Concord, MA, Lowell, MA, and Concord, NH

After spending the previous day in Boston, we kept up the sightseeing momentum, heading north out of the city. Our first stop was at Minuteman National Historical Park, known to schoolchildren nationwide as Lexington and Concord, where “the shot heard round the world” started the American Revolution. On April, 19, 1775, a group of 700 British Army regulars under Lt. Col. Frances Smith marched out of Boston to seize a reported stash of weapons in Concord. The British troop movement triggered Paul Revere and William Dawes, via different routes, to ride west to sound the alarm. The two met in Lexington and picked up a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott to continue on to Concord. The three met a British patrol—Revere was captured, questioned and released, although his horse was confiscated and he had to walk back to Lexington. Dawes and Prescott escaped, although Dawes was bucked off his horse and he also turned around on foot. Out of the trio, only Prescott made it to Concord to warn the patriots, although some historical accounts say a fourth rider, Israel Bissell, traveled even farther. I was extremely curious about why Paul Revere got all the credit for the “Midnight Ride” and why the other participants were largely forgotten. In my research, I found that Revere had a high social standing, wrote a detailed account of the night’s activities, and had a tendency towards self-promotion. He also benefited immensely from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s classic 1860 poem “Paul Revere’s Ride,” which intentionally altered and streamlined the facts to create an American legend at a politically sensitive time prior to the Civil War. Map link: Minuteman National Historical Park

Awaiting the British on Lexington Green were 77 colonial militia, nicknamed “minutemen,” as they were required to be ready on a moment’s notice. At 5:00AM, the redcoats reached Lexington and opened fire, then charged with bayonets, killing eight colonials, the first to die in the revolution. The Americans withdrew, and the British continued on seven miles to Concord. Thanks to Prescott’s warning, the weapons stockpile was well hidden outside of town, the minutemen were armed and waiting at the North Bridge, and the first British soldiers fell. The redcoats regrouped, realized that their mission had failed, knew they were in trouble and retreated towards Boston. More colonials joined the fight, and a running battle commenced chasing the British east along what is now called Battle Road. Back in Lexington, the militia there joined the pursuit and avenged their fallen comrades from that morning. The exhausted British finally reached the safety of Charlestown in the evening, with 73 dead and 174 wounded missing from their ranks. The American Revolution had begun. 

The national historical park had a small, informative visitors center, enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff and an entertaining multi-media video. Along the Battle Road and within the park is an early 18th century house called The Wayside, where authors Louisa May Alcott and later Nathanial Hawthorne and Harriet Lothrop (pen name Margaret Sidney) once lived. Neighbors included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Herman Melville and Henry David Thoreau, and our next stop was Walden Pond, less than two miles away. From 1845-47, Thoreau lived in 10x15 foot cabin that he built for $28 on land owned by his friend and mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson. In 1854, he published his thoughts on this experiment in simple living in his classic book Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Today, the location is a popular state park, with a replica of the cabin, visitors center, hiking trails and swimming beach. Map link: Walden Pond, MA

The Wayside author’s home

Replica of Thoreau’s cabin at Walden Pond

Walden Pond

We continued north to Lowell (pronounced as a single syllable, rhymes with “goal”), designed in the 1820s as a textile manufacturing town, powered by Pawtucket Falls on the Merrimack River. By the 1850s, it was the largest industrial center in the country, relying on hydropower and thousands of “Mill Girls,” young, single women recruited from New England towns and farms to work in the factories. The Lowell National Historical Park preserves this heritage, with multiple visitors centers, restored weaving mill, canals, locks and replicas of the company-owned boardinghouses where the Mill Girls were required to live. At the Boot Cotton Mills Museum, we were treated to a live demonstration of still-operating weaving machines—the noise was significant and our guide indicated that during the mill’s heyday, ten-times as many machines would have been going strong.

