John Lowell
Encyclopedia
John A. Lowell was an American lawyer, selectman, jurist
, delegate to the Congress of the Confederation
and federal judge.
Known within his family as “The Old Judge,” distinguishing him from the proliferation of Johns, John Lowell is considered to be the patriarch of the Boston Lowells. He, with each of his three wives, established three distinct lines of the Lowell clan that, in turn, propagated celebrated poets, authors, jurists, educators, merchants, bankers, national heroes, activists, innovators and philanthropists. John Lowell, his descendants, and many other well established New England
families defined American life in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
, England
, to Newbury, Massachusetts
, in 1639, and his father, John, was the first minister of Newburyport, where he officiated 1726-67. The minister married Sarah Champney, and “The Old Judge” was their second son, born in Newburyport. He was the only child to survive infancy. John was among the third generation in the Lowell family
to be born in the New World and the second generation to attend Harvard College
. Like his father before him, Lowell graduated at the age of 17, in 1760. John was admitted to the bar in 1763 and soon established his law practice in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Lowell married his first wife, Sarah (14 January 1745 - 5 May 1772), daughter of Stephen Higginson
and Elizabeth Cabot, on January 8, 1767. John and Sarah had three children, Anna Cabot (1768–1810), John Lowell, Jr.
(1769–1840) and Sarah Champney Lowell (1771–1851). John the younger, known within his family as The Boston Rebel, and later as The Roxbury Farmer for his love of agriculture and support of botanical studies, produced the clan line that included businessmen (John Amory Lowell
, Augustus Lowell
, and Ralph Lowell
), federal judges (John Lowell
and James Arnold Lowell
) and siblings (author and innovator Percival Lowell
, Harvard President Abbott Lawrence Lowell
, and poet Amy Lowell
). Lowell's wife, Sarah, died on May 5, 1772.
Lowell married his second wife, Susanna(1754–77), daughter of Francis Cabot and Mary Fitch, on May 31, 1774. Together they had two children, Francis Cabot (1775–1817) and Susanna Cabot (1776–1816). Francis Cabot became a leader and innovator in American industry; the city of Lowell, Massachusetts
, is named in his honor. Descendants of Francis Cabot include businessman and philanthropist John Lowell, Jr., federal judge Francis Cabot Lowell, and architect Guy Lowell
. Susanna died on March 30, 1777.
At the onset of the American Revolution
, and after Susanna's death, seizing upon the opportunity as the wealthy Tories of Boston fled local hostility for the safety of England, abandoning their grand estates, John Lowell relocated his children to Roxbury, Massachusetts
, and his law practice to Boston
. On December 25, 1778, John married his third wife, Rebecca (1747–1816), widow of James Tyng and daughter of Judge James Russell and Katharine Graves.
John and Rebecca had four children, Rebecca Russell (1779–1853), Charles Russell
(1782–1861), Elizabeth Cutts (1788–1864) and Mary (1786–89). Charles Russell's son was the famous American poet James Russell Lowell
; his grandsons included the American Civil War
hero Gen. Charles Russell Lowell
and Boston banker and family lawyer William Lowell Putnam
. His great-great-grandson was the poet Robert Lowell
.
It is through John Lowell's daughter-in-law, the wife of Francis Cabot, Hannah Jackson (1776–1815), who was a granddaughter of Edward and Dorthy (Quincy) Jackson, that descendants of both the Francis Cabot and John Amory families claim relation to the Holmeses of Boston, which include poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
and U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Civil War hero Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
.
Other notable children of the daughters and granddaughters of John Lowell include businessman and aviation pioneer Godfrey Lowell Cabot
, mathematician Julian Lowell Coolidge, and writer and biographer Ferris Lowell Greenslet.
, but made a public apology for doing so at the end of the year. Thereafter, Lowell was an enthusiastic patriot
and served for a time as a lieutenant of the Massachusetts militia. In 1776, he was elected Representative to the General Court from Newburyport and, in 1778, Lowell elected to the same post from Boston.
Lowell was chosen to be a member of the convention that was tasked with framing the Massachusetts Constitution
in 1779. He is best remembered for authoring Article I and his insistence upon its adoption into the Bill of Rights, “All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential and inalienable rights, among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties...”
