USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lowell > The Lowell Directory 1838 > Part 2
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5 16
18
Thurs. 6 36 6
10 48
Sets. 5 39
20 Satur.
6 38 6|10 44
6 2
21 SUN.
6 41 6 10 38
7 9
22 Mond. 23 Tuesd.
6 43 6 10 34
7 57
24 Wedn.
6 44 6|10 32
8 55
25 Thurs. 6 45 6 10 30
26 Friday 6 47 6 10 26
27 Satur.
6 48 6 10 24 6 49 6 10 22
0 35
29 Mond. 6 51 6 10 18
1 52
30 Tuesd. 6 52 6 10 16 3 7P. C. Framingham. 4 26
31/Wedn. 6 53 6/10 14/
10 3
11 18 Morn
28 SUN.
6 37 6 10 46
19 Friday
6 40 6|10 40
6 32
13 Satur. 6 29 6
8 Mond. 6 21 6 11 18
P. C. Cambridge.
1938
NOVEMBER, eleventh Month. Full Moon, 1st day, 7h. 41m. evening. Last Quarter, 8th day, 10h: 5m. evening. New Moon, 17th day, 3h. 18m. morning. First Quarter, 24th day, 1h; 43m. evening.
MW'k D. Day
Sun. |L. D.| Moon R. S. H. M. R. S.
COURTS.
1 Thurs. 6 54 6 10 12 Rises.
2 Friday 6 55 6 10 10
3 Satur. 6 57 610
6
5 41
4 SUN. 6 58 6 10
4 6 33
5 Mond. 6 59 6 10 2 7 34
6 Tues. 7 0 5.10 0 8 41
7 Wedn. 7 2 5 9 56
9 50
8 Thurs. 7 35
9 54 10 58
9 Friday 7 4 5 9 52
Morn
10 Satur. 7 65 9 48
0 2 1 5
11 SUN. 7
5 9 46
9 44 2
2
13 Tuesd. 7 25
9 42 3 4
7 7 5 11
15 Thurs. 7 11 5
9 38
9 36
6 10 Sets.
5 10
19 Mond
7 16 5
9 28 9 26
6 51
7 56
21 Wedn. 7 17 5
22 Thurs. 7 18 5
7 19 5
7 20 5
9 22 10 23 9 20 11 37 9 18 Morn
26 Mond. 7 22 5
9 16 0 52
27 Tuesd 7 23 5
9 14
2 6
3 22 28|Wedn. 7 24 5 9 12
9 12 4 41 29 Thurs. 7 24 5
30 Friday 7 25 5
9 10 6 1|
P. C. Groton.
State officers elected P. C. Concord
P. C. Cambridg
20 Tuesd. 17 5
9 26
9 24
9 8
23 Friday
24 Satur.
21 SUN. 7 21 5
9 32
17 Satur. 7 14 5
18 SUN. 7 15 5
9 30
5 54
16 Friday 7 12 5
12 Mond. 8 5
9 40
14 Wedn. 7 10 5
5 1
1838
DECEMBER, twelfth Month. Full Moon, Ist day, 6h. 50m. morning. Last Quarter, 8th. day, 6h. 12m. evening. New Moon, 16 day, 7 39m. evening. First Quarter, 23d day, 10h. 23m. evening Full Moon, 30th day, 7h 51m. evening.
M D.
W'k Day
Sun L.D. Moon R. S. H. M. R. S.
COURTS.
1
Satur.
7 26 59 8
Rises
2
SUN.
7 27 59
6
5 20
3 Mond.
7 27 59
6
6 21
4
Tues.
7 28 59
4
7 32
5|Wedn.
7 28 59
4
8 40
6
Thurs.
7 29 59
2
9 49
7
Friday
7 29 59
2
10 53
8 Satur.
7 30 5,9
9SUN.
7 30 59
0
Morn
10 Mond.
7 31 58 53
0 56
11 Tuesd.
7
31 58 58
2 58
13 Thurs.
7
32 58 56
4 2
14 Friday
7 32 58 56
5 8 6 20 Sets.
