USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume II > Part 9
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Lafayette's visit was one of the early day notable events. June 20, 1825, he passed through this section from Boston to Concord, New Hampshire. The General left Boston at nine o'clock in the morning, with a suite, riding in an open barouche drawn by four white horses. The route taken was through Charlestown, Medford, Reading, Andover, through the present Lawrence, and Methuen. He was met at the An- dover line by a company of cavalry and escorted to Seminary Hill, where the venerable Mr. Kneeland welcomed the honored guest. Several mili- tary companies in Lawrence joined the cavalry and escorted him to Tay- lor's Hotel, where he was welcomed by the faculty of the institution. About two p. m. the distinguished party passed over Andover (now Broadway) bridge in Lawrence, escorted by the Andover cavalry. At Methuen there was a welcome by the local militia and by some one of the General's old light infantry soldiers, several of whom met him upon the route. At three p. m. at the State Line, the cavalry delivered their guest to the staff of Governor Morrill, of New Hampshire, the Granite State party arriving safely in Concord with their distinguished guest early the same evening. The only halt in Lawrence was to water the fine-blooded horses at the Shawsheen corner well, and a short rest upon the old bridge, where the picturesque rapids and pleasant scene at- tracted the attention of the noble Frenchman. The people turned out en masse.
Writing of the fall of the Pemberton Mills, the late Hon. R. H. Tewksbury in his history of this calamity states: "No cyclone or whirl- wind had swept the plain; no torrent had undermined; no lightning stroke had rent; no explosion had shattered the fair structure. Some inherent defect invited and caused collapse so complete that it came with- out warning and overcame every element of strength and solidity."
Fully to appreciate the gloom into which Lawrence was plunged by this disaster, one should remember that it was in the period of financial
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panics in this country, from 1857 on to 1860, when Lawrence, in common with all other cities, suffered greatly. The largest woolen mill plant in the United States had failed; the great machine shop building was silent and deserted of its workmen. The Pacific Mills were yet in a stage of experimenting, struggling to survive. The population had suddenly de- creased fully fifteen per cent. Only after the Civil War came on was there any demand for goods such as were here manufactured.
The Pemberton Mills were built in 1853 by the Essex Company, and John Pickering Putnam was managing director. It was designed and built under the watchful care of Captain Charles H. Bigelow, and was one of the most attractive and apparently most substantial buildings in Lawrence. In 1859 it had been purchased by David Nevins of Methuen and George Howe of Boston, who paid $325,000 for the plant, which had cost in excess of $840,000. Under these owners the factory had resumed work, and prosperity seemed to smile upon the undertaking. Shortly be- fore 5 o'clock in the afternoon of January 10th, 1860, while the machin- ery was still in motion, without a second's warning, the entire building trembled, tottered and fell, burying beneath its shapeless, broken ruins a mass of humanity that had been working within its walls. Six hundred and seventy men, women and children went down in the ruins. Strong men with stout hearts went to work to remove the living from the ruins. To make the fatalities more than double what they would have been at first, about ten o'clock at night, when men were doing their best to re- lieve suffering, a lantern in the hands of a workman was broken by chance, and the ignited fluid fell among inflammable materials, such as cotton waste and oil, when suddenly tongues of fire leaped high over the ruins. One account of this calamity speaks as follows: "The scene lighted by bonfires, and the flames from the burning mass, in the smoke that hung about it, was weird, awe-inspiring and indescribable. All about the streets, from every available outlook, an excited, hushed crowd gathered from the homes of the city and from the country about, look- ing, on, filled with fear and foreboding. There were 918 persons em- ployed by the corporation, but of these nearly one-third were at work in out-buildings or in the yard, and were therefore out of danger. Of the 670 persons in the mill when it fell, 307 escaped unhurt, 88 were killed, 116 badly injured and 159 slightly injured."
The City Hall was transformed into a morgue for the wounded and dead, by order of Hon. Daniel Saunders, Jr., then mayor, and the physi- cians of Lawrence and surrounding towns were all busy at work. The scene at the City Hall was one never to be forgotten by those who saw it in all its awfulness. At one time there were fifty-four wounded pa- tients in the hall. The heartrending scenes witnessed in the identifica- tion of the dead must here be left to the imagination.
