USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lowell > Hand book of business in Lowell : with a history of the city > Part 4
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DEALERS SUPPLIED ON USUAL TERMS.
44 HISTORY OF LOWELL:
The proprietors of the Middlesex Canal were incorporated in 1793. Mr. Weston, an eminent English engineer, was employed to survey the channel of the canal ; and Loammi Baldwin of Wo- burn superintended its construction, and was the animating soul of that stupendous work. This canal began on the Merrimac, about a mile above Pawtucket Falls, extended south by east a distance of twenty-seven miles, and terminated in Charlestown. It was completed in 1804, and cost over six hundred thousand dollars. In digging this canal, pine cones and charcoal were found, twelve feet below the surface ; specimens of which are still exhibited in the Museum at Cambridge.
As the competition of the Middlesex Canal ruinously reduced the value of the property in the Pawtucket Canal,-so, in the re- tributive justice of years, other competition extinguished the value of the stock in the Middlesex Canal. It has long ceased to be navigated. Portions of it have been filled up. Most of the sale- able property of the company has been disposed of ; and an ap- plication for a dissolution of their corporate existence, has for several years been pending in the Supreme Judicial Court. But as the law-suits, like the sins, of the fathers, are usually visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generations,-the end of this affair may not be expected until the present historian and his cotemporary readers shall have gone " the way of all flesh," and tulips and geraniums are in full blossom over their graves.
Events between 1800 and 1820.
WITH the opening of the current century dawned a new era in the history of the United States,-the era of Manufactures. Close upon the age of Revolution followed the age of Mechanism. To those sires who gave to this country her independent political ex- istence, were born sons who created a new and mighty arm of national wealth. In this, as in other places, the first attempts in manufactures were faint and feeble. Mr. Moses Hale started the
45
HAND-BOOK OF ITS BUSINESS.
DAILY CITIZEN AND NEWS
44 Central Street, Lowell.
This is not surpassed by any office in New England, for its means of execut- ing all kinds of
JOB AND FANCY PRINTING For plain or colored posters it has the
LARGEST SIZED HAND-PRESS IN AMERICA !
It is furnished with all kinds of type, cuts, borders, &c., and its supply is continually increased from the newest fonts that appear; its proprietors are both practical printers and do their own work, so that their jobs are always in the best style.
All kinds of printing done at short notice and fair prices, in
Gold, Silver, Bronze, Flock, Red, Green, Blue, Black or any Desired Color ; For instance,
SERMONS, ADDRESSES, CATALOGUES, TOWN REPORTS, SHOP-BILLS, BLANKS, TICKETS, PROGRAMMES, POSTERS AND HANDBILLS, LABELS, VISITING AND WEDDING CARDS, &C., &C.
THE DAILY CITIZEN & NEWS
Is published at $4 a year, and has the largest subscription list of any daily paper in Middlesex County. It is " American Republican" in politics.
THE WEEKLY AMERICAN CITIZEN,
Is issued at $2 a year, and is of the largest size, having MORE READING MAT- TER THAN ANY OTHER PAPER IN NEW ENGLAND. 1Postage free in Middlesex County, for the weekly. JOHN A. GOODWIN, Political and General Editor. ENOCH EMERY, City Editor and Reporter.
BROWN & MOREY, Proprietors,
No. 44 Central Street, nearly opposite the Post Office.
GEO. F. MOREY.
LEONARD BROWN.
46
HISTORY OF LOWELL:
first carding machine in his mill on River Meadow Brook, in 1801. But the growth of the place, for some years, was owing chiefly to other than manufacturing operations.
Some internal improvements were made. The bridge, built across Merrimac River at Pawtucket Falls in 1792, was demol- ished in 1805, and a new bridge, with stone piers and abutments, constructed in its place. The cost of this new bridge exceeded fourteen thousand dollars. This bridge is still standing, though essential improvements have been made in it from time to time.