16 SU.V.
7 33 58 54
4 42
18 Tuesd.
5 46
19 Wedn.
17
33 58 54
6 58
7 39 518 54
8 13 9 28
20 Thurs. 21 Friday 22 Satur. 23 SUN. 24 Mond. 25 Tuesd. 26 Wedn.
7
7 33 58 54 10 43 33 58 54 11 56 7 33 5|8 54 Morn 7 33 5.8 54 1 9
27 Thurs.
7 33 58 54
3 42
28 Friday
5 0 7 33 58 54 7 32 58 56
6 16 29 Satur.
30 SU.V. 31 Mond.
7 32 58 56 Rises. 7 32 5.8 56 5
0
11 56
1 57
12 Wedn.
7 32 58 56
15 Satur.
7 33 58 54
17 Mond.
7 33 5.8 54 7 33 5.8 54
7 33 58 54
7 33 58 54
2 25
P. C. Lowell.
C. C. P. Cambridge,
HISTORICAL & STATISTICAL SKETCH
OF THE
CITY OF LOWELL.
In 1652, about twenty persons from Wo- burn and Concord petitioned the General Court for liberty to examine a tract of land lying on the west side of Concord river .- Having made the necessary examination, in company with about twenty others, they pre- ferred a petition in 1653, for a grant of the land bordering on the Merrimack, near Paw- tucket. In their petition they represent, that " there is a comfortable place to accommo- date a company of God's people upon, who may, with God's blessing, do good in that place for church and state." They request- ed that the boundary of said land should commence at the junction of the Merrimack and the Concord rivers, and run six miles
20
HISTORY OF LOWELL.
westerly on the Merrimack, and six miles southerly on Concord river, making a tract of about thirty-six square miles. The tract pe- titioned for embraced what now constitutes Lowell and Chelmsford. The same year a petition on behalf of the Pawtucket Indians, was presented by the Rev. John Elliott, of Roxbury, that the lands lying about Pawtuck- et and Wamesit Falls should be appropriated exclusively to the use of the Indians. 'The petition stated that the Pawtuckets had occu- pied said ground, erected wigwams thereon, and prepared it in some measure for cultiva- tion. To reconcile these conflicting interests, the Court granted to the petitioners from Wo- burn and Concord, the land requested, with exception of that part lying on the rivers, which was appropriated to the Indians.
The city of Lowell is now a part of the land granted at that time by an act of Court to the Pawtucket Indians, once the most power- erful and chivalrick tribe in the north of Massa- chusetts. The historian Gookin states, that " the tribe was almost wholly destroyed by the sickness in 1612 and '13; and at this day (1674) there are not above two hundred and fifty men, besides women and children. What that disease was that so generally and mortally swept away these and other Indians in New- England, I cannot learn. Doubtless it was
21
HISTORY OF LOWELL.
some pestilential disease. I have discoursed with some Indians, that were then youths, who say that their bodies were exceedingly yellow . before and after they died, describing it by a yellow garment they showed me."
Gookin says that he visited the Pawtucket Indians in company with Elliott. on the fifth of May, 1674, and that Eliott delivered a sermon to them that evening, from the 22d chapter of Matthew, from the 1st to the 14th verse -. The meeting was held in Wanalancet's wigwam, near the Pawtucket Falls. By the influence of Elliott, a certain form of Courts was established among the Indians, at the ses- sion of which, an English magist.ate presid- ed. The records of our early history show that the first court in Middlesex county, was held near the junction of the Merrimack and Concord rivers, on the land through which the Boott canal now passes.
In 1726, Wamesit, as the Indian tract was called, was annexed to the town of Chelms- ford.
Tradition says that the house erected by the Indians for public worship, was built of logs and located on the high ground at the head of Appleton street.
As the English population increased here, the Indians, decreased, till their number be- came very small, when they sold out their re-
22
HISTORY OF LOWELL.
maining lands, and removed to the north .- Their last abiding place here, we are inform- ed was on Fort Hill, around which, portions of a trench dug by them are still visible.
THE TOWN OF LOWELL, as incorporated by an act of the Legislature, passed on the first day of March, 1824, contained four square miles, and was formerly the northeast- ern section of the town of Chelmsford. The Legislature in 1834, annexed Belvidere Vil- lage, the westerly corner of Tewksbury, to Lowell. This annexation extends the terri- tory of Lowell to nearly five square miles.
