The Gilbrides of Lowell, Massachusetts

 

 

To catch up on this series, read:

• How I Found My Civil War Veteran Michael Gilbride
• A Letter, A Notice, A Deed: What Happened to Michael Gilbride
• From Pittston to Sacramento: Michael Gilbride Moves West

For a family that needed to make a new start, Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1870s was one place to go. Sarah Gilbride and her six children were without their husband and father Michael Gilbride, who moved west in 1872. He and Sarah appeared to have separated after they lost their home in Pittston, Pennsylvania, which was sold to pay a debt.¹

Without the support of a male head of household, the family needed a place where both the men and the women could earn a living. Perhaps they heard from family, neighbors, or friends that the cotton mills of Lowell, Massachusetts were such a place. Perhaps they simply wanted to escape the scrutiny of their Pennsylvania community.

Sometimes called the "Manchester of America," Lowell was purposely designed in the 1820s to be a first-rate center of cotton manufacturing. It was set on the Merrimack River where the Pawtucket Falls and nearby canals provided water power to drive the textile mills. By the 1850s it was the largest industrial complex in America, weaving cotton grown in the Southern United States. Its labor force was comprised of many male Irish immigrants who had first built the city's canals, as well as large numbers of single young women recruited from rural New England who became known as "mill girls." These female operatives lived in company boarding houses, were paid, fed, and afforded various educational opportunities. Their lives revolved around the mills.²

Mill Girls, 1870.

Mill hours were long, and the work dangerous and low-paying. While many of the mill girls flourished with newfound financial independence, eventually they grew disgruntled over the conditions. Several attempts at walk-outs, though surprising to their employers, did not ultimately lead to the reforms they sought. As women workers completed their terms of service, or left to be married, to move back home, or take other positions, the void was quickly filled. One group which stepped in were Irish immigrants who had escaped the ravages of the famine. They were followed by waves of French Canadians, Eastern and Southern Europeans, and later by Greeks, Poles, and Lithuanians by the end of the century.

By the 1870s, when the Gilbride family left Pennsylvania, Lowell was thriving, with plenty of jobs to be had for both men and women, young and old.³

Though it is unknown if the Gilbride family lived together when they first arrived in Lowell, the death of mother Sarah in 1875 may have forced their separation.⁴ By 1880, two of the siblings had married, while the others had set out singly and in pairs, and lived separately.

• Michael and Sarah's oldest child, John A. Gilbride, aged 27, married to Lizzie Gilbride (formerly Elizabeth Morgan), lived in the 12-member household of his mother-in-law Bridget Morgan at 69 Union Street. Eight of the family members, ranging in ages from 14-30 worked "in cotton mill."⁵
• Michael Gilbride, aged 25, married to Anna Gilbride (formerly Anastasia Cody), with two children, lived at 14 Austin Avenue. He worked as a "laborer."⁶
  
• Mary A. Gilbride, aged 22, was a boarder with Michael Curran and wife, at 22 Dummer Street. She worked, "in a Wollen Mill." Fellow boarders at this house were Bridget Gilbride, aged 16, also a woolen mill worker; John Gilbride, aged 19, laborer; and William Gilbride, aged 17, "cotton mill" employee. These were likely Mary's cousins or extended family members.⁷
• James Gilbride, aged about 19, likely lived nearby. His residence in 1887 was at 4 Lewis Street and he was employed as a carpenter.⁸
  
• Sarah Gilbride, aged 20, and sister Rose Gilbride, aged 19, boarded with a couple at 16 Coolidge Street and worked in the "cotton mills."⁹  

Red Xs below show the siblings' residences near the Lowell cotton mills in the 1880s.¹⁰

But life was also hard in the mills, with both occupational and environmental health risks:

"Long hours and the gruelling pace of work caused fatigue and migraines. Cotton and size dust caused or exacerbated multiple respiratory problems, including bronchitis, pneumonia, and tuberculosis. Long-term exposure could also cause byssinosis, which acquired its medical name between 1885 and 1890. Dust was a particular problem in raw cotton processing, while weavers were concerned about both dust inhalation and contagious diseases through the use of the suction shuttle, which required weavers to use their mouth to repeatedly draw thread through a tiny hole. Excessive heat and humidity contributed to high levels of respiratory illnesses, including pneumonia and bronchitis, and could cause rheumatism. Poor lighting strained operatives’ eyes, while excessive machine noise could eventually cause deafness."¹¹

