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 https://archive.org/details/memoirofpatrickt00lowe_0 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 of 
 
 PATRICK TRACY JACKSON. 
 
 WRITTEN FOR THE MERCHANTS MAGAZINE AND COMMERCIAL REVIEW. 
 
 By JOHN A. LOWELL, Esq, 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 PRESS OF HUNT’S MERCHANTS’ MAGAZINE. 
 
 1848 . 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 PATRICK TRACY JACKSON. 
 
 in 
 
 ^ The rapid development of the natural resources of the United States, 
 within the last half century; the material, intellectual, and, in some points 
 £5 of view, the moral progress witnessed throughout our land, have attracted 
 ■5the attention of the philosophers of Europe, and given rise to many in- 
 genious, and some profound disquisitions. The nature of our institutions 
 has been differently viewed, according to the partiality of the observers. 
 With some, what was admitted to be good, has been attributed to a 
 happy chance ; while a great preponderance of evil, inseparable from re- 
 publican institutions, has been supposed to be lurking in the back-ground, 
 ^ieady, at some not very distant day, to neutralize or overpower all these 
 £ apparent advantages. With others, the inherent energy of free institutions 
 j has been the assumed explanation of all that was admirable in our pro- 
 L> ; gress, and a future of still increasing prosperity fondly predicted. 
 
 To those of us who are accustomed to regard man less as a mere ma- 
 v chine, the plaything of external circumstances ; who view him as a being 
 ■^of strong powers and high responsibilities, the solution will be different. 
 | We shall recur to the history of New England, and trace, in the stern 
 ^ energy of the virtues of its founders, the cause, at once, of our institutions 
 to and of our success. 
 
 ^ Not all the constitutions of the Abbe Sieyes, could inspire the French 
 ; people with a love of genuine liberty. The degraded descendants of the 
 ' heroic Spaniards will crouch under military despotism, or bow to a foreign 
 ) invader, in spite of the best-worded “ pronunciamientos” of a Santa Anna, 
 or a Bolivar. 
 
 These views, confirmed by all history, are full of hope, and of warning — 
 of hope, in the future destiny of our race, depending, as it thus does, 
 ^ on our own moral and intellectual exertions, and not on the varying phases 
 
4 
 
 Memoir of Patrick Tracy Jackson. 
 
 of external condition ; — of warning, that we do not, in blind reliance upon 
 the advantages of our position, relax our vigilance and our efforts. 
 
 In this point of view, we may contemplate, with advantage, the personal 
 history of those men, who, by their talents, their high standard of honor, 
 their unwearied industry, have contributed to the material prosperity of 
 our country in their own time, and have pointed out to those who came after 
 them that the true path to success lies in an undeviating adherence to the 
 purest and noblest principles of action. 
 
 These reflections are immediately suggested by the recent loss of one 
 among us, who, in an eminent degree, united all these qualities. To a 
 Bostonian, it will hardly be necessary to say that I refer to Patrick T. 
 Jackson ; so associated is his very name with public enterprise, purity of 
 purpose, vigor of resolution, and kindliness of feeling. To those who 
 have not enjoyed with us the privilege of his society and his example, a 
 short account of his personal history may not be unacceptable. 
 
 Patrick Tracy Jackson was born at Newbury port, on the 14th of Au- 
 gust, 1780. He was the youngest son of the Hon. Jonathan Jackson, a 
 member of the Continental Congress in 1782, Marshal of the District of 
 Massachusetts under Washington, first Inspector, and afterwards Super- 
 visor of the Internal Revenue, Treasurer of the Commonwealth for five 
 years, and, at the period of his death, Treasurer of Harvard College ; a 
 man distinguished among the old-fashioned gentlemen of that day, for the 
 dignity and grace of his deportment, but much more so for his intelligence, 
 and the fearless, almost Roman inflexibility of his principles. 
 
 His maternal grandfather, from whom he derived his name, was Patrick 
 Tracy, an opulent merchant of Newburyport — an Irishman by birth, who, 
 coming to this country at an early age, poor and friendless, had raised 
 himself, by his own exertions, to a position which his character, univer- 
 sally esteemed by his fellow-citizens, enabled him adequately to sustain. 
 
 The subject of this memoir received his early education at the public 
 schools of his native town, and afterwards at Dummer Academy. When 
 about fifteen years old, he was apprenticed to the late William Bartlett, 
 then the most enterprising and richest merchant of Newburyport; and 
 since well known for his munificent endowment of the institution at An- 
 dover. In this new position, which, with the aristocratic notions of that 
 day, might have been regarded by some youth as derogatory, young Pat- 
 rick took especial pains to [trove to his master that he had not been edu- 
 cated to view anything as disgraceful which it was his duty to do. He 
 took pride in throwing himself into the midst of the labor and responsi- 
 bility of the business. In so doing, he gratified a love of activity and 
 usefulness, which belonged to his character, at the same tim e that he 
 satisfied his sense of duty. And yet, while thus ready to work, he did not 
 lose his keen relish for the enjoyments of youth ; and would often, after a 
 day of intense bodily labor, be foremost in the amusements of the social 
 circle in the evening. 
 
