USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 7
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Among the pioneers was Amos D. Pillsbury, of Georgetown, who came to pro- cure a shop for the manufacture of and the repair of boots and shoes; but finding no place wherein to commence work, he went to Newburyport, purchased a gon- dola thirty-two by twelve feet on which he built a "state room", put in a stock of boots and shoes, leather, tools, cooking apparatus and provisions, arrived at the "New City" just before the first land sale, anchored in the river below the bridge, threw out his plank, and commenced work. Here he continued until cold weather, when he removed to a store on Essex street, which was then ready for his occupancy. He built in 1847 a building near the lower end of Common street, and while Mr. H. B. Clement was building a house for his own use near by, boarded with them for a short time.
The history of Lawrence begins with its incorporation as a town, April 17, 1847. From the first sale of lands, April 28, 1846, to October 10, 1846, the growth of the new settlement had been so rapid that the population had increased from less than two hundred to about twenty-five hundred, and there had been erected one hundred and thirty-five stores, shops and dwellings. The obvious inconveniences of taxation, education, etc., in two separate civil townships, led to a petition to the legislature for a charter for a new town. This, as might have been expected, was bitterly opposed by the people of Methuen. As early as February, 1847, a town meeting was called to see what action the town would take on the petition of Charles S. Storrow and others to be set off in a new town by the name of Lawrence. This meeting was well attended, there being between two hundred and fifty and three hundred present. John Davis was chosen to preside, and the meeting was addressed by George A. Waldo, J. W. Carleton and John Tenney, all in opposition to the proposed division; but with all the opposition could do, they were defeated, for April 17, 1847, the legislature granted a charter to the town of Lawrence, although other names had been suggested, such as Essex and Merrimack. The name Lawrence was taken in honor of one of its original founders. A part of the newly-formed town was taken from the territory of An- dover and Methuen.
The first town officers were: Selectmen-William Swan, Charles F. Abbott, Nathan Wells, James Stevens, Lorenzo D. Brown; School Com- mittee-James D. Herrick, Dr. William D. Lamb, Dan Weed. The town
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government existed in Lawrence from 1847 to 1853, the last set of town officials being as follows: (1852)-William R. Page, Levi Sprague, Norris, selectmen; Rev. George Packard, A. D. Blanchard, Rev. Samuel Kelley, Nathan W. Harmon, John A. Goodwin, school committee; George W. Benson, clerk; George W. Sanborn, treasurer; Ivan Stevens, auditor.
From 1848 to 1853 the population of Lawrence increased to nearly 13,000. It will go without saying that the members of the town board and every town official had their time well occupied in looking after busi- ness under such a form of local government. Looking after schools, cemeteries, highways and the collection of taxes was full of work. The inconvenience of such a condition led the people to apply for a city char- ter, which was granted, and the act signed by the governor, March 21, 1853.
The first set of officers elected, after the city charter had been se- cured, as above noted, were chosen April 18, 1853, and the new city gov- ernment was set in motion May 10th of that year. Three political par- ties presented candidates for the office of mayor, Charles S. Storrow, treasurer of the Essex Company, being the candidate of the Whig party, Enoch Bartlett of the Democratic, and James K. Barker of the Free-Soil party. Mr. Storrow was elected, and associated with him in the Board of Aldermen were George D. Cabot, Albert Warren, E. B. Herrick, Alvah Bennett, Walker Flanders and S. S. Valpey; and in the common coun- cil were Josiah Osgood (president), Nathaniel G. White (many years president of the Boston & Maine Railroad Company), Dana Sargent, William R. Spalding, Elkanah F. Bean, Daniel Hardy, Isaac K. Gage, other members of both boards being selected without regard to their party affiliations, but for their fitness for the positions for which selected. The mayors from date of first city charter in 1853 to the present (1921) have been as follows:
