Standard history of Essex county, Massachusetts, embracing a history of the county from its first settlement to the present time, with a history and description of its towns and cities. The Most historic county of America., Part 79

Author: Tracy, Cyrus M. (Cyrus Mason), 1824-1891, et al. Edited by H. Wheatland
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Boston, C. F. Jewett
Number of Pages: 450

USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Standard history of Essex county, Massachusetts, embracing a history of the county from its first settlement to the present time, with a history and description of its towns and cities. The Most historic county of America. > Part 79

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Carney Brothers, J. P. Kent (deceased), William H. Bridgman (deceased), John F. Bingham, Martin Brothers, Aaron Ordway, Albin Yeaw, Lnrandus Beach, L. Beach, Jr., Charles R. and E. J. Mason, and William E. Gowing. A score of other younger men are estab- lishing a reputation for enterprise and reliability in trade.

CHAPTER XIII.

EVENTS AND EPISODES IN LOCAL HISTORY.

THE FALL OF PEMBERTON MILL - DAYS OF GLOOM - VISITORS - FENIANISM - SLAVERY.

Had the reader been passing down the line of the north canal just before five o'clock, P. M., on the 10th of January, 1860, he would have looked for one moment upon the great main mill building of the Pemberton Manufacturing Company, standing in perfect outline ; within, cach busy worker in place, the great lines of machinery moving with nicest precision. Another moment and he would have seen, in place of this apparently model workshop, a mound of broken timbers, fallen walls, crushed masses of machinery, and wounded and bewildered workmen. The fall commenced near the sontherly end, and extended northerly about as fast as a person could run. So total a wreck, with no bolt from heaven, no sweeping tornado or overwhelming flood as a visible enuse, is rarely seen on earth.

The mill was a wide departure from old models, -of uncommon width, with five high stories, lighted by large windows, and a nearly flat roof. The heavy floors (six inches thickness of plank, boards, and sheathing), and the roof, were supported by two parallel rows of cast-iron pillars through the centre of the building. Upon these rigid pillars much of the weight of machinery and heavy flooring rested ; upon them fell the shock of vibration. These wide floors lay twisted, bent, and broken, upon intermediate piles of machinery.

Crowds rushed to the scene ; friends of operatives, wild with grief and apprehension, hundreds of citizens proffering aid. A great calamity had fallen upon the city ; there was sorrow and dismay in many homes, disturbance and dread in all.

Business, other than that of rescuing and caring for those in peril, was at a standstill. Action was prompt. Volunteers, ranging them- selves under proper leadership, worked nobly for the safety of those buried in the ruin. Great progress had been made, and many liber- ated, when, near midnight, probably from a breaking lantern, flames burst from the débris. Floors saturated with oil, cotton, and com- bustible material, fed the fires. A draught through the ruin drove fierce flames among broken machinery. An immense quantity of water was thrown upon the mass, from hydrants in Washington Mills yards, engines of the city fire department, and an engine from Man- chester. But the reaches of warped and broken floor shed water like roofs ; the speed of the fire was terrifie, wrapping the whole mass in a sheet of flame. Fire was master ; men impotent to stay its pitiless work.

City hall was converted into a hospital and morgue, where the dead, and wounded having no homes in the city, were received. Before one o'clock at night, rows of mattresses had been arranged on three sides of the hall. Fifty-four wounded were here eared for, and scores, scattered at their homes in the city, had tender care at their firesides. Ladies volunteered as nurses. Physicians of the city and surrounding towns worked faithfully and humanely to alleviate suffering.

Some of the unfortunate had internal injuries, not apparent, yet ac- tually fatal; others, frightful wounds, from which they recovered. The dead-room was removed to an office below. Friends came from great distances, eager to learn the fate of kindred. Sometimes, among those mutilated past recognition, only a shred of garment, a keepsake, or a ring served to identify, so terrible was the work of fire. By every country road and every railway train, hundreds of people came to visit the scene of the tragedy. It was estimated that over 50,000 people visited city hall during the day following the disaster.

So unprecedented a case called ont sympathy and aid from the gen- erous and public-spirited, far and near. Philanthropic gentlemen met on the day following the fall, at the rooms of Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company, in Boston. A subscription was set on foot, reaching, in the aggregate, over $19,000, which sum was forwarded by the New England Society for Promotion of Manufactures and

* Since deceased.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Mechanic Arts. The Suffolk Club, of Boston, sent $2,000; eitizeus of Fall River, nearly $2,000. Providence, R. I. ; Salem and Lowell, Mass. ; New York and Philadelphia Corn Exchanges, and merchants of both cities, with citizens of Pittsburg, Penn., made heavy contrihu- tions. Johu G. Whittier and Horace Greeley, both collected and transmitted funds. Ex-President Franklin Pierce sent fifty dollars. Remittances, many in small amounts, came from every New England State ; New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware', Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and District of Columbia.

