Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/61

 LOWELL

LOWELL

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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