The population of Lowell in 1826, was about 2000; in 1828, 3532; in 1830, 6477; in 1832, 10,254; in 1833, 12,363. The present population doubtless exceeds 18,000.
The first effort to promote manufactures in this place, were made in 1813. In conse- quence of the restrictions that were laid on commerce, and of the war with Great Britain the attention of many enterprising men was directed to domestic manufactures. Captain Phineas Whiting and Captain Josiah Fletcher, having selected an eligible site on Concord river, at the Wamesit Falls, about a hundred rods from the Merrimack, erected at the ex- pense of about $3000, a large wooden build- ing for a cotton manufactory. In 1818, they sold their buildings and their right to the wa-
23
HISTORY OF LOWELL.
ter power, to Mr Thomas Hurd. Mr Hurd afterwards fitted up the wooden factory and erected a large brick one, and several dwell- ing houses, and improved the same for fabri- cating woollen goods. The woollen factory was destroyed by fire on the 30th of June, 1826, but was rebuilt immediately after. Mr Hurd continued the business till the great pressure in 1828, when he was compelled to assign his property for the benefit of his cred- itors, and which was afterwards purchased by the Middlesex company.
About the year 1820, Messrs Patrick T. Jackson, Nathan Appleton, and Kirk Boott, of Boston, entered into a design to form a company for the purpose of manufacturing cotton goods, particularly calicoes. They accordingly commenced an enquiry for a suit- able water privilege. A large number of priv- ileges were examined, and for various reasons were rejected. At length Mr Paul Moody, then connected with the manufacturing es- tablishments at Waltham while on a visit to his friends in Amesbury, met with Mr Wor- then, a gentleman of taste, with views con- genial to his own, to whom he mentioned that an extensive water privilege was wanted by the above named gentlemen. Mr Worthen replied "why do they not purchase the land around the Pawtucket Falls, in Chelmsford?
24
HISTORY OF LOWELL.
They can put up as many works as they please and never want for water." This con- versation resulted in a visit of these gentle- men to this place, and from observation they were both satisfied that the privilege was ex- actly what was wanted. The pawtucket ca- nal was immediately purchased by Messrs Jackson, Appleton and Boott.
This canal was projected about the year 1790, and the proprietors were incorporated in 1792, by the name of "The Proprietors of the Locks and Canals on Merrimack riv- er." It was open for the purpose of facilita- ting the transportation of wood and lumber from the interior to Newburyport. It is a- bout one mile and a half in length, had four setts of locks, and was built at the expense of $50,000. Its direction is nearly east, and it enters Concord river just above its junction with the Merrimack, where the water is thir- ty-two feet lower than at the head of Paw tucket Falls.
It is worthy of remark, that a few years before the purchase was made dy Messrs Ap- pleton, Jackson and Boott, an engineer was sent to examine this place, by a number of gentlemen in Boston, who made a report that there was no water privilege here.
The company made the first purchase of real estate on the 2d of November 1821 .-
25
HISTORY OF IOWELL.
They began their work about the first of April 1522. On the 10th of July they began to dig the canal broader and deeper, and let the water into it about the 1 st of September, 1823. Five hundred men were constantly employed in digging and blasting. The gunpowder used in blasting, amounted to $6 000, at one shilling per pound. The whole expense of
digging the canal was about $120,000. It is now sixty feet wide, has three setts of locks and the water in it is eight feet deep, and is calculated to supply about fifty mills. In digging this canal ledges were found consider- ably below the old canal, which bore evident traces of its having once been the bed of the river. . Many places were found worn into the ledge, as there usually are in falls, by stones kept constantly in motion by the wa- ter; some of these cavities were one foot or more in diameter and two feet deep.
The principal water-power, together with a large amount of real estate, is owned by a company called " The Proprietors of Locks and Canals on Merrimack River," with a capital of $600,000. They dispose of mill- rights and lands as they are wanted. Besides these they have a large Machine Shop, in which they manufacture machinery, and employ from 200 to 300 workmen.
