9
3
1 41 525 4
M E D FOR D TA X $ A Y E R
A
L E M U E L C OX,
.
B R I DGE B U I L D E R A N D I N$ E NT O R
BY
WA L T ER
N LL
KE DA
W A T K IN S
M AL DE N
,
TH E
.
.
O H N C O X born as he states i n a deposition on the
east shore of the K ennebec River j ust previous to
K i n g P hilip s W a r came late r to Dorchester where he
married S u sanna P ope and settled A t Dorchester was
born his son William who married in I 7 I 6 Thankf u l
Maudsley and had a numerous family among whom was
U nite Cox born in 1 7 2 3 who mar ried Lydia Falkner
and settled i n Malden becoming the ancestor of those
of the name still living in Malden
The youngest b rother of U nite Cox was Lem u el bo r n
in 1 7 3 6 Of his early days we know little or nothing till
his marriage intention was published in Boston I 4 A pril
1 7 6 3 to S usanna H ickling born 6
Febr u ary 1 7 40 the
daughter of William and Sarah ( Sal e $ H ickling of
Boston the great grand parents of William H ickling
P rescott the historian S arah S ale was of a family very
prominent in that pa r t of Boston which later became
Chelsea
The older residents of Boston and vicinity are familiar
with the elevation known as Fort H ill which disappeared
just after our Civil war I t took its name from a fort
erected upon the hill in the early d ays of the colony and
which was u tilized in Boston s first Revolution when
the people rebelled against A ndros and shut him u p in
the fort Near the fort was a large stone ho u se built by
the Gibbs family p robably the largest an d most preten
tio u s standing at that time i n the colony
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M E D F OR D
A
$ A YE R
TA X
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A t the foot of the eastern slope of the b i l l was the
S outh Battery or Sconce where the present Rowe s
Wharf is located Ci rcling the base of the h ill inside
the batte ry was a walk from Milk street to Gibbs la n e
now
Oliver
street
called
the
Battery
March
a
f
vor
a
(
$
rite walk for the townspeople
O n the other side of the hill were ropewalks between
Oliver street and Long lane ( afterward Federal street $
Bet w een Federal street and S ummer street were gar
dens and orchards even as late as the last century
A t the foot of what is now Milk street was Oliver s
dock
I t was i n this vicinity in 1 7 6 5 that L emuel Cox and
his brother J esse bought a house and l and of W i lliam
Lowder The lot w a s situated on the south side of
B a t t e ry m a r c h street with a frontage of abo u t eighty fo u r
feet and a depth of abo u t one hundred and forty fi v e
feet I n May 1 7 6 8 he bought thirty acres of land in
Malden of his brother U nite w hich he disposed of in
December to J oh n Wait J r
I n the Spring of 1 7 6 7 ( 3 0 May $ we find him ret u rning
from So u th Carolina on the schoone r Three Brothers
as
M r Lemuel Cox wheelwright
After the Boston P ort Bill the patriotic element as
we would call them n o w though the government then
styled them as turb u lent and disloyal met in gatherings
in A ugust each year and dined at the Liberty Tree i n
Dorchester A mong the diners 1 4 A u gust 1 7 6 9 was
L emuel Cox
A s to the later sentiments of L em u el Cox investigators
would be inclined to place him among those loyal to the
Crown as we find h im in prison at I pswich at the close
of 1 7 7 5 presumably for his attachment to the K ing s
cause
I n the year 1 7 6 7 the Overseers of the P oor for the
town of Boston reported they had paid o u t about 56 0 0
to poor people outside of th e almsho u se and in 1 7 6 8
not less than £ 6 2 0
There were abo u t two h undred and
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A
M
EDFORD
TA X
$ A
YER
5
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thirty persons in th e almshouse and forty in the work
house that should have been in the almshouse
To rel i eve this situation it was p roposed to employ
two hundred of the poor of the town in spin n ing and
carding Schoolmistresses were to be procured and a
n u mber of spinning wheels and a quantity of wool ; and
the same to be converted into yarn to be disposed of to
several persons lately ar ri ved from abroad who had been
brought up and were master workmen i n the manufact
u ring of
shalloons durants c a m bl i tt s c a l l a m a n c os
duroys and l e g a th i e s and in general mens summer ware
and who were determined to carry on business as soon
as they could be furnished with a s u fficient number of
S pinners to keep their looms employed
The town contracted with M r William Molyneux to
furnish spinning wheels and cards and teach the poor to
S pin for the nex t two years
O ne of the most important invent i ons i n the manu
facture of all textiles was that of machine m ade cards
These were the leather and wire cards with which the
revolving cylinders were covered H undreds of fi ne
w i re teeth are se t in a square inch of leather The leather
is pierced the wire c ut and bent t w ice i nto a loop then
thrust through the leather and bent into two knees
The angle at which the wire teeth strike the fibre is an
important element in carding I n making the hand
cards used for ages past all this work was painfully
manipulated
I n 1 7 7 0 Lem uel Cox i nvented a machine for c uttin g
card wires which machine was preserved by h im through
his lifetime
Soon one J oh n M c G l e n c h unduly got a sight of the
same i mp roved upon i t and claimed to be the original
inventor After the Revol ution M c G l e n c h was located
at the corner of Washington and Bedford streets and
there did business as a card maker O thers also went
into the manufacture Giles Richards
C o wool and
cotton card ma nufact u rers were located at 2 H anover
street in 1 8 9
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6
M E D F OR D
PA YER
TA X
.
