Boston Brahmin

Boston Brahmins are wealthy Yankee families characterized by a highly discreet and inconspicuous life style. Based in and around Boston, they form an integral part of the historic core of the East Coast establishment. They are associated with the distinctive Boston Brahmin accent, and with Harvard University.

Characteristics

The term Brahmin refers to the highest caste in the caste system in India. These were the upper caste people in India involved in conducting worship in India. In America it has been applied to the old, upper crust New England families of British Protestant origin that were extremely influential in the development and leadership of arts, culture, science, politics, trade, and academia. The term was certainly applied partly in jest to characterize the often erudite and pretentious nature of the New England gentry to outsiders. 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]

Boston's "Brahmin elite" developed a semi-aristocratic value system by the 1840s. Cultivated, urbane, and dignified, a Boston Brahmin was the very essence of enlightened aristocracy.^[2][3] The ideal Brahmin was not only wealthy, but displayed suitable personal virtues and character traits. The term was coined in 1861 by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.^[4] The Brahmin was expected to cultivate the arts, support charities such as hospitals and colleges, and assume the role of community leader. Although the ideal called on him to transcend commonplace business values, in practice many found the thrill of economic success quite attractive. The Brahmins warned each other against "avarice" and insisted upon "personal responsibility". Scandal and divorce were unacceptable. The total system was buttressed by the strong extended family ties present in Boston society. Young men attended the same prep schools and colleges,^[5] and heirs married heiresses. Family not only served as an economic asset, but also as a means of moral restraint. Most belong to the Unitarian or Episcopal churches, although some were Congregationalists or Methodists. Politically they were successively Federalists, Whigs, and Republicans. They were marked by their manners and distinctive elocution, the Boston Brahmin accent, version of the New England accent.

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 families are listed here.

Adams

Adams family

• Samuel Adams (1722–1803): Founding Father
• John Adams (1735–1826): Founding Father and second President of the United States, husband of Abigail Smith Adams (1744–1818)
  • John Quincy Adams (1767–1848): sixth President of the United States
    • Charles Francis Adams, Sr. (1807–1886): Ambassador, U.S. Congressman
      • Charles Francis Adams, Jr. (1835–1915): Civil War general
      • John Quincy Adams II (1833–1894): lawyer, politician
        • Charles Francis Adams III (1866–1954): U.S. Secretary of the Navy
          • Charles Francis Adams IV (1910–1999): industrialist, first president of Raytheon
      • Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918): author
      • Brooks Adams (1848–1927): historian
      • Ivers Whitney Adams (1838–1914): founder of the first professional baseball team, the Boston Red Stockings

Amory

Amory family

• John Amory Lowell (1798–1881): merchant
• Thomas Coffin Amory (1812–1889): lawyer, author
• Ernest Amory Codman (1869–1940): surgeon
• Cleveland Amory (1917–1998): author

Bacon

Bacon family

• Robert Bacon (1860–1919): U.S. Secretary of State
• Robert L. Bacon (1884–1938): U.S. Congressman
• Gaspar G. Bacon (1886–1947): politician
• Gaspar G. Bacon, Jr. (1914–1943): actor

