Boston Brahmin

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Boston Brahmins, also called the First Families of Boston and cold roast Boston, are the New England families, of the bourgeois class, which claim hereditary and cultural descent from the English Protestants who founded the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and settled New England. They are considered part of the historic core of the East Coast establishment.

The First Families of Boston are the most established and historically idealogical of all the Northeastern United States. Their southern counterparts have more traditionally quasi-aristocratic aspirations, in Old World fashion, First Families of Virginia and Colonial families of Maryland. Of more purely mercantile and financial distinction are the oldest prominent families of New York City and Philadelphia, of Social Register fame.

Contents

[edit] Characteristics

The term Brahmin is of Indian origin, deriving from Sanskrit and referring to the highest caste in the Indian caste system. In America it has been applied (after it was coined by writer Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. as part of a January 1860 article in the Atlantic Monthly called "The Professor's Story") to the old, upper crust New England families of British Protestant (usually English) origin that were extremely influential in the development and leadership of arts, culture, science, politics, trade, and academia. The term was certainly applied half in jest to characterize the often erudite nature of the New England gentry to outsiders. The term has never gained currency among "Brahmin" families themselves who would simply consider themselves to be a particular breed of Yankee.

The nature of the Brahmins is summarized in the doggerel "Boston Toast" by Harvard alumnus John Collins Bossidy.

"And this is good old Boston,
The home of the bean and the cod,
Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots,
And the Cabots talk only to God."[1]

Members of these families are generally known for being fiscally conservative, socially liberal, and well educated. These families often have deeply established traditions in the Congregationalist, Unitarian, and sometimes Episcopal faiths. According to Yankee magazine, many Brahmin families intermarried and were perceived as marked by their manners and distinctive elocution, the Boston Brahmin accent, version of the New England accent.

[edit] Brahmin families

Many of the Brahmin families trace their ancestry back to the original founders of Boston while others entered New England aristocratic society during the nineteenth century with their profits from commerce and trade or by marrying into established Brahmin families like the Emersons and Winthrops. A few prominent families are listed here.

[edit] Adams

Adams family

[edit] Bacon

[edit] Cabot

Cabot family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] Chaffee/Chafee

Chaffee (Chaffee Family), originally of Hingham, Massachusetts[2]

The Chafee family were not Boston Brahmins being a Rhode Island family rather than a Massachussets one. See Boston social register http://www.archive.org/stream/socialregisterbo03soci#page/20/mode/2up no Chafee's are listed.

[edit] Choate

Choate family

[edit] Cushing

Cushing family, originally of Hingham, Massachusetts[3]

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] Crowninshield

Crowninshield family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] Dana

Dana family

[edit] Delano

Delano family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] Dudley

Dudley-Winthrop family

  • Governor Thomas Dudley, a founder of Harvard College
  • Anne Dudley Bradstreet, Poetess
  • Royal Governor Joseph Dudley, President of the Dominion of New England, Chief Justice of New York, Member of Parliament, Lt. Governor of the Isle of Wight
  • Chief Justice Paul Dudley, Member of the Royal Society, Founder of the Dudleian Lectures at Harvard

[edit] Eliot

Eliot family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] Emerson

Emerson family

[edit] Endicott

Endicott family

Salem:

Dedham:

[edit] Forbes

Forbes family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] Holmes

Holmes family

[edit] Jackson

Jackson family

[edit] Lawrence

Lawrence family

Descendant by marriage: Abbott Lawrence Lowell (1856–1943)

[edit] Lodge

[edit] Lowell

Lowell family [4]

