The Lowells of Massachusetts: An American Family

536 Pages·2017·12.58 MB·English

by  Nina Sankovitch

Begin Reading
Table of Contents
About the Author
Photos
Copyright Page

Thank you for buying this St. Martin’s Press ebook.

To receive special offers, bonus content, and info on new releases and other
great reads, sign up for our newsletters.
Or visit us online at
us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup

For email updates on the author, click here.
The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use
only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright
infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you
are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher
at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.
For Jack, forever and in all situations
Dramatis Personae:
The Lowell Family
Sixteenth Century–Seventeenth Century
• Percival Lowle (1571‒1664) married Rebecca (1575‒1645) in 1590s. They
had eight children. Three of their children emigrated with them to the
Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1639: John Lowle (1595‒1647), Richard
(1602–1682), and Joan (1609–1677).
• John Lowle had five children with his wife, Mary, including a son named
John Lowle (1629–1694).
• John Lowle was married three times and had seventeen children. With
his third wife, Naomi Sylvester, he had a child named Ebenezer Lowle
(1675–1711).
Seventeenth Century–Eighteenth Century
• Ebenezer Lowle married Elizabeth Shailer (1675–1761). They had six
children, one of whom was named John Lowle (1704–1767).
• The Reverend John Lowle changed the spelling of the family name to
Lowell and married twice, but had children only with his first wife, Sarah
Champney: two boys, both of whom were named John Lowell. The first son
died in infancy, but the second son, John—“the Old Judge”—(1743–1802)
married three times.
Eighteenth Century–Nineteenth Century
• John “the Old Judge” Lowell
– married Sarah Higginson (1745–1772) in 1767. They had three children:
Anna—“Nancy”—Cabot (1768‒1810), John “The Rebel” Lowell (1769‒
1840) and Sarah —“Sally”—Champney (1771–1851).
– married Susanna Cabot (1754–1777) in 1774. They had two children:
Francis Cabot Lowell (1775–1817) and Susanna “Susan” (1775–1816).
– married Rebecca Russel Tyng (1747–1816) in 1778. They had four children:
Rebecca Lowell (1779–1853), Charles Russell Lowell (1782–1861), Elizabeth
Cutts Lowell (1783‒1864), and Mary (1786‒1789).
• John “The Rebel” Lowell married Rebecca Amory (1771‒1842) in 1793.
They had five children: Rebecca—“Amory”—Amory (1794–1878), John
Amory Lowell (1798‒1881), Anna Cabot (1801–1802), Anna Cabot
(1808‒1894), and Sarah Champney (1810‒1816).
• Francis Cabot Lowell married Hannah Jackson (1776–1815) in 1798. They
had four children: John Lowell, Jr. (1799–1836), Susan Cabot Lowell
(1801‒1827), Francis Cabot Lowell II (1803–1874), and Edward Jackson
Lowell (1805‒1830).
• Rebecca Lowell married Samuel Gardner (1767–1843) in 1797. They had a
son named John Lowell Gardner (1804–1884).
• The Reverend Charles Russell Lowell married Harriet Brackett Spence
(1783–1850) in 1806. They had six children: Charles (“Charlie”) Russell
Lowell (1807–1870), Rebecca—“Little Bec or Becca”—Russell Lowell
(1809–1872), Mary Traill Spence Lowell (1810–1898), William Keith
Spence Lowell (1813–1823), Robert Traill Spence Lowell (1816‒1898),
and James Russell Lowell (1819‒1891).
• Elizabeth Cutts Lowell married Warren Dutton (1774–1857) in 1806. They
had two children: John Lowell Dutton (1807‒1844) and James Russell
Dutton (1810‒1861), who later changed his name to James Dutton Russell.
Nineteenth Century–Twentieth Century
John Amory Lowell married Susan Cabot Lowell (1801‒1827) in 1822. They
had two children: Susan Cabot (1823–1868) and John (1824–1897). After Susan
died, John married Elizabeth Cabot Putnam (1807–1881) in 1829. They had four
children: Augustus Lowell (1830‒1900), Elizabeth Rebecca (1832‒1904), Ellen
Bancroft (1837‒1894), and Sara Putnam (1843–1899).
John Lowell Jr. married Georgina Amory (1806–1830) in 1825. They had two
children: Georgina Lowell (1827–1830) and Anna Lowell (1829‒1830).
• John Lowell Gardner married Catherine Endicott Peabody (1808–1883) in
1826. They had a son: John Lowell Gardner II (1837–1898).
• Charles “Charlie” Russell Lowell married Anna Cabot Jackson (1811–1874)
in 1832. They had four children: Anna Lowell (1833‒1906), Charles Russell
Lowell (1835–1864), Harriet Lowell (1836‒1920), and James Jackson
Lowell (1837–1862).
• Mary Traill Spence Lowell married Samuel Raymond Putnam (1797–1861) in
1832. They had four children: Alfred Putnam (1835‒1855), Georgina Putnam
(1835–1914), William Lowell Putnam (1840‒1861) and Charles Lowell
Putnam (1845‒1847).
• James Russell Lowell married Maria White (1821‒1853) in 1844. They had
four children: Blanche (1845‒1847), Mabel Lowell (1847‒1898), Rose
(1849‒1850), and Walter (1850‒1852).
• James Dutton Russell married Sarah Ellen Hooper (1816–1848) in 1835. They
had four children, including Warren Dutton (1840‒1862).
• Augustus Lowell married Katherine Bigelow Lawrence (1832–1895) in
1854. They had seven children: Percival—“Percy”—Lowell (1855–1916),
Abbott Lawrence Lowell (1856–1943), Katherine “Katie” Lowell (1858–
1925), Elizabeth—“Bessie”—Lowell (1862‒1935) and her twin, Roger
Lowell (1862– 1863), May Lowell (May 1, 1870), and Amy Lowell (1874‒
1925).
• Harriet Lowell married George Putnam in 1860. Eldest among their five
children was William Lowell Putnam II (1861‒1924).
• John Lowell Gardner II married Isabella Stewart (1840‒1924), founder of
the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, in 1860.
• Mabel Lowell married Edward Burnett (1849‒1925) in 1872. They had