The term Brahmin is of Indian origin, deriving from Sanskrit and referring to the highest caste in the Indian caste system. In America it has been applied (most likely coined by writer Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., as part of a January 1860 article in the Atlantic Monthly called "The Professor's Story") to the old, upper crust 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.
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 Congregationalist, Unitarian, and sometimes Episcopal 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.
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 prominent families are listed here.
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
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)
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