Kirk Boott

Kirk Boott (October 20, 1790 – April 11, 1837)[1] was an American industrialist who was instrumental in the early history of Lowell, Massachusetts.

Before graduation, Boott left Harvard for England to study civil engineering with the goal of joining the British army.

With his regiment, the 85th light infantry, he took part in the peninsular campaign against Napoleon, landing in Spain in August 1813.

After Napoleon had been sent to Elba, Boott's regiment was detailed for service against the United States, and took part in the attacks on Washington and on New Orleans.

In this position, he sold the water power the Merrimack Company did not use, allowing many other firms to open operations in Lowell.

[2] Boott died in his carriage at the corner of Dutton and Merrimack Streets in downtown Lowell on April 11, 1837.

Welch, who had recently assisted Edward Dexter Sohier in the defense of Dr. John Webster in the notorious and grisly murder and dismemberment on Thanksgiving Day, 1849, of the powerful, wealthy and eccentric Bostonian, Dr. George Parkman, used Boott's carriage to pick up Webster's body after he had been publicly executed on a gallows in Leverett Square.