Dr. Elisha Bartlett was elected first mayor of the city of Lowell.  He was succeeded, in 1838, by the Honorable Luther Lawrence; in 1840, by the Honorable Elisha Huntington, M.D.; in 1842, by the Honorable Nathaniel Wright; in 1844, by Dr. Huntington; in 1846, by the Honorable Jefferson Bancroft; in 1849, by the Honorable Josiah B. French; in 1851, by the Honorable J.H.B.  Ayer; in 1852, by Dr. Huntington; in 1853, by the Honorable Sewall G. Mack; in 1855, by the Honorable Ambrose Lawrence; in 1856, by Dr. Huntington; in 1857, by the Honorable Stephen Mansur, the first Republican mayor; in 1858, by Dr. Huntington, for his eighth term; in 1859, by the Honorable James Cook; in 1860, by the Honorable Benjamin C. Sargent; in 1862, by the Honorable Hocum Hosford; in 1865, by the Honorable Josiah G. Peabody; in 1867, by the Honorable George F. Richardson; in 1869, by the Honorable Jonathan P. Folsom; in 1871, by the Honorable Edward F. Sherman; in 1872, by the Honorable Josiah G. Peabody; in 1873, by the Honorable Francis Jewett; in 1876, by the Honorable Charles A. Stott; in 1878, by the Honorable John A.G.  Richardson; in 1880, by the Honorable Frederic T. Greenhalge; in 1882, by the Honorable George Runels; in 1883, by the present mayor, the Honorable John J. Donovan.

The young city met with a serious loss April 11, 1837, in the sudden death of Kirk Boott.

A county jail was built in 1838, and the Nashua and Lowell Railroad was opened for travel.

Luther Lawrence was killed, April 17, 1839, by a fall into a wheel-pit.  He was serving his second term as mayor of the city at the time of the accident.  His residence was bought by the corporations and converted into the Lowell Hospital.

[Illustration:  WILLIAM LIVINGSTON.  Born April 12, 1803.  Died March 17, 1855.]

In 1840, the Massachusetts Mills were established; and the South Common, of about twenty acres, and the North Common, of about ten acres, were laid out.  During this year appeared the Lowell Offering, a monthly journal, edited by Miss Harriet Farley and Miss Hariot Curtiss, two factory girls.  The journal was praised by John G. Whittier, Charles Dickens, and other gifted writers, for its intrinsic merits.

Lowell is largely indebted to Oliver M. Whipple for its cemetery, which was consecrated June 20, 1841.  It contains about forty-five acres, and has near the centre a small gothic chapel.

In January, 1842, Charles Dickens made a flying visit to Lowell, and has left on record in American Notes his impressions of the city.

During this period the court-room of the city was occasionally graced by the presence of Daniel Webster and Rufus Choate.

The City Library was instituted in 1844.

The Stony Brook Railroad Company was incorporated in 1845.

The Honorable Nathan Crosby was appointed justice of the police court in 1846, and still continues in office.  The Lowell and Lawrence Railroad was incorporated this year, and the population of Lowell numbered 29,127.