The relief committee, under the mayor and Charles S. Storrow, was flooded by every incoming mail with contributions from far and near,
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until these men had to refuse to accept the freely-given offerings. The total amount received was $65,835.67, and of this sum $52,000 was dis- bursed in aid of the sufferers; the $14,000 remaining was invested as annuities. Pardon Armington was appointed clerk to make an accurate record of each case. Four days after the calamity the mayor ordered a day of fasting and prayer, calling upon the people to abstain from labor as much as possible and to attend religious services.
The jury called by Dr. William D. Lamb, then coroner, heard the evidence of eye-witnesses that the roof of the mill first sank at the southerly end and the whole roof, freeing itself from wall supports, came crashing down to the floor below. Each floor gave way as the one above it came violently downward, till the last floor was reached. The wall at the north end of the 284 foot structure was thrown outward, a portion falling upon the ice that covered the canal. The chimney at the south end remained standing with some crumbling walls attached. Only the main building fell. Pictures of this scene were printed from the then used woodcuts in "Harper's" and "Frank Leslie's" illustrated papers, many of which are still to be seen at public libraries. It was the verdict of the jury that the cast-iron pillars used for supporting the several floors of the building were weak, on account of defective castings, and it was agreed by experts and jury that this was the sole cause of the disaster. Thirteen bodies were removed from the ruins so badly mutilated that they could not be identified, and these were all buried in Bellevue ceme- tery, over which was erected a plain granite monument with this inscrip- tion: "In memory of the unrecognized dead who were killed by the fall of the Pemberton Mill, January 10, 1860."
The present Pemberton Mills are on the site of the old mill. Imme- diately after this awful disaster a new company was organized with David Nevins, George Blackburn and Eben Sutton as largest share- holders. Their company was incorporated as the Pemberton Company.
July 26, 1890, at about nine o'clock (Saturday morning), a whirl- wind swept over the southern ward of the city, in which eight persons were killed and sixty-five injured. The property loss was about $45,- 000. The storm came from the west, at the velocity of a mile a minute. A funnel-shaped cloud hung high over Andover street and near West Parish road, struck the earth, and took everything in its pathway. It blew away buildings and upturned large trees. The railroad bridge was badly warped and twisted by the storm. A switchman was killed near there. It spent itself at the entrance of the Shawsheen into the Merri- mack river. Not very long after, the mayor and city officials were busy rendering relief. Early that evening a military guard was placed in charge, to keep order-old Battery C, Field Artillery, under Captain L. N. Duchesney, and also Company F, under Captain Joseph H. Joubert. The next day (Sunday) there were fully 50,000 people present as sight- seers, the utmost order prevailing. The total amount in relief funds was
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$37,560. The smallest amount given by any Lawrence person was ten cents, and the greatest was $500. Lawrence donated $27,000; Boston, $6,800; Lowell, $2,000; Haverhill, $1,059; Salem, $218; Manchester, New Hampshire, $66; and Worcester, $25. The amount of money drawn by the building committee to pay awards was $30,000. The estimated damage was $37,000, and the actual damage aggregated $42,000.
Lawrence was visited August 4, 1910, by a tornado, which passed through the heart of the city. Trees were upturned, buildings were un- roofed, but no fatalities took place. One man was injured. The greatest loss was in the vicinity of the Common. The huge flagstaff, opposite the site of the present beautiful Shattuck staff, was snapped off at the base "like a pipe-stem."