The Gilbride family was not immune to the difficulties of the mill life and other hard labor, such as carpentry, James's occupation. Four of the siblings died in their 20s: Michael in 1880 at age 22 of pneumonia; Mary in 1886 at age 29 of "phithisis pulmonalis," or tuberculosis; Rose Gilbride Handley, age 26, died in 1887 of pulmonary tuberculosis; and finally James in 1888, at age 25, of "cattarhal pneumonia," or bronchial pneumonia.¹²

John A. Gilbride, who moved to Boston in the late 1880s, and his sister Sarah Gilbride Towle survived into the 1920s. After Sarah died 2 February 1926, it was thought that John succumbed to heartbreak just days later: "Ten days ago his sister died and it is thought that her death hastened his."¹³

Mother Sarah, sons John and Michael, and daughters Sarah and Mary are buried at St. Patrick's Cemetery in Lowell. It is likely that daughter Rose and son James are also buried there, as they died in Lowell as well, but exact grave sites have not yet been identified.

Headstone for Sarah Gilbride Towle and her husband Anthony Towle, in St. Patrick's Cemetery, Lowell. Research indicates that though not named on the headstone, Sarah's mother Sarah Ruddy Gilbride (1830-1875), and sister Mary A. Gilbride (1856-1886), are also buried there.¹⁴

Headstone for John A. Gilbride and wife Elizabeth Morgan Gilbride, at St. Patrick's Cemetery, Lowell.¹⁵

Reconstructing the lives of the Michael and Sarah Gilbride family has been a fascinating research puzzle, which began with a hunch that a Civil War veteran named Michael Gilbride of Pennsylvania was somehow related to my Gilbride family. A son's letter to the Pension Bureau connected Michael Gilbride with a Gilbride family of Lowell. Church, census, and civil records, a helpful new Lowell acquaintance who knew the cemetery records well, and research into Lowell's history, helped flesh out the story, and gave new insight into previously-found records. I can now identify Michael Gilbride, Union veteran, as my 3rd great-granduncle.

To finish off this series, a future post will take readers into the present-day Boott Cotton Mill in Lowell.

Until next time...

Special thanks to Walter Hickey for valuable assistance with Saint Patrick Cemetery records and interpretation.

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IMAGES

Mill: Van Slyck & Co., Engraving of Boott Cotton Mills; digital image, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Engraving_of_Boott_Cotton_Mills_(4983c864-09e6-455f-870e-23eba17c7da7).jpg : accessed 30 November 2022); citing National Park Service, Washington, D.C. In the public domain.

Mill Girls: Unknown Photographer, "2 Young Women," c. 1870; image, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2_Young_Women.jpg : accessed 30 November 2022), citing Center for Lowell History, University of Massachusetts Lowell Libraries.

NOTES

¹ Nancy Gilbride Casey, Leaves on the Tree, "A Letter, A Notice, A Deed: What Happened to Michael Gilbride," 10 November 2022 (https://myleavesonthetree.blogspot.com/2022/11/a-letter-notice-deed-what-happened-to.html : accessed 30 November 2022).

² Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell,_Massachusetts : accessed 29 November 2022), "Lowell, Massachusetts," updated 30 October 2022, at 03:14 (UTC). Also: Encyclopedia Brittanica (https://www.britannica.com/place/Lowell-Massachusetts : accessed 29 November 2022), "Lowell, Massachusetts, United States," last revised 11 November 2021).

³ Ibid.

⁴ Samuel A. McPherties, Deaths, Vol. G., City of Lowell, Massachusetts, p. 84, #190, Sarah Gilbride, 16 March 1875; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9Q1-L3SM?from=lynx1UIV8&treeref=9NXY-7KH : accessed 14 October 2022); citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL film 004282177, image 310.

⁵ City of Lowell, Massachusetts, Marriage, vol. G, 1860-1867, p. 205, #283, marriage of John A. Gilbride to Elizabeth A. Morgan, 12 May 1879; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-997M-3RY9 : accessed 14 October 2022); citing FHL film 004282179, image 664. Also: 1880 United States Census, Middlesex, Massachusetts, population schedule, E.D. 456, City of Lowell, p. 9A, line 19, house number 69, family 72, John Gilbride (27) in the household of Bridget Morgan; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4241772-00755?pId=43974489 : accessed 21 November 2022); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication T9, roll 544, Washington, D.C.

