKER, Fourth (or The King’s Own) Regiment of Foot, From November, 1774, to May, 1776.” Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 7, no. 28 (1928): 81–109. www.jstor.org/stable/44232571. 2 Massachusetts Historical Society. Letter from Hannah Winthrop to Mercy Otis Warren, circa May 1775, accessed January 25, 2025. www.masshist.org/database/viewer.php?item id=3335.

Memorial of Samuel Whittemore

THE BATTLE OF CHELSEA CREEK: Cutting Supply Lines

BY ALEXANDER CAIN

AAfter the bloody events at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the New England militia began to encircle Boston, placing the British garrison under siege. Before the American Revolution, troops in Boston relied heavily on local farmers for fresh provisions. General Thomas Gage would be forced to depend upon a long and tenuous supply line to Nova Scotia and England if these local supply sources were disrupted. Massachusetts leaders understood that it was unlikely that they could entirely cut off the flow of supplies to the British army. Still, if they could significantly cut into it, they might starve the British out of Boston.

The Massachusetts Committee of Safety ordered militia forces stationed in the seaport town of Chelsea “to take effectual methods to prevent any Provisions being carried into the Town of Boston” from farms on islands in Boston Harbor.1 However, the troops were slow to move, and Gage continued sending foraging parties to collect supplies.

Determined to disrupt the British foraging efforts, the Massachusetts Committee of Safety ordered soldiers to remove all livestock and hay on Noddles and Hog Islands, located just north of Boston. 2 On May 26, a combined force of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire militiamen, under the command of General Israel Putnam, embarked on this mission.

The colonial militia quickly seized or destroyed large amounts of hay and

cattle before their British counterparts knew what was transpiring. As militiaman Amos Farnsworth recalled, he and his companions were able to “[set] one Hous and Barn on fiar Kil’d Some hoses and Cattel Brought of[f] two or three Cows one horse.”3 However, British officials quickly learned of the provincial mission and alerted Gage. The Royal Navy dispatched HMS Diana to intercept the provincials.

The Diana landed troops on the islands, and a fierce battle ensued. Farnsworth noted, “Before we got from Noddle’s Island to Hog Island we was fired upon by a Schooner. But we crossed the river and about fifteen of us squatted down in a ditch on the marsh and stood our ground. And there came a company of Regulars on the marsh on the other side of the river and the Schooner, and we had a hot fire the bullets flew very thick the balls sung like bees round our heads.”4

Another Massachusetts soldier, James Stevens, recalled, “the regerlers saw our men thay fired on them then the firing Begun on boath sides & fired very worm.”5

Disaster struck at the height of the battle as the sloop Diana ran aground. Militiamen peppered the ship with musket fire, forcing Royal Navy sailors to abandon the boat.

New Englanders raided the ship, removed cannons, gunpowder, and supplies, and set it on fire.

The following days saw further skirmishes as the provincials continued to clear the islands of supplies. While the British retaliated with bombardments, they ultimately failed to prevent the destruction of their resources.

The Battle of Chelsea Creek was a crucial early victory for the colonial forces. It showcased their growing military cohesion and willingness to take the offensive, setting the stage for the more significant battles that would soon follow.

————————————————————————————

1 Minutes of the Massachusetts Committee of Safety 1775, in American Archives: Fourth Series, 6 vols., comp. Clarke M. St. Clair and Peter Force (Washington: U.S. Congress, 1837–46), 2:753. 2 Noddle and Hog Islands were filled in and built over in the early part of the 20th Century. Both islands are now part of the City of Revere, Massachusetts and Logan International Airport. 3 Amos Farnsworth, “Diary Kept by Lieut. Amos Farnsworth of Groton, Mass., during Part of the Revolutionary War, April 1775–May 1779,” in vol. 32 of The Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, ed. Samuel A. Green (Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1897–99), p. 81. 4 Ibid. 5 James Stevens, “The Revolutionary Journal of James Stevens of Andover, Mass. [1775–76],” Essex Institute Historical Collections, vol. 48 (Salem: Essex Institute, 1912), pp. 40-41.

Massachusetts militia company

THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL: Victory—But at What Cost?

BY ALEXANDER CAIN

TThe Battle of Bunker Hill, fought on June 17, 1775, marked a critical moment in the American Revolution. It was part of the Siege of Boston, an early and bloody conflict between British forces and American colonists.

On the eve of the battle, British commanders realized the strategic importance of the Charlestown peninsula, which overlooked Boston and its harbor. General Thomas Gage and his officers decided to seize the high ground before colonial forces could. However, on June 15, colonial leaders learned of the British plan and mobilized troops to fortify the area. Colonel William Prescott was ordered to construct defenses on Bunker Hill but instead chose Breed’s Hill, closer to Boston.

Prescott and his men worked overnight, constructing an earthen redoubt on Breed’s Hill.

At dawn, British forces detected the fortifications, and artillery fire commenced. Despite relentless bombardment, the colonists continued building defenses. Massachusetts militiaman Peter Brown recalled the intense British fire, writing, “They began to fire pretty briskly which caus’d many of our young Country people to desert.”1 The fatigued and undersupplied men anxiously awaited reinforcements that failed to arrive.

By midday, over 2,000 British troops had landed and prepared for an assault. General William Howe led the main attack, advancing in columns toward the colonial positions. The defenders, ordered to hold their fire until the British were within close range, unleashed devastating volleys. British casualties mounted rapidly. One officer said, “Most of our Grenadiers and Light-infantry, the moment of presenting themselves, lost three-fourths of their men.”2 The initial assault failed, and Howe’s forces retreated in disarray.

A second attack met a similar fate, with colonial marksmen exploiting their fortified positions. Prescott later described the scene: “The Enemy advanced and fired very hotly on the Fort but met with a warm reception. They were obliged to retire.”3 Despite their success, the colonists faced a critical shortage of ammunition.

Determined to break through, Howe ordered a third assault, this time focusing on bayonet charges. By then, the colonial defenders were nearly out of ammunition and resorted to hurling rocks and debris. British forces eventually overwhelmed the redoubt, forcing the colonial soldiers to retreat. Joseph Warren, a prominent Patriot, was killed during the final clash.

The British technically won the battle, taking the ground but at a staggering cost: over 1,000 casualties, including many officers.

General Henry Clinton observed, “A few more such victories would have shortly ended British dominion in America.”4

Colonial forces suffered around 450 casualties but proved their resilience and capability against the formidable British army.

This unexpected display of colonial resolve instilled a newfound confidence within the colonial ranks and strengthened their determination to resist British rule. General Gage was ultimately recalled to London to account for the costly victory. General Howe assumed command in his place. In July of that year, General George Washington arrived to take command of the army and orchestrate the ongoing campaign to liberate Boston from British control. ————————————————————————————

“View of the Attack on Bunker’s Hill, with the burning of Charles Town” 1775 engraving

1 Letter from Peter Brown to Sarah Brown, 25 June 1775; “Peter Brown (U.S. National Park Service),” National Parks Service, accessed January 12, 2025, www.nps.gov/people/peter-brown.htm. 2 Richard Ketchum, Decisive Day: The Battle of Bunker Hill (New York: Owl Books, 1999), p. 161. 3 Letter from William Prescott to John Adams, August 25, 1775; “Founders Online: To John Adams from William Prescott, 25 August 1775,” National Archives and Records Administration, accessed January 12, 2025, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-03-02-0070. 4 Diary of General Henry Clinton, June 1775; “The Henry Clinton Papers,” UM Clements Library, accessed January 12, 2025, https:// clements.umich.edu/exhibit/spy-letters-of-the-american-revolution/clinton-papers/.

by Paul Revere.

The Wright Tavern’s Historic Roots and Vibrant Future

BY TOM WILSON

IIn Concord’s center, there is an iconic red building. Having stood for almost 300 years, the Wright Tavern is ready to receive visitors again. Having been closed to the public for more than 30 years, it is now reopening to welcome visitors and rekindle the spirit of taverns as unique places of civic engagement.

In 1747, the township of Concord sold a half-acre of land to Captain Ephraim Jones. The militia’s training grounds were eroding into the nearby Mill Brook, and Jones was tasked to fix that problem as a requirement of the purchase. He was successful and built a large home that also became a tavern.

During the colonial period, taverns served as important community centers where people could learn current events, hear from travelers, and discuss politics and the latest gossip. The Wright Tavern was ideally located between the Meeting House (now the First Parish in Concord), the town center, and the training grounds for the militia. When the militia was training and churchgoers were

attending six-hour Sunday services, the Tavern was a wonderful place for refreshments and relaxation. Since water was often not healthy, beer, ale, rum, cider, and other refreshments were both pleasing and considered to have favorable medicinal properties.

Thomas Munroe purchased the Tavern from Jones in 1751 and later sold it to Daniel Taylor in 1766. Amos Wright became its proprietor likely in March 1774. He never owned the building and was considered a quiet, gentle, and retiring man. The Tavern was successful, and, in a few years, events would forever associate Wright’s name with this special place.

In the 1700s, many citizens of the Massachusetts Bay Colony protested the increasingly stringent controls of the British Crown and Parliament. Protests erupted against the Intolerable Acts, including the Boston Tea Party, and heightened tensions. On May 20, 1774, the British Parliament annulled the Massachusetts Charter of 1691, the governing doctrine of the colony, and

enacted the Massachusetts Government Act. This Act severely reduced citizens’ participation and the authority of local officials. In response, the Massachusetts General Assembly met in Salem on October 5 and locked the doors to the meeting house. They had been ordered by Major General Thomas Gage, the appointed Governor and military commander, to disband and go home. Instead, the Legislature decided to create itself into a Provincial Congress. They soon left and reconvened in Concord on October 11 to begin their work.

The Assembly became Massachusetts’ First Provincial Congress to “call together to maintain the rights of the people.” They met in the Meeting House (First Parish), but the in-depth discussions and planning occurred in the Wright Tavern. Important decisions were deliberated in the Tavern and then taken to the Congressional sessions for approval.

The most important of these decisions was to withdraw Massachusetts from

© Jaimee Leigh Joroff

British control and establish an independent representative government. Massachusetts was the first colony to do so. John Hancock was elected president and Benjamin Lincoln as secretary. They became the de facto government for Massachusetts by taking control of the colony outside of Boston, collecting taxes and fees meant for the Crown, and establishing a formal militia. They developed governing committees, yet no one knew where this would lead. These were clearly unlawful and treasonous acts conspired in the Wright Tavern. A strong sense of patriotism grew inside these walls.

Wright Tavern, and Major John Pitcairn went to the Jones Tavern. They sent troops to search the town, looking for rebel supplies. Because all the able-bodied men were in the hills, the town was protected by the women of the community. As over 400 Redcoats searched the town for rebel supplies, the women deceived and diverted the troops from finding weapons and supplies. The British mission failed to find any meaningful supplies except for two cannons buried near the jailhouse. Weapons remained hidden under beds, in locked closets, or buried in the fields.

significant grants from the Town of Concord and the National Parks Service, the Tavern has become stable, secure, and wellpreserved. Generous individual gifts have funded efforts to bring the look and feel to its original character. Now, the building welcomes tourists to experience what it must have felt like on the morning of April 19. Each room is dedicated to some aspect of its history and offers stories and authentic décor that create a unique experience. The building is available for hosting meetings, events, celebrations, entertainment, education, and reenactments. The Refreshment Center will offer non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages and light snacks to visitors.

Six months later, Concord would witness another significant historical event. In the early hours of April 19, 1775, on his way home from visiting his girlfriend in Lexington, Dr. Samuel Prescott met up with Paul Revere and William Dawes. As they rode toward Concord, a patrol of British Regulars ambushed them. They captured Revere, but Prescott and Dawes escaped. Because he knew the territory well, Prescott made it to Concord to alert the colonists the Redcoats were coming.

As the Town House bell rang around 3:00 that morning, the militia rose, grabbed their muskets and supplies, and headed to the Wright Tavern, the rendezvous site. The colonial militia leaders met in the Tavern to develop plans for addressing this imminent threat. As the Redcoats approached Meriam’s Corner, the militia leaders moved into the Concord hills.