A board of trustees, for the management of the relief fund, was promptly organized, consisting of the following gentlemen : D. Saunders, Jr., Mayor ; Charles S. Storrow, Henry K. Oliver, John C. Hoadley, and William C. Chapin. A competent clerk was employed, and most exact methods of accountability and distribution instituted. S. A. Furbush, John Q. A. Bachelder, William D. Joplin, Henry Withington, Elbridge Weston, and Daniel Saunders, were an inspect- ing or visiting committee in the six wards, each keeping almost daily contact with the injured, thus preventing aid to the unworthy or neglect of the deserving. Thirteen days after the catastrophe, the trustees issued an address to the public, gratefully acknowledging receipts, which amounted to $65,559.30, and assured the public that the sum already pledged would answer probable needs.

Charles S. Storrow was treasurer of the committee, and patiently heard and investigated claims. Aid was given only in case of injury to the person, or suffering caused by the fall. The record of Mayor Saunders, and other public servants, in that trying time, was that of whole-souled, faithful public officials. Clergymen, in the duties of their office and as public-spirited citizens, were active helpers. On the following Sabbath, in five city churches, the sermons of the several pastors were from the same words, Luke xiii. 4, 5; and all held solemn service appropriate in view of so startling a calamity.

In the minutes of George P. Wilson, City Missionary, made at the time, is the following : "About 10 o'clock, after the fall, a person engaged in rescuing sufferers, lowered a glass lantern among the ruins. This lantern was broken, and fire, fed by waste, cotton, and oil, spread heneath the floors." * He also says : "Coffee and wine were lowered to some who could not be liberated"; also, " It is said that a party of girls, for whom there was no possibility of safety, were heard singing together a familiar and pathetic hymn, until their voices were drowned by the roar of fire."

Nine hundred and eighteen persons were in the employ of the com- pany at the time of this disaster. About 600 went down in the ruins of the falling building. The remaining 300 were employed in yards and ont-buildings, or escaped from the building at first alarm : 305 escaped nnhurt. The final report of trustees of the Relief Fund, made Feb. 11, 1861, thirteen months after the fall, shows that eighty-six were killed or had died of injuries ; forty-three cases are reported of sur- vivors having severe injuries. Two of the latter were hopelessly bed- ridden, and annuities were purchased for their benefit. Thirteen of the dead were mutilated past recognition ; for their hurial a lot was secured in Bellevue Cemetery, and Sunday, March 4, 1860, the un- known were huried, Rev. George Packard and Rev. C. E. Fisher conducting solemn service. A plain granite monument marks their resting-place, with this inscription :

"In memory of the unrecognized dead Who were killed by the fall of Pemberton Mill, January 10th, 1860."

This event cansed, as it should, earnest inquiry as to the eause of the disaster, and the persons upon whom the responsibility for its oc- enrrence might justly fall. After a very full investigation, and exam- ination after the ruins were removed, it scems to have been conceded, on all sides, that it arose, not from failure of the foundation, which was left in perfectly firm and unchanged condition, not from failure or defect in the masonry, which was sound and well put together, but from the insufficiency and breakage of the iron columns, t of which two parallel rows ran from end to end in the interior of the building, supporting the floors and roof, which were over eighty feet in width ;

the building being 284 feet long and 84 feet wide, outside measure- ment.

For the defects and want of strength in these columns, the verdict of the coroner's jury threw the chief responsibility upon the construct- ing engineer. A more general verdict, however, placed the responsi- hility fully as much upon the owners of the foundry from whom the columns were bought, and the agent of the mill who contracted for, purchased, and sent them to the huilder, as upon the engineer, who received and used what was thus sent him, without such thorough examination and test as might have revealed dangerous defects.

But the great mill fell, hy reason of a vital defect, whoever was responsible. It was a terrible lesson, calling universal attention to floor supports in mills and warehouses. Many a frail pillar was strengthened, and plan changed to give undoubted margin of safety, in consequence of this terrible warning.

