John Lowell
| John Lowell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Chief Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the First Circuit | |
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In office February 20, 1801 – May 6, 1802 |
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| Appointed by | John Adams |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts | |
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In office September 26, 1789 – February 20, 1801 |
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| Appointed by | George Washington |
| Preceded by | Seat established |
| Succeeded by | John Davis |
| Delegate from Massachusetts to the Congress of the Confederation | |
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In office 1782–1783 |
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| Preceded by | James Lovell |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Higginson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
June 17, 1743 Newburyport, Massachusetts Bay, British America |
| Died | May 6, 1802 (aged 58) Roxbury, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Political party | Federalist |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) |
| Signature |  |
John Lowell (June 17, 1743 in Newburyport, Massachusetts – May 6, 1802 in Roxbury, Massachusetts) was an American lawyer, selectman, jurist, delegate to the Congress of the Confederation and federal judge. Known within his family as “The Old Judge,” distinguishing him from the proliferation of Johns, John Lowell is considered to be the patriarch of the Boston Lowells. He, with each of his three wives, established three distinct lines of the Lowell clan that, in turn, propagated celebrated poets, authors, jurists, educators, merchants, bankers, national heroes, activists, innovators and philanthropists. John Lowell, his descendants, and many other well established New England families defined American life in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
John Lowell's ancestor, Percival, a merchant, came from Bristol, England, to Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1639, and his father, John, was the first minister of Newburyport, where he officiated 1726-67. The minister married Sarah Champney, and “The Old Judge” was their second son, born in Newburyport. He was the only child to survive infancy. John was among the third generation in the Lowell family to be born in the New World and the second generation to attend Harvard College. Like his father before him, Lowell graduated at the age of 17, in 1760. John was admitted to the bar in 1763 and soon established his law practice in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Lowell married his first wife, Sarah (January 14, 1745 – May 5, 1772), sister of Stephen Higginson and sister-in-law of Elizabeth Cabot, on January 8, 1767. John and Sarah had three children, Anna Cabot (1768–1810), John Lowell, Jr. (1769–1840) and Sarah Champney Lowell (1771–1851). John the younger, known within his family as The Boston Rebel, and later as The Roxbury Farmer for his love of agriculture and support of botanical studies, produced the clan line that included 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 Abbott Lawrence Lowell, and poet Amy Lowell. Lowell's wife Sarah died on May 5, 1772.
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