Over 700 British Regulars entered Concord at about 7:30. They encountered little resistance. Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith settled into a new command center at the

As the British Regulars retreated to Boston and renewed gunfire was heard in the distance, the townspeople met at the Wright Tavern. This was a victorious day, but one also filled with concerns about the future. Amos Wright must have been pleased by the celebrations occurring at the Tavern. Based on the events of that day, the Tavern would forever be known as the Wright Tavern.

Today’s Wright Tavern is being transformed into a gathering place, a center for civic engagement, and a place for unique refreshments. After receiving

The Wright Tavern holds a unique place in the history of Concord, of Massachusetts, and our nation. This building reminds us how a small group of people, whose time had come, put independent representative government into practice. They stood on the battlefield and inside their homes to protect individual rights. Now, it is our time to create the next chapter and new experiences within these walls. For more information, contact the Wright Tavern Legacy Trust at info@ wrighttavern.org or visit WrightTavern.org

Courtesy of The Wright Tavern Legacy Trust

Tom Wilson is chair of the Wright Tavern Legacy Trust.

A close-up from Amos Doolittle’s engraving shows British regulars gathering in front of the Wright Tavern in 1775.

The Letter That Started a War

BY DAVID PRICE

PPerhaps one of the most underrated events of 1775 in Revolutionary America was the transmission of secret orders from William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth (1731-1801) and His Majesty’s Secretary of State for the American Department, to Gen. Thomas Gage, military governor of Massachusetts and commander of the British army in North America, to end the colonial insurgency by force if necessary. Dartmouth’s letter would appear to have considerable historical significance, as it provided the authorization for which Gage had been waiting in British-occupied Boston to execute his plans for dispatching a regiment into the Massachusetts countryside and thereby triggered the clashes at Lexington and Concord. Still, this correspondence has lingered in undeserved obscurity over the centuries, according to at least one modernday study of how England’s policies led to armed rebellion by her New World subjects.1

Lord Dartmouth was actually regarded by many as sympathetic to the colonies— more so than his predecessor, the earl of Hillsborough—when his stepbrother and prime minister, Frederick, Lord North, named him secretary for America in 1772. 2 Dartmouth assured Philadelphia’s Joseph Reed in mid-1774 that “there is not in any part

of the king’s dominions a more real friend to the constitutional rights and liberties of America than myself,” and that “his regard [for] the colonies” would not dissipate unless there transpired “the clearest evidence of a determined contempt and disregard of the mother country.”3 Over the next six months, however, that evidence became apparent to His Lordship, as well as to George III and his other ministers.

Writing from Boston in March 1775, Maj. John Pitcairn anticipated a move by his fellow Redcoats against the insurrectionists presently, as orders were “anxiously expected from England to chastise those very bad people.” He remained confident that “one active campaign, a smart action, and burning two or three of their towns,

will set everything to rights,” and that only military measures “will ever convince those foolish bad people that England is in earnest.”4 Pitcairn’s expectations were met when Dartmouth’s missive to Gage—drafted on January 27 in consultation with the king and North’s cabinet—arrived in Boston on April 14.5

The Dartmouth letter conveyed the collective opinion of decision-makers in London that in order to respond suitably to “the violences committed by those who have taken up arms in Massachusetts” and reestablish British authority there, “the essential step to be taken would be to arrest and imprison the principal actors and abettors6 in the provincial congress, whose proceedings appear in every light to

Courtesy of Hood Museum, Dartmouth College

William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth (17311801), Pompeo Batoni, Italian, 1708 - 1787

be acts of treason and rebellion.”7 Dartmouth advised that reinforcements were on the way and counseled resolution on Gage’s part: “The king’s dignity and the honor and safety of the empire require that in such a situation, force should be repelled by force.” In a final spur to action, the letter concluded by reminding Gage that a clause in the Massachusetts charter authorized the governor to declare martial law in the event of “war, invasion, or rebellion.” Accordingly, hostilities erupted five days later on April 19, igniting the longest military conflict in American history before Vietnam. As Thomas Jefferson’s words would augur independence for America, so William Legge’s words augured war for Great Britain.

NOTES

1 Nick Bunker, An Empire on the Edge: How Britain Came to Fight America (Alfred A. Knopf, 2014), 357. 2 Eric Robson, The American Revolution In its Political and Military Aspects, 1763-1783 (W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1966), 22; Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy, The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire (Yale University Press, 2014), 51. 3 Lord Dartmouth to Joseph Reed, July 11, 1774, in William B. Reed, Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed (Lindsay and Blakiston, 1847. Reprint: Adamant Media Corporation, 2006), 1:72-73. 4 John Pitcairn to the Earl of Sandwich, March 4, 1775, in The Spirit of ‘Seventy-Six: The Story of the American Revolution As Told by Participants, eds. Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris (Harper & Row, Publishers, 1967), 62. 5 Dartmouth’s letter remained in his desk for weeks before being sent as events played out in Parliament. A copy was delivered to Gage in Boston by the Nautilus before the original arrived aboard the companion sloop Falcon. See Rick Atkinson, The British Are Coming:

David Price is the author of five books about the Revolutionary War and a frequent contributor to the Journal of the American Revolution, as well as a historical interpreter at Washington Crossing Historic Park (PA) and Princeton Battlefield State Park (NJ). More information about David and his work, including his new book, Winning the Ten Crucial Days, can be found at dpauthor.com. Celebrate 250 Years of Freedom with Artinian Jewelry

The War for America, Lexington to Concord, 1775-1777 (Henry Holt and Company, 2019), 51. 6 Although Dartmouth did not name them in his letter, it would have been understood that Samuel Adams and John Hancock were prime targets of His Majesty’s government among “the principal actors and abettors in the provincial congress.” See Walter R. Borneman, American Spring: Lexington, Concord, and the Road to Revolution (Little, Brown and Company, 2014), 115. 7 Dartmouth to Thomas Gage, January 27, 1775, in The Correspondence of General Thomas Gage with the Secretaries of State, and with the War Office and the Treasury, 1763-1775, ed. Clarence Edwin Carter (Yale University Press, 1931-33. Reprint: Archon Books, 1969), 2:179-183. It is noteworthy that Dartmouth’s letter left the timing and operational details of the actions he urged upon Gage to the latter’s discretion while making specific suggestions about troop dispositions and fortifications, and it has been suggested that this was done so that if Gage was able to quell the unrest, Dartmouth and the government in London could take credit for that success, but if Gage failed, the fault could be ascribed to his execution. See Borneman, American Spring, 115-116.

Join us in commemorating the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in Concord and Lexington. At Artinian Jewelry, we honor the spirit of independence and craftsmanship, infusing timeless beauty into every piece.

Celebrate history with elegance—visit us today and own a piece of heritage!

39 Main Street, Concord MA 01742

1734 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington MA 02420

Artinianjewelry.com

By Powder Pride&

This hobby will amaze you, you’ll never be bored, From the green in Lexington to the bridge in Concord. You’ll stand in wool, your musket primed, A soldier lost in ancient time.

The drumbeat calls, the fifes ring clear, Echoes of war still whisper here.

With tricorn set and powder dry, We march where once the brave did die. Their voices linger in the air, A silent charge, a solemn prayer.

By candles’ glow in tavern’s keep, We share the tales the past still speaks. With tankards raised and laughter bright, We bring the ghosts back into light.

Yet more than battles, shot, and blade, We live the lives our forebears made. The farmer’s toil and blacksmith’s fire, The mother’s hope, the child’s desire.

To wear their cloth, to speak their tongue, To walk the roads from which they sprung, Is not mere play, nor jest nor game, But honor bound to history’s name.

So, in the morning mist we stand, A living link, a leathered hand. Not actors here, but those who vow To keep the past alive - somehow!

By Carl Sweeney, Captain of the Concord Minutemen

March 13, 2025

Written in honor of the 250th Celebration of the Battles at Lexington and Concord

The Child Witnesses of 1775

BY ALEXANDER CAIN

TThe American Revolution, often viewed through the lens of soldiers and statesmen, holds a lesser-known narrative: the experiences of its civilian children. These young witnesses provide a unique, albeit often overlooked, perspective on the war’s impact. However, authentic contemporary accounts written by children are scarce. Most of these stories emerged decades later, passed down through generations, and were documented in the 19th century or beyond. Here are four such narratives, starting with those from the Battles of Lexington and Concord and concluding with the Battle of Bunker Hill.

The first child witness account comes from Elizabeth Clarke. Elizabeth was the daughter of the Reverend Jonas Clarke, and at the time of the Battle of Lexington, she was twelve years old. On April 20, 1835, Elizabeth wrote to her niece, Lucy Ware Allen, to describe how her family prepared to flee as British troops advanced toward the town. She also recalled the somber return to witness the burial of the fallen militiamen from Captain John Parker’s Company, noting the fear that British regulars would desecrate the dead as they retreated from Concord. According to the young Clarke, “In the afternoon, Father, Mother with me and the baby went to the Meeting House.

There was the eight men that was killed, seven of them my Father’s parishioners, one from Woburn, all in Boxes made of four large boards nailed up and, after Pa had prayed, they were put into two horse carts and took into the graveyard where some of the neighbors had made a large trench there I stood and there I saw them let down into the ground my Father thought some of the men had best cut some pine or oak bows and spread them on their place of burial so that it looked like a heap of brush.”1

Anna Munroe of Lexington, nearly four years old, on April 19, 1775, later recalled to relatives the chaotic evacuations her family endured. Her memories, pieced together from her mother’s accounts, illuminated the terror and uncertainty faced by civilians during the Battles of Lexington and Concord. As she remembered, young Anna could only directly recall “seeing the men in red coats coming toward the house and how frightened her mother was when they ran from the house,” as Lord Percy’s reinforcements engaged the harassing minutemen and militia—however, her mother’s stories filled in the gaps. Anna recounted, “Mother told her of her very unhappy afternoon. She held Anna by the hand, brother William by her side and baby Sally in her arms . . . She could hear the cannon firing over her head on the hill. She could smell the smoke of the three buildings which the British burned between here and the center of Lexington. And she did not know what was happening to her husband, who was fighting, or what was happening within her house. . . Anna’s mother used to talk to her of what happened on April 19 and she remembered that her mother used to take her on her lap and say: ‘This is my little girl that I was so afraid the Red coats would get.’”2

In 1850, attorney Josiah Adams of Framingham refuted Lemuel Shattuck’s History of Concord, which downplayed

Sketch of Bunker Hill Battle, S. Swett Annin & Smith sc., 1826

Alexander Cain

The Old North Bridge

Acton’s role at the Battle of Concord, by publishing a letter with eyewitness accounts, including that of thirteen-yearold Charles Handley, who witnessed the day’s events from Brown’s Tavern near the north Bridge.

