path: root/57529-0.txt

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57529 ***









  [Illustration: THE TAP ROOM, BUCKMAN TAVERN]

  [Illustration: STATUE OF CAPTAIN JOHN PARKER    LEXINGTON COMMON
Henry H. Kitson, Sculptor]




                        LEXINGTON _and_ CONCORD


                          A CAMERA IMPRESSION
                        _by SAMUEL CHAMBERLAIN_
                  Hastings House _Publishers_ New York


_Copyright, 1939, by Samuel Chamberlain. Printed in the United States of
                                America_
   SET BY HAND IN GARAMOND TYPE BY ELAINE RUSHMORE AT THE GOLDEN HIND
                         PRESS, MADISON, N. J.

  [Illustration: CONCORD WINTER]

  [Illustration: REVOLUTIONARY ROADSIDE]

  [Illustration: THE OLD MANSE (1769), CONCORD]




                                FOREWORD


Every American, since his early school days, has been definitely
conscious of the two tranquil New England towns which share the
distinction of being the birthplace of the American Revolution. Their
story has been told so well and so often, in prose, poetry and
historical writing, that this small volume would have scant _raison
d’être_ if it were not for the fact that good pictures of Lexington and
Concord are curiously rare.

Visual reminders of those stirring days still exist in surprising number
all over this countryside. The scenes of the heroic stands made by the
minutemen on Lexington Common and at Concord Bridge have been preserved
virtually unchanged, thanks to the vigilance of patriotic citizens. The
buildings most intimately associated with the epochal events of April
19, 1775 are still in place, to add their eloquent testimony to the
story that every schoolchild knows so well. Even more personal are the
homes of Concord’s authors, which remain to give a graphic insight into
the days of the 19th century when Concord was a significant center of
American culture. Spared the unlovely intrusion of factories by their
inland sites, these calm townships have kept their rural beauty. Their
natural landscape remains unblemished, a pure joy today as it was in
Thoreau’s time.

Historical importance here is matched by physical beauty, a fact which
strikes every visitor forcibly, and which this little book strives to
prove by a series of photographic impressions. These have been taken in
all seasons of the year, to portray the varied moods of the countryside.
The pictures follow a path approximating the march of the British on
that historic morning of April 19, 1775. Beginning in the neighborhood
of East Lexington and the Munroe Tavern, on the eastern outskirts of
Lexington, they progress to the Battle Green and the Hancock-Clarke
house in Lexington, then along the Battle Road through Lincoln, and
finally down Concord’s legendary streets, ending at Concord Bridge where
the British fired the “shot heard round the world.”

Visitors who have had the enriching experience of following a similar
path come away with an inspired picture of this epic moment in American
history. These pages do not attempt to record the familiar written story
of Lexington and Concord, but they do aspire to capture a fragment of
this inspired picture, as it exists today.

  [Illustration: ON LEXINGTON COMMON]

  [Illustration: THE MUNROE TAVERN (1695), LEXINGTON,
EARL PERCY’S HEADQUARTERS ON APRIL 19, 1775]

  [Illustration: The Munroe Tavern]

  [Illustration: and Detail of the Newly Restored Facade]

  [Illustration: A CORNER OF THE EARL PERCY ROOM, MUNROE TAVERN

  The Munroe Tavern, built in 1695, was occupied by Earl Percy when he
  reached Lexington with reinforcements on the afternoon of April 19,
  1775. The old hostelry was used as a hospital and headquarters for the
  British while the landlord, Sergeant William Munroe was playing his
  part with the minutemen, and his wife and children were hiding
  fearfully in the woods. Sergeant Munroe left the tavern in charge of a
  crippled neighbor, John Raymond, who was shot.

  The room above was originally the dining room, and is now dedicated to
  Earl Percy and filled with a rich collection of Revolutionary relics.
  The facade of the tavern was altered when it became a private
  residence, and it has only recently been restored to its former
  character, from data revealed in an old etching.]

