A Catalog of Thoreau's Surveys
in the Concord Free Public
Library
by Marcia Moss
Date Index of Thoreau's Surveys in Concord Free Public Library
Description of Thoreau's Surveys in Concord Free Public Library
Moss's essay on Thoreau as a Surveyor
Date Index of Thoreau's Surveys
in Concord Free Public Library
1846
Walden Pond
1849 May 23
R. W. Emerson
1849 November
Isaac Watts
1849–50 Winter
R. W. Emerson, J. Hosmer, A. Moore
1850 March
R. W.
Emerson
1850 March 15
R. W. Emerson
1850 Spring
Jessie Hosmer
1850 April
John B. Moore
1850 May
Nehemia Emerson
1850 May 25
John Thoreau
1850 June 12
Daniel
Shattuck
1850 June 13
Bedford Road, Town
1850 June 20
J. Hapgood
1850 August 17
Francis Monroe
1850 August 30
Concord
1850 September
Street near Depot
1850 November 14
Cyrus Stow
1850 November 30
James Barrett Wood
1850 December 16
David Loring
1851 February 5
John Hosmer
1851 February 17
White Pond
1851 February 20–27
Cyrus Stow
1851 February 27, March 3
Cyrus Stow
1851 March, April
James McCafferty
1851 April 12
Thomas Lord
1851 April 18–19
Cyrus Stow
1851 May 3
Luther
Hosmer
1851 June 17, 18, 21
Edmund Hosmer
1851 September 15
Concord
1851 September 30
Concord/Acton Town Line
1851 October 16–18
David Loring
1851 October 20–22
Reuben Brown
1851 October 28
Cyrus Stow
1851 October 28
Jabez Reynolds
1851 November 14–25
Ministerial
Lot S.W.
1851 December
Concord/Carlisle Line
1851 December 6
Samuel
Barrett
1851 December 8–9
Ministerial Lot S.E.
1852 April 23, 24
Jacob Baker
1852 April 26
William Ellery Channing
1852 May 15
Silas Hosmer
1852 May 25
J. Bernard McKay
1852 May 26, 28, 29, 31
Noah & Joshua Brooks
1852 June 21
Henry
Wheeler
1852 July 3
Cyrus Stow
1852 August 17
Daniel Weston
1852 September 15
George Loring
1852 October 19
John
Raynolds
1852 October 28
[?] Badger
1852 December 13
Daniel
Weston
1852 December 16
Virgil Fuller, Henry L. Shattuck
1852 December 17
Daniel
Weston
1852 December 21, 23, 24
Humphrey Hunt
1853 January
Elijah Davis
1853 January 11–12
John
Le Grosse
1853 January 18
Turner Bryant & [?] Hale
1853 February 10, 11, 12, 18,
19 John B. Moore
1853 April
Elizabeth Howe
1853 April
Charles White
1853 April 12
James H. Duncan
1853 April 30
F.
R. Gourgas & Mill Dam Company
1853 May 17
John Raynolds
1853 July
Silas Holden
1853 July
Bedford
Road
1853 August 3
Sarah Stacy
1853 August 25–26, 29
Augustus Tuttle
1853 October 17
Thomas Ford
Hunt
1853 October 19
Beck Stow
1853 November 12
John Richardson
1853 December 15
Simon Hapgood
1853 December 19–21
James P. Brown
1854 February 1
Bedford Road
1854 March 17
Joseph Reynolds
1854 April 4
Abel Hosmer
1854 April 5
Samuel Hoar
1854 April 12
Schuyler Parks
1854 May 20
David Loring
1854 June 5
[(?) Hoar]
1854 August 31
Marie Green
1854 September 11
Daniel Shattuck
1854 October 9–13
Marston Watson
1854 November 6
James Colburn
1854 November 7
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1854 December 9
Tilly Holden
1855 May
David Loring
1855 June 21
Augusts Tuttle
1855 October 31
Mill Dam Company
1855 November (24?)
Mill Dam Company for Moore
1856 March 5
George F. Duren
1856 April 28
Thomas Wheeler
1856 April 30
Thomas Wheeler
1856 April, May 5
Thomas Wheeler
1856 May 24
Mrs. Whitman
1856 June
George Prescott
1856 June 3–4
John Hosmer
1856 September 13
David Loring
1856 September 17
David Loring
1856 October 6
Daniel Shattuck
1856 November
Marcus Spring
1856 December 23
Francis Jarvis
1856 December 30, 31; 1857
January 1, 4 Davis Elwell
1857 January 10
Merrick's Pasture & Daniel Shattuck
1857 March 30
John Thoreau
1857 March 31
Louis A. Surrette
1857 April 24
John Keyes
1857 April 30
Willard T. Farrar & George Heywood
1857 May 9
Robert D. Gilson
1857 May 19
Daniel Shattuck
1857 September 22
A. Bronson Alcott
1857 November 30–December
3
John
Richardson & R. W. Emerson
1857 December
Ebenezer
Hubbard
1857 December
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1857 December
Abel
Moore & John Hosmer
1857 December 3–8
John Richardson
1857 December 8
Samuel
Staples
1857 December 14
Warren Nixon & R. W. Emerson
1857 December 22
Caleb Bates
1857 December 24
M. Ellis
1857 December 23–24
John Richardson
1857 December 25
Mrs. Bigelow
1857 December 28
Cyrus Hosmer
1857 December 29
Abel Brooks
1858 January 12
Israel
Billings & Cyrus Stow
1858 January 20
William
Rice
1858 January 25
Ralph
Waldo Emerson
1858 March 23
Charles Gordon
1858 April 8–9
John Kettell & Samuel Staples
1858 April 12
William D. Brown
1858 June 5
Thomas
Brooks
1858 November 22
Heartwell Bigelow
1859–60
River
Meadow Association
1859 April 18
Stedman
Buttrick
1859 May 3
Bedford Road & John B. Moore
1859 May 6
Samuel A. Willis
1859 May 6–7, 13–14, 16
Edward Damon
1859 May 9, 18
Cyrus Stow
1859 May 17
Samuel Lees
1859 May 23
Joseph Harrington
1859 June 10
Prescott Barrett
1859 August 17
Rufus Morse
1859 September 16
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1859 October 29
John Hosmer
1860 March 27, 28, 31; April
Edward S.
Hoar
1860 April
John B. Moore
1860 April 30
Ralph Waldo Emerson
1860 May
12
Joseph Holbrook & Moses Prichard
1860 May 28
Rufus Warren
1860 August 20
Nathaniel Hawthorne
1860 August 30–31
George Minot
1860 September 29
Daniel Shattuck
1860 October 1
Concord Town
1860 October 3
Cyrus Temple
1860 November 13
Daniel Shattuck
1860 December 4
William Monroe, Jr.
Description of Thoreau's Surveys in Concord Free Public
Library
Acton/Concord Town Line. September 30, 1851.
Northwest part of Concord. This survey shows Damon's Factory, farms of John Brown, John
Hosmer, Joseph Derby, Harrington, Samuel Lees, as well as Fort Pond Brook, and roads to
Stow, South Acton, and Main Street in the western part of Concord. Thoreau had
perambulated part of this area before as he had checked the boundary markers for the Town
of Concord, September 15, 1851.
