This was copied from a newspaper article in 1965. Bernie has since passed away.
Bernie Cline lives next door to the old Concord Community Church and across the road from its well-kept cemetery. He’s one of the last of the old-time fiddlers but recalls the days when Joe Brownell, Matt Ironmonger, Bern Lowder and George Simpson played at house parties and barn dances just like he did. "That’s about the only fun we had then," he explains. "The kids won’t believe me but there sure wasn’t any TV or radio in those days. The house parties would start as soon as the chores were done—about 8 P.M.—and last until one or two in the morning. Usually the fiddler provided the only music but once in a while he would be accompanied by someone on a piano or organ. There were the hog wrestles," he recalled with a smile. "There was a big hog pen on John Hunt’s place with a wooden floor upstairs. We held lots of dances there. It isn’t true that I was the fiddler at the Westford Town Hall the night of the big fight that named the community the name of Bunker Hill," he added. "I was present, but someone else was fiddling and it was one of the Irish combatants, and not the fiddler, who jumped out the window." But before we left Bernie got out his old violin and showed us that he could still fiddle. We got the impression that he missed the old days with their house parties, barn dances and "hog wrestles".
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Bernie Cline’s land surrounds both the [Concord] church and the [Concord] cemetery because it originally belonged to James French, the first settler in the community. And until last December, Mr. and Mrs. Cline lived in the log house that French built in 1854 which still stands back of the remodeled home that they moved over from the old Fred Bible farm now operated by their son, Clifton Cline. Mrs. Cline is the former Querita Bible. James French, John Fry, John H. Clary, Moses Bible, William Smelcer, and others were Tennesseans who came to Richland county by way of Indiana. Each family brought all their children and household possessions in a single wagon, drawn by a team of horses. For Example:
The French family left Tennessee in September 1853 and stayed in Clinton County, Indiana until September 1854. There were six children when they arrived and seven when they left for Wisconsin. "We carried provisions and camped along the way and the entire trip took only 20 days," James French boasted. The French farm was about 100 feet over the line in the town of Willow but the Bible farm and some of the others were in the town of Westford. Bernie was raised at Corwin and attended the school there until Ed and Amelia Cline bought the James French farm in 1909. He farmed with his parents until World War I when he served overseas. He returned to the farm, bought the farm in 1936 and all its dairy on the 208 acres except for Mrs. Clines 250 laying hens. Their son, Clifton, is on the old Bible farm nearby and has a milk route for the Hillpoint Creamery. Bernie, Jr. is employed by American Motors at Kenosha.
The Concord Church closed 9 years ago but the cemetery is still well cared for and has preserved much of the history of this so-called "Yankee Community" whose earliest settlers were from Tennessee and New York State. The tombstones of James and Margaret French and Moses and Susan (Outcalt) Bible and Moses Bible the II are all found in Concord Cemetery. In fact nearly half of those buried here seem to by Fry’s. Then as now, some of the families spell their name F-r-y while others spelled theirs F-r-y-e.
Civil War veterans are buried here like Zacki B. Fry who served in Co. B, 20th Wisconsin Regiment under Captain Byron Telfair, Allen Tinker and John Clary, killed in combat. Last of the veterans graves, but not forgotten is that of Donald B. Frye, killed in action in France in 1944 at the age of 21. His remains were brought back to Concord for burial with graveside rites conducted by the Cazenovia Post of American Legion on April 16, 1949 and inscribed on his tombstone is the following:
"Glory lights the soldier’s grave".