The first Manufacturing Company, in point
26
HISTORY OF LOWELL.
of age, as well as capital, is the Merrimacd. It has a capital of $1,500,000, with five large brick factories, containing 26,000 spindles and 1,000 looms. It employs from 3 to 400 males, and S to 900 females, and consumes 5,000 bales or 1,500,000 pounds of cotton annnally. It manufactures, bleaches & prints 6,500,000) yards annually.
The Hamilton Manufacturing Company, has a capital of $900,000, three large brick factories, containing 16,000 spindles and 500 looms, and employs 1000 operatives, 700 of whom are females. It consumes 4000 bales of cotton, manufactures 80,000 yards per week, or above 4,000,000 yards per annum. Two of the mills make twilled goods, the other one plain.
There are also bleach and print works be- longing to this company, in which part of the goods are converted into calicoes and fancy articles.
The Appleton Manufacturing Company, with a capital of 500,000 dollars, has two large brick factories, containing 11,500 spin- dles, 380 looms, and employs about 60 males and 575 females. It uses about 1,60 ,0 0. pounds of cotton, and manufactures 5,200,000 yards of cloth annually.
The Lowell Manufacturing Company, with a capital of 500,000 dollars has one factory
27
HISTORY OF LOWELL.
for cotton goods, containing 4000 spindles and 132 looms. They use 1,500,000 pounds of cotton annually, and make 60,000 yards of cloth and 2,500 yards of carpeting per week. They manufacture the Kidderminster and Brussels carpets, and rugs of various kinds and patterns. They employ 175 males and 400 females.
The Middlesex Manufacturing Company, with a capital of 500,000 dollars, has two brick factories in operation, containing 28 sets of Cards, 4620 spindles, 38 Broadcloth and 92 Cassimere looms. They employ 185 males and 350 females, and consume 600,000 pounds of wool per annum.
The Suffolh Manufacturing Company, with a capital of 450,000 dollars, has two large brick factories, containing 10,240 spindles, 348 looms, employs about 70 males and 440 females. They manufacture twilled goods, 90,000 yards per week, and use 4 to 5000 bales of cotton.
The Tremont Manufacturing Company, with a capital of 500,000 dollars has two fac- tories, containing 11,520 spindles, 404 looms. They consume 34,000 pounds of cotton,and manufacture 125,500 yards of cloth per week, and employ 70 males and 460 females.
The Lawrence Manufacturing Company, with a capital of 1,500,000 dollars, has in
28
HISTORY OF LOWELL.
operation 5 factories, running 31,000 spindles, and 900 looms, weaving 37 and 41 inch wide, No. 30 and 14 cotton fabricks, and employs about 1300 operatives.
The Boott Manufacturing Company, with a capital of 1,000,000 dollars, have erected 4 large factories, three of which are in ope- ration; also, eight blocks of boarding houses, containing 8 tenements each.
The Belvidere Manufacturing Company, employ about 70 operatives, and manufacture flannel, 5000 yards per week.
The Lowell Bleachery, has a capital of 50,000 dollars, employs 30 to 40 hands and bleaches 4,800,000 yards per year.
On Concord river, a short distance from the city, there are powder works, belonging to Oliver M. Whipple, Esq. at which is made powder of a superior quality. 30,000 kegs of 25 pounds cach, are made annually.
To these establishments may be added the Card and Whip factory, Planeing Machine, Reed Machine, Grist and Saw Mills. Also, in the immediate vicinity, Glass Works, and a Furnace supplying every description of cast- ings. Also, Flour Mills owned by Messrs Hales, in which from 200 to 500 barrels of flour of the best quality, are manufactured per whek.
There are in Lowell eleven Houses for pub-
29.
HISTORY OF LOWELL.
lic worship, viz :- One Episcopal, two Cal- vinist Baptist, three Orthodox, one Unitarian, two Methodist, one Universalist, and one Free will Baptist. There is likewise a sec- ond Universalist, and one Christian Union Society, who are not provided with Meeting- houses as yet.
Also 19 Primary Schools, 6 Grammar. Schools, and I High School.
Lowell became an Incorporated City, in February, 1836, by an act of the General Court, accepted by a vote of the people, April 11.
CITY OFFICERS.