Lowell's son, the Rev. Charles Lowell, D.D., wrote in a personal letter eight decades later, “My father introduced into the Bill of Rights the clause by which Slavery was abolished in Massachusetts... and when it was adopted, exclaimed: 'Now there is no longer Slavery in Massachusetts, it is abolished and I will render my services as a lawyer gratis to any slave suing for his freedom if it is withheld from him...' and he did so defend the negro slave against his master under this clause of the constitution which was declared valid by the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 1783, and since that time Slavery in Mass. has had no legal standing.” (Lowell 1899, pp 34–35)
In 1782–83, Lowell was elected to represent the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Delegate to the Third Congress of the Confederation
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. The Continental Congress
met in the library of Nassau Hall at Princeton University
and “congratulated George Washington on his successful termination of the war, received the news of the signing of the definitive treaty of peace with Great Britain
, and welcomed the first foreign minister—from the Netherlands
—accredited to the United States.” (Leitch 1978)
Lowell returned to Boston with an appointment to the U.S. Admiralty Court of Appeals. In 1784, he was appointed commissioner to settle the boundary dispute between Massachusetts and the State of New York. John was appointed to the Massachusetts Court of Appeals for a brief time in 1789 before being appointed by President George Washington
, on September 24, 1789, to a newly established seat on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
, created by 1 Stat. 73. Confirmed by the United States Senate
on September 26, 1789, and receiving his commission the same day, Lowell served the newly created federal government in this position until 1801. On February 18, 1801, President John Adams
nominated Lowell to serve as the first Chief Judge, another newly created seat, on the U.S. Circuit Court for the First Circuit (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island). Lowell was again confirmed by the Senate, and awarded his commission, on February 20, 1801, continuing to serve in that office until his death the following year.
Lowell was also a member of the Harvard Corporation for 18 years. He was founding trustee of Phillips Academy
, serving from 1778 to 1802; and a charter member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
. Lowell died at his home in Roxbury on May 6, 1802, at age 59.
Jurist
A jurist or jurisconsult is a professional who studies, develops, applies, or otherwise deals with the law. The term is widely used in American English, but in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth countries it has only historical and specialist usage...
, delegate to the Congress of the Confederation
Congress of the Confederation
The Congress of the Confederation or the United States in Congress Assembled was the governing body of the United States of America that existed from March 1, 1781, to March 4, 1789. It comprised delegates appointed by the legislatures of the states. It was the immediate successor to the Second...
and federal judge.
Known within his family as “The Old Judge,” distinguishing him from the proliferation of Johns, John Lowell is considered to be the patriarch of the Boston Lowells. He, with each of his three wives, established three distinct lines of the Lowell clan that, in turn, propagated celebrated poets, authors, jurists, educators, merchants, bankers, national heroes, activists, innovators and philanthropists. John Lowell, his descendants, and many other well established New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
families defined American life in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Early life and family
John Lowell's ancestor, Percival, a merchant, came from BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, to Newbury, Massachusetts
Newbury, Massachusetts
Newbury is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 6,666 at the 2010 census. Newbury includes the villages of Old Town , Plum Island and Byfield, home of The Governor's Academy , a private preparatory school.- History :Newbury Plantation was settled and incorporated...
, in 1639, and his father, John, was the first minister of Newburyport, where he officiated 1726-67. The minister married Sarah Champney, and “The Old Judge” was their second son, born in Newburyport. He was the only child to survive infancy. John was among the third generation in the Lowell family
Lowell family
The Lowell family settled on the North Shore at Cape Ann after they arrived in Boston on June 23, 1639. The patriarch, Percival Lowle , described as a "solid citizen of Bristol", determined at the age of 68 that the future was in the New World.Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop needed...
to be born in the New World and the second generation to attend Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
. Like his father before him, Lowell graduated at the age of 17, in 1760. John was admitted to the bar in 1763 and soon established his law practice in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Lowell married his first wife, Sarah (14 January 1745 - 5 May 1772), daughter of Stephen Higginson
Stephen Higginson
Stephen Higginson was an American merchant and shipmaster from Boston, Massachusetts. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress in 1783...
and Elizabeth Cabot, on January 8, 1767. John and Sarah had three children, Anna Cabot (1768–1810), John Lowell, Jr.
John Lowell, Jr. (lawyer)
John Lowell, Jr. was an American lawyer and notable member of the Federalist Party in the early days of the United States of America.-Career:...
(1769–1840) and Sarah Champney Lowell (1771–1851). John the younger, known within his family as The Boston Rebel, and later as The Roxbury Farmer for his love of agriculture and support of botanical studies, produced the clan line that included businessmen (John Amory Lowell
John Amory Lowell
Hon. John Amory Lowell was an American businessman and philanthropist from Boston. He became the sole trustee of the Lowell Institute when his first cousin, John Lowell, Jr. , the Institute's endower, died...
