Mayor Lincoln was so greatly appreciated as an administrator of municipal affairs, and had so thoroughly gained the confidence of his fellow citizens that, after having served three years, he was later elected to guide the city during the trying period of the Civil War.

In the second year of his administration, the General Court had passed an act for the annexation of considerable land on the Back Bay, which formerly belonged to the city of Roxbury. Soon after the act had been adopted by the voters, plans were made for turning a part of it into a park, the Public Garden.

Mr. Lincoln appears to have been the first mayor to secure Federal cooperation for the improvement of Boston Harbor, which had become dangerous to navigation through the formation of shoals. At his instigation, a number of investigations were made by the United States Engineer Corps which resulted in securing the needed improvement of the ship channels.

The panic of 1857 decreased the amount of taxable property, and with a tax rate of $8.60, it was necessary once more to resort to loans. The debt had increased so that it reached a total of $7,623,000. In the year following (1859) the tax rate was raised to $9.70, which made possible a reduction of the debt."

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