USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : containing carefully prepared histories of every city and town in the county, Vol. II > Part 16
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the committee postponed their visit until the next morning. When the general was informed of their mission, he said, " I will put on my coat and start now."
As early as September 4, 1868, Z. E. Stone, the editor of the Vox Populi, called the attention of the old residents of Lowell to the necessity of form- ing an association for the purpose of collecting and preserving its history. The first meeting was held at the bookstore of Joshua Merrill on Merrimack Street, November 21. E. B. Patch called the meet- ing to order; George Brownell was chosen chairman, and Z. E. Stone secretary. Fifty-four persons were present, and a committee of eleven, consisting of John O. Green, J. G. Peabody, Charles Morrill, George Brownell, E. B. Patch, E. M. Read, Sam- uel Fay, Artemas L. Brooks, Charles Hovey, Z. E. Stone, and E. B. Howe, was chosen to report a permanent organization. Another meeting was held December 19, but the room was too small for the numbers present, and it was adjourned to meet in Jackson Hall December 21. At this meeting the report of the committee on permanent organ- ization was accepted, a constitution adopted, and the following officers were chosen : President, John O. Green, 1868-1879 ; vice-president, A. L. Brooks, 1868, Jefferson Bancroft, 1879; secretary and treasurer, Z. E. Stone, 1868, Alfred Gilman, 1871 - 1879. Executive committee : Ward One, J. B. Francis, 1868, Edward Tufts, 1868, J. W. Smith, 1879, Charles Hovey, 1879 ; Ward Two, Joshua Merrill, 1868- 1879, J. P. Jewett, 1868, A. B. French, 1879 ; Ward Three, Hapgood Wright, 1868 - 1879, E. B. Patch, 1868, Alfred Gilman, 1879; Ward Four, E. F. Watson, 1868 - 1879, Benjamin Walker, 1868 - 1879; Ward Five, J. G. Peabody, 1868 - 1879, Charles Morrill, 1868-1879; Ward Six, J. K. Chase, 1868, Wil- liam Kittredge, 1879, E. B. Howe, 1868- 1879.
The name adopted was The Old Residents' Historical Association of Lowell, and the purpose, " to collect, arrange, preserve, and, perhaps, from time to time, publish any facts relating to the his- tory of the city of Lowell ; as also to gather and keep all printed or written documents, as well as traditional evidence of every description, relating to the city."
At the first annual meeting, May 3, 1869, Presi- . dent Green delivered an address. This plan has been preserved and continued very much to the satisfaction of the members, and to the material interests of the Association. The Association at that
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time numbered eighty-five. At the meeting May 4, 1871, it was voted to hold meetings quarterly, com- mencing with May. At the meeting November 10, 1871, Alfred Gilman was chosen secretary and treasurer in place of Z. E. Stone, resigned. As evidence of the interest felt in the objects of the Association, the number of members has increased from eighty-five in 1869 to three hundred and twenty-four in 1879.1 The meetings have been well attended, and four numbers of the Contribu- tions have been printed, containing historical mat- ter of great interest.
February 20, 1869, the question in regard to a supply of pure water was again agitated. An esti- mate, by the engineer, gave the cost at $740,000. J. B. Francis in a pamphlet discussed the matter, and gave, as his opinion, that the cost would amount to $2,000,000. February 23, the vote was in favor of the introduction of water; yeas 1,866, nays 1,418.
The council sanctioned the natural-filter plan, and authorized the commissioners to sink test-wells. This was done, and proved so satisfactory that the water-works were constructed accordingly. They were completed in 1873; in 1879 the whole cost, including everything, was $2,682,493.01, from which deduct the income, $ 566,322.88, leaving net cost, $2,116,107.13.
Lowell is provided with the only complete sys- tem in the country for obtaining pure water by natural filtration. Subsequent efforts to increase the quantity by artificial filtration are liable to the criticism that an extension of the gallery would have effected the same result.
