USA > Massachusetts > Massachusetts of today; a memorial of the state, historical and biographical, issued for the World's Columbian exposition at Chicago > Part 46
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78
LOWELL
T THE site on which the city of Lowell was founded is full of historic interest, for here gathered the redskin to partake of Nature's bounties, and here came the settler to take advantage of Nature's inducements and usurp the reign of the Indian. Like all New England cities and towns, Lowell's history is interwoven with that of an old-time parish, for before Lowell there was East Chelmsford, a hamlet in the wilderness north of Boston, with a tavern for the accommodation of wayfarers on the highway between Boston and Vermont.
This was at the opening of the present century, and eight years before "The Proprietors of the Locks and Canals on the Merrimack River " had been incorporated, and a canal around the falls in the Merrimack, now Paw- tucket Falls, built. Through this canal was floated, from time to time, lumber from the North to the sea. Twenty years later, the insignificant hamlet had become a village, with two hundred and fifty inhabitants, several indus- tries, a grist mill, and a water highway to Boston. But the creative hand of enterprise had not touched the mighty force of the Merrimack ; only the falls in its tributary, the Concord, were yielding wealth through its industries.
To Francis Cabot Lowell, New England is indebted for its cotton industries, for in 1813, with Patrick T. Jackson and Nathan Appleton, he obtained an act of incorporation to manufacture, and his plans were a few years later, though after his death, put into execution at Lowell in 1822 by the erection of a cotton mill, under the direction of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company.
This company paid nearly fifty thousand dollars for water rights on the Pawtucket canal, and Sept. 1, 1823, the first wheel was started. A year later St. Anne's Church was built, and soon after came the incorporation of other mills named after the early mill owners, Appleton, Boott and Jackson.
Until 1836 Lowell was still a town, but of size and importance to receive municipal privileges, which this year were granted. The pioneer cotton manufactories were drawing thousands of people, and the tide did not turn until the panic of 1857. The cotton mills suffered with the other industries of the country. For a time the growth was checked, but in 1870 the population was 40,928, the area 3,838 acres, with fifty miles of streets, and property valued at $25,922,488. There were fifteen manufacturing corporations and seven other concerns, with property valued at twelve millions. The last census shows that the population exceeds 80,000, making it the thirty-seventh in the list of American cities, and in point of industries entitled to the name of the "Manchester of America." Since 1836 its area had increased fourfold ; it had 11,200 dwellings, valued at $62,046,799. Its accepted streets were over 110 miles in length, with nine miles granite paved, and 56 miles of sewers. Its water is the best and its gas the cheapest in New England. The forty incorporated companies had property valued at $26,224, 115, while in textile mills were employed 24, 172 persons, 2,838 in machine shops, 1,050 in wood working, 560 in leather, and 2,500 in other industries, a total of 31, 120 operatives.
The character of the people is exemplary, riots or strikes being almost unknown, there being little or no vagabond element and no socialistic agitation to disturb the peace of the community. A large proportion of the wage earners are housed in their own homes. When the mills were first opened the operatives were drawn from the towns and villages of New England. Now all is changed, for the foreign element, represented by French Canadians, British, Irish and Swedes have flocked in, readily finding work as new industries are developed. The cost of living is lower than in any other city in the country, due to the boarding-house system, inaugurated when the cotton mills were first built. It costs a man $2.90 per week and a woman $2.25 for good substantial food at these boarding-houses, and the corporation pays a stated sum for each boarder.
The industries are manifold, but cotton manufacturing is the staple of the great trade. The annual output in 1891 was over 257,800,000 yards of cloth, and 103,000,000 yards of calico printed, in seven corporations, valued at $19,572,556 ; eight mills manufacturing woollens and carpets had an output of $11,422,921 ; twelve mills making elastic webbing, suspenders, etc., aggregate a business of $5,550,000 ; bleachery and dye works, $1,000,500 ; machinery, $6,460,000 ; wood working, $4, 180,500 ; mill supplies, $2,000,000; medicines and perfumes, $6,000,000 ; miscellaneous, $5,000,000, a total amount of business of $76,503,782.
