As long as each generation has produced the next, the young have sought adventure. Our ancestors here in Concord found the new generation coming of age shortly after the conclusion of the French and Indian War in 1763. With limited resources, the young men and women living in Concord felt a period of ease for the war was over and the future seemed to offer many opportunities, even though there was still unrest due to oppression and control from England.
Here in Concord, word spread down Main Street in the taverns and shops about a place that offered a fresh start with plenty of opportunities. This place was not very distant and seemed to offer the young generation here in Concord the opportunity for adventure that they sought. This place was known as Pigwacket.
The place referred to as Pigwacket offered a serene landscape near the headwaters of the Saco River in Carroll County, N.H., and Oxford County, Maine. Pigwacket was the name used for this area during this era, though there are several variations and spellings also associated. Pigwacket or Pequawket were a Native American division of the Abenaki people who once lived in this area. This beautiful place, referred to as the land of hollows by the early Native Americans, was revered and cherished for many generations before the settlers arrived.
There are countless lore and stories written about the original settlers in the Pigwacket region and solemn people that cared for others. Molly Ockett was a Pequacket woman that was deeply respected for her ability to heal those in need during the early 19th century. Her ability with medicine and cures was greatly sought by her generation and respected to this very day.
As discussions continued in Concord about the opportunities in Pigwacket, more and more young men and women desired to make the move. Concord witnessed somewhat of an exodus in the mid-1760s as wagon after wagon loaded their belongings in Concord and traveled the lonely road to settle in this new land of opportunity. To this very day, some of the people living in Conway and Fryeburg, Maine, are the descendants of this exodus from Concord. The names in these towns echo the early settlers of Concord: Bradley, Eastman, Farrington, Merrill. McMillan, Osgood and Walker were some of the families involved.
The good Parson Walker from Concord was certainly concerned for his parishioners and made it a point to leave Concord each month and travel to the area of Pigwacket to provide his people with the celebration of the mass, baptisms, marriages and funerals too. As Parson Walker aged, he would send his son, Timothy Walker, to continue to provide for his people. The journey took about three days’ time and Parson Walker made his final trip in 1766, handing the responsibility of the regular journey to his son Timothy. It was during this time the people of Pigwacket built their own church and modeled it after their old church in Concord out of respect for both Parson Walker as well as the town that they loved so well.
As the years progressed and the people resisted taxation without representation from the British, the Revolutionary War arrived and the people from the new settlement served alongside their old friends and family members from Concord.
It was in 1775 that John Bradley received a lieutenant’s commission in the Continental Army. His commission was signed by Matthew Thornton representing New Hampshire. Lieutenant Bradley saw battle at Winter Hill under Captain Benjamin Emery’s Company and served his new country very well. The people welcomed John Bradley back to New Hampshire after the war and he entered into various positions serving the people of New Hampshire as a volunteer and politician. With his duties in the state legislature his compassion for our beloved state was known by the people in Concord as well as Pigwacket, for he owned large parcels of land in Pigwacket and three of his sons settled permanently in Fryeburg, Maine.
To this day we still find one generation leading to the next. The young still seek adventure just as the young men and woman of Concord also did back in the mid-1760s. Today we find many natives of Concord becoming world travelers and settling all over the globe. For some, the journey is very distant for others not so.
The Pigwacket region satisfied the adventure so strongly desired by the young more than 200 years ago. Today we honor the memory of the Native Americans that cherished this land as well as the early Concord families that continued to settle the region as the years continue. Adventure seekers will always exist and the next great adventure awaits you.