In 1812, the people of the United States and Great Britain engaged a second time in the agreeable diversion of cutting each other's throats. Our commerce was well nigh ruined by becom- ing the prey of British cruisers ; and the embargo imposed by President Jefferson, annihilated what little of it remained. Until then, most of our manufactured goods were imported from Eng- land. Domestic manufactures there were comparatively none, except such rustic fabrics as were spun upon the spinning-wheel, and woven upon the hand-loom, by the dames of the rural dis- tricts. No sooner was importation stopped by the war, than im- ported fabrics commanded " famine prices." Public attention was irresistibly attracted, and a powerful impetus given, to Ameri- can manufactures. Large investments of capital were made ; and mills started up all over the Union, but more especially in Massachusetts. Such of them as were started here, were driven by Concord River power. No man was yet bold enough to think of converting the lordly Merrimac into a propeller of machinery ; and the millenium of cotton-mills had not yet come.
In 1813, Captain Phineas Whiting and Colonel Josiah Fletcher erected a wooden cotton-mill on the present site of the Middlesex Company's mills, at an outlay of about three thousand dollars, and carried on the business with some success. The year 1815 will long be remembered by the occurrence of the most disastrous gale that had swept New England since the famous gale of 1635, when the tide rose twenty feet perpendicularly in Narragansett Bay. The gale was particularly severe in the town of Chelms- ford, then including Lowell. It " spread the ruin round," like a devastating fire. No less than fifty thousand cords of standing
47
HAND- BOOK OF ITS BUSINESS.
DR. CUTTER'S
CHEST EXPANDING SUSPENDER
-AND -
SHOULDER BRACE,
For Ladies and Gentlemen, PA NEW AND SUPERIOR ARTICLE.
MANUFACTURED BY
GEO. W. WALKER,
48 Central St., Lowell, Mass,
APOTHECARIES.
E. A. STANIELS and EDWARD BUSH,
AND FOR SALE BY
MERRILL,
DR. S. CUTTER,
MAGNETIC AND CLAIRVOYANT PHYSICIAN, Office, 221 Central Street, Lowell, Mass.
GEO. W. WALKER
Is AGENT FOR THE FOLLOWING FIRE INSURANCE COMPANIES : People's, of Worcester, with Capital of $450,000 ; Holyoke Stock and Mutual, of Salem, Capital $400,000, Both paying large dividends. Also the International Life Ins. Co., of London, Capital $500,000, Working Men's Loan and Fund Association, of Salem, Paying large interest. For particulars call on the Agent,
GEO. W. WALKER,
48 Central Street.
48
HISTORY OF LOWELL:
timber, besides several houses, were destroyed, -the trees being torn up by the roots, and the houses removed from their founda- tions.
The saw-mill and grist-mill of the Messrs. Bowers, at Pawtucket Falls, were started in 1816. About the same time, another saw- mill was started at Wamesit Falls, in Belvidere, and a grist-mill on the other side of the Falls, by Mr. N. Tyler, and still another saw-mill on River Meadow Brook, by Mr. M. Hale. Mr. Ford's saw-mill, which then stood directly at the junction of the Concord and Merrimac rivers, has become famous as the scene where he killed an Indian. There had been a quarrel between the parties ; and the Indian had " an oath in heaven" to kill Mr. Ford. One night when Mr. Ford was at work in this saw-mill, he observed the Indian skulking about secretly in the mill. He watched his opportunity, sprung unawares upon the Indian, and threw him into the wheel-pit, killing him by the fall.
Mr. Moses Hale started the powder mills on Concord River, with forty pestles, in 1818. Mr. Oliver M. Whipple and Mr. William Tileston of Boston, engaged in the business with Mr. Hale in 1819. In 1821, Mr. Moses Hale disposed of his inter- est in the business to Mr. David Hale, who retained his connec- tion with it till 1827, when he in turn sold out to his partners, and became editor of the New York Journal of Commerce. Mr. Tileston retired in 1829, and Mr. Whipple remained as sole pro- prietor. The business was enlarged from time to time, and was in its zenith during the Mexican War. Nearly a million pounds of powder were manufactured here during a single year of that contest. How many Mexicans were killed by the powder here made, can never be fully ascertained this side of Immortality ! It is sufficient for the utilitarian philosopher to know that a large fortune was amassed by Mr. Whipple by the manufacture of this " destructive element." At a festival of the sons and daughters of Vermont, in Lowell, in 1854, Mr. Whipple, among other things, remarked, that, when he first came to Lowell, in 1818, his whole capital was but six hundred dollars. His subsequent success in his business operations entitles him to a high place among those who, without the aid of inherited wealth, make their
HAND - BOOK OF ITS BUSINESS. 49
AMOS SANBORN,
MANUFACTURER OF
SILVER SPOONS,
SILVER WARE, JEWELRY, &C., POST OFFICE CORNER, Corner of Central and Middle Streets, Lowell, Mass.