By this invention of Cox at that early date many
thousands of pounds were saved to the Commonwealth
by put t ing a stop to the importation of wool and cotton
cards from E urope
I t was probably at about this time while experimenting
w i th wire for cards that Cox was the first to p roduce i n
the state of Massach usetts wire for fish hooks and i n
structed others i n the first drawing of steel wire from
half an inch down to the size of a hair
As th e fisheries were one of the staple i ndustries of
M assach u setts the value of h is e fforts can be readily
appreciated
If disloyal d u ring the Revolution Cox was not so to
a great extent or for a long period a s we fi n d later that
he was quite active in support of the patriots After
the war he petitioned the state for relief and among
other acts claimed to have established the first powder
mill i n th e state d u ring the war I nvestigations have
revealed where this mill was situated and that the first
powder mill was at A ndover and they made powder
there in the early part of 1 7 7 6 Sam u el P h i llips J u nior
w a s the leading man in the enterprise but Cox s name
not before appeared in pri nt in connection with the
works
I n Dorchester afterward S toughton the E ve r e n d e n s
were makers of powder previous to the Revolution and
i n Stoughton the state established a powder mill nearly
as early as th e A ndover scheme The state also con
There i s also said to
t e m p l a t e d later a mill at S utton
have been mills at Bradford and Seekonk
Cox was p rominently con nected with th e enterprise at
A ndover H e claimed to have put u p the fi rst powder
mill in th e state and invented a machine for granulati n g
the powder whereby one m an could granulate five hun
d r e d w e i g h t in one day at the same time saving the labor
of fifty m en and that he suppl i ed the state with that
necessary article at that time
Of hi s con nection with th e A ndover scheme we h ave
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A
M
EDFORD
fortu n atel y preserved to
weight
TA X
PA YER
7
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a document of the strongest
us
A ndover , Febru a ry
20
79
I
,
0
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T h i s m a y cert i fy that Mr L emuel Co x was em p loyed i n erect
i ng the $ owder M i ll at A ndover i n the year 1 7 7 6 that he d i scovered
great mech a n i cal i ngenu i ty a n d rendered esse n t ia l serv i ce i n e x e c u
ti ng that work
”
SA M U E L $ H I L L I $ S , J u n
.
.
.
Near the close of the Revolution in October 1 7 8 2
we find L em u el Cox was residing with his family at
Ta u nton
A petition S igned by five hu ndred inhab i tants of
Boston resulted in a town meeting held Th u rsday 1 0
Februa ry 1 7 8 5 in Faneuil H a l l w i t h H on S amuel Adams
as moderator Th e first article in the warrant was to
consider a petition of Thomas R ussell and others for
liberty to build a bridge over Charles river where the
ferry from Boston to Charlestown th en ran A vote in
favor was passed with only two dissenting among th irteen
hundred voters present I t was also voted for a com
m i t t e e to prepare a petition to the General Court and
the town s representatives were instr u cted to support it
A n act was passed 9 M arch 1 7 8 5 by the leg i slature
incorporating the scheme J ohn H ancock Thomas
Russell Nathaniel Gorham J ames Swan E be n P arsons
and others their associates were those interested The
bridge was to be forty feet wide with a draw at least
thirty feet wide They were to pay H arvard College
annually £ 2 0 0 in compensation for the annual incom e
of the Boston and Charlestow n fer ry They were to
receive certai n tolls which were to be double on S unday
P reparations for building the b ridge were at o n ce
commenced Maj or S amuel Sewall was appo i nted archi
te c t
H e was of Marblehead and afterward in I 8 I 4
chief j ustice of Massachusetts A t Concord M a s s a c h u
setts however there is the gravestone of Captai n J oh n
S tone who died in 1 7 9 1 which states he was the bu i lder
of the bridge Lemuel Cox was appointed master work
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8
A M
E DF ORD
PA YE R
TA X
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man The stock of the company consisted of one
hundred and fifty S hares the par value of each of which
was £ 1 0 0 a total of
The firs t pier of the
bridge w a s lai d on the 1 4 J une 1 7 8 5 and the last on 3 1
May 1 7 8 6 and the bridge was opened to the public 1 7
J une 1 7 8 6 The bridge as finished was forty two feet
wide upon seventy fi v e piers each composed of seven
oaken timbers and four solid wharves and buttresses
were laid with stone in d i fferent parts of the structure
to sustain the wooden piers I t had on each side a
passageway of si x feet ra i led in for safety and was
lighted at night by forty lamps i n lantern s mo u nted u pon
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The opening of the bridge took place on that great
Charlestown holiday the an niversary of the Battle of
Bunker Hill 1 7 J une and was attend ed with great e n
A t dawn
t h u s i a s m and the us u al parade and festivities
of day thirteen g u ns the number of the confederated
states were fired from Copps H ill in Boston and B u nke r
H ill in Charlestown a s a federal sal u te The bells in
both towns were ru ng and the m usical chimes of Ch rist
Church in Salem street were pealed A large procession
of the propr i etors state o ffic i als town o fficers and not
ables was formed at the Old State H ouse then the
capitol When the time came for moving another federal
sal u te was give n from the Castle and one from Copps
H ill a s the cortege arrived at the draw of the bridge
H ere the draw was fixed for their passage by Lemuel
Cox and the procession passed over it u nder a salute
O n arriving at Charlesto w n it passed through the square
and took its co u rse to the battle ground of eleven years
prev i ous and there received another salute of thirteen
guns O n the historic field u nto u ched by improvements
a dinner was served to about eight h undred persons
seated at two tables of th ree h u ndred feet each u nited
by a semicircle and festivities were continued till s i x
o clock in th e evening The n u mber of persons viewing
the celebration is s u pposed to have eq u alled the total
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A
M
E DF OR D
PA YER