Alcott, Amos Bronson. September
22, 1857. This estate (Orchard House) of 12 acres and 66 rods is still on Lexington
Road. On September 23, 1857, Alcott wrote a letter from Concord to Mrs. Alcott in Boston
in which he said: "The Orchard is surveyed and Thoreau promises to give us the plot
fair and finished to the acres and rods, all lined and bounded, tomorrow."
Badger, (W.P.L. ?). The Library owns no survey, but a note in the
Field Notes Book indicates that he surveyed land around the Chapin cottage for Badger, October 28, 1852. He lived on the south side of Main
Street opposite where Elm Street leaves Main.
Baker, Jacob. April 23 and
24, 1852. These Lincoln acres were called Pleasant Meadow, and contained 8 acres of
chestnut woodlot located near Flint's Pond, and the home of Nathaniel and John Billings on
Old Concord Road. This woodlot was cut in 1852 according to Thoreau's Field Notes.
Baker, James. 1857. (See Rufus Morse and John
Richardson survey).
Barrett, Prescott. June 10,
1859. He resided on Barrett's Mill Road west of Spencer Brook, and these sixteen acres
were nearby. Thoreau remarked that the whole area had belonged to Peter Temple in 1811,
and part was sold to Jonathan Hildreth and part to Stephen Barrett. The List of Bills in
the Field Notes shows a bill for $2.50 for this date.
Barrett, Samuel. December 6,
1851. This six acres woodlot near Annursnack Hill, had formerly belonged to the
Lorings, and was sold to George Brooks. The bill for the survey was $3.00. People
mentioned on the survey are Prescott Barrett, Billings, and Easterbrook.
Bates, Caleb. December 22,
1857. 18 acres and 88 rods of woodland located between Walden Street and Cambridge
Turnpike, later owned by Heartwell Bigelow. Caleb had a farm on Bedford Street near the
Bedford line. Sherman Barrett bought it later. This survey was probably made to settle the
estate of Heartwell Bigelow who had died in 1850 leaving a widow whom Thoreau helped.
Bedford Road. 1850–59. On June 13, 1850, Thoreau made a survey of the Court
House and adjacent lots (Town House), and started to help widen the Street to the Burying
Ground from Main Street to the New Hill Burying Ground (the first section of the present
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery), and from Monument Street to the same spot. Also, in July of 1853 and February 1, 1854, he made extensive surveys which
show the Middlesex Agricultural Society, Reuben Brown's farm with its Sleepy Hollow, and
all of the existing houses to the Charles Gordon and William Pedrick farms on Old Bedford
Road to Bedford. May 3, 1859, he made a survey of
Moore's Swamp, now erroneously called Moses' Swamp, for which he was paid $5.00 by George
Brooks for the Town. This group shows all of the owners of land in the areas, and
identifies the location of the Universalist Meeting House, the Gun House, the Agricultural
Society, and Pine Plain.
Benjamin, Cyrus. Bill for $3.00 noted in the Field Notes Book. Cyrus Benjamin was the
son-in-law of William Heywood, whose house is still standing next west of the Concord Free
Public Library on Main Street. It was owned by James Barrett Wood until 1970.
Bigelow, Heartwell. December
25, 1857, and November 22, 1858. Thoreau made
surveys for Mrs. Bigelow of a woodlot near Walden Street east of the present Fairyland,
and of the old woodlot which had belonged to Caleb Bates, Senior. Mrs. Bigelow's name
appears on the surveys of Ebby Hubbard and Abel Brooks.
Brooks, Abel. December 29,
1857. 3 acres 58 rods of woodlot near Mrs. Bigelow and Ebby Hubbard. Mr. Brooks lived
on Sudbury Road on the south side between Stow and Devens Streets. Thoreau remarked that
he found it easy to do this survey as Brooks had worn a path around it as he walked the
bounds each day. The lot was on Walden Street near Brister's Hill.
Brooks, Noah and Joshua. May
26, 28, 29, and 31, 1852. This Lincoln farm of 175 acres was on the north and south
sides of Great Road or the present 2A near the Concord line. This plan shows the location
of part of the land of Emilius J. Leffelman, on Virginia Road, Asa White, Aaron Brooks,
Levi Brooks, and William Rice which was bought by Samuel Hartwell.
Brooks, Thomas. Lincoln woodlot made June 5, 1858. George Brooks of Concord paid Thoreau
$4.00 for this. See also Samuel Barrett's woodlot, and Bedford Road survey for George
Brooks. This woodland was burned over in 1857.
Brown, James P. December
19–21, 1853. Concord woodlot sold to William
Wheeler. Mr. Brown lived near Nut Meadow Brook, and Thoreau laid out a road near his
house for the town and received the sum of $4.00 according to the Town Report of
1851–52.
Brown, Reuben. October
20–22, 1851. Fair Haven Hill which had been known as "Springwoods" of
Abel Heywood. Var [Magnetic Variation] 9¾º at 8 a.m. Scale 10 rods to an inch. Size of
paper 14 x 20. This is thought to be the land near the shores of Fair Haven and Well
Meadow Brook which was partly burned over by Henry's famous fire in 1844. Reuben also
owned land on Bedford Road which was known as Sleepy Hollow and became part of the present
Cemetery.
Brown, Wm. D. April 12, 1858.
Acton woodlot near Damon's Factory. Part of this lot was cut during 1857–58, and the
lot was sold to R. Warner. Thoreau was paid $3.00 for this.
Bryant, Turner. January 18,
1853. Thoreau travelled to Stow to make this survey for Mr. Hale, whose family owned land on the
Concord-Carlisle Road in 1852 according to the survey of Humphrey Hunt's land.
Buttrick, Stedman. April 18,
1859. Acton Woodlot in the South part of the town sold to Sumner Blood.
Carlisle Boundary Line between Concord and Carlisle proposed by
Thoreau. December 1851. There had been a lot of
controversy about this line for years. The Town Report for 1851–52 says that Henry
was paid $42.00 for setting this line.
Channing, William Ellery. April
26, 1852. Concord houselot on Main Street formerly owned by John Keyes and adjacent to
MacKay's lot. The house was moved up Main Street and across the street near Love Lane. It
was occupied for many years by the Misses Rood, and is now owned by the Roberts family.
The survey is owned by the Thoreau Lyceum.
Clark, D. B. Field Note Book says Thoreau was paid $2.50 for making this survey, which
is now the property of Miss Gladys Clark of Concord.
Colburn, General James. November
6, 1854. This farm was called Homestead and was near the Lee or Elwell Farm bordering
on North River and contained about 130 acres. Thoreau spoke of a "haunted house"
in this area.
Concord. West Burying Ground. August 30, 1850. Thoreau was asked by John Keyes to
find two sides of the cemetery by running the lines of the Old Hurd Place, the so-called
Block House now on Lowell Road, and the line of the Bank further East on Main Street. This
was probably to determine where the iron fence from the Old Court House was to be placed
around the Burial Ground. Thoreau received $1.00 March 1, 1851 according to the Town
Report.
——— and Carlisle, Boundary Line between. December 1851. Scale of 50 rods to an inch. Var. 9
7/8. This shows the relation of a line A B continued to the boundary lines and homes
taking the black from the Map of Concord, the red from original observations coinciding
with the map and line AB. The map shows Kibbe Place, Westford Road, Carlisle Road, Old
Carlisle Road, Cedar Swamp, Perez Blood, F. Devens, J. Hodgman, J. Mason, and S. Conant.
This line was disputed for years before and after Thoreau.