 

Boot Cotton Mill Museum

Mill and canal

Our last stop in Lowell was the Whistler House Museum of Art, located in the birthplace and childhood home of painter James Whistler. His most famous painting, completed in 1871, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, is commonly known as Whistler’s Mother, which his mother Anna McNeill Whistler, posed for. Born in Lowell in 1834, he later played himself up as an impoverished southern aristocrat and also once claimed St. Petersburg, Russia as his birthplace. Moody and insolent, he was somehow admitted to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, but was dismissed for poor grades and a large number of demerits by then-Superintendent Robert E. Lee. He left the U.S. for good, studied art in Paris and settled in London until his death in 1903 at the age of 69.  

Whistler House

Source: Wikipedia

Continuing northwest, we crossed into New Hampshire and drove about an hour to Concord, the state capital and third-largest city, after Manchester and Nashua. We visited the 1819 statehouse, built on land previously occupied by a Quaker meeting house. It was constructed from local granite, quarried by convicts, and is the oldest state capitol in the country where both legislative bodies still meet in their original chambers. On the grounds is a statue of Christa McAuliffe, teacher and astronaut, who perished at age 37 along with her six crew-mates when the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after launch on January 28, 1986. McAuliffe taught social studies at Concord High School and was selected from more than 11,000 applicants during President Ronald Reagan’s initiative to send an educator into space. A quote from McAuliffe is inscribed on the pedestal of her memorial: "I touch the future, I teach.” Map link: Concord, NH

We made a couple more stops on our quick visit to Concord, NH. The first was the home of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science movement in 1879. Known mostly for the belief that sickness is best treated through prayer, rather than medical intervention, Christian Scientists are the subject of significant opposition, and the occasional child neglect suit.

A New Hampshire native born to Protestant Congregationalists, Mary Baker Eddy suffered from ill health all her life. After her first husband died, Eddy lost custody of their son due to her poor health. She remarried, then divorced, and was often bedridden. In 1866, she slipped on the ice and was seriously injured, but avoided conventional medical treatment and instead turned to her Bible. When she recovered, she believed that the prayer alone was responsible, and the idea for Christian Science was born. Besides the Bible, Eddy’s 1875 book Science and Health with Keys to the Scriptures is the foundational text for practitioners. There are no ordained clergy, and each congregation elects two Readers to conduct religious services. Mary Baker Eddy died in 1910 at the age of 89. 

Our last visit for the trip was the home of Franklin Pierce, our 14th president. Born in 1804 in nearby Hillsborough, NH, Pierce attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME, where he met Nathaniel Hawthorne—the two remained lifelong friends and Hawthorne wrote Pierce’s biography. Pierce served in the Mexican-American War and became interested in politics as a young lawyer. He served as a state legislator and Speaker of the House, U.S. representative, U.S. senator, chairman of the state Democratic Committee, U.S. Attorney, and was elected president in 1852, defeating Winfield Scott, his commander in the war. Pierce and his wife Jane began his term in mourning. Their first son died in infancy, their second at age four from typhus, and their only surviving child, Benjamin was crushed to death in front of them in a train derailment just weeks before the inauguration. Both parents spiraled into depression and Jane did not attend the inauguration and avoided Washington society for much of his presidency. Pierce was an unpopular president, mainly due his pro-slavery beliefs and series of compromises placating Southern interests. He intended to serve a second term, but lost the 1856 Democratic Party nomination to James Buchanan; the only time an elected president seeking reelection did not win his party’s endorsement. Historians often rank Franklin Pierce amongst the worst U.S. presidents, and on a list of other ineffective, proslavery executives—including John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore and James Buchanan—who set the stage for the Civil War. 

Franklin Pierce residence, known as the Pierce Manse

Bonus Question: It’s World Cup tournament time, and while I’m not a big soccer fan, it’s hard to ignore the largest sports event on the planet. Only eight countries have won a World Cup championship since its inception in 1930; six of them more than once. Can you name these countries? (answers at end of post)

Bonus Activity: Walden Pond word search!

Bonus Question Answer: Past World Cup winners, with the number of titles in parentheses: Brazil (5), Germany (4), Italy (4), Argentina (3), France (2), Uruguay (2), England (1) and Spain (1).