The Merrimack River: its source and its tributaries. Embracing a history of manufactures, and of the towns along its course; their geography, topography, and products, with a description of the magnificent natural scenery about its upper waters./ By J. W. Meader.

THE MERRIMACK RIVER;
to Revolutionary events which disaster, privation, and vicissitudes
only accelerated. Called to immediate action, without preparation
or efficient implements, these men, on that memorable 20th of April,
not so much, perhaps, to oppose tyranny, - for there was not much
tyranny to oppose, except in imagination, -but to demonstrate their
faith in self-government, and determination, come weal or woe, to
bring it to a practical test, - those men, all untrained and inefficiently
armed as they were, threw themselves into the "imminent deadly
breach " at the old north bridge, and by their valor, by indomitable
determination and pluck, forced the serried ranks of "perfidious" Albion's veterans to waver, yield, and fly.
The abutments of the battle-ground bridge still remain almost the
sole surviving relics of this auspicious inauguration conflict.
The falls on the Concord River at Billerica have long been used
for mechanical and manufacturing purposes, and were an important
element in the prosperity of that section more than a century
before ground was broken for manufacturing purposes at Lowell.
As early as 1708 the town authorized the construction of a dam
at this place, which was undoubtedly the first ever built on this
stream. This dam was constructed for the indispensable saw and
grain mills of the early time, and was likewise, at various periods,
used for other purposes; there being at one time a comb factory and
some other mechanical works which obtained their motive power from
this fidll.
In 1740, a mill was erected, of considerable consequence at that
early period, filled with machinery for finishing home-made cloth,
called the " Fulling Mlill," and was operated for a number of years,
when it was purchased by Francis Faulkner, Esq. It was operated
several years by Messrs. Faulkner & Son, and has continued uninterruptedly under the control of the family to the present time, having been since 1810 under the immediate management of J. R.
Faulkner, Esq., the present proprietor.
In 1836, the old mill was destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt immediately, with four sets of machinery, and in 1865 the mill was enlarged, and three sets additional, making seven sets altogether, were
put in operation. The average product of this mill is twenty-seven
hundred yards of flannel daily.
In 1835, there was an old shop at this place used for the prepara
260