———. Boundaries of Eight Towns around, made for
Rhodes, October 1, 1860. Including: Concord,
Carlisle, Lincoln, Boxborough, Acton, Littleton, Stow, and Bedford for a total of 127.49
square miles.
———. Perambulating lines between Acton and. September 15, 1851. Thoreau had to move a stone at
the Powder Mill and he mentions in the Field Notes Book that-he was paid $1.50 by the
Town. The Town Report of 1850–51 mentions that Thoreau was paid $18.00 for
perambulating the town lines and erecting the stones at Acton and Bedford lines.
———. Proposed Street to Depot. September 1850. Length 30" x Width 21". In
1844 when the railroad was opened in Concord, Thoreau was asked to suggest the route of a
new street from the corner of Main and Sudbury Road to the Depot so he drew up this
proposal of several alternatives. The one which was chosen is the present Middle Street
and required the moving of the Concord Academy Building from the spot where Academy Lane
and Middle Street meet. We have several sketches for this area. One shows the land of
Wetherbee on Belknap Street which became the property on which the old Davis Store from
Main Street came to rest, and was occupied by William Barrett, 1859–98.
Cow Barn. See Loring, David.
Damon, Edward. Factory site in West Concord
called Factory Village on the Assabet River near the Acton Line. There are several
sketches of this area one of which we have already covered under the Acton/Concord Town
Line. The close-up of the factory is one of Thoreau's best surveys. There is no date on
it, but he recorded in his Journal for May 6–7,
13–14, and 16, 1859 that he had been at Damon's. Thoreau was paid $36.00 for this
survey. This factory made satinet, white wool flannel, and domet flannel. It was badly
gutted by fire in 1862, but was rebuilt, and can still be seen in part on Route 62 almost
to the Acton line.
Davis, Elijah. January 1853.
Acton woodlot sold to LeGrosse.
Duncan, James H. April 12,
1853. Little River Lot (so called), Haverhill, Mass. Thoreau left Concord April 11 and
stayed there most of the month trying to make some money to pay off some debts.
Duren, George F. March 5,
1856. Woodlot belonging to S. and H. Jones, relatives of Dr. Jones of Concord and
being sold for taxes. According to the Field Notes Book, Duren's men chained the survey
"rudely" and the sketch of it shows this eight and one-half acres lot to be near
John LeGrosse, J. D. and William Brown, probably in the Northwest part of Concord.
Ellis, M. December 24, 1857.
Meadow near Thomas M. Balcom and Charles Gordon's land on Bedford Road. William Haggarty
helped with this one. Thoreau was paid $1.50.
Elwell, Davis. Concord on Nashawtuck Hill. December 30–31, 1856; January 1, 4, 1857.
Variation January 7 and January 10: 10 1/8°. The bill was $18.00. This farm has played an
interesting part in Concord's history, as it was Major Simon Willard's, a founder of
Concord, and later Dr. Joseph Lee's, the English
sympathiser who was kept a prisoner on this farm during the Revolution. Thoreau's friend
Witherell helped William Wheeler, the owner during some of this time. The map of the
locality is important as it shows Egg Rock, Indian Field, Pine Plain, Muster Field, Dove
Rock, (Barrett's) Old Mill, Grist Mill, Colburn's land, Dodd's, Damon's, McRay's, and
Dodge's Brook.
Emerson, Nehemia. May 1850.
Haverhill, Massachusetts. Thoreau went to Haverhill several times to make surveys.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Woodlots in Concord and Lincoln. December 1857. Lot by Walden Pond, 13 Acres 80
rods. Cyrus Hubbard had surveyed this land for Emerson December 16, 1848. According to a
letter written by Emerson to his brother William, October 4, 1844, he had bought the land
from some men whom he met while walking in the woods. The next day he went back with some
"well beloved gossips" and they persuaded him to buy about 3 more acres from
Heartwell Bigelow to protect his investment. This is the land on which Thoreau built his
house.
———. Woodlots bought of Abel Moore and John Hosmer November 29, 1845 and surveyed by Thoreau
in the Winter 1849–50. He had divided the 41
acre plot into 35 woodlots, and he sold an acre to the new Fitchburg Railroad who wanted
to buy more, but Emerson quoted them a price of $100 an acre according to his Manuscript
Journal fragment Trees, p. 33.
———. March
1850. December 14, 1857. January 25, 1858. This lot was south of Walden in
Lincoln and was surveyed and the boundaries corrected several times as it was necessary to
adjust the line between Emerson and Charles Bartlett who owned the land East of his. This
had been known as "Samuel Heywood's Pasture." See Warren Nixon below.
———. May 23,
1849. March 15, 1850. November 7, 1854. Sawmill Woodlot in Lincoln near
Sandy Pond Road leading to Flint's Pond. Thoreau enticed Emerson to buy this land by
showing him a beautiful waterfall and rare flowers there.
———. November
30–December 3, 1857. Goose and Walden Pond Lots. This sketch is important as it
shows the road leading from Lincoln to Concord, the present Route 126, as it was in 1797,
when the land belonged to Duncan Ingraham, "one of the Squires of the village,"
and was sold to John Richardson for $533.33. Land on the East side of the road is shown to
have belonged to Brister Freeman, a black man. Thoreau says: "Brister Lot, now the
state's because the owner, Brister, was a foreigner". This pinpoints Emerson's land
between Richardson and John Potter along the
"Road to Wayland" or Walden Street. A second survey of Emerson's own land here
was originally surveyed in December 1848 by Cyrus Hubbard, and copied by Thoreau, December
1857. At the bottom Thoreau has made a note that this land belonged to William Savage in
1791.
———. April
30, 1860. Thoreau made a quick sketch of the land South of Walden which burned
"last March". 5 acres 56 rods on the edge of Walden. This fragment shows the
railroad and the "fence" which skirted the pond on the west side.
———. January
12, 1858. Israel Billings of Lincoln sold some woodlots near Sandy Pond Road to Nathan
and Cyrus Stow in 1829, and Cyrus Hubbard made a
survey of the land. Thoreau copied part of it to straighten the line between the
Stows’ and Ralph Waldo Emerson's lot, which contained his waterfall.
———. There is also a small sketch of a plot with no date or any
significant marks except the statement that the "level area is 78 rods." The
interesting fact is the drawing of what could be a small building with a smaller one
beside it, which might possibly be a proposed sketch for his "house" at Walden.
The paper on which it is made says: "R.W.E.'s Land".
———. September
16, 1859. Bedford Road land near P.J. Sexton and J. B. Moore. The fee was $2.00.
Everett, George. See survey of Cyrus Stow, Walden
Street, as it shows this man's property. He is the man who also bought the farm of
Edmund Hosmer on Sandy Pond Road.
Farrar, Willard T. April 30,
1857. Woodlot near Goose Pond near George Heywood
and Wyman lots which became R. W. Emerson's. Farrar paid $2.75 for this survey. He was the
grandson of Amos Wright, and probably lived at the corner of Sudbury and Corner Roads (Old
Road To Nine Acre Corner).
Fuller, Virgil. December 16,
1852. Farm in the north part of town on Monument Street near Liberty Street as it
shows N. Munroe's and Minot Pratt's land. Perez Blood had surveyed this land earlier, and
Thoreau's notes say that he should have followed Blood's marks as they were right. Henry L. Shattuck and Joshua Buttrick both lived
on this land at one time.
