Concord, Indiana, marked the final stop of this journey, and hopefully the last one in the Midwest. The name “Concord” had been especially popular in this region. There were seven Concords in Ohio, six in Iowa, four in Missouri, and this was the third one I visited in Indiana. In 2020, my brother Bill and I had visited a dozen Concords in the Upper Midwest, including two in Illinois and two in Indiana, but we had not swung down to the Concords in the lower part of these states. Many of these Concords had been established in lands that were given in lieu of cash to veterans of The Revolutionary War.
Concord, Indiana fits the pattern of many of the other Concords I had visited on this trip. It had been platted in 1832 and settled in the 1840s. According to the 1918 “The Past and Present of Tippecanoe County,” the town was originally laid on a grid by James Johnson who owned “several thousand acres.” Johnson raised his family in Concord, built a grist mill and was the postmaster. “Before the completion of the Wabash and Erie Canal, he enjoyed a favorable prospect of having a town of much importance. At present the section is known only by being a beautiful agricultural section, with happy farm homes on every side.” While many Concords rose and fell due to the siting of railroads, this is the first I’ve found that was disadvantaged by the development of a nearby canal.
A map of the platting of the town remains, but it was difficult to see where the original streets and houses once stood. Concord has been considered “defunct” for over a century.” What did remain was yet another “Concord Cemetery.” As I was strolling through the grounds, looking for the oldest dates, a golf cart came down the road. Actually they are now referred to as “NEVs", or “Neighborhood Electric Vehicles". Ever since my first stop in Prairie Village, outside Concord, South Dakota, I had seen hundreds of these souped-up golf carts. They are the vehicle of choice of the elderly and overweight, but Kelly and John were neither old nor obese, maybe they golf or maybe they enjoy zooming around the neighborhood.They liked the community- “The people are so nice; no matter where you go, you get waved at.” “Our home is on the site of an orphanage from the 1800’s. All that remains is blackberries as far as you can see.”
When I got back to my computer, I looked up “Concord, Tippecanoe, Indiana, orphanages.” There are no mentions of an orphanage in Concord, but the search did lead me to a fascinating link about the Orphan Trains that used to stop in Tippecanoe. In 1854, The Children’s Aid Society of New York began shipping vagrant, orphaned children by train out to the Midwest where they were placed in “good Christian homes.” Stories of heartwarming love and heart-wrenching abuse resulted from these placements. The program continued for over 75 years and over 250,000 children were sent west. I’m not sure if there was a connection between the train and the orphanage, but these burgeoning farms always needed young laborers.
I drove around town. There wasn’t much to see. I stopped to consult my map on a quiet dirt road. Dissatisfied with the thoroughness of my exploration of Concord Indiana, I decided to try to find the old grist mill. I pulled out onto the dirt road without looking and nearly lost my life as a green sedan flew past at 60 mph. That would have been a lousy ending to this roadtrip.
I followed the green sedan and pulled in after him in his driveway. I knew I had to take his picture with one of the four cars in the front yard. Christopher lived in one of the few original homes built with the founding of the town.
“What do you like best about living out here?”
“Oh, I suppose the politics. Most of the people agree with what I do. They are trying to set up this narrative on mainstream news and talk shows that all the polls say it’s neck and neck. No it’s not! This is setting up like in 2012 with Obama. I still don’t believe he won. He was installed. I don’t believe Biden won. He couldn’t get 50 people to a rally.”
Christopher continued on about Biden and Trump, so I thought it best to say “goodbye” instead of what was on my mind.