The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-06-26

sitting at New Town, (now Cambridge.) Its original
name was Muskaaquid, from two Indian words,
signifying grass-ground. The same name belongs
to the river, and then means grassy brook. The orr
gin Of the present name of the place is not precisely
known, but is by some attributed to the peaceable
purchase Of the land from the Indians and by others
to the harmony and concord that prevailed among
the original settlers. 1t is certain that the name
was changed from Musketaquid to Concord, in the
act of incorporation of 1886. Captain Peter Pol
warth, who was here with the English in l775, (see
Cospers "Lonel Lincoln, y declared that the name
should be changed to Discord, and certainly he and
his comrades had good cause for holding to that
opinion.
The settlement of the place is said to have been
planned in England, and IT was the first town in New
England that was settled above tide water its near
est neighbors being Watertown and Cambridge. It
was spoken Of as lying "away up in the woods" and
its inhabitants dwet amid that solemn forest scenery
which had 80 much to do with forming the character
Of our ancestors.
'The calling shapes and reckoning shadows Dire
And airy tongues that syllable mems names
On rocks. and sands, and desert wiidernestesn
were constantly seen and heard by the founders Of
the country, and had as much to do with their con-
duct on many occasions the peculiar character of
their religious notions. The American purtans were
indeed very different Of men from the puritans
Of England.
Several of the settlers were men of much wealth.
having from ten to almost thirty thousand dollars
Descendants Of the founders OF the town are very
numerous here, and the names that were common
then are so now The Buttricks date from 1886, and
the name Is borne by many here, and has always
been Of honorable fame in the history Of the town and
State. 1t was Major John Buttrick who gave the or
ders to fire on the British, and who fired the first shot
was the commencement of the revolutionary war.
The BloOds came here in 1859, and are now numer-
GUS; the Burrets in 1910, and are the same. The
Brookes were at the settlement Of the place, and
are now many of the name. The Conants are
supposed to have descended. from Roger Co.
nant, who figures in the early history of Sa
lem, greatgrandson Of whom came here one
ants of the first inhabitants are the Wrights, the
Wheelers the Hosmers, the Farwells, the Meses
the Slows, the Woods, and the Hunts. The Minotts
and Melvins came here at later period. The Pres
colts OF Concord are descended from that John p.
Prescott who founded this extraordinary family in
America. His second son, Jonathan, who was born
at Lancaster, came to Concord, where he was three
times married. The descendants Of Jonathan Pres
colt are scattered numerously over the country The
number of names that were common here in the
seventeenth century being so now it follows that the
charge of abandoning their homes to strangers can
not be brought against the people Of Concord,
though said to be the most notorious characteristic of
Amelicans-by those who know nothing about them.
1t s however true that Concord has sent forth many
settlers to other parts of the country. Many towns
in other parts OF the State settled by Concord
people, and there is not, perhaps, State in the
Union which has not more or less Concordborn
people.
The Apostle Eliot who labored so strenuorsly to
benefit the Indians was used occasionally to preach
at Concord. He translated the Bible into the Indian
tongue, and some other books; but as it took the
word "Rummog kodon0 0otifeaon gannMn-
nonash" to simply express the English words our
question, it is not much to be wondered at that no
great literary progress was made by the aborgines.
1t Is said that when engaged in trnnsatng the Bible
Mr.. Eliot was much puzzled to make version Of
this passage from the Book of Judgcs:-"The mo-
Their Of Siscra looked out at window, and cried
through the lattice'-the difficulty being to find
word that should answer to lattice. At last after
having spent much time in explaining to the In.
dians what lattice was, they gave him word
which they assured him described the thing exactly.
He adopted it, but was somewhat shocked, not long
after, when he learned that the word thus used sig
nlfed an eclpot, SO that ne had made the passage
read-"The mother Of Sisera looked out ct win
dow, and cried through the eelpot.' An eelpot
came about as near to piece Of lattice work as
anything that the Indians had, but, in translatng,
one should never be too literal.
In O letter which wrote YOU last fall, | gave
some account Of the revolutionary history of this
place, and therefore shall pass it over here Those
who wish to become familiar with the subject should
consult the works of Mr.. rockingham, Mr.. Shat
tuck, and DR.. Ripley. Nor shall | dwell upon the
Of some Of its people, not only because have said
all that can on these subjects in that letter. but be-
cause the reader will find them better treated than
could treat them in the writings Of Mr. Thoreau and
Mr.. Hawthorne, to which he is referred.
Concord has the honor Of having the oldest mill
tary organization in the United States after the an
cient and honorable artillery. "The Second Troop
OF Middlesex Horse" was organized in 1869, and,
under other names, has continued down to this day
though of late years it has not paraded. 1t is now
called the Concord Light Infantry, which name it
took in l777 The Concord Artillery dates from
1904, and has field pieces, presented to it by the Lee
gisature, with inscriptions in honor Of the events of
library was formed here in 17S6, and has since
been well kept up, and contains many valuable works
have never seen an institution OF the kind in better
order. The lyceum Of the town was formed in 1928.
In the matter of education, this town has done its
part to sustain the character of New England. In
l775, when the buildings of Harvard College were
taken for barracks to be used by the American forces
at Cambridge, the institution was removed to Con
cord where it remained until some time after the
British had been driven from Boston.
The Concord Bank, which has a capital Of $780,
600, is located here, and is managed, generally, by
citizens Of the place. Colonel Shattuck il president
oft. The Middesex Mutual Fire Insurance Com
the Society of Middlesex Husbandmen and Manu-
facturers, have their annual fair here. This inst
tuition dates from 1924 and has lately been much i'm
proved, in which work many Of the most respectable
cllZenS Vi OOnCOIu nave uOne tnelr Iuli part line
fair is held in October, and the display of agricu
tural articles is very fine, and that Of manufactured
goods is more than respectable.
Concord IL more an agricultural than manufac-
turing place. Its principal productions in the former
mode of industry are, Indian corn rye, oats barley
fruit, of various kinds common to this region; milk
wood, vegetables" ice, timber, and 80 forth. am
not sure that ice should not be placed among the
manufactured articles, but as like agriculture
much better than / do manufactures. shal
give the former the benefit of any doubt that there
may be on the subject II Is pretty certain that i,
used TO exist here in indefinite quantities. long be-
fore the days Of churches, rum and the small pox
and so may be called natural production through
the Indians who had no knowledge of ice creams,
punches, juleps, and cobblers;" old not think it
worth the while to gather ii. The land Of the
place is quite unequeai, some portions Of it being
uncommonly rich, while the larger part Is either
inferior Indifferent. The river lands are the best
The number Of acres Of unimproved land in 1860,
was 3743; Of unimprovabe, Ill; of pasturage,
including orchardiDg pastured, 1898, capable
Of keeping IT'S cows; Of fresh meadow, l,494. pro-
ducipg l,23s tons Of hay Of English and upland now
ing, including orcharding moved, 22O62 from which
hay to the amount Of O5s tons were taken; Of wood
land 34 The number Of bushels Of Indian corn
raised, WAS 10 Gl0 OF Oat0 $3.50: of rye asa. NJ