366
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
G I EORGE W. FIFIELD, ex-mayor of the city of Lowell, is the largest manufacturer of engine lathes in the United States, and a worker in the iron business extensively known in manufacturing circles. He is a native of Belmont, N. H., and at the age of eighteen years went to Lowell, and became an appren- tice in the machinery trade. He has made his home there ever since, and from a machinist's apprentice he became a master workman and finally in a small way branched out into building engine lathes, a business which has had a sur- prising growth. These have been years of hard work for Mr. Fifield, and he has attended strictly to his busi- ness, entering public life but seldom. He first became well known as an alder- man, serving in 1883 and 1884, and his work there indicated that he was business to the backbone. In 1891 and 1892 he served as mayor of the city, defeating at the polls, on two oc- casions, the strongest Republican candi- date who could be pitted against him. Politically, he is a Democrat of the stanchest kind, and has been for several years on the Democratic State Central Committee. Mr. Fifield is looked upon as the type of a conservative, sub- stantial business man, one of whom all Lowell speaks in highest terms, and one who as a mayor was thoroughly be- lieved in by the taxpayers of the city. He has shown his business ability in his management of the Lowell Elec- tric Light Company, of which he has been president since 1883, and since which time it has developed from a small plant in a hired building to one of the largest
electric companies of New England, with buildings covering a large territory. It was perhaps this fact more than any other which brought Mr. Fifield prominently before the public as a business representative of the people. His own business he had developed from a small shop to a big one employing scores of skilled mechanics. Mr. Fifield has many financial enterprises in different parts of the country, and to look after their interests he travels a great deal. Whenever political material is needed in the big campaigns Mr. Fifield is the most sought after of all the Lowell manu- facturers, as his knowledge of the manufacturing inter- ests of all sections of the country is very extensive. Espe- cially in mining mat- ters is he conversant, and besides he is a believer in free coal and iron as the greatest need of New England industries. Personally, Mr. Fi-
GEORGE W. FIFIELD.
field is a very enter- taining talker, and whatever he says is strictly reliable. As mayor of the city he gave a purely busi- ness administration, and taxpayers with- out regard to party had the greatest con- fidence in him. He declined to serve another term, owing to the demands of his business. He is in the directory of the Lowell banks, and resides in a magnificent house in the Highlands. Like all resi- dents of that section of the city, he does his utmost to make it the ideal residential ward. Mr. Fifield's name has often been mentioned in connection with higher political honors than the mayoralty of Lowell, but his large business interests are such that he cannot neglect them. In the social life of Lowell, he is very popular.
367
LOWELL.
J JOHN JAMES PICKMAN, mayor elect of Lowell, was born in this city, Jan. 9, 1850. He comes from rugged Scotch stock, his father, David Pickman, being the personification of sturdy honesty and sterling worth, and though of Scotch birth, a patriotic and zealous American citizen to those of the city who shared his acquaintance. The mayor received his education in the public schools of his native city, and at the age of sixteen years he was graduated from the high school and entered at once upon the study of law, being graduated at the Harvard Law School in 1869, while lacking two years of his majority. On his attaining his twenty- first birthday he was admitted to practice in the Middlesex County bar, and at once laid the foun- dation of that repu- tation which justifies his choice of a pro- fession. Mayor Pick- man has had a varied municipal and legis- lative experience, having first been sent to the Common Council in 1876 and 1877 from his own ward, then in 1879 and 1880 to the lower branch of the General Court, and 1 from 1882 to 1885 to the School Board, in all of which offices he performed painstaking and conscientious work. In 1885 he was commissioned an associate justice of the Police Court by Governor Ames, and he still retains the office, sitting on criminal and civil cases whenever the regular justice is absent. In 1886 he was city solicitor, and his important cases of the year were the suits brought by the largest manufacturing corporations to recover excess in taxation of their property by the city assessors. The cases commenced at this time have
JOHN J. PICKMAN.