At my establishment, may be found AT ALL TIMES a large assortment of TEA AND TABLE SPOONS, Tea and Dining Forks, Butter and Tea Knives, SILVER TEA SETS, CUPS, GOBLETS & PITCHERS, SOUP AND GRAVY LADLES, NAPKIN RINGS, &c., &c.
AMERICAN WATCHES, A superior timekeeper, direct from the Manufactory.
Also, a Large Assortment of Gold and Silver Watches, Of my own importation, and warranted time keepers. A large assortment of all kinds of FASHIONABLE JEWELRY,
Plated and Britannia Ware, in large and chaste variety, GOLD AND SILVER SPECTACLES, EYE GLASSES, &c. [Old Silver made over into Spoons, Medals, Badges, &c. #*DOOR PLATES made to order. ENGRAVING of all kinds neatly exe- cuted. Fine Watches and Jewelry carefully repaired and warranted.
5
50/
HISTORY OF LOWELL:
own fortunes, and conquer their own position in the world. The powder works were sold, in 1855, to Messrs. G. G. Newhall & Co., of Boston, and removed to Gorham in Maine. No gun- powder is now known to be manufactured in Lowell.
The cotton mill started by Messrs. Whiting and Fletcher in 1813, was sold in 1818 to Mr. Thomas Hurd. He converted it into a woollen mill, and run sixteen hand-looms for the manufac- ture of satinets. He also built a larger brick mill for the manu- facture of the same class of goods. Mr. Hurd's mill was destroyed by fire, and rebuilt in 1826. Mr. Hurd continued to run these works till the great reaction of trade in 1828, when he became bankrupt. These premises were purchased in 1830 by the Mid- dlesex Company.
Mr. Hurd was originally from Albany, in New York. He was so much encouraged by his own prospects, on establishing himself here in 1818, that he prevailed upon his former fellow- townsman, Mr. Winthrop How, to start a mill for the manufac- ture of flannels at Wamesit Falls in Belvidere. Mr. How con- tinued to manufacture flannels by hand-looms till 1827, when he sold his mill to Harrison How. Mr. Harrison How introduced power-looms in lieu of hand-looms, and continued the business till 1831, when he sold to Mr. John Nesmith and others. The sub- sequent history of these mills will be traced in a future chapter.
The bridge built across the Concord near its mouth in 1774, was demolished in 1819, and its place supplied by a superior structure. The bridge on East Merrimac Street, connecting Bel- videre with the main part of the city, stands on the site of the bridge of 1819 ; the last-named bridge having been several times renewed.
The dam across Concord River at Massic Falls, where Rich- mond's Batting Mills now stand, was constructed about this time, and a Forging Mill established there, by Messrs. Fisher & Ames. Their works were considerably extended in 1823, and continued by them till 1836, when they sold their privilege to Mr. P. O. Richmond, of whose works an account will be given hereafter.
In 1820, the village of East Chelmsford contained two hun- dred inhabitants. Had not the Boston capitalists who were at
51
HAND-BOOK OF ITS BUSINESS.
S. T. LANCASTER, MERCHANT TAILOR.
DEALER IN BROADCLOTHS, CASSIMERES, DOESKINS, VESTINGS, &C., - ALSO - READY-MADE
CLOTHING
-AND -
FURNISHING GOODS, FOR CASH ONLY.
Nos. 7 and 8 Appleton Block, CENTRAL STREET,
UNDER APPLETON BANK, LOWELL, MASS.
Gentlemen who value a genteel and tasty garment are most respectfully solicited to give this establishment A CALL.