  [Illustration: THE BARROOM, MUNROE TAVERN

  The barroom of the Munroe Tavern contains, among other relics, the
  remains of a British bullet hole in the ceiling and the original
  tavern sign, cut out of one piece of hard white pine, which hung
  outside the door.]

  [Illustration: THE WASHINGTON ROOM, MUNROE TAVERN

  George Washington dined at the Munroe Tavern on November 5, 1789. The
  landlord, then Colonel Munroe, cleared this bedchamber and arranged it
  as a private dining room for the distinguished guest. Washington sat
  in the chair at the left. The Sheraton table and the hat rack are the
  same ones used by him. The dishes used for the occasion are also
  preserved.]

  [Illustration: A Corner of the Old Bedroom of the Munroe Tavern]

  [Illustration: The Mason House (Built 1680) Is across the Road from
  the Munroe Tavern]

  [Illustration: Springtime Sycamores over an Old East Lexington House]

  [Illustration: THE FOLLEN CHURCH (1840), EAST LEXINGTON VILLAGE

  East Lexington village was reached by the British at early dawn on the
  19th of April. It was here that Benjamin Wellington was captured and
  disarmed by British scouts, the first armed man to be taken in the
  Revolution. Most of East Lexington’s buildings now date from later
  periods.]

  [Illustration: MODERN LEXINGTON—THE CARY MEMORIAL BUILDING]

  [Illustration: MODERN LEXINGTON—THE RAILWAY STATION

  Much of the architecture of modern Lexington reflects its
  distinguished past. The railway station, for example, is in the chaste
  Colonial tradition. So is the Cary Memorial Building (1928) which
  serves as a Town Hall. Among other paintings it contains the famous
  canvas of the Battle of Lexington, “The Dawn of Liberty,” by Henry
  Sandham.]

  [Illustration: STATUE OF CAPTAIN JOHN PARKER, COMMANDER OF THE
  MINUTEMEN
Henry H. Kitson, Sculptor]

  [Illustration: THE BATTLE GREEN—LEXINGTON COMMON

  On this triangular village green, “Birthplace of American Liberty,”
  the little group of embattled minutemen under Captain John Parker
  faced an advance guard of four hundred British regulars in the pale
  dawn of April 19, 1775.]

  [Illustration: THE HOUSE OF MARRETT AND NATHAN MUNROE, LEXINGTON
  COMMON

  This house, built in 1729, was a mute witness of the stirring
  resistance of the minutemen. Nathan Munroe was a member of Captain
  Parker’s company.]

  [Illustration: THE BATTLE GREEN IN MID-WINTER

  At the left is the first Revolutionary monument to be erected,
  dedicated to the memory of the men killed at the Battle of Lexington.
  Their remains are still kept in a tomb at the rear of the granite
  shaft. Washington and Lafayette both visited this spot.]

  [Illustration: SPRINGTIME ON THE BATTLE GREEN

  The view shows the location of the line where the minutemen made their
  heroic stand. The First Parish Church, facing the Green, dates from
  1847, the previous church having occupied a site on the Common itself.]

  [Illustration: DOORWAY OF THE JONATHAN HARRINGTON HOUSE]

  [Illustration: THE HOUSE OF JONATHAN HARRINGTON, LEXINGTON COMMON

  Jonathan Harrington, one of the minutemen wounded by British bullets,
  dragged himself to the doorway of his house facing the Battle Green
  and died there at his wife’s feet.]

  [Illustration: THE BOULDER ON LEXINGTON COMMON

  Marking the line established by the minutemen on the morning of April
  19, 1775. On it are inscribed the words of Captain Parker’s immortal
  command: “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they
  mean to have a war let it begin here.”]

  [Illustration: THE OLD BELFRY

  To hold the town bell, a little wooden building was erected on a hill
  overlooking the Common in 1761. A few years later it was moved to the
  Common, where it sounded the alarm to the minutemen on the morning of
  April 19th. An exact reproduction of the old belfry has now been
  erected on the original site. The bell has long since vanished, but
  its tongue is still preserved.]

