Concord Oral History Program
Interviewed by Renee Garrelick
I came to live in Concord Junction when I was five years old in 1896. My father was a conductor on the southern division of the Boston and Maine Railroad and we lived near the Reformatory on Barretts Mill Road. It was such a privilege to ride on the train to Boston on Saturday. I learned quite a lot about the history of Boston that way. The baggage master, engineer, brakeman tending the coal fire (there was no electricity then), were all familiar to me.
I attended the West Concord School and the West Concord Union Church. Home, school and church were the focus of my life. I remember going to evening services as well as Christian Endeavors on Sundays. My mother firmly believed in the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
We all did a lot of walking then and used bicycles to get around, and I sometimes rode in tandem with my mother and father. At home before electricity came, I helped to fill the oil and kerosene lamps.
I worked for the Concord Welfare Department for 28 years at the Town Hall. The Town Hall then was used for dances and graduation exercises. During the Depression there were over 100 families on our welfare list and Chilton Cabot headed the local relief effort. We didn't like the state taking over welfare.