Gladys Clark
856 Lowell Road
Interviewed July 29, 1981
Age: 90
Concord Oral History Program
Renee Garrelick, Interviewer.
Click here for audio in .mp3 format
In two parts. The second part has sub-title, "An account of daily life of the Lowell Road neighborhood of Gladys Clark"
I thought the story of life on the "Plain", as this area was
called might be rather interesting as time goes on. In the late
1800's and the early 1900's various sections of town were
recognized by distinctive names. The causeway began at Bow Street
to the Red bridge, and Catt Hill is the section where there was a
ledge which extended into the road this side of the Red bridge.
The ledge was blasted off and the road was pushed back, it is
right on the curve after crossing the Red bridge. Winn's Hill was
at the top of the hill before going down into the valley of
Dakin's Brook. It was at the yellow house where Raymond Emerson
spent his boyhood there. It was the home of his father, Edward
Emerson.
Then we reach Hildreth's Corner, which was known as the
"Plain", and extends from the corner to "the Lane", which is now
Hugh Cargill Road. In those days everyone knew it as "the Lane".
Here was a unique settlement comprised of a former cabin, the
Hildreth Country Store, with a trade extending into Acton,
Melvin's cobbler shop, McClellan's (a hard-boiled Scotsman)
blacksmith shop, a carpenter's shop, and nearby a cooper's shop
and the mills, both a saw mill and a grist mill. These were quite
adequate for the folks who comprised the neighborhood.
The farms were well maintained and productive for the needs
of the family. The homes were good and substantial. Most of them
occupied by the second or third generations with the furnishings
and atmosphere of comfortable living.
While men were engaged in the work on the farms or their
trades, life for the women centered around the home. They
provided three hearty meals a day that began with breakfast at
6:00, for every farm had cows where the milk had to be ready for
delivery by 6:00. The farms produced most of the food stuffs for
the family.
The busy housewife must have a well organized program for her
activities. Beyond the regular meals there was the laundry which
was a major chore because it was all done by hand. This required
extra help in most cases and especially on Monday. Tuesday was
ironing day. Yes, everything required that laborious task using
an old black iron on the kitchen stove. Wednesday and Thursday
seemed to be catch-up days with the cleaning on Friday. Saturday
was the big bake day, what a day, Saturday.
Beans that had to be baked were soaked overnight, were
sculled and put into the pot the first thing Saturday morning with
a goodly piece of salt pork, mustard, and molasses with water
added to cover. Into the oven went the pot for a day of baking.
Then came the pie making, several of them, apple, rhubarb,
blueberry, squash, mince, lemon as the season dictated. Next came
pudding or cake, and then the brown bread was steamed for the
afternoon.
When all this baking was out of the way then the white bread,
which had been mixed the night before, was ready to put into the
pans to rise and bake. By early afternoon the baking was out of
the way and the last to be washed was the kitchen floor. Never
can one forget the nostalgic odors of Saturday afternoon in the
kitchen, the freshly washed wooden floor and all the fragrances of
the baking and beans.
After the kitchen was in order after the noon meal, the apron
was put in the kitchen drawer, dresses were changed and the
afternoon until 5:00 was devoted to sewing, mending, reading or
writing, which would continue into the evening. Neighbors' visits
sometimes were interspersed in the leisure hours. There were
occasional shopping trips to Boston or to the shops in Concord for
the essentials of keeping a house in order.
Sunday was a marvelous day of rest enjoyed by the entire
family. The heavy meal of the day had been prepared the day
before and all activities had prepared for the rest, both on the
farm as well as inside. For social relaxation, there were visits
from friends especially during the summer when travel was not a
problem.
The women of home and there were ten or twelve in the
neighborhood often met a afternoon once or twice a month to sew
while one member read some late book. Refreshments not even tea
was served. No doubt the hearty noon meal and the need to prepare
another for the 6:00 supper stirred no desire for a victual.
There were two or three winter activities that were always
anticipated. A dance at the town hall organized by Miss Ellen
Emerson. Another was a winter fun ride to Carlisle for a dance at
that town hall. And the gala event was the annual birthday party
for Capt. Dakin at his home, which is where Pliny Jewell now
lives. This birthday began as a little neighborhood birthday
party but it became so popular that people from some distance
sought to be among the greeters. Eventually a costume party was
organized and this continued until Capt. Dakin's death. Since
women were by far in the majority on the "Plain", they were the
beneficiaries of all the parties.
