The Visitor's View:
Links to the Past

I am, unfortunately, not a resident of Concord, but visited for the first time last spring. My daughters and I were taken by the recent film version of Little Women , and left Long Island to experience the real Orchard House first-hand.

The girls are aged 20 and 11, and completely related to the warmth and conviction that the movie generated to its audience. I was raised with the similar principles, as were my children who learned from me. Although my husband was not too keen on joining our girl's day out he gallantly joined us on our day trip.

The Main Street section of Concord was so lovely, we immediately fell in love with its quaint charm and friendly people. After a delightful meal in town, we journeyed through the streets, the shops, and up to the large, hillside staircase to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. This was where we paid our respects to the Alcotts, Emerson, Thoreau and others, under the shade of the ages old spruce trees. I will never forget the miniature, deep-purple bouquet of African violets that someone had left on Louisa's small marker. Its design was so in keeping with her period, with velvety petals and short, little stems. The little bouquet looked as if it had been pressed inside the cover of one of her books.

While leaving the area, we drove past another small cemetery where I caught a glimpse of a familiar name. HOSMER. That was my mother's maiden name. My husband stopped the car and we all got out to take a good look. There were many Hosmers buried there! As we walked and read headstone to headstone, my husband, daughters and I started to feel an almost mysterious sense of belonging.

We drove off to Orchard House, where we enjoyed a tour and learned the true facts about the Alcott family. My older daughter was so taken by this experience, that she decided to prepare her college research paper on Louisa's life story. I guess that the biggest surprise was that my husband was actually enjoying himself! He was snapping pictures right and left, and he even asked questions while on tour at Emerson's house! We stopped at Walden Pond on our way home, and posed for pictures at its stone steps. The buds on the trees were almost ready to open, and they were reflected upon the gentle, rippling water behind us. This was such a magnificent backdrop, that our images in the foreground could become lost among the pond's serene beauty.

Within a few months after our trip, I received a box of family tree-related notes, prepared by my grandparents during the 1940's and 1950's. Contained within were photographs of Concord--the same areas that we had visited, a small card with the words of The Concord Hymn written on it, and notes containing correspondence to state-wide vital statistics bureaus and other agencies. They had been desperately trying to link their Hosmer heritage to Concord, but there were too many missing links.

I decided to pick up where they had left off, and began researching via the Internet. At the same time, my older daughter began her research on Louisa May Alcott at our local library. One day, she came home, waving a paper excitedly, as she told me one of her findings. It seemed that Bronson Alcott and his family had lived, for a while, in the Hosmer Cottage in Concord! My daughter and I agreed that things were getting pretty strange.

During the next two months, I made significant progress in my genealogy search. I located the burial place of my estranged great-grandfather, obtained the death certificate of my great, great-grandfather, and from this, was able to add the names of my great, great, great-grandfather and his wife to my family tree. With this information, I was able to contact a Hosmer in MA, who was, in turn, able to tie my lineage to Elijah Hosmer, patriot of the Revolutionary War and resident of Concord, MA.

No, I do not live in Concord, but Concord will always be in my blood. After my resignation in 1993 as a museum curator for the historic William Floyd Estate, a career that lasted ten years, I have discovered a love that lay dormant in me for over thirty years. I am, like the Concordian neighbors of my ancestors, a writer.

Story: ©1997 S.Duncan (all rights reserved)
Photo: The Wayside. ©1997 Dave Chase (all rights reserved)