  • John Lowell II (Jun 17, 1743–May 6, 1802), aka The Old Judge, is considered to be the patriarch of the Boston Lowells; married three times, losing his first two wives during childbirth.
  • Descendants of John Lowell II and Sarah Higginson (Jan 3, 1745–May 5, 1772); m. Jan 8, 1767
    • Anna Cabot Lowell (Mar 30, 1768–Dec 18, 1810)
    • John Lowell, Jr. (lawyer) (Oct 6, 1769–Mar 12, 1840) aka The Rebel; m. Jun 8, 1793 to Rebecca Amory (Jan 8, 1771–Mar 12, 1842)
      • John Amory Lowell (Nov 11, 1798–Oct 31, 1881); married twice, losing his first wife during childbirth.
      • Descendants of John Amory Lowell and his half first cousin Susan Cabot Lowell (see below); m. Feb 14, 1822
        • Susan Cabot (Apr 15, 1823–Jun 9, 1868)
        • Judge John Lowell (Oct 18, 1824–May 14, 1897); m. to Lucy Buckminster Emerson
          • John Lowell (b. May 6, 1856); m. Oct 24, 1888 to Mary Emlen Hale of Philadelphia
            • Ralph Lowell (July 23, 1890–1978); m. Sept 1, 1917 to Charlotte Loring (1897–1981)
          • Judge James Arnold Lowell (Feb 5, 1869–Nov 30, 1933); m. Dec. 2, 1897 to Mary Wharton Churchman of Philadelphia
      • Descendants of John Amory Lowell and Elizabeth Cabot Putnam (Nov 11, 1807–Feb 12, 1881); m. Apr 9, 1829
        • Augustus Lowell (Jan 15, 1830–1900); m. Jun 1, 1854 to Katherine Bigelow Lawrence (b. 1832)
          • Percival Lowell (Mar 13, 1855–Nov 12, 1916); m. 1908 to Constance Savage Keith (Oct 31, 1863–Sept 24, 1954)
          • Abbott Lawrence Lowell (Dec 13, 1856–Jan 6, 1943); m. Jun 19, 1879 to Anna Parker Lowell
          • Katherine Lowell (b. Nov 27, 1858); m. Dec 5, 1882 to Alfred Roosevelt of New York (a first cousin of Teddy Roosevelt)
          • Elizabeth Lowell (Feb 2, 1862–1935); m. Jun 9, 1888 to William Lowell Putnam
          • Roger Lowell (Feb 2, 1862–Aug 31, 1863)
          • May Lowell (b. May 1, 1870–d. at birth)
          • Amy Lowell (Feb 9, 1874–May 12, 1925)
      • Anna Cabot Lowell (1808–1894)
  • Descendants of John Lowell II and Susanna Cabot (Jan 13, 1754–Mar 30, 1777); m. May 31, 1774
    • Francis Cabot Lowell (businessman) (Apr 7, 1775–Aug 10, 1817); m. Oct 31, 1798 to Hannah Gardner Jackson (Feb 3, 1776–May 10, 1815)
      • John Lowell, Jr. (philanthropist) (May 11, 1799–Mar 4, 1836)
      • Susan Cabot Lowell (Feb 14, 1801–Aug 15, 1827); m. Feb 14, 1822 to her half first cousin John Amory Lowell (see above)
      • Francis Cabot Lowell Jr. (Jan 5, 1803–Sept 8, 1874); m. Jan 11, 1826 to Mary Lowell Gardner
        • George Gardner Lowell (Mar 29, 1830–Feb 6, 1885); m. Apr 4, 1854 to Mary Ellen Parker (b. Aug 21, 1832)
          • Francis Cabot Lowell (judge) (Jan 7, 1855–Mar 6, 1911)
          • Anna Parker Lowell (Aug 21, 1856–Mar 23, 1930); m. Jun 19, 1879 to Abbott Lawrence Lowell
        • Mary Lowell (July 26, 1833–Feb 11, 1915); m. July 15, 1856 to Algernon Sidney Coolidge (Aug 22, 1830–Jan 4, 1912)
        • Georgina Lowell (Jan 10, 1836–1922)
        • Edward Jackson Lowell (Oct 18, 1845–May 11, 1894); m. Jan 14, 1868 to Mary Walcott Goodrich (Jane 1, 1846–Apr 5, 1874)
          • Guy Lowell (Aug 6, 1870–Feb 4, 1927); m. May 17, 1898 to Henrietta Sargent
      • Edward Jackson Lowell (1805–Sept 8, 1880)
  • Descendants of John Lowell II and Rebecca Russell (Feb 27, 1747–Sept 15, 1816); m. Dec 25, 1778
    • Rebecca Russell Lowell (May 17, 1779–May 11, 1853); m. to Samuel Pickering Gardner (May 14, 1767–Dec 18, 1843)
      • Mary Lowell Gardner (Jan 12, 1802–Aug 3, 1854); m. Jan 11, 1826 to Francis Cabot Lowell Jr.
    • Rev. Charles Russell Lowell, Sr. (Aug 15, 1782–Jan 20, 1861); m. Oct 2, 1806 to Harriet Brackett Traill Spence (abt. 1783–Mar 30, 1850)
      • Charles Russell Lowell Jr. (Oct 30, 1807–23 Jun 23, 1870); m. Apr 18, 1832 to Anna Cabot Jackson (Sept 29, 1811–Jan 7,1874)
        • Gen. Charles Russell Lowell III (Jan 2, 1835–October 20, 1864); m. Oct 31, 1863 to Josephine Shaw (Dec 16, 1843–Oct 12, 1905)
          • Carlotta Shaw Lowell (Nov 30, 1864)
        • Lt. James Jackson Lowell (Oct 15, 1837–Jul 4, 1862)
        • Harriet Lowell (Sept 11, 1836–Jan 20, 1920); m. Jun 9, 1860 to George Putnam Jr. (Oct 8, 1834–1912)
      • Rev. Robert Traill Spence Lowell (Oct 8, 1816–Feb 12, 1891); m. Oct 28, 1822 to Marianna Duane (Nov 11, 1822–Nov 2, 1890)
        • Commander Robert Traill Spence Lowell Jr. (Mar 23, 1860–Mar 17, 1887); m. Sept 2, 1886 to Kate Bailey Mears
          • Robert Traill Spence Lowell III (July 15, 1887–1950); m. Apr 26, 1916 to Charlotte Winslow (Feb 7, 1888–1954)
      • James Russell Lowell (Feb 22, 1819–Aug 12, 1891); m. Dec 26, 1844 to Maria White (Jul 8, 1821–Oct 27, 1853) and later m. Sept 20, 1857 to Frances H. Dunlap (d. Feb 19, 1885) with no issue
        • Blanche Lowell (Dec 31, 1845–Mar 19, 1847)
        • Mabel Lowell (Sept 9, 1847–1898); m. Apr 2, 1872 to Edward Burnett (b. Mar 16, 1848)
        • Rose Lowell (Jul 16, 1849–Feb 2, 1850)
        • Walter Lowell (Dec 22, 1850–Jun 9, 1852)