A summer event that everyone enthusiastically enjoyed was the
Fourth of July picnic in a grove on the bank of the Assabet River
in my uncle's pasture. The men would always find time for this
big day and there was always plenty of room for the children.
With all the families together and plenty of ice cream, life on
the "Plain" was one of the fruits of life.
For the daughters of the farmers life outside the "Plain"
often ended in a teaching career for one and the pursuit of art or
music for another so there lives became quite satisfactory and
tranquil even in old age. We had the Hosmer girls, the Dakin
girls, the Clark girls (my father's cousins, Harriet and Ina), all
dedicated to the caring of their families. Concord was noted for
it's monuments and old maids.
The trees around Concord have a very interesting background.
The elms are a mark of beauty. Everyone speaks about the elms
downtown, they were set out to make this town beautiful. Everyone
felt as they started a new home, that they should have a tree on
either side of the front door. Then to beautify their homes,
people were planting evergreens especially cedar trees. They were
also used in cemeteries.
Apple trees were in large quantity; everyone seemed to have
an apple orchard because they didn't go to the store to buy fruit
the way we do today. The people were healthy because they had the
apples to eat all year around. In summer we had a Summer Porter
apple, which was a yellow early apple, the William, another early
red apple, a Man Apple, a big, juicy green apple that I suppose
was a Greening, but it was tremendous in size and very tart, a
Winter Porter, and a Bluenose.
A survey was made by a man who was interested in the early
apples of New England, and he found there were 121 different
varieties of early apples. When he cutting down the orchards at
the time of the depression when people were being given work to
earn some money, all our orchards were being cut down. This man
became concerned about losing all the different types of apples
that were prevalent in the early 1800's, late 1800's, and early
1900's. So he took samples of the different trees that he was
cutting and gathered others and started an orchard of his own and
propagated these early apples. Sturbridge eventually found out
about it so he turned over all of his trees to Sturbridge and
that's when he discovered he had 121 different apples.
Another disappearing variety of tree was the Chestnut tree.
The kind that produced the nuts not the horse chestnut. They were
very prolific in the woods, that is the woods off Hugh Cargill
Road, Estabrook Woods. As a child we just couldn't wait for the
first heavy frost in the fall to run off in the woods to see the
chestnuts that had fallen during the night. The burs are on the
trees until the frost comes and then the frost opens the burs and
the chestnuts drop to the ground. Sometimes the whole bur drops
to the ground. Then it was a scramble whether the squirrels or
chipmunks would get the nuts or we kids would get them.
We went into the woods with paper bags to gather all the
chestnuts that had fallen freely. Then we took a burlap bag to
gather the burs that had fallen on the ground. We would spend a
whole morning gathering chestnuts and we would have several goodly
filled bags. These we would roast and eat immediately and
sometimes we would just keep them a little while. There were
times when we would forget about them after the fantasy of running
and getting them was over. We would stash them away and forget
about them until the popcorn was available and then someone would
think of chestnuts too.
Forty years or more ago, a blight struck these chestnut trees
so that we have no more chestnuts for the children to enjoy
picking. The telephone company, which had used the trees for the
poles had to find a new source for their poles. They may be one
reason why they are putting the lines underground. But when the
company took the trees they did leave the woods very clean and
free of debris.
Another tree that has proved to be of commercial value is the
willow. During World War I, we had powder mills in Maynard.
Representatives from the powder mills went around through the town
asking permission to cut the willow trees.
An account of daily life of the Lowell Rd. neighborhood of Gladys Clark
(No audio for this part)
In the late 1800's and early 1900's, various sections
of town were recognized by distinctive names. The Plains was
an area beyond the Causeway, the Red Bridge, Cat Hill, Winn's
Hill and Dakin Brook to Hildreth's Corner. The Plain extended
from Hildreth Corner to the Lane, now called Hugh Cargill Road.