ELISHA BARTLETT, Mayor.
ALDERMEN.
Alexander Wright,
Seth Ames,
Joshua Swan,
Joseph G. Kittredge, Seth Chellis,
John Aiken.
COMMON COUNCIL.
Ward No. 1. Ward No. 4.
James K. Fellows,
Walter Wright, John Clark,
Jesse Phelps,
William Baker,
Charles H. Wilder, Elijah M. Reed, William W. Wyman,
30
HISTORY OF LOWELL.
Ward No. 2.
Ward No. 5.
Thomas Nesmith, Joseph Tyler, William Fiske, Josiah Osgood,
George Brownell, James Russell,
Tappan Wentworth, Osgood Dane,
Ward No. 3.
Joseph Tapley, William North, Joseph M. Dodge, Elisha Huntington.
Ward No. 6.
J. T. P. Hunt, Abraham Tilton, Andrew Bird,
Benjamin H. Gage.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
John D. Pillsbury,
Theodore Edson, Jacob Robbins,
John A. Knowles, Osgood Dane, Samuel Clark.
Samuel A, Coburn, City Clerk. Zacheus Shed, City Marshal.
CITY CHARTER.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repres- entatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION Ist. The inhabitants of the town of Lowell, for all purposes, for which towns are by law incorporated in this Commonwealth, shall con- tinue to be one body politic, in fact and in name, under the style and denomination of the City of Lowell, and as such shall have, exercise, and enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers and privileges, and shall be subject to all the duties and obliga- tions, now incumbent upon, and appertaining to said town,-and the administration of all the fiscal, prudential and municipal concerns of the city, with the conduct and government thereof, shall be vest- ed in one principal officer, to be styled the Mayor, one select council, consisting of six persons, to be denominated the Board of Aldermen, and one Council, to consist of twenty-four persons, to be denominated the Common Council, together with such other boards of officers as are hereinafter spe- cified. The mayor, aldermen and common coun- cil, in their joint capacity, shall be denominated the City Council, and shall not, excepting the Mayor, receive any compensation for their services.
32
CITY CHARTER.
SEC. 2d. The mayor, aldermen and common cour.cil, chosen as hereinafter provided, shall enter on the duties of their respective offices on the first Monday of April in each year, and shall hold their offices for the terin of one year from the time of their so entering on the duties thereof; and before entering on said duties, the Mayor, Aldermen and Common Council, shall be sworn to the faithful dis- charge of their duties. And such oath may be ad- ministered to the Mayor elect by any justice of the peace for the county of Middlesex; and such oath shall be administered to the aldermen, and com- mon council, by the Mayor, being himself first sworn as aforesaid, and a certificate of such oath having been taken, shall be entered in the journal of the mayor and aldermen, and of the common council, by their respective clerks, and whenever, on examination, by the mayor and aldermen for the time being, of the returns of votes given for mayor at the meeting of the citizens, holden for the purpose of electing that officer last preceding the first Monday of April, in each year, no person shall appear to have a majority of all the votes giv- en for mayor, the mayor and aldermen by whom such examination is made, shall make a record of that fact, an attested copy of which, it shall be the duty of the city clerk, to produce and read, on the first Monday of April in each year, in the presence of the persons returned to serve as aldermen and common councilmen: and thereupon the oath of office prescribed by law, may be administered by any justice of the peace for the county of Middles sex; and the board of aldermen shall then proceed to elect a chairman, who shall perform the duties of mayor until the mayor be duly chosen, and the common council a president, in their respective
CITY CHARTER.
chambers, and being respectively organized shall proceed to business .- And in case any person elected mayor of said city, shall refuse to accept said office, the same proceeding shall be had as hereinbefore directed, in respect to the organiza- tion of the board of aldermen and common coun- cil, in cases where there has been no choice of mayor; and the board of aldermen so organized, shall forthwith issue their warrant for a meeting of the citizens for the choice of mayor, at such time and place as they shall judge most convenient, and said meeting shall be organized, and the same pro- ceeding, had in all respects in relation to the choice of mayor, as are hereinafter directed in the twentieth section of this act. And in case of the bunavoidable absence, by sickness or otherwise, of the mayor elect, on the first Monday of April, in each year, the city government shall organize it- self in the mode hereinbefore provided, and may proceed to business in the same manner as if the mayor were present.
