USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Professional and industrial history of Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Volume III > Part 49
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Great difficulty was at first experienced at Waltham for the want of a proper preparation (sizing) of the warp. The Waltham proprietors procured from England a drawing of Horrock's dressing machine, which, with some essential improvements, they adopted. No method was, however, indicated in this drawing for winding the threads from the bobbin on to the beam; and to supply this deficiency, Mr. Moody invented an ingenious machine called the warper. Having obtained these, there was no further difficulty in weaving by power looms. A deficiency, however, remained in the preparation for spinning. A de- scription was obtained from England of what was then called a bobbin and fly, or jack-frame, for spinning roving. From this Mr. Moody and Lowell produced a machine called a double speeder. The motion of the machine was very complicated, and required nice mathematical calculations. Without them, Mr. Moody's ingenuity, great as it was, would have been at fault. These were supplied by Mr. Lowell. Many years after the death of Mr. Lowell, when the patent for the speeder
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had been infringed, Dr. Nathaniel Bowditch was requested to examine them that he might appear as a witness at the trial. He afterward ex- pressed his admiration of the mathematical power they evinced, adding that there were some corrections introduced that he had not supposed any man in America familiar with but himself.
It will be seen how much there was at this early period to be done by the projectors of the Waltham mill, and how well it was accom- plished. The machines first introduced there are practically those still in use in New England, brought, of course, to greater perfection in detail, and attaining a much higher rate of speed.
Mr. Lowell died in 1814, at the early age of forty-two, satisfied that he had succeeded in his object, and that the extension of the cotton manufacture would form a permanent basis of the prosperity of New England. He had been mainly instrumental in procuring from Con- gress, in 1816, the establishment of the minimum duty on cotton cloth, an idea which originated with him, and one of great value, not only as offering a certain and easily collected revenue, but as preventing the exaction of a higher and higher duty, just as the advance in the cost abroad rendered it more difficult for the consumer to procure his neces- sary supplies.
Although the first suggestions and many of the early plans for the new business had been furnished by Mr. Lowell, Mr. Jackson devoted the most time and labor in conducting it. He spent much of his time in the early years at Waltham, separated from his family. It gradu- ally engrossed his whole thoughts, and abandoning his mercantile business, in 1815, he gave himself up to that of the company.
At the erection of each successive mill, many prudent men, even among the proprietors, had feared that the business would be overdone -that no demand would be found for such increased quantities of the same fabric. Mr. Jackson, with the spirit and sagacity that so emi- nently distinguished him, took a different view of the matter. He not only maintained that cotton cloth was so much cheaper than any other material that it must gradually establish itself in universal consumption at home, but entertained the bolder idea that the time would come when the improvements in machinery, and the increase of skill and capital, would enable us successfully to compete with Great Britain in the supply of foreign markets. Whether he ever anticipated the rapid- ity and extent of the developments which he lived to witness, may, perhaps, be doubted. It is certain, however, that his expectations
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were, at that time, thought visionary by many of the most sagacious of his friends.
The perfect working of the power-loom at Waltham set at rest all doubtful conjectures, and became an agency by which was ultimately averted in large measure the injurious effect of the fierce competition American manufacturers were subjected to by the peace of 1815. Dur- ing the war of 1812, when British manufacturers were excluded from our market, the manufacture of cotton had greatly increased, especially in Rhode Island, but in a very imperfect manner. The manufactur- ers of this State were clamorous for a high tariff after the peace of 1815 was declared, claiming that British importation would ruin their in- dustries. Mr. Lowell, however, realizing what could be done by the power-loom, had more moderate views on the tariff, and in 1816, when a new tariff was to be made, went to Washington, and through his efforts induced Mr. Lowndes and Mr. Calhoun to support the minimum tariff of 614 cents on the square yard, which was carried. For a time the cotton manufacturers were disposed to look upon this low tariff as ruinous to their business, and many suspended operations. By degrees, however, they woke up to the fact that the power-loom was an instru- ment that changed the whole character of the manufacture, and that by its adoption the tariff was sufficiently protective. Little did they think, however, that the same goods of cotton cloth which was then sold for thirty cents a yard could be sold in 1843 at a profit for six cents ; but such was the revolution in this industry caused by the power-loom.