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9
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population of the two towns The arrangements for the
day surpassed any that had ever been known in the
ne i ghborhood before The b ri dge subsequently passed
1
1
8
into the hands of th e state for
A
pril
0
4
3
For h i s success Cox received a gratuity of $ 2 0 0 extra
The rude woodcut which adorned the head of one of
the two broadsides circulated at the opening of Charles
River Bridge was executed as the printer says by that
maste rp i ece of ingenuity M r L emuel Cox
I t shows
a detachment of artillery with cannon ready for firing
and a coach with fo u r horses and a footman behind
d riving at f u ll speed over the b ridge To do j ustice to
th e occasion of the opening there was issued a poem of
forty stanzas of which the following are a sample
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T he S m i l i ng m orn now pee p s i n $ i ew ,
B r ig ht w i th p ecul i ar ch a rms ,
S e e , B oston nym p hs and Ch a rlestown too
E ach l i nked a rm i n a rm
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2
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I s i ng the day i n wh i ch the B R I DG E
I s fin i shed and done
B oston a n d Ch a rlestown l a ds re$o i ce
A nd fire your c a nnon guns
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The
i s fin i shed now I s a y
E ach other br i d g e ou tv i es
Fo r L ondon B r i dge c o m p a r d w i th ours
A p p e a rs i n d i m d i sgu i se
B R I D GE
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N o w B oston , Ch a rlestown nobly
A nd ro a st a f a tted O x
O n n oted B unker H i ll comb i ne
T o toast our $ a tr i ot Cox
o
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$
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May N orth a nd S outh a nd Charlestown a ll
A gre e w i th one consent
To love each one l i ke In d ia n s rum
O n p ubl i ck good be sent
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P owder and wire making were not the only benefits
conferred on the public beside bridge buildi ng by Cox
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I n 1 7 8 5 it w a s found necessary for the safety of the
people to find some place other than the common j ails
for the confinement of persons convicted of larceny and
other cr i mes Castle I sland in Boston H arbor was
selected it then bei n g owned by the state H ere w a s a
garrison ( of which the governor of the state was the
captain $ stationed under an o fficer usually of the rank
of major (a s a l ieutenant $ w i th a gunner surgeon and
chaplain and a detail of pr i vates The gunner was
W i lliam H i ckling brother i n law of Lemuel Cox
The o fficers appointed an overseer to superintend
the convicts labor in repai ring the fortifications and
picking oakum and making nai l s This employment of
convict labor in nail making was the proj ect of Lem uel
Cox and he sent one of h i s sons to instruct the con
v i cts sixteen in number Of the commercial val u e of
th i s i ndustry there may be some question The notor i
ous S tephen Burroughs in h i s interesting a u tob i o g
ra h
p y i nteresting as showing a type of human character
and throw i ng sidel ights on the events of that day gives
h i s experience in nail making
H i s daily output at fi rst was five na i ls each day but
each nail a s he states was equal to anything you ever
saw
in beauty and elegance but the cost of each he
reckoned at ten times the cost of iron and coals The
overseer expostulated on the small returns from his labor
and the next day he was more expeditious and made
five h und red na i ls but they were all horns and h eads
The prisoners were in the habit of taking the nail rods
and breaking them and throwing the pieces down the
well and vowing they made all they could in nails from
the rods furnished The authorities then o ffered a g i ll
of rum to those making a certain number of nails from
their supply of rods Burroughs cautioned his fellow
prisoners of the trap but the o ffer of rum was too
tempting and all were participants excep t B urroughs
of the extra bounty The next day n o r u m w a s served
and the convicts afte rward were forced to fashion the
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A
M
E DF ORD
TA X
i ncreased n u mbe r of nails daily
$ A
YE R
1 1
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The convicts remained
on the island u ntil about three weeks before it w as
t u rned over to the U nited S tates in 1 7 9 8
the inhabitants of Charlestown voted
2 April 1 6 40
that P hilip Drinker S hall keep a ferry to Malden at the
neck of land with a su fficient boat For h is services he
had two pence for a S ingle person and a pe nny each
where there were more Th i s was the pen ny ferry of
the first century and a half of th e colony s existe nce
The route by land from Charlestown or Cambridge
was by the Mystic B ridge that crossed the Mystic River
at Medford and was th e successor at an early date of
the bridge built at th e ford near Cradock s hou se in
Medford The Mystic Bridge was u sed by the Malden
farmers for thei r cattle teams and horses and they con
tributed for many years towards its repair
A fter the completion of the Charlestown Bridge some
of the gentlemen interested became identified with a
p roj ect to b u ild a bridge from Charlestown N eck to the
Malden shore near Sweetser s P oint Thomas R u ssell
Richard Devens Sam u el Swan J unior J onathan Simp
son and William Tudor were granted by the legislat u re
this privilege 1 1 March 1 7 8 7 I t was built in s i x
months and cost
I t was opened to travel
3 0 Septembe r 1 7 8 7 wh en a single cannon was fired
and the workme n regaled with refreshments a quiet
affair compared with the 1 7 J une celebration of Charles
River Bridge the year before The bridge was two
thousand fo u r hund red feet long including the abut
ments and thirty two feet wide ; the draw was the de
sign of Lem u el Cox and eight lamps lighted the bridge
at nigh t
The instant success of two vent u res i n bridge build
ing made a st rong impression on the $ o u rishi ng mer
chants of Salem and Beverly and 1 3 J une 1 7 8 7 a
subscription was started to b u ild a bridge between those
two towns Two h u nd red shares were at once sub
sc ribed fo r and sixtee n towns i n E ssex Co u nty favored
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1 2
A M
EDFORD
PA YER
TA X
.
