History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

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it is no more true as a matter of fact, tliat he made
the first experimeut in joint-stock companies in
carrying on the cotton manufacture, than it is true
that lie went out with a fishing-line and found that
there was a water-power at Chelmsford. I pretend
to know all about that thing. The first person
who suggested this place was Ezra Worthen. Paul
Moody knew nothing about it. Mr. Moody and
Mr. Jackson came up afterwards, and saw the place.
It is not true that Mr. Boott was the first to sug-
gest it. So far from it, the whole purchase was
made of the Pawtucket Canal, and of most of the
farms here, before Mr. Kirk Boott had set foot on
the spot."
It will be seen that Mr. Appleton and Mr. J. A.
Lowell do not agree in regard to Mr. Boott's par-
ticipation in viewing the premises.
February 6, 182E, the legislature granted "an
act to incorporate the Merrimack Manufacturuig
Company." Kirk Boott, William Appleton, John
W. Boott, and Ebenezer Appleton were the persons
named in the act. The capital was $600,000. A
personal-liability clause was inserted in the cliarter,
"that every person who shall become a member
of said corporation shall be liable in his private
capacity, after his membership may have ceased,
for all debts contracted during the time he was
a member of said corporation."
Up to this time they had purchased six hundred
and thirty-nine shares in the Pawtucket Canal or
Locks and Canals Company, for which they 2»id
$30,607.6^ ; the Tyler farm' for $8,000, the Josiah
Fletcher farm for §6,860, the Joseph Fletcher
farm or land for $1,'2;30.6^, and eight tenths of
Clieever's land for $1,60.5. Tiiese sums, with
12,700 paid to N. Wright, $647.80 paid to T. M.
Clark, and other incidental cx])enses, amounted to
$69,815.62.1
In 1822 a dam was built iirross tlic ]\rerrimack
at Pawtucket Falls, ;iii(l th.- in,iin i-MvA enlarged
1 There has been a story curi-ont for a long time that Thomas
Hurd, reputed to he a shrewd operator, beiiis in Boston about
the time these lands were hoiii;ht, overheard a conversation
tliat led him to hasten back to Chclmsl'ord, seeui'c the refusal of
the Bowers saw-raill near Pawtueket Bridge, and of land in that
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY
vicinity. The story is corroborated by tiic record of the doinps
of the directors of the Merrimack Manufactnrinp Company ; for
July 2'J, 1822, the directors received a proposal from Mr." Ilurd
of Chelmsford relative to his purchases at Pawtnr'kct Brid^'c,
which was referred to a committee. August 17, 1 822, Mr. llurd's
mill at Pawtucket Bridge and sundry parcels of land adjoining
were purchased. Ilurd at that time bought Artemas Holdcn's
place, but he failed without paving for it, — a serious loss to
Mr. lluideu. Wc sliall hear from llurJ ai:ain.
to a width of sixty-five feet and a depth of eight
feet. The locks were renewed, and the Merrimack
and Hamilton canals were commenced. Five hun-
dred men were employed. These improvements
cost $120,000.
The Lotvell Journal, March 10, 1826, in an ac-
In digging this
count of these operations, says : "
canal ledges were found considerably below the
old canal, which bore evident traces of its having
once been the bed of the river. Many places were
found worn in the ledge, as there usually are in
falls, by stones kept constantly in motion by the
water ; some of these cavities were a foot or more
ill diameter, and two feet deep."
This year Jonathan C. Morrill was appointed
postmaster at East Chelmsford, and continued to
hold the office until 1829.
September 1, 1823, the first mill on the ilerrimack
was completed, water let into the canal, and
the wheel started. The first cloth was turned out
in November of this year. October 9 started the
first cards on the Merrimack.
There was no suitable public-house in the place
at this time. The Stone House, where company was
received and entertained, was erected soon after this.
June 18, 1824, Ezra Worthen, while giving
directions to his workmen, dropped dead. Warren
Colburn was appointed to the place made
vacant by his death. The company gave Mr.
Worthen's widow $750, the amount of his salary
for six months.
At this time the establishment of another com-
pany, to be called the Hamilton Manufacturing
Company, was proposed. The Merrimack Com-
pany voted to charge the new company thirty dol-
lars per spindle, including machinery and land,
or four dollars per spindle for land without ma-
chinery.
October 25, 1824, J. B. Varnum erected a wing
dam near the foot of Pawtucket Falls, on the
Dracut side of the river, and the Merrimack Manu-
facturing Company remonstrated, asserting its right
to the whole falls; but remonstrance being of
no avail. May 3, 1825, the agent was author-
ized to ])urchase the land in Dracut of J. B. Varnum.
This was another of Mr. Hurd's plans, and
Mr. Varnum was selected to assist him in carrying
it out. Relying upon the current created by the
dam, lie ;i(tcMni)ted to drive a water-vvhcel by that
current, and in 182.") and 1826 built a mill on the
siiol, I lie fdunilation of which still remains. June
1, 1S;2.-), Ill,' Warren estate was sold to Ilurd by