Cabot

Cabot family

• John Cabot (b. 1680 in British Channel Isle of Jersey)^[6] - successful ship merchant
  • Joseph Cabot (b. 1720 in Salem)^[7] - successful ship merchant
    • Joseph Cabot Jr. (b. 1746 in Salem)^[8] - ship merchant
    • George Cabot (b. 1752 in Salem)^[9] - successful ship merchant, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, appointed but declined to be first Secretary of the Navy
      • Unknown Cabot
        • Anna Cabot (b. 1821)^[10]
          • Henry Cabot Lodge (b. 1850 in Boston)^[10] - U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and ardent opponent of Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations
            • George Cabot Lodge (b. 1873 in Boston) - poet
              • Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (b. 1902 in Nanhunt)^[11] - U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, incumbent 1952 U.S. Senate candidate from Massachusetts against John F. Kennedy, U.S. Ambassador to United Nations and South Vietnam, and 1960 vice presidential candidate for Richard Nixon against John F. Kennedy-Lyndon B. Johnson
                • George Cabot Lodge II (b. 1927) - Harvard Business School professor, 1962 U.S. Senate candidate from Massachusetts against Edward M. Kennedy
              • John Davis Lodge (b. 1903 in Washington, DC)^[12] - 64th Governor of Connecticut
    • Susanna Cabot (b. 1754)
      • Francis Cabot Lowell (b. 1775 in Newburyport)^[13] - founder of Harvard's Porcellian Club, helped introduce power loom in U.S.
    • Samuel Cabot (b. 1758)^[14] - successful ship merchant
      • Samuel Cabot Jr. (b. 1784 in Boston)^[15] - shipping businessman
        • Dr. Samuel Cabot III (b. 1815 in Boston)^[16] - eminent surgeon
          • Lilla Cabot (b. 1848 in Boston) - among first American impressionist artists, contributor to Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
          • Samuel Cabot IV (b. 1850)^[17] - chemist, founder of Valspar's Cabot Stains
          • Dr. Arthur Tracy Cabot (b. 1852 in Boston)^[18] - progressive surgeon
          • Godfrey Lowell Cabot (b. 1861 in Boston)^[19] - founder of Cabot Corporation, philanthropist
            • Thomas Dudley Cabot (b. 1897 in Cambridge)^[20] - businessman and philanthropist, Cabot House namesake
              • Louis Wellington Cabot - businessman, philanthropist, former Chairman of Federal Reserve Bank of Boston^[21]
              • Linda Cabot Black^[22] - cofounder of Opera Company of Boston and Opera New England
                • Sophie Cabot Black (b. 1958) - poet
            • John Moors Cabot (b. 1901 in Cambridge)^[23] - U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, Colombia, Brazil, and Poland during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administration
              • Lewis Cabot^[24] - Lewis Cabot Estate namesake
            • Eleanor Cabot^[25] - Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate namesake
        • Edward Clarke Cabot (b. 1818) - architect and artist
        • Walter Channing Cabot (b. 1829)^[26]
          • Henry Bromfield Cabot (b. 1861 in Boston)^[27] - lawyer
            • Paul Codman Cabot (b. 1898^[28] in Brookline),^[29] - cofounder of America's first mutual fund, "Harvard's [Endowment] Midas"^[30]
            • Charles Codman Cabot (b. 1900 in Brookline)^[31] - associate judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, Boston Bar Association president
          • Elise Cabot Forbes (b. 1869)^[32] - maternal grandmother of Michael Paine

Chaffee/Chafee

Chaffee family, originally of Hingham, Massachusetts^[33]

• Thomas Chaffee (1610–1683), businessman and landowner
• Jonathon Chaffee (1678–1766), businessman and landowner
• Matthew Chaffee (1657–1723), Boston landowner
• Adna Romanza Chaffee (1842–1914): U.S. General
• Adna R. Chaffee, Jr. (1884–1941): U.S. General
• Zechariah Chafee (1885–1957): philosopher, civil libertarian
• John Chafee (1922–1999): U.S. Senator
• Lincoln Chafee (b. 1953): U.S. Senator, Rhode Island governor

Choate

Choate family

• Rufus Choate (1799-1859): U.S. Senator
• George C.S. Choate (1827–1896): founder of St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire)
• Joseph Hodges Choate (1832-1917): lawyer, diplomat
• William Gardner Choate(1830-1920): U.S. Federal judge
• Sarah Choate Sears (1858-1935): art patron
• Robert B. Choate, Jr. (1924-2009): businessman

Codman

Codman family

• Charles R. Codman (1893–1956): author
• Ernest Amory Codman (1869–1940): surgeon
• John Codman Ropes (1836–1899): lawyer, historian
• Julian Codman (1870–1932): lawyer
• Ogden Codman (1863–1951): architect

Coffin

Coffin family, originally of Newbury and Nantucket

• Tristram Coffin (1604–1681): colonist, original owner of Nantucket
• William Coffin (1699–1775): merchant, co-founder of Trinity Church
• Sir Isaac Coffin (1759–1839): naval officer
• Charles E. Coffin (1841–1912): industrialist, U.S. Congressman
• Henry Coffin Nevins (1843–1892): industrialist
• Thomas Coffin Amory (1812–1889): lawyer, author
• Charles A. Coffin (1844–1926): industrialist, co-founder of General Electric
• Francis Parkman Coffin (1891-1956): scientist

