oil on canvas 27″ x 34″
Acquired in 1860 by the Middlesex Mechanics Association, donated by Dr. John C. Dalton
The donor of the three-quarter portrait, Dr. Dalton (1794-1864), was a well-respected physician who began his practice in Chelmsford and moved to Lowell in 1831. He lived and worked in Lowell for 28 years before moving to Boston. He is buried in the Lowell Cemetery.
Incorporated in 1825, the Middlesex Mechanics provided relief for “unfortunate mechanics and their families,” promoted inventions, offered lectures, and maintained a library reading room for its members until its dissolution in 1896. Their library formed the basis of the Lowell Public Library.
This bust was completed by Thomas Bayley Lawson.
Thomas Bayley Lawson (1807-1888) was the founder and first president of the Lowell Arts Association, establishing the first art association in the United States in 1878. Born in Newburyport, he moved to Lowell in 1832. His studio was located at the corner of High and Andover Streets. In 1844, he was commissioned by a group of Lowell “Whigs” to go to Washington and paint Daniel Webster, who was Acting Secretary of State at the time. Webster tried his early cases in Lowell. This portrait became his most famous and he copied it many times. In 1845, Lawson opened a studio on Shattuck Street, now the location of the New England Quilt Museum. He painted the portraits of most of Lowell’s influential residents and many of Lowell’s early politicians.