As one glances over the history of Lowell, he recognizes the fact that the city has gained its prominence, its wealth, and its population, chiefly through the great corporations, and the wisdom of their early managers; accordingly the record of these corporate bodies is intimately connected with the annals of the city. The reader has noted the fact that the first impetus was given to the place by the acts of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company. This company was incorporated February 5, 1822; and the first mill was started the following year. The company is not only the oldest in the city but is the largest, employing the most operatives and producing the most cloth; their chimney, two hundred and eighty-three feet high, is the tallest in the country. Ezra Worthen, the first superintendent of the mills, died, suddenly, June 18, 1824, and was succeeded by Warren Colburn, the author of the popular arithmetic. Mr. Colburn died September 13, 1833, and was succeeded by John Clark, who held the office until 1848. Mr. Clark was succeeded by Emory Washburn, afterward Governor of Massachusetts, by Edward L. Lebreton, and from 1850 to 1865 by Isaac Hinckley, now president of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad. John C. Palfrey was superintendent from 1865 to 1874, when Joseph S. Ludlam was appointed. The print-works were in charge of Kirk Boott in 1822; after him was Allen Pollock, 1823 to 1826; John D. Prince, 1826 to 1855; Henry Barrows, 1855 to 1878; James Duckworth, 1878 to 1882; Robert Latham, since 1882. The treasurers of the company have been Kirk Boott, Francis C. Lowell, Eben Chadwick, Francis B. Crowinshield, Arthur T. Lyman, Augustus Lowell, and Charles H. Dalton. [Illustration: UNITARIAN CHURCH, 1845.] The property of the company occupies twenty-four acres of land. They have five mills besides the print-works, 153,552 spindles, 4,465 looms, and employ 3,300 operatives. They use up 18,000 tons of coal. The prints made at this establishment, are marked "Merrimack," and are too well known to require description. The Hamilton Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1825. The treasurers have been William Appleton, 1825; Ebenezer Appleton, 1830; George W. Lyman, 1833; Thomas G. Cary, 1839; William B. Bacon, 1859; Arthur T. Lyman, 1860; Arthur L. Devens, 1863; Eben Bacon, 1867; Samuel Batchelder, 1869; George R. Chapman, 1876; [Illustration: FIRST UNIVERSALIST CHURCH, HURD STREET.] James A. Dupee, since 1870. The agents have been Samuel Batchelder, 1825; John Avery, 1831; O.H. Moulton, since 1864. The superintendents of print-works have been William Spencer, 1828; William Hunter, 1862; William Harley, 1866; Thomas Walsh, 1876. The company manufactures flannels, prints, ticks, stripes, drills, and sheetings.