Coolidge

Coolidge family

• Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933): President of the United States
  • John Coolidge (1906-2000): businessman
• Archibald Cary Coolidge (1866-1928): educator
• John Coolidge Adams (b.1947): composer
• John Gardner Coolidge (1863-1936): U.S. Ambassador
• Charles A. Coolidge (1844-1926): U.S. Army general

Cooper

• John Cooper (1609–1669): Colonist
• Samuel Cooper (clergyman) (1725–1783): Clergyman
• Samuel D. Cooper Jr. (1750–1824): Revolutionary
• Samuel D. Cooper III (1778–1853): Trade Merchant
• Priscilla Cooper Tyler (1816–1889): First Lady of the United States
• Theodore Cooper (1839–1919): civil engineer
• Frederic Taber Cooper (1864–1937): writer

Cushing

Cushing family, originally of Hingham, Massachusetts^[34]

• Caleb Cushing (1800-1879): U.S. Congressman and Attorney General
• John Perkins Cushing (1787–1862): China Trade Merchant, Investor
• Thomas Cushing (1725-1788): statesman, revolutionary
• William Cushing (1732-1810): U.S. Supreme Court justice
• Harvey Cushing (1869-1939): neurosurgeon

Descendant by marriage:

• Albert Cushing Read (1887-1967): naval officer

Crowninshield

Crowninshield family

• Jacob Crowninshield (1770–1808): U.S. Congressman
  • Arent S. Crowninshield (1843–1908): naval officer
• Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (1772–1851): U.S. Secretary of the Navy
• Frank Crowninshield (1872–1947): editor of Vanity Fair

Descendant by marriage:

• William Crowninshield Endicott (1826–1900): U.S. Secretary of War
• Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (b. 1921): editor of the Washington Post

Dana

Dana family

• Francis Dana (1743–1811): revolutionary
• Richard Henry Dana, Sr. (1787–1879): lawyer, author
• Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (1815–1882): lawyer, author

Delano

Delano family

• Columbus Delano (1809–1896): U.S. Secretary of the Interior
• Jane Delano (1862–1919): founder of the American Red Cross Nursing Service
• Paul Delano (1745–1842): naval officer
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945): President of the United States

Dudley

Dudley–Winthrop family

• Governor Thomas Dudley (1576-1653): a founder of Harvard College
• Anne Dudley Bradstreet (1612–1672): poet
• Governor Joseph Dudley (1647-1720): President of the Dominion of New England, Chief Justice of New York, Member of Parliament, Lt. Governor of the Isle of Wight
• Paul Dudley (1675-1751): Chief Justice of Massachusetts, Member of the Royal Society, Founder of the Dudleian Lectures at Harvard

Eliot

Eliot family

• Charles William Eliot (1834–1926): President of Harvard University
  • Charles Eliot (1859–1897): landscape architect
• William Greenleaf Eliot (1811–1887): educator
  • T.S. Eliot (1888–1965): poet

Descendant by marriage:

• Charles Eliot Norton (1827–1908) author

Emerson

Emerson family

• Rev. William Emerson (1769–1811): clergyman & Ruth Haskins Emerson
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882): poet & Lydia Jackson Emerson

Endicott

Endicott family

Salem:

• William Crowninshield Endicott (1826–1900): U.S. Secretary of War

Dedham:

• Augustus Bradford Endicott (1818–1910): politician
  • • Philip Endicott Young (1885–1955): industrialist
  • Henry Bradford Endicott (1853–1920): industrialist
    • Henry Wendell Endicott (1880–1954)

Forbes

Forbes family

• John Murray Forbes (1813–1898): industrialist
• John Forbes Kerry (b. 1943): U.S. Senator

Gardner

Gardner family, originally of Essex county

• Samuel Pickering Gardner (1767-1843)^[35]: merchant
• John Lowell Gardner (1808–1884): merchant
• John Lowell Gardner II (1837–1898): merchant
• Augustus P. Gardner (1865–1918): U.S. Congressman

Holmes

Holmes family

• Abiel Holmes (1763–1837): clergyman
  • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894): doctor, author
    • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935): U.S. Supreme Court justice

