Concord comes from the Latin concordia, meaning harmony, agreement, being of one heart. The root word is cor, the heart.

There is no actual record of how the name was chosen, but tradition gives two explanations. The first is that Concord was named "on account of the peaceable manner in which it was obtained from the Indians." The alternate story is that it was named for "the Christian union and concord, subsisting among the first company." In either case it was an inspirational name for a new town.

So how much concord was there in Concord? Relations with Native Americans were initially friendly, and the land was purchased in a ceremony overseen by the great Squaw Sachem of the Massachuset Indians.

King Philip's War changed all that in 1675. When under attack, American passions rose against what were seen as the terrorists of their day. A group of some 58 loyal Praying Indians were rounded up and sent to an internment camp on Deer Island in Boston Harbor.

Nor was there ever complete concord among the settlers themselves, who in the early days they were forced to eat "rockoons," and "pomkins" in their extremity. In 1644 a large group left for Connecticut with their pastor. Some "refused to bear their proportion of the public charges" - evidently an early tax revolt.

Most of the great issues in American history have left their mark on Concord. The famous epitaph on the grave of John Jack, "God wills us free; man wills us slaves," exemplifies three controversies at once: the American Revolution, slavery, and women's rights. It was written in 1773 by a Loyalist, as an indictment of the Revolutionaries' talk about liberty. Jack, a former slave in Concord who had purchased his freedom, had once been valued at 120 pounds in his master's will, along with "One Negro maid named Vilot, being of no value."

Concord has always featured that peculiar New England combination of patriotism and persnicketyness. Emerson rebelled against his church over the Last Supper; Thoreau against his father's business ("life is too valuable to put into pencil leads"); Hawthorne against his ancestors; and Alcott (father Bronson, that is) against just about everything. While writing this piece in a local café, my thoughts were interrupted by a woman loudly denouncing "our un-elected President."

And yet the name Concord does sum up a distinctive quality of the town. How to define concord, where to draw the line between dispute and civility, these questions are faced by every generation. From the words of the original covenant, "considering that we are members one of another and have civil respect," to Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, to more recent controversies, Concord has maintained a tradition of agreeing on little, but respecting all.

As we debate our differences today, that spirit of concord is as relevant now as it was to the founders in 1635.

Artwork: Hometown Websmith and Art Today.

     

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