LOWELL
LOWELL
^^-/^<r^>-e^^
LOWELL, John, jurist, was born in Newbury-
port, Mass., June 17, 1743 ; son of the Rev. John
and Sarah (Champnej') Lowell ; grandson of Eb-
enezer and Elizabeth (Shailer) Lowell arid of
Noah and Sarah (Tunnell) Champney ; great-
grandson of John and
Hannah (Proctor)
Lowell ; greats-grand-
son of John and Mary
Lowell, and a de-
scendant of Percival
Lowell, who came
from Bristol, Eng-
land, in 1639 and
settled in Newbury.
He was graduated
from Harvard, A.B.,
1760, A.M., 1763;
studied law in the
office of Oxenbridge
Thacher, and settled
in practice in New-
bilryport in 1762. He was a representative
in the general court from Newburyport, Mass.,
in 1777 and from Boston in 1779. He was one
of the delegates to the state convention that
framed the constitution of Massachusetts in 1780,
and caused the clause, " All men are born free
and equal, and have certain natural, essential and
inalienable rights, among which may be reckoned
the right of enjoying and defending their lives
and liberties," to be inserted in the preamble
of the constitution of the Commonwealth. He
was a delegate to the Continental congress, 1782-
83, and was appointed by that body one of three
judges of the court of appeals, for the trial of all
appeals from the courts of admiralty of the sev-
eral states. In 1789 he was appointed by Presi-
dent Washington judge of the U.S. district court
of Massachusetts, and in 1801 President Adams
appointed him chief justice of the U.S. circuit
court for the first circuit, which included Maine,
New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Is-
land . He originated the subscription for a pro-
fessorship of natural history at Harvard ; was a
fellow of Harvard, 1784-1802, and received the
degree of LL.D. there in 1792. He was one
of the founders of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences in 1780, and served as one of
its counselors. He was married, Jan. 3, 1767, to
Sarah, daughter of Stephen H. and Elizabeth
(Cabot) Higginson ; she died May 5, 1772. He
was married secondly, May 31, 1774, to Susanna,
daughter of Francis and Mary (Fitch) Cabot, of
Salem, Mass. ; she died March 30, 1777. He was
married thirdly, Dec. 25. 1778, to Rebecca, widow
of James Tyng, and a daughter of Judge James
and Katherine (Graves) Russell, of Charlestown,
Mass. He died at Roxbury, Mass., May 6, 1802.
LOWELL, JohQ, publicist, was born in New-
buryport, Mass., Oct. 6, 1769; son of Judge
John and Sarah (Higginson) Lowell, and grand-
son of the Rev. John and Sarah (Champney)
Lowell and of Stephen IL and Eliziibeth (Cabot)
Higginson. He was graduated from Harvard,
A.B., 1786, A.M., 1789; studied law with his
father, and was admitted to the bar in 1789. He
was married, June 8, 1773, to Rebecca, daughter
of John and Katharine (Greene) Araory, of Boa-
ton. His health began to fail, and in 1808
he retired from practice. He travelled in Eu-
rope, 1803-06, and on his return devoted himself
to literature, writing on politics, agriculture and
theology under the signatures, "Citizen of Mas-
sachusetts," " Massachusetts Lawyer," " Lay-
man " and "Norfolk Farmer." During the war
of 1812 he wrote constantly in support of the
Federal policy, and when the Unitarian contro-
versy broke out he published " An Inquiry into
the Right to Change the Ecclesiastical Constitu-
tion of the Congregational Churches of Massa*
chusetts," which in all probability stopped the
proposed plan for an arbitrary consociation of
churches. He was the first man in the United
States to establish a greenhouse on an ample scale
and on scientific principles. His private charities
were so extended that for many years he em-
ploj'ed an almoner, with whom he placed a sum
annually to be expended in fuel for the poor.
He was a prominent promoter of the establish-
ment of the Massachusetts General Hospital and
of the Provident Institution for Savings : presi-
dent of the board of trustees and a member of
the Massachusetts Agricultural society, and a
patron of the Boston Athenaeum. He was a fel-
low of Harvard, 1810-22, and an overseer, 1823-
27. He received the degree of LL.D. from Har-
vard in 1814. He was a fellow of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of
the Massachusetts Historical society. His polit-
ical pamphlets were published in two volumes, and
in 1901 were still extant. Among the pamphlets
are : Peace without Dishonor, War unthout
Hope , an Inquiry into the Subject of the Chesa-
peake (1807); Candid Comparison of the Wash-
ington and Jefferson Administrations (1810); Di-
plomatic Policy of Mr. Madison Unveiled (1810);
and Mr. Madison's War ; a Dispassionate In-
quiry into the Reasons alleged by Madison for de-
claring an Offensive and Ruinous War against
Great Britain (1812). His theological writings in-
clude Are You a Christian or a Calvinist ? (1815).
He died in Roxbury, Mass., March 12, 1840.
LOWELL, John, founder of the Lowell Insti- tute, was born in Boston, Mass.. May 11, 1799; son of Francis Cabot and Hannah (Jackson) Lowell. After attending the schools of Boston. he went with his father to Europe and entered