The success of the Boston Manufacturing Company at Waltham made its proprietors anxious to extend their interest in the same direction. Nathan Appleton, in his Introduction of the Power-Loom and the Origin of Lowell, published in 1858, thus gives an account of the rise of the great industrial enterprises of Lowell, in which Boston men and capital so largely figure :
I was of opinion that the time had arrived when the manufacture and printing of calicoes might be successfully introduced in this country. In this opinion, Mr. Jack- son coincided; and we set about discovering a water-power. At the suggestion of Mr. Charles H. Atherton, of Amherst, New Hampshire, we met him at a fall of the Souhegan River, about six miles from its entrance into the Merrimack; but the power was insufficient for our purpose. This was in the summer of 1821. In returning, we passed the Nashua River, without being aware of the existence of the fall which has since been made the source of so much power by the Nashua Company. We saw a small grist-mill standing in the meadow near the road, with a dam of some six or seven feet. Soon after our return, I was at Waltham one day; when I was informed
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that Mr. Moody had lately been at Salisbury, where Mr. Worthen, his old partner, said to him: " I hear Messrs. Jackson and Appleton are looking out for water-power: why don't they buy up the Pawtucket Canal? That would give them the whole power of the Merrimack, with a fall of thirty feet." On the strength of this, Mr. Moody had returned that way, and was satisfied with the extent of the power, and that Mr. Jackson was making inquiries on the subject. Mr. Jackson soon after called on me, and informed me that he had had a correspondence with Mr. Clark, of Newburyport, the agent of the Pawtucket Company, and had ascertained that the stock of that company, and the lands necessary for using the water-power, could be purchased ; and asked me what I thought of taking hold of it. He stated that his engagements at Waltham would not permit him to take the management of a new concern ; but he mentioned Mr. Kirk Boott as having expressed a wish to take the management of an active manufacturing establishment, and that he had confidence in his possessing the proper talent for it. After a discussion it was agreed that he should consult Mr. Boott; and that, if he should join us, we would go on with it. He went at once to see Mr. Boott, and soon returned to inform me that Mr. Boott entered heartily into the project ; and we set about making the purchases without delay. Until these were male it was necessary to confine all knowledge of the project to our own three bosoms. Mr. Clark was employed to purchase the necessary lands, and such shares in the canal as were within his reach; whilst Mr. Henry Andrews was employed in purchasing up the shares owned in Boston. I recollect the first interview with Mr. Clark, at which he exhibited a rough sketch of the canal and adjoining lands, with prices which he had ascertained they could be purchased for ; and he was directed to go on and complete the purchases, taking the deeds in his own name, in order to prevent the project taking wind prematurely. The purchases were made accordingly for our equal joint account; each of us furnishing funds as required to Mr. Boott, who kept the accounts. Formal articles of association were then drawn up. They bear date December I. 1821; and are recorded in the records of the Merrimack Man- ufacturing Company, of which they form the germ. The six hundred shares were thus described:
Kirk Boott and J. W. Boott. 180
N. Appleton 180
P. T. Jackson 180
Paul Moody 60
600
The Act of Incorporation of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company bears date 5th of February, 1822; reorganizing the original association as the basis of the com- pany. Our first visit to the spot was in the month of November, 1821, when a slight snow covered the ground. The party consisted of P. T. Jackson, Kirk Boott, War- ren Dutton, Paul Moody, John W. Boott, and myself. We perambulated the grounds, and scanned the capabilities of the place; and the remark was made, that some of us might live to see the place contain twenty thousand inhabitants.
