Primary Resources

Explaning the 19th Century

Courtesty of the Andover Historical Society


Order of Arrangements for the Reception of the President in Andover
This program details the agenda for President Jackson’s visit to Andover. Local dignitaries and school children were included in the program.

John Faulkner’s Copy of the Andover Mechanic Society Constitution.” 1819."
As the numbers of professional artisans and laborers grew during the Market Revolution, many took part in professional associations which set guidelines for their members. The Andover Mechanic Society was an association of local mechanics that agreed to practice their trade in accordance with specific business and moral guidelines.

Charter and By-Laws of the Ballard Vale Machine Shop” Boston: Damrell & Moore, 1847.
This Act of Incorporation established the Ballard Vale Machine Shop in Andover. The shop manufactured steam engines. This document touches on two major aspects of the early 19th century: the transportation revolution of which the steam engine was an integral par, and the professionalization and organization of industry.

Appeal of Andover Committee for Laying Out Roads, 1823.
In 1823, the town of Andover decided to build a road that passed through two farmers’ lands. This appeal details the precise location of the road and the fact that the town would reimburse the owners’ for the loss of their land. Local initiatives such as this one created a network of roads over which the goods of the market revolution traveled.

Essex Railroad Ticket Issued to M.W. Hazen and Family.” December 21, 1848
This is an example of an 1848 ticket for passage between Salem and Lawrence.

John Lewis Letter: Dear Son and Daughter, February 25, 1858.
This letter shows an interesting synthesis of two nineteenth century movements, the Second Great Awakening and the Market/Industrial Revolution. John Lewis writes to his children with news of their English family’s health and the state of industry in Great Britain. He states that trade is “very bad” and has left many of the iron works “standing still.” Lewis’ letters also clearly articulates the importance of his Methodist faith.

River Road Petition, April 2nd, 1832.
The inhabitants of Lowell, Tewksbury, Andover, Bradford and Boxford petitioned the county commissioner to have a road built between Newburyport and Lowell via Andover.

Roxbury Democrat. “Horrible Doctrine: Loco Focoism Unmasked.” July 18, 1840.
Written in July of 1840, this paper warns that Orestes Brownson, publisher of the Boston Quarterly Review and officeholder in Van Buren’s administration is a proponent of dangerous loco foco ideas. By the election of 1840, the term loco foco had expanded from its original definition. The term was first used to describe the Equal Rights Party, a faction of New York Democrats who opposed Tammany Hall. By 1840, the term was used more generally to describe those who supported Van Buren and Jackson. Loco Focos advocated specific economic policies such as free trade and against state banks and speculation. The Roxbury Democrat warns that Brownson is arguing for specific loco foco policies in his Boston paper and is using his post in Van Buren’s administration to spread his radical ideas.

Jackson, Samuel C. “My Dear Parents: Letter to Rev. William and Mrs. Jackson” April 3rd, 1840. Transcription included at end of document.
The Reverend Samuel Jackson was the minister of West Parish in Andover. In the 1830s and ‘40s, as the abolitionist movement gained steam, Andover’s churches were affected by the growing divisions in the town. Abolitionist parishioners wanted their ministers to refuses pews to any pro-slavery church members. Eventually abolitionist parishioners from Andover’s 3 main churches began their own church, the Free Christian Church. In this letter, Rev. Jackson is telling his parents about his problems with abolitionist and pro-slavery parishioners. The following two letters continue this conversation…

“Dear Son: Letter to Samuel C. Jackson” November 21st, 1841.

Jackson, Samuel C. “My Dear Parents: Letter to Rev. William and Mrs. Jackson” September 1st, 1840.


Silas Peirce & Co. “Collection of Railroad Transport and Industrial Receipts.” Various dates.
Receipts for items that will be delivered by railroad.

Bisbee, Wadsworth. “Dear Cosen: Elisha W. Howland, Ohio.” May 19th, 1843.
Wadsworth’s letter talks about politics and the effect of the railroad on travel.

Courtesty of the Boston Public Library

“The Railroad Jubilee: An Account of the Celebration Commemorative of the Opening of Railroad Communication Between Boston and Canada.” Boston: J.H. Eastburn City Printer, 1852.
During Boston’s celebration of the 1851 railroad that connected it with Canada, the city celebrated its commitment to improving transportation.

“Several Friends of Mr. Adams…on the Vice Presidency.” Boston: November 23rd, 1823.
This article asks Boston’s electorate to vote for Jackson for Vice President (and J.Q. Adams for President) in the upcoming election. It gives the practical and historical reasons for taking this course.

Child, Lydia Maria. “None of us feel sufficient sympathy for the wrongs of the slaves.” Boston, 1840.
Abolitionist Lydia Maria Child muses on the importance of feeling as though the slaves are family – “Have I not sisters in bondage?...Man is my brother and God is our common father.”

“To the People of the United States.” 1828.
These letters express the authors’ feelings that Jackson should not be re-elected President. They discuss Jackson’s reaction to the Nullification Crisis, the National Bank, his general character and the effect of partisan politics on the country.


Courtesy of Newburyport Public Library Archival Center

“Argument of Thomas Hopkinson, Esq. on Behalf of the Petition of Horace P. Wakefield and Others for a Railroad from Salem to Lowell.” Boston: Stacy, Richardson, and Co., 1848.
Hopkinson lays out the reasons for building a railroad between Salem and Lowell, arguing that by connecting the maritime trade of Salem with the manufacturers in Lowell will greatly expedite the progress of business. Hopkinton also argues that a road needs to be built to connect Danvers with South Reading in order to unite the tanneries of Danvers with the shoe manufacturers in Lynn

John Lewis Lord Diary - Volume I
John Lewis Lord Diary - Volume II
John Lewis Lord Diary - Volume III
John Lewis Lord Diary - Volume IV
From the Newburyport Archival Center Biographical Sketch: “Apparently a native of Ipswich, John L. Lord resided in the Belleville section of Old Newbury (now Newburyport) for over 50 years. From all indications he was involved in the publishing and printing business and after 1853 indicated his profession as “Editor and Proprietor” Hew was also closely in touch with Whig, and later, Republican politics in eastern Massachusetts; in addition, his loyalties were heavily reformist and he supported the anti-slavery, anti-liquor, and anti-Catholic campaigns. A widely traveled person who embraced the new inventions of his age, he described the growth of steamboat and railroad lines. In 1878 he was killed in a steamboat boiler explosion off the coast of Connecticut.” The excerpted portions of Lord’s diaries discuss local and national politics.