1853, Charles S. Storrow; 1854, Enoch Bartlett; 1855, Albert Warren; 1856, Albert Warren; 1857, John R. Rollins; 1858, John R. Rollins; 1859, Henry K. Oliver; 1860, Dan Saunders, Jr .; 1861, James K. Barker; 1862, William H. P. Wright; 1863, William H. P. Wright; 1864, Alfred J. French; 1865, Milton Bonny; 1866, Pardon Armington; 1867, Nathaniel P. Melvin; 1868, Nathaniel P. Melvin; 1869, Frank Davis; 1870, N. P. H. Melvin; 1871, S. B. W. Davis; 1872, S. B. W. Davis; 1873, John K. Tarbox; 1874, John K. Tarbox; 1875, Robert H. Tewksbury; 1876, Edmond R. Hayden; 1877, Caleb Saunders; 1878, James R. Simpson; 1879, James R. Simpson; 1880, James R. Simpson; 1881, Henry K. Webster; 1882, John Breen; 1883, John Breen; 1884, John Breen; 1885, James R. Simpson; 1886, Alexander B. Bruce; 1887, Alexander B. Bruce; 1888, Alvin E. Mack; 1889, Alvin E. Mack; 1890, John W. Crawford; 1891, Lewis P. Collins; 1892, Henry P. Doe; 1893, Alvin E. Mack; 1894, Charles G. Rutter; 1895, Charles G. Rutter; 1896, George S. Junkins; 1897, George S. Junkins; 1898, James H. Eaton; 1899, James H. Eaton; 1900, James F. Leonard; 1901, James F. Leonard; 1902, James F. Leonard; 1903, Alexander F. Grany; 1904, Cornelius F. Lynch; 1905, Cornelius F. Lynch; 1906; John P. Kane; 1907, John P. Kane; 1908, John P. Kane; 1909, William P. White; 1910, William P. White (re- signed) ; 1911, John T. Cahill (to fill vacancy) ; 1912, Michael A. Scanlon (two year
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term) ; 1913, Michael A. Scanlon; 1914, Michael A. Scanlon (died in office) ; 1915, John P. Kane (two year term) to fill vacancy at first; 1916, John P. Kane; 1917, John J. Hurley (two year term) ; 1918, John J. Hurley.
Since 1912, Lawrence has been under a commission form of govern- ment. On November 7, 1911, at the State election, the present city charter was adopted, and it went into effect January 1st, 1912, at ten o'clock, when the newly-elected city council and school board took office. The adoption of the new charter was the result of a vigorous movement for a change in the form of local government. When the questions per- taining to the project were submitted to the voters by the legislature, public sentiment was strongly in favor of a reform. On the question as to whether the old charter should be repealed the vote was: Yes, 6,027; No. 2,014; blanks, 840. The vote on the question as to the new form was as decisive. Two plans were presented: Plan 1, which was to establish a city government of a mayor and nine members in a Council; plan 2, which was to establish a government by commission. The latter was adopted by a vote of 6,077 as against 1,358 for plan 1, with 1,646 blanks. No provision being made in the new charter for a board of fire engineers and a water board, both these boards were abolished. Upon the adoption of the commission form of government, their powers and duties were put under control of the director of public safety and the director of engineering, respectively.
In the present system of city government, there are five departments -Finance and Public Affairs; Engineering; Public Safety; Public Prop- erty and Parks; Public Health and Charities. The department of finance and public affairs includes all the sub-departments, boards and offices con- nected with it, such as the treasury, auditing, purchasing, assessing, sink- ing funds, tax collection, claims, registration of voters, city clerk and legal. The department of engineering includes the highway and other ways, street watering, sewer and drains, water and water-works, bridges and engineering. The department of public safety includes the police and fire departments, lighting, wiring, weights and measures and conduits. The department of public property and parks includes buildings, parks and public grounds. The department of public health and charities includes the health and poor departments, city physician and public hospitals. In 1914 the charter was amended to provide that the office of each director be designated on the ballot at the time of his election by the voters of the city.
The first officers in Lawrence under the commission plan of govern- ment were: Mayor, Michael A. Scanlon; Aldermen-Paul Hannagan, director of engineering; Michael S. O'Brien, director of public property and parks; Cornelius F. Lynch, director of public safety; Robert S. Maloney, director of public health and charities. The present city officials are: Mayor, William P. White; President of the City Council, Edward C. Callahan; Director of Public Safety, Peter Carr; Director of Engi-
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neering, John F. Finnegan; Director of Public Property and Parks, Mich- ael F. Scanlon; City Clerk, Edward J. Wade; Assistant City Clerk, John J. Daly; City Auditor, Richard J. Shea; Assistant Auditor, William F. Mahoney; City Treasurer, William A. Kelleher; Collector of Taxes, Rob- ert R. Gerkell, Jr .; City Solicitor, Daniel J. Murphy; Purchasing Agent, M. F. McKenna.
