" I remember walking home from school
with a squad of little fellows at the time Andrew Jackson
issued his famous message, when he threatened war if the French
did not pay us our debt. We discussed the situation with
great gravity, and concluded that if the French beat us, we
should have a king to rule over us.
Besides the two military companies, there was another called
the "Old Shad." The law required every able-bodied man of
military age to turn out for military training and inspection
on the last Wednesday in May; they turned out just to save
the penalty of the law, and used to dress in old clothes,
and their awkward evolutions were the object of great scorn
to the small boy of the time.
The streets of Concord were made lively by the stage-coaches
and numerous teams. There were four taverns in the town,
all well patronized, with numerous sleeping-rooms. Two of
them had large halls for dancing. A great many balls were
given, to which persons came from the neighboring towns.
There was an excellent fiddler named John Wesson, who continued
to give the benefit of his talent to all parties, public and
private, down to the time of the war, when he said he would
not play a dancing tune till the boys came home.
Pages:
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108