it E i ghty fi ve poor widows of the Revolutionary War
resident in Mancheste r with one hundred and thirty
fi v e fatherless children wanted it as a highway to S ale m
where they carried their manufactured cloth Danvers
and a part of Salem Opposed it After a strenuous fight
the proj ect materialized 1 7 November 1 7 8 7 with George
Cabot Joh n Cabot J ohn Fisk I srael Thorndike and
J oseph White as corporators Before 1 March 1 7 8 8
they had contracted for pi n e and oak timber made
terms with Lemuel Cox to build the bridge and settled
other details
Cox was to be paid nine shillings a day and his board
including
punch
for
superintending
the
work
2
A
pril
(
$
5
they added to Co x s pay a gratuity of $ 55 to be drawn
when the bridge was done A bout th i s time they con
tracted for ten gallons of N ew E ngland rum but it is
probable that it was not all to be consumed by Cox
From the first some tro u ble had grown up between
Cox and the directo rs and this culminated 1 9 J u ly by
a vote to dismiss him it appearing improper that M r
Lemuel Cox should be continued in their service for
any longer time it was therefore voted u nanimously
that he be discharged and that the sum of $ 55 being
the whole of the gratuity promised to him and his
w ages to this tim e be paid to him in full
With the advent of S eptember the bridge was near
complet i on The first pier was raised 3 M ay 1 7 8 8 the
last pier 6 S eptember 1 7 8 8 I t was opened for p ublic
travel 2 4 S eptember 1 7 8 8 ; its cost w a s
The
bridge measu red
feet without the ab utments wh ich
add ed thir t y s i x feet more I t had ninety th ree piers
and a draw thirty feet wide which play ed with such
ease that two boys of ten years old may raise it
H ere is one item of interest : the tolls were farmed
and when George Washington as P resident crossed
the bridge S hortly after the Opening the propr i etors
had to pay
tolls on Washington a n d h i s escort
and suite to the lessee Capt A sa Leach with whom
Lemuel Cox had boarded while the bridge was build i ng
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A
M
EDF ORD
TA X
PA YER
1 3
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L emuel Cox s neighbor on the west on B a tt e r ym a r ch
street was Robert H allowell who was Comptroller of
the Customs un d er the king and who left Boston on
1 776
After the war
t h e evacuation of 1 7 March
H allowell returned to A merica and resided in the next
ho u se to Cox s till h e removed to Gardiner Maine in
where he died in 1 8 1 8 H allowell Maine was
1 81 6
named for him
Cox did not live on B a t te r ym a r c h street in h is ho u se
after the Revol u tion I t was a wooden house of two
stories with fourteen windows and covered six h u ndred
and eighty sq u are feet The land contained
sq u are
feet and the whole was valued at
in 1 7 9 8 and
occ u pied by D r J oh n Frederic E n s l i n a physician
Cox sold his property on B a tt e r y m a r ch street in 1 8 0 1
to E d w Bartlett J r
I n J u ne 1 7 8 8 the selectmen gave L em u el Cox a
license to sell liq u ors at his sh 0 p near Charles Rive r
Bridge and in 1 7 8 9 we find Lemuel Cox millwright
living on P rince street
The cens u s of t h e next year shows his fam ily con
sisted of three white males over sixteen years two wh ite
females ove r sixteen and fo u r white females u nder
S ixteen
Cox severed his con nection with the E ssex Bridge
Corporation in J u ly 1 7 8 8 Between that date and J u ne
1 7 8 9 h e visited I reland
I t was probable his fame as a
b ridge builder had reached the E merald I sle and a de
sire for a b ridge at Londonderry carried him to that
town p robably in the sp ring of 1 7 8 9 and h e estimated
the cost of a bridge there at
Receiving e n
co u r a e m e n t he ret u rned to N ew E ngland
and
from
g
S h e e p sco tt Maine S hipped a load of oak piles and
twe n ty skilled workmen to complete the proj ect
H is connection with the Cabots and others directors
of the B ridge Company made him familiar with another
enterprise some of the directors were also in terested in
I refe r to the cotton factory established at Beve rly
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M
EDF ORD
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which was mentioned 6 J an u ary 1 7 8 9 as a promising
cotton manufactory and it w a s stated apprentices were
received a s early as y u m I 7 8 9
I t was i n J une 1 7 8 9 L emuel Cox returned from Lon
d o n d e r r y and with him he brought for the benefit of his
co u ntry a s he states a man superintendent of a large
cotton manufactory that had stopped working W i th
th e man was h is wife and a c u r i ous machine whereon
the Woman can spin fifteen pounds Cotton in one
Day
Being familiar with the need s of the Beverly manu
fa c t u r e r s Cox evide ntly saw an openi ng wh ich he took
ad vantage of
We are left in doubt as to the final destination of the
cotton spinner and his wife but from the activity of
the works in the following October wh en Washington
vis i ted them we are led to th ink the curio u s machi ne
may have been u tili z ed at Beverly
H is success in getting th e machine from E ngland
was greater from the fact the British government were
q uite st rict at th e time against the export of even th e
models of machines for man u facturing purposes
I n 1 6 1 5 J ames I granted to certain citizens of Lon
don members of di fferent livery companies or trade
guilds th e town and fort of Derry town of Coleraine
and oth er towns villages etc They were known as
the Society of the Governor and Assistants London
of the new P lantation in U lster and later as the I rish
Society
Among other privileges they had the righ t of ferryage
and passage over the rivers Ban and Foyle I n 1 7 6 9 a
bridge was projected but not till 8 J une 1 7 8 6 the I rish
Society assented to the proposition for erecting a b ridge
at Londonder r y over the river Foyle This was j ust
one week after the last pier was laid for Charles River
Bridge and a week before it was opened for travel
The probable success of th e Boston enterprises with
out doubt was the cause of th e determination to erect
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A
M
E D FO R D
PA YER
TA X
1 5
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the I rish structure after Cox had finished his labors at
home and it was not un t i l 2 9 A pr i l 1 7 8 9 that we hear
further as to the I r i sh enterprise I t was then reported
that the proposed timber bridge was estimated to cost
A memorial was then presented by th e Cor
r a t i o n of Londonder r y to the I r i sh Society to obtain
o
p
a lease of the tolls i n perpet u ity On 1 5 J uly the S o
1 1
1 7 89
granted
the
request
Dece
mber
the
ci e t
y
Society agreed to grant to th e corporation a lease of the
