Interviewed September 1, 1984
New Perspectives in Concord's History
Concord Oral History Program
William Bailey, Interviewer.
I am Everett Conrad Thorpe, and my folks were from Norway, Loiten, and lived here in Concord for many years. They have both passed on and are buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. My father was Emil 0. Thorpe and my mother was Elisa B. Beckvold Thorpe. I was born March 31, 1900.
Why did you parents leave Norway?
They had brothers and sisters that already lived in Concord. Ole Thorpe was my father's oldest brother and he came to Concord in the 1880's. He was a minister and started with the Norwegian Methodist Church, and then a Norwegian branch started at the Trinitarian Congregational Church and he became minister of that group. He also had a shoe store at 13 Main Street.
My father came to Concord in 1899 and my mother came in 1894. They had known each other before they came here.
Who were some of your mother's brothers and sisters?
My mother only had here sister, Otina, who lived in Somerville. Most of the Beckvolds that came to Concord were my mother's cousins. When my mother came to Concord, she worked as a maid for a Thomas Todd family on Main Street. Mr. Todd was a big printer in Boston.
When my father first came to Concord, he worked for his brother in the shoe store. He later had a fish market on Walden Street where Tuttle's Livery is now for many years. He was also a police officer here in Concord for many years at the same time, working nights.
Did he like being a police officer?
Well, he seemed to, he worked at it for a good long time. He worked for Billy Craig and Chief Bill Ryan. He had a lot of experiences. He used to have prisoners get out of the reformatory and he would have to run them down.
Did your parents ever go back to Loiten?
No, they never did. I never went either. I have cousins there but I don't know them well, just by correspondence.
When I was growing up, we lived off Bedford Street on Davis Court for a short while and then my father bought this property here on the hill and I've lived here ever since.
Tell me about the Sons of Norway or the Sick Benefit Society. Was you family involved in either of those organizations?
My father was involved in the Sick Benefit Association, and in fact, my mother was too. They would hold Norwegian fairs and sell homemade items. Sometimes they were held at the church and sometimes they were held at private homes. Most of the gatherings would be held at the church with mostly Norwegians and Danes together. They would teach the younger generation some of the Norwegian dances.
Would this be the church on Thoreau Street?
No, the Congregational Church. As far as I know, Ole Thorpe was only minister at the Norwegian branch of the Trinitarian Congregational Church. I think up until he died which was around the 1920's. He was also involved in a temperance organization.
My father was a member of the Sons of Norway. I can remember watching many of the tugs of war they had. They would have them with other Sons of Norway groups. Some of those men were huge, strong men.
As far as social life went, who were your family's friends, other Norwegians?
Yes, they had many friends in Concord, Carlisle, Bedford and Acton. In Concord, they were friends with the Olie Olsens, Larsens, who were Swedish, Petersens, and Nashes.
Did you find any discrimination among the various ethnic groups in Concord or did the old Yankee families treat the Norwegians differently?
No, I don't think so. Everyone seemed to get along pretty well. Many Norwegian women worked in the homes of the wealthy people of Concord.
Was your wife Norwegian?
No, her maiden name was Clark and the family lived on Lexington Road right next to the McHughs. I have one son who is part of the school department at the high school.
Where did you go to school?
I went to school here in Concord and Concord High School and then to Holly School of Engineering in Boston. I graduated from high school in 1918. I worked for Boston Edison for a few years and then came to the Concord Municipal Light Plant. Now in my retirement years, I drive for elderly people and take them out to do their errands.