After searching Barrett’s farm, a British detachment returned toward the main force, stopping briefly outside Brown’s tavern. Handley’s subsequent testimony recounted, “At the time of the fight, the British, consisting of about one hundred, had returned from Col. Barrett’s as far as the tavern, and three or four officers were in the house, taking some drink The officers offered to pay, and Mrs. Brown declined; they told her not to be afraid, for they should do her no harm, and paid for their drink.” While the officers and soldiers relaxed on the tavern’s lawn, fighting erupted at the North Bridge. Surprisingly, Handley heard the gunfire, but the officers he tended to did not. “I heard the guns at the bridge, but the British did not appear to hear them. They marched on very soon but were in no haste. It was always said that they did not know the fight till they passed the bridge and saw the men that had been killed.”3

Dorothea Gamsby was the daughter of John and Margaret Gamsby and the niece of Loyalist Sir John Nutting. She arrived in Boston with her aunt and uncle before April 1773. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, she was just ten years old.4 In the pre-dawn hours of June 17, 1775, Dorothea was roused from sleep. She recounted, “Aunt and her maid, walked from room to room sometimes weeping It was scarcely daylight when the booming of the cannon on board the ships in the harbour shook every house We were by

NOTES

this time thoroughly frightened.” As the battle intensified, Dorothea and her aunt moved to another location, granting them a clear view of the fighting. Gamsby described the scene: “The glittering host, the crashing music, all the pomp and brilliance of war, moved on up toward that band of rebels, but they still laboured at their entrenchment, they seemed to take no heed - the bullets from the ships, the advancing column of British warriors, were alike unnoticed At length one who stood conspicuously above the rest waved his bright weapon, the explosion came attended by the crash the shrieks of the wounded and the groans of the dying. My aunt fainted ... I screamed with all my might.”5

Dorothea’s narrative poignantly captured the war’s grim reality. She described, “Charleston was in flames; women and children flying from their burning homes By and by, drays, carts and every description of vehicle that could be obtained were seen nearing the scene of conflict then came the loads of wounded men attended by long lines of soldiers ... a sight to be remembered there is nothing but woe and sorrow and shame to be found in the reality.”6

These four accounts, from Lexington and Concord to Bunker Hill, reveal the American Revolution’s impact on children. Despite differences in time and circumstance, Elizabeth, Anna, Charles, and Dorothea share vivid glimpses of fear, confusion, and lasting

scars. Through the filter of memory and passed down through generations, their stories remind us that the effects of war extend beyond the battlefield, touching even the youngest lives. Their narratives deserve attention— not just for their historical significance but for the human perspective they provide on a conflict often portrayed in broad strokes.

1 Elizabeth Clarke to Lucy Allen, April 20, 1835, taken from Elizabeth Clarke, “Letter of Miss Betty Clarke,” Lexington Historical Society Proceedings (Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Historical Society, 1908), 4:92. 2 Carrie E. Bacheller, Munroe Tavern: The Custodian’s Story (Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Historical Society, date unknown), 6-7. 3 Josiah Adams, Letter to Lemuel Shattuck, of Boston, from Josiah Adams, of Framingham (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University, 1850). 4 Dorothea’s granddaughter, Mrs. Marcus D. Johnson, documented Dorothea’s reflections on her experiences in Boston during the 1830s or 1840s. These accounts were ultimately passed down to Dorothea’s great-grandson, Charles D. Johnson, who edited and published a North Stratford, New Hampshire newspaper called The Coos County Democrat. Dorothea’s recounting was featured in that newspaper as a series of articles from 1859 to 1862. 5 “10-Year-Old Loyalist Watches Battle of Bunker Hill,” New England Historical Society, June 13, 2022, https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/10-year-old-loyalist-watches-battle-bunker-hill/. 6 Ibid.

Lexington Battle Monument

Battle of Bunker Hill, E. Percy Moran, 1909

Captives and Kings

BY JAIMEE LEIGH JOROFF

“Who is this? And what is here? And [then] died the sound of royal cheer; And they cross’d themselves for fear.”

~adapted from The Lady of Shalott, by Alfred Lord Tennyson

CCenturies had passed since legendary King Arthur pulled a sword from a stone claiming his right to the throne of England, but, once more, swords were being pulled in King Arthur’s land as guards tried to repel a crowd surging forward to get a glimpse of captive Patriot Ethan Allen and some of his Green Mountain Boys as they were dragged towards Pendennis Castle in Cornwall, England.

Barely having his land-legs under him after disembarking the ship that had brought them from Canada, as Allen later wrote, he saw “multitudes of citizens excited by curiosity, crowded together to see us . The throng was so great, that the King’s officers were obliged to draw their swords, and force a passage to Pendennis castle, which was

near a mile from the town, where we were closely confined, in consequence of orders from General Carlton, who then commanded in Canada.”

General Carlton was not pleased when Ethan Allen and his small army of Green Mountain Boys showed up on September 25, 1775, and attacked Montreal. The Green Mountain Boys had already captured Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775, and Fort Crown Point on May 12. When Allen and his (as King George III called them) “rebellious children” attacked Montreal, General Carlton decided that was enough and it was their turn to be captured.

Too valuable to keep near the colonies, Allen was shipped to Cornwall, England, the legendary land of King Arthur and his knights

Capture of Fort Ticonderoga

of the round table. Like Arthur and his loyal knights, Allen was accompanied by a number of his men who had voluntarily given themselves into captivity rather than leave their commander alone to his fate. Their fame preceded them, and as the crowds of men and women strained to see them, Allen and his men found their attention “equally gratifying to us.”

That gratification may not have lasted long as Allen’s confinement in the stone castle in the far southwest corner of England turned into years, and Allen may have contemplated the day that led to this, April 19, 1775.

It was on that morning in Concord, Massachusetts, that the now famed “shot heard round the world” was fired at the North Bridge. To quote Thomas Malory’s King Arthur and of his Noble Knights of the Round Table, “Then stood the realm in great jeopardy.” As British commander Lt. Col. Francis Smith reassembled his ~700 troops in Concord center, all around them, alerted by midnight riders to the search of Concord and the deaths of fellow Patriots on Lexington Green, hundreds of minutemen and militia were closing in.

Among them, leading his minuteman company roughly eighteen miles from Reading, MA, was twenty-two-year-old Captain John Brooks. As described by William Sumner, a friend of Brooks who later wrote Brooks’ account of events, when Brooks “came near the main road from Concord to Lexington, he saw the flank guard of the British army on this side of a hill which intervened and kept the main body from his sight…. Finding that his position could not be outflanked, he ordered his men to advance.” At Meriam’s corner (today at the intersection of Lexington Road and Old Bedford Road), taking cover behind stone walls, the Reading minutemen fired upon the Regulars. Within moments, as the rest of the British column approached, nearly one thousand militia arrived and the day-long fierce fighting along the battle road began, driving to the hilt a cracking of once-unified Englishmen into opposing sides of Loyalist or Patriot.

A month later, as Ethan Allen was busy capturing forts in New York, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia

with John Hancock presiding as president. Members of the Congress did not want a war with Great Britain, and while their resolutions included creating the basis for the Continental Army, delegates called for “a day of fasting and prayer by the inhabitants of all the English colonies on this continent and to bless our rightful sovereign King George the third, and [to] inspire him with wisdom to discern and pursue the true interest of all his subjects, that a speedy end may be put to the civil discord between Great Britain and the American colonies, without further effusion of blood.”

In a speech to Parliament on October 26, 1775, King George III said, “I have acted with the same Temper, anxious to prevent, if it had been possible, the effusion of the blood of My Subjects, and the calamities which are inseparable from a State of War; still hoping that My People in America would have discerned the traitorous views of their Leaders, and have been convinced, that to be a Subject of Great Britain, with all its Consequences, is to be the freest Member of any Civil Society in the known World. The rebellious War now levied is manifestly carried on for the Purposes of establishing an independent Empire. The Spirit of the British Nation [is] too high to give up so many Colonies.”

The war continued.

Reading minuteman Captain John Brooks became a lieutenant colonel in the

Continental Army, serving throughout the war including in the Battle of Saratoga.

Bringing reinforcement troops from Britain, Sir Archibald Campbell, lieutenant colonel of the 71st Regiment of Highlanders, arrived in Boston on June 16, 1776, and was not kindly welcomed. He was captured before he could get off the boat and ended up imprisoned in the jail in Concord. Unlike Ethan Allen who wrote about the good food and company he was given in Pendennis Castle, Sir Campbell’s personal narrative revealed he initially hated the food, most of the people, and the jail in Concord and would likely have given his whole experience one star.

On the 6th of May 1778, in a grand prisoner exchange, Ethan Allen was traded for Sir Archibald Campbell, and the men returned to their respective countries.

The American Revolutionary War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783. Written around that time, an undated paper in King George III’s hand read, “America is lost!”

The American government took root. John Hancock was Massachusetts’ first elected governor, followed, in time, by Lt. Col. John Brooks (11th governor), who had once fought at Meriam’s Corner with the Reading minutemen.

In 1860, crowds pressed into the streets of Boston to view King George III’s greatgrandson Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, who was making the first royal visit to America after the American Revolution. The Prince of Wales was greeted in Boston by Massachusetts’ own literary version of King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table, “the fireside poets,” Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, all of whom were grandsons of American Revolutionary War soldiers.

The Prince of Wales did not visit Concord. For a list of sources, email BarrowBookstore@gmail.com.

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.

Public domain

Governor John Brooks

From the Midnight Ride to Revolution: An Artistic Journey

BY KEVIN M. DOYLE WITH ART BY KAREN RINALDO

AAfter telling the tale of The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ended his epic poem with the words, “The rest you know from the books you have read.” But in case you haven’t read books about the battles at Lexington and Concord, Cape Cod artist Karen Rinaldo will sum it up for you in a single piece of art, currently on display at the Concord Museum.

The artwork starts in the upper right corner with Paul Revere seeing the flash of two lanterns hung in the Old North Church steeple in Boston on the night of April 18. He gallops along Massachusetts Avenue from Charlestown at about nine pm, through Menotomy (now called Arlington), and arrives in Lexington late on the night of April 18 to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that 700 British soldiers were coming to seize the munitions stored in Concord.

The alarm bell rings out across Lexington Green to alert the militia to muster. About 80 Lexington militiamen respond to face the British Regulars when they arrive at dawn on April 19. The painting records the movement of the Redcoats as some of them veer off the road to Concord to accost the colonists on Lexington Green and order them to disperse. Of course, they do not disperse. They maintain two ranks across the Green until a shot is fired; no one knows who shot first. As Hancock and Adams escape, Adams hears the musket fire and exclaims, “What a glorious morning for America!” The battle leaves eight militiamen dead and 10 more wounded, but there are no British casualties; those will happen in Concord.

As the minutemen look after their casualties, the Regulars form up and continue the march to Concord. The right side of the artwork illustrates what happens next. The Concord and Acton minutemen on the hill overlooking the North Bridge see smoke

billowing from the town and, worried that the town is being burned, they advance down the hill to the bridge and exchange fire with the British, mortally wounding three. Although there had been clashes with colonists before, including the Boston Massacre in March 1770, this was the first time that the colonists had killed a soldier of the King.

The British begin their retreat; a 20-mile march back to Boston. Colonial militiamen on their way to Lexington hear reports of the morning encounters and stay to ambush the Regulars on their return march to Boston. Fighting as they had learned from the Wampanoags, the colonists shoot “from behind each fence and farmyard wall” as the Redcoats march down the middle of the road to their nighttime bivouac on Bunker Hill, the scene of their next clash eight weeks later.

The houses and buildings portrayed along the perimeter bore witness to the battle, and the towns listed around the edge were among the many New England towns that provided the thousands of militiamen who fought so courageously on that day. The War for Independence had begun!

Karen Rinaldo is a Cape Cod artist who is nationally recognized for her commission of “The First Thanksgiving, 1621” which is currently exhibited at Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth. She is a noted visual historian for her accurate portrayals of moments in history.

Kevin M. Doyle is an educator and military historian as well as a former Lexington militiaman reenactor and a retired Marine Corps veteran. He and Karen have collaborated on two books and many lectures. Their work is available at the Concord Museum, Revolutionary Concord, the Lexington Visitors Center, and the Lexington Historical Society.

The Skulking Way of War

My assessment that the colonists learned their fighting style from the Wampanoag is based on experience and research. As a retired Marine Corps colonel, I have taught battlefield tactics, emphasizing adaptability. As a co-author of “In the Wake of the Mayflower,” I explored the pilgrims’ first encounter with the Wampanoag who attacked the pilgrim explorers at dawn, accompanying their arrows with a loud shrieking sound to terrify the Englishmen. After a short skirmish (with no record of casualties on either side), the 30 Wampanoags vanished into the woods.

In his book, The Skulking Way of War, Colonel Patrick Malone notes, “Everyone agreed by 1677 that warfare in New England forests required departures from conventional European methods.” Malone quotes John Eliot, the famous preacher in Natick who converted the “Praying Indians.” “In our first war with the Indians, God pleased to show us the vanity of our military skill, in managing our arms, after the European mode. Now we are glad to learn the skulking way of war.”