t o l l s in pe rp etuity to enable the corporation to bu i ld a
bridge and borrow money on the secu rity of the tolls
The bridge commenced in 1 7 8 9 was completed by
the sp ring of 1 7 9 2 I t was
feet in length and
forty in bread th The piles of American oak had the
head of each tenoned into a cap piece forty feet long
and seventeen inches square supported by th ree sets of
girths and braces The piers were sixteen and one half
feet apart and bound togethe r by thirteen string pieces
e q ually divid ed and transversely bolted on which were
laid the $ ooring O n each side the platform w a s a rail
i ng fo u r and one half feet high also a broad pathway
provided with gas lamps Originally there was a d raw
bridge b ut it was replaced by a turning bridge The
original exp ense of its erection was
The work
was a success though an eminent E ngl ish engineer
M il n s had pronounced it impracticable
O n 6 Fe b r u
ary 1 8 1 4 a portion of the bridge three hundred and
fifty feet in length was carried away by large m asses of
ice $ oating down the river with a strong ebb tide and
high wind The expense of the repairs of this damage
was
of which the government advanced a loan
of
The absence of Cox and h i s S killed work
men explain the increased cost of the labor S eventy
years ago the ann u al amo u n t of tolls of the b ridge was
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I n 1 7 8 2 L em u el Cox mortgaged his house in Battery
march street to Will i am Lowder and this mortgage was
discharged 2 2 October 1 7 9 0 probably by his fi rst pay
ment received in I reland
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1 6
M
ED F ORD
PA YE R
TA X
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Mr Cox probably felt that bridge b u ilders as well
prophets received but small honor in their own coun t
from his experience at Salem I n I reland however
fame must have increased and spread the length
the land for his labors i n th e north were known i n 1
south in those days of poor comm unication and r e l i gi (
di fferences
A t Waterford on the southeast coast a company 1 1
incorporated in 1 7 9 3 who subscribed
in £ 1
shares to b u ild a bridge over the S uir from th e west e
extremity of the city to the northern sub u rb of Fer
ban k where is now the joint terminus of the Wa t e rfo
Limerick and Western and the Wate rford and Cent
I reland Railways Th e work was begun 3 0 A pril 1 7
the year the bill was passed for relieving the R o m
Catholics from disabilities and admitting them to 1
parliamentary franchises
The bridge was o p e n
1 8
J an uary 1 7 9 4
I t was buil t at a total cost
including ferry rights and as it was below I
estimate only 9 0 instead of 1 0 0 was paid on e a
share I t is still th e property of a company w h i
ann u ally receives ove r
in tolls
The following inscription is on the bridge :
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ION L O
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H
IN ION
LI IO
I I ION
O N ION
HI
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L I
H
N
O I
N I I L
N I
LI
N
N
OHN
O
H I
N
H I O I
L
N I
O ON IN
I
HI
A C RE D T N A T A $ R S $ ER TY,
A Y E AR R E D ERE D
B Y T E EX T
CT
OF R E
G
US D $ S
,
S B R DG E WA S A D ,
TH E F U D A T
OF T
A T T E E X $ E SE O F A S S C A T E D I D $ D U A S
U A D E D B Y $ AR A M E T AR Y G RA T ,
B Y SI R J
N E W $ R T , B AR T :
C A RM A
O F T E R C M M TT EE ,
A T $ E OF B ST
TEC T
L EM U E
C ox , A
A M ER C A , A RC
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MR
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The bridge is eight hundred and thirty two feet
length and fo rty in breadth supported on stone ab
ments and forty sets of piers of oak piles
The next undertaking of Lem u el Cox was the bri
ing of the river Slaney to con nect th e northern end
Wexford town with the opposite bank I t was c c
m e n ce d in 1 7 9 4 and finished the next year being b 1
throughout of American oak and
feet i n len g
I t has si 1
The expense of the work was 5
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1 8
M
E D FO R D
PA YE R
TA X
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sess i on of letters from the so n of th a t g entleman ( W m Cox $ now
i n E urope to g i ve some e x planatory i ntell ig ence on the sub $ect
and present the follow i ng E x tra ct of a letter dated Li verpool
May 2 9
A s b a d news always $ i es fast I sup p ose you may have heard
that my f a ther was take n u p and obl i ged to gi ve b ai l i n £ 2 0 0 0 to
stan d tr i al for ( a s was s a i d $ h a v i ng seduced a r t i fi c e r s I t was not
the case but as follows
T h ree tradesmen ca me to h i m and
asked how the i r bus i ness would answer i n A mer i c a H e very
c a n d i dl y told them They w i s hed h i m to advance them money to
take them over but he told them i t was of no se r v i ce to h i m the i r
g o i n g over but i f i t w a s and he should do i t he would be l i able to
A
bout
three
months
0 fine and twelve mo n ths i mpr i sonment
0
5
after one of these fellows took i t i nto h i s head to lodge i nform a
t i on aga i nst my father for wh i ch he stood tr i al a n d w a s honorably
ac q u i tted T he $ury d i d not le a ve the i r box
C
ol u mé z m C e n t i
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I n 1 6 6 6 on the second of September a fire broke out
on F i sh street hill in London which burnt over thir
teen thousand houses eighty seven parish ch u rches six
chapels the Royal E xchange Custom H ouse G u ildhall
and other publ i c b u ildings a m ong them fifty two halls
of the London Trade companies
To commemorate this disaster C hristophe r W ren d e
signed a colum n known as the Monument which was
bu i lt of P ortland stone two hund red and two feet high
and fifteen feet in diameter D uring the eighteenth
century it was used for astronomical p urposes b u t it
was fo u nd that it vibrated and the alarm was so great
about 1 7 9 5 that tradition states that wh ile i n Great
Britain Lemuel Cox was approached by the Corporation
of the City of London to take down the str u cture as
b eing unsafe b ut his price being too high the shaft still
stands as one of the sights of L ondon
2 5 February
Lem uel Cox prepa red and pre
1 7 90
sented to the Massach u setts L egislat u re the following
petition some of the facts of which I h ave alread y
p resented :
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A
M
ED FORD
C O M M ON W E A L T H
PA YER
TA X
OF
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MA S SA C H U S E T T S
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To t /z e H o n o r a é l e t /z e S e n a t e a n d H o u s e of R ep r es e n t a t i v e s
i n Ge n e r a l C o u r t a s s e m é t e d
.
