USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Lawrence > Semi-centennial history of Lawrence, Mass.; with portraits and biographical sketches of prominent citizens of Lawrence and Essex County, together with views of Lawrence & vicinity > Part 1
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Gc 974.402 L435k 2062087
M. L
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01068 1176
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/semicentennialhi00keog
GENERAL VIEW OF LAWRENCE.
%
SEMI-CENTENNIAL HISTORY
OF
LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS
CITY
INDUSTRIA
E
FOUNDED 1845
1833.
WITH
PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF
Prominent Citizens of Lawrence and Essex County, together with Views of the Leading Manufacturing Industries of the City. Also Photographic Views of Many of the Beauty Spots in Lawrence and Vicinty.
Compiled and Copyrighted by J. P. KEOGH. 1968.
Bailey & Rushforth, Printers, Lawrence, Mass.
33
19 10383 4
PREFACE.
The object of this History, published in connection with the celebration of the Semi-Centennial of Lawrence as a city is to present in a brief but attractive manner a few of the principal incidents in the history of Lawrence, with some notice and illustration of the principal industries which have made the city what it is to-day. Illustrations of some of the principal buildings and beauty spots of the city are also presented, together with brief sketches of some of the men who have helped in the development of Lawrence.
The Publisher desires to offer his congratulations to the citizens of Lawrence on the happy event just passed, and his hopes that the future of Lawrence may be as prosper- ous as has been its past.
THE PUBLISHER.
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LAWRENCE WATER WORKS-RESERVOIR FROM TOWER HILL.
$17.50
THE LAWRENCE DAM.
ABBOTT LAWRENCE, IN WHOSE HONOR THE CITY WAS NAMED.
5
HON. CHARLES S. STORROW, FIRST MAYOR OF LAWRENCE-1853.
6
HON. ALEXANDER L. GRANT, MAYOR OF LAWRENCE-1903.
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CORNELIUS J. CORCORAN, City Clerk.
WILLIAM H. RUSSELL, City Treasurer.
J. E. BURKE, Supt. of Schools.
RICHARD J. SHEA, City Auditor.
J. T. O'SULLIVAN, City Marshal.
J. H. DERBYSHIRE, Supt. Public Prop.
M. F. COLLINS, Supt. Water Works.
CHAS. G. RUTTER, Chief of Fire Dept.
CITY HALL.
IO
LIVING EX-MAYORS.
DANIEL SAUNDERS-1860. S. B. W. DAVIS-1871-72. CALEB SAUNDERS-1877.
CHARLES S. STORROW-1853. R. H. TEWKSBURY-1875.
HONORABLE CHARLES A. DECOURCY, ORATOR.
: 2
-
LIVING EX-MAYORS.
HENRY K. WEBSTER-1881. JOHN BREEN-1882-83-84.
JAMES R. SIMPSON-1878-79-80-85.
ALEXANDER B. BRUCE-1886-87. ALVIN E. MACK-1888-89-93
HON. ROBERT H. TEWKSBURY, POET.
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LIVING EX-MAYORS.
LEWIS P. COLLINS-1891.
JOHN W. CRAWFORD-1890
CHARLES G. RUTTER-1894-95.
HENRY P. DOE-1892.
JAMES F. LEONARD-1900-01-02.
EX-MAYOR JAMES R. SIMPSON.
JAMES R. SIMPSON is the only one of the many ex-mayors of Lawrence who has held the highest municipal office four terins. He was born in Canada in 1832. At the age of nine- teen he went to Boston and secured a position in a furniture store. Later, he worked in one of the mills in Lowell and in the print works at Manchester, N. H. Here he rose to the position of overseer, and remained there till the works were destroyed by fire. In the spring of 1853 he came to Lawrence and entered the employ of Shattuck Bros. He subsequently formed a co-partnership with Alfred A. Lam- prey, and for twenty years they conducted the grocery busi- ness under the firm name of A. A. Lamprey & Co. In 1878 Mr. Simpson purchased Mr. Lamprey's interest in the firm, and has since carried on the business alone, assisted by his son, James E. Simpson. The latter is a graduate of the Mas- sachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Simpson was an active promoter of the erection of the Merchants National Bank Building, and the United Order of Pilgrim Fathers Building, two of the finest structures on the main business street. Mr. Simpson is president and director of the Mer- chants Bank.
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LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS.
A BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH.
Lawrence has now reached its semi-centennial as a city, and the event has been fitly observed and celebrated by its. citizens, who are justly proud of its growth, and the hon- orable distinction which it has achieved among its sister cities of the Commonwealth. It is well, in connection with the observance of this anniversary, to pause and review in a brief manner the events which have brought the city to its present state of prosperity. The story has been often told, but it is ever new and interesting to our citizens.