Days of Gloom. - The year 1857 hrought shadows npon many communities. There are few sadder sights than to see the industrious and frugal, whose capital is their muscular strength and skill in labor, who have just become rooted in new homes, suddenly turned adrift, through mercantile failure or business calamity. Such misfortune fell upon many citizens in 1857; the Bay State Mills, the Lawrence Machine Shop, the Pemberton Mills, and minor operators reducing work to minimum of production, or stopping altogether.

There was a decrease in population, in eighteen months, of nearly 3,000 souls, more than fifteen per cent. For four years there was little increase in valuation. Recovery was slow, effects of misfortune visible on every side. Old citizens will recollect how consternation fell upon the people when, almost without warning, the Bay State Mills, together with the selling agents of the mills (the treasurer of the mill being at the head of the selling firm of Lawrence, Stone & Co.), became bankrupt, and news spread that this company, con- sidered one of the most stable, as it was one of the most important of Lawrence enterprises, was insolvent, the stock a drug, confidence gone, hope of recovery lost, financial ruin unavoidable ; a great industry, the pride and support of thousands, paralyzed. What won- der there was foreboding, distrust, and bitterness. The poor suffered ; the well-to-do were crippled ; all watched the fortune of the great mills, elated hy any rumor of renewed activity, cast down by every word of discouragement or sign of ill-omen.

Collapse was sudden ; recovery gradual. But after two discourag- ing years of waiting, the great company was re-organized ; the wheels moved once more, and, during early years of the war, when disaster came to many manufacturing cities, local mills were profitably run, furnishing immense quantities of goods demauded for army and general use.

During the depression of 1857 and 1858, the generosity of citizens was put to severest test. The city government employed the destitute in turn for short periods on public works. The Provident Association relieved many. Churches had abundant opportunity to practise the prime virtue. Many, in after prosperity, remember that season of trouble as a far-off dream. Examining tiles of local papers, we find items reluctantly stating that Pemberton Mills were closing up and dis- charging help ; contradicting reports of failure of the Atlantic Mills, announcing that there was a possibility of the Pacific Mills continuing by the favor of creditors.

A Tornado. - From flood and tempest the city has received small injury. In August, 1856, the beginning of a tornado left its mark in the city : "The storm was preceded hy a heavy continuous roaring sound resembling distant thunder, for more than an hour. The force of the tornado fell only upon a small area. Its first appearance seemed to be on the mill-pond above the factory of Messrs. Stevens & Sons. The water from the pond was blown in sheets completely over the dike. A small shop was entirely demolished, and a large building, two stories high, was pushed some twelve feet from its foundations. Little other serious damage was done in the city ; but, it will be remem- bered, from the pond in North Andover to the village of Boxford it left fearful footprints in the demolition of buildings, prostration of fences, and uprooting of trees. People waiting in the north passen- ger depot were startled to see a visible chain of lightning following the rail through the building, during the tempest."

Distinguished Visitors. - Citizens have not been given to hero- worship or lavish praise of celebrities, but have had opportunity to honor the eminent and deserving. Sept. 8, 1849, Theobald Mathew, the distinguished Irish temperanee reformer, visited the city and received enthusiastic welcome. Officials, citizens, the puhlie schools and temperance organizations formed in procession on the turnpike from the depot to Canal Street and along the line of the canal.

" It may be cited as a singular fact that, at the time of the fall. the gas-burners were lighted, and nearly one hundred tons of cotton in that condition most liable to be ig- nited, yet no fire originated from the gas-lights. It is supposed a draught of air through the pipes extinguished all lights, or that pipe-connection was broken at the ontset. - Journal Franklin Institute.

t In a building so wide, any settling or breaking of centre-supports left the long floor timbers to act as levers upon the walls and remaining supports, and brought them down in the general ruin.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Through the long procession the good man rode, escorted by an imposing cavalcade. He was welcomed by the Rev. Mr. Harrington and made an eloquent response. Hundreds, both Protestant and Catholic, took the pledge.

Thomas Francis Meagher, the Irish patriot, had a most enthusiastic greeting at city hall, in February, 1853. Gen. Henry K. Oliver delivered an address of welcome, and Gen. Meagher a brilliant lecture to a crowded andience.

Col. Thomas II. Benton, for thirty years in the United States Senate, visited the city in December, 1856, addressing citizens at city hall and the scholars at Oliver School. Said Col. Benton, in a public address shortly after this : " All my ideas of New England manufact- urers and operatives are reversed by actual visit and inspection." His remedy for the growing tendency to disunion was to send the Northern congressman South, and the Southern congressman North for a part of the year, that they might act from knowledge, not from sectional prejudice.