Here was a unique settlement comprised of a former tavern, a
well equipped country store, with a trade extending into Acton,
a cobbler's shop, blacksmith shop, carpenter shop and nearby
cooper's shop, and a sawmill and gristmill.
Life was quite adequate for the folks who comprised
the neighborhood. The farms were well maintained and productive
for the needs of the family. The homes were good and substantial,
most of them occupied by second and third generations where
the furnishings had the atmosphere of comfortable living.
While the men were engaged at their work on the
farms and the few at their trades, there were women who sustained
these men. Since the life of the women centered around the home,
it was here that their days were spent providing three hearty meals
that began with breakfast at six o'clock, for the farms had cows
where the milk must be ready for delivery before six.
The busy housewife must have a well organized program
for her activities. Beyond the regular meals, there was the
laundry which was a major chore when it must all be done by
hand. This required extra help, in most cases, and a special
day -Monday, Tuesday was ironing day- yes everything required
that laborious task with old black irons on the kitchen stove.
Wednesday and Thursday seemed to be catch-up days, with the
cleaning on Friday, and Saturday was the big bake day- And what
a day was Saturday! The beans to bake, which had been soaked
overnight, were scalded and put into the pot the first thing
Saturday morning, with a, goodly piece of salt pork, mustard,
and molasses, with water added to cover. Into the oven went the
pot for a day of baking. Then came the pie making, several
of them- apple, rhubarb, blueberry, squash, mince, or lemon,
as the season dictated.
Next came pudding or a cake and brown bread to steam for
the afternoon. When all this baking was out of the way, the
white bread which had been mixed the night before, was ready to
be worked and put into the pans to rise and bake.
By early Saturday afternoon, the cooking out the way,
the lamps were to be washed and filled and finally the kitchen
floor washed. Never can one forget the nostalgic odors of
Saturday afternoon in the kitchen, the freshly washed wooden
floor, and all the fragrance of the baking of breads and beans.
Each day after the kitchen was in order after the noon meal,
the apron was put in the kitchen drawer, dresses were changed and
the afternoon, until five, was devoted to sewing, mending, reading
or with an occupation that was usually continued in the evening.
Neighborly visits sometimes were interspersed in these leisure
hours.
There were occasional shopping trips to Boston or to the
shops in Concord, for the essentials of keeping a household in
order.
For the maiden daughters, life outside the home often
ended in a teaching career for one and the pursuit of art or
music for the other, so their lives became quite satisfactory
and tranquil even into old age. Maiden girls were expected to
stay with the family and share the chores of the house. Therefore,
we had the Hosmer girls, the Dakin girls, the Clark girls and
poor little Miss Tarbel, all dedicated to caring for their
families. Concord was noted for its monuments and old maids!
And I'm one! with the last generation.
Sunday was a marvelous day of rest, enjoyed by the entire
family for the heavy meal of the day had been prepared the day
before and all activities had come to a prepared rest, both on
the farm as well as inside.
For social relaxation, it was customary for friends and
families to visit sunday afternoons, especially during the
summer when travel was not a problem. The women, of whom there
were ten or twelve in the neighborhood, often Met an afternoon,
one or twice a month to sew while one member read some latest
book. No refreshments, not even tea, was ever served.
No doubt the hearty noon meal and the need to prepare another for
the six o'clock supper stirred no desire for an afternoon nibble.
There were two or three winter activities that were always
anticipated. One was a dance at the Town Hall organized by Miss
Ellen Emerson. A second was a winter pung ride to Carlisle for
a dance at that Town Hall. The gala event was the annual
birthday party for Captain A.B.C. Dakin at this home which is
where Pliny Jewell lives. While this party began as a little
neighborhood party, it became so popular that people from some
distance sought to be among the guests. Eventually it became a
well publicized costume party and continued until Captain
Dakin's death. (About 1918) Since women were by far in the
majority on the Plains, they were the beneficiaries of these
parties.
A summer event which everyone enthusiastically enjoyed was
the Fourth of July neighborhood picnic in a grove on the bank of
the Assabet River in my uncle's pasture. The men could always
find time for this mid day event and there was always plenty of
room for the children. So with all the families together and
plenty of ice-cream, life on the Plains was one of the fruits of
life.