Previous to the building of the Town or City Hall, town meetings were held in old Merrimack Hall during 1847, but at the March meeting in 1848 the townsmen gathered in the Free Will Baptist Church, a one- story wooden structure on the northeast corner of White and Haverhill streets. In the warrant presented at that meeting was an article read- ing thus: "To see if the town will choose a committee to obtain a plan of a Town House, and to appoint an agent to superintend the building of the same."
On April 17 the same year it was voted that a town house be erected, "to include a town hall and such offices as may be judged necessary for the present and future needs of the town government." It was finally decided to build the structure in its present location, on Common street, between Pemberton and Appleton. The "town of Lawrence" paid $8,000, or fifty cents a foot, for the land on which this building stands. Melvin & Young, architects, of Boston, drew the plans for the building. The contract price was $27,568, from which sum was reserved $1,000 for a clock and bell, $700 for heating, and $100 for ventilating apparatus. The structure in round figures, measures 69 by 120 feet. Charles Bean was selected to superintend its construction, and no better has ever been built in Essex county for real lasting and practical qualities. The building was turned over to the city, December 5, 1849, and the following day Town Clerk E. W. Morse (says the record), moved into the office prepared for him and became the first to inhabit the building. On December 10 that year it was dedicated, with appropriate exercises, during the evening hours. In March, 1851, this building and its fixtures was valued at $49,- 119.
When the building just described was erected, one of its prominent and unique decorative features was the large eagle on the high tower. It has been recently described by Mr. Dorgan as follows:
The eagle, with the ball and pedestal on which it stands, was designed and carved by John M. Smith, a member of the board of selectmen, in 1848, who had charge of the woodwork construction at the Essex Company machine shop. It cost $500. Perched, as the bird is, about 156 feet above the ground, one does not realize that it is nine feet and six inches from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail, with other dimensions in proportion, and that the ball on which it stands is three feet in diameter. The eagle is in a position of preparing to spread his wings to fly, and in a description printed at the time it was regarded as a fit emblem for Lawrence, and the wish was expressed that the young community, so full of prom- ise, might ever be actuated by the noble inspiration "to spread and bear learning, virtue and wisdom to all parts of the world:"
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Another unsurpassed object of national interest, connected with this old city building and its tower, has been described in "Lawrence-Yes- terday and Today," by Maurice B. Dorgan, in these words:
The two shot displayed on either side of the doorway in the City Hall came from Fort Sumter. They were picked up there after the evacuation of the fort by the Southern forces following the surrender of Charleston, February 17, 1865. As a token of regard, they were presented to the city of Lawrence by G. V. Fox, As- sistant Secretary of the Navy, and a former citizen of Lawrence, and at one time agent of the Bay State Mills. These fifteen-inch shot, with many others, were found among the ruins of Sumter, having been fired from the Federal fleet of mon- itors during the bombardment of the fort on April 7, 1863. No gun of a bore greater than ten inches had been used on any other vessel or by the army during the war. In the week ending December 25, 1865, the shot, each weighing three hundred and fifty pounds, were placed in position on the tower of the hall. The mountings were designed by Alderman Payne, and they consist of an iron wall plate in the shape of a shield embroidered by moulding in the form of a rope. On the shield is illustrated a monitor in relief, and from it projects a forearm and hand, in which the shot rests. The arm is clothed with a naval sleeve, bearing the cuff of a rear-admiral, ornamented in proper form with two bands of gold and a five- pointed star. The identification inscription was provided by Ericson, the inventor.
This hall has probably served more and more varied uses than any other public hall in New England. Here have appeared in public many of the world's greatest orators, lecturers, authors, actors, musicians and political leaders. The county courts were held here until the new court house was provided. Many of the pioneer churches here held services. Here great Civil War mass meetings were held; it was a drill room for departing volunteers; and in it was wrapped, in an American flag, the remains of Needham, the first soldier to fall in the Rebellion. At the time of the fall of the Pemberton Mills, this hall became a morgue; it has been a house of mourning at the death of Presidents Taylor, Lincoln, and Garfield, and appropriate memorial services were held on each such sad occasion within its walls.