Gen. George B. McClellan, with his wife, visited the city in the spring of 1863. He was enthusiastically received, and a collation was served in a large hall of the Pacific Mills, where a goodly com- pany collected.

Gen. U. S. Grant, in his Northern tour, August, 1865, accompanied by his family and staff, had an entirely informal but enthusiastic greet- ing, and a collation at city hall, in the common council room. The company spent the forenoon in inspecting the mills, and left for the east by the Boston and Maine Railroad, refusing to make or hear speeches.

The Chinese Embassy, under direction of Anson Burlingame, a Japanese Embassy, and Russian representatives have also paid visits to the city, and inspected the mills with great interest.

Fenianism in Lawrence. - In 1865 66, active effort, as sincere no doubt as it proved hopeless, was made in aid of the cause of Irish in- dependence by many citizens whose line of descent and unquestioned patriotism make them loyal to the cause of liberty for Ireland, wher- ever their lot may be cast. The sympathy of many was with these ardent men, the genuineness of whose patriotic zeal was proved in many a battle for their adopted country. Like the crusaders of old, they win our admiration for their spirit and motives, however much we distrust their methods. James Stevens, chief organizer of the Irish Republic, Gen. Ialpine, Col. O'Mahoney, and other prominent leaders, addressed monster meetings in city hall, and a fair, attended by thousands, aided the cause. Bonds of the Irish Republic were sold, quite a sum of money raised, and citizens of prominence iden- tified themselves by actual service, and with voice and purse, with the effort. " The Fenians of Lawrence," said Col. O'Mahoney, "are sec- ond to none in the whole country for their zeal." The operations, failures, and dissensions of the order, we need not discuss, but note the movement as an event in local history. Two prominent citizens were imprisoned by the English government for their action, and ouly gained their liberty after romantic and hazardous experiences.

Startling Occurrences. - In November, 1856, the locomotive "Gov. Weare" was in use on the Manchester and Lawrence Railroad. It had been run for several years by Mr. Judkins, engineer. He was assisted, at this time, by young Berry, of Manchester, as fireman. As this engine slowly moved out front the fuel station, just above Haverhill Street, after taking wood and water, the boiler exploded, lifting the locomotive bodily from the track, and leaving it a total ruin. Fragments were thrown for many rods, and both engineer and fireman, inbaling escaping steam, lived but a few days. The engineer was an old and careful mechanic, the accident resulting from corroded iron and from no want of eare.

In the fall of 1852, during the Pierce and Scott campaign, while a grand Whig ratification meeting was in progress at city hall, there was a premature discharge of a cannon planted on the blue ledge, rear of the present post-office site. Henry Nelson was almost directly in front of the gun ; both hands were blown off, and amputation per- formed above the elbow. His breast, neck, and face were burned and filled with powder and splinters, yet, strange to say, he rapidly and permanently recovered. J. L. Stevenson lost two fingers from one hand by the same discharge.

In 1865, on the Fourth of July, citizens celebrated, with much enthusiasm, the closing of the war. While firing a salute upon the common, William Sharrock, an experienced young artillery-man, lost both arms by a premature discharge from an imperfect gun. Mr. S. rapidly recovered, and is now in active business, using artificial hands, and writing with his mouth with much neatness.

The phenomenon of "smoke rings," mentioned in late scientific

journals, was beantifully illustrated in 1854. A wood-burning loco- motive, leaving the Haverhill Street wood and water station, gave off, with sudden puffs and great force, large volumes of black smoke. In the heavy, moist atmosphere, the smoke formed in many distinct rings, which floated slowly away into space, until lost to sight in the distance - a beautiful and an unusual sight.

Feb. 3, 1869, midwinter, there was a violent thunder-storm, of short duration, with very sharp lightning and heavy thunder ! House No. 1, Duck Corporation, was damaged by a bolt descending the chimney, startling the people in the lower seetion of the city. Large balls of lightning were seen in Summer Street a few years since, during a heavy shower, and a house was much damaged by one of them.