Lawrence is situated in Latitude 42° 42' 13" North, and Longitude 71º 10' 13" West from Greenwich. It has an area of 4,500 acres, which is about equally divided by the Merrimack river, which flows through it from the west towards the east. That portion of the city which is north of the river was taken from Methuen, while that upon the south side of the river was taken from Andover. The ter- ritory on either side of the river was very poor for farming land and was sparsely settled; and it did not seem to the- few inhabitants who then occupied it to be of much value for anything else. The Andover side was known as "moose country," and the Methuen side was sometimes called "pov- erty plains."
But the energy and untiring labors of man have changed the face of nature; the swamps have been filled, some of the hills levelled, streets and parks constructed, and many beautiful public and private buildings have been erected; and to-day Lawrence is acknowledged to be a beautiful city.
It is situated on the Western Division of the Boston and Maine Railroad, twenty-six miles from Boston, and is also
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HON. WILLIAM A. RUSSELL.
THE late William A. Russell was born in Wells River, Vermont, April 22, 1831. In 1848 he commenced work in his father's paper mill in Exeter, N. H. In 1852 he began busi- ness on his own account, and later formed a co-partnership with his father, erecting their first paper mill in Lawrence in 1853 and 1854. About 1869 commenced the use of wood pulp in the manufacture of news paper, and established a plant for this purpose at Franklin, N. H., and Bellows Falls, Vt. In politics he was a Republican. In 1868, a member of the city government, and in 1869 representative in the State Legisla- ture. In 1872 he was a delegate to the National Republican Convention at Chicago that nominated Grant for his second term, and also to the Convention at Cincinnati that nominated Rutherford B. Hayes for President. Two years later he was chosen to represent the 7th Congressional District in the 46th Congress, where he was appointed a member of the committee on commerce and otherwise highly honored. He was re- elected to the 47th Congress, and yielding to the very general demands of his constituents, accepted a third nontination by acclamation and served in the 48th Congress. Although re- quested to accept a renomination for the 49th Congress, he declined, and again turned to his chosen pursuit, the manu- facture of paper, until his death.
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directly connected with the Eastern and Southern (or Low- ell) Divisions of that great railway system, thus giving it the best of facilities for intercourse with the markets of the country. In recent years the electric street railways have connected it with all the surrounding towns and ter- ritory, giving the best of opportunities for its citizens to reach the suburbs.
He would have been a bold prophet indeed, who should have predicted, on the day that Lawrence became a city, with a population of 12,000, that in fifty years there would be gathered here a population of a hundred thousand people, with all the material wealth and prosperity that properly attaches to such a population. And yet, if we include the parent towns from which Lawrence was taken, and which properly belong to the greater Lawrence of to-day, we are so very near that number that we can say that it is almost accomplished. The town of Methuen in the year 1845 had a population of only 2,400, and the town of Andover had about 6,000. To-day the territory then included in those two towns has a population of over 90,000. The following table will show the growth of Lawrence in periods of five years each :-
Year
Population
Polls
Valuation
Tax Rate
1845
150
33
1850
8,282
2,249
$5,942,926
$ 4 90
1855
16,08I
3,659
9.954,04I
7 80
I860
17,639
3,609
10,584,023
8 40
1865
21,678
4,147
12,793.273
13 50
1870
28,921
6,506
17,912,507
17 20
1875
34,016
8,120
24,117,373
17 60
1880
39,15I
9,024
24, 142,724
16 80
1885
38,862
9,981
27,144,054
16 60
1890
44,654
11,499
30,476,223
14 80
1895
52,164
14,124
33,533.588
16 00
1900
62.559
16,630
39,841,697
15 60
1903
70,000
42,000,000
To the invention of the cotton gin, the improvements
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CAPT. HORATIO G. HERRICK.
CAPT. HORATIO G. HERRICK was born at Alfred, Me., in 1824 ; is a graduate of Bowdoin College, and was a lawyer by profession. In war times he was appointed a draft commissioner for Essex County by Governor Andrew. In 1863 he was commissioned as Captain and Provost Marshal by the Secretary of War, and was mustered out October 15, 1865. That year he was elected Sheriff of this county, and held that important position for nearly thirty years, until his retire- ment from public life four years ago.
It was in this connection that Sheriff Herrick was known to all the people of the county. At the close of his last term he declined to be a candidate. He was appointed a member of the Board of Prison Commissioners in 1871. He has been president of the Board of Directors of the Industrial School for Boys in this city since its incorporation in 1874.