Gilson, Robert D. May 9,
1857. Littleton Mill. This is a very nice survey which shows the mill wheel and works.
George Brooks may have bought this as he paid Thoreau $4.00 for the survey.
Goose Pond Lots. See R. W. Emerson.
Gordon, Charles. March 23,
1858. Farm on Bedford Road near the intersection of Old Bedford Road. The fee was
$4.50. Gordon was related to the Farmer family of Lowell Road and owned a woodlot near
Bateman's Pond, Lowell Road.
Gourgas, Frances R. April
30, 1853. Land conveyed by E. R. Hoar probably from the Agricultural Society land on
Bedford Street between New Hill Burying Ground and Reuben Brown's. See Mill Dam Company below.
Green, Marie. August 31,
1854. Lincoln Houselot between Tower Road and Lincoln Road.
Hale, (?). January 18, 1853.
Stow woodlot for Turner Bryant. Thoreau mentions
in his Journal for August 26, 1856, that Ai Hale of Carlisle had the right kind of dog for
keeping pigs.
Hales Map (1830) of Lincoln, Mass. Thoreau made a copy of this map, made by John G.
Hales, Fayette Street, Boston, who also made one of Concord, which was used in the History
of Concord by Lemuel Shattuck in 1835.
Hapgood, J. June 20, 1850.
Acton, Mass. Road from house to Acton Center, north of present Route 2. Thoreau returned
the next year to compare the level of Hapgood's cellar-bottom to his garden which was
being flooded because Robbins and Wetherbee were keeping the water from the Nashoba Brook
back. All of these are mentioned on his survey. Nashoba Brook flows into Loring's or
Warner's Pond.
Hapgood, Simon. Acton, Mass. woodlot cut 1853–54, and the
survey made December 15, 1853, for George Brooks.
Joseph Brabrook is also mentioned.
Harrington, Joseph. May 23,
1859. Small plot of land in the western part of Concord near the land of John Brown
and the Damon Farms.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. August
20, 1860. Estate on Lexington Road. This shows two pieces of land and measures about
20 acres in all. Thoreau makes a note that there is a hedge of Osage Orange.
Heywood, George. April 30,
1857. Lincoln and Concord woodlots. These lots had been in the Heywood family since
the 1700s, and Cyrus Hubbard had surveyed some of them before Thoreau. See Willard T. Farrar and R. W. Emerson.
Hoar, Edward S. March 27,
28, 31, and April 1860. Lincoln Farm. This farm was very near Mt. Misery, James
Baker's houselot, Garfield, and Frederic Hayden. On the back of this survey is written
"Snelling Far, So[uth] Lincoln."
Hoar, Samuel. April 5, 1854.
Survey of Woodlots in Concord and Carlisle. The Poplar Hill map is for land on the hill
behind the Bullet Hole House and opposite the Old Manse on Monument Street in Concord,
near Great Meadows. The other was in the North part of the present Easterbrook Woods area.
See Journal for this date for Henry's comment. One of the Hoars
bought land near Factory Quarter near Stow Road and land of William Brown from James
Hayward and Thoreau surveyed it June 5, 1854.
Hoar had a pond on his land and it was known by his name for many years.
Holbrook, Joseph. May 12,
1860. Boundary line between Moses Prichard
and Holbrook on Main Street almost opposite the Concord Free Public Library. Holbrook's
house is on the site of the house of common entertainment belonging to William Buss in
1660. This survey shows that the common garbage disposal of that day was the pig for
Thoreau includes the "piggery". He charged .25 for this one. Holbrook also owned
land in Great Meadows and part of Frosty Poplar Hollow near Gowing's Swamp and Copan.
Holden, Silas. July 1853.
Houselot on Bedford Road near Mary Rice and the Meeting House which was later turned
around to become the Catholic Church on the Common.
Holden, Tilly. December 9,
1854. 7 1/2 Acre Woodlot which was part of the land formerly surveyed for Amos and
Noah Wheeler, November 3, 1853, lying near the north part of Nut Meadow Brook on Sudbury
and Old Marlborough Roads.
Hosmer, Abel. April 4, 1854.
Acton Woodlot near the railroad, road to Stow, Jessie Willis, George Wright, Joel Conant,
(?) Adams, Asa Parker and the area just west of the Damon Mill land.
Hosmer, Cyrus. December 28,
1857. White pine woodlot by Dugan Desert, and "partly oak" lot north of the
road surveyed January 21, 1858 and cut for wood sold to Warner of the Pail Factory.
Hosmer, Edmund. June 17, 18,
21, 1851. Farm on Sandy Pond Road. There are several copies of this; two are owned by
the Library. These help to identify the location of James Wright's land, Mrs. Heartwell
Bigelow's, Cyrus Stow's, F. S. Gourgas, Abiel Heywood, Augustus Tuttle, and the edge of
the Ministerial Lot. Hosmer had bought of the early Prescott family, sold to George
Everett, then to William H. Devens, Asa Calef, and the Roots. Hosmer bought the old Hunt
property on Lowell Road near the bridge, and sold some farm land to R. W. Emerson, June 6,
1855, in the western part of Concord.
Hosmer, Jesse. Spring of
1850. This farm was located near Barrett's Mill Road and the present Route 2, at the
foot of Annursnack Hill and had belonged to the Cummings family very early. It contained
more than one hundred acres, and shows the road leading to G. M. Barrett's. Thoreau said:
"First piece surveyed with my compass though with a tape."
Hosmer, John. February 5,
1851. Woodlot which had been part of the Charles Miles land near Hollowell Place on
the River.
———. Meadow and woodlots in the westerly part of
Concord, beyond the Pail Factory, June 3–4, 1856,
about 25 acres in all.
———. October
29, 1859. This 33 acre woodlot near Union Turnpike (Elm St.) was lotted off by Thoreau
and shows neighbors Dennis, A. Hosmer, and E. Wood. The bill was for $7.00, and was
recorded as "not paid."
Hosmer, Luther. May 3, 1851.
Thoreau laid out a road from his house near the road to Sudbury through land of James P.
Brown to Marlboro Road at Thomas Wheeler's.
Hosmer, Silas. May 15, 1852.
Houselots on Bedford Street next to Mary Rice and bounded on the east by land of C. B.
Davis. In the Journal, Thoreau says that in 1668 the Town had a herd of fifty cattle
pasture here.
Hosmer, John, and Abel Moore. Winter
1849–50. Field Notes say: "On or near the railroad in Walden Woods. Three
lots, notes lost". Some of these notes have been found. I believe these lots were
adjacent to the 41 acres which R. E. Emerson
bought from Moore and Hosmer in 1845, the site of the House at Walden.
Hosmer, John, and Moore,
Abel. December 1857. This woodlot was copied
from Cyrus Hubbard's plan of 1842, and lay west of the railroad near Fair Haven, between
Well Meadow and Pleasant Meadow. Isaac Brooks, Cyrus Hubbard, Ephraim Wheeler, Darius
Hubbard owned land nearby.
How, Elizabeth. April 1853.
Land in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Hubbard, Ebenezer. December
1857. This woodlot was between Walden Street and Cambridge Turnpike and became part of
Fairyland in 1835 [sic; 1885?]. The survey shows the abutters as follows: Josh
Jones, the Ministerial Lot, John Richardson, Francis Jarvis, Cyrus Warren, N. J., (?)
