When you hear the words ‘Walden Pond’ you probably think of Henry David Thoreau and his cabin in the woods. If you’ve been here, you might also think of the many hiking trails and sandy little coves surrounding the gin-clear water of the pond where tens of thousands of people enjoy swimming and walking each season.
What you might not think about is the community of formerly enslaved people who once lived near Walden. Not because it was the beautiful, tranquil scene we flock to today, but because it was considered an infertile, out of the way, undesirable piece of land to Concord’s white population.
As Elise Lemire writes in her excellent book Black Walden, as many as fifteen formerly enslaved people ‘made a life for themselves in Walden Woods, enough that Henry David Thoreau could describe their community as a “small village.”’
If historical Concord had to be summed up in one sensational newspaper headline it might read something like, “TINY TOWN THAT TROUNCED BRITISH BATALLION ALSO BELOVED BY BOOKWORMS”.
Fortunately, most pilgrims to Concord don’t rely on alliterative excerpts of history when they visit, and yet, there’s so much more to our story than armies and authors. In particular, there is a great deal just waiting to be learned about Concord’s African American history, a complex and very human story that far predates our nation.
A short drive down Monument Street and across from the venerable Old North Bridge, sits a restored early-19th century vernacular farmhouse, such as can be found all over
New England. What sets this farmhouse apart is that it belonged to the family of Revolutionary War veteran Caesar Robbins, who was enslaved at birth around 1745.