May 26, 1869, the Lowell Hosiery Company was incorporated with a capital stock limited to $200,000. The company started with $100,000, which was increased to $175,000. January 15, 1872, the charter was granted to William F. Salmon, Thomas Nesmith, Hocum Hosford, and their asso- ciates and successors.
June, 1870, the Thorndike Manufacturing Com- pany commenced operations on Thorndike Street, extending back to Hale's Brook. The mill is of wood, three stories high, with a flat roof. The specialty of this company is the manufacture of suspenders. A. C. Russell is superintendent, D. C. G. Field, treasurer.
July 31, 1870, Colonel Thomas Nesmith died. In his will he gave $25,000, to be held in trust, the income to be expended for the benefit of the
1 Since the organization seventy-seven members have died.
poor in the city of Lowell; $3,000 to the town of Windham, New Hampshire, for the purchase of a library ; and $1,000 to be held in trust, the income to be expended for the benefit of the Sabbath school of High Street Church.
March 14, 1871, the city council appropriated $15,000 to establish a fire-alarm telegraph; and voted to rebuild Pawtucket Bridge.
April 11, the Central Savings Bank was organ- ized.
This year the heirs of Zadock Rogers offered the city thirty acres of land, on Fort Hill, as a gift.
August 22, the cars commenced running on the Lowell and Framingham Railroad.
The first case of small-pox appeared February 8, and gradually spread throughout the city until September, when the measures taken to check its spread were so inadequate that great dissatisfaction was manifested. The old board of health resigned, and a new one was elected, with a board of con- sulting physicians. Measures were promptly taken to check the ravages of the epidemic, which were successful. The whole number of cases was 570, of deathis 172.
November 25, the new iron bridge across the Merrimack River, at Pawtucket Falls, was com- pleted.
A new bridge was completed at Tyngsborough, and the cost assessed by the county commissioners as follows : Middlesex County thirty-eight, Tyngs- borough forty, Lowell sixteen, Dunstable three, and Chelmsford three per cent of the amount.
May 6, John W. Tilton found a skeleton two feet below the surface in excavating on the high land at the corner of Central and Whipple streets. It is supposed to be that of an Indian. In March, 1874, another was found in Belvidere, while ex- cavating on the line of the Lowell and Andover Railroad.
Lowell, in 1873, received a large accession of territory. That portion of Chelmsford called Mid- dlesex Village was annexed, with an area of one thousand acres, estimated to contain fifty-five fami- lies, two hundred and sixteen inhabitants, and forty- seven voters. The valuation was $200,000. One thousand acres were annexed from Dracut, and six hundred and sixty acres from Tewksbury.
December 1, 1874, the new railroad to Boston via Andover run its first passenger train.
March 1, 1876, the celebration of the semi-cen- tennial of the incorporation of the town of Lowell occurred.
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The celebration consisted of three parts : Morn- ing, Afternoon, and Evening. The mayor, Charles A. Stott, was president of the day.
The morning celebration was devoted to the children. There was a choir of five hundred pupils from the public schools under the direction of George F. Willey.
The afternoon services commenced at one o'clock, and were attended by the clergy, members of the bar, physicians, the Ladies' Centennial Association, and the Old Resident's Historical Association. The music was by the Lowell Choral Society and the Germania Orchestra of Boston, Carl Zerrahn conductor.
Overture, " Raymond " (Ambroise Thomas), by the Germa- nia Orchestra.
Prayer, by the Rev. Theodore Edson, S. T. D., Chaplain of the day.
Choral, "To God on High" (Mendelssohn), by the Lowell Choral Society.
Oration, by Major-General Benjamin F. Butler.
Ode (to the music of Keller's American Hymn), John F. Frye, sung by the Lowell Choral Society.