Haywood, Abel Brooks, Reuben Rice, Brister, and the Poor Farm on Walden Street.
Hunt, Humphrey. December 21,
23, 24, 1852. This is an interesting woodlot and pasture near Easterbrook Woods.
Barzillai Hudson and others had Thoreau survey it, and paid him $14.25. Abner Buttrick had
8 acres, and Jonas Melvin had 11 acres nearby. It identifies Yellow Birch Cellar Hole,
which was begun by Old Henry Flint and abandoned before the house was finished; Old
Carlisle Road (called the New One); Bridle Road (called the Old One); Brooks Clark's Birch
Pasture near Lime Kiln; and the mill site, which may have been part of the Thoreau pencil
business.
Hunt, Thomas Ford. October
17, 1853. Houselot on Monument Street near Charles W. Goodnow, and Lorenzo Eaton.
Jarvis, Francis. December
23, 1856. Northwest side of Walden Street opposite Brister's lot. This had been part
of Stratton's land earlier, and appears again on the survey of Samuel Staples's plot of
Dec. 8, 1857.
Kettell, (John?). April
8–9, 1858. Lexington Road farm bought by Samuel
Staples. At one time, November 1849, this
farm had belonged to Isaac Watts, and Thoreau surveyed the woodlot northeast of the house
on the hill behind and divided it into 52 lots for wood. I believe that was Thoreau's
first survey recorded in the Field Notes Book. The farm stretched from Lexington Road
across the field to Cambridge Turnpike and then to the Mill Brook. It shows the location
of land belonging to Sexton, George Heywood, C. S. Davis, Cyrus Warren, Shannon, Richard
Messer, John B. Moore, and the surroundings. Thoreau hurt himself seriously one day when
he was building a woodshed on this land, which he records in his Journal for October 4,
1857.
Keyes, John. April 24, 1857.
Pasture belonging to Dennis.
Le Grosse, John. January
11–12, 1853. Westford Road. There are three pieces: two farms and a woodlot near
the Acton line. D. H. Wetherbee lived nearby, and the road was called the Road to Groton.
Lee, Joseph, Dr. January 1, 1857.
See Davis Elwell's survey.
Lees, Samuel. May 17, 1859.
Factory Village land near Old Stow Road and the Damon Factory.
Lincoln, Massachusetts. Copied map. Plan of town by John G. Hales, 1830, who made maps
for many of the towns in Massachusetts. See New England Historical and Genealogical
Register, January 1975, p. 23, for an article about these maps.
Lord, Thomas. April 12, 1851.
Factory Village land between Factory Road and Boxboro Road containing 29 Acres. See
location on Damon surveys.
Loring, David. October
16–18, 1851. The Field Notes Book says that he did not use the chain at all, and
that he found the bounds and lotted off the area near Abiel Heywood, and Wright's long
lot. In his Journal for these days, he recorded that he saw the Indian Ditch, so called,
and referred to a survey of the area made by Stephen Hosmer for Thomas Jones in 1766.
Thoreau's bill was for $15.00, but he was paid only $10.00.
———. December
16 , 1850. Plans for a cow barn to be built in Northboro, Mass. Stanchion for cows on
the same scale as the barn.
———. May 20,
1854, rerun May 1855. Rough plan of land near
Depot in Concord, Frances Monroe and Rail Road.
———. September
17, 1856. Houselot on Main Street between John Brown, Jr., and E. R. Hoar through to
Concord River showing R. C. MacKay near river, and Samuel Hoar behind Brown. The Field
Notes say that he surveyed this lot for George Brooks. The back of the survey reads:
Samuel Hoar now.
———. September
13, 1856. Texas Street land. This 18 acre lot was near William Monroe, Henry Wheeler,
Cyrus Hubbard, William W. Wheildon, Nathan Brooks, John Thoreau, and the discontinued road
which went from Main Street near the present Belknap Street.
Loring, George. September
15, 1852. Pistern or lead pipe machine designed for the Lorings as they were makers of
lead pipe. This survey shows a versatility which we haven't seen before.
McCafferty, James. March,
April 1851. This house lot and farm land was on Virginia Road east of where Thoreau
was born. James was the grandfather of our present Postmaster Edward McCafferty.
MacKay, T. Bernard. May 25,
1852. Land on Main Street between W. E. Channing and Frances Monroe. This land was
sold to Grindall Reynolds, June 5, 1858.
Merrick's Pasture. January
10, 1857. Surveyed for Daniel
Shattuck and shows the land of Nehemiah Ball, Moses Prichard, and Simon Brown. It was
probably named for Tilly Merrick, who married Sally Minot and lived on Main Street near
the present Sudbury Road. This had been Reverend Peter Bulkeley's "Calf Pasture"
when Concord was settled.
Mill Dam Company. April 30,
1853. There are three of these which show the land with buildings, additions, and
elevations. The Mill Brook is shown here as Bound-In Brook under the present
Anderson’s Store on the Milldam. See Francis R.
Gourgas above.
———.This work continued for Thoreau on October 31, 1855, and in November (24?) of 1855.
Ministerial Lot. November
14–25, 1851. This land was in the Southwest part of Concord near Harrington
Avenue. Cyrus Wheeler had a woodlot South of this which was cut in 1857–58, and
Thoreau recorded in the Field Notes that the Northeast and the South side of this were cut
in 1858–59.
——— in the South East part of Concord. December 8–9, 1851. This forty acre plot
between Cambridge Turnpike and Walden Streets was lotted off by Thoreau and the wood sold
to the following people in Concord: John McKeen, Nathan Brooks, Aaron A. Kelsey, George
Brooks, Col. Daniel Shattuck, Reuben Brown, Richard Barrett, Charles B. Davis, Moses
Prichard, Addison G. Fay, Patrick MacManners, Dr. Josiah Bartlett, Col. Charles Holbrook,
R. A. Messer, and Jonathan Farwell.
Minot, George. August
30–31, 1860. Plan of land on the Mill Brook consisting of 7 acres. An interesting
note made by Thoreau says the land was sold by John Whiting to Abel Prescott in 1746, and
that it bounds S. W. on Ebenezer Hubbard, S.E. on Deacon Samuel Merriam, N. and N.E. on
the Mill Brook, and W. on Whiting's own land called then Dam Pasture. Shannon, Mrs.
Bigelow, Collier, and Warren are shown as abutters.
Monroe, Francis. August 17,
1850. Land near Depot. At this time, Thoreau was busy trying to lay out a road from
the west end of the Mill Dam to the Railroad Station. This proposal is the present Middle
Street from Academy Lane to Thoreau. The old Concord Academy Building stood on the spot so
it had to be moved to the south side of the new street. Land owners here were William
Wheildon, Hartwell Bigelow, William Monroe, and Henry Wheeler. There is also a copy of the
official Railroad notice of the acceptance of the street dated March 1851.
Monroe, William, Jr. December
4, 1860. This land was on Monument Street on the east side next to Daniel Shattuck,
and Francis Gourgas. This is the man who gave the funds to build and maintain the Concord
Free Public Library.
Moore, Abel, and John Hosmer. December 1857. Woodlot copied from Cyrus Hubbard's
survey of 1842. It shows the Pond Hole, Darius Hubbard's land, Ephraim Wheeler's, and
Isaac Brook's. Thoreau lotted off some of this land for firewood. Abel's son, John Moore,
inherited the land. See also Hosmer, John.