 He soon secured the esteem and confidence of Mr. Bartlett, who en- 
 trusted to him, when under twenty years of age, a cargo of merchandise 
 for St. Thomas, with authority to take the command of the vessel from 
 the captain, if he should see occasion. 
 
 After his return from this voyage, which he successfully conducted, an 
 opportunity offered for a more extended enterprise. His brother, Captain 
 Henry Jackson, who was about six years older than himself, and to w hom 
 
5 
 
 Memoir of Patrick Tracy Jackson. 
 
 he was warmly attached, was on the point of sailing for Madras and Cal- 
 cutta, and offered to take Patrick with him as captain’s clerk. The offer 
 was a tempting one. It would open to him a branch of commerce in 
 which his master, Bartlett, had not been engaged, but which was, at that 
 time, one of great profit to the enterprising merchants of this country. 
 The English government then found it for their interest to give us great 
 advantages in the Bengal trade ; while our neutral position, during the 
 long wars of the French revolution, enabled us to monopolize the business 
 of supplying the continent of Europe with the cotton and other products 
 of British India. An obstacle, however, interposed — our young apprentice 
 was not of age; and the indentures gave to his master the use of his ser- 
 vices till that period should be completed. With great liberality, Mr. 
 Bartlett, on being informed of the circumstances, relinquished his claim. 
 
 It was very nearly the first day of the present century, when Mr. Jack- 
 son commenced his career as a free man. Already familiar with many 
 things pertaining to a sea life, he occupied his time on board ship in ac- 
 quiring a knowledge of navigation, and of seamanship. His brother, who 
 delighted in his profession, and was a man of warm and generous affec- 
 tions, was well qualified and ready to instruct him. These studies, with 
 his previous mercantile experience, justified him, on his return from India, 
 in offering to take charge of a ship and cargo in the same trade. This 
 he did, with complete success, for three successive voyages, and established 
 his reputation for enterprise and correctness in business. 
 
 On the last of these occasions, he happened to be at the Cape of Good 
 Hope when that place was taken from the Dutch by the English, under 
 Sir David Baird, in January, 1806. This circumstance caused a derange- 
 ment in his mercantile operations, involving a detention of about a year, 
 at the Cape, and leading him subsequently to embark in some new adven- 
 tures ; and he did not reach home until 1808, after an absence of four 
 years. 
 
 Having now established his reputation, and acquired some capital, he 
 relinquished the sea, and entered into commercial pursuits at Boston. His 
 long acquaintance with the India trade eminently fitted him for that 
 branch of business ; and he had the support and invaluable counsels of 
 his brother-in-law, the late Francis C. Lowell. He entered largely into 
 this business, both as an importer and speculator. The same remarkable 
 union of boldness and sound judgment, which characterized him in later 
 days, contributed to his success, and his credit soon became unbounded. 
 In 1811, at a moment when his engagements were very large, and when 
 the state of the country was such, in its foreign relations, as to call for the 
 greatest circumspection, a sudden check was given to his credit by the 
 failure of a house in the same branch of business, with whom he was 
 known to be extensively connected. His creditors became alarmed, and 
 there were not wanting those who said that he ought instantly to fail. 
 Mr. Jackson acted, under this emergency, with his usual promptness and 
 resolution. Fie called upon some of his principal creditors, made a most 
 lucid exposition of the state of his affairs, and showed that, if allowed to 
 manage them in his own way, his means were abundantly sufficient ; 
 while, so great was the amount of his liabilities, that, under the charge of 
 assignees, not only might all his hard earnings be swept away, but the 
 creditors themselves be the sufferers. So admirably had his accounts 
 been kept, and so completely did he show himself to be master of his 
 
6 
 
 Memoir of Patrick Tracy Jackson . 
 
 business, that the appeal was irresistible. He was allowed to go on un- 
 molested, and the event justified the confidence reposed in him. One of 
 his largest creditors, the late William Pratt, Esq., was so pleased with his 
 deportment on this occasion, that he not only cheerfully acquiesced in the 
 decision, but offered him any pecuniary aid he might require. This was 
 no trifling proof of confidence, when the amount of his liabilities, com- 
 pared to his capital, at this dark and troublesome period, is taken into 
 view. In the end, he gained reputation and public confidence by the 
 circumstances that had threatened to destroy them. Within a year, all 
 the embarrassments that had menaced him had passed away, and he con- 
 tinued largely engaged in the India and Havana trades, till the breaking 
 out of the war in 1812. At this period, circumstances led him into anew 
 branch of business, which influenced his whole future life. 
 