Slavery in Lawrence. - A few negroes were held to servitude in Massachusetts, in that dim past, which, when mentioned in story, is spoken of as "once upon a time"; so suffice it to say that "once upon a time," a sturdy farmer's wife, living in that part of Andover now Lawrence, made a journey to Salem on horse- back. Salem was then the market, and once or twice each year, the husband, or wife, or both, went shopping to " the port." This good lady astonished the family by bringing, among other purchases, a fine negro boy-baby that she had bought for a trifle, and brought in her arms all the way, over plains and through woods. When the young African cried, she set the family nag into an easy canter, and the little waif went off into dreamland, perhaps the only young resident known to have been rocked to sleep by horse-power. He had not even a name, but the men called him Salem, and the lady's name was Poor, so " Salem Poor" became his name, and Shawsheen fields his habitation. Like "Topsy," he had no knowledge of his birth or ancestry, but he grew to stalwart manhood. In the Revolution his master was drafted, or in some way chosen for the army. He sent Salem as a substitute. In one of the closely-drawn battles, the British soldiers seemed likely to overthrow the Yankce forces, and the red-coated commander led a charge, waving his sword, and cheering on the men. Salem, from a shelter, where he was fighting on his own hook, drew a bead upon him, and he fell a corpse, causing confusion among his fol- lowers ! Salem returned to peaceful life a hero, fell in love with a half-breed Indian woman, was married, and the fruit of union was one son named Jonah. This Jonah became insane, and there were no palaces for insane people in those days, so he was a sort of wan- derer in the region. He persisted in swimming the Merrimac again and again, and was seen to stop, throw up his hands, and sink, never more to be seen ! Whether swallowed by a great fish, like the older Jonah, or taken with eramp, is not known ; but in an old English book, published in 1625, we read that " sturgeon in Merrimac river are sometimes eighteen feet long !" So the former might not be im- possible if the old author did not allow distance to lend enchantment to his view, and length to the Merrimae sturgeon.

Okdl Boise was a full-blooded African, who spent his years of final freedom in South Lawrence. The bridge over the old ferry-road crossing the Shawsheen was known as " Boise's Bridge." He would grow wild when recounting the history of his capture by slavers ; and, drawing a huge knife, would make furious attacks upon the trees, thus taking revenge upon an imaginary foe. Cæsar Frye, a negro of American birth, also spent his years of jubilee in the same locality.

In this connection all old citizens will remember the case of the " Slave Betty," brought here by a Southern family in 1856, and Judge Shaw's decision that she was free to return with her master, or claim her freedom, as she might elect. Betty chose to return to the South. The affair caused some excitement at the time. Gov. Andrew ap- peared as counsel for Betty, or rather for her abolition friends, who longed to pluck one ebony idol from the hand of the Southerner.

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HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE PATRIOTIC RECORD.

MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS - LAWRENCE SOLDIERS IN THE REBELLION -- PRESENT HOME ORGANIZATIONS.

" Did you find no hero graves When your violets bloomed last May- Prouder than those of Marathon, Or 'old Platea's day' ?"

The ancient record of bravery and patriotic service, so prized in older townships, is meagre in our modern city. Yet, out of the hun- dred settlers in Lawrence limits, many gave themselves to the cause of liberty in the Revolution and the later war.

As soon as the new settlement grew to the proportions of a town, the Lawrence Light Infantry Company was organized, with Samuel C. Oliver as captain. Made up of active business men in the new town, it was a spirited corps. We cannot follow the history of this company through years of peace. At the outbreak of Rebel- lion, the organization was known as Company I, 6th Regiment, Massa- chusetts Volunteers. It is said that some forty officers who served in the war took their first drill in the ranks of this company, including a brigadier-general, and several in important commands.

The Warren Light Guard was a live, well-drilled body of men, formed in 1855. Capt. Jefford M. Decker, a thorough disciplinarian, was first in command, with Col. Jeremiah D. Drew as first lieutenant, and it was afterwards known as Company F, 6th Massachusetts Regi- ment.

The Lawrence Brass Band, the oldest surviving musical organiza- tion of the city, was formed in February, 1849. It is noticcable for the patriotism of its members. Out of eighteen members, in 1861, twelve enlisted in the Union army ; and members were in campaigns in Virginia, the Carolinas, Louisiana, and with Sherman on his grand march. D. F. Robinson was for many years leader, and a chief sup- porter of this band.

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Standard history of Essex county, Massachusetts, embracing a history of the county from its first settlement to the present time, with a history and description of its towns and cities. The Most historic county of America., Part 79

Author: Tracy, Cyrus M. (Cyrus Mason), 1824-1891, et al. Edited by H. Wheatland Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Boston, C. F. Jewett Number of Pages: 450

Author: Tracy, Cyrus M. (Cyrus Mason), 1824-1891, et al. Edited by H. Wheatland
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Boston, C. F. Jewett
Number of Pages: 450