Lowell and the Civil War
Posted by DickH on 10 Nov 2009 at 09:39 pm | Tagged as: History, Lowell-2009
On April 19, 1861, Luther Ladd and Addison Whitney, two young mill workers from Lowell, became the first soldiers killed in action in the American Civil War. From the very beginning of that conflict, the city of Lowell and its citizens played a prominent role. Today, with an eye on the calendar, individuals and organizations around the city are beginning to plan for 2011 and the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War.
This post is a shout out to readers for suggestions on how we all might commemorate this momentous anniversary. Shall we recreate Baltimore’s Pratt Street on the newly re-cobblestoned Middle Street and re-enact the Baltimore riot that cost Ladd and Whitney their lives? How about Abolitionist George Thompson’s speech in the old City Hall (now the Enterprise Bank building) with the accompanying a pro-Southern demonstration outside with bricks thrown though the second floor window? Maybe something of a lower octane level such as a walking tour of Civil War Lowell? Now’s your chance to join in the planning process – please share your ideas with us.
I like the walking tour ideas and as well a focus on the conflicted nature of Lowell interms of slavery and abolitionism. Lowell needed lots and lots of cheap, slave labor produced cotton yet it also had an anti-slavery movement, integrated schools, several impt abolitionists living, writing and speaking in the city. This is a very important story to tell. I bet we could apply for a Massachusetts Humanities grant to do a lot of the research for an event like this. Could also involve UMass Lowell, esp. the history dept. and a lot of work has already been done by the National Park and Center for Lowell History.
The City of Lowell, Lowell Historic Board, Lowell Heritage Partnership, and Lowell National Historical Park are collaborating to repair and restore the Lincoln monument off Chelmsford Street (Lincoln Square) near the Lincoln School. The monument was installed 100 years ago on the centennial of Lincoln’s birth. This Lowell tribute was made possible through the efforts of Lowell school children, who collected pennies to pay for the construction of the monument in 1909. The project partners for the restoration hope to rededicate the monument in April 2010 as part of the run-up to the community’s commemoration of the Civil War years. The National Park Service has already completed an assessment of the condition of the monument and identified needed repairs.
I know that people and institutions around the city have commenced planning for this big anniversary in a variety of ways which I think is wonderful: the more ideas, events and discussions, the better. I do think it wise to use the tools of the internet to keep everyone informed of what’s going on. In that regard, I’ll offer up this website as a “town square” of information on Lowell’s Civil War Sesquicentennial celebration. To facilitate that, I’ll create a new category for “Civil War” posts and, if anyone has any ideas or would like to volunteer to help out, just send me a person-to-person email.
It would be nice to organize all the snippets of stories in that era to tell the tale of not only the Civil War, but also the political and social activities related to it, all tailored to the involvement by the City and its residents. Could it go so far as becoming a portion of a museum to Lowell’s history? If so, it seems as though the Lowell NHPS could be the sponsor, and the University and interested citizens could be the research assistants.
What ever we do we should invite the mayor of Baltimore to attend the events in Lowell.
A brief summary of Lincoln’s visit to Lowell in 1848:
http://malincoln.org/lincoln_ma/sept16.html
Only vaguely related but interesting:
The name Baltimore comes from the Irish
Bhaile teach mor: the place of the big house.
Also, Guy LeFebre of The Lowell Gallery is a good resource
for Ben Butler and Lowell Civil War stuff, and he’s knowledgeable. There are civil war graves in Edson, soldiers and nurses, and probably elsewhere; I wonder if anyone can put a bio with some of the names.
Finally, my father told me that when he was a boy in Lowell he remembered seeing the Civil War veterans in parades. If that was around 1930, that was 65 years after the end of the war; a 20 year old would be in his eighties.
Some of the civil war soldiers in the old tin types look about 16, so there were probably a few still around.
Luther Crawford Ladd 1843-1861
Excellent Bioraphy on Internet Archive
http://www.archive.org/index.php
LIFE OF LUTHER C. LADD: Who Fell in Baltimore, April 19th, 1861. BY A CITIZEN OF ALEXANDRIA, NEW HAMPSHIRE
“Having three sisters in Lowell, in the spring of 1860, he, with the consent of his parents, went to Lowell and there commenced work in the Lowell Machine Shop. By close attention to his business he made rapid progress, and won, by his good behavior, the esteem of his associates and the good will of his overseer. In common with the patriotic citizens of Massachusetts, and particularly Lowell, he anxiously watched the progress of the rebellion and early determined to be in readiness to fight for the flag of his country. He therefore early enlisted into the Lowell City Guards, Capt. Hart commander, ready and anxiously waiting for the time to come to defend the Stars and Stripes.”