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] Minot

Minot Family

[edit] Norcross

Norcross Family, original settlers of Watertown, MA

[edit] Otis

Otis family, originally of Hingham, Massachusetts[5]

[edit] Parkman

Parkman family

[edit] Peabody

Peabody family

[edit] Perkins

Perkins family

[edit] Phillips

Phillips family

[edit] Putnam

Putnam family

[edit] Quincy

Quincy family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] Rice

[edit] Saltonstall

Saltonstall family

[edit] Thorndike

Thorndike family

[edit] Tudor

Tudor family

[edit] Weld

Weld family

[edit] Wigglesworth

Wigglesworth Family

[edit] Winthrop

Winthrop family

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Andrews, Robert (ed.) (1996). Famous Lines: A Columbia Dictionary of Familiar Quotations. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10218-6. 
  2. ^ History of the Town of Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Solomon Lincoln Jr., Caleb Gill, Jr. and Farmer and Brown, Hingham, 1827
  3. ^ History of the Town of Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Solomon Lincoln, Jr., Caleb Gill, Jr. and Farmer and Brown, Hingham, Mass., 1827
  4. ^ Lowell, Delmar R., The Historic Genealogy of the Lowells of America from 1639 to 1899; Rutland VT, The Tuttle Company, 1899; ISBN 9780788415678.
  5. ^ History of the Town of Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Solomon Lincoln, Jr., Printed by Caleb Gill, Jr. and Farmer and Brown, Boston, 1827

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Brahmin"
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