Lowell200

“Lowell is a Great City” (in 1926) On March 1, 1826, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts granted the town of Lowell its initial charter. Consequently, the city of Lowell will soon begin celebrating its bicentennial. I have occasionally posted items about Lowell’s founding, and will continue to do so, but I…

Thomas Handasyd Perkins – One of Boston’s most successful merchants, Thomas Handasyd Perkins (1764-1854) began as a slave trader out of Haiti and then shipped Turkish opium to China for fine silks and crockery. A model of respectability at home, he supported the Boston Athenaeum and a school for the…

John Lowell Jr. – The eldest child of Francis Cabot Lowell, John Lowell Jr. moved to Lowell in 1825 where he became one of the principal shareholders of the Hamilton Manufacturing Company and led the effort to annex the Tewksbury neighborhood of Belvidere to Lowell.  Tragedy struck in 1830 John…

Kirk Boott Born in Boston but sent to England to attend Rugby School, Kirk Boott (1791-1837) saw action in the Peninsular Wars against Napoleon as a British Army officer. He returned to Boston in 1817, befriended Patrick Tracy Jackson and was appointed agent to the Boston Manufacturing Company. He moved…

The following is one of an occasional series of posts I’m doing in recognition of Lowell’s upcoming bicentennial in 2026. These and future profiles were first featured in my 2012 book, Legendary Locals of Lowell. Francis Cabot Lowell Francis Cabot Lowell (1775-1817) graduated from Harvard College then set up as a…

The ”sale” of Wamesit The end of King Philip’s War did not bring an end to the ill-feelings of the English towards the Native Americans. On May 24, 1677, the General Court decreed that all Native Americans living in Massachusetts must remain within the bounds of their assigned towns, like…

King Philip’s War Just to the west of Chelmsford was the town of Groton which was incorporated in 1655 and included all of today’s Groton and Ayer and parts of Pepperell, Shirley, Dunstable, Littleton, and Tyngsborough. Chelmsford and Groton were still the northwest frontier of English settlement in New England…

Chelmsford and Shaweshin While the boundaries set by the General Court for the new towns of Wamesit and Chelmsford were clear to those living then and there, the exact whereabouts of those lines faded over time. Indeed, Rev. Wilkes Allen in his History of Chelmsford (1820) wrote, the boundary between…

The Arrival of the Europeans The Virginia Company established a settlement in Jamestown in 1607. That same year, a related company created another settlement at the mouth of the Kennebuck River in today’s Maine. Called Sachadehoc, this place was abandoned a year later after a fruitless and deadly winter. According…

The Massachusetts legislature by Special Laws Chapter 112 of 1825, considered and enacted “An Act to Incorporate the Town of Lowell” to be effective March 1, 1826. In recognition of Lowell’s approaching bicentennial, today I begin a series of blog posts called Lowell200. Over the coming months, I hope to…