Mr. Herrick has always taken great interest in the pro- gress of Lawrence and welfare of her citizens. As sheriff he made a record equalled by few and excelled by none.
Mr. Herrick has been an honored member of the School Board. He is a trustee of the Lawrence Savings Bank. For many years an active member of the M. E. Church, also the Lawrence Board of Trade. He has resided in Lawrence since January I, 1866.
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made in the spinning frame and the loom, adapting them to be operated by power, with the thousand and one other inventions and improvements in machinery necessarily fol- lowing these, Lawrence may be said to owe its origin and remarkable growth. Account must also be taken of the active, brainy men who were quick to see and seize every point of advantage, and to push it for all it was worth. These, and not chance or luck, have made Lawrence what it is to-day.
The rapid and profitable growth of textile industries fol- lowing these inventions in machinery induced many to invest their money in such enterprises. The use of steam for power was then in its infancy, and water power seemed the most available for driving the machinery. The atten- tion of engineers and others was early attracted to the Merrimack river, with its many falls and rapids, as a most desirable source of power for manufacturing purposes. In 1821 the Pawtucket Falls at Chelmsford had been utilized, and the city of Lowell had grown up about them.
The attention of Daniel Saunders, a practical woolen manufacturer residing in Andover, and operating mills in that town and in Concord, N. H., had early been drawn to Peters' Falls and Bodwell's Falls in the Merrimack river, as an available site for a future manufacturing city. He quietly made surveys of the river, including these falls, and having satisfied himself of their practical value, in 1837 he bought the rights in Peters' Falls, and made some other purchases of land along the river, which gave him the key to the whole situation. Later on he associated with himself several gen- tlemen of large capital and wide experience in manufacturing enterprises, and some more purchases of land were made, and the availability of the situation more fully determined by further surveys.
In 1843 these gentlemen organized the Merrimack Water Power Association, of which Samuel Lawrence of Lowell was president and Daniel Saunders was agent. Of the gen- tlemen associated with Mr. Saunders in this organization, his son, Daniel Saunders, Jr., then a student at law in Lowell, is the only survivor. Mr. Saunders at this time had
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WM. M. WOOD, TREASURER OF AMERICAN WOOLEN CO.
Controlling thirty-three Worsted and Woolen Mills. Washington Mills of this city, one of their plants, employing over 6,000 people; also Globe Worsted Mills and Prospect Mills of this city. Payroll of these three mills, over two and one half million.
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disposed of his mills at North Andover and at Concord, and now gave his whole attention to securing titles in the lands which might be needed for the new enterprise. He was so far successful that nearly all the lands then thought to be desirable were obtained, at about double their real value as farming lands. In only two or three cases were sales absolutely refused.
The keen foresight, enterprise and continuous labors of Mr. Saunders in the years immediately preceding the be- ginning of the city, fully entitle him to be called the "Founder of Lawrence," and he is so recognized to-day. In 1888 his sons, Hon. Daniel Saunders, Jr., Charles W. Saun- ders and Hon. Caleb Saunders, presented to the city a fine portrait of their father to be placed in the City Hall. The following resolution was adopted by the Board of Aldermen in accepting the gift :-
"City of Lawrence. In Board of Aldermen, April 25, 1888.
"Resolved: that the thanks of this Board be tendered to Messrs. Daniel Saunders, Charles W. Saunders, and Caleb Saunders for the gift of the portrait of their father, the late Daniel Saunders, the founder of this city, and it is hereby ordered that the portrait be hung in the room of the Mayor and Aldermen as a perpetual memorial of one of Lawrence's most honored and revered citizens."
From the Merrimack Water Power Association was or- ganized the Essex Company, which was chartered by the Legislature March 20, 1845, with authority to construct a dam in Merrimack river, with locks and canals, and to create water power for manufacturing purposes, with a capital of $1,000,000. Abbott Lawrence was chosen president of the company and Charles S. Storrow was treasurer and general agent. The Essex Company acquired all the rights and privileges in the water power of the river, and the adjacent lands which the Water Power Association had secured, and also made further purchases of land in the vicinity.
Immediately following the organization of the company work was begun towards the erection of a dam and the
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HON. JOHN W. CRAWFORD, M. D.
Ex-Mayor Dr. John W. Crawford was born in Glasgow Scotland, in 1846. When two years old he accompanied his. parents to this country, and his early education was acquired in the public schools of Lawrence. He studied medicine and graduated from the Medical University in 1867. Establish- ing a practice in Lawrence, he was soon elected city phys- cian and for five years was chairman of the Board of Health. In 1890, he was chosen the standard bearer of the local democracy and was elected mayor.
