Boston Brahmin
Boston Brahmins, also called the
First Families of Boston, are the
blue-blooded class of
New Englanders who claim hereditary and cultural descent from the
English Protestants who founded the city of
Boston, Massachusetts and settled
New England. They are part of the historic core of the
East Coast establishment, along with the wealthy families of
New York City and
Philadelphia.
The term
Brahmin comes from the
Indian caste system, of which the
Brahmins are the highest caste. The assertion that they are "Brahmin" is not just a claim of high social class, but also of cultural, intellectual, and spiritual leadership; these roles were performed by the namesake caste that exists in India. The American phrase was likely coined by writer
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., as part of a January 1860 article in the
Atlantic Monthly called "The Professor's Story."
The nature of the Brahmins is summarized in the
doggerel "Boston Toast" by
John Collins Bossidy.:"And this is good old Boston,:The home of the bean and the cod,:Where the
Lowells talk only to
Cabots,:And the Cabots talk only to God."
Today, Brahmin families often refer to themselves as
Yankees. 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
Episcopalian or
Unitarian faiths. According to
Yankee magazine, many Brahmin families intermarried and were perceived as marked by their distinctive elocution, the
Boston Brahmin accent.
Many of the Brahmin families trace their ancestry back to the original founders of Boston while others bought their way into society during the nineteenth century with their profits from commerce and trade or by marrying into established Brahmin families like the Emersons and Winthrops. Some prominent families are listed here.
The Adamses
Adams family*
Samuel Adams (1722–1803)
*
John Adams (1735–1826) &
Abigail Smith Adams (1744–1818)
**
John Quincy Adams (1767–1848)
***
Charles Francis Adams, Sr. (1807–1886)
****
Charles Francis Adams, Jr. (1835–1915)
*****
Charles Francis Adams III (1866–1954)
******
Charles Francis Adams IV (1910–1999)
****
John Quincy Adams (1833–1894)
****
Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)
****
Brooks Adams (1848–1927)
The Cabots
Cabot family*
Susanna Cabot (1754–1777)
*
Godfrey Lowell Cabot (1861–1962)
**
Thomas Dudley Cabot (1897–1995)Descendant by marriage:
*
Francis Cabot Lowell (1775–1817)
*
Lilla Cabot Perry (1848–1933)
*
Henry Cabot Lodge (1850–1924)
**
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (1902–1985)
The Choates
Choate family*
Rufus ChoateThe Cushings
Cushing family*
Caleb Cushing*
Thomas Cushing*
William CushingDescendant by marriage:
*
Albert Cushing ReadThe Crowninshields
Crowninshield family*
Jacob Crowninshield (1770–1808)
**
Arent S. Crowninshield (1843–1908)
*
Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (1772–1851)
*
George Crowninshield*
Frank Crowninshield (1872–1947)Descendant by marriage:
*
William Crowninshield Endicott (1826–1900)
The Danas
Dana family*
Francis Dana*
Richard Henry Dana, Jr.The Delanos
Delano family*
Columbus Delano*
Jane Delano*
Paul DelanoDescendant by marriage:
*
Franklin Delano RooseveltThe Eliots
Eliot family*
Charles William Eliot (1834–1926)
**
Charles Eliot (1859–1897)Descendant by marriage:
*
Charles Eliot Norton (1827–1908)
The Emersons
Emerson family*
Rev. William Emerson (1769–1811) &
Phoebe Bliss Emerson**
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) &
Lydia Jackson EmersonThe Endicotts
Endicott family*
William Crowninshield Endicott (1826–1900)
The Forbeses
Forbes family*
John Murray ForbesDescendant by marriage:
*
John Forbes KerryThe Holmeses
Holmes family*
Abiel Holmes*
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)