Addresses by Hon. John A. Lowell, Rt. Rev. T. M. Clark,
D. D., Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, and Rev. A. A. Miner, D. D.
Chorus, " The Heavens are telling," from the " Creation " (Haydn), by the Lowell Choral Society.
Historical Reminiscences, by Dr. John O. Green, Presi- dent Old Residents' Historical Association.
Hallelujah Chorus, from the " Messiah " (Handel), by the Lowell Choral Society.
Letters from Hon. J. G. Abbott, Hon. Seth Ames, Sam- uel Batchelder, and others.
Poem, by John S. Colby.
Old Hundred (Luther), by the Lowell Choral Society and the audience.
Benediction, by the Chaplain.
After the overture, Charles Cowley, Esq., chair- man of the committee, introduced the Hon. C. A. Stott, president of the day, who extended a cordial welcome to those present. Rev. Theodore Edson, S. T. D., rector of St. Anne's Church, and chaplain of the day, read the litany; the responses were sung by the choir of St. Anne's Church. The speakers were introduced very pleasantly by the president.
The whole celebration was characterized by the perfect order of the arrangements, the great in- terest displayed by the citizens and visitors, the ability and eloquence of the speakers, and the im- pressiveness of the music.
One of the results of this celebration was the tonation of $1,000 by Hapgood Wright as a semi- centennial fund, to be put at interest, its accumu-
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lations used at the end of fifty years "for the benefit and improvement of the city or citizens of Lowell, as the city council may determine by a two-thirds vote of the city council in joint conven- tion assembled," and to be called The Hapgood Wright Centennial Trust Fund.
June 8, Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, visited Lowell, on his way from the North. The visit was managed with as little ceremony as possible.
He visited Huntington Hall, where an examina- tion in vocal music of the different classes belong- ing to the grammar schools was going on. The party visited the Middlesex, Lowell, Merrimack, and Lawrence mills, without an escort.
March 27, 1878, the Boston and Lowell Rail- road commenced to widen the deep cut at the northern station. When completed, the width will be ninety feet, instead of twenty-eight feet, the present width.
May 13, the Lowell Art Association was formed, for the purpose of cultivating a taste for works of art, and the encouragement of art studies. Presi- dent, Thomas B. Lawson ; vice-president, Mrs. Daniel S. Richardson ; secretary, Samuel M. Chase ; treasurer, George J. Carney ; directors, E. W. Hoyt, Mrs. Horatio Wood, Henry Barrows, Miss E. O. Robbins, William G. Ward, Miss Helen A. Whittier, Miss Helen W. Wright. The Association have rooms in Wyman's Exchange.
July 3, James Cook Ayer died. He was born May 5, 1819, in Groton, Connecticut. Dr. Ayer accumulated several millions of property during his lifetime ; how many it is almost impossible to tell. He was largely interested in valuable real estate in New York City, Chicago, Boston, and Lowell. He was a large owner of the New York Tribune stock, the Tremont and Suffolk Mills, the Merchants' National Bank, and the Lowell and Andover Railroad. In 1871, when the inhabitants of that portion of Groton called the Junction asked to be set off as a new town, with the name of Ayer in honor of the doctor, he gave $10,500 toward the erection of a town-hall, which he sub- sequently increased to $30,000. The structure was dedicated October 26, 1876, with appropriate exercises.
December 11, the waters of the Merrimack River rose ten feet, eiglit and one half inches on the Pawtucket Dam.
December 30, a trial of the electric light was made in one of the Merrimack Mills.
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Appleton Bank Block, erected 1878.
SCHOOL HISTORY.
IN 1822 the territory now occupied by Lowell was one school district with two school-houses, - one near the pound and the other at Pawtucket Falls, near the Stone House. The Merrimack Com- pany built a school-house on Merrimack Street ; employed at first a female teacher and paid the whole expense for its support. When Rev. Theo- dore Edson came, the school was put under his charge. Joel Lewis was the first male teacher, for one year, at the end of which time he was appointed surveyor for the Locks and Canals Company. He died November 11, 1834. In 1825 Mr. Lewis was succeeded by Alfred V. Bassett, from Atkin- son, New Hampshire.