SECTION 3d. In case of the decease, inability, resignation or absence of the mayor, and the same being declared and a vote passed by the aldermen and common council respectively, declaring such cause and the expediency of electing a mayor for the time being, to supply the vacancy thus occa- sioned, the aldermen and common councilmen may meet in convention, and elect a mayor to hold the office until such occasion be removed or until a new election. And in case of the death or resignation of any member of the Board of aldermen, the citi- zens may fill such vacancy at any regular meeting that may thereafter be convened for that purpose.
SECTION 4th. The mayor and aldermen shall «compose one Board, and shall sit and act together
34
CITY CHARTER.
as one body, at all meetings of which, the mayor, if present, shall preside, but in his absence, the Board may elect a chairman, for the time being; and said Board, together with common council in convention, shall choose a clerk to be denominated the city clerk, who shall hold his office for the term of one year, and until another person be chosen and qualified to succeed him, removable, however, at the pleasure of the mayor and aldermen. Be- fore entering on the duties of his office, the clerk shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of the same; and shall keep a journal of the acts and pro - ceedings of said Board, sign all warrants issued by them, and do such other acts in his capacity, as may lawfully and reasonably be required of him; and deliver over all journals, books, papers, and documents, entrusted to him, as such clerk, to his successor in office, immediately upon such succes- sor being chosen and qualified as aforesaid, or whenever he may be thereto required by the may- or and aldermen. And the city clerk thus quali- fied, shall have all the powers, and perform ail the duties, now by law belonging to the town clerk of the town of Lowell, as fully as if the same were particularly enumerated, except in cases where it is otherwise expressly provided.
SECTION 5th. The persons chosen and qualified as members of the Common Council of the City, shall sit and act together as a separate body, dis- tinct from that of the Mayor and Aldermen, except in those cases in which the two bodies are to meet in convention; and the Council may from time to time, choose one of their own members to preside over their deliberations, and to preserve order therein, and also to choose a clerk, who shall be under oath faithfully to discharge the duties of his
35
CITY CHARTER.
office, during the pleasure of the Council, and who >hall attend the Council, when the same is in ses- sion, keep a journa! of its acts, votes, and proceed- ings, and perform such other services in said capa- city as the Council may require .- All sittings of the Common Council shall be public; also all sit- tings of the Mayor and Aldermen, when they are not engaged in execute business. Four mem- bers of the board of Aldermen, and fifteen meni- bers of the Common Council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. And each of the persons chosen as members of the Common Council shall, within two days after his election, be furnished with a certificate thereof, signed by a majority of the officers presiding at such election, which certificate shall be presumptive evidence of the title of such person to a seat in the Common Council; but the Council however shall have the authority to decide ultimately upon all questions relating to the qualifications, elections and returns of its members.
SECTION 6th. The Mayor of the City, shall be the chief executive officer of said corporation, and shall be compensated for his services by a salary, to be fixed by the board of Aldermen and Common Council in City Council convened payable at sta- ted periods: which salary shall not exceed the sum of Fifteen Hundred Dollars, annually, and he shall receive no other compensation oremolument what- ever; and no regulations enlarging or diminishing such compensation, shall be made to take effect,un- til the expiration of the year, for which the Mayor then in office, shall have been elected. And the Mayor shall be vigilant and active at all times, in causing the laws of the government of said city to be duly executed and put in force; shall inspect
36
CITY CHARTER.
the conduct fall subordinate officers in the gov- ernment thereof, and as far as in his power, cause all negligence, carelessness, and violation of duty, to be duly prosecuted and punished .- Whenever in his judgement thegood of the city may requireit, he shall summon meetings of the Board of Alder- men and Common Council, or either of them, al- though the meeting of said boards, or either of them, may stand adjourned to a more distant day; and perform such other duties as the City Council may legally and reasonably require. And the Mayor, from time to time, shall communicate to both branches of the City Council, all such infor- mation, and recommend all such measures as may tend to the improvement of the finances, the po- lice, health, security, cleanliness, comfort and or- nament of the City.
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