Lowell family papers 1728-1878 Guide to the Collection

Table of Contents Collection Summary Biographical Sketch Sources Collection Description Related Materials Acquisition Information Organization Detailed Description of the Collection Preferred Citation Access Terms

Collection Summary

Biographical Sketch

John Lowell was born in 1769, the eldest son of John Lowell (1743-1802) and Sarah Higginson. Known as the “Old Judge”, the elder John Lowell was a lawyer and judge and was active in the politics of post-revolution United States. He is regarded as the patriarch of the Lowell family in Boston. Among his other children was Francis Cabot Lowell, the businessman for whom Lowell, Mass. is named.

John Lowell was educated at Andover and Harvard, excelling in public speaking and classics. After studying in the law offices of his father, Lowell was admitted to the bar at age 21. Eventually taking over his father’s accounts, Lowell began a successful legal career. In 1793 he married Rebecca Amory (1771-1842). Together they had five children: Rebecca Amory (1794-1873), John Amory (1798-1881), Anna Cabot (1801-1802), Anna Cabot (1808-1894), and Sarah Higginson (1810-1816). Lowell was an ardent Federalist and contributed in writing as a pamphleteer.

In 1801, Lowell defended a man named Jason Fairbanks, who was accused of killing a woman named Betsey Fales. Despite a passionate defense from Lowell, Fairbanks was found guilty and executed. The verdict took a great toll on Lowell and in 1803, having settled the accounts at his firm, he retired from law. Needing a respite, Lowell traveled throughout Europe for the next three years.

When Lowell returned, refreshed from his travels, he remained active in local and national affairs. A life-long interest in agriculture led him to become a member and president of the Massachusetts Agricultural Society. He was also a supporter and president of the Boston Athenaeum. Lowell was also a Harvard fellow, continuing a family tradition of involvement at Harvard begun by his father and continued long after his death. Maintaining his earlier support of the Federalists, Lowell wrote extensively in opposition to James Monroe and the events leading to the War of 1812, as well as against the French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte. Lowell’s health deteriorated rapidly in his last years, though he was alive to see the opening of the Lowell Institute in 1839. He died at his home in 1840.

Sources

Greenslet, Ferris. The Lowells and Their Seven Worlds. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1946.

Lowell, Delmar R. The Historic Genealogy of the Lowells of America from 1639-1899. Rutland, VT: The Tuttle Co., 1899.

Weeks, Edward. The Lowells and Their Institute. Boston: Little, Brown, 1966.

Collection Description

The Lowell Family Papers consist of six boxes and sixteen volumes in cases that span the years 1728-1878. The collection is divided into three series: Family Correspondence, Bound Materials, and Printed Materials.

A large portion of the collection consists of letters sent and received by John and Rebecca Amory Lowell, which detail their courtship, married life, and travel. Another large portion of the collection is correspondence received by Anna Cabot Lowell, which details her private life with friends and family and her involvement in charitable work. The collection also contains a limited amount of correspondence from other family members, including a letter from Aaron Burr to Francis Cabot Lowell, 1802.

In addition, the collection contains bound materials of the Lowell and Sohier families. These consist of diaries detailing travel throughout Europe; practice books containing mathematical, nautical, and surveying problems; a letterbook by Anne MacVicar Grant; Sunday school lesson notebooks from a variety of subjects; and account books of both personal and professional transactions. The school lesson notebooks were most likely kept by Rebecca Amory Lowell and her sister Anna Cabot Lowell for teaching purposes. They both taught Sunday school at the First Church of Roxbury for forty and fifty years respectively. Lastly, the collection contains clippings as well as miscellaneous materials kept by the family.

Related Materials

The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) holds the following collections related to the Lowell Family papers:

Anna Cabot Lowell diaries, 1818-1894. Ms. N-1512.

John Lowell papers, 1808-1851. Ms. N-1605.

Putnam-Jackson-Lowell family papers, 1769-1922. Ms. N-759.

Acquisition Information

Deposited by Mrs. Lewis F. Perry, November 1968

Organization of the Collection

The collection is organized into the following series:

Detailed Description of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Lowell family papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.