 Mr. Lowell had just returned to this country, after a long visit to Eng- 
 land and Scotland. While abroad, he had conceived the idea that the 
 cotton manufacture, then almost monopolized by Great Britain, might be 
 advantageously prosecuted here. The use of machinery was daily super- 
 seding the former manual operations ; and it was known that power-looms 
 had recently been introduced, though the mode of constructing them was 
 kept secret. The cheapness of labor, and abundance of capital, were 
 advantages in favor of the English manufacturer — they had skill and rep- 
 utation. On the other hand, they were burthened with the taxes of a 
 prolonged war. We could obtain the raw material cheaper, and had a 
 great superiority in the abundant water-power, then unemployed, in every 
 part of New England. It was also the belief of Mr. Lowell, that the 
 character of our population, educated, moral and enterprising as it then 
 was, could not fail to secure success, when brought into competition with 
 their European rivals ; and it is no small evidence of the far-reaching 
 views of this extraordinary man, and his early colleagues, that their very 
 first measures were such as should secure that attention to education and 
 morals among the manufacturing population, which they believed to be 
 the corner-stone of any permanent success. 
 
 Impressed with these views, Mr. Lowell determined to bring them to 
 the test of experiment. So confident was he in his calculations, that he 
 thought he could in no way so effectually assist the fortunes of his relative, 
 Mr. Jackson, as by offering him a share in the enterprise. Great were 
 the difficulties that beset the new undertaking. The state of war pre- 
 vented any communication with England. Not even books and designs, 
 much less models, could be procured. The structure of the machinery, 
 the materials to be used in the construction, the very tools of the machine- 
 shop, the arrangement of the mill, and the size of its various apartments — 
 all these were to be, as it were, re-invented. But Mr. Jackson’s was 
 not a spirit to be appalled by obstacles. He entered at once into the 
 project, and devoted to it, from that moment, all the time that could be 
 spared from his mercantile pursuits. 
 
 The first object to be accomplished, was to procure a power-loom. To 
 obtain one from England, was, of course, impracticable ; and, although 
 there were many patents for such machines in our Patent Office, not one 
 had yet exhibited sufficient merit to be adopted into use. Under these 
 circumstances, but one resource remained — to invent one themselves ; 
 and this, these earnest men at once set about. Unacquainted as they were 
 with machinery, in practice, they dared, nevertheless, to attempt the solu- 
 
7 
 
 Memoir of Patrick Tracy Jackson. 
 
 tion of a problem, that had baffled the most ingenious mechanicians. In 
 England, the power-loom had been invented by a clergyman, and why 
 not here by a merchant? After numerous experiments and failures, they 
 at last succeeded, in the autumn of 1812, in producing a model which 
 they thought so well of, as to be willing to make preparations for putting 
 up a mill, for the weaving of cotton cloth. It was now necessary to pro- 
 cure the assistance of a practical mechanic, to aid in the construction of 
 the machinery; and the friends had the good fortune to secure the ser- 
 vices of Mr. Paul Moody, afterwards so well known as the head of the 
 machine-shop at Lowell. 
 
 They found, as might naturally be expected, many defects in their model 
 loom ; but these were gradually remedied. The project hitherto had been 
 exclusively for a weaving-mill, to do by power what had before been done 
 by hand-looms. But it was ascertained, on inquiry, that it would be more 
 economical to spin the twist, rather than to buy it ; and they put up a mill 
 for about 1,700 spindles, which was completed late in 1813. It will prob- 
 ably strike the reader with some astonishment to be told that this mill, 
 still in operation at Waltham, was probably the first one in the world 
 that combined all the operations necessary for converting the raw cotton 
 into finished cloth. Such, however, is the fact, as far as we are informed 
 on the subject. The mills in this country — Slater’s, for example, in Rhode 
 Island — were spinning-mills, only; and in England, though the power-loom 
 had been introduced, it was used in separate establishments, by persons 
 who bought, as the hand-weavers had always done, their twist of the 
 spinners. 
 
 Great difficulty was at first experienced at Waltham, for the want of a 
 proper preparation (sizing) of the warps. They procured from England 
 a drawing of Horrock’s dressing machine, which, with some essential 
 improvements, they adopted, producing the dresser now in use at Lowell, 
 and elsewhere. No method was, however, indicated in this drawing for 
 winding the threads from the bobbins on to the beam ; and, to supply this 
 deficiency, Mr. Moody invented the very ingenious machine called the 
 warper. Having obtained these, there w T as no further difficulty in weav- 
 ing by power-looms. 
 