  [Illustration: A WINTRY DETAIL OF THE BUCKMAN TAVERN]

  [Illustration: THE BUCKMAN TAVERN (1690), MEETING PLACE OF THE
  MINUTEMEN, Lexington Common

  This old tavern was the scene of great activity on that memorable
  morning. Around the great fireplace in the tap room the minutemen
  gathered to await word of the British advance. Paul Revere witnessed
  the arrival of the British from a chamber window. In the afternoon of
  April 19th two wounded British soldiers were given first aid here. One
  of them died shortly after, and was buried in the old cemetery. The
  Buckman Tavern, which was the oldest of Lexington’s twelve inns, still
  contains scars of British bullets. The first village store was located
  here, and later, in 1812 it held Lexington’s first Post Office. The
  building contains many noteworthy exhibits besides the famous tap
  room, and is now in the care of the Lexington Historical Society.]

  [Illustration: THE BUCKMAN TAVERN IN CONTRASTING SEASONS]

  [Illustration: (Winter)]

  [Illustration: Bar in the Tap Room of the Buckman Tavern]

  [Illustration: The Tap Room of the Buckman Tavern]

  [Illustration: and an Adjoining Fireplace]

  [Illustration: THE FIRST NORMAL SCHOOL IN AMERICA

  Standing at the end of Lexington Common is this large frame building,
  originally constructed for the short-lived Lexington Academy. In 1839
  the first Normal School in America was opened here with an enrollment
  of three pupils. The building now serves as the Masonic Temple.]

  [Illustration: A Corner of the Old Burial Ground, Lexington]

  [Illustration: The Original Wing (1698) of the Hancock-Clarke
  House—Lexington

  A wintry view of the gambrel-roofed ell of Lexington’s most celebrated
  dwelling. It was built as a parsonage in 1698 by the Reverend John
  Hancock, grandfather of the governor. In its tiny rooms the parson’s
  five children were raised to maturity.]

  [Illustration: THE HANCOCK-CLARKE HOUSE IN A SNOWY SETTING

  The frame of the original wing is of hand hewn oak, still in fine
  condition. Thomas Hancock, second son of the parson, who became a
  prosperous Boston merchant, added the front portion to the house in
  1734. John Hancock, the future Governor and signer of the Declaration
  of Independence, spent several of his boyhood years with his
  grandparents. The third pastor of the village was a much respected
  man, Reverend Jonas Clarke. He occupied the house in 1755 and was
  still its host on April 18, 1775 when John Hancock and Samuel Adams,
  facing imprisonment if they were caught by the British, took refuge
  there. John Hancock’s aunt and his fiancee, Dorothy Quincy, were also
  staying in the house. During the night the two patriots were roused
  from their sleep by Paul Revere, and were conducted to Burlington for
  their safety. Dorothy Quincy followed the party, bringing along a fine
  salmon which had been sent in for their dinner.]

  [Illustration: THE HANCOCK-CLARKE HOUSE

  The Lexington Historical Society purchased the house in 1896, moved it
  across the street from its original site and restored it to its
  original condition. The larger part of the Society’s extraordinary
  collection of historic relics is exhibited in this house and in a
  fireproof wing.]

  [Illustration: The Newer Part of the Hancock-Clarke House (1734) Is
  Rich in Fine Panelling, Fireplaces and Revolutionary Relics]

  [Illustration: Attic Atmosphere under the Low Gambrel of the
  Hancock-Clarke House]

  [Illustration: AUTUMN AT THE HARTWELL FARM]

  [Illustration: ALONG THE BATTLE ROAD—THE HARTWELL FARM IN LINCOLN

  The route of the British from Lexington to Concord led through the
  town of Lincoln along a wooded highway. It was at a bend in this road,
  about two o’clock in the morning, that the midnight ride of Paul
  Revere ended. In company with William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott,
  Paul Revere was halted by a British patrol. Dawes escaped, as did Dr.
  Prescott, who went on to give the alarm at Concord, but Revere was
  arrested and taken back to Lexington. There he was released, and later
  joined John Hancock and Samuel Adams.