The final element that cemented my conclusion, was at the dedication of the Mashpee Wampanoag Veterans Garden in Mashpee Center, when Chief Flying Eagle pointed out to me that the Wampanoag Tribe had participated in every American battle from the Revolutionary War right up to Iraq and Afghanistan. The names of those killed in battle are proudly etched into the markers in the circle. Among the honorees are fifteen Wampanoag men who were killed while serving with the colonists in the American Revolution.

Thus, the colonists defeated the strongest army on earth by employing the lessons taught them by the Wampanoag fighters - the skulking way of war.

New Books from Concord Authors

CBY CYNTHIA L. BAUDENDISTEL

Concord, MA, has been known since the 19th century for its celebrated writers. Names like Thoreau, Alcott, Hawthorne, and Emerson have been joined by Kearns Goodwin, Maguire, Lightman, and others. This spring, several of Concord’s modern-day authors have new books that you won’t want to miss. Head to Barrow Bookstore, the Concord Book Shop, or the Concord Free Public Library and get to know our hometown authors. You may even find a signed copy to add to your library!

David DeLong’s book Hidden Talent: How to Employ Refugees, the Formerly Incarcerated & People With Disabilities explores the overlooked and underutilized talents of these marginalized groups. Whether you own a business or are responsible for hiring within an organization, DeLong’s latest book provides practical tools for identifying, hiring, and managing employees from these often-overlooked segments.

Entangled Lives, Black and White: The Black Community, Enslaved and Free, in Eighteenth Century Lincoln, Massachusetts by Donald L. Hafner takes readers inside the complex societal structures of a small Massachusetts town in the 18th century. Slavery was legal, and the town’s Black population encompassed both enslaved and free men and women. Hafner sets out to acknowledge the depth of their contributions and the ways in which their lives were deeply woven into the fabric of the broader community.

Alan Lightman is one of Concord’s most prolific and multifaceted writers. His latest work, The Miraculous from the Material: Understanding the Wonders of Nature, celebrates the extraordinary phenomena that surround us every day but which we often overlook. Rainbows, soap bubbles, astonishing animals—are all a part of our daily lives, but we rarely stop to consider their wonder. Accompanied by stunning photography, each essay reveals a world we see but often do not pause to understand.

Celebrated author Gregory Maguire has written over 30 novels for adults and children. His latest work, Elphie: A Wicked Childhood, takes us back to Elphaba’s early years, exploring the relationships and events that shaped the character of the woman who would become known as the “Wicked Witch of the West.”

Enslavement in the Puritan Village: The Untold History of Sudbury and Wayland, Massachusetts, by Jane H. Sciacca uncovers the hard truth of slavery in these picturesque New England towns. Sciacca spent decades researching records of the time and uncovered the stories of men, women, and children held in slavery, including the bill of sale of Phebey, age two, to a woman in another town. A nonfiction account of the tragic stories of enslavement in two New England towns.

In Stories of Concord, Massachusetts Sherblom delves into the history of the area’s Indigenous population and the colonial settlers who arrived on their shores. From the Nashawtuc clan to leading Puritan families like the Bulkeleys and Willards, their stories educate, inform, and inspire.

In The Noisy Puddle: A Vernal Pool Through the Seasons, Linda Booth Sweeney taps into the natural curiosity of children, encouraging readers to discover the plants and animals that live in a vernal pool; a type of habitat that appears in the spring, dries up by summer, reappears in the fall, and freezes over in the winter—only to come back again in the spring. Each seasonal change brings its own surprises as two siblings discover the wonders of the pool.

In Concord’s Wright Tavern: At the Crossroads of the American Revolution, Tom Wilson tells the story of a remarkable building that has stood in the center of Concord since 1747, witness to more than 250 years of history. The building has served as a meeting place for colonial militia, a headquarters for the British Army as they searched Concord for munitions, an inn, bookseller, office building, and more. Closed for most of the past forty years, the Wright Tavern has been restored and is now open to the public once again.

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

First Rugs

Concord Center

Albright Art Supply

Artinian Jewelry

Artisans Way

Barrow Bookstore

Bluemercury

Blue

Bobbi Benson Antiques

Brine

The

Comina

Concord

The

The Dotted i

Fairbank & Perry Goldsmiths

Gräem Nuts and

Irresistibles

Priscilla

Rewind

Thistle Hill

Thoreauly Antiques

Three Stones Gallery

Vanderhoof Hardware

Walden Liquors

Walden Street Antiques

Thoreau Depot/Nine Acre Corner

Frame-ables

Walden St

Main St

Walden St

Concord Firefly

Concord Flower Shop

Debra’s Natural Gourmet

Loveday

Potager Soap Company

Puck and Abby

Reflections Consignment

West Concord Wine & Spirits 1215 Main St Concord Center

WHERE TO EAT

Concord’s Colonial Inn

Fiorella’s Cucina

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

Thoreau St

Thoreau St Juju

New England Olive Oil Co.

Verrill Farm

West Concord

Anita’s

Barefoot Books

Sudbury Rd

Bradford St Belle on Heels

Clay Art + Concept

Commonwealth Ave

Concord Center

Concord’s Colonial Inn 48 Monument Sq

North Bridge Inn 21 Monument Sq

West Concord

Residence Inn by Marriott 320 Baker Ave

Barefoot

Concord

Debra’s

Dunkin’

Dunkin’ (two locations)

Puck

Puck and Abby

Verrill

Verrill Farm

e x i n g t o n & C o n c o r d H i s t o r i c S i t e s M a p H a n c o c

Based

“Soulful...

THE Spitfire Grill THE Spitfire Grill

The President and The Sage: Abraham Lincoln and Ralph Waldo Emerson

BY RICHARD SMITH

AAs tensions between the North and South increased throughout the 1850s, Ralph Waldo Emerson, like many Americans, was becoming more resigned to the prospect of civil war. He was convinced that the “insanity” of the South’s attachment to slavery would soon tear the nation apart.

A longtime member of the Whig Party, Emerson’s political allegiance switched to the nascent Republican Party in the mid-1850s. Emerson was a supporter of Willam Seward, who lost the presidential nomination to Abraham Lincoln, so Emerson cast his vote for Lincoln in the election of 1860. Like many New Englanders, he wasn’t much impressed with the rough-hewn lawyer, unsure if Lincoln could save the quickly dissolving Union. Emerson later remembered that, at the time, Lincoln was just a simple Kentuckian with “no frivolous accomplishments.” His opinion would change over the next five years. By 1860, Emerson was one of the most famous writers in America. Part philosopher, part poet, Emerson’s wise and powerful words about nature, literature, spirituality, and self-reliance had friends and admirers

from near and far calling him The Sage of Concord. His essays and poems were widely read, and his lectures were well attended as he traveled across the North and Midwest. In January 1862, Emerson’s fame brought him to Washington, D.C.

Emerson was in the capital city to present a lecture titled “American Civilization” at the Smithsonian Institution. Delivered on

Courtesy of the City of Springfield, Illinois There is no proof that this actually took place.

Ralph Waldo Emerson c. 1856

domain

“Mrs. Lincoln Serves Cake to Ralph Emerson” by Lloyd Ostendorf; 1981.

January 31, 1862, Emerson openly addressed the “existing administration” with “the utmost candor,” insisting that “the end of all political struggle is to establish morality as the basis of all legislation…Morality is the object of government.” This morality would naturally lead to the abolition of slavery. “The South calls slavery an institution...I call it destitution...Emancipation is the demand of civilization.”

Three days later, Emerson met with his friend, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, who took Emerson to the White House to meet President Lincoln. Also at the meeting were Secretary of War Edward Stanton, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, and Secretary of State William Seward. Emerson would record the meeting in his journal:

“The President impressed me more favorably than I had hoped. A frank, sincere, well-meaning man, with a lawyer’s habit of mind, good, clear statement of his fact, correct enough, not vulgar, as described; but with a sort of boyish cheerfulness, or that kind of sincerity and jolly good meaning that our class meetings on Commencement Days show, in telling our old stories over. When he has made his remark, he looks up at you with great satisfaction, and shows all his white teeth, and laughs...”

Back in January 1853, Emerson had given a series of lectures in Lincoln’s hometown of Springfield, Illinois, and now, much to Emerson’s surprise, the president knew who the Sage was: “When I was introduced to him, he said, ‘Oh, Mr. Emerson, I once heard you say in a lecture, that a Kentuckian seems to say by his air and manners, ‘Here am I; if you don’t like me, the worse for you.’” It is not known if Lincoln heard Emerson speak in 1853. There are even stories that Lincoln’s wife, Mary, served Emerson tea and cake at a church supper after one of the lectures, but this seems apocryphal: neither Lincoln nor Emerson ever mention such a meeting, and the line Lincoln quoted was not in any of the lectures Emerson delivered in Springfield. Emerson and Secretary Seward would again visit the president the next day. While on their way to the White House, Seward mentioned that Lincoln had warned him not to tell Emerson any “smutty” stories. Seward apparently ignored the president’s

instructions and proceeded to deliver an anecdote involving a rather dirty punch line, a story that Emerson described in his journal as an “extraordinary exordium.” He would continue in his journal about life in the Lincoln White House:

“We found in the President’s Chamber his two little sons, — boys of seven and eight years perhaps, — whom the barber was dressing and ‘whiskeying their hair,’ as he said, not much to the apparent contentment of the boys, when the cologne got into their eyes. The eldest boy immediately told Mr. Seward, ‘he could not guess what they had got.’ Mr. Seward ‘bet a quarter of a dollar that he could. — Was it a rabbit? was it a bird? was it a pig?’ He guessed always wrong, and paid his quarter to the youngest, before the eldest declared it was a rabbit. But he sent away the [barber] to find the President, and the boys disappeared.”

he would deliver a lecture in Boston entitled “The President’s Proclamation,” noting that the Civil War’s true purpose, the end of slavery, was finally decided: “Great is the virtue of this Proclamation.”

Emerson was referring to Tad and Willie Lincoln, who were actually older than Emerson thought; Tad was nine and Willie was eleven. Tragically, Willie would die from typhoid fever only eighteen days later. This would be the only time that Emerson and Lincoln would meet. Emerson would return to Concord the next day.

On September 22, 1862, President Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The direct result of the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam, it announced that if the Confederate States did not end the fighting and rejoin the Union by January 1, 1863, all enslaved peoples in the rebel states would be declared free. Like many in the North, Emerson welcomed Lincoln’s edict; he saw it as a powerful moral victory for the Union cause. Later that month

On January 1, 1863, a “Jubilee Concert” was held at the Boston Music Hall to raise money for the relief of formerly enslaved black refugees who crossed over into Union lines for safety. The event was organized by a committee that included Emerson’s friends Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. The event was particularly festive because of the announcement that Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation at midnight, and the crowd gave “three cheers for Lincoln.”

The hall was packed with 3,000 people, including literary figures and abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison and Harriet Beecher Stowe. The music of Beethoven and Schiller was played, but one of the highlights was a surprise appearance by Emerson, who insisted that his name not be printed in the program. He read his recently completed “Boston Hymn” to the crowd, having been asked in December by John Sullivan Dwight to specially write the poem for the celebration. He reluctantly fit it into his other commitments, but the majority of the

Abraham Lincoln and His Second Son Thomas (Tad), 1865

Order of services for the meeting of the people of Concord, at the hour of the funeral of President Lincoln, April 19, 1865

piece was not finished until the day before its debut. While the poem does not specifically mention Lincoln by name, it celebrates the president’s proclamation:

I break your bond and masterships And I unchain the slave; Free be his heart and hand henceforth As wind and wandering wave.

Emerson read his poem again later that day for a private gathering at the home of George Luther Stearns in Medford, Massachusetts. Other guests at the soirée included Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Bronson Alcott and his daughter, Louisa, as well as Julia Ward Howe, who read her “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Emerson’s “Boston Hymn” would be published in Dwight’s Journal of Music at the end of January and in the Atlantic in February 1863.