 There was still great deficiency in the preparation for spinning. They 
 had obtained from England a description of what was then called a bobbin 
 and fly, or jack-frame, for spinning roving; from this, Mr. Moody and 
 Mr. Lowell produced our present double speeder. The motions of this 
 machine were very complicated, and required nice mathematical calcula- 
 tions. Without them, Mr. Moody’s ingenuity, great as it was, would have 
 been at fault. These were supplied by Mr. Lowell. Many years after- 
 wards, and after the death of Mr. Lowell, when the patent for the speeder 
 had been infringed, the late Dr. Bowditch was requested to examine them, 
 that he might appear as a witness at the trial. He expressed to Mr. Jack- 
 son his admiration of the mathematical power they evinced ; adding, that 
 there were some corrections introduced that he had not supposed any man 
 in America familiar with but himself. 
 
 There was also great waste and expense in winding the thread for fill- 
 ing or weft from the bobbin on to the quills, for the shuttle. To obviate 
 this, Mr. Moody invented the machine known here as the filling-throstle. 
 
 It will be seen, by this rapid sketch, how much there was at this early 
 period to be done, and how well it was accomplished. The machines 
 
8 
 
 Memoir of Patrick Tracy Jackson. 
 
 introduced then, are those still in use in New England — brought, of course? 
 to greater perfection in detail, and attaining a much higher rate of speed ; 
 but still substantially the same. 
 
 Associating with themselves some of the most intelligent merchants of 
 Boston, they procured, in February, 1813, a charter, under the name of 
 the Boston Manufacturing Company, with a capital of $100,000. Suc- 
 cess crowned their efforts, and the business was gradually extended to the 
 limit of the capacity of their water-power. 
 
 Mr. Lowell died in 1817, at the age of forty-two ; satisfied that he had 
 succeeded in his object, and that the extension of the cotton manufacture 
 would form a permanent basis of the prosperity of New England. He had 
 been mainly instrumental in procuring from Congress, in 1816, the estab- 
 lishment of the minimum duty on cotton cloth ; an idea which originated 
 with him, and one of great value, not only as affording a certain and 
 easily collected revenue, but as preventing the exaction of a higher and 
 higher duty, just as the advance in the cost abroad renders it more difficult 
 for the consumer to procure his necessary supplies. 
 
 It is not surprising that Mr. Lowell should have felt great satisfaction 
 at the result of his labors. In the establishment of the cotton manufacture, 
 in its present form, he and his early colleagues have done a service not 
 only to New England, but to the whole country, which, perhaps, will never 
 be fully appreciated. Not by the successful establishment of this branch 
 of industry — that would sooner or later have been accomplished ; not by 
 any of the present material results that have flowed from it, great as they 
 unquestionably are ; but by the introduction of a system which has rendered 
 our manufacturing population the wonder of the world. Elsewhere, vice 
 and poverty have followed in the train of manufactures ; an indissoluble 
 bond of union seemed to exist between them. Philanthropists have prophe- 
 sied the like result here, and demagogues have re-echoed the prediction. 
 Those wise and patriotic men, the founders of Waltham, foresaw, and 
 guarded against the evil. 
 
 By the erection of boarding-houses at the expense and under the control 
 of the factory ; putting at the head of them matrons of tried character, and 
 allowing no boarders to be received except the female operatives of the 
 mill ; by stringent regulations for the government of these houses ; by all 
 these precautions, they gained the confidence of the rural population, 
 who were now no longer afraid to trust their daughters in a manufacturing 
 town. A supply was thus obtained of respectable girls ; and these, from 
 pride of character, as well as principle, have taken especial care to ex- 
 clude all others. It was soon found that an apprenticeship in a factory 
 entailed no degradation of character, and was no impediment to a reputable 
 connection in marriage. A factory-girl was no longer condemned to pur- 
 sue that vocation for life ; she would retire, in her turn, to assume the 
 higher and more appropriate responsibilities of her sex ; and it soon came 
 to be considered that a few years in a mill were an honorable mode of 
 securing a dower. The business could thus be conducted without any 
 permanent manufacturing population. The operatives no longer form a 
 separate caste, pursuing a sedentary employment, from parent to child, in 
 the heated rooms of a factory ; but are recruited, in a circulating current, 
 from the healthy and virtuous population of the country. 
 
 By these means, and a careful selection of men of principle, and purity 
 of life, as agents and overseers, a great moral good has been obtained. 
 