The pet i t i on of L emuel Co x of B oston i n the County of S uffolk
m i llwr i g ht H umbly S h ewet h
That i n the year of our L ord 1 7 7 0 your pet i t i oner in vented a
mach i n e for cutt i n g card w i res wh i ch mach i n e he hath n ow by
hi m
Th a t o n e J ohn M c G l i n c h and ma n y others u n duly got a s i ght
of same a n d i mproved upon the same and then p retended to be the
O r i g i n al I n ve n tors of such mach i n e whereby ma n y thousa n d of
pounds has bee n saved to th i s Co mmonwealth by p utt i n g an e n ti re
stop to the i mportat i o n of W ool a n d Cotto n Cards
That your p et i t i oner in the late W a r put u p the first powder
m i ll in th i s state
That he i nve n ted a mach i ne for gra n ulat in g the powder where
by o n e ma n could g r a nulate 50 0 we i g ht i n one day a n d t sam e
t i me saved the labor of 50 men a n d suppl i ed the state w i th that
necessary art i cle at that t i m e
That your pet i t i o n er i s the sole i nve n tor of the three draws
on the late br i dges i n th i s state each upon d i fferent co n struct i ons
whereb y the conven i e n cy of $ essels are greatly e x ped i ted i n pass i n g
thro the B r i dges
That y our pet i t i o n er was the first pro$ector of employ i n g the
pr i so n ers at Castle W i ll i am i n that valuab le bra n ch of B us i n ess of
N a i l mak i n g a n d that by the conse n t of the Com m i ssary he se n t h i s
so n to i nstruct the pr i so n ers the n at Castle W i ll i am wh i ch were
1 6 i n n umber
That your pet i t i oner lately constructed a w i re m i ll for draw in g
steel w i re for the mak i n g of fi s h hooks a n d that h i mself drew the
first w i re of that k i nd that ever wa s drawn i n th i s state a n d that b e
i nstructed i n the method of draw in g that and all other k i n ds of
W i re fro m the b i g n ess of h a lf a n i nch down to the s i e of a ha i r
That your pet i t i oner gave encourage m e n t a nd ( for the be n efit
of h i s country $ a n d brou g ht over w i th h i m from I rela n d i n J une
last a m an a n d h i s w i fe w i th a cur i ous m ach in e w h ereon the woman
c an sp in fiftee n pou n ds cotton i n one day That the ma n was the
su p er i nte n dent of a larg e Cotto n M n u f c tu r y that h a d stopped
work in g a n d that the y were R e c c o m m e d e d b y a n umber of G e n t le
men o f the first character i n the C i ty of L o n donderry
That y our pet i t i o n er by reason of h i s attent i o n to matters of
O r i g i nal i n vent i o n s a n d by re a so n of h i s ma n y losses and m i sf
tu n es hu mbly begs leave to say to your H onors that he i s yet a
$ oor Man
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LE MUE L
C OX
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20
M
E D F OR D
PA YER
TA X
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This pet i t i on written S hortly after some of the events
rec i ted rece i ved favorable action and a grant w a s finally
made 2 6 J anuary 1 7 9 6 of lands i n th e eastern parts in
the d i str i ct of Ma i ne amounting to one thousand acres
If the cla i ms recited had not been true par t i es inter
e s t e d were still alive and could have refuted the state
ments in h i s pet i tion
The delay in passing the resolve can be read i ly
explained by the nec e ssary absence of the p etitioner in
I reland where he w a s br i dge bu i lding
The committee appointed i n 1 7 9 0 reported favorably
and that he should have one thousand acres in townsh i p
N o 7 border i ng on Go u l d sb o r o u gh Ma i ne This land
shortly after the grant w a s d isposed of by him to one of
the Amory family of Boston
W i lliam P riest w a s an E nglish musician who came to
Boston to play at th e H aymarket Theatre in 1 7 9 6 and
kept a j ournal which h e publ i shed in 1 8 0 2 H e men
tions being introd uced to Cox the celebrated bridge
builder :
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Co x told h i m he constructed h i s br i dges of wood and always
endeavoured to g i ve as l i ttle res i stance to the water as poss i ble the
supports be i ng nu merous but sle n der w i th i n tervals betwee n
The i dea first cam e to Co x from read i ng f E so p s fable of
the R eed a n d the O ak
The tempest be n t the reed a n d tore u p
the oak b y the roots
H e served h i s apprent i cesh i p to a carpenter and i t was late i n
l i fe before he attempted br i d g e bu i ld i n g H proved h i s n ew
theory on a small br i dge in the cou n try w i th success
H e the n co n templated the Charles R i ver B r i d g e a su b s c r i p
t i o n was ra i sed and the br i dge bu i lt he was rewarded w i th $ 2 0 0
above h i s co n tract
H e bu i lt seve n br i dges i n I rela n d the largest at L ondonderry
1 8 6 0 ft lo n g
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H e also states that Capt J ohn S tone of Concord
Mass was the architect of Charlestown Bridge
A t Reed s Corner at and near the j unction of Main
