Reuben Brown House - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Reuben Brown House is a colonial style house located in Concord, Massachusetts

Concord, Massachusetts

Concord is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 17,668. Although a small town, Concord is noted for its leading roles in American history and literature.-History:...

Colonial era

The house was built in 1725 by the town saddler, Rueben Brown. There is also a strong tradition that the house was the home of Peter Bulkeley, which is why the house is often referred to as the Peter Bulkeley / Reuben Brown House. The date contributed to Peter Bulkeley is 1667, which also marks the date of his marriage to Rebecca Wheeler. The evidence is still unclear whether or not the Bulkeley's did build the house some 300 years ago. What historians can conclude is that the house was either completely updated or built by Rueben Brown in 1725. Most of the house's present features where typical for houses from 1700 to 1730, which is why Reuben Brown is given the most of the credit for the house. Brown built the house to included a harness shop and a barn, for Brown was a saddler for the town. An original patriot, Brown equipped the Continental soldiers who fought in the Battles of Lexington and Concord

Battles of Lexington and Concord

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy , and Cambridge, near Boston...

in 1775. Brown was a captain of the Minutemen

Minutemen

Minutemen were members of teams of select men from the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War. They provided a highly mobile, rapidly deployed force that allowed the colonies to respond immediately to war threats, hence the name.The minutemen were among the first...

forces and because of his sympathies was on the British blacklist as one suspected of concealing munitions.

On the morning of April 19, 1775, the town was awoken by the town bell and a discharged gun to warn the townspeople the British were coming. Captain Brown, under the order of Major John Buttrick, galloped down Lexington road to report the news of the massacre in Lexington and the approach of the enemy. In all Brown rode more than 100 miles through the woods of the north shore to Boston and back to Concord. Captain Brown reported back to Major Buttrick as the Concord Minutemen prepared to face the British regulars. As the British marched into Concord it was Reuben Brown’s house they targeted first by looting his liveries and then by setting his barn on fire to prevent the minutemen from saddling up and retaliating. The fire was quickly extinguished and the barn and house survived the attack.

There is speculation that the first American flag was displayed during the Concord fight

Battles of Lexington and Concord

in Brown’s backyard. Also behind the house lies the historic ridge and stonewall used by the minutemen as they routed the British soldiers back to Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

Civil War era

After the war and into the 19th century the house still contained a saddle shop while the remainder of the house was rented to various families as living quarters.

The Reuben Brown House has accommodated many famous concordians such as Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...

who was a good friend of Reuben Brown. Emerson’s growing popularity during the early to mid 19th century lead to large numbers of people stopping at his house only to gawk at him. Emerson became so frustrated and distracted by his fans he rented the upper stairs library at the Reuben Brown House to get away from them. Emerson rented the library for ten years. Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...

writes in one of his journals about a giant yard sale at the Reuben Brown House held by Reuben’s son in the 1850s. Abolitionist John Brown

John Brown (abolitionist)

John Brown was an American revolutionary abolitionist, who in the 1850s advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish slavery in the United States. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre during which five men were killed, in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas, and made his name in the...

once stayed as a guest in the house during his trip to Concord in 1857 and the Alcott family visited as well.

Concord Antiquarian Society

In 1886 Mr. Cummings E. Davis moved into the house with his unique collection of antiques and would exhibit his collection of local American furniture and other items for a price. During Mr. Cummings feeble years The Concord Antiquarian Society safeguarded his items and became possessor of the house. The Antiquarian Society utilized the house to display their collection of artifacts from American Revolution until 1930 when the Antiquarian Society moved their collection to the present Concord Museum

Concord Museum

The Concord Museum is a museum of local history located at 200 Lexington Road, Concord, Massachusetts, USA, and best known for its collection of artifacts from authors Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. It is open daily except major holidays; an admission fee is charged.Founded in 1886,...

in fear the Reuben Brown House might burn down and destroy there priceless artifacts.

Presumably the League of Women Voters

League of Women Voters

The League of Women Voters is an American political organization founded in 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt during the last meeting of the National American Woman Suffrage Association approximately six months before the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gave women the right to vote...

had one of their first meetings in the house in the early 20th century.

In the 1930s and 1940s the house was opened to the public as a tavern

Tavern

A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....

under the name The Old Mill Dam The restaurant was open everyday of the year from noon till eight in the evening serving luncheon, tea, and dinner. Dinners were cooked over the historic brick oven for parties and holidays. The tavern

Tavern

A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....

was set to be in the revolution day and age.

E.B. White mentions the house in his 1939 essay collection titled One Man’s Meat.
The house has been used as a private residence since the conclusion of the tavern.

Colonial era

Civil War era

Concord Antiquarian Society

See also