In a City of Mills and Canals: Mortality among Pre-teen and Teenage Irish Workers in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Industrial Lowell, Massachusetts

Abstract

ABSTRACT Lowell, Massachusetts, is considered as the birthplace of the industrial revolution in the United States. Established in 1822 by a group of Bostonian entrepreneurs, the new textile factories harnessed the Merrimack River to power their waterwheels using a system of canals. This work attracted groups of emigrant Irish workers from Boston, a process that continued into the middle of the century, particularly in the wake of the Great Irish Famine (1845–1852). We are fortunate that two volumes known as The Hanavor Burial Records exist that provide a window into the lives and deaths of the early Irish settlers in Lowell. Some 1450 entries dating to the period between 1849 and 1865 provide details of the occupation of the deceased. This study focuses on Irish pre-teen and teenage workers; their age-at-death profile, the nature of the work they undertook, and the causes of their deaths are examined.