A little over two years later President Lincoln would be shot by John Wilkes Booth

Raise the Bar at Your Next Event with Creative Cocktails and Mocktails from our Expert Mixologists

on April 14, 1865, and would die the next morning. A country that was celebrating the end of the Civil War just a week earlier was now thrown into mourning for their martyred president. Special memorials were held all across the North and a public service was held in Concord at the First Parish. A picture of the murdered president, draped in black, hung on the pulpit. The communion table was also dressed in black, with a basket of white flowers and a wreath of English violets placed on top. Emerson gave the eulogy in which he would honor the man he had grown to respect and admire.

“A plain man of the people, an extraordinary fortune attended him. He offered no shining qualities at the first encounter; he did not offend by superiority.

He had a face and manner which disarmed suspicion, which inspired confidence, which confirmed good will. He was a man without vices. He had a strong sense of duty, which it was very easy for him to obey He was the most active and hopeful of men; and his work had not perished: but acclamations of praise for the task he had accomplished burst out into a song of triumph, which even tears for his death cannot keep down.”

Richard Smith has lectured on and written about antebellum United States history and 19th century American literature since 1995. He has worked in Concord as a public historian and living history interpreter for 25 years. He has written and edited 10 books for Applewood Books/Arcadia Publishing and is a regular contributor to Discover Concord.

ELEVATED BARTENDING

From in-house parties to black-tie galas, our custom cocktails make your event truly unique

MIXOLOGY CLASSES

Learn how to shake up your own creative cocktails

Take it home: guests receive a mixology-themed souvenir and recipe

1.5 oz Komos Reposado Rosa tequila (44 milliliters)

3 oz Lila Spumante

2 oz cherry blossom selzer (La croix brand)

1 Dash plum bitters

Dried-pressed cherry blossom flowers (garnish)

EASY ENTERTAINING

Our award-winning mixologists are masters of hospitality, making your party or special event a hit without all the hassle

• Full range of bar services

• Custom made mixes and infusions

• Beautiful bar décor to match your theme

• Professional and TIPS certified

Add Komo reposado tequila over ice in a shaker, add one salted edible cherry blossom flower and 1 dash plum bitters and stir (not shake – the tequila is delightfully delicate) for 5 seconds. Strain into a coupe glass and top with Spumante and cherry blossom seltzer. Place 2 dried pressed cherry blossom flowers on top. These are food safe but are really only for the delicate beauty of the cocktail.

SAKURA ROSE

Margaret Fuller: Asking the Right Questions

BY VICTOR CURRAN

IIn a world where men claimed to have all the answers, Margaret Fuller made it her mission to ask all the right questions. “How came I here?” she wrote as a young adult. “How is it that I seem to be this Margaret Fuller? What does it mean? What shall I do about it?” She was only a visitor in Concord, but this town was electrified by her presence.

She was born Sarah Margaret Fuller in 1810 in Cambridge, the oldest child of Harvard-educated Timothy Fuller, who raised his daughter to be his intellectual peer. She might have followed her father to Harvard,

but Harvard was an all-male stronghold, so instead she pursued independent study. “I was not born to the common womanly lot,” she lamented, but must “be my own priest, pupil, parent, child, husband, and wife.”

She sought out adult mentors, such as the authors Eliza Farrar and Lydia Maria Francis (later Child), who introduced her to the works of Germaine de Staël, including The Influence of Literature upon Society.

Cambridge was full of young intellectuals, and Fuller made it her business to meet them. She learned German in three months, and especially loved Goethe: “He comprehends every feeling I have ever had so perfectly.”

Margaret Fuller’s childhood home in Cambridge, Massachusetts (photo ca. 1910-1920)

In her twenties, she wrote translations of Goethe, as well as essays and even sermons.

English journalist Harriet Martineau met Fuller while touring America and recognized her as a kindred spirit. Fuller dreamed of traveling to Europe and joining Martineau’s intellectual circle. Lacking the means to do that, she found her way into its American

equivalent. Through her Cambridge network, she was introduced to the Transcendental Club and began attending their meetings at Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Concord home.

Another Transcendentalist, Bronson Alcott, founded the experimental Temple School in Boston. “I will make up my mind to teach,” Fuller declared, and got a job at Alcott’s school, but discovered to her dismay that he couldn’t afford to pay her. In 1839 she launched her own educational venture, advertising for women “desirous to answer the great questions: What were we born to do? How shall we do it?” She called her meetings “Conversations,” a thirteen-week course for which she charged $10. She began with the classics—a curriculum only available to male students at that time—but within a few weeks, she had progressed to analyzing the role of women in society.

In 1840 the Transcendental Club published its own journal, The Dial, and Emerson recruited Fuller as its first editor. She set high standards and made sure to include work by women writers. She was a frequent guest in Concord, sometimes staying at the Emersons’, sometimes at The Old Manse, where Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne were living.

National Portrait Gallery, gift of Constance Fuller Threinen

Margaret Fuller (1810-1850), portrait by Thomas Hicks, 1848

Marble paperweight sent

In Concord, she got better acquainted with Henry Thoreau, whose work she had edited at The Dial. As biographer Megan Marshall tells us, he would take her for “evening rides on the river or nearby ponds . . . in the Musketaquid, the small rowboat he had built himself . . .”1

Her friendship with Emerson had been so close that “her magnetic personality unsettled him,”2 and caused some distress to his wife Lidian. But their different styles—his more aloof, hers more emotional—drove them apart. “Wise man,” she wrote, “you never knew what it is to love.”

Apparently, he didn’t know what it is to pay your editor, either, so Fuller resigned from her post at The Dial. She continued to contribute essays, including “The Great Lawsuit: Man versus Men. Woman versus Women.”

In 1843, hoping to write a travel book in the style of Harriet Martineau, Fuller visited lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan. This trip produced the book Summer on the Lakes and brought her face to face with the forced displacement of the Chippewa and Ottawa people. Summer on the Lakes earned the New York Tribune’s opinion that Fuller was “one of the most original as well as intellectual of American women.”

The Tribune’s publisher, Horace Greeley, hired Fuller as his paper’s literary editor and proposed expanding her essay “The Great Lawsuit” into a book, Woman in the Nineteenth Century, published in 1845. “We would have every path laid open to Woman as freely as to Man,” she wrote. “If you ask me what offices they may fill, I reply—any . . . let them be sea-captains, if you will.”

In 1846, Greeley sent her to Europe as a foreign correspondent—the first American woman to hold such a post. As a literary figure herself, she had the chance to meet the continent’s leading intellectuals and activists and engage them in dialogue. She traveled to Rome in time to witness the revolution to unify Italy and transform herself from a travel writer into a war correspondent.

Ossoli, and that encounter changed her life forever. “I have not been so well since I was a child, nor so happy ever,” she wrote, enthralled by his “unspoiled affections, pure and constant.” In September 1848 she gave birth to their son Angelo.

When the movement to unify Italy was defeated in 1849, Fuller decided to return to the U.S. with Ossoli and their son. They booked passage on a merchant ship, but on July 19, 1850, a storm wrecked and sank the ship off Fire Island, New York. Margaret and Giovanni were lost, and only the body of their son was recovered. She was only forty years old when she died, but in that short time she had become one of America’s most respected public intellectuals, male or female. She was an educator, author, editor, critic, journalist, feminist, and advocate for prison reform and Native rights. She was all but forgotten for over a century. Today, thanks to excellent biographies by Charles Capper, Megan Marshall, and John Matteson, Fuller has reclaimed her rightful place in American thought and literature.

From Rome, Fuller sent Emerson a gift of a marble egg, “a piece of the porphyry pavement of the Pantheon,” which can now be seen in the Concord Museum.

NOTES

Victor Curran is a history educator, tour guide, museum interpreter, and writer, sharing the stories of Concord, Massachusetts, and how its people contributed to American independence and imagination.

1 Megan Marshall. Margaret Fuller: A New American Life. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. 2 Ibid.

Timothy Fuller (1778-1835), portrait by Rufus Porter

Giovanni Angelo Ossoli, undated photograph by H. G. Smith

Collection of the Concord Museum, photo by Victor Curran

by Margaret Fuller as a gift to Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Everyone Deserves a Chance to Fly:

Concord’s Gregory Maguire Soars High

BY JENNIFER C. SCHÜNEMANN

OOn a spring evening in early April, Concord’s creative community gathered under a starscape of giant whimsical poppies decorating the ceiling of The Umbrella Arts Center for an event that celebrated the arts and honored the acclaimed author of Wicked and a long-time Concord resident, Gregory Maguire. There was much to celebrate as Maguire is actively supporting the rollout of a film adaptation of Wicked, as well as touring for his fifth book in the Wicked series, Elphie.

“It’s been an incredible honor to share these stories with the world,” said Maguire. “Though I must admit that touring for my new book, Elphie, while also promoting the film adaptation of Wicked has been a whirlwind! Instead of feeling like a lazy early spring bumblebee flitting from one dandelion to another, I feel rather like a bumblebee who fell asleep on top of a musket ball just as we prepare to celebrate Patriots’ Day on April 19 – bang! I’m flying at full speed and trying to keep my wits about me!”

The Umbrella Arts Center’s community certainly thinks he’s doing a fantastic job. Their 2025 Artrageous Gala presented Maguire with the Elizabeth Cochary Gross Stewardship of the Arts Award, a recognition of his extraordinary contributions to literature, children’s literacy, and the arts.

“It’s hard to imagine a more deserving recipient,” said Eileen Williston, executive director of The Umbrella. “Gregory has been a passionate supporter of the arts here in Concord for decades. He’s not only a literary treasure—he’s one of our own.”

The evening featured dazzling performances by Broadway stars Stephanie J. Block and Sebastian Arcelus, a gourmet dinner as a centerpiece for convivial conversation, and spirited bidding on works in The Umbrella’s annual art auction. But the true centerpiece of the night was Maguire himself—gracious, eloquent, and visibly moved by the community’s embrace.

A Return to Oz: Elphie and the Heart of a Witch

The gala also marked a thrilling literary moment: the debut of Maguire’s latest novel, Elphie: A Wicked Childhood. In this poignant prequel to Wicked, Gregory Maguire revisits the life of Elphaba Thropp—the girl who would grow up to become the Wicked Witch of the West. Set in the magical world of Oz, Elphie explores her early years in Munchkinland, shaped by loneliness, intellect, and a world that didn’t know what to do with a greenskinned child.

© Nick Warchol

Gregory Maguire at the Artrageous Gala, with Broadway Stars Stephanie J. Block and Sebastian Arcelus, and The Umbrella’s Eileen Williston

While Wicked asked us to reconsider what makes someone “wicked,” Elphie shows us the childhood that formed a complex and compassionate soul. With lyrical prose and emotional depth, Maguire invites readers to see not a villain, but a vulnerable, brave, and extraordinary young girl.

“I wanted to go back and understand who Elphaba was before the world judged her,” Maguire shared. “So much of what makes us who we are happens in childhood—in those moments when we realize we’re different, or when the world tells us we are.”

As in all his writing, Maguire holds up a mirror to our complex, complicated, and contradiction-filled society and asks us to pause for a moment to make space for compassion and empathy to counter the pain that can be ever-present in our world.

Concord Roots, Literary Branches

While Maguire’s writing takes us to faraway lands, his creative heart always finds its way back to Concord. He settled in the charming New England town in 1994 and his husband, artist Andy Newman, joined him there in 1999. Raising their three adopted children in Concord, the couple quickly became woven into the fabric of the town’s arts and civic life.

The Umbrella Arts Center has long played a central role in Maguire’s life well before he was honored on its stage. He has a working studio there and has served on the board, helping guide the organization as it expanded its programs and reimagined its role in the community.

“I often go out into Concord to find a nice spot to write when I’m working on a new project. I’ve been known to settle in at the Concord Free Public Library, Main Street Café, or Concord Teacakes,” said Maguire. “For Elphie, I discovered a wonderful spot in the mezzanine of Concord Market. They have a nice open space above the store with tables and chairs, where you can eat a sandwich or enjoy a rest. They even have a charming exhibit of items they found during the construction of the building. The bright and airy feel was inspirational for me and my work.”

