Before the Tourist Sites Open, See Two Historic Sites in Concord During Covid-19

Before the Tourist Sites Open, See Two Historic Sites in Concord During Covid-19 is my title and before this is old news, I'm sharing now. Concord, Massachusetts had some beautiful spring days and I took advantage of seeing the sites, both of which I've seen many times. They were the Minute Man National Historical Park and the Louisa May Alcott Orchard House  There is very little writing, this post is for showing what these sites offered or not for visitors. Normally, the two places are packed with tourists, either by car, bike, or by bus. On April 24, 2021, I drove to the North Bridge Visitor Center (one of two) for information about Minuteman Park. On May 8, 2021, I stopped by the Louisa May Alcott house.

Minuteman National Historical Park

The parking lot was partially full, and you see the sign that greeted me. The beautiful Barrett House was closed to tourists. There was one guide there to answer questions. He told me they might open late in the summer and that I'd be happy because it had been renovated and looked beautiful. It seems as tho their problem was with staffing.

Side view of the Barrett House.

I walked the trail from the Barrett House to the lower parking and saw a few familiar sites.

From the upper-level parking lot on Liberty Street, you walk downhill on a path.

Photos from the lower level walkway from the Monument Street parking lot.

On another day I went to the Louisa May Alcott Orchard House which wasn't open. Although the sign from my last May visit said they would open June 30, 2020. I was the only one there until a father and adult daughter from Michigan showed up and were very unhappy that it was closed. The parking lot is very small and usually is packed with cars even though there is a larger lot nearby. I have been inside for tours several times, but they have never allowed photographs to be taken. The house is open year-round.

This photo was taken exactly a year later on May 8, 2021. I chatted with an employee who told me he thought it would open in August. In the past year, shrubs and bushes were added, and the walkway changed.

This is a collage of all the photos I took in 2020.

Other photos from previous years.

Additional parking is in the lot between the Alcott House and The Wayside Home, across the street.

What Did Louisa May Alcott's Father Think About Genealogy?

The Granary Burying Ground, Boston, MA

A visit to an art exhibit displaying the works of N. C. Wyeth called the Men of Concord, in the Concord Museum, Concord, Massachusetts put me on another research trail, like many others I've blogged about. This one led me to two cemeteries (Concord and Boston), a library for a book and the internet for information. I could have written about each of them (the art exhibit, the two cemeteries, the book, and the internet), but I wanted to write one piece tying in all the elements.

So how did my inspiration come about for writing this post?

After Seeing the painting, Mr. Alcott in the Granary Burying Ground in Boston, in the museum, my first thought was, "this is an idea for a post", because I love that cemetery.

I knew immediately I had find the cemetery stone behind Mr. Alcott. The internet helped because I found all I needed to know about the stone and painting from an article in the Boston Athenæum which stated, "The location that Wyeth chose for his painting, however, can be pinpointed because he had included in the foreground the gravestone of one Ruth Carter, which has survived and is very well preserved. The stone is, in fact, a masterwork of American gravestone carving and one can understand why Wyeth gave it a place of prominence in his composition. Here, elegantly posed and carved skeletons, obvious allegories engaged in the dance of death, flank the incised inscription that summarizes Mrs. Carter's brief life."

I checked on FindAGrave and saw a very clear photo taken rather recently. So, I knew I had to see that tombstone in person.

I then decided to get the book, Men of Concord out of the library, after all, that is the name of the art exhibit I attended.

None of the above was worthy of a singular blog post until I read the chapter on A. Bronson Alcott. Then I knew I had to write a post, not about the fabulous cemetery stone or the painting, but what Henry David Thoreau wrote about Bronson's love of genealogy.

But, sometimes I change my mind, and I did several times with this post because of so many elements. Sharing my steps that lead up to this finalized post. First, the art exhibit.

In the room were 12 paintings done by N. C. Wyeth were displayed, some owned by the Concord Museum, some by the Concord Library, and the Boston Athenæum owns the one I was interested in. We were not allowed to take photographs.

I wrote about finding the painting at the Boston Athenaeum, my accident, and wrote about it HERE.

After seeing the above exhibit, I had to find the stone behind Mr. Alcott, for two reasons. First to see if that person was related to me, and second, it was a fabulous stone, with full-length skeletons on each side. I located it and determined that Ruth Carter was not a relative, and the stone needed to be cleaned! (I made this black and white, and it's the last photo shown.)

Another cemetery trip took us to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts. I had been there many times, but I hadn't taken a photo of Bronson Alcott's stone. Shown below is a listing of all family members on the back side of the tall marker. You'll note, that Louisa May Alcott's middle name is after her mother's surname. Henry David Thoreau's stone is a few steps away.

AMOS BRONSON ALCOTT

1799      ---     1888

ABIGAIL MAY ALCOTT

1800     ---     1877

ANNA BRONSON ALCOTT PRATT

1831     ---     1893

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT

1832     ---     1888

ELIZABETH SEWALL ALCOTT

1835     ---     1858

MAY ALCOTT NIERKIKER

1840     ---     1879

Each person has a small stone with initials and dates.