Jackson

Jackson family

• Edward Jackson (1708–1757): colonist & Dorothy Quincy Jackson
  • Jonathan Jackson (1743–1810): merchant, revolutionary & Hannah Tracy Jackson
    • Charles Jackson (1775–1855): Massachusetts Supreme Court justice
      • Amelia Lee Jackson, who married Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. above
    • Patrick Tracy Jackson (1780–1847): co-founder of the Boston Manufacturing Company
    • Hannah Jackson: wife of Francis Cabot Lowell
• Lydia Jackson: wife of Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lawrence

Lawrence family

• Samuel Lawrence (d. 1839): Revolutionary
  • Amos Lawrence (1786–1852): merchant
    • Amos Adams Lawrence (1814–1886): abolitionist
      • William Lawrence (1850–1941): Episcopalian Bishop
        • William Appleton Lawrence (1889-1963): Episcopalian Bishop
        • Frederic C. Lawrence (1899–1989): Episcopalian Bishop
  • Abbott Lawrence (1792–1855): U.S. Congressman, founder of Lawrence, Massachusetts
  • Luther Lawrence (d. 1839): politician

Descendant by marriage: Abbott Lawrence Lowell (1856–1943): President of Harvard University

Lodge

Lodge family

• Henry Cabot Lodge (1850-1924)^[10] -U.S. Senator
  • George Cabot Lodge (1873-1909): poet
    • Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (1902-1985)^[11]: U.S. Senator, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
      • George Cabot Lodge II (b. 1927): Harvard Business School professor, 1962 U.S. Senate candidate from Massachusetts against Edward M. Kennedy
    • John Davis Lodge (1903-1985)^[12] - 79th Governor of Connecticut, U.S. Ambassador

Lowell

Lowell family^[36]

• 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)
        • 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 Anglo-Irish 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:

• Godfrey Lowell Cabot (Feb 26, 1861–Nov 2, 1962)
• Julian Lowell Coolidge (Sept 28, 1873–Mar 5, 1954)
• Ferris Lowell Greenslet (1875–1959)
• McGeorge Bundy (1919–1996)
• William Putnam Bundy (1917–2000)

Minot

Minot Family

• Charles Sedgwick Minot (1852–1914): anatomist
• George Richards Minot (1885-1950): winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine
• Henry Davis Minot (1859-1890): ornithologist
• Susan Minot (b.1956): author

Norcross

Norcross family, original settlers of Watertown, MA

• Otis Norcross (1811–1882): Mayor of Boston
• Eleanor Norcross (1854-1923): artist

Otis

Otis family,^[37]

• James Otis, Jr. (1725–1783): revolutionary
• Mercy Otis Warren (1728–1814): playwright, revolutionary
• Samuel Allyne Otis (1740–1814): politician
• Harrison Gray Otis (1765–1848): U.S. Senator, Mayor of Boston

Parkman

Parkman family

• Samuel Parkman (1751-1824): investor
• George Parkman (1790-1849): philanthropist, victim of a highly publicized murder
• Francis Parkman Jr. (1823-1893): historian

Peabody

Peabody family

• Catherine Endicott Peabody (1808–1833)
• Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1804–1894), American educator who opened the first English-language kindergarten in the United States.
• Endicott Peabody (1857–1944), American Episcopal priest and founder of the Groton School for Boys.
• Endicott "Chubb" Peabody (1920–1997), Governor of Massachusetts
• Nathaniel Peabody (1774–1855)
• George Peabody (1795–1897), an entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Peabody Institute.
• Mary Tyler Peabody Mann (1806–1887), American author
• Richard R. Peabody (1892–1936), author of The Common Sense of Drinking, a major influence on Alcoholics Anonymous founder Bill Wilson.
• Sophia Amelia Peabody Hawthorne (1809–1871), painter, illustrator, and wife of American author Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Perkins

Perkins family

• George H. Perkins (1836–1899): naval officer
• Elisha Perkins (1741–1799): physician
• Frances Perkins (1882–1965): U.S. Secretary of Labor
• Isabel Weld Perkins (1877–1948): philanthropist
• Jacob Perkins (1766–1849): inventor
• Thomas Handasyd Perkins (1764–1854): merchant, philanthropist