On June 30, 1913, the runway leading from the north bank of the Merrimack river, just above the dam, to one of the municipal bathhouses, collapsed, and eleven boys, ranging from eight to fifteen years, were drowned. Scores more were only saved by prompt and heroic work on the part of bystanders. While the boys were standing on the boardwalk extending out over the water, waiting until the keeper should open up the bathhouse for the first time that season, it suddenly collapsed, and all were plunger into the water. Only a few cases can here be mentioned wherein heroic persons, including boys, riskd their lives to save others struggling in the waters and unable to swim. Joseph McCann, a fifteen- year-old crippled lad, probably outshone all others in his daring yet un- successful attempt to save his companions. Without hesitation, he plunged into the stream. Being a fine swimmer, he was soon in reach of his chums, who (as is usually the case) grasped his frail his frail form, and all went to watery graves. Henry Hinchcliffe, aged sixteen, succeeded in bringing a number of boys safely to shore. He was award- ed the Carnegie Medal for bravery, and also afforded an education by the Carnegie Hero Fund. Expert divers brought to the surface seven more boys, making eleven in all known to have drowned. The bath houses were then closed and never reopened. The relatives of the de- ceased boys each received $100 for funeral expenses, but the supreme court held later that the city was not liable for damages, for the reason that no fee had been charged for the use of the bath houses. The inquest disclosed the fact that the accident was due to lack of sufficient braces under the board walk. Those who perished were: Secundo Allegdro, 10 years ; William Bolster, 10; Joseph Belanger, 8; John Cote, 8; Romaldo Gaudette (was visiting in the city and was to have gone home to Fitch- . burg on the day following the accident), 10; Joseph Hennessey, 15; Rol- land Jones, 9; Joseph McCann, 15; Flower Pinta, 11; William Thornton, 10; Michael Woitena, 14.
What was known as the Lawrence Board of Trade had its origin on February the eighth, 1888, with James H. Eaton as its first presi- dent; Charles A. DeCourcy, secretary ; and Arthur W. Dyer, treasurer.
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About eighty men belonged to this organization, including the mill agents as well as many of the better class of business and professional men of the city. For a full quarter of a century this organization looked well to the commercial interests of Lawrence. June 1st, 1913, the old organi- zation died and the newly-formed Chamber of Commerce went into ac- tion, with larger scope and greater activities. Statistical matter has been printed and sent broadcast throughout the entire country, and good results have been known to follow this extensive advertising plan. One of the largest undertakings was the sending out a large display of articles produced in the many industrial plants. Tens of thousands of descriptive circulars were distributed in the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Ex- position at San Francisco. Another big feature was the sending of a special passenger train of one hundred and six enthusiastic boomers for Lawrence. The fine exhibit at San Francisco was awarded the first premium in way of such a collection of exhibits.
The old Merchants' Association, which had been formed in 1902, for mutual benefit to the merchants, was merged with the Chamber of Com- merce. The Chamber now has commodious quarters in the Bay State Building, and there the facts concerning the growing city of Lawrence may be readily found by interested parties.
At the outset, the founders of the city made provision for the com- fort and enjoyment of coming generations. The Essex Company, men- tioned elsewhere, liberally donated the Common, and from time to time deeded other tracts of land to the city, which are now "favorite breathing spots." Storrow Park, a reservation of ten acres on the highlands of Prospect Hill, in Ward No. 1, was deeded to Lawrence, December 3, 1853. In 1873 the same company deeded a seven-acre tract known as the "Amphitheatre", as it is closed on three sides by low ridges; this is also called Bodwell Park. The conditions of this gift were that the city should expend not less than two hundred dollars per year for a term of ten years in improving and making beautiful the grounds. Another handsome reservation was laid out by the Essex Company. This con- tains a little more than eleven acres and extends easterly from South Union street in Ward No. 6, and is now styled Union Park. The public park off Hampshire street (known commonly as the "Jail Common"), is another gift from the Essex Company, besides the small Stockton Park at the junction of South Union street and Winthrop avenue.
The playground movement was started in the summer of 1912, the ยท first cost being borne by the city, with some assistance by liberal citizens. However, away back in 1848 the place had its playground in the shape of the Commons, so generously donated to the newly-laid-out town. There are now seventeen parks or playgrounds containing 164.67 acres. This number includes Sullivan Park (named for the late Hon. Edward F. O'Sullivan), which tract was formerly Riverside Park ball grounds, but purchased by the city in the early months of 1918. The play grounds are
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attracting great attention, and are utilized by thousands of children and youth, who are provided with all sorts of appliances for both amusement and physical culture.