For the first few years after Lawrence was founded, its citizens were obliged, in all civil and criminal cases, to go to Newburyport or Salem to attend court. The next step in progress was holding certain courts in the town hall at Lawrence. But this could not long be en- dured by such a people as then made up the place. In 1858 the Essex Company donated sufficient land for court house purposes, the city pro- viding the foundation and the Essex county commissioners erecting the building from public funds. The architect was James K. Barker, then city engineer and later mayor of the city. It was not long, however, that this structure should grace the site on which it had been constructed, for at the time of the burning of the United States Hotel, in 1859, this court house was ruined. It was rebuilt in 1860 and served until the present fire-proof court house structure was provided by the county. This was brought about by the Lawrence Bar Association, which, work- ing through the legislature, had authorized the expenditure of $100,000
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for an addition to the old court house (rebuilt in 1860). George G. Adams was selected architect, and J. N. Peterson & Co., of Salem, were the contracting builders. It required an extra $150,000 fully to com- plete and enlarge the building operations as seen today. Here one finds the various courts ; a law library of 13,000 volumes-one of the finest in New England outside of Boston; rooms for some county officials, grand and petit jury rooms, and other useful apartments. This structure is built of brick, with handsome free-stone trimmings. Its interior marble finish shows great taste, as well as making it as near safe from the effects of a possible fire as could be.
The jail should here be mentioned among the public buildings of the city. Prior to 1850 a lock-up, in rear of the postoffice, near the corner of Common and Broadway streets, served as a jail for Lawrence. At the date named above, cells were fitted up in the basement of the Town Hall, in the brick arches which support the safes connected with the clerk's offices. This was anything but a decent place in which to make secure the offenders of the law, as will be observed by this quotation from the "Lawrence Courier" of March 15, 1851: "It is narrow, dark, unventi- lated, reeking with moisture, a loathsome place, a disgrace to the town, and a dangerous piece of property." The first regular jail, or House of Correction, as frequently called, was the one provided in 1853, built on the south bank of the Spicket river. It was then known as "strictly modern," and had every humane and needful appliance. The front por- tion, occupied by the keeper, opened out toward a park of an acre. The original structure cost the county $100,000. Its location may be de- scribed as standing on Auburn street. Many additions and various im- provements have been made to the first structure. To the octagonal- shaped original jail have been added wings. It now has one hundred and sixteen cells. One hundred and eighty prisoners may here be cared for. The town bought the acre park in front of the jail for $2,000, and the improvements on the park have so far cost in excess of $1,300.
The County Training School, on Marston street, was established as a county school in 1891. It was first opened as an industrial school for bad boys by the city of Lawrence, in 1869, and finally became known as the Reform School. In 1891 the county took over the school, which later was known as the Essex County Training School. Only truants and those who have committed offenses against the schools are admitted. The grounds are extensive and buildings numerous. Besides the com- mon instruction given, a boy may learn a trade and be taught in garden- ing. The inmates run in recent years about one hundred and forty, with only six girls.
The State Armory, on Amesbury street, was opened in 1893 for the State Militia. An annex was built in 1913 to accommodate the battery. It is of brick construction, the first of its type in Massachusetts. Out- door drilling is here made practical.
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LAWRENCE-ABOVE, ARMORY: BELOW, Y. M. C. A. BUILDING
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
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The poor farm and municipal hospital, commonly styled the Law- rence Almshouse, is located on Marston street. This institution was provided in February, 1849, when seven persons were admitted. It now has an average of about one hundred and thirty inmates. In 1912, four- teen rooms, with twenty-four beds, were nicely fitted up for hospital pur- poses for private patients. It is now called the Municipal Hospital. It has a resident physician, a surgical staff and twelve good nurses.
In 1902, when smallpox was threatening the community, an isolation hospital was located on Marston street and served well its object. Of late there has fortunately been but little use for the institution, but it is kept in readiness in case of any epidemic in or near the city.
The Tuberculosis Hospital, on Chickering street, was established by the city in 1909. Before that the day camp of the general hospital cared for such cases. In 1917 the Municipal Health Department took over the Tuberculosis Dispensary, and the work is much more satisfactory. There are now four wards, with twenty-two beds in each. Usually there are seventy-five patients. There is a superintendent, with seven nurses and two visiting physicians.
A dental clinic was established by the Health Department of Law- rence in April, 1917. This is for the special examination of children's teeth. Two dentists are regularly employed in this work, which also includes visits to the schools and instructions concerning the care of the teeth. This is proving very popular and of great benefit.
The orphan asylum and home for invalids, known as the Protectorate of Mary Immaculate, on Maple street, was the first charitable institution within the city. It was opened by the Sisters of Charity, or the "Gray Nuns," January 29, 1868. Large additions have been made to the grounds and buildings. Recent reports show this institution to have as inmates 221 boys and girls and 22 aged women, who are cared for by the nuns. There are about a score of Sisters in charge. When the boys reach the age of twelve, they are given good homes outside of the insti- tution. The girls may stay as long as they wish.