On our first organization, we allowed Mr. Moody to be interested to the extent of ten per cent., or sixty out of six hundred shares. We soon after made an arrange- ment with the Waltham Company making a mutual interest between the two com- panies. The canal was a work of great labor. The first water-wheel of the Mer-
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rimack Manufacturing Company was set in motion on the 1st of September, 1823. The business of printing calicoes was wholly new in this country. It is true that, after it was known that this concern was going into operation for that purpose, two other companies were got up,-one at Dover, New Hampshire; the other at Taun- ton,-in both of which goods were probably printed before they were by the Merri- mack Company.
The bringing the business of printing to any degree of perfection was a matter of difficulty and time. Mr. Allen Pollock thought himself competent to manage it, and was employed for some time. Through the good offices of Mr. Timothy Wiggin, Mr. Prince, of Manchester, was induced to come out, with his family; and has re- mained at the head of the establishment up to the present period (1855).
The engraving of cylinders was a most important part of the process; and Mr. Boott made one voyage to England solely for the purpose of engaging engravers. It was then kept a very close mystery. Mr. Dana was employed as chemist. Through the superior skill and talent of Messrs. Boott, Prince, and Dana, the company was brought to the highest degree of success. In the mean time, Mr. Moody was trans- ferred from Waltham to this place, having charge of the manufacture of machinery. Mr. Worthen had been employed at an early day. He was a man of superior me- chanical genius, and his death was deeply regretted. The capital of the Merrimack Company was gradually increased, a division of the property betwixt that company and the Proprietors of the Locks and Canals was made, new companies were estab- lished, until the new creation became a city, by the name of Lowell. I may, perhaps, claim having given it the name. Several names had been suggested, but nothing fixed on. On meeting Mr. Boott one day, he said to me that the committee were ready to report the bill (in the Legislature). It only remained to fill the blank with the name. He said he considered it narrowed down to two,-Lowell or Derby. 1 said to him: "Then Lowell, by all means;" and Lowell it was.
There was a particular propriety in giving it that name, not only from Mr. Francis C. Lowell, who established the system which gave birth to the place, but also from the interest taken by the family. His son of the same name was for some time treasurer of the Merrimack Company. Mr. John A. Lowell, his nephew, succeeded Mr. Jackson as treasurer of the Waltham Company, and was for many years treas- urer of the Boott and Massachusetts mills; was largely interested and a director in several other companies. There is no man whose beneficial influence in establishing salutary regulations in relation to this manufacture was exceeded by that of Mr. John A. Lowell. The name Derby was suggested by Mr. Boott, probably from his family associations with that place, it being also in the immediate vicinity of one of the earliest seats of the cotton manufacturers.
Such was the beginning of Lowell, a city which these enterprising Boston capitalists lived to see completed. If all honor is to be paid to the enterprise and sagacity of men who in later days, with the advan- tage of great capital and longer experience, bid a new city spring up from the forest on the border of the same stream, accomplishing almost in a day what in the course of nature is the slow growth of centuries, what shall we say of the forecast and energy of the founders of Lowell,
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who could contemplate and execute the same gigantic task at that early period ?
A very cursory glance at the history of these men will suffice to show that they were eminently qualified for the task they had under- taken of founding a new town.
Francis Cabot Lowell is said to have been a descendant of one of two brothers, Richard and Percival Lowell, who came to Newbury, Mass., from Bristol, England, in 1639. His grandfather was Rev. John Lowell, who in the first half of the preceding century was for forty-two years pastor of the First Church in Newburyport. His father was John Lowell, LL. D., judge of the United States Court of Massa- chusetts. He was born in Newburyport, April 2, 1175, and graduated from Harvard College in 1793. He became a merchant, but was driven from his business by the embargo, the non-intercourse and the war. He went to Europe for his health in 1810, and his sojourn there of three years was pregnant with results of the highest importance to the manufacturing interests of our country. He died August 10, 1817, at the age of forty-two years. It was his son, John Lowell, who gave $240,000 to found the Lowell Institute at Boston.
