The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 4 | Page 3

George B. Bartlett.
On a pleasant June morning after a long drive through shady country
lanes, the little pile of rocks was reached, which for two hundred and
fifty years has marked the western corner of the lot, six miles square,
granted to form the plantation at Musketaquid on the second of
September 1635. Resting here in the shadow of the pines, listening to
the busy gossip of the squirrels, many scenes and people which have
made the town of Concord, Massachusetts, so noted, seemed to pass in
review, some of which will here be recounted.
Perhaps on this spot Simon Willard and his associates may have stood,
and these rough rocks been laid in place by their hands. Peter Bulkeley,
the wise and reverend, may have consecrated this solemn occasion with
prayer in accordance with the good old custom of the time. To the two
gentlemen above-mentioned the chief credit of the settlement of
Concord is mainly due. Attention was early called to the broad
meadows of the Musketaquid or 'grass grown river' and a company
marched from the ancient Newtown to form a settlement there early in
the fall of 1635. Few of the thousand pilgrims who arrive every year
over the Fitchburg and Lowell railroads can imagine the discomforts of
the toilsome journey of these early settlers as they penetrated through
the unbroken wilderness and wet and dreary swamps, devoting nearly

two weeks to the journey now easily accomplished in forty minutes.
Many of their cattle died from exposure and change of climate, and
great heroism and courage were required to make them persevere. They
were kindly received by the Indians who were in possession of the
lands along the rivers, and who finally consented to part with them so
peacefully, that the name of the town was called Concord.
Near the present site of the hotel stood an oak tree under which
tradition locates the scene of these amicable bargains. On a hill at the
junction of the Sudbury and Assabet rivers, rumor also locates the
lodge of the squaw who reigned as queen over one of the Indian tribes,
and thus introduced into the village female supremacy which has
steadily gained in power ever since. Later the Apostle Eliot preached
here often, and converted many dusky followers into "Praying Indians."
Remnants of their lodge-stones, arrow-heads and other relics were
abundant half a century ago in the great fields and other well known
resorts, and a large kitchen-miden or pile of shells, now fast becoming
sand, marks the place of one of their solemn feasts. The early explorers
seem to have built at first under the shelter of the low sand-hills which
extend through the centre of the town, and perhaps some of them were
content to winter in caves dug in the western slopes. Their first care
was for their church which was organized under the Rev. Peter
Bulkeley and John Jones as pastor and teacher, but after a few years Mr.
Jones left for Connecticut with one-third of his flock. Many other
things occurred to discourage this little band, but their indomitable
leader was not one to abandon any enterprise. Rev. Peter Bulkeley was
a gentleman of learning, wealth and culture, as was also Simon Willard
who managed the temporal affairs of the plantation. It is a curious
commentary on the present temperance question to learn from early
records that to the chief men alone was given the right to sell
intoxicating liquors. In many of the early plantations the land seems to
have been divided into parcels, which were in some cases distributed
by lot, and this fact may perhaps have originated the word lot as
applied to land. A large tract near the centre of the town was long held
in common by forty associates, the entrance to which was behind the
site of the former Courthouse, now occupied by the Insurance Office.
Before many years had passed this little town lost in some degree its

peaceful reputation, and became a centre of operations during King
Philip's war, many bodies of armed men being sent out against the
savages, and one to the relief of Brookfield, under Mr. Willard. Block
houses were built at several exposed points, the sites of which, with
other noted places will soon be marked with memorial tablets.
Trained by this Indian warfare, the inhabitants of Concord were
prepared for the events which were to follow, and when, in 1775, their
town furnished the first battle-field of the American Revolution, they
were able to offer "the first effectual resistance to British aggression."
In the old church built in 1712 was held the famous Continental
Congress where the fiery speeches of Adams and Hancock did so much
to hasten the opening of the inevitable conflict between England and
her provinces. The