  The Samuel Hartwell house, now known as the Hartwell Farm, is one of
  the survivors along the Battle Road. Past its front door the
  red-coated Grenadiers matched with smart precision on the morning of
  April 19th. They returned in the afternoon, with broken ranks and no
  semblance of military order, harassed by the minutemen. One Grenadier
  pushed his broken musket through a window of the house and left it
  there, and several fired bullets into its boarded facade.]

  [Illustration: Farmhouse along the Battle Road]

  [Illustration: The Farm at Meriam’s Corner]

  [Illustration: MERIAM’S CORNER, CONCORD

  The first point of interest encountered in Concord marks, not the
  British approach but their retreat, after the rout at North Bridge.
  Here, at Meriam’s Corner, the minutemen who had fought at the bridge
  were joined by embattled farmers from Sudbury, Framingham and other
  neighboring towns. From all sides they poured fire on the retreating
  Regulars, finally driving them all the way to Boston.]

  [Illustration: THE FERTILE FIELDS OF CONCORD, SCENE OF THE BRITISH
  RETREAT]

  [Illustration: GRAPEVINE COTTAGE, CONCORD

  Along Lexington Road in Concord begins a succession of interesting
  buildings, the first of which is this cottage, the home of Captain
  Ephraim Wales Bull, who bred and developed the Concord grape here in
  the 1840’s. A shoot from the root of the original Concord grapevine
  still prospers under the trellis.]

  [Illustration: “THE WAYSIDE,” HOME OF THREE AUTHORS, CONCORD

  A wintry view of the first of Concord’s literary shrines along
  Lexington Road. Bronson Alcott gave the house the name of “Hillside”
  during his stay from 1845 to 1848. Louisa and her sisters spent a few
  impressionable years of their girlhood here, and gave their plays in
  the barn. Nathaniel Hawthorne bought the house from the Alcotts in
  1852, renamed it “The Wayside” and lived here until his death in 1864.
  As a refuge from visitors, Hawthorne built a tower, or “sky parlor,”
  where he wrote “Tanglewood Tales” and “The Marble Faun.” A later owner
  was Mrs. Daniel Lothrop who, under the name of “Margaret Sidney,”
  wrote many volumes of the “Five Little Peppers” during her forty
  years’ residence here. The house dates from the early 18th century.]

  [Illustration: SIDE VIEW OF “THE WAYSIDE,” SHOWING HAWTHORNE’S “SKY
  PARLOR”]

  [Illustration: ORCHARD HOUSE, THE HOME OF THE ALCOTTS, CONCORD

  After leaving “The Wayside” the Alcott family moved into this old
  house, at the time considered unfit to live in, and repaired and
  painted it themselves. Louisa May Alcott affectionately referred to it
  as “Apple Slump,” and it was here that she wrote the first part of
  “Little Women.” Much of the Alcott furniture and many books, pictures,
  and personal memorials are still to be seen in the house, among them
  the sketches May drew on the walls of her room.]

  [Illustration: ORCHARD HOUSE AND ITS GIGANTIC ELM, IN EARLY SPRING]

  [Illustration: The School of Philosophy, Gathering Place of American
  Philosophers, Concord

  On the grounds of Orchard House stands this small unpainted,
  wooden-Gothic building, once known as Hillside Chapel, which served as
  Bronson Alcott’s summer school of philosophy for almost a decade. Many
  notable men of letters came to this chapel, which occupies an
  important place in the history of American thought.]

  [Illustration: ANTIQUARIAN HOUSE, CONCORD

  This building incorporates a noteworthy collection of period rooms,
  beautifully furnished. The next four pages give glimpses of this
  significant museum of early American decoration.]