Nathan Appleton, in his "Origin of Lowell," bears the following testimony to the part performed by Mr. Lowell in the introduction of the power loom in America :
Mr. Lowell adopted an entirely new arrangement in order to save labor, in passing from one process to another, and he is unquestionably entitled to the credit of being the first person who arranged all the processes for the conversion of cotton into cloth within the walls of the same building. It is remarkable how few changes have been made from the arrangements established by him in the first mill built at Waltham. It is also remarkable how accurate were his calculations as to the expense at which goods could be made. He used to say that the only circumstance which made him distrust his own calculation was that he could bring them to no other result but one which was too favorable to be credible. His calculations, however, did not lead him so far as to imagine that the same goods which were then selling at thirty cents a yard would ever be sold at six cents, and without a loss to the manufacturer, as has since been done in 1843, when cotton was about five or six cents per pound. His care was especially devoted to the arrangements for the moral character of the operatives employed. He died in 1817, at the early age of 42, beloved and respected by all who knew him. He is entitled to the credit of having introduced the new system in the cotton manufacture, under which it has grown up so rapidly. For, although Messrs. Jackson and Moody were men of unsurpassed talent and energy in their way, it was Mr. Lowell who was the informing soul which gave direction and form to the whole proceeding.
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Nathan Appleton was born in New Ipswich, N. H., October 6, 1779, and was a son of Isaac Appleton. He entered Dartmouth College in 1994, but soon after left to engage in business in Boston with his brother Samuel. When he became of age he was admitted into partnership, and the firm was known as S. & N. Appleton. This was at a time when the commerce of the United States, under the genial influence of the Federal Constitution, began to revive from the paral- ysis caused by the old confederation. Several years of great prosperity followed, during which Mr. Appleton laid the foundation of his fortune. The restrictive system which commenced in 1807 crippled the trade of the country and gradually forced the thoughts of enterprising men toward manufactures. How Mr. Appleton was led to embark into cotton manufacture, and the great success which attended the venture has been told. He was elected to the State Legislature in 1815, and was re-elected one of the Boston representatives in 1816, 1821, 1823, 1824 and 1827. In 1830 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the United States, after one of the most exciting and closely contested political struggles which Boston has ever wit- nessed. Declining a re-election in 1832, he was induced to resume the Boston seat in Congress for a few months in 1842. During his con- gressional career he took an active part in shaping the tariff legislation, delivering three speeches on the subject. His attention was also largely devoted to the banking system of Massachusetts, and to the currency of the United States, publishing several essays on currency and bank- ing which attracted wide attention. "There was, I suppose," said Edward Everett, in a speech at a meeting of the merchants of Boston, held shortly after the death of Mr. Appleton, "no person in the com- munity who understood the subjects of banking and currency better than Mr. Appleton; few as well. Mr. Webster once, in a conversation with me, after mentioning other distinguished financiers, added, 'But Mr. Appleton, on these subjects, is our most astute and profound thinker.' Sooner than most men he discovered the false system and dangerous principles on which the Bank of the United States was pro- ceeding, and foretold the crash which afterwards took place." During the last years of his life, Mr. Appleton had been withdrawn from active participation in business, beyond what was necessary for the care of his large property, of which he made a liberal use as a patron of every meritorious charity and public spirited enterprise. His death occurred July 14, 1861.
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In the Memoir of Nathan Appleton, prepared by Robert C. Winthrop, his character is this admirably portrayed :
Neither the employment of his time, his faculties, nor his fortune had been that of a mere maker or hoarder or lover of money; and no such character could ever have been attached to him by the community in which he lived. The very investment of so large a part of his property in domestic manufactures had many of the best ele- ments of charity; and the satisfaction which he derived from the success by which he was himself enriched, was not a little enhanced by the consideration that he had been the means of affording employment to so great a number of operatives of both sexes, who might otherwise have failed to obtain work and wages. But his mind was one of the last which could have contented itself with merely poring over his own day-book and ledger, much as he may have prized the virtues of the trial bal- ance. He was a person of large reading, diligent study, careful reflection, varied acquisition, whose published writings would alone be sufficient to show how little of his time and thought could have been taken up with any private pecuniary ends of his own. Harvard University recognized his claim to the distinction of literature by the honorary degree of Master of Arts in 1844, and of Doctor of Laws in 1855. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Antiquarian Society, and other kindred associations enrolled him among their domestic members; and the Archæological Institute of Suffolk county, in Old England, placed his name on its foreign honorary list. He had, indeed, accumulated a great estate, but it had brought with it no canker of pride or avarice. He was a liberal, public spirited gentleman, whose charity began at home, but did not end there; who made handsome provision for a hospitable household and a numerous family, without limiting his benevolence within the range of domestic obligations or personal ties. He was not ostentatious of his bounty, either in life or death; nor did he seek celebrity for his name by any single and signal endowment; but he never looked with indifference on the humane and philanthropic enterprises of the day, nor declined to unite in sustaining those institutions of education and science which are the glory of his time. .
