Loammi Baldwin--considered to be the father of American civil engineering--was born in
Woburn and supplemented his studies by attending lectures at Harvard. He and his fellow
student, Benjamin Thompson or Count Rumford (1753-1814)--American physicist and inventor
of the Rumford oven--made instruments to illustrate the principles they had heard about
in class (6). When the Revolutionary War broke out, Baldwin was employed in land
surveying and civil engineering. He served as a colonel in the American army and
after the war, became the sheriff of Middlesex County. He also represented Woburn in
the state assembly in 1788 and 1789 and from 1800-1804. In 1785, Baldwin received an
honorary M.A. from Harvard. From 1794 to 1803, he oversaw the construction of the
Middlesex Canal, which connected the Merrimac River in Lowell to the Charles River in Boston.
Baldwin was married twice. He and his first wife, Mary Fowle, had four sons and a
daughter. The younger two sons, Loammi, Jr. (1780-1838), and James Fowle (1782-1862),
followed their father's career path and became civil engineers. Baldwin and his second wife,
Margaret Fowle, had two children, Clarissa and George Rumford. Under his father's training,
George became a draftsman and civil engineer.
Loammi Baldwin, Jr. graduated from Harvard College in 1800. Although he
focused on mechanical subjects in school, he studied law in Groton upon
graduation and started his career as a lawyer. Baldwin found his new profession
distasteful and closed his Cambridge office in 1807, after three years of business.
After deciding to become a civil engineer, Baldwin went to England to examine public
works. Upon his return, Baldwin pursued construction for the rest of his life. His
efforts were concentrated on works of internal improvements, including roads, canals,
and docks. Among his great works were the dry docks built at the Charleston, Ma. Navy
Yard in 1827-1834 and the Norfolk, Va. Navy Yard, simultaneously and from the same plans.
Baldwin was also engaged in building the Bunker Hill Monument, two buildings at Harvard,
and finding a way to introduce pure water to the city of Boston.
Although James Fowle Baldwin started his professional life in the mercantile business,
he joined his brother, Loammi, in the construction of the Charlestown dry dock.
In 1828, he and his brother were appointed to a commission to make a survey for a
railroad from Boston to Albany. From 1830 to 1835, James worked on the construction
of the Boston and Lowell Railroad. In 1837, he was appointed as a commissioner to
examine and report on the Boston water supply. He served as water commissioner for a number of years.
George Rumford Baldwin divided his time between Woburn and Quebec, Canada. He
designed and built the Boston Marine railway and was consulting engineer for the
Charlestown and Quebec waterworks.
It appears likely that the Butters' mill was the local mill for the Baldwins
and that the Baldwins may have had a hand in the mill's design. The stone
construction of the mill dam and foundations is especially substantial, similar in
scale and sophistication to works found on the Middlesex Canal. It is certainly known
that these Burlington, Wilmington and Woburn families were interconnected-time and
research will no doubt yield further connections and documentation.
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