History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

72 HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY.
it has proved to be one of the most useful and at-
tractive departments in the building.
In 1845 Nathan Appleton and Abbott Lawrence
were invited to sit for their portraits, which
they did ; and tlie portraits were placed in the hall.
The hall is now adorned with the portraits of
Washington, Boott, Appleton, Lawrence, John A.
Lowell, and Patrick T. Jackson.
Li 1847 Hon. Abbott Lawrence gave the sum
of $1,000 to be expended in the purchase of valu-
able French scientific works. After the death of
Kirk Boott his widow presented the Association
with two hundred volumes.
The Middlese.v County Society of Natural His-
tory, an incorporated association, whicii was organized
in 1836, consisting of members of the Mechan-
ics' Association, had collected and arranged in cases
and drawers a valuable assortment of curiosities
and minerals. These specimens occupied a room in
the building. A large portion was contributed by
Ohver M. Whipple, Esq., and in honor of him tiie
collection was called the Wiiipple Department.
October 6, 1859, this department was presented to
the Association by the above-named society, and
so little is the interest felt in it that it is now con-
signed to an attic.
In 1856 the Association successfully undertook
to establish an annual course of twelve public lec-
tures, which have beeu maintained ever since at
an expense of about $1,200 per annum. In con-
sideration of the scientific character of some of
these lectures, the companies contributed $300
annually to sustain them. The profit arising from
these lectures is devoted to the library.
During the latter part of 1834 and the early
part of 1835 the people of Lowell were severely
exercised on the subject of slavery. The visit of
Thompson had served to fix the opinions of the
people, and two parties were formed. In order to
stand well with the South, it was thought necessary
to hold a public meeting and denounce all agita-
tion of the slavery (juestion. Such a meeting was
held August 23, 1835, and a series of resolutions
were oflered by Charles li. Locke, which were dis-
cussed and then referred to a committee consist-
ing of Messrs. Charles H. Locke, John Aiken,
John V. Robinson, Samuel H. Mann, Elisha Bart-
li'tt, John Avery, Tiiomas llopkinson, Jolm L.
Shcafe, and William Austin. A paper called the
Lowell Times says of this meeting, " Hisses,
scrapings, coughings, and yells were mixed with
the exercise^s," and that an attempt made by II.
C. ilerriam, Esq., to justify slavery from the
Scriptures, was hissed down. The Courier pro-
nounced the whole account "deliberately false."
The resolutions were adopted at a subsequent
meeting.
CITY GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED.
As early as November 17, 1835, the Courier
called the attention of the people to the necessity
of a city government. The facts that there had
been ten town- meetings during that year, that the
population had increased to over sixteen thousand,
and that the voters entitled to a participation in
town afiairs numbered over twelve hundred, were
sufficient in themselves to warrant a movement in
that direction. Tiie experience had in the trans-
action of business, raising the necessary sums of
money, laying out streets, building school-houses,
sidewalks, drains, and sewers, made it evident that
there was a need of reform, and that some method
must be devised to obviate the necessity of calling
such a large number of people from their regular
business to transact the business of the town.
At the town-meeting held February 3, 1836,
a committee of twenty-five were chosen and in-
structed to consider if any alterations or modifications
in the municipal regulations of said town
were necessary, and also the expediency of estab-
lishing a city government. The following gen-
tlemen were chosen to serve on this committee :
Luther Lawrence, Eliphalet Case, John Nesmith,
0. M. Whipple, William Austin, Joseph W. Man-
sur, Setli Ames, Joel Stone, Jr., Amos Spalding,
Hamlin Davis, John R. Adams, John Chase, Wil-
liam N. Owen, Erastus Douglas, Granville Parker,
Walter Willey, T. P. Goodhue, Isaac Swan, Thomas
Flint, Richard Fowler, Daniel H. Dean, Henry J.
Baxter, J. M. Doe, John Aiken, George Brownell.
This committee reported, on the 1 7th of February,
that it was expedient to establish a city govern-
ment, adducing in its favor that under the town
government there was a " want of executive power,"
and a " loose way of spending money."
To this committee ten more members were added,
as follows " : Josej)h Locke, David Boynton, Tap-
pan Wentworth, John Mixer, Peter H. Willard,
Benjamin Walker, Samuel A.Coburn, Thomas llop-
kinson, Benjamin Hutchinson, Thomas B. Comins ;
and they were instructed to draft a charter and
present a petition to the legislature for its embodiment
in an act of incorporation. They were autiior-
ized to print fifteen hundred copies of the cliarter