His own name will be cherished among those which have most adorned our rolls [Massa- chusetts Historical Society], and will henceforth have a conspicuous place in that list of illustrious merchants whose enterprise, integrity and public spirit have made up so large a part of the best history of Boston.
The name of Patrick Tracy Jackson is associated in the minds of all acquainted with the history of Boston with public enterprise, purity of purpose, vigor of resolution and kindliness of feeling. He was born at Newburyport on the 14th of August, 1780, and was the youngest son of Jonathan Jackson, a member of the Continental Congress in 1782, marshal of the District of Massachusetts under Washington, first inspector and afterwards supervisor of the internal revenue, treasurer of the Commonwealth for five years, and at the time of his death treas- urer of Harvard College; a man distinguished among the old fashioned gentlemen of that day for the dignity and grace of his deportment, but
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much more so for his intelligence, and the fearless, almost Roman in- flexibility of his principles. His maternal grandfather, from whom he derived his name, was Patrick Tracy, an opulent merchant of Newbury- port -- an Irishman by birth, who, coming to this country at an early age, poor and friendless, had raised himself, by his own exertions, to a position which his character enabled him adequately to sustain.
Young Jackson received his education at the public schools of his native town, and afterwards at Dunmore Academy. When about fif- teen years old he was apprenticed to William Bartlett, then the most enterprising and richest merchant of Newburyport, and well known for his munificent endowment of the institution at Andover. He soon se- cured the esteem and confidence of Mr. Bartlett, who entrusted to him, when under twenty years of age, a cargo of merchandise for St. Thomas, with authority to take the command of the vessel from the captain, if he should see occasion.
It was during the opening years of the present century when Mr. Jackson commenced his career in the business world on his own ac- count. He had previously made many voyages in merchant ships, and had acquired a thorough knowledge of navigation and of seamanship. He had taken charge of a ship and cargo on four successive voyages to India, when, in 1808, having established his reputation and acquired some capital, he relinquished the sea and entered into commercial pur- suits in Boston. His acquaintance with the India trade eminently fitted him for that branch of business, and he had the support and invaluable counsels of his brother-in-law, Francis C. Lowell. He entered largely into this business both as an importer and speculator. The same re- markable union of boldness and sound judgment, which characterized him in later days, contributed to his success, and his credit soon became unbounded. In 1811, at a moment when his engagements were very large, and when the state of the country was such, in its foreign rela- tions, as to call for the greatest circumspection, a sudden check was given to his credit, by the failure of a house in the same branch of busi- ness with which he was known to be extensively connected. His credit- ors became alarmed, but Mr. Jackson acted under this emergency with his usual promptness and resolution. Calling upon some of his princi- pal creditors, he made a lucid statement of his affairs, and so completely did he show himself to be master of his business, that he was allowed to go on unmolested, and the event justified the confidence reposed in him. In the end he gained reputation and public confidence by the
Jorge G Filchfield
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circumstances that had threatened to destroy him. Within a year all the embarrassments that had menaced him had passed away, and he continued largely engaged in the India and Havana trade till the break- ing out of the war of 1812. At this period circumstances led him into cotton manufacture with results already stated.
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