52
HISTORY OF LOWELL:
that time concerned in the mills at Waltham, commenced opera- tions here on the " Waltham system," the future growth of the place must have been slow ; and ages, perhaps, would have been required to achieve what they accomplished in a single quarter- century. Waltham is justly regarded as the parent of Lowell.
Some half-dozen farms, owned and occupied by intelligent and
COURT HOUSE.
substantial families, embraced the chief part of the present city. How's flannel mill was all that distinguished Belvidere from other neighborhoods of Tewksbury. But there, in his house on the margin of the Merrimac, lived Hon. Edward S. L. Livermore, whose personal talents, public reputation, and fireside hospitality
53
HAND-BOOK OF ITS BUSINESS.
J. RUSSELL SPALDING'S
ROSE MARY
Take the sweetest of names and the fairest of flowers, Combine them, and lo, what a treasure is ours ? For blooming in winter, when earth is all dreary,
We hail with delight the green fragrant ROSE-MARY.
ROSE
MARY
The Great and Popular Preparation for the Hair. IT WILL ORNAMENT, CLEANSE, SOFTEN, EMBELLISH, AND GIVE
RICHNESS AND BRILLIANCY TO THE HAIR.
It has stood the test of time and use, and can be relied upon as one of the best articles in the world for the purposes it is recommended. It removes Dandruff, relieves the Headache. To prevent the Hair from falling off, re- storing it to bald places, and forcing its growth wherever nature intended it should grow, the Rosemary has been used with as much success, probably, as any article ever known. It keeps the Hair in a healthy state, giving to all Hair, natural and false, a rich glossy appearance.
PRICE 25 CENTS AND $1,00 PER BOTTLE.
MANUFACTURER AND PROPRIETOR, J. RUSSELL SPALDING, DRUGGIST AND APOTHECARY.
The fac-simile of his signature is on every bottle of the genuine.
PRINCIPAL. DEPOT,
NO. 27 TREMONT STREET, opp. Museum, Boston, Mass. DEPOT FOR POPULAR MEDICINES, PERFUMERY, Fancy Goods, &c.
Clinton's New Instantaneous Hair Dye, O
Price $1.00.
French's Hair Remover, for taking off Surplus Hair, Price 50 Cents. Silver Plating Fluid, for Coating Metals with Silver, Price 25 Cents and $1.00. Jng Perfumery,-12 kinds, in Small Stone Ings, Price 25 Cents cach, My articles are for sale by Druggists and Merchants throughout the coun- try. Orders addressed to me will receive prompt attention.
J. RUSSELL SPALDING,
27 TREMONT STREET, BOSTON, [OPPOSITE MUSEUM.]
5E
54
HISTORY OF LOWELL:
gave eclat to the place. He had sat as judge in the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, at a time when something more than partizanship was demanded of judges ; he had represented Mas- sachusetts in Congress, when men of small calibre were very wisely kept at home ; he had stood in the front rank of his pro- fession as a lawyer ; and, having now retired from practice, lived here in the enjoyment of all the otium cum dignitate of Cicero.
But the focus of fashion, the centre of gravity, of the place, was at the head of the Pawtucket Canal. There, lived Hon. Ashael Stearns, one of the ablest lawyers of his time, afterwards law-professor at Harvard University. There, also, lived Phineas Whiting, James Bowers, John Ford, Elisha Ford, and others, whose families possessed considerable local importance. But events were at hand, which threw this order of things far into the shade. Manufactures came on a mammoth scale; and all these things were totally eclipsed.
Patrick T. Jackson and Francis C. Lowell.
WE have now arrived at that period in our history, when, through the combined efforts of a few organizing minds, Lowell became, in the elegant phrase of Hon. Edward Everett, " the noble city of the arts." The history of the active leaders in any community is necessarily, in some measure, the history of the community itself. This is preeminently so with that little band of great minds, who established the institutions that have given character and an historical position to Lowell,-who turned the industry of New England into channels unexplored before, and opened to their country new and inexhaustible resources of wealth in the manufacture of cotton.