9 
 
 Memoir of Patrick Tracy Jackson » 
 
 Another result has followed, which, if foreseen, as no doubt it was, does 
 great credit to the sagacity of these remarkable rnen. The class of opera- 
 tives employed in our mills have proved to be as superior in intelligence 
 and efficiency to the degraded population elsewhere employed in manu- 
 factures, as they are in morals. They are selected from a more educated 
 class — from among persons in more easy circumstances, where the mental 
 and physical powers have met with fuller development. This connection 
 between morals and intellectual efficiency, has never been sufficiently 
 studied. The result is certain, and may be destined, in its consequences, 
 to decide the question of our rivalry with England, in the manufacture of 
 cotton. 
 
 Although the first suggestions, and many of the early plans for the new 
 business, had been furnished, as we have seen, by Mr. Lowell, Mr. Jack- 
 son devoted the most time and labor in conducting it. He spent much of 
 his time, in the early years, at Waltham, separated from his family. It 
 gradually engrossed his whole thoughts ; and, abandoning his mercantile 
 business, in 1815, he gave himself up to that of the company. 
 
 At the erection of each successive mill, many prudent men, even among 
 the proprietors, had feared that the business would be overdone — that no 
 demand would be found for such increased quantities of the same fabric. 
 Mr. Jackson, with the spirit and sagacity that so eminently distinguished 
 him, took a different view of the matter. He not only maintained that 
 cotton cloth was so much cheaper than any other material, that it must 
 gradually establish itself in universal consumption at home, but entertained 
 the bolder idea, that the time would come, when the improvements in ma- 
 chinery, and the increase of skill and capital, would enable us successfully 
 to compete with Great Britain, in the supply of foreign markets. Whether 
 he ever anticipated the rapidity and extent of the developments which he 
 lived to witness, may perhaps be doubted ; it is certain that his expecta- 
 tions were, at that time, thought visionary, by many of the most sagacious 
 of his friends. 
 
 Ever prompt to act, whenever his judgment was convinced, he began, 
 as early as 1820, to look around for some locality where the business 
 might be extended, after the limited capabilities of Charles River should 
 be exhausted. 
 
 In 1821, Mr. Ezra Worthen, who had formerly been a partner with 
 Mr. Moody, and who had applied to Mr. Jackson for employment, suggested 
 that the Pawtucket Canal, at Chelmsford, would afford a fine location for 
 large manufacturing establishments ; and that probably a privilege might 
 be purchased of its proprietors. To Mr. Jackson’s mind, the hint sug- 
 gested a much more stupendous project — nothing less than to possess him- 
 self of the whole power of the Merrimack River, at that place. Aware of 
 the necessity of secrecy of action to secure this property at any reasonable 
 price, he undertook it single-handed. It was necessary to purchase not 
 only the stock in the canal, but all the farms on both sides of the river, 
 which controlled the water-power, or which might be necessary for the 
 future extension of the business. No long series of years had tested the 
 extent and profit of such enterprises ; the great capitalists of our land had not 
 yet become converts to the safety of such investments. Relying on his 
 own talent and resolution, without even consulting his confidential advisers, 
 he set about this task at his own individual risk ; and it was not until he 
 had accomplished all that was material for his purpose, that he offered a 
 
10 
 
 Memoir of Patrick Tracy Jackson. 
 
 share in the project to a few of his former colleagues. Such was the be- 
 ginning of Lowell — a city which he lived to see, as it were, completed. 
 If all honor is to be paid to the enterprise and sagacity of those men who, 
 in our day, with the advantage of great capital and longer experience, have 
 bid a new city spring up from the forest on the borders of the same stream, 
 accomplishing almost in a day what is in the course of nature the slow 
 growth of centuries, what shall we say of the forecast and energy of that 
 man who could contemplate and execute the same gigantic task at that 
 early period, and alone ? 
 
 The property thus purchased, and to which extensive additions were sub- 
 sequently made, was offered to the proprietors of the Waltham Company, 
 and to other persons whom it was thought desirable to interest in the scheme. 
 These offers were eagerly accepted, and a new company was established, 
 under the name of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, the immediate 
 charge of which was confided to the late Kirk Boott, Esq. 
 
 Having succeeded in establishing the cotton manufacture on a perma- 
 nent basis, and possessed of a fortune, the result of his own exertions, 
 quite adequate to his wants, Mr. Jackson now thought of retiring from the 
 labor and responsibility of business. He resigned the agency of the factory 
 at Waltham, still remaining a director both in that company and the new 
 one at Lowell, and personally consulted on every occasion of doubt or 
 difficulty. This life of comparative leisure was not of long duration. His 
 spirit was too active to allow him to be happy in retirement. He was 
 made for a working-man, and had long been accustomed to plan and con- 
 duct great enterprises ; the excitement was necessary for his well-being. 
 His spirits flagged, his health failed ; till, satisfied at last that he had mis* 
 taken his vocation, he plunged once more into the cares and perplexities 
 of business. 
 
