John Lowell

John Lowell (June 17, 1743 – May 6, 1802) was a delegate to the Congress of the Confederation, a judge of the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture under the Articles of Confederation, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and a United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Court for the First Circuit.

Early life

Born on June 17, 1743, in Newburyport, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America, Lowell graduated from Harvard University in 1760 and read law in 1763. He served in the Massachusetts militia as a major in 1776 during the American Revolutionary War. Of the 1100 privateering claims handled in Boston, Lowell was lead counsel in approximately 700, and assistant counsel in half the rest. From his practice of the law and shipping ventures John was able to acquire a large estate and a considerable sum of money throughout his lifetime and despite not being from the richest family growing up he was able to raise the value of the Lowell name.

Highlights of his congressional service

During Lowell's service, the Congress of the Confederation 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."

Federal judicial service

Lowell was nominated by President George Washington on September 24, 1789, to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, to a new seat authorized by . In 1787, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.

Personal life

Lowell's ancestor, Percival, a merchant, came from Bristol, England, to Newbury, province of Massachusetts Bay, in 1639, and his father, John, was the first minister of Newburyport, where he officiated from 1726 to 1767.

Lowell married his first wife, Sarah Higginson (January 14, 1745 – May 5, 1772), sister of Stephen Higginson, on January 8, 1767. They had three children, including John Lowell Jr. (1769–1840). John Lowell Jr.'s descendants include 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 A. Lawrence Lowell, and poet Amy Lowell. Lowell's wife Sarah died on May 5, 1772.

Lowell married his second wife, Susanna Cabot (1754–1777), on May 31, 1774. Together they had two children, including Francis Cabot Lowell (1775–1817), a businessman and namesake of Lowell, Massachusetts. 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.

On December 25, 1778, Lowell married his third wife, Rebecca Russell (1747–1816). They had four children, including Charles Russell Lowell Sr. (1782–1861). Charles Russell's son was the American poet James Russell Lowell; his grandsons included the American Civil War figure Charles Russell Lowell and Boston banker and family lawyer William Lowell Putnam. His great-great-grandson was the poet Robert Lowell.

Other notable children of the daughters and granddaughters of John Lowell include mathematician Julian Coolidge, and writer and biographer Ferris Greenslet.

Publications Pietas et Gratulatio, a poem (1761) Oration on James Bowdoin the elder (delivered January 26, 1795), Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, v. 2 (prefix)