E den and Mill streets Charlestown a century and
more ago w a s M ill $ illage M ill L ane ran westward
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PA YER
TA X
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and in the middle of the ei g hteenth century led to the
mills and mill pond now made land
A t that time the mills were the property of Cap t
Robert Temple grandson of Sir P urbeck Temple of
Stanton B ury Buck s E ngland From the first settle
ment of Charlestown M i ll Lane had led to the mills and
the mill pond and near by was Mill H ill
The Webb family were here as millers shortly after
coming from Braintree Benjamin S tokes w a s
1 70 0
the miller in the m idd l e of the century and p urchased
a share in the mills from Robert Temple and the bal
ance from his widow i n 1 7 57 Wi l liam P a i ne miller
bought five acres of Robert Temple in 1 7 6 8 and was
the executor of Benjamin Stokes on his death
A t the Battle of Bu n ker H ill part of the mill build
ings were destroyed and the balance by the A meri cans
in J anuary 1 7 7 6 during the siege of Boston a s a mil i
tary necessity The buildings were eigh t in all A
large double dwelling barn 3 0 x 1 8 a mill house with
two grist mills store 6 0 x 2 4 another go x 1 6 a fulli ng
mill with t h ree pa i rs of stocks a smoke house wharf
and gates to the mill pond The lot were valued at
A t the corner of Main and Mill streets w a s the
£80 0
Cap e B reton Tavern
Diana daughter of William P aine married Thomas
A dams in 1 7 6 8 an d after his fath er i n —law s death A dams
bought in 1 7 9 2 of the widow Mary P aine five acres
north of where the mill stood O n h i s death h i s w i dow
D iana Adams sold th i s to Will i am H awes and L emuel
Cox in 1 7 9 7 and Cox bought H awes interest i n 1 8 0 1
The Mallett family also had mills and land i n the
$ ic i n i ty and from I saac Mallett s executors Lemuel Cox
bo u ght two and one half acres in 1 7 9 8 S oon after th i s
he erected m i lls which he leased in 1 8 0 1 and 1 8 0 2 I n
1 8 0 3 he sold the mill estate bough t of A dams
except
the
(
lots leased and sold $ to the M i ddlesex Canal proprietors
I n 1 8 0 1 a bridge was contemplated between Boston
and E ast Boston about where th e tunnel now r u ns
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22
M
EDF ORD
TA X
PA YER
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under the r i ver A S hoal running out from the Boston
side it was the opin i on of Lemuel Cox who was con
the matter that there w a s no doubt of the
s u l t e d in
stabil i ty of a bridge properly erected at that place
Th i s scheme w a s i n the place of th e proj ected Chelsea
Bridge and would save a d i stance of at least three
fourths of a mile on the route to Lyn n and the tolls
of the Charl esto w n Bridge Th e proposed N avy Yard
at Charlestown killed the E ast Boston Bridge proj ect
If it had been erected th e Navy Yard would have been
located lower down the river a n d large ocean steamers
would not now lie at the Charlestown docks
I n 1 8 0 3 at a town meet i ng of N antucket it was voted
to petit i on Congress to assist the town in d i gging a
channel from Brant P o i nt to the outer bar Some d e
s i red to i nclude in the scheme the build i ng of s tone piers
from C o a t u e P o i nt and Brant P oint to the outer bar
A survey of the harbor w a s made in the summer of
1 8 0 3 by J ohn Foster Williams and Lem uel Cox
and
they reported it would be expedient to build wooden
piers to protect the channel one to extend from th e
north w est po i nt of C o a t u e to th e southwest corner of
the black $ ats the other to begin about one third of th e
d i stance from th e end of Brant P oint to the Cli ff and
to extend to the north east corner of Cli ff Shoal both
upon straight lines A report w a s made to the Federal
government 2 8 October 1 8 0 3 b ut the scheme w a s not
accompl i shed
Of the family of Lemuel Cox we know that William
who married in D ublin died in S avannah
Lemuel wh o also visited I reland became a sailor
On a voyage to the P acific he with two oth ers while
explor i ng a r i ver was deserted by h i s vessel and never
heard of afterward H e left a widow and two children
L em uel Cox wheelwright of Charlestown w a s a d m i n i s
trator of the estate of Lemuel Cox of Boston mariner
t
0
J
uly
1
and
it
therefore
previous
to
hat date
w
a
s
3
799
the so n d i sappeared
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M
EDF ORD
TA X
PA YER
23
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J ohn Sale H ickling Cox married 1 6 J une 1 8 0 3 at
the H ollis street church N ancy L ewis e 7 May 1 7 7 8
H is wife died a few months after the wedding 1 0 Decem
ber 1 8 0 3 H e was a lieutenant i n the war of 1 8 1 2 and
resided in Read i ng
Nancy Lewis and her brother I saiah were children
of W i nslow Lewis and their neph ew was the late D r
Winslow Lewis
A fter th e war J S H Cox marri ed Mrs A rabelle