only just been finished, and it is worthy of note that the legal questions raised and finally decided by the highest court in the Commonwealth were without prec- edent. Professionally, Mayor Pickman is a self-reliant, sound and safe practitioner, who is widely and thor- oughly esteemed by his associates at the bar. He is a speaker of more than ordinary ability, and is sure to impress his hearers with his earnestness and his sin- cerity. Personally, Mayor Pickman is a man of varied attainments and de- lightful character. He has a genial and hearty disposition, a keen wit and a rich store of literary knowledge. He is an ardent lover of nature, and enjoys no leisure better than that which comes with a life in the camp, a tramp among the hills or a voyage in a frail canoe. He has been abroad sev- eral times, and his observations have given him an origi- nality of thought, which, when ex- pressed, is both de- lightfully entertaining and instructive. Mayor Pickman is a member of the Mayors' Club, is a Freemason, and has had great success as the president of the Lowell Republican Club. Despite the fact that Lowell is a Democratic stronghold, he was elected upon the Republican ticket to the mayoralty, -a worthy expression of his popularity among the citizens of his native city, regardless of party lines. His extended experience in municipal affairs, his ability as a lawyer and his wide culture conspire to make Mayor Pickman a thoroughly representative man of the Commonwealth. It is anticipated that his administra- tion as mayor will be successful.
368
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
F FREDERIC T. GREENHALGE, lawyer and orator, who represented the Eighth Massachusetts Con- gressional District in the Fifty-first Congress, is one of the most brilliant of Lowell's many lawyers, and an ora- tor and political speaker of great reputation throughout New England. He was born in Clitheroe, a parliamen- tary borough of England, in the county of Lancaster, July 19, 1842. His father, William Greenhalge, removed to Lowell in 1854, and assumed charge of the copper roller engraving in the Merrimack Print Works. His son, Frederic, entered the public schools, and passed the grammar and high school grades, attracting at- tention as a scholar of unusual ability. He graduated from the high school as a Carney medal scholar. In debate and declamation young Greenhalge had already made his mark, the forecast of of a brilliant career in later life. In 1859 he entered Harvard College, intending to pursue a full colle- giate course, but the death of his father brought him face to face with the re- sponsibilities of life in a busy world, and so, relinquishing his hopes for a college education, he secured a teacher's position. While pur- sning this vocation he found time to study law, and just before the outbreak of the war entered the law office of Brown & Alger. In 1863 he went into the army, and was connected with the commissary department at Newbern, N. C. While there he was stricken with ma- larial fever, and after months of sickness he was sent home. Slowly he recovered, and then resumed the study of law, and in 1865 was admitted to the Middle-
sex bar. He early received recognition for his abili- ties, and in Lowell became quite popular. In 1868 and 1869 he served in the Common Council, and in 1871 was elected to the School Board for two years. He devoted himself strictly to the practice of his profession, and received the appointment of special justice of the Municipal Court. In the years 1880 and 1881 he was elected mayor, and his administration was a successful and thoroughly business-like one. From this time on he became recognized as a speaker of ex- ceptional brilliancy, and especially upon educational topics he was in demand as a lecturer. In the po- litical campaign of 1888 the Republicans nominated him for congressman, and he was elected amid great enthusiasm. At Washington he at once took a foremost position in the ranks of the House leaders, his speeches receiv- ing immediate atten- tion from the press all over the country, especially his debates as a member of the Elections Committee during the legislative fight over the unseat- ing of several South- ern Democrats, and the seating of Re- publicans in their stead. In 1890 he was again a candidate, but failed to secure a re-elec- tion, and for the time being his political career is ended. Mr. Grecnhalge has a great depth of knowl- edge, and this, combined with keen wit, makes him a favorite speaker at important gatherings, educational and religious. He has held and still holds many minor but important offices, as commissioner in insolvency, and master in many law cases. He has been president of the Unitarian Club of Lowell.
FREDERIC T. GREENHALGE.
.
369
LOWELL.
C HARLES I. HOOD, proprietary medicine manu- facturer, was born in Chelsea, the shire town of Orange County, Vermont, in 1845, his father, Amos R. Hood, being a native of the town, and for many years the leading druggist. In his early life he acquired a liking for the drug trade, and was in the store enough to get a general idea of the business. He obtained his education at the common schools and at the academy in Chelsea, and immediately after completing his aca- demic course went to Lowell with a de- termination to thor- oughly master all the details of the drug trade. He served a five years' apprentice- ship with Samuel Kidder, one of the best known of Low- ell's druggists, and at the expiration of the time took the posi- tion of prescription clerk in the estab- lishment of Theodore Metcalf & Co., Bos- ton, where he gained an experience which has been invaluable to him in buying materials for and in the preparation of medicines. In 1870 he left Metcalf's and with a partner opened a drug store in Low- ell at the corner of Merrimack and Cen- tral streets. It was while here that Mr. Hood conceived the idea of making and offering to the public a new medicine, - Hood's sarsaparilla. In 1875 the young druggists began in a small way to compound the sarsaparilla, and to-day the preparation is known and used all over the world. Mr. Hood has manufac- tured sarsaparilla ever since, and in doing so has paid strict attention to his business, declining all invitations to allow his name to be used for political honors, and in fact keeping personally out of public sight, but enter-
CHARLES I. HOOD.