Phillips

Phillips family

• Samuel Phillips, Jr. (1752-1802): politician, founder of Phillips Academy
• Dr. John Phillips (1719-1795): educator, founder of Phillips Exeter Academy
• Wendell Phillips (1811-1884): abolitionist

Putnam

Putnam family

• James Putnam (1725–1789): last Attorney General in Massachusetts before American Revolution; judge and politician in New Brunswick
• James Putnam (1756–1838): Canadian politician
• Israel Putnam (1718-1790): American army general during the American Revolutionary War
• William Lowell Putnam (1861–1924) & Elizabeth Lowell Putnam
  • George P. Putnam (1887–1950): publisher, explorer, husband of Amelia Earheart
  • Katherine L. Putnam (1890–1983): wife of Harvey Hollister Bundy
  • Roger Lowell Putnam (1893–1972): politician, businessman

Quincy

Quincy family

• Edmund Quincy (1602-1636): settled in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1633
• Josiah Quincy II (1744–1775): lawyer, revolutionary
  • • Josiah Quincy III (1772–1864): U.S. Congressman, Mayor of Boston, President of Harvard
• Dorothy Quincy Hancock (wife of John Hancock)
• Abigail Smith Adams (1744–1818):, wife of John Adams
  • John Quincy Adams (1767–1848): President of the United States

Rice

Rice family, originally of Sudbury, MA

• Deacon Edmund Rice (1594-1663): colonist
• Alexander Hamilton Rice (1818–1895): industrialist, Mayor of Boston, Governor of Massachusetts, U.S. Congressman
  • Alexander Hamilton Rice, Jr. (1875–1956): physician, geographer and explorer
• Americus Vespucius Rice (1835–1904): general, U.S. Congressman
• Edmund Rice (1842–1906): U.S. Army General, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient
• Edmund Rice (1819–1889): U.S. Congressman
• Henry Mower Rice (1816–1894): U.S. Senator
• Luther Rice (1783–1836): Baptist clergyman, missionary to India
• Thomas Rice (1768–1854): U.S. Congressman
• William North Rice (1845–1928): geologist, educator
• William Whitney Rice (1826–1896): U.S. Congressman

Saltonstall

Saltonstall family^[38]

• Leverett Saltonstall I (1783–1845): politician, educator
• Leverett Saltonstall (1892–1979): U.S. Senator
  • William L. Saltonstall (1927–2009): politician
• Philip Saltonstall Weld (1915–1984): WWII commando, environmentalist

Sears

Sears family

• Richard Sears (1610–1676): colonist
• Clara Endicott Sears (1863–1960): author, philanthropist

Tarbox

Tarbox Academic and Political Family.

• John Tarbox (1645–1674): colonist
• John K. Tarbox (1838–1887) U.S. Representative
• Increase N. Tarbox (1815–1888): author

Thorndike

Thorndike family

• Israel Thorndike (1775–1832): merchant, politician
• Augustus Thorndike (1896–1986): physician
• George Thorndike Angell (1823–1909): lawyer, philanthropist

Tudor

Tudor family

• William Tudor (1750–1819): lawyer, politician, founder of the Massachusetts Historical Society
• William Tudor (1779-1830): cofounder of the North American Review and the Boston Athenaeum
• Frederic Tudor (1783–1864): Boston's "Ice King," founder of the Tudor Ice Company
• Marie Tudor, poet

Weld

Weld family

• Thomas Weld (born c. 1600): colonist, Puritan 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 General
• William Weld, (b. 1945): Governor of Massachusetts
• Tuesday Weld, (b. 1943): actress
• Theodore Dwight Weld (1803–1895): abolitionist
• Ezra Greenleaf Weld (1801–1874): daguerreotypist
• Philip Saltonstall Weld (1915–1984): WWII commando, environmentalist

Wigglesworth

Wigglesworth Family

• Michael Wigglesworth (1631-1705): colonist, clergyman
  • Edward Wigglesworth (1693-1765): clergyman, educator
• Richard B. Wigglesworth (1891-1960): U.S. Congressman

Winthrop

Winthrop family^[39]