⁶ St. Peter Roman Catholic Church (Lowell, Mass.), Marriages, 1863-1883, p. 126, Michael Gilbride to Ann S. Cody; digital image, American Ancestors (https://www.americanancestors.org/databases/massachusetts-roman-catholic-archdiocese-of-boston-records-1789-1920/image : accessed 17 October 2022); citing Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. Also: 1880 United States Census, Middlesex, Massachusetts, population schedule, E.D. 456, City of Lowell, p. 9A, line 19, house number 69, family 72, John Gilbride (27) in the household of Bridget Morgan; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4241772-00755?pId=43974489 : accessed 21 November 2022); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication T9, roll 544, Washington, D.C.

⁷ 1880 United States Census, Middlesex, Massachusetts, population schedule, E.D. 451, Lowell, p. 82B, line 34, house number 22, family 105, Mary A. Gilbride (22) in the household of Michael Curran; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4241772-00458 : accessed 21 November 2022); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication T9, roll 544, Washington, D.C.

⁸ City of Lowell, Massachusetts, Deaths, 1888-1892, p. 32, #1391, James H. Gilbride, 6 October 1888; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89Q1-1WWD?i=37&cc=2061550 : accessed 18 October 2022); FHL film 004282181, image 38; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston.

⁹ 1880 United States Census, Middlesex, Massachusetts, population schedule, E.D. 465, Lowell, p. 50B, lines 29-30, house number 16, family 78, Sarah Gilbride (20) and Rose Gilbride (19), in the household of W.K. Marshall; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4241773-00414 : accessed 21 November 2022); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication T9, roll 544, Washington, D.C.

¹⁰ R. W. Baker, City of Lowell (Philadelphia : Stedman, Brown & Lyon, 1871), from Boston: H.F. Walling & O.W. Gray, 1871), reduced by permission from the large map by R.W. Baker (Boston: H.F. Walling & O.W. Gray, 1871); digital image, David Rumsey Map Collection (https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~26377~1100051:Lowell- : accessed 16 November 2022).

¹¹ Janet Greenlees, "Workplace Health and Gender Among Cotton Workers in America and Briatain, c. 1880s-1940s," International Review of Social History, Vol. 61. No. 3, p. 459-485; digital version, Cambridge University Press, 5 December 2016 (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-review-of-social-history/article/workplace-health-and-gender-among-cotton-workers-in-america-and-britain-c1880s1940s/83203AFE8FF2C75E13491D2DD6887434 : accessed 30 November 2022).

¹² City of Lowell, Massachusetts, Deaths, 1876-1884, p. 119, no number, Michael Gilbride, 1 August 1880; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89Q1-LSLZ : accessed 14 November 2022); FHL film 004282177, image 454; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston. Also: City of Lowell, Massachusetts, Deaths, 1884-1887, p. 97, #1362, Mary A. Gilbride, 29 Nov. 1886; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9Q1-L9PJ : accessed 18 October 2022); FHL film 004282177, image 667; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston. Also: City of Lowell, Massachusetts, 46th Registration 1887 Deaths, Vol. 383, Hampshire - Plymouth, p. 150, #1619, Rose E. Handley, 29 October 1887; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-XX67-4X : accessed 14 November 2022); FHL film 004282177, image 173; citing Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston. Also: City of Lowell, Massachusetts, Deaths, 1888-1892, p. 32, #1391, James H. Gilbride, 6 October 1888.

¹³ "John A. Gilbride is Buried in Lowell," The Boston Globe, 3 March 1926, p. 28, col. 6; digital image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/430511178/ : accessed 14 October 2022). Also: "Towle," Lowell Sun, 3 February 1926, p. 3, col. 5, obit of Mrs. Sarah Gilbride Towle; digital image, NewspaperArchive.com (Obituary-Feb-03-1926-3344317 | NewspaperArchive® : accessed 30 November 2022).

¹⁴ City of Lowell, Massachusetts, Marriages 1898 to 1901, p. 231, #735, marriage of Anthony Towle and Sarah E. Gilbride, 1 August 1901; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G979-DCXX : accessed 14 October 2022); citing FHL film 007011245, image 470. Also: Ancestry, Find a Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138879562/sarah-etta-towle : accessed 30 November 2022), memorial 138879562, Sarah Etta Gilbride Towle (unknown-1926), Saint Patrick Cemetery, Lowell, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Gravestone photo by Gary Walls, 18 October 2022. A future post will lay out the case for Sarah Ruddy Gilbride's burial in the Towle - Gilbride plot.

15 Ancestry, Find a Grave, database with images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10728817/john-a-gilbride : accessed 30 November 2022), memorial 10728817, John A. Gilbride (1853-1926), Saint Patrick Cemetery, Lowell, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Gravestone photo by J.O. 23 April 2018.