 Mr. Moody had recently introduced some important improvements in 
 machinery, and was satisfied that great saving might be made, and a 
 higher rate of speed advantageously adopted. Mr. Jackson proposed to 
 establish a company at Lowell, to be called the Appleton Company, and 
 adopt the new machinery. The stock was soon subscribed for, and Mr. 
 Jackson appointed the treasurer and agent. Two large mills were built, 
 and conducted by him for several years, till success had fully justified his 
 anticipations. Meanwhile, his presence at Lowell was of great advantage 
 to the new city. All men there, as among the stockholders in Boston, 
 looked up to him as the founder and guardian genius of the place, and 
 were ready to receive from him advice or rebuke, and to refer to him all 
 questions of doubt or controversy. As new companies were formed, and 
 claims became conflicting, the advantages became more apparent of hav- 
 ing a man of such sound judgment, impartial integrity, and nice discrim- 
 ination, to appeal to, and who occupied a historical position to which no 
 one else could pretend. 
 
 In 1830, the interests of Lowell induced Mr. Jackson to enter into a 
 business new to himself and others. This was the building of the Boston 
 and Lowell Railroad. For some years, the practicability of constructing 
 roads in which the friction should be materially lessened by laying down 
 iron bars, or trams, had engaged the attention of practical engineers in 
 England. At first, it was contemplated that the service of such roads 
 should be performed by horses ; and it was not until the brilliant experi- 
 ments of Mr. Stephenson, on the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad, that 
 
11 
 
 Memoir of Patrick Tracy Jackson . 
 
 the possibility of using locomotive engines was fully established. It will 
 be well remembered that all the first estimates for railroads in this country 
 were based upon a road-track adapted to horse-power, and horses were 
 actually used on all the earlier roads. The necessity of a better com- 
 munication between Boston and Lowell had been the subject of frequent 
 conversation between Mr. Boott and Mr. Jackson. Estimates had been 
 made, and a line surveyed fora Macadamized road. The travel between 
 the two places was rapidly increasing ; and the transportation of mer- 
 chandise, slowly performed in summer by the Middlesex Canal, was done 
 at great cost, and over bad roads, in Winter, by wagons. 
 
 At this moment, the success of Mr. Stephenson’s experiments decided 
 Mr. Jackson. He saw, at once, the prodigious revolution that the intro- 
 duction of steam would make in the business of internal communication. 
 Men were, as yet, incredulous. The cost and the danger attending the 
 use of the new machines, were exaggerated; and even if feasible in 
 England, with a city of one hundred and fifty thousand souls at each of 
 the termini, such a project, it was argued, was Quixotical here, with our 
 more limited means and sparser population. Mr. Jackson took a different 
 view of the matter ; and when, after much delay and difficulty, the stock 
 of the road was subscribed for, he undertook to superintend its construc- 
 tion, with the especial object that it might be in every way adapted to the 
 use of steam-power, and to that increase of travel and transportation which 
 few had, like him, the sagacity to anticipate. 
 
 Mr. Jackson was not an engineer; but full of confidence in his own 
 energy, and in the power he always possessed of eliciting and directing 
 the talent of others, he entered on the task, so new to every one in this 
 country, with the same boldness that he had evinced twenty years before, 
 in the erection of the first weaving-mill. 
 
 The moment was an anxious one. He was not accustomed to waste 
 time in any of his undertakings. The public looked with eagerness for 
 the road, and he was anxious to begin and to finish it. But he was too 
 wise a man to allow his own impatience, or that of others, to hurry him 
 into action before his plans should be maturely digested. There were, 
 indeed, many points to be attended to, and many preliminary steps to be 
 taken. A charter was to be obtained, and, as yet, no charter for a rail- 
 road had been granted in New England. The terms of the charter, and 
 its conditions, were to be carefully considered. The experiment was 
 deemed to be so desirable, and, at the same time, so hazardous, that the 
 legislature wd’re prepared to grant almost any terms that should be asked 
 for. Mr. Jackson, on the other hand, whose faith in the success of the 
 new mode of locomotion never faltered, was not disposed to ask for any 
 privileges that would not be deemed moderate after the fullest success had 
 been obtained ; at the same time, the recent example of the Charles River 
 Bridge showed the necessity of guarding, by careful provisions, the char- 
 tered rights of the stockholders. 
 
 With respect to the road itself, nearly everything was to be learned. 
 Mr. Jackson established a correspondence with the most distinguished 
 engineers of this country, and of Europe ; and it was not until he had 
 deliberately and satisfactorily solved all the doubts that arose in his own 
 mind, or were suggested by others, that he would allow any step to be 
 decided on. In this way, although more time was consumed than on other 
 roads, a more satisfactory result was obtained. The road was graded for 
 
12 
 
 Memoir of Patrick Tracy Jackson. 
 
 a double track ; the grades reduced to a level of ten feet to the mile ; all 
 curves, but those of very large radius, avoided ; and every part constructed 
 with a degree of strength nowhere else, at that time, considered necessary. 
 A distinguished foreigner, Mr. Charles Chevalier, has spoken of the work 
 on this road as truly “ Cyclopean.” Every measure adopted, shows con- 
 clusively how clearly Mr. Jackson foresaw the extension and capabilities 
 of the railroad. 
 
