The term ''Brahmin'' comes from the Indian Caste System word meaning "The Purest Person". The American use of Brahmin is purely metaphorical as there is no caste or religious significance. It is used to speak of the old 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 American phrase was likely coined by writer Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. , as part of a January 1860 article in the '' Atlantic Monthly '' called "The Professor's Story."
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 Episcopalian or Unitarian faiths. According to ''Yankee'' magazine, many Brahmin families intermarried and were perceived as marked by their manners and distinctive elocution, the Boston Brahmin Accent , a version of the New England accent. One of these families, though not mentioned in the list, were the Bradlees.
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.
Adams Family
Cabot Family
Chaffee (Chaffee Family)
Choate Family
Cushing Family
Crowninshield Family
Dana Family
Delano Family
Eliot Family
Emerson Family
Endicott Family
Forbes Family
Holmes Family
Jackson Family
Lawrence Family
Abbott Lawrence Lowell (1856–1943)
Lowell Family Lowell, Delmar R. , ''The Historic Genealogy of the Lowells of America from 1639 to 1899''; Rutland VT, The Tuttle Company, 1899; ISBN 9780788415678.
- 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 Armory Lowell and Susan Cabot Lowell; 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. bef. 1824 to John Amory Lowell
--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)
William Lowell Putnam Sr. (Nov 22, 1861–Jun 1924); m. Jun 9, 1888 to Elizabeth Lowell
--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)
--- Robert Lowell (Mar 1, 1917–Sept 12, 1977) aka Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV; married 1940–48 to Jean Stafford , 1949–72 to Elizabeth Hardwick , and 1972–77 to English heiress Caroline Blackwood
-- 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:
Peabody Family
Perkins Family
Phillips Family
Putnam Family
Quincy Family
Saltonstall Family
Winthrop Family
Weld Family
- Thomas Weld (born c. 1600), Minister
- William Gordon Weld (1775–1825), Merchant
- William Fletcher Weld (1800–1881), Merchant, Philanthropist
- Stephen Minot Weld (1806–1867), Politician, Educator
- George Walker Weld (1840–1905), Philanthropist
- Isabel Weld Perkins (1877–1948), Philanthropist
- Charles Goddard Weld (1857–1911), Philanthropist
- Stephen Minot Weld Jr. (1842–1920), Civil War hero
- William Weld , (1945–) former Governor of Massachusetts
- Tuesday Weld , (1943–) actress
- Theodore Dwight Weld (1803–1895), Abolitionist
- Ezra Greenleaf Weld (1801–1874), Daguerreotypist
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