He enjoys a large and lucrative practice. His office is at 265 Common street and his residence 41 Jackson street, this. city.
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construction of canals, streets and other work for the foun- dation of a new city. The first plans of the company were to lay out the principal part of the city on the south side of the river; but on the refusal of one of the company's purchasing agents to transfer to the Company a large tract of land which he had secured for the Company, the original plans were changed, and the northerly side of the river was adopted as the site of the future city.
The first stone in the construction of the dam was laid Sept. 19, 1845, and from that time forward work was pushed as rapidly as possible until it was completed. The dam is a solid structure of stone masonry, capable of withstanding any pressure that is likely to be put upon it. It has a clear overflow of nine hundred feet in width, and a fall of about twenty-six feet, and develops on an average about 12,000 horse power. Its cost was $250,000. There are canals on both sides of the river and parallel thereto. That on the north side is a little over a mile in length, and the one on the south side is nearly three-fourths of a mile long.
The first frame building erected was the office building for the company, which is now occupied as a dwelling by Mr. Simon Blakelin, near the northerly end of the dam. The first dwelling house completed was erected by the company on the westerly side of the Turnpike, now Broad- way, between Common and Lowell Streets, and was oc- cupied as a boarding house, and was kept by Timothy Os- good. The house is now owned by Edwin W. Pierce, and is numbered 110 on Broadway. The Bay State Mills, for the manufacture of woolen goods, and the Atlantic Cotton Mills, to make sheetings and shirtings, were chartered in 1846, and work was at once begun on these plants. The Essex Company built a large machine shop and foundry, which has since become the Everett Mills, making cotton goods. A saw mill was also operated by the company. Be- fore the town became a city the Pacific, the Pemberton, and the Lawrence Duck Mills were begun, and also several smaller industries.
A reservoir capable of holding 1,000,000 gallons was con- structed on Prospect Hill by the Essex, Bay State and At-
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7
JOSEPH WALWORTH.
JOSEPH WALWORTH, a prominent member of the Board of Trade, whose portrait appears herewith, tell thus in his own words, the story of his life : "They say I was born in Keighley, on the banks of the River Aire, within four miles of Haworth where Charlotte Bronte wrote 'Jane Eyre,' etc., but I only remember living in Bradford, Yorkshire. I came to Ballardvale in 1850, and worked for I. S. Young who founded the Pacific Mills. I came to Lawrence when the mills commenced operations. In 1860, before the war broke out, I went into manufacturing on my own ac- count in Salem, N. H. I did well, and was going to build a mill in Law- rence when Mr. Holmes, my predecessor, died, and I was offered the charge of the wool department in the Pacific Mills, which position I have held ever since under four different Treasurers. From 1871, when Mr. Chapin left the Pacific Mills, until 1880, I had entire control of the worsted business, both inside and out. I have spent at least seventy mil- lion dollars for the Pacific Mills. I have made eighty-seven single jour- neys to England and back, and hope to make many more."
JOSEPH WALWORTH.
lantic Companies, into which water was forced by the pumps at the mills, and from which pipes were laid in a few of the principal streets, with hydrants attached; thus furnish- ing a partial means for the extinguishment of fires, and also furnishing a supply of water under pressure for use in the mills. This system was maintained until the construction of the city Water Works in 1875. The same companies also. built the gas works in 1848 to supply the mills with gas; but within a year or two the works were sold to some Boston capitalists and incorporated as the Lawrence Gas Company. Henry G. Webber was the first manager of the works. Mr. George D. Cabot became agent of the company in 1854 and. retained that position until 1885, when he was succeeded by Mr. Charles J. R. Humphreys, the present agent. The ca- pacity of the works when built was 30,000 cubic feet per day. At the present time the capacity is 1,500,000 cubic feet per day, besides the electric lighting plants which are owned and. operated by the company.
The Boston and Maine Railroad, whose tracks had pre- viously run direct from Andover through North Andover to. Haverhill, changed its line so as to take in South Lawrence, and built a bridge across the river with a track to the north side. The line terminated near Water Street, where the first depot was erected. The first passenger train over the river was run February 28, 1848. Railroad lines were also. built to Lowell and to Salem, and the line across the river was later extended to Manchester, N. H. When this line- was completed the depot was moved to the present location on Essex Street.
The work required to be done in the laying out of the new enterprise, the building of the dam and canal, the con- struction of streets, the erection of mills, shops, stores and dwelling-houses, brought together a large number of work - men of all classes with their families, whose determination it was to make the new city their future home. They had no interests in Methuen or Andover as towns, and steps were at once taken to form a new town in which they could all be interested citizens.