In 1829 the Merrimack School had one hundred and sixty-five pupils. In the summer of this year Mr. Bassett resigned his situation as teacher. Bas- sett was succeeded by Walter Abbott of Milford, New Hampshire, who remained one year, left, and engaged in the mercantile business. Reuben Hills, of Hancock, New Hampshire, came in 1830. In May, 1833, the North School-house, near the North Common, was completed, and the Merrimack School was moved into it. In April, 1832, this school had so increased that it was found necessary to liave an assistant, and Mr. N. D. Healey was appointed. When the school was removed to the new house, two female assistants were employed. In 1834 the school was divided. Mr. Healey was appointed principal to the new school, and Mr. Bean appointed assistant to Mr. Hills. This school has had the following names : Merrimack, North Grammar, Hancock, and Bartlett.
Adams School. - The population in the vicinity of the North Grammar School increased so rapidly that the committee of 1836 opened the lower part of that house, and appointed Otis H. Morrill as principal.
When Mr. Fisk resigned his position in the Hancock School, the house was remodelled by dividing it into eight rooms, in seven of which female assistants were placed, and Mr. Bement in the eighth, the whole making one school called the Bartlett Grammar School.
Irish Schools. - In 1844 the school committee appointed a sub-committee to report upon the his- tory of these schools. I avail myself of their re- port : -
" By the advice and efforts of philanthropic indi- viduals a room was rented, supplied with fuel and other necessaries, and a teacher placed in this school who was to be remunerated by a small weekly voluntary tax from the parents. From the poverty and indifference of the parents, however, the school langnished and became extinct. It was revived from time to time, but after months of feebleness failed.
" Up to the year 1840 the attempts to establish a school in the neighborhood of the Acre were sus- tained chiefly by individual benevolence. At the annual town-meeting in May, 1830, an article was inserted in the warrant for the appointment of a committee to consider the expediency of establish- ing a separate school for the benefit of the Irish population. The committee reported in favor of such a school ; the report was accepted, and the sum of $ 50 was appropriated for the establishment
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
and maintenance of a separate district school for the Irish. It was kept only part of the time, and suspended. All the arrangements hitherto were unsatisfactory. In 1834 Rev. Mr. Connelly carried on a private school in a room under the Catholic Church. In June, 1835, this gentleman made application to the school committee for aid, and an arrangement was entered into between them."
Under the above arrangement the committee assumed the supervision of the private school already existing in a room under the Catholic Church, and elected Patrick Collins its teacher, as one of the public instructors. September 10, 1835, another Catholic school, in the vicinity of Chapel Hill, was adopted as a town school, taught by Daniel McIllroy under the auspices of Mr. Con- nelly. In the summer of 1837 another room was prepared under the Catholic Church ; a new Cath- olic school was opened, and Mary Ann Stanton elected its teacher. In June, 1838, Mr. Collins' and Mr. McIllroy's schools were united, called the Fifth Grammar School, moved to Liberty Hall on Lowell Street, and Mr. McIllroy chosen principal, with Peter McDermott assistant.
On the 8th of January, 1844, the grammar school was moved to the new house on Lewis Street. The building cost $9,650.