“A writer, breathing in the air of Concord, feels a cousin to its solid citizenry, past and present. ‘I have traveled a good deal in Concord’ is one of Thoreau’s best-loved quotes.

One can come here, put down roots, never leave, and continue to travel far, oh, so far.”

A Steward of Story and Community

The Elizabeth Cochary Gross Award, presented annually at The Umbrella Arts Center gala, honors those who embody The Umbrella’s mission: to steward the arts and build a creative community. Maguire joins a distinguished list of recipients, though his impact is uniquely multifaceted.

Beyond his bestselling books, he has championed children’s literacy, served on educational boards, supported young writers, and opened his life to the very themes he writes about—diversity, family, compassion, and second chances.

That legacy was palpable throughout the gala, as friends, readers, and fellow artists gathered not only to celebrate a literary icon, but to thank a neighbor who has given so generously of his time, his talents, and his heart.

Looking Ahead

As Elphie finds its way into the hands of readers, young and old, local and global, Maguire continues to write, create, and walk the history-infused streets of Concord with his characteristic quiet warmth.

The world may be enchanted with the film adaptation of Wicked and a new book in the fascinating series, but here in Concord, we’ve always known that Gregory Maguire is not just a bestselling author. He’s a treasured voice, a creative soul, and a beloved member of our community.

“I have been saying for 30 years that I’m done with Oz but I’ve realized after all this time that maybe Oz isn’t done with me ” And as the standing ovation at The Umbrella Arts Center proved, the story of Gregory Maguire is far from over. It may just be entering its next magical chapter.

�� Elphie is available wherever books are sold, including local indie favorites like the Concord Bookshop – where you just may find an autographed copy if your wish is granted.

© Luke Maguire

Gregory Maguire

Stephanie J. Block and Sebastian Arcelus on Stage at The Umbrella Arts Center

HISTORIC CONCORD: Plan Your Visit

Step into history as you explore Concord’s many remarkable sites. From Revolutionary War landmarks to literary treasures, there’s something for everyone to discover. Below is a quick reference list to help you plan your visit. Be sure to check the website before heading out, as some sites may be closed on holidays or for private events. Enjoy your journey through Concord’s rich past!

CONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Concordlibrary.org

Main Branch:

129 Main Street (978) 318-3300

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

CONCORD MUSEUM

Concordmuseum.org 53 Cambridge Turnpike (978) 369-9763

CONCORD VISITOR CENTER Visitconcord.org 58 Main Street (978) 318-3061

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S ORCHARD HOUSE

Louisamayalcott.org 399 Lexington Road (978) 369-4118

MINUTE MAN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

Nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit/ minute-man-visitor-center.htm 250 N. Great Road (Lincoln) (781) 674-1920

THE NORTH BRIDGE & VISITOR CENTER

Nps.gov/mima/planyourvisit/ north-bridge-visitor-center.htm 174 Liberty Street (978) 369-6993

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

THE RALPH WALDO EMERSON HOUSE Ralphwaldoemersonhouse.org 28 Cambridge Turnpike (978) 369-2236

THE ROBBINS HOUSE Robbinshouse.org 320 Monument Street (978) 254-1745

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

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

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

THOREAU FARM ThoreauFarm.org 341 Virginia Road

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

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

WRIGHT TAVERN WrightTavern.org 2 Lexington Road

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

RARE AND GENTLY READ BOOKS

Specializing in Concord Authors and History; Transcendentalism; Revolutionary War, American, and Military History; Children’s Literature; and a wide selection for the eclectic reader. Literary-themed gifts, postcards, and beeswax candles.

HISTORIC LEXINGTON & ARLINGTON: Plan Your Visit

LEXINGTON

THE BATTLE GREEN, INCLUDING:

The Lexington Minuteman Statue Monument to Captain John Parker Revolutionary War Monument

TourLexington.us/listing/ lexington-battle-green Massachusetts Avenue and Bedford Street

THE BRICK STORE

TourLexington.us/listing/the-brick-store 703 Massachusetts Avenue

BUCKMAN TAVERN

TourLexington.us/listing/ buckman-tavern-1710 1 Bedford Street (781) 862-5598

CARY MEMORIAL LIBRARY

CaryLibrary.org 1874 Massachusetts Avenue (781) 862-6288

HANCOCK-CLARKE HOUSE

TourLexington.us/listing/ hancock-clarke-house-2 36 Hancock Street (781) 861-0928

LEXINGTON DEPOT

TourLexington.us/listing/lexington-depot 19 Depot Square

LEXINGTON VISITORS CENTER

TourLexington.us 1875 Massachusetts Avenue, 781-862-1450

MORRELL-DANA HOUSE

TourLexington.us/listing/ morrell-dana-house 627 Massachusetts Avenue

MUNROE TAVERN

TourLexington.us/listing/munroetavern-1735 1332 Massachusetts Avenue 781-862-0295

Explore Lexington and Arlington, home to many historic sites that bring to life the American Revolution and colonial era. From battlefields to historic landmarks, there’s so much to discover. Below is a quick reference list to help you plan your visit. Be sure to check the website before heading out, as some sites may be closed on holidays or for private events.

THE OLD BELFRY

TourLexington.us/listing/the-old-belfry 16 Clark Street

YE OLDE BURYING GROUND

TourLexington.us/listing/ ye-olde-burying-ground 1965 Massachusetts Avenue

ROBBINS CEMETERY

TourLexington.us/listing/ robbins-cemetery 450 Massachusetts Avenue

ROBBINS LIBRARY

RobbinsLibrary.org 700 Massachusetts Avenue Fox Branch

RobbinsLibrary.org/fox-branch 175 Massachusetts Avenue

SCOTTISH RITE MASONIC MUSEUM AND LIBRARY

Srmml.org 33 Marrett Road (781) 861-6559

SOMETHING IS BEING DONE MONUMENT

LexSeeHer.com/monument 1875 Massachusetts Avenue

THE STONE BUILDING

TourLexington.us/listing/ the-stone-building 735 Massachusetts Avenue

ARLINGTON

CYRUS DALLIN ART MUSEUM Dallin.org 611 Massachusetts Avenue

JASON RUSSELL HOUSE

ArlingtonHistorical.org/visit/ jason-russell-house 7 Jason Street

OLD SCHWAMB MILL

OldSchwambMill.org 17 Mill Lane

100+ YEARS of Farm to Table

Arts Around Town

MUSIC

CONCORD ORCHESTRA

51 Walden | ConcordOrchestra.com

“DREAMING WITH YOUR FEET”

Join the Concord Orchestra for a program of inspiring works by Michael Kurth, “Everything Lasts Forever,” W. A. Mozart, “Concerto No. 4 in D Major,” Arturo Marquez, “Danzon No. 2,” and Ottorino Respighi, “Pini di Roma.” Featuring Young Artist Concerto Competition Winner Jihye Yun on violin. May 31 – June 1

CONCORD WOMEN’S CHORUS

81 Elm St | ConcordWomensChorus.org

“STILL HEARD ROUND THE WORLD: A CELEBRATION OF MUSIC WRITTEN BY AND FOR WOMEN”

Concord Women’s Chorus presents a program of women composers writing for women’s voices. Featuring the texts of famous Concord (and New England) authors, the concert features Libby Larsen’s “Concord Fragments,” Melissa Dunphy’s “Grown Wild,” with text by Concord poet Melissa Apperson, Rosephanye Powell’s “To Sit and Dream,” with text by Langston Hughes, Tara Traxler’s “Birds of Passage,” and a new arrangement of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “The Concord Hymn.” The concert features voices, piano, oboe, clarinet, and violin. May 3

OPERA51

51 Walden | Opera51.org

“SWEENEY

TODD: THE DEMON

BARBER OF FLEET STREET”

Opera51 presents “A Musical Thriller!”

Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway in 1979 and in the West End of London in 1980. It has been awarded eight Tony Awards, including one for best musical, and inspired the film adaptation by director Tim Burton in 2007. June 7 - 8

THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER

40 Stow Street | TheUmbrellaArts.org AN EVENING WITH TITUSS BURGESS

The Umbrella hosts two intimate evenings of music with the stunning tenor star of Broadway (Moulin Rouge, Oh Mary!) and TV (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Schmigadoon!). May 30 & 31

FILM

THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER

40 Stow Street | TheUmbrellaArts.org CONCORD TRIPTYCH FILM SCREENINGS

The Umbrella Arts Center presents three locally shot short films about impactful

BY CYNTHIA L. BAUDENDISTEL

women in Concord history: Margaret Lothrop and the Wayside (premiere screening with new score), Ellen Garrison: Scenes from an Activist Life (return engagement), and Women of the Old Manse (world premiere). Created by Tufts Half the History Film Project. May 17

POETRY

WEST CONCORD JUNCTION

CULTURAL DISTRICT COMMITTEE

THE WEST CONCORD POETRY PHONE

This community art installation features spoken poetry by poets of all ages who live, work, or go to school in Concord. The solar-powered phone booth is located off the Bruce Freeman Trail, on Beharrell Street in front of the Brookside Square Apartments and features a menu of nine audio recordings of poems that are refreshed periodically throughout the year.

VISUAL ARTS

THREE STONES GALLERY

32 Main St | ThreeStonesGallery.com

LIBERTY’S REACH

In celebration of the spirit of our country’s early Patriots, this show spotlights the theme of Transcendentalism through textile creations by artist Merill Comeau and guest artists Kimberley Harding, Karen Henderson, Pam Lawson, Lucy Nims-LaFleche, and Ellen Solari. Through May 11

Courtesy of The Umbrella Arts Center

Tituss Burgess Courtesy of The Umbrella Arts Center

Work by Marla MacLeod

PERSEPHONE’S RETURN

The spring palette unfolds into the colors of summer with abstract paintings by artist Brenda Cirioni, figurative works by Joan Hanley, and dynamic collaged paintings by Christiane Corcelle. May 14 – June 22

VERNAL TIDINGS

Featuring works by Colleen Pearce, Emily Rubinfeld, and Jonathan MacAdam. June 25 - Aug 31

THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER

40 Stow Street | TheUmbrellaArts.org

WEAVING AN ADDRESS

Visit an expansive outdoor public Art Ramble and indoor gallery exhibition featuring work by prominent Black artists combining sculpture, fiber art, and live performance inspired by little-known experiences of historical Black inhabitants of Concord and Walden Woods. Featured artists in the exhibition include: Ifé Franklin, Stephen Hamilton, Whitney Harris, Ekua Holmes, Perla Mabel, Marla MacLeod, Kimberly Love Radcliffe, and Anthony Peyton Young. Apr 14 - Oct 18

UMBRELLA OPEN STUDIOS

The Umbrella Arts Center is home to more than 60 working artists skilled in a variety of fine and applied arts including ceramics, glass, fiber arts, jewelry making, illustration,

mixed-media, painting, photography, printmaking, illustration, sculpture, woodworking, writing, and more. The annual Open Studios event is an incredible opportunity to meet the artists, learn about their process, and share in celebrating their work. May 3 - 4

THEATRE

CONCORD PLAYERS

51 Walden St | ConcordPlayers.org

URINETOWN

A slightly different kind of revolution will take place in historic Concord with The Concord Players’ production of URINETOWN:

The Musical! It’s a dark time in a dark city, where a 20-year drought has led to severe water restrictions – including a ban on private toilets. Public pay toilets are controlled by the evil ‘Urine Good Company,’ which is gleefully gouging huge profits off a very basic human right: the right to pee. Despite the title, this multiple Tony Award winner is an irreverent satire, whose sharp wit and non-stop humor presents the endlessly comic side of unchecked capitalism, corporate greed, and social irresponsibility. May 2 - 17

SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD

Based on the music of Jason Robert Brown, Songs for a New World depicts the most

intense moment any person can go through: a moment of tremendous change. The show is somewhere between musical and song cycle - a series of songs all connected by a theme: the moment of decision. With a rousing score that blends elements of pop, gospel, and jazz, featuring tight harmonies and daring vocals, Songs for a New World transports its audience from the deck of a Spanish sailing ship bound for a new land, to the ledge of a New York penthouse. Characters range from the mother of a Revolutionary soldier awaiting the end of the brutal war, to a young man in the Bronx dreaming of becoming a famous basketball player, to a forlorn and neglected Mrs. Claus lamenting as Christmas approaches. June 20 – 22

THE UMBRELLA ARTS CENTER

40 Stow St | TheUmbrellaArts.org

THE

SPITFIRE GRILL

A heartwarming American musical based on the award-winning film that lifts up the beauty in second chances and the transformative nature of friendship. Apr 25 - May 18

Courtesy of Three Stones Gallery

Christiane Corcelle, Egyptian Dream, mixed media, 14x14

Brenda Cirioni, Water Garden 10, mixed media, 40x60

Courtesy of Three Stones Gallery

History in the Palm of Your Hand: Revolutionary Concordians Trading Cards

BY REBECCA MIGDAL

CConcord’s history is filled with revolutionaries—not just the famous names we learn in school, but everyday people whose courage and vision helped define Concord as it is today. Now, there’s a brandnew way to learn about these trailblazers: the Revolutionary Concordians Trading Card Game, developed by Thoreau Farm with funding from Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area. This interactive, town-wide experience invites people to connect with Concord’s history like never before, all while exploring the businesses, cultural institutions, and landmarks that make the town special today.