All who regard man as something more than a piece of mech- anism, the plaything of circumstances, a waif on the storm-tossed sea of chance ; all who regard him as a free moral agent, gifted with great powers and high responsibilities, will attribute much of the success of our institutions to the energy and virtue of those
55
HAND - BOOK OF ITS BUSINESS.
.
MASTA'S
INDIAN PULMONIC BALSAM.
For COLDS, COUGHS, INFLUENZA,
HOARSENESS, BRONCHITIS, WHOOPING-COUGH, ASTHMA, And for all Diseases that lead to CONSUMPTION.
MASTA'S INDIAN PULMONIC BALSAM
Is warranted to cure, effectually and completely, the above named diseases, if used in season. It is a remedy for diseases of the lungs, second to no other preparation. That medicine does not exist that will compare with it in its prompt and speedy effi- cacy in relieving colds, coughs, and diseases of the lungs in gen- eral. Such is the unanimous opinion with regard to it where it has been thoroughly tried.
Those whose lungs are so diseased as to be beyond the reach of remedial agents, will derive greater relief than from any other medicine of the kind. Composed entirely of vegetables, thoroughly prepared and highly concentrated, free from minerals and poisonous acids, it can be relied on at all times, under all circumstances, and for all ages with perfect safety .- Hundreds in this city have been speedily cured by it, of the above named diseases, who can testify to the same.
To dealers in medicine it will be afforded at the usual rates, with bills and certificates, and sent by express to any section of the country, from which orders are received.
All orders and letters addressed to the manufacturer, at Low- ell, Mass., will receive prompt attention.
Sold by the manufacturer, at his office, and by all dealers in medicine in the city.
JOS. A. MASTA.
56
HISTORY OF LOWELL:
by whom they were established. The names of Patrick T. Jack- son, Francis C. Lowell, Kirk Boott, Paul Moody, Ezra Worthen, Warren Colburn, the Appletons, the Lawrences, and the whole gallery of the founders of Lowell, will ever be gratefully remem- bered by the people of this place. Their memories
" Smell sweet and blossom in the dust."
Characters such as these form the true nobility of America. They are the genuine aristocracy,-not the aristocracy of birth, or of accidental position,-but the aristocracy of genius, of char- acter, and of personal achievement. From the universal bank- ruptcy consequent upon the last war with Great Britain, their power of mechanical invention, their business sagacity, their exec- utive ability, raised the country to competence and to wealth. They drew copious streams of wealth from the raw cotton of the south, as Moses of old drew streams of pure water from the barren rock of the desert. What is most remarkable is, that there was nothing miserly about them,-that the same minds that possessed capacity to amass so much wealth, also possessed the munificence to spend it as though the notion of profit had never been enter- tained at all.
In this constellation of our city's fathers, the name of Patrick T. Jackson is the first that arrests our attention, and the last. He was the Nestor of that band, and stood " in glory above his peers." Born on the 14th of August, 1780, he was the youngest son of Hon. Jonathan Jackson of Newburyport. He came of the true Celto-Saxon stock. His father had been a member of the Continental Congress in 1782, Marshal of the District of Massa- chusetts under Washington, and filled other distinguished posi- tions in State and Nation. In the times that tried men's souls, that father had won distinction for his Roman firmness in the Patriot cause. The grandfather of Mr. Jackson, on his mother's side, was Patrick Tracy, an Irishman by birth, who came to this country young, poor and friendless, and made himself by his own. talents one of the wealthiest men of Newburyport.
Mr. Jackson was educated in the public schools of his native town, and subsequently at Dummer Academy. When fifteen
57
HAND - BOOK OF ITS BUSINESS.
SAMUEL KIDDER, JR.,
Drugist Thatheury
Corner of Merrimack and John Streets,
Wholesale and Retail Dealer in
DRUGS, MEDICINES AND FANCY ARTICLES, PER- FUMERY, GLASS WARE, PROPRIETARY MED- ICINES, TARTARIC ACID, ROCHELLE SALTS, PURE CREAM TARTAR, SUP. CARB. SODA, INDELLIBLE INK, LEECHES SHA- KERS' HERBS, &c, &c.