Mr. George W. Shattuck, who had been a suc- cessful teacher in Mr. Graves' school for two years, was elected principal of the Lewis Street School. His management was judicious ; the school in- creased in numbers and reputation. In 1848 a large private school, which had been kept in the basement of the Catholic Church, was disbanded, and most of the pupils entered the public schools. From 1838 to 1851 inclusive, 669 pupils of the Mann School (Lewis Street) received certificates to enter the mills, while the total number from the other grammar schools was as follows: Edson, 156; Hancock, 282; Washington, 167 ; Franklin, from 1840, 59 ; Adams, 429; Moody, from 1841, 139; Green, from 1841, 102; Colburn, from 1848, 67 ; total, 2,070 from all the schools during this period. In the fall of 1852 the Sisters of Notre Dame opened a school for girls under the supervision of Father O'Brien, through whose influence nearly all the girls who had hitherto attended this school joined that of the Sisters. Mr. Shattuck resigned January 1, 1853, and engaged in other business till the spring of 1859, when he was elected superin- tendent of the public schools.
small white house on the corner of South and Mid- dlesex streets, November 5, 1827, by Joshua Mer- rill of Milford, New Hampshire. In 1829 it was removed to the Free Chapel, where it continued until February 18, 1833, when it was removed to the new brick school-house on the South Common. Mr. Merrill retained his position as principal till October, 1845, when he resigned and entered into trade as a bookseller. During the first four years Mr. Merrill conducted his school alone; but in 1832 the district system was abolished, the school increased in numbers, and he was provided with an assistant. When Mr. Merrill's school was removed to the new school-house, February 18, 1833, an- other grammar school, hitherto kept in the base- ment of the First Universalist Church, then located on Chapel Hill, and taught by Moses F. Eaton, was united with Mr. Merrill's, and Mr. Eaton was retained as assistant.
Washington School. - In the spring of 1834 the accommodations in the North and South gram- mar schools were not sufficient for the pupils en- titled to attend schools of that rank. The school committee, on the 24th of March, opened a new school in the North School-house, and gave it the name of the Third Grammar School. Nathan- iel D. Healey was appointed principal, and Isaac Whittier and Edith Patch assistants. In June, 1838, the Third Grammar School was moved to the South Grammar School-house in order to ac- commodate the children residing in Belvidere, who had then acquired a right to attend the Lowell schools.
Franklin School. - During the winter of 1839 Mr. Rufus Adams was employed to open a school on Middlesex Street, and in 1840 the Fourth Gram- mar School was established in a school-house near the old burying-ground. Mr. George Spalding was appointed principal, and held the position till 1844. His successor was Nason H. Morse. In 1845 the new brick school-house was erected, at the intersection of Middlesex and Branch strcets, at a cost of $8,954.05. The number of pupils was so large that Mr. Morse was furnished with two female assistants, and Mr. James McCoy writing- master. Mr. Frank F. Coburn is the present in- cumbent.
Moody School. - January 8, 1841, this school was opened, with Mr. Seth Pooler as principal. He had been an assistant in the High School since 1838. Benjamin B. Thompson, Elizabeth C. Bart-
Edson School. - This school was opened in a 1 lett, and Helen R. Eastman were Mr. Pooler's
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assistants, and E. D. Sanborn was writing-master. Mr. Joseph P. Peabody is the present incumbent.
Green School. - Prior to 1841 all the grammar school scholars (except those attending the Irish school) were obliged to go to the North or South grammar schools. The rapid increase of popula- tion near the central point between these two seemed a sufficient reason for the erection of an- other house, and in 1841 a location was selected on Middle Street. A large two-story brick house was built to accommodate a grammar and a pri- mary school. The grammar school was opened about the middle of the year, with Samuel C. Pratt principal, assisted by Nelson H. Morse, H. Amanda Fox, and Nancy H. Green. C. H. Farnsworth was the writing-master. Mr. Morse remained till 1846, when he was appointed principal of the Franklin School. Albert L. Fisk is the present incumbent.
Colburn School. - The increase of population on Gorham, Church, and Lawrence streets, and the large attendance at the Edson School, led the com- mittee to ask the city council for another school- house, and recommended that it be located on Lawrence Street. The request was granted, the house built and finished, and dedicated December 13, 1848. The school was opened at the com- mencement of the winter term under the tuition of Mr. Aaron Walker, Jr., who had been principal of the Green School, but for several years preceding 1848 had been teaching at Charlestown. The pres- ent master is Albert L. Bacheller.