prisingly pushing his preparations into the best markets. To pen a sketch of Mr. Hood is to describe the wonder- ful growth of the manufacture of Hood's sarsaparilla. The sales increased rapidly, and in 1878 the drug store becoming overcrowded, a floor in the Southwick Block was taken. Next year larger quarters were demanded, and accordingly a five years' lease of a wooden building on Church Street was taken. In three years the busi- ness had increased so wonderfully that greater accom- modations were needed, and land on Thorndike Street was purchased. Up till 1878 two hundred square feet in area accommodated the business ; the fine four-story brick building erected in 1883 covered 5,000 square feet of land. In 1886, an addition to this building made the entire structure 229 feet long and 50 feet wide, a total floor area, including the boiler house, of 62,- 000 square feet. Another big addi- tion was made last year, making the building the largest in the world devoted to medicine preparation. The capacity of the stor- age tanks is 195,000 bottles. The entire preparation of the Printers' ink, through
article is made in the building. the medium of 6,500 newspapers, is the secret of Mr. Hood's success. Mr. Hood loves the turf, owns several fast trotters, and maintains at Andover the best stock farm in New England. His latest addition to his farm is a fine herd of blooded Jersey cows. Mr. Hood has made one of the most conspicuous business successes not only in New England, but in America, and it is a success deserved by honest effort.
370
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
C HARLES HERBERT ALLEN, ex-congressman, was born in Lowell, April 15, 1844, and is the son of Mr. Otis Allen, one of the oldest manufac- turers in this city. He was educated in the public schools, and after being graduated from the high school in 1865, entered Amherst College, from which he was graduated in 1869. Returning to Lowell, he was admit- ted to partnership with his father in the box-making business, in 1872, and he still carries on that industry, his father, who is nearly eighty-two years of age, having retired. Mr. Allen first entered politics by being elected to the School Board in 1 874, and in that body he sat until 1881, when he was elected to the Gen- eral Court as a repre- sentative. Serving two years there, he was elected in 1883 to the Senate, and his growing popular- ity won for him the congressional nomi- nation the following year, and an election followed, and a re- election in 1886. The two terms spent in Congress gave him many opportunities to become a familiar figure in national politics, and) in his second term the effi- cient work performed as a member of the Committee on Indian Affairs won for him instant recognition and the approval of Senator Dawes. He was strongly urged to take a renomination in 1886, but was forced to decline owing to the demands of his father's business, Mr. Otis Allen, then eighty years old, desiring to retire. Mr. Allen received his honorary title of colonel by being a member of Governor Robin- son's staff. He did not again take active part in poli- tics until the fall of 1891, when he was prevailed upon
to stand as the Republican gubernatorial candidate. Mr. Allen then took the stump, and by his speeches proved that he was a speaker of more than ordinary brilliancy. He worked indefatigably upon the stump, but was defeated at the polls by Governor Russell. Colonel Allen is well known socially, not only in Lowell but throughout the State. He has a fine residence on Rolfe Street, surrounded by seven acres of beautifully laid-out grounds, overlooking the Merrimack River. He belongs to sev- eral social clubs and to the Union Club of Boston. While in Congress Colonel Allen received al- most national atten- tion by his entering the ranks of the amateur photogra- phers, and while on the Indian reser- vations in the West he secured many valuable negatives, which have since proven good ma- terial for interesting lectures in aid of the improvement of the condition of the In- dians. In the Fif- tieth Congress Mr. Allen served on the Committee on Post- Offices and Post Roads - an impor- tant committee hav ing at its disposal sixty millions of money. He was the only member from New England on this committec. Mr. Allen was married in Manchester, N. H., Nov. 10, 1870, to Harriet C., daughter of James and Sarah B. (Chase) Dean. Of this union were two children : Bertha and Louise Allen. Mr. Allen is a member of the Masonic order. It is unfortunate that the demands of private business should deprive the Commonwealth of his public services. As a business man Mr. Allen is highly respected by all associated with him.