Moore, John B. April 1850,
February 10, 11, 12, 18, 19,
1853, May 3, 1859, April 1860. Land on Lexington Road. Site of the home
of Dr. Prescott of Revolutionary fame. Moore bought swamp land and drained it to reclaim
it for farming. The February 1853 one shows land sold to E. W. Bull, Nathaniel Hawthorne,
A. B. Alcott, and Charles Davis. The land stretched over the hill to Bedford Road and as
far east as the Merriam land on Old Bedford Road. The whole lot was sold at auction, May
10, 1860.
Morse, Rufus. August 17,
1859. Lincoln, Mass. Land near the Hosmer-Moore land above. According to the Farrar
Book of Houses, some of the Rufus Morse land had belonged to Thomas Goble in 1640.
Nixon, Warren. December 14, 1857. Lincoln land near
Emerson-Bartlett land.
Parks, Schuyler. April 12,
1854. 20 acres of woodlot in Lincoln.
Prescott, George. June 1856.
Thoreau ran a line for Prescott near the Pail Factory to show the boundary of the woodlot
he had bought from David Loring on the west side of Derby.
Prichard, Moses. May 12,
1860. Main Street boundary between Holbrook and Prichard. The bill from Thoreau was
$1.50. Prichard's woods skirted the river and were furnished with winding walks and rustic
seats in order to form an attractive and cool retreat.
Raynolds, John. October 19,
1852. Land on Sudbury Road between the home of Abel Brooks and Deacon David Wheeler.
Cyrus Stow sold this land to Raynolds.
———. May 17,
1853. Land in the southwest part of Concord near John Potter and (E. J.) Hayden,
probably on Fair Haven Road near Sudbury Road. Thoreau says "surveyed outlines (after
Rice), May 24..." On the back of the survey, he wrote: "J. Raynolds".
Reynolds, Jabez. October
28, 1851. See Cyrus Stow, Walden Street,
below. Jabez was in the butchering business and lived in the house on the corner of Walden
and Everett Streets. The back room of his house had been owned by the Stows for many
years, had been moved from Lexington Road, and was used by the Thoreaus's in the pencil
business at one time.
Reynolds, Dr. Joseph. March
17, 1854. Lowell Road house lot near the present Bow Street. This may have been the
land of John Stacy, which he had to sell in 1853.
Rice, William. January 20,
1858. Lincoln land near Lexington Road.
Richardson, John. November
12, 1853. Lincoln and Waltham woodlots surveyed for the heirs.
———. November
30–December 3, 1857. Goose and Walden Pond woodlots. These plots were on both
sides of the present Route 126 near Walden. Some of it became Emerson's.
———. December
3–8, 1857. Fair Haven woodlots, west of the railroad near land of Rufus Morse,
Abel Moorer, John Hosmer, and James Baker.
———. December
23–24, 1857. Walden Pond lot. John Richardson, Esq., built the Town House on the
Common on the West side, and swapped it in 1789 with the County for the hotel which was on
the spot later occupied by the Middlesex Hotel.
River Meadow Association. 1859–60.
Thoreau was asked to survey the river from East Sudbury to Billerica, a distance of 22.15
miles, and to make a chart of the building of all the bridges on it. The facts obtained
were used at the Supreme Judicial Court trial against the Middlesex Canal in January 1860.
He copied Llaommi Baldwin's second map of May 1834, surveyed and drawn originally by B. F.
Perham.
Shattuck, Daniel. June 12,
1850. Concord cottage houselot on Main Street next to John Thoreau's. [DATE NEEDS TO
BE VERIFIED]
———. October
6, 1856. Added Monroe Street (now Thoreau Street) to above. The schoolhouse was moved
to Main and River Streets when the school districts were given up.
———. September
11, 1854. Woodlot near Great Meadows showing land of Col. Holbrook, who lived opposite
the Concord Free Public Library. Great Meadows land seems to have been owned by many men
and the grasses used to mulch crops.
———. May 19,
1857. Lot near Peter Hutchinson's Field by Sleepy Hollow.
———. January 10, 1857. Merrick's Pastures, west of Lowell Road on River.
———. September
29, 1860. Estate which has become Colonial Inn on the Common near Monument Street. It
shows as neighbors Joseph Reynolds, Maria Thoreau, John Keyes, Mrs. Charles W. Goodnow.
———. November
13, 1860. Houselot on Monument Street showing William Monroe, Jr. on East, Nathan
Barrett on the West, Emeline Barrett also on West, and Jack Garrison in back. Someone has
written on the back: "Now, 1874, Lorenzo Eaton and M. Murray"
Shattuck, Henry L. December
16, 1852. Monument Street farm, which is the same as survey of Joshua Buttrick and Virgil Fuller.
Spring, Marcus. November
1856. Estate at Eagleswood, Perth Amboy, N. J. Alcott asked Thoreau to go there, and
Thoreau made a detailed map of the area showing houses and school buildings.
Stacy, John. See Dr. Joseph
Reynolds.
Stacy, Sarah. August 3, 1853.
Woodlot in Framingham.
Staples, Samuel. April
8–9, 1858. Thoreau surveyed the Kettell Farm
and charged him $11.50.
———. December
8, 1857. Woodlot near Walden Pond showing the land of John Potter, Francis Jarvis,
heirs of John Richardson, and Brister. According to Jarvis' deed of 1778, the land had
belonged to Sarah Hodgman, who was probably a daughter of Joseph Stratton, and Thoreau
believed that Staples bought the seven acres from Joseph Merriam.
Stow, Beck (Rebecca?). October
19, 1853. The Field Notes: Book says that the woodlot was cut in 1854–55. In the
Journal for this date, Thoreau says, "thinking to step upon a leafy shore from a
rail, I got into water more than a foot deep and had to wring my stockings out." He
was very fond of this swamp on Bedford Road, and locates it on one of his surveys of
Bedford Street opposite Moore's Swamp.
Stow, Cyrus. November 14,
1850. Woodlot lotted off into 28 lots and cut in 1850–51 lying near Ministerial
Swamp.
———. February
27, March 3, 1851. Pine Hill woodlot in the East part of Concord in the rear of Joseph
Merriam's house off Old Bedford Road. The bill for this is in the Thoreau Collection at
Middlebury College.
———. February
20–27, 1851. Bedford swampland consisting of 21 acres for which Thoreau consulted
an old deed of 1748, and a survey made by Thaddeus Davis in 1799.
———. April
18–19, 1851. Sudbury Road (Back Road) and Stow Street in which Thoreau lays out
the new street (Stow) and divided the land into new houselots up to present Hubbard
Street. This bill is also owned by Middlebury College.
———. July 3,
1852. Fair Haven Hill woodlot near Deep Cut on the railroad.
———. October
28, 1851. Estate on Walden Street (present Home for the Aged). There are three
fragments of this lot showing a detailed sketch of the grounds around the house, the fence
which Thoreau designed and probably built, and the yard. The detailed one shows the house
on the corner of Everett Street which was built on the site of the old Heywood Tavern and
was occupied by William Buttrick, George Everett, and Grace Tuttle. The Field Notes say
that he also ran a line between Cyrus and Nathan Stow's land, but we do not have a copy.
———. January 12,
1858. Boundary line between the Stows and R. W. Emerson's land near Sandy Pond in
Lincoln, which shows Emerson's "falls." On May 9 and 18, 1859, Thoreau made
another survey of this and called it Chestnut Field Lot bought of Abel Brooks by Stow in
1843. He carefully noted a rare plant on the Cart Path. See Israel Billings above.
———. May 9,
18, 1859. [NOT DESCRIBED IN MOSS.]