• John Winthrop (1588–1649): Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony
• Lucy Winthrop Downing, mother of diplomat Sir George Downing, 1st Baronet
  • John Winthrop, the Younger (1606–1676): Governor of Connecticut
    • Fitz-John Winthrop (1637–1711): Governor of Connecticut
• John Winthrop, who married Anne Dudley, granddaughter of Thomas Dudley
  • John Winthrop (1714–1779): educator
• Thomas Lindall Winthrop (1760–1841): Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts
• Robert Charles Winthrop (1809–1894): lawyer, politician, philanthropist

See also

• First Families of Virginia
• Colonial families of Maryland
• Elitism
• Ethnic elite
• Preppy
• Socialite
• Upper class
• White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
• Yankee

References

1. ^ Andrews, Robert (ed.) (1996). Famous Lines: A Columbia Dictionary of Familiar Quotations. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10218-6. 
2. ^ Ronald Story, Harvard and the Boston Upper Class: The Forging of an Aristocracy, 1800–1870 (1985).
3. ^ Paul Goodman, "Ethics and Enterprise: The Values of a Boston Elite, 1800–1860", American Quarterly, Sept 1966, Vol. 18 Issue 3, pp 437–451.
4. ^ Holmes entitled the first chapter of his 1861 novel Elsie Venner "The Brahmin caste of New England"; he had long been writing about the group without using the term "Brahmin".
5. ^ Ronald Story, "Harvard Students, The Boston Elite, And The New England Preparatory System, 1800–1870", History of Education Quarterly, Fall 1975, Vol. 15 Issue 3, pp 281–298.
6. ^ Briggs, L. Vernon. "History and Genealogy of the Cabot Family, 1475-1927". C.E. Goodspeed & Company. http://www.digital-editions.com/CABOT.htm. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
7. ^ "Person Sheet: Joseph Cabot". Cyberancestors, Wooden Ships. http://www.cyberancestors.com/cummins/ps87/ps87_164.htm. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
8. ^ "Rebecca Orne (Mrs. Joseph Cabot), 1757". Worcester Art Museum. http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/Early_American/Artists/badger/rebecca_o/discussion.html. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
9. ^ "CABOT, George, (1752 - 1823)". Biogrpahical Directory of the United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=c000009. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
10. ^ ^{a b c} "Henry Cabot Lodge Photographs ca. 1860-1945: Guide to the Photograph Collection". Massachusetts Historical Society Library. http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fap044. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
11. ^ ^{a b} "LODGE, Henry Cabot, Jr., (1902 - 1985)". Biogrpahical Directory of the United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=l000394. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
12. ^ ^{a b} "LODGE, John Davis, (1903 - 1985)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000395. Retrieved July 29, 2011. 
13. ^ "Francis Cabot Lowell (1775-1817) Papers: Guide to the Collection". Massachusetts Historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0251. Retrieved July 30, 2011. 
14. ^ "Samuel Cabot Papers 1713-1858: Guide to the Microfilm Edition". Massachusetts Historical Society Library. http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0322. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
15. ^ "Samuel Cabot, Jr. Ledger, 1814-1821". Harvard Business School Library. http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/sfa/samuelcabotjr.htm. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
16. ^ "Samuel Cabot, M. D". Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 21: 517–520. 1885. JSTOR 25129836. 
17. ^ "Almy family. Papers, 1649-1967 (inclusive), 1835-1967 (bulk): A Finding Aid.". Harvard University Library, Radcliffe College. November 1976. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00089. Retrieved August 15, 2011. 
18. ^ Biographical History of Massachusetts: Biographies and Autobiographies of the Leading Men in the State, Volume II. Massachusetts Biographical Society. 1913. http://books.google.com/?id=AS4EAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT66&lpg=PT66&dq=Arthur+Tracy+Cabot+samuel#v=onepage&q=Arthur%20Tracy%20Cabot%20samuel&f=false. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
19. ^ "Godfrey Lowell Cabot Papers 1870-1962: Guide to the Collection". Massachusetts Historical Society Library. http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0146. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