Trading cards have long been a beloved way to collect and celebrate heroes, whether they’re athletes, pop culture icons, or historical figures. The Revolutionary Concordians Trading Cards put a fresh spin on this idea, featuring notable individuals from Concord’s history, spanning centuries of social, cultural, and political change. Each card is a mini-history lesson featuring a striking image and key facts about the “Revolutionary Concordian”—a person whose actions, ideas, or influence helped shape the town and beyond. Some players may want to collect as many as possible, while others might treasure just a few as keepsakes. No matter how they play, everyone walks away with a deeper connection to Concord’s history.

Some figures, like Louisa May Alcott, are widely recognized, but their full stories remain less explored. This project highlights Alcott not just as a beloved author, but as a bold progressive thinker, abolitionist, and advocate for women’s rights. Others, like Brister Freeman, an enslaved man who gained his freedom during service in the American Revolution, may be familiar to some Concord residents but deserve broader recognition. By collecting these cards, players gain a deeper appreciation for the people who lived, worked, and fought for change in Concord. The game encourages curiosity and exploration, offering a fun, interactive way to learn about figures who might otherwise be overlooked.

“Revolutionary Concordians” offers more than just a history lesson—it’s an experience

designed to bring the past and present together. To collect cards, players visit participating businesses and cultural sites around Concord, where they receive a card after completing a small task (i.e. answer a trivia question, make a purchase, attend an event). The trading cards are an invitation to explore Concord, support local businesses, honor Concord’s past, and look toward its future, asking ourselves: What kind of history will we help write? Just like the figures on these cards, we all have the power to make a difference. So, are you ready to play? Start collecting today and uncover the revolutionary spirit of Concord—one card at a time.

For a list of participating locations, go to DiscoverConcordMA.com/tradingcards. Local businesses and cultural locations interested in participating can contact Rebecca Migdal at rebecca@thoreaufarm.org.

Rebecca Migdal is the executive director of Thoreau Farm, the birthplace of Henry David Thoreau, and executive director of the Thoreau Society, the international scholarly community dedicated to his legacy.

Jean Lightman, Pantings, Giclée Prints & Notecards jeanlightman.com

Contemporary Paintings jillgoldman-callahanstudio.com

The Nature We All Call Home: Robert Macfarlane to Accept the Thoreau Prize for Nature Writing

BY JOHN J. KUCICH

CConcord’s status as a Mecca for nature writers gains an international dimension this summer. The renowned British writer Robert Macfarlane will accept the 2025 Thoreau Prize on June 7 at the Trinitarian Congregational Church in Concord. The honor is given annually by the Thoreau Society to a writer whose work embodies Henry David Thoreau’s commitment to “speak a word for Nature.” In this year of celebrating the 250th anniversary of Concord’s role in the American Revolution, Robert Macfarlane will visit Concord to spark another revolution in how we see the world around us, calling on all of us to preserve our most precious legacy – the Nature we all call home.

Macfarlane has long relied on Thoreau as a touchstone, drawing on his philosophy of walking and the wild. Both writers combine scientific precision and spiritual insight into a new, interconnected way of being in the world, and then put their newfound wisdom into lyrical, unforgettable prose. Macfarlane’s works, translated into more than thirty languages, have garnered global acclaim and have been adapted for film, music, theater, radio, and dance.

His most recent book, Is a River Alive? parallels Thoreau’s advocacy for a living landscape. Macfarlane braids together his own life with a chalk stream in central England, echoing Thoreau’s exploration of the Concord and Merrimack Rivers and building on Thoreau’s pioneering, longforgotten environmental advocacy on behalf of the Concord River. Macfarlane explores how people across the world whose lives are interwoven with rivers are fighting to save them from destruction. This is both a political struggle and a spiritual one, and it hinges on whether our modern world can relearn an old truth – that rivers are living beings who demand respect and protection, and that our lives are bound up with theirs. Is a River Alive? is only the latest in Macfarlane’s acclaimed body of work. His books include the best-selling Underland, Landmarks, The Old Ways, The Wild Places, and Mountains of the Mind. Beyond his books, Macfarlane has written operas, plays, and films—such as River and Mountain, both narrated by Willem Dafoe—and

collaborated with leading artists, including Olafur Eliasson, Stanley Donwood, and Jackie Morris, with whom he co-created the internationally best-selling illustrated books of nature poetry, The Lost Words and The Lost Spells. His literary achievements have been recognized with numerous honors, including the E. M. Forster Prize for Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Macfarlane joins a distinguished company of Thoreau Prize recipients. Recent honorees include Drew Lanham, Terry Tempest Williams, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Jane Goodall, and Sy Montgomery. The prize was founded in 2010 by Dale Peterson and is administered by the Thoreau Society as part of its commitment to carry forward the legacy of Henry David Thoreau and help transform our understanding of nature.

The Thoreau Society is delighted to offer free admission to this event for all teachers and students. Tickets for others are $20. Please email info@thoreausociety.org to register for free.

John J. Kucich is the President of the Thoreau Society and a professor of English at Bridgewater State University.

Click here to register for the event

Courtesy of the Thoreau Society

Robert Macfarlane

Written by Rachel C. Katz and illustrated by Sophie Bass

Illustrations by Sophie Bass from Rise Up! (Barefoot Books)

Make a Protest Sign

Art and slogans can be powerful in drawing attention to a problem. Here are some steps to create your own protest sign.

You’ll Need:

• A large piece of paper

• Washable markers

Let’s Get Started!

1. Think of an issue you care about.

2. What is the problem you are trying to solve? What is the solution you want?

3. How can you illustrate the problem or the solution? Protest signs need to be visible from far away. Can your illustration be large and clear? Can it be drawn in bright colors? What picture will make people stop and pay attention?

4. What words will go with your illustration? Protest slogans are usually very few words (look at the sign on the left and in the timeline below for examples). Can your slogan rhyme? How does it draw attention to the problem? Does it ask for someone to take action?

Timeline from Rise Up! with illustrations by Sophie Bass

2015

Obergefell v. Hodges

Make a Paper Community Quilt

Positive change happens when people work together. Gather with your community to create a quilt that represents the movements you stand for!

Let’s Get Started!

1. Gather with a group of people to create your quilt. It can be your friends, family, classmates, or members of your local community.

You’ll Need:

2. Think about an issue or movement towards positive change that you believe in. Examples: World Peace, LGBTQ+ Rights, Environmental Justice.

3. On each paper square, write words or draw a picture inspired by the movements you thought of in step 2. You can make one square or many; just make sure there are enough to fill up the quilt!

4. With extra paper, draw any design you would like to create a beautiful border for your quilt like the one in the picture above.

5. Gather all of your decorated paper and using wall or window-safe tape, hang the squares in an even square or rectangle to create your quilt.

BETTER BOOKS FOR A BRIGHTER WORLD

• 2+ people

• A large wall or window to build your quilt on

• Construction paper cut into equal sized squares

• Washable markers

• Wall/window-safe adhesive

Barefoot Books is an award-winning, 30-year-old independent children’s book publisher based in Concord, MA. Learn more by visiting www.barefootbooks.com.

Illustrations by Sophie Bass from Rise Up! (Barefoot Books)

Artist Spotlight

CConcord is home to many extraordinary artists. In this ongoing column, we highlight two of those artists and celebrate the many organizations dedicated to uplifting the arts through education, advocacy, and exhibition.

CATHERINE LECOMTE LECCE

Catherine LeComte Lecce is an interdisciplinary artist, as well as the program manager and curator at the Photographic Resource Center in Boston, whose work explores motherhood, identity, and feminist perspectives through photography and mixed media. She works out of a studio at The Umbrella Arts Center, where she originally served as the 2024 Winter/Spring Artist-in-Residence and been part of a two-person exhibition, Reflections: Selfhood/ Motherhood, with Jasmine Chen.

BY STEWART IKEDA

Her curatorial projects at Photographic Resource Center, MassArt x SoWa Gallery, and Atlantic Wharf Gallery highlight her commitment to amplifying under-represented narratives in contemporary art, particularly in photography.

Catherine was recently honored with the 2025 Creative Entrepreneurship Fellowship from the Greater Boston Arts and Business Council and received the 2025 Mass Cultural Council Grant for Creative Individuals. Additionally, she founded and manages the Burlington Micro Gallery, an upcoming mobile exhibition space dedicated to making the arts more accessible.

SHIMA TAJ BAKHSH

Shima Taj Bakhsh is an Iranian interdisciplinary artist based in Somerville whose work explores the intersections of narratives, places, and multiple time frames. Working across sculpture, sound, and video, she engages nonlinear, time-based configurations that investigate the material conditions of bodies and borders.

She is currently the Artist-in-Residence at The Umbrella Arts Center (Fall 2024–Spring 2025) and a 2025 Fellow of the Artists for Humanities organization. She is also a recipient of the 2025 Mass Cultural Council Grant for Creative Individuals. Her work has been featured in exhibitions at Human Resources Los Angeles, Torrance Art Museum, Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, and the Second Contemporary Art Biennale at Niavaran Cultural Center.

The Umbrella’s Artist-in-Residence program offers a residency in a vibrant, multidisciplinary art center with more than 50 artist studios, a robust arts education program, performance and gallery spaces in the heart of historic Concord Center. The Umbrella is currently inviting applications through May 16 for two 2025-2026 residencies. Visit TheUmbrellaArts.org/AiR.

Stewart Ikeda is Director of PR and Strategic Partnerships at The Umbrella Arts Center.

CONCORD SKETCHES: Emerson House

TEXT

AND

DRAWINGS

BY ŠÁRKA BOTNER

SSimplicity weaves a rich tapestry of beauty and a sense of quietness in the landscapes surrounding Concord. Among them is Emerson’s humble potato garden, where a solitary tree is bordered by a weathered fence. This sketch evokes a meditative calm, capturing moments of stillness that remind us of the profound experiences that often stem from the simplest things, drawing attention to the elegance found in the everyday. And as Ralph Waldo Emerson poignantly expressed, “The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.” It might be in the gentle rustle of leaves, the serene play of light across a quiet room, or the unassuming bloom of a wildflower that we find a deeper connection to the world around us. Here in Concord, I find solace not only in the natural world but also in the understanding that true beauty often lies in the stillness of being, waiting patiently to be discovered.

Incorporating Emerson’s House, the simple charm of the potato garden, and the contemplative spirit conveyed by Emerson’s sofa, the sketches of Concord capture a timeless elegance that celebrates the beauty of simplicity and the profound moments found within. At times, all that is needed is a moment to pause and appreciate the world around us, allowing us to uncover the extraordinary within the ordinary.

Šárka Botner is a local artist and art teacher. Find more of her work at SharkaStudio.com.

