LibGuides: The Town &amp; the City: Lowell before and after The Civil War: Time Line & Mayors of Early Lowell

Time Line & Mayors

Time Line for Town of Lowell 1826 to 1836

Newspaper 1836 This is the front page of the January 2, 1836 Lowell Courier containing a long article on the history of Lowell up to that point in time.

TIMELINE 1822 to 1836

1822

The first large textile mill is built on land that will become Lowell

Hugh Cummiskey leads 30 Irishmen up the Middlesex Canal from Charlestown, Massachusetts to Chelmsford, Massachusetts

These Irishmen and local men begin reconstruction on Pawtucket Canal

Merrimack Manufacturing Company incorporated.

1823

Merrimack Manufacturing Company produces its first textiles

1824

St. Anne's Church organized

1825

Middlesex Mechanic Association established

Hamilton Manufacturing Company established

Merrimack Company’s Machine Shop completed

1826

The Town of Lowell is incorporated on March 1. The population is approximately 2,300 to 2,500

First Baptist Church organized

First Universalist Church organized

Central Bridge opens

1827

First Methodist Episcopal Church organized

1828

Appleton Company incorporated

Lowell Bank incorporated

Lowell Manufacturing Company incorporated

1829

Lowell Institution for Savings incorporated

Lowell Fire Department established

1830

The population of Lowell is 6,477

Lawrence Manufacturing Company incorporated

Middlesex Company incorporated

Suffolk Manufacturing Company incorporated

Tremont Mills incorporated

Appleton Street Church established

South Congregational Church established

Worthen Street Baptist Church established

Town Hall built

Boston & Lowell Railroad incorporated

1831

Lowell High School opened

Saint Patrick’s Church organized

Railroad Bank incorporated

1832

Lowell Bleachery incorporated

1833

Police Court established

1834

First women's labor strike

First Freewill Baptist Church organized

Lowell Advertiser and Lowell Patriot begin publication

Lowell Circulating Library established

1835

Boston & Lowell Railroad begins service

Boott Cotton Mills incorporated

Almshouse established

1836

The City of Lowell is incorporated on April 1. The population is 17,663

Factory Girls' Association established

Lowell Dispensary established (health services)

Lowell Temperance Society established

Second Universalist Church established

Time for City of Lowell 1836 to 1861

The Charter of the City of Lowell 1836 Click the link to view the document
The Charter and the Revised Ordinances 1840 Click the link to view the document The Charter and the Revised Ordinances of the City of Lowell Together with Sundry Laws of the Commonwealth

Timeline 1836 to 1861

In 1836, the population of Lowell was 17,633. During the year the Boott Mills were started, and a city charter was adopted. Elisha Bartlett was Mayor.

1837
April 11, Kirk Boott dies, after carriage accident on corner Merrimack and Dutton Streets.

James B. Francis becomes Chief Engineer of the Proprietors of Locks and Canals

Market House is built (Market St. was called Lowell St. before the Market House was built)

1838–39, Luther Lawrence, Mayor

1838 County Jail built

The Nashua and Lowell Railroad opened for travel

1839 Lowell Corporation Hospital opens

Massachusetts Mills incorporated

April 17, Mayor Luther Lawrence dies from a fall into a factory’s wheel pit

1839–41, Elisha Huntington, Mayor

1840 North Commons and South Commons were laid out

Lowell population 20,981

The Massachusetts Mills were established

Moses Kimball founds the Lowell Museum

First issue of the Lowell Offering is published.

1841 Lowell Cemetery is established

Vox Populi newspaper, issued

1842 Charles Dickens visits Lowell

1842–43, Nathaniel Wright, Mayor

1843 Hugh Cummiskey, Irish immigrant, is elected to the Common Council

Establishment of Dr. James Cook Ayer's laboratory

June 19, President Tyler visits Lowell

The Missionary Association (Ministry-at-Large) is formed

1844 City paves streets at public expense

Lowell Female Labor Reform Association is formed

The City Library instituted

Nathaniel Booth, an escaped slave, settles in Lowell

1844–45, Elisha Huntington, Mayor

1845 Proprietors of Locks & Canals is reorganized

Incorporation of Lowell Machine Shop

Stony Brook Railroad was incorporated

Middlesex North District Medical Society organized.