Varnum School. - February 3, 1851, that part of Dracut called Centralville was set off from Dra- cut to Lowell. This district had more than five hundred children, for whom the school committee" were at once called upon to make provision. The school-houses in the district were the old academy on Chestnut Street and the brick school-house on Tremont Street. These were put in good repair ; a grammar school was immediately opened in the upper room of the academy building, and a primary school was commenced in the lower room of the same building. Another primary school was opened in the old brick school-house, and a third on Fourth Street. The grammar school was named in honor of General Joseph Varnum. A. W. Boardman, a graduate from Harvard College, was elected princi- pal, and Elizabeth Calef assistant. Mr. Boardman remained till the spring of 1853, when he resigned. He was succeeded by Mr. D. P. Galloupe, who for many years had been principal of one of the gram- mar schools in Salem. December 7, 1857, the
new brick school-house on Myrtle Street was occu- pied by the Varnum School. In 1878 Mr. Gal- loupe, after a service of twenty-five years, resigned, and was succeeded by Mr. Arthur K. Whitcomb, who had been previously engaged in the editorial departments of the Courier and the Citizen.1
High School. - In 1831 the High School held its sessions in a small house near the Free Chapel, on Middlesex Street; thien in the lower story of the Free Chapel ; then in the present Edson School- house; then in Concert Hall, on Merrimack Street; then in the Bartlett Grammar School-house, near the North Common ; then in the attic of St. Mary's Church, on Lowell Street ; then back to the Free Chapel; and finally, in 1840, in the building erected for the High School on Kirk Street. This build- ing, as remodelled in 1867, accommodates three hundred and thirty pupils, in seven different rooms.
The teachers connected with this school from its commencement are as follows : -
Thomas M. Clark, principal (Yale College), 1831 - 1833; is now bishop of Rhode Island.
Nicholas Hoppin, principal (Brown University), 1833 - 1834 ; till recently rector of Christ Church, Cambridge, Mass.
William Hall, principal (Amherst College), 1834 - 1835 ; died in Pittsburg, Pa.
Franklin Forbes, principal (Amherst College), 1835 - 1836, also 1842 - 1845; now agent of Lan- caster Mills, Clinton, Mass.
Moody Currier, principal (Dartmouth College), 1836 - 1841; now cashier of Amoskeag Bank, Manchester, N. H.
Nehemiah Cleaveland, principal (Bowdoin Col- lege), 1841 - 1842 ; subsequently teacher in Brook- lyn, N. Y., now resides in Westport, Conn.
Charles C. Chase, principal (Dartmouth Col- lege), since 1845.
James S. Russell, teacher of mathematics (Brown University), 1835-1839, also from 1840 to the present time.
John W. Browne, classical teacher (Harvard University), 1841; subsequently attorney-at-law, Boston, deceased.
George B. Jewett, classical teacher (Amherst College) ; subsequently tutor in Amherst College, and pastor of church in Nashua; now resides in Salem, Mass.
1 Music-teachers : Isaac N. Metcalf from 1849 to 1857 ; Lyman Heath 1849; B. F. Baker 1848- 1849 ; and George F. Willey from 1866 to the present time.
Writing-masters for all the schools : C. H. Farnsworth from 1860 to 1864 ; Bertram Harrison from 1865 to the present time.
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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
David C. Scobey, classical teacher (Dartmouth College), 1842 - 1850 ; died in Lowell, while in service, March 1, 1850.
Ephraim W. Young, teacher of sciences (Har- vard University), 1849 - 1856; for several years clerk of the house of representatives, Wisconsin.
Jonathan Kimball, classical teacher 1849-1852, and sub-principal 1852 - 1857 ; now superintendent of schools in Chelsea, Mass.
John J. Colton, teacher of sciences (Amherst College), 1857 - 1865; now physician, Lowell, Mass.
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