Jackson and his colleagues to establish the Merrimack Manufacturing Company to produce printed calico cloth at the Pawtucket Falls on the Merrimack River. In 1822 he appointed himself as agent of Proprietors of Locks and Canals, gaining the ability to determine "who could start what mill and where in Lowell, and for how much". Incorporated as the town of Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1826, it was named for Francis Cabot Lowell. In 1830, problems of transportation and communication by canal and turnpike convinced Jackson to oversee the construction of the Boston & Lowell Railroad, the first railroad to receive a charter from the Massachusetts General Court, and established the standard American rail gauge. On May 27, 1835, it made its maiden trip to Boston, with Jackson, George Washington Whistler, and James Baldwin aboard. Although Jackson had hoped to retire after the railroad began operating in 1835, but his poor business decisions did not make that possible. For example, In the late 1830s, he liquidated nearly all of his interest in the Lowell Mills to invest it into real estate, which turned into a disaster. He died from a sudden attack of dysentery on September 12, 1847. Family In 1810 he married Lydia Cabot, whose second cousin Francis Cabot Lowell would become an important business partner (Francis Cabot Lowell was also married to Patrick's sister Hannah). Patrick and Lydia had nine children, including the writer Anna Cabot Jackson Lowell. He was also the brother of Charles Jackson, grandfather of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Holmes' father was a student of another brother, physician James Jackson. References Sources 1780 births 1847 deaths American manufacturing businesspeople Businesspeople from Massachusetts People of the Industrial Revolution American textile industry businesspeople People from Newburyport, Massachusetts People from Lowell, Massachusetts 19th-century American businesspeople The Governor's Academy alumni