 It required no small degree of moral firmness to conceive and carry out 
 these plans. Few persons realized the difficulties of the undertaking, or 
 the magnitude of the results. The shareholders were restless under in- 
 creased assessments, and delayed income. It is not too much to say that 
 no one but Mr. Jackson in Boston could, at that time, have commanded 
 the confidence necessary to enable him to pursue his work so deliberately 
 and so thoroughly. 
 
 The road was opened for travel in 1835, and experience soon justified 
 the wisdom of his anticipations. Its completion and successful operation 
 was a great relief to Mr. Jackson. For several years it had engrossed 
 his time and attention, and at times deprived him of sleep. He felt it to 
 be a public trust, the responsibility of which was of a nature quite differ- 
 ent from that which had attended his previous enterprises. 
 
 One difficulty that he had encountered in the prosecution of this work 
 led him into a new undertaking, the completion of which occupied him a 
 year or two longer. He felt the great advantage of making the terminus 
 of the road in Boston, and not, as was done in other instances, on the 
 other side of the river. The obstacles appeared, at first sight, insurmount- 
 able. No land was to be procured in that densely populated part of the 
 city except at very high prices ; and it was not then the public policy to 
 allow the passage of trains through the streets. A mere site for a 
 passenger depot could, indeed, be obtained ; and this seemed, to most per- 
 sons, all that was essential. Such narrow policy did not suit Mr. Jack- 
 son’s anticipations. It occurred to him that, by an extensive purchase of 
 the flats, then unoccupied, the object might be obtained. The excava- 
 tions making by the railroad at Winter Hill, and elsewhere, within a few 
 miles of Boston, much exceeded the embankments, and would supply the 
 gravel necessary to fill up these flats. Such a speculation not being 
 within the powers of the corporation, a new company was created for the 
 purpose. The land was made, to the extent of about ten acres ; and what 
 was not needed for depots, was sold at advantageous prices. Ii has since 
 been found that even the large provision made by Mr. Jaokson is inade- 
 quate to the daily increasing business of the railroad. 
 
 Mr. Jackson was now fifty-seven years of age. Released once more 
 from his engagements, he might rationally look forward to a life of dig- 
 nified retirement, in which he would be followed by the respect of the 
 community, and the gratitude of the many families that owed their well- 
 being to his exertions. But a cloud had come over his private fortunes. 
 While laboring for others, he had allowed himself to be involved in some 
 speculations, to which he had not leisure to devote his personal attention. 
 The unfortunate issue of these, deprived him of a large portion of his 
 property. 
 
 Uniformly prosperous hitherto, the touchstone of adversity was wanting 
 to elicit, perhaps even to create, some of the most admirable points in his 
 character. He had long been affluent, and with his generous and hos- 
 
Memoir of Patrick Tracy Jackson. 
 
 13 
 
 pitable feelings, had adopted a style of living fully commensurate with his 
 position. The cheerful dignity with which he met his reverses; the 
 promptness with which he accommodated his expenses to his altered cir- 
 cumstances ; and the almost youthful alacrity with which he once more 
 put on the harness, were themes of daily comment to his friends, and 
 afforded to the world an example of the truest philosophy. He had al- 
 ways been highly respected ; the respect was now more blended with love 
 and veneration. 
 
 The death of his friend, Mr. Boott, in the spring of 1837, had proved a 
 severe blow to the prosperity of Lowell. At the head of that company, 
 (the proprietors of the Locks and Canals,) which controlled the land and 
 water-power, and manufactured all the machinery used in the mills, the 
 position he had occupied led him into daily intercourse with the managers 
 of the several companies. The supervision he had exercised, and the in- 
 fluence of his example, had been felt in all the ramifications of the com- 
 plicated business of the place. Even where no tangible evidence existed 
 of benefits specifically conferred, men were not slow to find out, after his 
 death, that a change had come over the whole. The Locks and Canals 
 Company being under his immediate charge, was, of course, the first to 
 suffer. Their property rapidly declined, both intrinsically, and in public 
 estimation. The shares, which for many years had been worth 81,000 
 each, were now sold for 8700, and even less. No one appeared 
 so able to apply the remedy as Mr. Jackson. Familiar, from the first, 
 with the history of the company, of which he had always been a director, 
 and the confidential adviser of Mr. Boott, he alone, perhaps, was fully 
 capable of supplying that gentleman’s place. He was solicited to accept 
 the office, and tempted by the offer of a higher salary than had, perhaps, 
 ever been paid in this country. He assumed the trust; and, during the 
 seven years of his management, the proprietors had every reason to con- 
 gratulate themselves upon the wisdom of their choice. The property was 
 brought into the best condition ; extensive and lucrative contracts were 
 made and executed ; the annual dividends were large ; and when at last 
 it was thought expedient to close the affairs of the corporation, the stock- 
 holders received of capital nearly 81,600 a share. 
 