20. ^ "Senior trustee, Thomas D. Cabot, dies at 98". MIT News. June 21, 1995. http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1995/cabot-0621.html. Retrieved July 26, 2011. 
21. ^ "Mabel Brandon and Louis Cabot". New York Times. June 1, 1997. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/01/style/mabel-brandon-and-louis-cabot.html. Retrieved July 30, 2011. 
22. ^ "Linda Black Is Married". New York Times. January 29, 1989. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/29/style/linda-black-is-married.html?src=pm. Retrieved July 30, 2011. 
23. ^ "John Moore (sic) Cabot is dead at 79; U.S. Ambassador to 5 countries". New York Times. February 25, 1981. http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F10716F73C5D0C768EDDAB0894D9484D81. Retrieved March 29, 2008. 
24. ^ "WEDDINGS;Sara R. Snow and Timothy P. Cabot". New York Times. February 11, 1996. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/11/style/weddings-sara-r-snow-and-timothy-p-cabot.html. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
25. ^ Town & Country, Volumes 75-76. Town & Country. February 20, 1919. http://books.google.com/?id=zAZUAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA8&lpg=RA2-PA8&dq=Cabot+bradley#v=onepage&q=cabot%20bradley&f=false. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
26. ^ "Cabot, Elizabeth Rogers Mason, 1834-1920. Diaries, 1859-1906: A Finding Aid". Harvard University Library. July 1985. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00484. Retrieved August 13, 2011. 
27. ^ Who's Who in New England: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men and Women of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. A.N. Marquis & Company. 1916. http://books.google.com/?id=5jk1AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA199&lpg=PA199&dq=cabot,+henry#v=onepage&q=cabot%2C%20henry&f=false. Retrieved August 13, 2011. 
28. ^ Passion for Reality: Paul Cabot and The Boston Mutual Fund. Xlibris Corporation. 2006. ISBN 9781425715021. http://books.google.com/?id=h5HYlLUEIp8C&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=passion+for+reality+paul+cabot#v=onepage&q=henry+b+cabot&f=false. Retrieved August 13, 2011. Pg. 21-23
29. ^ "Paul C. Cabot, 95, Financial Strategist; Began Mutual Funds". New York Times. September 4, 1994. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/04/obituaries/paul-c-cabot-95-financial-strategist-began-mutual-funds.html. Retrieved August 13, 2011. 
30. ^ "Universities: Harvard's Midas". TIME Magazine. April 16, 1965. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,841848,00.html. Retrieved August 13, 2011. 
31. ^ "U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925 > 1922 > Roll 1953 - Certificates: 163726-164099, 08 May 1922-08 May 1922". National Archives. 2006. http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=1174&iid=USM1490_1953-0553&pid=675581&email=. Retrieved August 13, 2011. 
32. ^ "Elise Cabot Forbes Papers: 1875-1960 Offsite Storage Inventory". Massachusetts Historical Society Library. http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0107. Retrieved August 19, 2011. 
33. ^ History of the Town of Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Solomon Lincoln Jr., Caleb Gill, Jr. and Farmer and Brown, Hingham, 1827
34. ^ History of the Town of Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Solomon Lincoln, Jr., Caleb Gill, Jr. and Farmer and Brown, Hingham, Mass., 1827
35. ^ Hall, Alexandra [2009]. The New Brahmins. Boston Magazine
36. ^ Lowell, Delmar R., The Historic Genealogy of the Lowells of America from 1639 to 1899; Rutland VT, The Tuttle Company, 1899; ISBN 9780788415678.
37. ^ John J. Waters, The Otis Family in Provincial and Revolutionary Massachusetts (U. of North Carolina Press, 1968)
38. ^ Robert Moody, The Saltonstall Papers, 1607-1815: Selected and Edited and with Biographies of Ten Members of the Saltonstall Family in Six Generations. Vol. 1, 1607-1789 vol 2 1791-1815 (1975).
39. ^ Malcolm Freiberg, "The Winthrops and Their Papers," Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, 1968, Vol. 80, pp 55-70

External links

• Slate.com: "What's a Boston Brahmin?"
• Cornell University Making of America: "The Professor's Story: Chapter I — The Brahmin Caste of New England", Atlantic Monthly, Jan 1860, p. 91
• Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory of Federal Judges
• Massachusetts Historical Society
• Footage of two Brahmins conversing