Lowell Daily Courier is published

British utopian Robert Owens visits

John Greenleaf Whittier's “Stranger in Lowell” is published

1846 Lowell population 29,127

The Lowell and Lawrence Railroad was incorporated.

1846–48, Jefferson Bancroft, Mayor

1847 "Mill girls" donate clothing and the City raises $1990.00 for Irish famine relief.

St. Mary's Church dedicated March 7.

June 30, President Polk visits

September 12, Patrick Tracy Jackson dies

The Appleton Bank is incorporated

Northern Canal was completed

1848 The Salem and Lowell Railroad is incorporated, and was opened for travel two years later

September 18, Abraham Lincoln (U.S. Representative from Illinois) visits Lowell

1849 Battle of Suffolk Bridge - fighting between Irish from Cork and Connaught with those from northern Irish counties.

The Lynde Hill Reservoir of Locks And Canals, is constructed in Belvidere

1849–50, Josiah Bowers French, Mayor

1850 Annual production of 50,000 miles of cloth makes Lowell the largest industrial center in the US.

Population of 33,000 is second largest in Massachusetts.

Gas is introduced

County Court House on Gorham Street is built

1851 Centralville, previously a part of Dracut, was included within Lowell

The Daily News is published

September 16, first fair of the Middlesex Mechanic Association

James H. B. Ayer, Mayor

1852 Nativists attack Irish girls' school in Lowell

George Wellman completed his first working model of his self-top card stripper

May 6, Lajos Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, visits Lowell

Elisha Huntington, Mayor

First big flood after Great Gate, which was completed in 1850. The Great Gate was dropped to save the city.

1853    City Hall is reconstructed

   St. Patrick's Church rebuilt

Belvidere Woolen Company is organized

Successful strike at Lowell Machine Shop

July 12, Samuel Appleton dies

Wamesit Bank incorporated

Huntington Hall is built

1853–54, Sewall G. Mack, Mayor

1854 Know Nothing Party candidate, Ambrose Lawrence, is elected mayor on an anti-foreigner ticket

Merchants Bank incorporated

Death of Rev. U. C. Burnap, Zaccheus Shedd, and Perez O. Richmond

1855 Irish constitute 27.6% of Lowell's population

J. Hiss & "Smelling Committee" investigate Sisters of Notre Dame

Middlesex North Agricultural Society incorporated

Deaths of Rev. Timothy O'Brien, Dr. Elisha Bartlett, and Abbott Lawrence

Ambrose Lawrence, Mayor

1856 The Lowell Jail is built

The Daily Citizen is published

Elisha Huntington, Mayor

1857 Economic depression

September 10, second fair of Middlesex Mechanic Association

Stephen Mansur, Mayor

1858 Washington Square is laid out

Elisha Huntington, Mayor

1859 James Cook, Mayor

1860 Lowell population 36,827

1860–61, Benjamin C. Sargeant, Mayor

Mayors of Early Lowell

Jefferson Bancroft (1803 - 1890), mayor of Lowell (1846–1848}, portrait at Lowell Masonic Temple

#	Name	Years/Term	Party
1st	Elisha Bartlett	1836–1838	Whig
2nd	Luther Lawrence	1838 – April 17, 1839 (died in office) link to Room50 blog re: Luther Lawrence
Acting/3rd	Elisha Huntington	April 1839 – April 1840/April 1840 – April 1842	Whig
4th	Nathaniel Wright	April 1842 – April 1844	Citizens ticket, (1842); Whig (1843)
5th	Elisha Huntington	April 1844 – January 1846	Whig
6th	Jefferson Bancroft	1846–1848	Whig
7th	Josiah B. French	1849–1850	Coalitionist
8th	James H. B. Ayer	1851	Whig
9th	Elisha Huntington	January 1852 – January 1853	Whig
10th	Sewall G. Mack	1853–1854	Whig
11th	Ambrose Lawrence	1855	Native American Party (Know Nothings)
12th	Elisha Huntington	1856	Whig
13th	Stephen Mansur	1857	Republican
14th	Elisha Huntington	January 1858 – January 1859	Whig
16th	James Cook	1859	Republican
16th	Benjamin C. Sargent	1860–1861	Republican