The Lawrence General Hospital, private, was established in 1883, in a building built for the special purpose on Methuen street. In 1902 the hospital was removed to an ideal location on the summit of Prospect Hill. It is one of the best-equipped hospitals in Massachusetts for its size. More than twenty physicians and surgeons and a company of trained nurses make the place one to be desired by the afflicted of the community.
Lawrence Home for the Aged is located in a brick building at the top of Clover Hill. It was built in 1909 on land donated by Edward F. Searles, a millionaire philanthropist. It was incorporated in 1897. It is surrounded by beautiful, spacious grounds, made attractive by exquis- ite flower beds and elm trees. It is largely supported by voluntary con- tributions.
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September 7, 1846, a postoffice was first opened at Lawrence. It was kept in a little building on the old turnpike road, not far from the present postoffice site. Prior to this time Lawrence was called "Merri- mack," "New City," 'Essex" and "Andover Bridge." George A. Waldo originated the idea of securing a postoffice, and his son, George Albert Waldo, was made first postmaster. It was at first called Merrimack, and continued to be so called until Lawrence was set off from the towns of Methuen and Andover in 1847. It was named for the two Lawrences, Abbott and Samuel Lawrence. Michael F. Cronin was appointed in Janu- ary, 1914, as postmaster.
The present postoffice is a handsome sandstone structure at the cor- ner of Broadway and Essex streets, and was first occupied in 1905. In 1917 the postal savings department had deposits of $200,000. The mail of Lawrence is handled by thirty-three clerks and fifty-five regular carriers.
Fortunate, indeed, is the city which from its earliest history has had access to a good public library, through the forethought and wealth of a few public-spirited citizens. Essex county has been especially blessed with such towns and cities, as well as such men as George Pea- body, who in Salem, Danvers, Peabody and other places in the county has left a monument in hundreds of "stacks" of valuable books more to be prized by the present and future generations than the loftiest, best- designed marble memorial building one can imagine. In Lawrence, this same thought obtained in the minds of some of the original founders and friends of the place.
What was known as the Franklin library was incorporated in April,
1847. Its first president was Captain Charles H. Bigelow, the engineer whose master mind planned and superintended the construction of the first great dam at what is now the enterprising city of Lawrence. Hon. Abbott Lawrence, one of the founders, as well as one of the two men for whom the city was named, donated one thousand dollars to be expended in the purchase of such books as would "tend to create mechanics, good Christians and good patriots." At his death, in 1855, Mr. Lawrence gave $5,000 additional towards the support of this institution.
In 1872 the library and funds of the association were turned over to the city, and the Free Public Library, aided by the White fund, was suc- cessfully established. The old rooms soon grew too small and rooms were secured in the new Odd Fellows' building. The present building was opened in 1892, at the corner of Hampshire and Haverhill streets. Its first cost was $50,000, but in 1902 it was enlarged at an additional ex- pense of $38,000. It now has nearly eighty thousand volumes of valu- able books. August 1, 1898, a branch library was opened on South Broadway, and this proved a great success.
The first bridge to span the Merrimack river at Lawrence was built by a corporation styled the "Proprietors of Andover Bridge." This was
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doubtless the oldest corporation within the limits of what is now the city of Lawrence. In March, 1793, near the close of Washington's first administration as President of the United States, an act was passed by the General Court of Massachusetts incorporating Samuel Abbott and John White, with Joseph Stevens, merchant, and Ebenezer Poor, yeoman, and associates, as the "Proprietors of Andover Bridge", for the purpose of erecting a bridge over the Merrimack river, from Andover to Methuen, at Bodwell's Falls, near where Broadway bridge now stands. The char- ter provided that said bridge should be constructed within three years, should not be less than twenty-eight feet wide, and should have a central span of one hundred and ten feet reach over the main channel, to insure easy passage of great timber rafts. Tolls were fixed by the act for foot passengers and every kind of carriage from a chariot to a wheelbarrow. This bridge was constructed to rest on wooden piers; cost, $12,000; was opened to the public November 19, 1793, the same being a noted event. A boy named Stevens, who tried to pass by a guard of soldiers, at the opening day celebration, in advance of some noted personages, was fatal- ly injured by being bayoneted by the guard.
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