 Mr. Nesmith was the first to discern the natural fitness of the site now occupied by the flourishing city of Lawrence on the Merrimac River for a manufacturing point, and made large purchases of land on both sides of the river, securing also the necessary charter to control the water power.About 1844 his bold scheme attracted the attention it deserved from Boston capitalists, and factories began to rise at Lawrence as if by magic, and that prosperous city has amply vindicated the wisdom of its real founder, John Nesmith.He bought the Gedney estate at Belvidere.