Josiah B. French

Born	1799-12-13 Billerica, MA
Died	1876-08-21 Lowell, MA
Father	Luther French
Mother	Sally Bowers

Josiah Bowers French, mayor of Lowell, was born in Billerica on December 13, 1799, the son of Luther French and Sally (Bowers) French, who lived on Andover Street at the fork of the Long Pond road. At eleven he went to live with an uncle, going to school and working for his board, and the district school was his only education. He spent 1815 to 1817 with another uncle in Salisbury, New Hampshire, then worked two or three years in a country store and a short time in Charlestown. On April 6, 1823, he married Mary Ann Stevens, daughter of Josiah Stevens of Billerica.

In 1824 he became a deputy sheriff of Middlesex County and settled in Lowell, holding the office until 1830. He then went into the stagecoach business, owning large shares in the lines from Lowell to Concord and elsewhere, and carried the mail between Boston and Montreal. He was a large contractor in building the Ogdensburg railroad and in 1851 became president of the Northern Railroad of New Hampshire, but he resigned in 1853 when his brother Walter, his partner in large railroad contracts in Ohio, was killed at Norwalk, Connecticut, as an open drawbridge sent a train into the river. About 1860 he became agent of the Winnipesaukee Lake Cotton and Woolen Manufacturing Company at Lake Village, New Hampshire, and held that post for twelve years.

In Lowell he helped build the Central Bridge in 1826 and stayed in its company until the city made it free. He was one of the incorporators in 1828 and a director of the Old Lowell Bank, where he sat on the first board with his fellow Billerica native Joshua Bennett, and later a director and then president of the Appleton Bank and a director of the City Institution for Savings. He represented Lowell in the legislature in 1835, sat on the Common Council from 1836 to 1842, was chief engineer of the fire department in 1841 and county commissioner from 1844 to 1847, and was elected mayor of Lowell for 1849 and 1850.

Mary Ann French died on June 6, 1863. Their children included Mary Ann, who married Benjamin Dean of Boston, a member of Congress; Josiah Stevens, Harriet Stevens, Josiah Bowers, Samuel Lawrence and Luther Bartlett; Sarah Josephine; Catherine Isabella, who married Arthur E. Bowers; and Frances Maria. Josiah B. French died in Lowell on August 21, 1876, and was buried in the Lowell Cemetery. By his will the Howe School in Billerica was eventually to receive $5,000 for its library. Hazen called him a "loyal son of Billerica" and printed his engraved portrait in the History of Billerica.

Josiah B. French

Josiah B. French

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