  [Illustration: A Typical New England Living Room, Late 17th Century]

  [Illustration: The Pine-ceiled Room, a Rare Survivor from the Early
  18th Century]

  [Illustration: The Green Room Has Irregular Panelling Typical of the
  Early 18th Century]

  [Illustration: The Queen Anne Room Portrays a More Formal Mode of
  Living, Middle 18th Century]

  [Illustration: The Chippendale Room Reflects the Comfortable Days
  before the Revolution]

  [Illustration: Fireplace Detail from the Reeded Room (period of 1800)]

  [Illustration: A Glimpse through the Front Hallway into the Reeded
  Room]

  [Illustration: THE EMERSON HOUSE, CONCORD

  Ralph Waldo Emerson, who built this square white house and planted the
  pines around it, lived here from 1835 until his death in 1882. During
  his European tour, Thoreau lived in the house. Emerson was a strong
  influence in drawing other writers to Concord, and a long succession
  of visitors to his doorstep. His study has been moved intact, with its
  books and pictures and furniture, to the fireproof quarters of the
  Antiquarian House across the way. The other rooms remain much as they
  were in Emerson’s day.]

  [Illustration: CONCORD SNOWSCAPE]

  [Illustration: THE REUBEN BROWN HOUSE, CONCORD

  Home of the minuteman and saddler who brought back the news of the
  firing in Lexington. This is now the Old Mill Dam Inn.]

  [Illustration: THE CONCORD SUMMER SCHOOL OF MUSIC

  A four-chimneyed “brick-ender,” an architectural style rare outside of
  Concord.]

  [Illustration: The Concord Art Association Occupies a Noble Old White
  Clapboard House]

  [Illustration: LEXINGTON ROAD, CONCORD

  A glance backward at the houses just passed on the preceding pages.]

  [Illustration: The Victorian Gothic Era Left Concord with This Unusual
  Stone House

  In the distance is the Old Chapter House of the D. A. R.]

  [Illustration: FIRST PARISH CHURCH, CONCORD

  Built in 1901 on the site of the old church where the first and second
  Provincial Congresses sat, with John Hancock presiding.]

  [Illustration: FIRST PARISH CHURCH, CONCORD, IN A SUMMER SETTING

  The tree in the foreground went down in the hurricane of September,
  1938. Concord was a heavy sufferer in the catastrophe.]

  [Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE HILL BURYING GROUND

  Across the street is Wright’s Tavern (built in 1747), the British
  headquarters on April 19, 1775 where Colonel Smith boasted that he
  would stir the blood of the Yankee rebels.]

  [Illustration: SPRINGTIME ON THE CROSSROADS

  The focal point in Concord where the Mill Dam, Concord Square and
  Lexington Road meet.]

  [Illustration: Wright’s Tavern, the oldest existing tavern in Concord,
  is still run as a hostelry.]

  [Illustration: THE COLONIAL INN, CONCORD

  At the end of Monument Square is this historic inn, dating from 1770
  and still thriving. It is composed of three old houses joined
  together. The building on the extreme left was a Revolutionary
  store-house, while the wing in the foreground was once a Thoreau
  residence. The old tap room is still intact, and many relics of the
  Revolution are still in evidence.]

  [Illustration: A TEMPLE OF COMMERCE ON THE MILL DAM

  The business heart of Concord received the name of the “Mill Dam” due
  to the fact that it was the site of a dam for almost two centuries.
  Some of its buildings still retain a fine old Colonial character.]

  [Illustration: MODERN CONCORD

  The Colonial tradition is reflected in many newer buildings, such as
  the bank on the previous page.]

  [Illustration: CONCORD ACADEMY IN MIDWINTER]

  [Illustration: SLEEPY HOLLOW CEMETERY

  On this far ridge in Concord’s burial ground are found the graves of
  the literary great, Emerson, Hawthorne, the Alcotts, Thoreau, and
  their respective families.]

