Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/699

 LOWELL 693 LOWELL, the name of a distinguished fam- ily of Massachusetts, descended from Percival Lowell, a merchant who emigrated from Bris- tol, England, in 1639, and settled in Newbury, where he died Jan. 8, 1665. I. John, an American statesman and jurist, born in New- buryport, Mass., June 17, 1743 (O. S.), died in Koxbury, May 6, 1802. He was the son of the Rev. John Lowell, the first minister of New- buryport, and graduated at Harvard college in 1760. He studied law, was admitted to prac- tice in 1762, represented Newburyport in the provincial assembly in 1776, and settled in Boston in 1777. He was elected to the con- vention which framed the constitution of Mas- sachusetts in 1780, took a leading part in its deliberations, and was a member of the com- mittee by which the constitution was drafted and reported. He inserted in the bill of rights the clause declaring that u all men are born free and equal," for the purpose, as he avowed at the time, of abolishing slavery in Massa- chusetts ; and after the adoption of the con- stitution he offered through the newspapers his services as a lawyer to any person held as a slave who desired to establish a right to free- dom under that clause. The position main- tained by him on this question was decided to be constitutional by the supreme court of the state in 1783, since which time slavery has had no legal existence in Massachusetts. In 1781 he was elected a member of the continental congress, and in 1782 was appointed by that body one of the three judges of the court for the trial of appeals from the courts of admi- ralty in the several states. In 1784 he was selected as one of the commissioners to estab- lish the boundary between Massachusetts and New York. In 1789 President Washington appointed him judge of the district court of Massachusetts, and on the new organization of the United States courts in 1801 he was ap- pointed by President Adams chief justice of the first circuit. He was one of the founders of the American academy, and for 18 years was a member of the corporation of Harvard college. II. John, an American lawyer and political writer, son of the preceding, born in Newburyport, Oct. 6, 1769, died in Boston, March 12, 1840. He graduated at Harvard college in 1786, studied law, was admitted to the bar before he 'was 20 years of age, and rose rapidly to the highest rank in the pro- fession. In 1803 he visited Europe, where he remained three years, and after his return de- voted himself chiefly to politics. Though he always refused to accept office, few men of his day in Massachusetts had so strong an influence on public opinion. His writings in the. news- papers and his pamphlets, of which he pub- lished 25, were of eminent service to the fed- eral party. From 1810 to 1828 he was the leading member of the corporation of Har- vard university. He was one of the found- ers of the Massachusetts general hospital, and of the Boston Athenaeum, savings bank, and hospital life insurance company. For, many years he was president of the Massachusetts agricultural society. III. Francis Cabot, an American merchant, brother of the prece- ding, born in Newburyport, April 7, 1775, died in Boston, Sept. 2, 1817. In 1810 he visited England on account of his health ; and on his return home, shortly after the commencement of the war of 1812, he became so strongly convinced of the practicability of introducing the cotton manufacture into the -United States that he proposed to his kinsman, P. T. Jackson, to make the experiment on an ample scale. (See JACKSON, PATRICK TRACY.) The result of his project was the establishment of manufac- tures at Waltham, and the foundation of the city of Lowell, which was named after him. He visited Washington in 1816, and his per- sonal influence with leading members of con- gress contributed largely to the introduction into the tariff act of that year of the protective clause which gave an impetus to the cotton manufacture in the United States. IV. John, jr., founder of the Lowell institute at Boston, son of the preceding, born in Boston, May 11, 1799, died in Bombay, March 4, 1836. He re- ceived his early education at the Edinburgh high school, and entered Harvard college in 1813 ; but after two years' study, his health being impaired, he made in 1816 and 1817 two voyages to India, the first to Batavia, returning by Holland and England, and the second to Calcutta. After his return he engaged for a few years in commerce, but in 1830-'31 his wife and two daughters, his only children, died in the course of a few months, and for the rest of his life he devoted himself to travel. He spent one year in traversing the United States, and then travelled through Europe, Asia Mi- nor, Egypt, the countries on the upper Nile, Arabia, and Hindostan. His main object was to penetrate the Chinese empire from the In- dian frontier. But he was prostrated by dis- ease when he reached India, and died three weeks after his arrival. By his will, made while in Egypt amid the ruins of /Thebes, he bequeathed about $250,000 for the maintenance in Boston of annual courses of free public lec- tures on religion, science, literature, and the arts. The Lowell institute, as it is called, went into operation in the winter of 1839-'40, and has been highly successful. V. Charles, an American clergyman, son of Judge John Low- ell, born in Boston, Aug. 15, 1782, died in Cambridge, Jan. 20, 1861. He received his early education at Medford and at Andover academy, graduated at Harvard college in 1800, and began the study of law, which he soon abandoned for that of theology. In 1802 he visited Europe, and studied for two years at Edinburgh, and afterward travelled on the continent, returning to the United States in 1805. On Jan. 1, 1806, he was settled as minister of the West (Congregational) church in Boston, retaining its pastorate until his death, a period of fifty-five years. In 1837-