Soon, I received the library book, "The Men in Concord," and read-only what was written about A. Bronson Alcott. When you read what is written, you'll understand why I chose the title for this blog.

Pages 79-80

August 11, 1852.

A. Bronson Alcott

             

Alcott here the 9th and 10th.

...he has been for some months, devoted to the study of his own genealogy...

has faithfully perused the records of some fifteen towns, has read the epitaphs in as many churchyards, and, whenever he found the name Alcock, excerpted it and all connected with it...

...now reading the wills and the epitaphs of the Alcocks with the zeal of a professed antiquarian and genealogist!

Nevertheless the similarity of name is enough, and he pursues the least trace of it.

He visited the tomb of Dr. John Alcock in the Granary Burying Ground, read, and copied it.

Has visited also the only bearer of the name in Boston, a sail-maker perchance,--though there is no evidence of the slightest connection except through Adam,--and communicated with him.

He says I should survey Concord and put down every house exactly as it stands with the name.

Admires the manuscript of the old records; more pleasing than print.

He copied the epitaph of my grandmother-in-law which he came across in some graveyard (in Charlestown?), thinking 'it would interest me!' 

Alcott Family Home in Concord, Massachusetts
Open for tours.  

Did You Hear About the Great New Features From GenealogyBank.com?

Photo from pinterest.

This painting of A. Bronson Alcott, father of Louisa May Alcott and has nothing to do with GenealogyBank.com, other than I wanted to read his obituary and the best place to go for that is GenealogyBank. I was fortunate to be informed that some major changes were coming to this program, and when two recently appeared, I wanted to write about them. Bronson Alcott is my example, since I saved three obituaries about him in the My Folder box.

If you don't know about the new feature, My Folder, it's quite easy to understand, because it's simply a folder where you save your findings. The tab shows on your home page when you sign on to GenealogyBank, if you have already saved something. If you want to see what is in there, click on it. If nothing is displayed, that shows that you haven't saved anything. To begin with GenealogyBank (provided you are a subscriber),  go ahead and write in your Ancestor's Last name and First Name, find something to save (instructions below), and it will be saved in your My Folder.

When I clicked on My Folder, I see my three saved obituaries for A. Bronson Alcott.

To look at the last obituary, click on it then it opens to the screen below. My red arrows show a new option, Email, and the recently discussed option, Saved in My Folder.

If you want to Email this obituary to somebody, click on that option, shown above, and it opens to Share This Image. I love both new features, and look forward to the other new changes, especially one that I've complained about. Keep tuned.

Justin Bieber, Trash Pickup, Lost Portrait, Louisa May Alcott and Ducklings

The first sign that yesterday was going to be a little different was, I got tangled up in the crown of people rushing to get in line to buy Justin Bieber tickets to his concert, to be held at the TD BankNorth garden (North Station) in Boston (July 20th, I think). It's been a long time, since I've seen that many people in a line, but they were all happy, and that's a great thing to see first thing in the morning.

The sun was shining, temperature was warm, and I was on my way to the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) to use their library, by way of several detours. First was to the Massachusetts State House (aka Capitol), to take additional photos of my ancestor, Simon Bradstreet. Right away, I couldn't locate him, and had to ask an employee. He tried to find the location, but he and nobody knew where it was. Where could he have gone, I was just there a few months ago. I really thought I'd have a quiet day in the building, but no, there were so many people, listening to live Christmas music, and lots of school tours of the building were being given. Hum, I'll go back in January.

Second detour was to tour the Beacon Hill area (super wealthy) of Boston, with all the steep hills and cobblestones. I thought the Christmas decorations on the old townhouses would make for nice pictures. Not so fast...it was trash day. Bags and bags of trash on the sidewalks and every once in a while, I'd see the dump trucks. To make it worse, most doorsteps had the day's newspaper/s on the steps and many had notices from UPS or FedExpress telling the owners that a package was ready to be picked up. My two hour walk to NEHGS left me exhausted to say the least.

Once at the library, I had had it, there wasn't any energy left. I spent a half an hour chatting with three employees, and then left. Can you imagine not having energy to do some simple research? It was a first. I took the subway back to North Station, a television there changed my entire day.

I decided to share some happy photos of yesterday. John Kerry's town house, the house where Louisa May Alcott died, Boston Public Gardens (it looked like spring), some Christmas decorations, and a surprise for your young children, it seems appropriate.

 Massachusetts State House.

 Stately mansion on Mt. Vernon Street.

 John Kerry's house (with flag) taken December 15, 2012.

Home of Louisa May Alcott, this is where she died. John Kerry lives across the street.

 Boston Public Gardens, looks like spring.

 House along the way, decorated for Christmas.

 Acorn Street, Beacon Hill.

 For the children. I have seen them many times, but for some reason, I decided to take the picture.

For fun, a YouTube video of Beautiful Boston by Little Big World.