H e had two
P ercelle and l i ved in Charleston S C
sons Rola n d and William
J ames Cox lived in N ew Bedford where he marr i ed
a Miss Tabor a $ uakeress H e moved to Oh i o where
he died leaving three sons
H is son L emuel a beneficiary by L em uel Cox s will
sold his S hare in the estate of L emuel Cox deceased to
Rufus Bracket in 1 8 2 7 his cousin Mary A nn D a d l e y s
husband as did the other grandchildren
S usanna H i c kling Cox married 1 0 November 1 7 9 3
S imon Tufts of Medford and had E li z a Rhoda H arriet
L
Simon (6 2 9 N ovember
and Susanna H
Tufts E liza married Rich ard Brownell
H arriet s name was changed to H arriet Lewis and
she married William J ohnson jeweller lived in Boston
and $ uincy and had L aura A nn Lewis 6 8 November
1 8 0 6 ; Lavater 6 6 March 1 8 0 9
Being
born
after
the
(
death of Lemuel Cox they were of course not legatees $
E li z abeth Brightman Cox married George D a d l e y in
Medford and had Ma r y A nn J ames Lemuel Cox and
E li z a D a d l ey
Mary A nn D a d l e y married 2 9 J u ne 1 8 1 8 Rufus
B racket and E l i za D a d l e y marr i ed Rev J osiah Brackett
a Methodist clergyman
H arriet A nn Townsend Cox 6 1 7 8 4 a 9 February
1 86 1
H er m arriage intention to Capt I saiah Lewis
w a s published 1 5 November 1 8 0 5 ;
December 1 8 0 5
in Boston H e was 6 1 4 J u ne 1 7 7 6 ; a 2 0 A pril 1 8 2 2
at sea They had
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A
24
M
.
E D F OR D
PA YE R
TA X
.
Susan na H i n k l i n g L ewis 5 2 4 A ugust 1 8 0 6 ; a
m
i
ntentions
published
2
1
December
(
2 4 February
1 8 30
to J oseph W illard of Lancaster
n of P resident J oseph Willard of H arvard U n i
s
o
(
versity $ clerk of the S uperior Court H e w a s 5
1 4 March 1 7 9 8 ; a 1 2 May 1 8 6 5
Their son Major
S i dney W i llard E 3 February 1 8 3 1 w a s killed at
Freder i cksburg 1 3 December 1 8 6 2
I I I sa i ah W i lliam P enn L ewis e 1 5 J u n e 1 8 0 8 ; a
1 8 October
1 8 55 a
topographical engineer who
introduced a mode of l ights in our ligh thouses in
u s e d ur i ng C iv i l War and after
Lemuel Cox mad e h i s will 1 8 J anuary 1 8 0 6 H e
d ev i sed to h i s five ch i ldren J oh n S H J ames S usanna
H Tufts E lizabeth B and H arriet A T ( Lemuel and
W i ll i am be i ng dead were not named $ $1 each To
h i s grandchildren an equal share of the residue
He
died 1 8 February 1 8 0 6 and h i s w i ll w a s proved 1 3 May
1 80 6
The inventory amounted to about $ 2 0 and the
estate w a s insol vent from the cla i ms against it I n 1 8 1 9
an account filed by the executor Samuel Swan J r of
Medford exhib i ts a house near Charlestown Br i dge and
money fro m the Canal proprietors which left a balance
above hi s debts of
to be divided into ten S hares
a n d h i s grandch i ld ren a s legatees E l iza Rhoda H arriet
S i mon and S usanna Tufts ; Mary A nn J ames L em uel
Cox and E liza D a d l e y ; and Lemuel s o n of J ames Cox
rece i ved each
I n 1 7 8 7 E z ekiel Decosta of Boston married Rebecca
H ickling the youngest s i ster of L emuel Cox s w i fe
Their s o n E z ekiel Carver Decosta was the father of
William H i ckling D e C o s ta ed i tor of the Charlestown
A d ver t i ser for twenty s i x years and of Rev Benj amin F
D e C o s t a of N ew York an E piscopal clergyman
J ohn and Mary D e C o s ta were also living in Charles
town in 1 7 9 7
Of one of these families w a s probably Timothy
Decosta with whom Lemuel Cox boarded at the time
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A
26
M
EDFORD
PA YER
TA X
.
This w a s h i s obituary by the newspaper of the period
My interest primarily in the subject of this sketch
was aroused from the cred i t given h i m a s builder 0 1
Charlestown Bridge I w a s therefore somewhat s u r
prised when former Mayor Rantoul of Salem state d
before the E ssex I nst i tute of wh i ch he w a s the pres i
dent i n an article on the E ssex Bridge at i ts centennial
that the builders made terms with Lemuel Cox a n
em i nent E nglish engineer to build the bridge
A fe w
years later I read on Waterford Bridge i n I reland tha t
it w a s built by Mr Lemuel Cox a nat i ve of Boston i n
A merica A rchitect ; and visit i ng at th e same time Wex
ford New Ross and Londonderry I learn ed of his work
there
I n recent years i n invest i gating I found that he w a s
not only with a claim for fame for h i s work in bridg e
building but also for inventions among them for hi s
introd u ction Of text i le machinery previous to the arriva l
of Samuel Slater to whom the cred i t h a s been accorded
in the histories of textile ind ustries
Traditions after the lapse of a century still S how his
type of character and tell of h i s life in I reland and domes
tic life here ; that he was a genius with th e eccentricities
of genius ; that he returned from I reland rich in mone y
and beaut i ful gifts of every description but died a p o o r
man under unhappy conditions
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