There are but few finer "Commons" than the tract at Lawrence. It is in the very heart of the enterprising city, and comprises seventeen and one-half acres; the land was deeded to the city in 1848 by the Essex Com- pany. Here are winding paths and walks leading in every direction. Stately elms and maple trees enclose expanses of grass plots, set off with attractive flower beds. In 1916 the park commissioner gave this com- mon as having four hundred and twenty-two trees. One descriptive writer, in "Lawrence of Today" says of this park or common:
Originally this common, in the greater part of its area, was only a sand heap. The high ground was sown occasionally with buckwheat, which was plowed in as a fertilizer. At one time, near the northeastern corner, two acres were set out with cabbages. The eastern section along Jackson street was an elder swamp, with a brook running through it. The willows on the southeastern corner, the last of which were removed several years ago, were some of the original trees that grew up by the wall, which as one of the boundary lines of the Gage farm that stretched away to the eastward. One of these willow trees, cut down in 1899, had sixty-nine rings in the trunk, denoting an age of sixty-nine years.
In 1874-75 the old fence which enclosed the park was removed and the granite curbing was provided. The present concrete water-basin, or artificial pond, built in 1914, replaced the original gold-fish pond for which ground was broken in August, 1857. The beautifully designed Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument was here erected in 1881, as a result of the donations given by the Grand Army Post, citizens of the place, etc., who formed the Monument Association, with officers as follows: President, Robert H. Tewksbury; vice-presidents, John R. Rollins and Thomas Cor- nelie; secretary, Frank O. Kendall; trustees to receive and invest funds; Mayor James R. Simpson, Hezekiah Plummer, Waldo L. Abbott, Joseph Shattuck, Freder- ick E. Clarke, James S. Hutchinson, Byron Truell, John Hart, Edmund R. Hay- den. The total cost of this monument was $11,111.75, the total number of sub- scribers being 9,136. Among the long list of givers appear the names of these resi- dents. The crowning figure of the monument is "Union", designed by David Rich- ards. The bronze tablet attached to this Civil War Monument contains the names of two hundred and fifty-five soldiers who were killed in battle. This memorial to the defenders of their country was appropriately dedicated on the evening of November 2, 1881, amid a brilliant display of fireworks and calcium lights. It was accepted on behalf of the city by Mayor Henry K. Webster, who gave a befitting address.
Another attraction on the Common is the unique flagstaff, the gift of Joseph Shattuck, upon the occasion of the first Flag Day demonstration, October 12, 1912. Mr. Shattuck gave $4,000 for the erection of this flagstaff, and an additional thousand was deposited with the Essex Savings Bank for the purpose of supply- ing new flags, as time goes on. The base of this flagstaff is an emblematic work of art, representing the industries of Lawrence, especially the weaving of fabrics. It is an elaborate affair and in connection with the base bears this inscription: "The gift of Joseph Shattuck, to the people of Lawrence, as a perpetual remembrance of October 12, 1912, when 32,000 men, women and children of the city marched under the flag for God and Country."
The present bandstand on the Common was built in June, 1904. The public sanitary station, located in the same section, was completed
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and opened December 30, 1907. The park system includes parks and playstands in every ward.
The "Service-Roll" was erected temporarily, in honor of the 3,600 soldiers who had been inducted into the United States service for the World War. This will ere long doubtless be superseded by a more tasty and enduring memorial upon the part of the citizens of the city.
The great textile strike of 1912 was felt directly throughout Essex county and indirectly throughout the whole of New England, also causing labor agitation even beyond the confines of this country, was the one at Lawrence, beginning January 12, 1912, lasting sixty-three days, in which 27,000 operatives were involved. The real cause was the enforcement of the 54-hour law, which really meant that operatives lost two hours per week. The measure prohibited women and children from working in the mills more than fifty-four hours a week. But, as a matter of fact, the work of the women and children feeds the work done by the men, so the new law meant a reduction of two hours in the week's working sched- ule. While the wages per hour were not changed, the amount of the compensation received by the workers under the fifty-four hour law was less than under the fifty-six hour law. The workers demanded that they receive the same wages, regardless of the change of the schedule; when the first pay-day arrived, following the date that the 54-hour law went into effect, they resented the reduction, as they saw fit to regard it, and the strike began. This was January 11. Five hundred weavers and spinners in the Everett, Arlington and Duck mills first quit work.