From our farm to your table –delicious, fresh-made food, served in a lively and welcome atmosphere

Open for dinner

Tuesday - Thursday 5pm - 9pm; Friday & Saturday 5pm - 10pm; Sunday 5pm - 9pm

Join us for Sunday Brunch 11am - 3pm For details, please visit woodshilltable.com 24 Commonwealth Avenue Concord, MA tel. 978-254-1435

The North Bridge, Minute Man National Historical Park, Concord, Massachusetts

You’re not a fictional Hobbit, but you live in a shire. On a late spring day in 1643, as you plant your garden in Concord, the Massachusetts General Court says the land into which you are digging belongs in which shire?

A. Essex

B. Middlesex

C. Norfolk

D. Suffolk

The year is 1644. You are still living in Concord and love to speak your mind, but it could cost you! Your neighbor, Ambrose Martin, was just fined over £10 by the Massachusetts General Court for calling the Church Covenant “a stinking carrion and a human invention.” Until what year should you wait until you can safely exercise freedom of speech in America?

A. 1775

B. 1783

C. 1791

D. 1805

It’s inconvenient and takes time to argue with your neighbors, but your neighbor’s cow did damage your vegetable

Barrow Bookstore Presents:

TriviaCONCORD

garden and fence, and you really think they should be held accountable. Luckily for you, last year in 1652, the Massachusetts General Court took what action that will make it easier for you to resolve the matter?

A. Provided for a £5 compensation to anyone who presents a painting depicting damages

B. Authorized three local deputies to resolve small cases in town on behalf of the court

C. Passed the right of heft: Whoever owns the largest animal is automatically in the wrong

D. Allowed dueling on the town common

4 You are a supporter of King Charles II but have been captured at the Battle of Worcester (in England) in 1651 and transported to America as a forced indentured servant. In 1670, while working off your sentence, you are sent to Concord to mine a substance. What material was being mined in Concord then?

A. Coal

B. Gold

C. Formica

D. Iron

E. Silver

5The year is 1682 and you can thank Satan for your job security because, as passed by the Massachusetts General Court, the “Old Deluder Satan Act” of 1647 has led to Concord hiring you for what job?

A. Minister

B. Constable

C. Teacher

D. Skilled grave digger

E. Night watchman

6If you wanted to learn more early (and entertaining) New England colonial history, which TWO famed 19th century Concord writer’s books should you read?

A. Louisa May Alcott

B. Ralph Waldo Emerson

C. Nathaniel Hawthorne

D. Henry David Thoreau

7True or False: You can still see part of the original North Bridge that was standing on April 19, 1775, during the battle at the bridge.

8Which river runs below the North Bridge?

A. The Assabet

B. The Concord

C. The Merrimack

D. The Sudbury

9Spring is here and wedding season approaches. Although she is known to many today as “Meg March,” eight years before Little Women was written, this real life Alcott sister was married on May 23, 1860, at Orchard House. What was her real name?

10Alternative names! Commonly known by other names, can you identify these places? Hint: All can be visited by the public year-round or seasonally.

A. Hillside Chapel

B. Bush

C. Coolidge Castle

D. Apple Slump

E. The Gray Parsonage

F. Hillside

G. Jones’/Munroe’s/Taylor’s/or Swann’s Tavern

A1. B. Middlesex. On May 10, 1643, the Massachusetts General Court divided the Massachusetts Bay Colony into four shires: Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, and Suffolk. Middlesex Shire included areas then called Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woodborne [Jamaica Plain], Medford, and Lin Village [Reading].

2. C. 1791. Given that you live in 1644, you’re going to have to keep holding your tongue or forking over your pence because, barring a miracle, you’re not going to make it until December 15, 1791, when the First Amendment to the Constitution added “The Freedom of Speech.”

3. B. Authorized three local deputies to resolve small cases in town on behalf of the Court. As recorded in colony records, in 1652, the Massachusetts General Court authorized Concord men Captain Willard, M. Richard Griffin, and Thomas Brookes “to end small cases” in Concord.

5. C. Teacher. As written in 1647 by the Massachusetts General Court, “it being one [of the] chief [projects] of ye ould deluder, Satan, to keepe men from the knowledge of ye Scriptures,” every town in Massachusetts that had “50 households, shall then forthwith appoint one [a teacher] [within] their townes to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write and read.” The teacher’s salary was paid by the inhabitants of the town.

4. D. Iron. As described in Shattuck’s A History of the Town of Concord, and in the Massachusetts Colony records, “A company was incorporated, on the 5th March, 1658, ‘to erect one or more ironworks in Concord.’” In 1660, the court granted Concord iron workers the right to dig and mine on land in the court’s possession. The Concord Iron Works was located in the area of modern-day Damon Mill and stretching into today’s Acton. “Bog iron” was mined in nearby bogs and transported to the Concord Iron Works for smelting.

6. C and D. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau. Descended from William Hathorne (whose name appears frequently in colony records) and the infamous Salem witch trial judge John Hathorne, Nathaniel Hawthorne wove the early colonial history of America into many of his tales and short stories. Through his travels and explorations, Henry David Thoreau also picked up many early tales and recorded them in his journals and writings, such as Walden and Cape Cod

7. True! But not at the North Bridge site itself. A preserved piece of the 1775 version of the bridge hangs on display in the North Bridge Visitor Center on Liberty Street.

8. B. The Concord River. If you also guessed the Assabet or the Sudbury Rivers, you get bonus points as both join the Concord River at different points.

9. Anna Alcott. The eldest of the four Alcott sisters, Anna married John Pratt.

When writing Little Women, Louisa May Alcott based Meg March on Anna, and John Brooke (Laurie’s tutor) on John Pratt.

10. A. Hillside Chapel = Bronson Alcott’s The Concord School of Philosophy at Orchard House

B. Bush = nickname for Ralph Waldo Emerson’s House on Cambridge Turnpike

C. Coolidge Castle: also a nickname for Ralph Waldo Emerson’s House on Cambridge Turnpike

D. Apple Slump = Orchard House (home of Louisa May Alcott and family)

E. The Gray Parsonage = The Old Manse. F. Hillside = The Wayside. The Alcott family lived here from 1845-1852 and called the house “Hillside”. When they sold the house to Nathaniel Hawthorne, he renamed it “The Wayside.”

G. The Wright Tavern. Amos Wright was a hired barkeep during the ownership of Daniel Taylor. Jones and Munroe had consecutively owned the tavern before Taylor; and Taylor sold the tavern to Samuel Swann.

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

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.

The Old Manse

Nature is springing forth and so is Patriots’ Day!

And this year is very special as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the start of the Revolutionary War with the battles of Lexington and Concord.

“The Shot Heard Around the World.” Wow!

STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE WITHERBEE

Patriots’ Day and the Signs of Spring

A Season of Renewal and Reflection

Patriots’ Day events are always fun!

Lady slipper orchids are a wonderful harbinger of spring. These lovely flowers are endangered, so please don’t disturb them. They need our protection.

When the

are mature enough, they jump out

the

and ﬂoat and ﬂutter to the earth below.

This pair of Wood Ducks are high in a tree looking for a nice place to nest and raise their ducklings.

young

nest

A young buck (above) is enjoying our yard, and the owlet is curious as to what is out there.

The Red-winged Blackbird and the Great Egret (below) have arrived for the summer along with the many migrating birds. More signs of spring.

Battlefields of the American Revolution: New Commemorative Stamps

AAs America celebrates the 250th anniversary of the first battles of the American Revolution, the United States Post Office is commemorating the occasion with 15 new stamps memorializing five turning points in the fight for American independence.

Watercolor paintings depicting scenes of five battles appear alongside photographs of sites involved in each battle.

As the first armed conflicts of the American Revolution, the Battles of Lexington and Concord ignited outrage in Massachusetts and showed the potential of citizen soldiers, relying on local organizing and knowledge of their home terrain, to confront the highly trained and professional British military.

Fought primarily on Breed’s Hill just outside Boston, the Battle of Bunker Hill was an early demonstration of American tenacity. Although the battle was a tactical loss for the Americans, heavy casualties forced the stunned British to rethink their strategy for the long war to come.

Notable for the victory that followed George Washington’s risky and audacious crossing of the Delaware River from Pennsylvania into New Jersey, the Battle of Trenton highlighted Washington’s ability to

see opportunity in desperate times, rally his army, and save the revolutionary cause.

In New York, the Battles of Saratoga halted a determined British campaign to divide the colonies. American resolve at Freeman’s Farm and Bemis Heights drew international support that ultimately secured independence.

As the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War, the Battle of Yorktown involved a weekslong American siege of this Virginia city and prompted a British surrender, a testimony to both the strategic

leadership of George Washington and the essential support of the French.

Derry Noyes, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps, with illustrations by Greg Harlin and photographs by Jon Bilous, Richard Lewis, Tom Morris, Gregory J. Parker and Kevin Stewart.

The Battlefields of the American Revolution stamps are being issued as Forever stamps and will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

To purchase stamps, visit Usps.com/ shopstamps or call 844-737-7826.

Courtesy of the United States Postal Service

SPRING 2025

ANTIQUES

21 Bobbi Benson Antiques

69 North Bridge Antiques

ARCHITECTURE, CUSTOM

BUILDING, INTERIOR DESIGN, AND LANDSCAPING

1 Appleton Design Group

25 CS Bailey Landscaping

57 Inkstone Architects

ART AND ART SUPPLIES

45 Albright Art Supplies

63 The Umbrella Arts CenterOpen Studios

C3 Three Stones Gallery

BEAUTY PRODUCTS

19 Bluemercury

BOOKS AND OTHER MEDIA

65 Barefoot Books

57 Barrow Bookstore

72 The Concord Bookshop

7, 80 Discover the Battle Road: The Official Concord250 Commemorative Book

CATERING, RESTAURANTS, AND SPECIALTY FOOD AND WINE SHOPS

51 Adelita

73 Concord Teacakes

69 Concord’s Colonial Inn

47 Debra’s Natural Gourmet

71 Dunkin’

40 Fiorella’s Cucina

50 Ideal Mixology

59 Verrill Farm

59 West Concord Wine & Spirits

C3 Woods Hill Pier 4

71 Woods Hill Table

CLOTHING

21 Sara Campbell

EXPERIENTIAL

5 Concord Museum

19 Concord Orchestra

51 Concord Players

19 Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area

72 Spring into West Concord

63 The Umbrella Arts Center

47 The Umbrella Stage Company

31 The Wright Tavern

FARMS

59 Verrill Farm

FLORISTS

23 Concord Flower Shop

HOME FURNISHINGS, DÉCOR, AND UNIQUE GIFTS

21 Artisans Way

9 The Bee’s Knees British Imports

73 First Rugs

72 Nesting

80 Patina Green

80 Puck and Abby

45 Revolutionary Concord

JEWELERS

29 Artinian Jewelry

9 Fairbank & Perry

Goldsmiths

80 Merlin’s Silver Star

LODGING

69 Concord’s Colonial Inn

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

23 Camden Writers

39 Chiha Portraits

69 Cruise Planners

72 Northeast Numismatics

REAL ESTATE

3 The Attias Group

C2 Barrett Sotheby’s Int’l Realty

23 Carleton-Willard Village

13 The Commons in Lincoln C4 Compass

TOYS

45 Concord Toy Box

VISITOR RESOURCES

73 Concord Visitor Center & Tours

7, 80 Discover the Battle Road: The Official Concord250 Commemorative Book

19 Freedom’s Way National

T HREE S TONES G AL LERY

Most, repurposed, painted and printed fabric, ephemera, stencil ink, drawing, machine stitch, 30x30

Through May 11

Liberty’s Reach

In celebration of the spirit of our country’s early patriots, six textile artists share work inspired by the Transcendentalist movement.

May 14 - June 22

Persephone’s Return

The spring palette unfolds into summer with new works by represented and guest artists. Opening Reception: Thursday, May 22, 6-8pm

Visit our website for show and event details. 32 Main Street, Concord 978.371.1333 threestonesgallery.com follow us @threestonesgallery

Merill Comeau, In Most Becomes Out