Surette, Louis A. March 31,
1857. This is a small cemetery lot which Thoreau plotted.
Temple, Cyrus. October 3,
1860. Meadow land north of Spencer Brook and Samuel Barrett's land on Barrett's Mill
Road. Temple sold four acres to Samuel Barrett.
Thoreau, John. May 25, 1850.
Yellow House Lot bought of Daniel Shattuck on Main Street near the corner of the present
Thoreau Street. Thoreau mentions in his Journals that there were a Mountain Ash and a
Pitch Pine tree in their yard.
———. March
30, 1857. John bought some land from Julius M. Smith which he had used as a garden and
Thoreau allowed him to remove his crops. The Library owns a manuscript which describes
this land.
Tuttle, Augustus. August
25–26, 29, 1853. Large 92 acre farm on Cambridge Turnpike at Hawthorne Lane.
James Wright was next east. The farm was bought by Orlando E, Patch and used as a dairy
and later Wilmot R. Jones ran the Mill Brook School there.
———.
June 21,
1855. Lincoln wood1ot of 2 acres showing location of land of Cyrus Smith, Nancy Smith,
and Asa White.
Walden Pond. 1846. This
is the best known of Thoreau's surveys, and the Library is fortunate to have three copies.
On them he shows Bare Peak, Wooded Peak, Sandbar, and the site of his house. The area is
listed as 61 acres and 3 rods, circumference 1.7 miles, greatest length 175½ rods, and
greatest depth 102 feet.
Warren, Rufus? May 28, 1860.
The Field Notes say that Warren's bill was $3.00 for this date, and the Journal says that
the woodland was East of Deep Cut near Walden. We do not have this survey.
Watson, Marston. October
9–13, 1854. Plymouth, Mass. Henry went to Plymouth to lecture and survey. See L.
D. Geller's Between Concord and Plymouth regarding Thoreau and his Plymouth
friends.
Watts, Isaac. November 1849.
The survey of this woodlot is one of the earliest in the Field Notes Book. I think that it
was the woods back of the old Kettell place on Lexington Road. It was divided into 52 lots
and cut in 1849–50.
Weston, Daniel. August 17,
1852. Woodlot near Flint's Pond, Lincoln.
———. December
13, 1852. 16 acres.
———. December
17, 1852. 5 acres shows Elisha Hagar nearby.
Wheeler, Cyrus. This woodlot was cut in 1857–58 according to Field Notes, which
says it was on the south side of Ministerial Swamp.
Wheeler, Francis. This woodlot was cut in 1859–60 and lay North of White Pond
Road. Francis, William and Joseph Wheeler lived in this area.
Wheeler, Gardiner. The Field Notes say that this white-pine woodlot was cut in the
winter of 1857–58, and Thoreau says he made the survey and the wood was sold to
Warner, probably for his Pail Factory. It lay between Marshall Miles's and White Pond.
Wheeler, Henry. June 21,
1852. David Loring helped Thoreau survey this land near the Railroad, and shows Love
Lane, Texas Street, Back Road (Sudbury Road), and land of William Monroe.
Wheeler, Thomas. April 28,
1856. This plot was called the "Davis Piece'' and consisted of 26 acres between
the Old Marlboro Road Guide Post and Williams Road. Thoreau mentions that it was bought by
an Irishman named David Williams, he thought, for $23.00 an acre.
———. Houselot. April 30, 1856, Samuel Staples paid $15.00 for this
survey. An interesting spot on river is pinpointed here as Elfin Burial Ground.
———. Ox Pasture. April and May 5, 1856. There are two copies of this.
The Larger Ox Pasture was bought by Joseph Derby for $26.00 an acre. Some of the rest was
sold to Daniel Tarbell for $13.00.
Wheeler, William. December
19, 1853. This Corner Spring Lot was sold to William Wheeler by J. P. Brown as a woodlot, and was cut in
1853–54.
White, Charles. April 1853. Kimball Lot in
Haverhill, Massachusetts.
White Pond. February 17, 1851. Thoreau
made an outline map of the pond which he considered a very beautiful spot, and far less
crowded than Walden.
Whitman, Mrs. May 24, 1856. Haverhill cemetery lots. .
Willis, Samuel A. May 6, 1859. House and woodlot near Factory
Village. This survey was copied by a later surveyor, William D. Tuttle, April 25, 1864.
Willis paid Thoreau $3.50 according to the Field Notes Book.
Wood, James Barrett. November 30, 1850. In the Field Notes Book
of Surveys, Thoreau says: "Surveyed a woodlot for...near the copper mines in the
South part of Carlisle, November 30, 1850, he having purchased the wood of Thomas Hale and
(?) gingham of Carlisle The distance can be relied on The last two bearings are useless
being taken after dark. 10 Acres."
Thoreau as a Surveyor
Henry David Thoreau, surveyor, made over one hundred and fifty land surveys in Concord
and vicinity. Some of these are in their final form, some mere fragments or quick surveys.
From 1849, measurements for all were recorded by Thoreau in his Field Notes Book [These
field notes have been published in facsimile by Kenneth W. Cameron in his Transcendental
Climate (Hartford, 1963, II, 413–549).] when he made them so that he could
interpret them later when he was making his drawings. In his Field Notes, he kept a list
of supplies which he bought and other surveying expenses, as well as the fees which he
charged and collected. He also recorded there some of the rules which he used in
surveying.
Most of the instruments which he used in his
work are owned by the Concord Free Public Library or the Concord Antiquarian Society. The
Antiquarian owns his inkwell, his surveyor's chain, and at least three of his surveys
which are on display near the furniture from his house at Walden. The compass and tripod,
wooden surveyor's arrows, right angles of wood and metal, pencils and pen, protractor, and
a small roll of surveyor's cloth are displayed at the Concord Free Public Library. Most of
these items and the surveys were given to the Library by Miss Sophia E. Thoreau, sister of
Henry, as we can see from the following excerpts from the Town Reports of Concord,
Massachusetts, March 1854–75, and March 1876–77.
Miss Sophia E. Thoreau has deposited in the iron safe of the Library building the
unpublished manuscripts of her brother, Henry D. Thoreau. They fill three trunks or boxes.
One contains a complete survey of almost every farm in town, which will be of great value
in the future in regard to the boundary lines of different estates, especially so when we
consider the established accuracy of Mr. Thoreau's surveys and measurements.
Miss Sophia Thoreau has given a gift of maps
and surveys to the Library
The Thoreau Society has photographically
reproduced all of the surveys belonging to the Concord Free Public Library to aid in their
preservation. The reproductions were made by Peter Orlando of Concord. The Boston Photo
Service, Inc. has taken personal interest in the making of this catalog.
Henry and John Thoreau, his brother, had shown
an early interest in surveying for around 1838, they had bought some surveying instruments
for use in their school. Edward Emerson, son of Ralph Waldo Emerson, mentions that
"Dave," as he irreverently called Henry, taught him to survey when he was a
student. After John's death in 1842, Henry kept using the instruments and bought more for
this new vocation of surveying for which he was so well suited in many ways. In his
Journal of November 4, 1852, he said:
Must be out-of-doors enough to get experience of wholesome reality, as a ballast to
thought and sentiment. Health requires this relaxation, this aimless life. This life in
the present. Let a man have thought what he will of nature in the house, so will still be
novel outdoors. I keep out of doors for the sake of the mineral, vegetable, and animal in
me.