 The brilliant issue of this business enhanced Mr. Jackson’s previous 
 reputation. He was constantly solicited to aid, by service and counsel, 
 wherever doubt or intricacy existed. No great public enterprises were 
 brought forward till they had received the sanction of his opinion. 
 
 During the last few years of his life, he was the treasurer and agent of 
 the Great Falls Manufacturing Company at Somersworth ; a corporation 
 that had for many years been doing an unprofitable business at a great 
 expense of capital. When this charge was offered to him, he visited the 
 spot, and became convinced that it had great capabilities, but that every- 
 thing, from the beginning, had been done wrong : to reform it, would 
 require an outlay nearly equal to the original investment. The dam 
 should be taken down, and rebuilt ; one mill, injudiciously located, be re- 
 moved, and a larger one erected in a better spot ; the machinery entirely 
 discarded, and replaced by some of a more modern and perfect construc- 
 tion. Few men would have had the hardihood to propose such changes 
 to proprietors discouraged by the prestige of repeated disappointments ; 
 still fewer, the influence to carry his measures into effect. That Mr. 
 Jackson did this, and with results quite satisfactory to the proprietors and 
 
14 
 
 Memoir of Patrick Tracy Jackson . 
 
 to himself, is almost a corollary from his previous history. His private 
 fortune had, in the meanwhile, been restored to a point that relieved him 
 from anxiety, and he was not ambitious of increasing it. 
 
 For some time after he assumed the duties of the agency at Somers- 
 worth, the labor and responsibility attending it were very severe ; yet 
 he seemed to his friends to have all the vigor and elasticity of middle life. 
 It may be, however, that the exertion was beyond his physical strength ; 
 certainly, after a year or two, he began to exhibit symptoms of a gradual 
 prostration ; and, when attacked by dysentery in the summer of 1H47, his 
 constitution had no longer the power of resistance, and he sank under the 
 disease on the 12th of September, at his sea-side residence at Beverly. 
 
 It had not been generally known in Boston that he was unwell. The 
 news of his death was received as a public calamity. The expressions 
 that spontaneously burst forth from every mouth, were a most touching 
 testimonial to his virtues, as much as to his ability. 
 
 Reviewing the career of Mr. Jackson, one cannot but be struck with 
 the multifarious and complicated nature of the business he undertook, the 
 energy and promptness of his resolution, the sagacity and patience with 
 which he mastered details, the grasp of mind that reached far beyond the 
 exigencies of the moment. Yet these qualities, however pre-eminent, 
 will not alone account for his uniform success, or the great influence he 
 exercised. He had endowments morally, as well as intellectually, of a 
 high order. The loftiest principles — not merely of integrity, but of honor, 
 governed him in every transaction ; and, superadded to these, was a kind- 
 liness of feeling that led him to ready sympathy with all who approached 
 him. It was often said of him, that while no one made a sharper bargain 
 than he did, yet no one put so liberal a construction upon it, when made. 
 His sense of honor was so nice, that a mere misgiving was enough to 
 decide him against his own interest. With his extensive business and 
 strength of character, he necessarily had collisions with many ; yet he 
 had few enemies, and to such as felt inimical toward him, he harbored no 
 resentment. Prompt in the expression of his feelings, he was equally so in 
 the forgiveness of injuries. His quick sympathies Jed him to be foremost 
 in all works of public spirit, or of charity. He was fearless in the ex- 
 pression of his opinions, and never swerved from the support of the right 
 and the true from any considerations of policy or favor. He felt it to be 
 the part of real dignity to enlighten, not to follow the general opinion. 
 
 In private, he was distinguished by a cheerfulness and benevolence 
 that beamed upon his countenance, and seemed to invite every one to be 
 happy with him. His position enabled him to indulge his love of doing 
 good by providing employment for many meritorious persons ; and this 
 patronage, once extended, was never capriciously withdrawn. 
 
 The life of such a man is a public benefaction. Were it only to point 
 out to the young and enterprising that the way to success is by the path 
 of honor — not half-way, conventional honor, but honor enlightened by 
 religion, and guarded by conscience — were it only for this, a truth but 
 imperfectly appreciated even by moralists, the memory of such men should 
 be hallowed by posterity. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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