APPLETON, NATHAN. 



AQUIA CREEK. 



19 



ing implied an advanced state of civilization, 

 the t'ruit of very long time ; and from the 

 sketch he had given of the formation of lan- 

 guage, the conclusion was, he thought, inevit- 

 ui'le that the birth of man was of vast an- 

 tiquity.'' 



APPLETOX, NATHAN-, died at Boston, July 

 14, 1861. He was burn at N-ew Ipswich, New- 

 Hampshire, Oct. 6, 1779, and was the sev- 

 enth son of Isaac Appleton. At fifteen years 

 of age lie was examined and admitted to Dart- 

 mouth College. It was decided, however, that 

 he should proceed no further in his collegiate 

 studies. His brother Samuel, who had been 

 in trade in New Ipswich and was about to re- 

 move to Boston, proposed that he should ac- 

 company him. This was accepted, and as he 

 himself says, " It was determined that I should 

 become a merchant rather than a scholar." 

 His brother commenced business in a small 

 shop in Cornhill ; it consisted mostly in pur- 

 chasing goods at auction and selling them to 

 country traders for cash or short credit, for a 

 small profit. In 1799, his brother made a voy- 

 age to Europe, leaving his business in the 

 charge of Nathan. On the return of the former 

 he removed to a warehouse in State street, 

 and proposed to the latter, who had become 

 of age, to be a partner. This was accepted, 

 and Nathan now had at hand opportunities 

 for enlarging his observation and experience. 

 He was sent out to England to purchase goods 

 while Europe was in a state of war. The news 

 of peace reached him on landing, and changed 

 the whole condition and current of trade. He 

 postponed his purchases and travelled on the 

 Continent ; shortly afterwards returning to 

 America, and resuming his mercantile career. 

 In 1806 he married Maria Theresa Gold, the 

 eldest daughter of Thomas Gold, of Pittsfield, 

 and for the health of his wife soon crossed the 

 ocean again. In Edinburgh he met Francis C. 

 Lowell at the moment the latter was first con- 

 ceiving the policy to which the cotton manu- 

 facture of New England owes its origin ; with 

 him he held aa earnest and encouraging con- 

 sultation in regard to it. 



As capital accumulated in his hands, he took 

 a very active part in connection with Francis 

 C. Lowell, Patrick T. Jackson, Paul Moody, 

 and others, in establishing the cotton factory 

 at Walt-ham, Massachusetts. He says: "When 

 the first loom was ready for trial," many little 

 matters were to be adjusted or overcome be- 

 fore it would work perfectly. Mr. Lowell said 

 to me, that he did not wish me to see it until 

 it was complete, of which he would give me 

 notice. At length the time arrived, and he in- 

 vited me to go out with him and see the loom 

 operate. I well recollect the state of satisfac- 

 tion and admiration with which we sat by the 

 hour watching the beautiful movement of this 

 new and wonderful machine, destined, as it 

 evidently was, to change the character of all 

 textile industry." He was also one of the chief 

 associates in the company which made the first 



purchases for a like purpose at Lowell. They 

 purchased the water power at Pawtucket Falls, 

 on the Merrimac River, and a large portion of 

 the land adjacent, on which the city of Lowell 

 now stands. He was also the projector and . 

 largest proprietor of the Hamilton Company, 

 where new varieties of goods were first made 

 in this country. 



On different occasions he was elected a mem- 

 ber of the Massachusetts Legislature, and in 

 1830 was chosen a member of the Twenty- 

 second Congress. His first speech was an 

 effort to show that South Carolina was the 

 author of the system of minimums, which was 

 only another name for specific duties and a 

 system capable of defence, the tariff being 

 under discussion. He writes : " I took the oc- 

 casion to state, that we could convert a pound 

 of our cotton into the common cloth we were 

 making, for less money than the British could 

 do. This being a fact well known to me, the 

 statement was made advisedly, wishing the 

 matter to stand on its true basis ; but, being so 

 contrary to the general impression, it quite 

 alarmed some of the frhends of the protective 

 system, as I learned afterwards. My speech 

 gave a new turn to the debate. It brought up 

 McDuffie and Cambreleng, and the debate oc- 

 cupied the whole day. The vote showed a ma- 

 jority of about twenty in favor of the protec- 

 tive system." 



In 1842 he was again sent to fill the vacancy 

 occasioned by the resignation of Robert C. 

 Winthrop in Congress. Though not a frequent 

 debater in Congress, he was listened to with 

 attention. His mind turned to the financial 

 and commercial view of questions. He was a 

 member of the American Academy of Science 

 and Arts, and of the Massachusetts Historical 

 Socie^r. In February, 1833, his wife died, 

 leaving to him four children. In 1839 he was 

 again married to the daughter of Jesse Sumner 

 of Boston. Their children were three in num- 

 ber. 



AQUIA CREEK is located on the right bank 

 of the Potomac, at the termination of the Rich- 

 mond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. 

 This was a part of the through route from New 

 Orleans and Mobile to New York. The con- 

 nection between Aquia Creek and Washington 

 was made by steamboat, 55 miles. It is 15 

 miles from F'redericksburg. The creek itself, 

 after which the railroad termination takes its 

 name, flows through Stafford County into the 

 Potomac, and is navigable for vessels of light 

 draft for several miles from its mouth. Bat- 

 teries were erected here by the Virginia troops, 

 which were cannonaded by Commander H. J. 

 Ward in the gunboat Freeborn, supported by 

 the Anacostia and Resolute on the 31st of May. 

 He thus reported the affair : 



"After an incessant charge, kept np for two 

 hours by both our 32-pounders, and the ex- 

 penditure of all the ammunition suitable for 

 distant firing, and silencing completely the 

 three flatteries at the railroad terminus, the fir- 