**
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935)
The Jacksons
Jackson family*
Edward Jackson (1708–1757) &
Dorothy Quincy Jackson**
Jonathan Jackson (1743–1810) &
Hannah Tracy Jackson***
Charles Jackson***
Patrick Tracy Jackson (1780–1847)
***
Hannah Jackson*
Greling Jackson*
Lydia JacksonDescendant by marriage:
*
John Lowell, Jr. (1799–1836)
**
Augustus Lowell (1830–1901) &
Katherine Bigelow Lowell (b. 1830)
***
Percival Lowell (1855–1916)
***
Abbott Lawrence Lowell (1856–1943)
***
Elizabeth Lowell (d. 1935)
***
Amy Lowell (1874–1925)
**
Edward Jackson Lowell (1845–1894)
***
Guy Lowell (1870–1927)
The Lawrences
Lawrence family*
Samuel Lawrence (Revolutionary, d. 1839)
**
Amos Lawrence (1786–1852)
***
Amos Adams Lawrence (1814–1886)
****
William A. Lawrence (1850–1941)
*****
William Appleton Lawrence*****
Frederic C. Lawrence (1899–1989)
**
Abbott Lawrence (1792–1855)
**
William Lawrence**
Luther Lawrence (d. 1839)Descendant by marriage:
Abbott Lawrence Lowell (1856–1943)
The Lodges
*
Henry Cabot Lodge (1850–1924)
**
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. (1902–1985)
The Lowells
Lowell family*
John Lowell (1743–1802)
**
Charles Russell Lowell, Sr. (1782–1861)
***
Charles Russell Lowell (1835–1864)
***
James Russell Lowell (1819–1891)
****
Robert Spence Traill Lowell, Sr. &
Charlotte Winslow Lowell*****
Robert Spence Traill Lowell, Jr. (1917–1977)
**
Francis Cabot Lowell (1775–1817) &
Hannah Jackson Lowell***
John Lowell, Jr. (1799–1836)
****
Augustus Lowell (1830–1901) &
Katherine Bigelow Lowell (b. 1830)
*****
Percival Lowell (1855–1916)
*****
Abbott Lawrence Lowell (1856–1943)
*****
Elizabeth Lowell (d. 1935)
*****
Amy Lowell (1874–1925)
****
Edward Jackson Lowell (1845–1894)
*****
Guy Lowell (1870–1927)
***
John Amory Lowell (1798–1881)Descendant by marriage:
*
Godfrey Lowell Cabot (1861–1962)
*
William Lowell Putnam (1861–1924)
The Peabodys
Peabody family*
Nathaniel Peabody (1774–1855)
*
George Peabody (1795–1897)
*
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1804–1894)
*
Endicott Peabody (educator) (1857–1944)
**
Endicott Peabody (1920–1997)
The Phillipses
Phillips family*
Samuel Phillips, Jr.*
Dr. John Phillips*
Wendell PhillipsThe Putnams
Putnam family*
James Putnam*
William Lowell Putnam (1861–1924) &
Elizabeth Lowell PutnamThe Quincys
Quincy family*
Edmund Quincy (settled in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1633)
*Josiah Quincy I (1709–1784)
**Josiah Quincy II (1744–1775)
***
Josiah Quincy III (1772–1864)
*
Colonel John QuincyDecent by marriage:
*
Dorothy Quincy Jackson*
Abigail Smith Adams (1744–1818)
**
John Quincy Adams (1767–1848)
The Saltonstalls
Saltonstall family*
Leverett Saltonstall I (1783–1845)
**
Leverett Saltonstall (1892–1979)
The Winthrops
Winthrop family*
John Winthrop, Governor of
Massachusetts Bay Colony (1587/8–1649)
**
John Winthrop, the Younger, Governor of
Connecticut (1606–1676)
***
Fitz-John Winthrop (1637/8–1711)
***
Wait Still Winthrop (1642–1717)
****
Thomas Lindall Winthrop (1760–1841)
*****
Robert Charles Winthrop (1809–1894)
***
John Winthrop, Educator (1714–1779)
*
Aristocracy*
Back Bay*
Boston College*
Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts*
Harvard University*
Ivy League*
Kennedy political family*
List of U.S. political families*
Mrs. Astor and
The Four Hundred*
Social Register*
"The Brahmin Caste of New England," by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., which first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly in 1860, reproduced in Slate.com*
Slate.com: "What's a Boston Brahmin?"*
Cornell University Making of America: "The Professor's Story: Chapter I--The Brahmin Caste of New England", Atlantic Monthly, Jan 1860, p. 91*
Let's Go Boston - Boston Brahmins, a history
