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Lowell, Francis Cabot

Lowell, Francis Cabot (1775-1817) Manufacturer: Francis Cabot Lowell was born on April 7, 1775, in Newburyport, Massachusetts. After graduating from Harvard in 1793, he worked in his uncle's mercantile firm. He traveled to England for heath reasons in 1810, and was impressed by the textile factories in Lancashire. Upon his return to the US in 1812, he joined his Nathan Appleton and his brother-in-law, Patrick Jackson, to found the Boston Manufacturing Company in Waltham, Massachusetts. He combined what he remembered from Lancashire with the mechanical guidance of Paul Moody. The factory they built was the first to include all stages of cotton manufacturing in one building. In 1816, Lowell successfully lobbied to add cotton to the US Tariff Act of 1816. Known for his concern for his workers, he established a housing and living complex for his employees, with educational and other amenities. He recruited young single ladies, and ensured that the moral standards remained high so that families could feel comfortable sending their daughters to work in the mills. Lowell died on August 10, 1817, in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1826, the textile city of Lowell, Massachusetts was named after him.