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One story I heard was when the Mass 6th finally made it thru Baltimore and boarded the train to go to Washington, DC carrying their fallen comrades. The engineer [southern supporter] refused to start the train. It was then impresses upon him that if he didn’t immediately start the engine there were many members of the Mass 6th onboard who had worked at the Lowell Machine Shop, a shop that had built that very locomotive and would more willing to take the engineer’s place. They train then proceeded to Washington DC.
I have begun a Civil War 2011 Distribution List. I will foward this discussion to members of the list.
Isn’t the Mayor of Baltimore in some sort of legal imbroglio?
Regards — Cliff
I anyone would like to be on the Civil War Distribution List email Dick your contact info.
Addison Otis Whitney was born in Waldo, Maine, on October 30, 1839, the son of John F. and Jane B. Whitney. He moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, around 1859, and shortly after that he enlisted as a Private in the Lowell City Guards. Prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, he worked in Number 3 Spinning-room, Middlesex Corporation. On April 16, 1861, he enlisted in the same rank and company, but for national service (Company D, 6th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry). He was killed in action in the riot at Baltimore, Maryland, en route to Washington, D.C., on April 19, 1861, and is buried at the Ladd and Whitney Monument in front of the Lowell, Massachusetts, City Hall.
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By 1861, Benjamin F. Butler owned the Middlesex Company.
The Forgotten
Charles A. Taylor
He may have been the first killed on April 19, 1861 in Baltimore and is now buried beneath the Ladd and Whitney Monument.
After an intense search by Colonel Edward F. Jones, Commander of the Massachusetts 6th Regiment, Charles A. Taylor’s remains were found in Baltimore and reburied in Lowell in 1910.
See The New York Times article:
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9B02E0DE1239E433A25753C2A9609C946196D6CF
Note: The New York Times refers to a Monument in Boston, but it was actually the L&W Monument in Lowell. In a slightly different style from the names of Ladd and Whitney, Charles A. Taylor’s name is carved on the side of the L&W Monument facing the Tsongas Arena.
A copy of Harper’s Weekly from 1861 notes the death of Ladd:
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1861/june/first-death-civil-war.htm
One of Guy LeFebvre’s photos shows the huge muster on the South Common. I wonder if there are enough C/W reenactors around to recreate the image? If it were something to do, there would likely need to be a long lead-time to gather willing reenactors. I know a reenactor who might get the ball rolling, if there’s interest….
So Many Civil War Soldiers Came from Lowell
Volunteers from the Lowell Genealogy Club have transcribed the 4 volumes that contain the 3525 names of the Soldiers and Sailors Mustered from Lowell that served in the Civil War (1861 to 1865). Many of these men are from Lowell and the surrounding towns. They are listed alphabetically by surname.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~maglgc/Civil_War_Soldiers.htm
Civil War Home Front
National Postal Museum Blog
11/9/2009
World’s First Charity Stamps Raise Money For Soldiers’ Relief During Civil War Part 2
“The first Sanitary Fair held to raise funds for supplies and care for Union soldiers took place in Lowell, Massachusetts on February 24, 1863. Following this relatively small fair in Lowell hundreds of Sanitary Fairs were held throughout the United States during the remainder of the Civil War. Interestingly, only eight of these Fairs produced adhesive charity stamps to sell to visitors.”
http://postalmuseumblog.si.edu/2009/11/worlds-first-charity-stamps-raise-money-for-soldiers-relief-during-civil-war-part-2.html
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Also:
“Throughout the Civil War, the U.S. Sanitary Commission aided Union soldiers, providing them with supplies and services that the government was either unable or ill-prepared to give them. A civilian voluntary association that was formally established in June 1861, the Sanitary Commission united various private aid groups that sprang up at the start of the Civil War, and then greatly expanded on them – by 1863, the Sanitary had 7,000 locals throughout the North and tens of thousands of volunteer workers, most of them women…
A chief fund-raiser for the Commission proved to be the nearly two dozen “Sanitary Fairs” organized throughout the North. The first of these charity bazaars was held in Lowell, Massachusetts, in February 1863, and the last, in Milwaukee in June 1865. In all, the fairs raised millions for the Commission’s work.”
http://www.barnesautographs.com/pages/recent_additions.htm