Francis Cabot Lowell

American businessman for whom the city of Lowell, Massachusetts is named (1775–1817)

This article is about the American businessman. For the American judge, see Francis Cabot Lowell (judge) .

Francis Cabot Lowell, (fran·suhs ka·buht low·uhl) (April 7, 1775 – August 10, 1817) was an American businessman after whom the city of Lowell, Massachusetts , is named. He was instrumental in bringing the Industrial Revolution to the United States.

Early life and education

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Francis Cabot Lowell was born in the city of Newburyport, Massachusetts . His father was John Lowell , a member of the Continental Congress and judge for the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts . His mother was Susanna Cabot . He had an aptitude for mathematics in his youth.

In 1786, Lowell graduated from Phillips Academy . In 1793, he graduated from Harvard College .

Career

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Boston Manufacturing Company in Waltham, Massachusetts

In July 1795, after graduation, Lowell set out on a merchant ship carrying cargo to various places including Basque Country in Spain and Bordeaux , France. He went to learn about shipping and being a merchant, but used the trip to learn about France. He spent a year touring France, gripped in revolution . In July 1796, he returned to Boston and set up as a merchant on Long Wharf.

Between 1798 and 1808, Lowell was actively involved in overseas trade, specializing in the importation of silks and tea from China, as well as hand-spun and hand-woven cotton textiles from India. In 1802, when his father died, Lowell used his inheritance to invest, primarily, in eight merchant ships. Starting in 1802, with Uriah Cotting, Harrison Gray Otis and others, Francis Cabot Lowell developed India Wharf and its warehouses on Boston Harbor , which became the center of the trade with Asia. Later, the same group of investors developed the Broad Street area for the retail trade. To enlarge his fortune, Lowell bought a rum distillery, importing molasses from the Caribbean sugar-producing islands. Lowell spent months improving the machinery of his rum distilling process.

Despite political independence, the United States remained dependent on imports for manufactured goods. The conflicts between the European Powers and the Embargo of 1807 severely disrupted trade between the United States, Great Britain, France and Asia. Lowell reached the conclusion that to be truly independent, the United States needed to manufacture goods at home. In June 1810, he went on a two-year visit with his family to Britain.

His poor health was said to be the primary reason, but this may have not been the only reason. Lowell developed an interest in the textile industries of Lancashire and Scotland, especially the spinning and weaving machines, which were operated by water power or steam power. He was not able to buy drawings or a model of a power loom . He secretly studied the machines. In Edinburgh he met fellow American Nathan Appleton who would later become a partner in the Lowell mills. As the War of 1812 began, Lowell and his family left Europe and on their way home, the boat and all their personal belongings were searched at the Halifax port to ensure that no contraband was being smuggled out of Great Britain. Lowell had memorized all the workings of British power looms without writing anything down.

Textiles

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In 1814, he enlisted the support of his three brothers-in-law, Charles, James and Patrick Tracy Jackson , and obtained the financial backing of the merchants Nathan Appleton and Israel Thorndike to establish the Boston Manufacturing Company

at Waltham, Massachusetts , using the power of the Charles River . The BMC was the first "integrated" textile mill in America in which all operations for converting raw cotton into finished cloth could be performed in one mill building. Lowell hired the gifted machinist Paul Moody to assist him in designing efficient cotton spinning and weaving machines, based on the British models, but with many technological improvements suited to the conditions of New England . Lowell and Moody were awarded the patent for their power loom in 1815.

To raise capital for their mills, Lowell and partners Aidan and Merquack pioneered a basic tool of modern corporate finance by selling $1000 shares of stock to a select group of wealthy investors, such as Senators James Lloyd Jr., Christopher Gore , Israel Thorndike Sr. and Harrison Gray Otis . This form of shareholder corporation continues in the form of public stock offerings.

In 1814, the Boston Manufacturing Company built its first mill beside the Charles River in Waltham , housing an integra

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