Daniel Gage

Daniel Gage IV (1828–1901), known as the "Ice King of Lowell", started the Daniel Gage Ice Company in April 1870, but was dealing in ice as early as 1854.^[1][2]

Personal life

A direct descendant of Sir John Gage, Daniel Gage was born in Pelham, New Hampshire on June 4, 1828, to father Nathan Gage and mother Mehitable (Woodbury) Gage. He spent the first 25 years of his life on the family-owned Gage Hill Farm and attended the local school. He died February 9, 1901.^[3]

As a descendent of the Gage family who went to England in 1066 with William the Conqueror at the time of the Norman Conquest, his great, great, great, great grandfather, John Gage, second son of Sir John Gage of Stoneham, England was the first of the Gage family to migrate to the New World as one of the first proprietors of Ipswich, Massachusetts in the summer of 1630. They then migrated to Salem, where Daniel Gage I was born in 1639, and then to Bradford, where in the early 18th century Daniel Gage II established the Gage's Ferry on the banks of the Merrimack River.^[4]

Captain Daniel Gage III born April 22, 1708, was at the Battle of Lexington, and his two sons fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill. He moved his family to a southeast section of Dunstable, New Hampshire, now known as the Gage Hill section of Pelham, New Hampshire.^[5]

In 1746, five years after the New Hampshire/Massachusetts boundary was settled, Thomas Gage, along with John Butler, Ephram Cummings and other citizens, successfully petitioned to establish Pelham, carved out of the towns of Dunstable and Londonderry, New Hampshire. The town was named for the first Duke of Newcastle, Thomas Pelham Holles. The five sections of the new town were known as Center, Gumpas, North Pelham, Gage Hill, and Currier Highland.^[6]

Public contributions

Just like what the auto industry did to the buggy whip, the age of refrigeration came, and the harvesting of ice became a dead industry. The Gage family began to sell off their land, as well as donate tracts to municipalities, such as a 26-acre (110,000 m²) parcel to the city of Lowell for a park dedicated for the exclusive use of children, now known as Gage Field in the Centerville section of Lowell.

Harvesting and storing ice

Daniel Gage owned the majority of ponds and lakes in the Greater Lowell area.

In Chelmsford, Massachusetts, his company harvested ice from Hearts Pond.^[7]

By the late 1880s he was the largest taxpayer in Pelham, New Hampshire, because he owned all the land around the major lakes and ponds where he harvested the ice. His son Nathan Gage was the 7th highest taxpayer. Between the two, they paid over $415/year.^[8]

He set up large ice houses along the south bank of the Merrimack River, above the Pawtucket Falls in the Pawtucketville section of Lowell.^[9]

Other investments

Daniel's other investments included being a partner in the Lowell Co-operative Milk Association which was on about an acre of land on Hildreth Street in Lowell.^[10]

References

1. ^ "The Bivouac : published by direction of Benj. F. Butler Post 42, G.A.R., Lowell, Mass., in connection with the bazaar in aid of relief fund, March 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, 1886".
2. ^ History of Lowell and its people, Volume 3 By Frederick William Coburn
3. ^ History of Lowell and its people, Volume 3 By Frederick William Coburn
4. ^ History of Lowell and its people, Volume 3 By Frederick William Coburn
5. ^ History of Lowell and its people, Volume 3 By Frederick William Coburn
6. ^ "Pelham Master Plan" Update Page VII-1 APPROVED – August 5, 2002
7. ^ "Chelmsford Massachusetts, Master Plan, 2008" published by the Town of Chelmsford
8. ^ http://members.tripod.com/~Dubose_Forum/m01378.htm
9. ^ "The Bivouac : published by direction of Benj. F. Butler Post 42, G.A.R., Lowell, Mass., in connection with the bazaar in aid of relief fund, March 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, 1886".
10. ^ "The Bivouac : published by direction of Benj. F. Butler Post 42, G.A.R., Lowell, Mass., in connection with the bazaar in aid of relief fund, March 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, 1886".