, Augustus Lowell
Augustus Lowell
Augustus Lowell was a businessman and philanthropist from Massachusetts. He was born in Boston to John Amory Lowell and his second wife Elizabeth Cabot Putnam. His great-grandfather, John Lowell, was among the first Judges for the newly created federal courts, appointed by Presidents George...
, and Ralph Lowell
Ralph Lowell
Major Ralph Lowell was a World War I veteran, banker, and philanthropist from Boston.Ralph was born in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to John and Mary Emlen Lowell . Lowell graduated from Harvard College in 1912...
), federal judges (John Lowell
John Lowell (judge)
John Lowell was a United States federal judge from Boston, Massachusetts. He was appointed to separate judgeships by Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Rutherford B. Hayes.-Family:...
and James Arnold Lowell
James Arnold Lowell
James Arnold Lowell was a United States federal judge.Born in Newton, Massachusetts, Lowell received an A.B. from Harvard University in 1891 and an LL.B. from Harvard University in 1894. He was in private practice in Boston, Massachusetts from 1894 to 1922. He was a Massachusetts state...
) and siblings (author and innovator Percival Lowell
Percival Lowell
Percival Lawrence Lowell was a businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars, founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and formed the beginning of the effort that led to the discovery of Pluto 14 years after his death...
, Harvard President Abbott Lawrence Lowell
Abbott Lawrence Lowell
Abbott Lawrence Lowell was a U.S. educator and legal scholar. He served as President of Harvard University from 1909 to 1933....
, and poet Amy Lowell
Amy Lowell
Amy Lawrence Lowell was an American poet of the imagist school from Brookline, Massachusetts who posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926.- Personal life:...
). Lowell's wife, Sarah, died on May 5, 1772.
Lowell married his second wife, Susanna(1754–77), daughter of Francis Cabot and Mary Fitch, on May 31, 1774. Together they had two children, Francis Cabot (1775–1817) and Susanna Cabot (1776–1816). Francis Cabot became a leader and innovator in American industry; the city of Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
, is named in his honor. Descendants of Francis Cabot include businessman and philanthropist John Lowell, Jr., federal judge Francis Cabot Lowell, and architect Guy Lowell
Guy Lowell
Guy Lowell , American architect, was the son of Mary Walcott and Edward Jackson Lowell, and a member of Boston's well-known Lowell family....
. Susanna died on March 30, 1777.
At the onset of the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, and after Susanna's death, seizing upon the opportunity as the wealthy Tories of Boston fled local hostility for the safety of England, abandoning their grand estates, John Lowell relocated his children to Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...
, and his law practice to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. On December 25, 1778, John married his third wife, Rebecca (1747–1816), widow of James Tyng and daughter of Judge James Russell and Katharine Graves.
John and Rebecca had four children, Rebecca Russell (1779–1853), Charles Russell
Charles Russell Lowell, Sr.
Charles Russell Lowell, Sr. was a Unitarian minister.-Biography:He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and attended The Roxbury Latin School and later Harvard College in 1800 where he studied law and then theology...
(1782–1861), Elizabeth Cutts (1788–1864) and Mary (1786–89). Charles Russell's son was the famous American poet James Russell Lowell
James Russell Lowell
James Russell Lowell was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the Fireside Poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets who rivaled the popularity of British poets...
; his grandsons included the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
hero Gen. Charles Russell Lowell
Charles Russell Lowell
Charles Russell Lowell, Jr. was a railroad executive, foundryman, and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Cedar Creek and was mourned by a number of leading generals...
and Boston banker and family lawyer William Lowell Putnam
William Lowell Putnam
William Lowell Putnam II was an American lawyer and banker.-Biography:...
. His great-great-grandson was the poet Robert Lowell
Robert Lowell
Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV was an American poet, considered the founder of the confessional poetry movement. He was appointed the sixth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress where he served from 1947 until 1948...
.
It is through John Lowell's daughter-in-law, the wife of Francis Cabot, Hannah Jackson (1776–1815), who was a granddaughter of Edward and Dorthy (Quincy) Jackson, that descendants of both the Francis Cabot and John Amory families claim relation to the Holmeses of Boston, which include poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was an American physician, professor, lecturer, and author. Regarded by his peers as one of the best writers of the 19th century, he is considered a member of the Fireside Poets. His most famous prose works are the "Breakfast-Table" series, which began with The Autocrat...
and U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Civil War hero Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932...