CHARLES H. ALLEN.
37I
LOWELL.
F REDERICK AYER, the foremost business man of Lowell, Mass., was born in Ledyard, Conn., December 8, 1822, and received the rudiments of his education in the district schools of his native town. He early entered upon his commercial career, as clerk in the general store of Tomlinson & Co., Baldwinsville, N. Y. When twenty years old he became partner of the same firm at Syracuse, N. Y. After three years he retired and became a partner of Hon. Dennis McCarthy, this partnership con- tinuing eleven years. In 1855 Mr. Ayer removed to Lowell and joined his brother, Dr. James C. Ayer, in the manu- facture of proprietary medicines, under the name of J. C. Ayer & Co. In 1877 this concern was incor- porated as the J. C. Ayer Company, Frederick Ayer be- ing appointed treas- urer, which office he still retains. He is identified with sev- eral banking and other incorporated enterprises in New England. In 1871 James C. and Fred- erick Ayer purchased a controlling interest in the Tremont Mills and Suffolk Manu- facturing Company. Both these corpora- tions were bankrupt. Being contiguous, a consolidation was subsequently effected under the name of the Tremont & Suffolk Mills, and this corporation is now one of the most suc- cessful in New England. Mr. Ayer was one of the founders of the Lowell & Andover Railroad, and was early made its president, which office he still holds. He is treasurer of the Portage Canal in Michigan, and a director of the Lake Superior Ship Canal Railway and Iron Company, which has a capital of four million dol-
FREDERICK AYER.
lars. He is also interested in large horticultural and mining enterprises. In 1885 Mr. Ayer purchased the Washington Mills, Lawrence, Mass., and immediately reorganized the plant under the name of the Washing- ton Mills Company. He became its first president, and is now treasurer. New mills have been built, new machinery added, new manufactures introduced, and the concern forms the largest woollen manufactory in America. In 1871 Mr. Ayer served as alderman, during which period small- pox appeared as an epidemic. The Board of Health as then constituted utterly failed to cope with this disease, and the severe criticisms of Alderman Ayer provoked every member to resigna- tion. This resulted in the election of a new board, of which he was chairman. The plague had been raging for eight months, but under Mr. Ayer's efficient management, this disease was entirely eradicated from the city in six weeks. Of five hundred and sixty-seven cases re- ported, one hundred and seventy-seven proved fatal. In his benefactions Mr. Ayer has been un- ostentatious, but the public charities are few in which he has not joined. Mr. Ayer has been twice married ; first in 1858, to Miss Cornelia Wheaton, at Syracuse, N. Y., by whom he had two sons and two daughters. Mrs. Ayer died in 1878. He was again married in 1884, to Miss Ellen B. Banning, at St. Paul, Minn., by whom he has two daughters and a son. Mr. Ayer is still hale and vigorous, energetic in enterprise, esteemed by all, and is now reaping the fruits of his long and honorable career.
372
MASSACHUSETTS OF TO-DAY.
C HARLES LEWIS HILDRETH, general superin- tendent of the Lowell Machine Shop, the largest machine works in the country, and in which the greater part of the machinery for the Lowell corporations is made, was born in Concord, N. H., Oct. 9, 1823, and is a son of Elijah Hildreth, a lineal descendant of Richard Hildreth, a member of a party of thirty-nine settlers, to whom, in 1653, was granted by the Massachusetts Legis- lature a tract of land embracing what is now the site of Lowell. It is an interesting fact in regard to Richard Hildreth, that, upon his petition, the Legislature of Mas- sachusetts made him a special grant of one hundred and fifty acres of land because he "had a wife and many small children, and, being a hus- bandman, he was greatly disadvan- taged, partly by the hand of God depriv- ing him of the use of his right hand, whereby he was wholly disabled to labor." The grant of land, in the pres- ent town of West- ford, has been in the hands of the Hildreth family for seven generations. Elijah Hildreth removed to New Ipswich, N. H., after his son's birth, and here Charles was brought up, receiving his educa- tion at the New Ipswich Academy. At the age of twenty two years he removed to Lowell, and as an apprentice began laboring in the "big shop" over which he is now the head. He was a hard worker, and having the advantage of a good education soon made progress, in three years being advanced to a contractor- ship in the shop, a position he held for about ten years. During the great depression in the iron working trade
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.