Early in 1847 a petition was sent to the Legislature ask-
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WILLIAM E. HEALD.
WILLIAM E. HEALD was born at Temple, N. H., in 1839. Since 1860 he has been a resident of Lawrence, and actively engaged in business pursuits, until 1900, when, after four years as president of the L. Sprague Bobbin Manufactory, he retired. In 1878 he was chief engineer of the Lawrence fire department, and from his settling here until that year he had carried on the bottling business under the firm name of Wil- liam E. Heald & Co. Mr. Heald resides at 330 Haverhill street.
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ing for an act of incorporation for a new town to be called Lawrence. The towns of Methuen and Andover strenu- ously opposed the proposition. The loss of a portion of their territory, with the prospective addition to its valuation, was not to their liking. But the petitioners were finally suc- cessful, and an act was passed granting a charter for the new town, which was approved April 17, 1847. On Monday, April 26, 1847, the first town meeting was held under the charter, in Merrimack Hall, at the corner of Jackson and Common Streets, to elect officers for the new town, and to transact other necessary business. Hazen Flanders, a lawyer, was elected moderator; Dr. E. W. Morse, town clerk; Daniel Saunders, treasurer; James D. Herrick, Dr. William D. Lamb and Dan Weed, school committee; Wil- liam Swan, Charles F. Abbott, Nathan Wells, James Stevens and Lorenzo D. Brown, selectmen and assessors. Ten con- stables and other officers were also elected at this meeting. Dr. William D. Lamb and Daniel Saunders, Jr., who was an engineer of the fire department, are the only survivors of these officers. Both are still residents of the city, and are frequently seen upon the streets.
In the selection of a name for the new town there was much difference of opinion. Quite a number desired to honor the founder of the town, but Mr. Saunders was modest, and declined to have his name adopted. Others thought that it should be called after the beautiful river upon whose banks it was situated. In fact the first Post Office, which was established here Sept. 7, 1846, was given the name of Merrimack. Other names were proposed, but public opinion finally settled upon the name of Lawrence, and at a meeting of a considerable number of residents held Jan. 13, 1847, that name was adopted as the one to go into the petition for a charter. This was in honor of the family of that name which had given such strong financial support to the new enterprise, as well as showing its inter- est in many other ways. Abbott Lawrence was president of the Essex Company, and had subscribed one-tenth of the capital stock of the company. Samuel Lawrence had been president of the Merrimack Water Power Association, and
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DR. CHARLES E. BIRTWELL.
CHARLES E. BIRTWELL was born in Scotland in 1861, and came to Lawrence in 1864. He remained in this city- until 1869, when he removed to Providence, R. I., and at- tended the Public Schools. In 1884 he graduated in medicine and, returning to Lawrence in that year, has been engaged in the practice of his profession since that time.
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was very much interested with Mr. Saunders in the be- ginnings of the new enterprise. He was agent of the Mid- dlesex Mills at Lowell, and was later treasurer of the Bay State Mills here.
In the southeast corner of the City Hall there is a brick which is stamped "S. Lawrence; A. Lawrence," and which many have supposed to refer to Samuel Lawrence and to Amos or Abbott Lawrence, or both. The fact is, however, that the names stand for Samuel Lawrence and Alison Lawrence, his wife. Mr. Lawrence had some bricks thus stamped for use at his house in Lowell, and had one placed in one of the old Bay State mills, and also sent one to be placed in the new town hall. It was said at the time that the "A" would answer as well for either Amos or Abbott as for Alison.
In the laying out of the streets of the new town the Es- sex Company reserved a tract of land near the centre, con- taining about seventeen and one-half acres, and in Septem- ber, 1848, offered to give it to the town for a common, on the condition that for twenty years the town should main- tain a suitable fence around it and expend annually a sum not less than $300.00 in improving it; the money to be spent under the direction of the agents of the Essex, Bay State and Atlantic companies with the chairman of the board of selectmen or the Mayor. The conditions attached did not meet the approval of the citizens, and at a town meeting held September 23d to take action on the proposal, it was voted by a majority of two not to accept the gift. A second meet- ing was held on the 7th of October to again consider the matter, the question having been pretty freely discussed in the meantime. At this meeting the action of the previous meeting was reconsidered, and the proposition of the Essex Company was accepted by a nearly unanimous vote. Long before the twenty years had expired, the city was spending annually a much larger sum than $300.00. During the year 1849 the elms around the Common were set out, and lin- den trees were planted along the diagonal paths. These lindens died out in a very few years, and have been re- placd by the beautiful maples which now adorn the Com-
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