The strike began January 12, 1912, and lasted sixty-three days. Twenty-seven thousand operatives were involved. Cause: Reduction in pay, with enforcement of new fifty-four hour law. Two regiments of infantry, two troops of cavalry, besides metropolitan park police, assisted augmented Lawrence police force in preserving order. Anna LoPezzi and John Remi were killed in clashes between strikers and police and strikers and militia. Joseph J. Ettor and Arturo Giovannitti, strike leaders, were arrested on charge of being accessories before the fact to the slaying of Anna LoPezzi; after jury trial, both acquitted. Parties of children were sent to New York, Philadelphia and Barre, Virginia, for care until the close of strike; one group stopped by police and several arrests made. Investigation by Congressional Committee, United States Attorney General, the Federal Bureau of Labor, a committee of the State Legislature, and the Attorney General of the State. Cost to mills, esti- mated at nearly $1,000,000. Estimated loss of wages to employees, $1,350,000. Estimated cost of maintaining regular and special police by the city, $75,000. Estimated cost to State in maintaining militia, $200,- 000. Relief funds sent in from all over the country, approximately $65,- 000. More than 2,500 persons cared for daily during strike period. $45,- 000 collected by I. W. W .; leaders of that organization accused of mis-
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management and misuse of funds. Estimated number of arrests, 500; one-half of this number paid fines ranging from one to one hundred dol- lars. Strike ended March 14, 1912. Concessions of mills, five to twenty- five per cent. increases in wages. Wage advance spread over New Eng- land; a general increase of from five to seven per cent. Estimated cost to 1,500 textile manufacturers, $5,000,000 a year.
A local writer (Maurice B. Dorgan) gives this description of affairs connected with the strike:
Friday morning, January 12, snow began falling at 7:30 and through the whirling whiteness ran the constantly growing crowd of strikers. It started from the Washington Mills, with 500, and by 10 a. m. had 12,000 people out of the mills and the riot call sounding for the police. The mob marched over Union street and entered the Wood Worsted Mills. Weapons were brandished, belts were thrown off, obstacles were hurled into the machinery and workers were actually driven from the mills. Next the army of strikers went to the Ayer Mills to get the workers out. Here occurred the first clash with the police, who were under command of Assistant City Marshal Samuel S. Logan. Marching across the Duck bridge, the mob attacked the Duck and Kunhardt Mills, breaking many windows.
The Industrial Workers of the World had a small organization of perhaps 300 in Lawrence, although little or nothing had ever been heard of it until the strike. Immediately its local leaders sent for Joseph J. Ettor, an Italian organizer of that body, and he arrived from New York Saturday morning, addressing a mass meeting in City Hall. He remained chairman of the strike committee, which was organized on the following Monday, and the real leader of the strike until his arrest on Janu- ary 30, on the charge of being accessory to the murder of Anna Lo Pezzi, an Italian woman, who was shot on January 29.
By Saturday night 15,000 of the mill workers of Lawrence were out. On Sun- day, January 14, Ettor and the strike committee had a conference with Mayor Michael A. Scanlon and the members of the board of aldermen, when the strikers were advised to observe law and order and not invoke trouble or continue the destruction of property. Fearing a further demonstration upon the part of the strikers on the following Monday morning, however, every police officer was ordered to report for duty early and the three local militia organizations, Battery C of the Field Artillery, Company F of the Ninth Infantry, and Company L of the Eighth Infantry, were ordered to report at the Amesbury street Armory.
The next morning, Monday, January 15, there was a clash between the troops and the strikers and there was general disorder. Thirty-five arrests were made. A strikers' parade started in the vicinity of Union street and proceeded along Canal street to the Washington Mills. Here the mill gate was stormed and a number succeeded in getting into the mill, where they were arrested. Then the mob moved up street along the canal of the Pacific Mills, where they were received with hose streams. After they had been repulsed, a crowd armed themselves with sticks from a freight car standing on their side of the canal and smashed many windows in the Atlantic Mills. Shots were fired by the mob at the millwatchman, and one rioter was bayoneted, though not fatally, by a member of Company F, in an attempt to rush the Atlantic Mill gates.
This marked the entrance of the militia into the situation, which had got be- yond control of the civil authorities. Governor Foss ordered militia companies from other cities in the State to Lawrence, and from that day till several weeks later, when the need of the military was no longer apparent, the iron grip of the soldiery was felt. Cordons of militia were thrown about the mills, and sharp- shooters were located in the factory towers as a precaution against prowlers who
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