Letters to the Editor

The Ezine for and about Concord, Massachusetts

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Highlights from our virtual mailbag. Please email your letters to us, making them as short as possible. We reserve the right to edit them for length and clarity. For safety's sake, they may be published anonymously, but you must send us your name in your email. We're sorry, but we cannot answer all questions we receive.

Another Question About the "Rude Bridge"
I read your explanation of why the Old North Bridge is considered "rude." Is this where we get the famous Massachusetts Troll House cookies?
Duane Campbell, Towanda, PA

Inscriptions at the North Bridge
There are two monuments at the North Bridge, one is the Minuteman Statue, and the other monument is dedicated to the British soldier. Could you give me the inscription on the British monument. Thank you.
bob bob

Concord historian D. Michael Ryan answers: There appears to be some confusion. On the north side of the Bridge you have the Minute Man statue dedicated in 1875 along with the recreated Bridge. On the south side of the Bridge you have the obelisk dedicated in 1836 . Finally you have the "Grave of British Soldiers".
I assume that you are interested in the obelisk inscription which was written by Dr. Edward Jarvis. The monument is NOT dedicated to the British. The inscription reads:
"Here On the 19 of April 1775 was made
The first forcible resistance
to British aggression.
On the opposite Bank
Stood the American Militia
Here stood the Invading Army
and on this spot
the first of the enemy fell
in the War of the Revolution
which gave Independence
to these United States
In gratitude of God
and In the love of freedom
this monument was erected.
AD 1836"

However, it is on the spot where the British soldiers stood and fell. Its placement raised the anger of many Concordians who thought it should be on the "American" side of the River. Debate also centered on whether the monument should even be at the bridge site or in Town. The words on the Minute Man statue are from Emerson and the lines on the stone of the British grave are from James Russell Lowell's "Lines": "They came three thousand miles and died
To keep the past upon the throne
Unheard beyond the ocean tide
Their English mother made her groan."

A New Standard for Websites?
Just looked at your Concord Magazine and you people have really done a fantastic job with it!!! Wish all web sites look as good as yours. Keep up the good work!!
Carol Calkins

Not Concordian Enough, a Local Merchant Complains
Just wondering what local merchants are being used to supply your "Concord Gift Shop"......as a local business owner I don't find one single thing about it that rings true....I love having the Internet at my fingertips but I sure would be disappointed to get a generic gift, totally unrelated to the town and people who live and work there -- when it's specifically being sold as 'local" ---- "downtown Concord"?...I don't think so.

Many merchants in Concord do not sell a single item which is specifically Concordian, yet many of us like to patronize them to support local businesses. The same holds true here.
The Concord Gift Shop is a sponsor (underwriter) for this site. Anyone who enjoys this publication can give sincere thanks to folks like them for their public service in supporting the Concord Homepage and Magazine. This all-volunteer, free Website could not exist without good people like them (see a list of our sponsors here...we hope you will patronize all these good citizens).
Since what they offer is not as Concordian as you'd like, why not sponsor a page and/or list your own business, giving our thousands of readers exposure to your Concord-grown and -made products. Sponsorship options are listed here.

Anniversary Congratulations
Congratulations to second anniversary! Thanks to you I have learned a little more about US, Concord and Thoreau (he was the reason I found you in the beginning) And today I look for you every month and see you as a favourite. And I find something interesting to read in every issue and I have found more "golden" sites and got in contact with nice people now and then: all thanks to your magazine. So I hope there will be many years to follow!

Can tell you that my eldest son with wife (Swedish-American) and little son are planning to move to the Boston area this summer. So I hope to visit them and Concord too in a near future.
Greetings from a happy reader in Sweden -- Ingrid Wikberg , Stockholm

Not the North Bridge, but in the Same Neighborhood
I spent a little time floating through your ezine. Very interesting. I did not know the differences between the two statues in Lexington and Concord and I am originally from Arlington. HA!

Any how, I am looking for the name of the building that one can view from the Concord Bridge. I have a picture I took, 25 years or so ago and I don't know what to search to know the name. Can you help me? Thanks.
Zina Wyman, California

Zina, you may be referring to the Old Manse. The front side of it is on the cover of our last issue -- the rear of the building faces the bridge.

Flying the Wrong Flag
I took a look at the third soldier article in the Concord Ezine, which is wonderful.

But you've got to fix the British Flag on the web site. You have the Union Jack that was not adopted until 1800, when the diagonal red stripes representing the cross of St. Patrick was overlaid on the crosses of St. Andrew and St. James.
Donald L. Hafner, Professor, Dept. of Political Science, Boston College

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