.
Other notable children of the daughters and granddaughters of John Lowell include businessman and aviation pioneer Godfrey Lowell Cabot
Godfrey Lowell Cabot
Godfrey Lowell Cabot was an American industrialist and philanthropist, who founded the Cabot Corporation.-Early life:...
, mathematician Julian Lowell Coolidge, and writer and biographer Ferris Lowell Greenslet.
Career
After establishing his law practice in Newburyport in 1763, Lowell served as a town Selectman in 1771–1772, 1774 and 1776. In the spring of 1774 he signed addresses complimenting royal governors Thomas Hutchinson and Thomas GageThomas Gage
Thomas Gage was a British general, best known for his many years of service in North America, including his role as military commander in the early days of the American War of Independence....
, but made a public apology for doing so at the end of the year. Thereafter, Lowell was an enthusiastic patriot
Patriot (American Revolution)
Patriots is a name often used to describe the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...
and served for a time as a lieutenant of the Massachusetts militia. In 1776, he was elected Representative to the General Court from Newburyport and, in 1778, Lowell elected to the same post from Boston.
Lowell was chosen to be a member of the convention that was tasked with framing the Massachusetts Constitution
Massachusetts Constitution
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the fundamental governing document of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the 50 individual state governments that make up the United States of America. It was drafted by John Adams, Samuel Adams, and James Bowdoin during the...
in 1779. He is best remembered for authoring Article I and his insistence upon its adoption into the Bill of Rights, “All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential and inalienable rights, among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties...”
Lowell's son, the Rev. Charles Lowell, D.D., wrote in a personal letter eight decades later, “My father introduced into the Bill of Rights the clause by which Slavery was abolished in Massachusetts... and when it was adopted, exclaimed: 'Now there is no longer Slavery in Massachusetts, it is abolished and I will render my services as a lawyer gratis to any slave suing for his freedom if it is withheld from him...' and he did so defend the negro slave against his master under this clause of the constitution which was declared valid by the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 1783, and since that time Slavery in Mass. has had no legal standing.” (Lowell 1899, pp 34–35)
In 1782–83, Lowell was elected to represent the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a Delegate to the Third Congress of the Confederation
Congress of the Confederation
The Congress of the Confederation or the United States in Congress Assembled was the governing body of the United States of America that existed from March 1, 1781, to March 4, 1789. It comprised delegates appointed by the legislatures of the states. It was the immediate successor to the Second...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. The Continental Congress
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
met in the library of Nassau Hall at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and “congratulated George Washington on his successful termination of the war, received the news of the signing of the definitive treaty of peace with Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, and welcomed the first foreign minister—from the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
—accredited to the United States.” (Leitch 1978)
Lowell returned to Boston with an appointment to the U.S. Admiralty Court of Appeals. In 1784, he was appointed commissioner to settle the boundary dispute between Massachusetts and the State of New York. John was appointed to the Massachusetts Court of Appeals for a brief time in 1789 before being appointed by President George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, on September 24, 1789, to a newly established seat on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA. The first court session was held in Boston in 1789. The second term was held in Salem in 1790 and until 1813 court session locations...
, created by 1 Stat. 73. Confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
on September 26, 1789, and receiving his commission the same day, Lowell served the newly created federal government in this position until 1801. On February 18, 1801, President John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
nominated Lowell to serve as the first Chief Judge, another newly created seat, on the U.S. Circuit Court for the First Circuit (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island). Lowell was again confirmed by the Senate, and awarded his commission, on February 20, 1801, continuing to serve in that office until his death the following year.
Lowell was also a member of the Harvard Corporation for 18 years. He was founding trustee of Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
, serving from 1778 to 1802; and a charter member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
. Lowell died at his home in Roxbury on May 6, 1802, at age 59.
See also
- Admiralty courtAdmiralty courtAdmiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries and offences.- Admiralty Courts in England and Wales :...
- List of Continental Congress Delegates
- Continental CongressContinental CongressThe Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
- First Families of Boston
- Nassau HallNassau HallNassau Hall is the oldest building at Princeton University in the borough of Princeton, New Jersey . At the time it was built in 1754, Nassau Hall was the largest building in colonial New Jersey. Designed originally by Robert Smith, the building was subsequently remodeled by notable American...
- Treaty of Paris (1783)Treaty of Paris (1783)The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...