Gather 'round the fire, kiddies, it's time for some Concord Fables. The Insider dug up stories of Concord's legendary figures, and we think these historical heroes are every bit as exciting as Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett. Those guys just had better representation. We've taken these stories, with little or no editing, straight from the pages of “The History of Concord,” by Nathaniel Bouton. Buckle up your buckskin and get your ramrods ready, we're about to take a trip back to pioneer times.
Ebenezer Dow, the founding father of the Dow family in Concord, was born about 1737. According to family folklore, he was a ranger in the time of the French and Indian wars, from 1757 to about 1762. He fought at Ticonderoga, Crown Point and Fort William Henry, and at the capture of Louisburg, in 1758. He was also at the capture of Quebec in 1759.
In his old age he used to relate the incidents of his life to the great entertainment of his children and grandchildren. He said that at the massacre at Fort William Henry he “heard the groans of the dying – praying and cursing – and the yells of savages, all mixed together.”
While a ranger, he was once sent with a company, in the winter, to surprise an encampment of Indians. Being short of provisions, they supposed they should find a supply when they arrived at the encampment; but the Indians had fled, and left nothing but a hide hanging up. This the company pided into equal parts.
Dow and three others had for their share a piece as big as two hands, of which they made a soup, drank the broth, and then started their return. They were three days on the way.
Attempting to cross a lake on the ice, Dow took off his snowshoes; in doing which, a gust of wind blew away his mittens, and his hands became badly frozen. Almost starved, he reached a log house, where they were making bean porridge, and, in his haste to satiate his hunger, he thrust his frozen hands into the pot, and they were injured and disfigured for life. Of the party, only four lived to return.
In the Revolutionary war, Mr. Dow was in constant service. He stood as a minute-man at Concord, Mass., when the “red coats” came to destroy the stores there. He saw the bodies of those who were killed at Lexington, April 19, when they were laid out. He was also in the battle of Bunker Hill, and joined the expedition under Col. Arnold, when he attempted to reach Canada by what is called the Kennebec route-in which he endured almost incredible sufferings from fatigue, cold and hunger. At Quebec, he was taken prisoner; but, on being exchanged, he again entered the army, and was in the battles of Bennington and Stillwater.
Mr. Dow lived in the West Parish of Concord, with his son, Moody Dow, and died November, 1817, aged 80 years.