Thoreau was also qualified as a surveyor as
he knew Concord and the surroundings well, he loved nature and walking, he was very
accurate because he took pride in his work of any kind, he had mathematical knowledge and
an interest in the technical aspects; he was studious and researched rules and methods of
other surveyors, and even compared his work critically with ether surveyors in Concord. At
one time, he had a broadside printed up advertising himself as "H. D. Thoreau,
surveyor" [Reproduced in Walter Harding, The Days of Henry Thoreau (New York,
1965), p. 461]. We know, too, that in 1852 when Walling made his map of Concord, Thoreau
was listed as "Civil engineer" in the notes. Not long before he died, Thoreau
was appointed Town Surveyor for Concord.
On August 11, 1852, Thoreau records in his
Journal:
Alcott says I should survey Concord and put down every house exactly as it stands with
the name.
In fact, Alcott kept talking about the proposed atlas and went so far as to suggest in
his now famous Superintendent of Schools Reports of 1860 and 1861, that Thoreau should
make an illustrated Atlas for use in the community and the schools. Unfortunately, Thoreau
died before he could accomplish this, but his surveys and Field Notes book have been kept
together in the Library and have often been used by people to identify ownership of
Concord land.
Thoreau had various jobs as a surveyor such as
the subdividing of woodlots and the Ministerial lots for the sale of the wood, and the
privately owned lots into smaller ones for housing. Many times it was necessary for him to
retrace boundaries as ancient as two hundred years old.
The earliest mention which we have of his
woodlot surveying is a signed receipt from the Misses Hosmer for surveying of their
woodlot and making a plan of the same dated Dec. 18, 1845. However, we do not have the
survey itself. This plan was made before he started keeping his Field Notes in 1849 with
the brief notes on the survey for Isaac Watts. [They continue on up to December 1860.] We
know that Thoreau had tried many other ways of earning money from building a woodshed at
the Kettle place, to whitewashing and painting a house, to sending huckleberries to Boston
to be sold, as well as designing and building at least six fences. [One was a common slat
fence for one dollar a rod.] In some cases he had to identify land bounds so that he could
present evidence of ownership to the disputing parties, and thus act as an arbitrator
helping to settle a boundary dispute without going into a court case. Estates had to be
settled, and the widows and lawyers asked Thoreau to check their lines. His townspeople
trusted his judgment, too, as in the case of Charles Bartlett. The busy man couldn't go
into the woods when Thoreau was ready to check his bounds in order to settle a dispute
with Emerson, so he asked Thoreau to go ahead, find the necessary corrections and make
them alone. Large areas of farm land were bought up by men like J. B. Moore, business
property for firms such as the Mill Dam Company, the large enterprise at Factory Village
in West Concord, and even cemetery lots had to be measured and recorded. Thoreau kept busy
with related varied problems. He set up the field for the Plowing Contest at the Middlesex
County Fair held in Concord. He designed a piston and a cow stanchion and illustrated its
use with a cow's head poking out. He even drew plans for a beautiful fence for Cyrus
Stow's renovated house on Walden Street which is now the Concord Home For The Aged.
Thoreau played an important role with the railroad people by laying out the street from
the Academy Lane to the Depot and with the townspeople by surveying for Bedford Street and
Bedford Road from Monument Street to within four miles of the Bedford line.
When the Court House burned in 1849, and when
the Town House was built in 1851, Thoreau was asked to survey the abutters and also to
measure the cellar for the new building. He was personally interested in this site as his
father had worked in the Yellow Store which had stood there before it was bought by the
Stow Family and moved to Walden Street where it finally became part of the
Reynolds-Everett-Tuttle house on the corner of Everett Street and Walden. The Keyes
building on the same site was sold by Keyes to the Town, was bought back, and moved onto
Monument Street to become the home of Madam Keyes, and is now a store.
James B. Wood, a Concord lumberman, knew
Thoreau very well and used to have him survey woodland for him and paid him three dollars
a day. Wood found Thoreau was "always very pleasant, talkative, and ingenious."
Wood says that when it grew dark one evening when they were surveying, Thoreau set his
compass and took a tallow candle and match from his pocket. He lit the candle and gave it
to Wood to put on the top of the last bound and so finished the work so that they would
not have to go again another day. Thoreau had a different version of the incident though,
as he recorded in his Field Notes book for that day: "The distance can be relied on.
The last two bearings are useless being taken after dark."
Thoreau used common sense about the accuracy of
each plan checking the finished detail in each case as to what information was required.
His study of the depths of Walden Pond itself has become one of his best known surveys.
Complete, detailed studies like those of Factory Village, and Marcus Spring's complex in
Perth Amboy, New Jersey, took more time and skill. His sketches of the Shattuck and
Thoreau Aunts' plots on the Square shed light on what the Colonial Inn looked like then.
The largest and most descriptive survey is the
River Project made for the Sudbury and East Sudbury Meadow Corporation in their
controversy with the Middlesex Canal owners in 1860. He found data concerning the depth of
the water in the Concord River at each bridge from Wayland to Billerica, made a detailed
table showing the date of erection and subsequent changes of each bridge on the river from
Sudbury to Billerica, and what the underpinnings were made of, and what the water level
was at each bridge at various times. The work involved in getting this information
together from men in other towns, and presenting it in a logical form at the trial shows
that he willingly co-operated with others in a good cause. The Library still has the
letters and notes from this project.
Relief from the monotony and hard work of
surveying, he found by sketching on to the plans pictures of animals drinking from
culverts beside the road he was laying out, or picturing a house and barn, or noting where
he had seen a certain rare bird's nest, or some strange land formation.
Although he really wished to be a lecturer
instead, he showed self-discipline and accepted the jobs as a surveyor. As he said:
"I can get surveying enough, which a hundred others in the county can do as well as
I, though it is not boasting much to say that a hundred others in New England cannot
lecture as well as I on my themes."
When Bronson Alcott went to Plymouth to visit
Marston Watson at his large nursery, he suggested that Watson invite Thoreau down to
lecture and to survey the Watson property. Of course, Thoreau went, and he even got Alcott
to help with the surveying. Thoreau travelled as far as Perth Amboy, New Jersey, too, as
Alcott suggested to the owner, of Eagleswood Marcus Spring, that Thoreau was the man for
the job of surveying there. He enjoyed going to Haverhill, as he points out in his
Journals, for he made friends as well as money. Similarly, he made trips to Billerica,
Littleton, Framingham, Bedford, Carlisle, Lincoln, and Acton. These trips must have been
tedious and time consuming when one considers the modes of travel. Even in Concord, he had
to plan ahead to borrow a horse and wagon to carry his surveying party and equipment to
the edge of the woods, and then walk miles from there in all kinds of New England weather
while surveying such areas as the Town Bounds of the surrounding towns.
Thoreau's surveys were useful and accurate when
they were made years ago with their crude but basic instruments, and today local surveyors
say that his work is still considered reliable and accurate in spite of all the
modernization of present survey equipment. There have been several surveys made of Walden
Pond in the last few years, but the results have not proven Thoreau wrong in his
conclusions, made from a cod line and a stone weighing about a pound and a half. He was a
surveyor. |