21. Esther Anderson and the Wheeler Family Farm

Esther Howe Wheeler was born in Concord in 1891. When her father, Frank Wheeler, died in 1919, Esther took over the family's successful Nine Acre Corner farm.  With the help of foreman Mike Burke, Irish and Nova Scotian farm workers, and her uncle William Wheeler assisting with the finances, the farm's fields and eight greenhouses survived. 

In 1920, Esther married Leslie Anderson, owner of Anderson's Market. The couple had a daughter and two sons. Because the Wheeler Farm provided fresh produce to sell at Anderson's, their marriage linked two successful Concord enterprises. 

Esther Howe Anderson also belonged to many local organizations. She was particularly active in the First Parish Chuch, was a founding member of the Thoreau Society, and was an accomplished horsewoman and photographer. She primarily captured images of Thoreau country as 35mm color slides. Like Gleason, she gave illustrated lectures using her photos, but as a native Concordian, she was tied intimately to her subjects. 

When Leslie Anderson died in 1957, their son David "Andy" Anderson continued running the store. Esther Anderson died in 1985 at the age of ninety-three.