Also, is sole Agent in Lowell for
Jayne's Celebrated Family Medicines, Townsend's Sarsapa- rillla, Davis' Pain Killer, Radway's Ready Relief, Christie,s Galvanic Articles, Weaver's Canker Syrup, Dyer's Washing Fluid, and many other valuable preparations.
PHYSICIANS' PRESCRIPTIONS AND FAMILY MEDICINES
put up at all hours of the day and night, by a competent person, with neatness, accuracy, and despatch.
All medicines warranted genuine and of the best quality ; if they do not prove such, the money will be cheerfully refunded.
It is the aim of the proprietor of this store to use in the com- pounding and sale of medicines, those of a
PURE AND UNADULTERATED CHARACTER,
and the public have, by their liberal patronage, appreciated it. Grateful for past favors, a continuance of the same is solicited. The proprietor devotes his personal attention to business.
Having had many years' experience in the business, and been established in Lowell thirteen years, customers may depend upon receiving satisfaction for patronage bestowed upon this establish- ment.
LOWELL, JULY, 1856.
58
HISTORY OF LOWELL:
years of age, he became the apprentice of Mr. William Bartlett, a rich merchant in Newburyport, and distinguished himself by his industry and by his proficiency in his business. Before he attained the age of twenty, he was considered competent to go as master of a cargo of merchandise to the Island of St. Thomas, in the West Indies. Soon after returning from St. Thomas, he went to Madras and Calcutta as clerk to his elder brother, Cap- tain Henry Jackson ; and acquired such proficiency in navigation and seamanship during the voyage, that on his return, he was allowed to take the entire charge of a ship and cargo in the same trade.
He completed three East India voyages in this capacity, and was at the Cape of Good Hope in 1806, when that valuable colony was taken from the Dutch by the English. In 1808, he returned home, relinquished the sea, and engaged in commercial pursuits at Boston. Assisted by his brother-in-law, Francis C. Lowell, he engaged largely in the East India trade. In 1811, his affairs having become seriously embarrassed, he called together his prin- cipal creditors, and gave them a lucid exposition of his affairs. He showed that if they would allow him a little time, he could meet all his liabilities, and still have a surplus left ; but that if they pressed him to an immediate settlement, his assets would not be sufficient to meet half their lawful claims. This exposi- tion was entirely satisfactory ; his request was acceded to; and at the end of that year, he found himself, as he expressed it, "on his legs again." This event illustrates, more than any eulogy, the character of the man.
The business of Mr. Jackson was suspended by the war of 1812. Mr. Francis C. Lowell had just then returned after a long absence in England and Scotland. Mr. Lowell was a fellow- townsman of Mr. Jackson. He was the son of Hon. John Lowell, and was born in Newburyport in 1774, being six years Mr. Jackson's senior. He had graduated at Harvard in 1763, and had spent the last two years abroad on account of his health. In a published Memoir of Mr. Lowell, Hon. Edward Everett observes, that the vast importance of manufacturing industry, as a source of national wealth, was strongly impressed upon Mr. Lowell's
59
HAND-BOOK OF ITS BUSINESS.
B. H. PENHALLOW'S Extensive Printing Establishment,
(WYMAN'S EXCHANGE,) CORNER OF MERRIMACK AND CENTRAL STREETS, LOWELL, MASS. ESTABLISHED IN 1846.
Schoe
THIS OFFICE, being constantly supplied with the NEWEST, and most ELEGANT styles of Type and Borders, is ready at all times, to furnish, at short notice, in the BEST MANNER, and at the LOWEST LIVING PROFIT, every variety
-OF-
TER
PRESS P
Wedding Cards,
Such as Factory Labels, Cloth Tickets,
Bill Heads,
Presentation Cards,
Blanks and Cards,
Sermons,
Ball Tickets,
Bills of Exchange,
Addresses,
Concert Tickets,
Notes, Drafts,
Reports,
Envelopes,
Bank Checks, Receipts,
Catalogues,
'Tags,
Show Cards,
Circulars,
Savings' Bank Books Pass Books, Programmes,
Labels of all kinds,
Deeds, Leases,
Orders of Dances, Business Cards,
Show Bills,
Policies of Insurance,
School do.
Paper Signs,
Bills of Lading,
Address do.
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