  [Illustration: THE BULLET-HOLE HOUSE, HOME OF MINUTEMAN ELISHA JONES

  The oldest portion of this house, overlooking North Bridge, dates from
  1644, making it probably the oldest house in Concord. Elisha Jones,
  Concord minuteman, was guarding military supplies in his house when
  the British began their retreat. He imprudently showed himself at the
  door of the left wing, and was promptly fired upon. The bullet missed
  him, and the hole it made is still preserved under a pane of glass.]

  [Illustration: THE OLD MANSE (_view from the northwest_)

  This large gambrel-roofed homestead was built in 1769 by the Reverend
  William Emerson, Concord’s fighting minister. Its grounds border the
  Concord River, and the minister is said to have viewed the battle at
  North Bridge from the window of his study. His grandson, Ralph Waldo
  Emerson, spent much time in the old house as a schoolboy, and later
  lived here for a year, writing “Nature” during that period. Nathaniel
  Hawthorne rented the house in 1842, and brought his bride there, to
  occupy it for some four years. It was Hawthorne who named it “The Old
  Manse,” and it was his “Mosses from an Old Manse” that made it known
  to the world. The house has undergone astonishingly little change
  since it was built 170 years ago.]

  [Illustration: EARLY SPRING AT THE OLD MANSE]

  [Illustration: THE BATTLEGROUND, CONCORD]

  [Illustration: THE GRANITE OBELISK AND THE NORTH BRIDGE, CONCORD

  The Battleground by North Bridge is marked by this monument, erected
  in 1836. Nearby is a tablet marking the graves of two British soldiers
  killed in the fight. The present bridge is a concrete copy of the
  original wooden bridge, abandoned in 1794. Here was fired the “shot
  that was heard round the world.” Here is the setting of Longfellow’s
  immortal poem. Here was the turning point in America’s struggle for
  independence.]

  [Illustration: THE MINUTEMAN, CONCORD

  “The Minuteman,” first important Statue by Daniel Chester French,
  stands guard over the Battleground. The spirited young farmer is
  leaving his plow to answer the alarm, musket in hand. The sculptor,
  unable to afford a living model, is said to have used a statue of
  Apollo Belvedere dressed as a minuteman for the purpose. The scene of
  this bloody and momentous battle is now the picture of calm repose,
  and a shrine for innumerable visitors.

  The Story of the battle is eloquently related by a tablet on the
  scene:

                                CONCORD FIGHT

  “On the morning of April Nineteenth, 1775, while the British held this
  bridge, the minutemen and militia of Concord and neighboring towns
  gathered on the hill across the river. There the Concord Adjutant,
  Joseph Hosmer, demanded, ‘Will you let them burn the town down?’ There
  the Lincoln captain, William Smith, offered to dislodge the British,
  the Acton captain, Isaac Davis, said, ‘I haven’t a man that’s afraid
  to go!’ and the Concord colonel, James Barrett, ordered the attack
  upon the regulars.

  The column was led by Major John Buttrick, marching from his own farm.
  His aide was Lt. Colonel John Robinson of Westford. The minutemen of
  Acton, Concord, Lincoln and Bedford followed, after them came the
  militia. At the British volley, Isaac Davis fell. Buttrick cried,
  ‘Fire, fellow-soldiers, for God’s sake Fire!’ and himself fired first.
  The British fled; and here began the separation of two kindred
  nations, now happily long united in peace.”]

  [Illustration: THE “MINUTEMAN” IN A SPRINGTIME SETTING]

  [Illustration: NORTH BRIDGE, CONCORD]




                          Transcriber’s Notes


--Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public
  domain in the country of publication.

--Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and
  dialect unchanged.

--Moved some captions closer to the corresponding pictures.

--In the text versions, delimited italicized text by _underscores_.







End of Project Gutenberg's Lexington and Concord, by Samuel V. Chamberlain

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 57529 ***