Boston Brahmin

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Boston Brahmins, also called the First Families of Boston, are the 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.

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[edit] Characteristics

The term Brahmin comes from the Indian caste system word meaning 'The Purest Person'; not only one who possessed the wisdom to speak to the gods, but also had a sharp acumen and was thus accorded an elite status in society. Similarly, The "Boston Brahmin" is not just a claim of high social class, but also of cultural and intellectual leadership. While the origins of the Indian Brahmin could be traced to the period between 1000 BCE to 200 BCE, the Boston Brahmin had most likely originated in the early part of the 18th Century. Unlike the Indian Brahmins, who laid the Foundations of Hinduism with well-documented scriptures that are practised today, the Boston Brahmins did not exert a similar influence on Christianity. 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."[1]

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.

[edit] Related Terms

[edit] W.A.S.P.

W.A.S.P. - Meaning "White Anglo-Saxon Protestant", this term simply describes American Protestants whose heritage is primarily English, Scotch Irish or similar. Although the acronym can be taken at face value (in which in would apply to rich and poor alike), the term connotes of affluence. The adjective "WASPy" always has this connotation.

The Roosevelt family is certainly "WASPy", but are strongly associated with the New York City area and would not be called Boston Brahmin.

[edit] Yankee

Yankee - In its narrowest sense, this term means a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant with ancestry going back to Colonial New England. Yankees who lack the affluence of the Boston Brahmin are called "Swamp Yankees" (originally a slur, now largely used jocularly by those who fit this decsription). Often, "Mountain Yankee" or something else would be more appropriatem but the term "Swamp Yankee" is the only one heard with frequency.

In summary, all Yankees are W.A.S.P.s but not all W.A.S.P.s are Yankees. All Boston Brahmin are Yankees but not all Yankees are Boston Brahmin.

[edit] Brahmin families

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.

[edit] The Adamses

Adams family

[edit] The Cabots

Cabot family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] The Choates

Choate family

[edit] The Cushings

Cushing family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] The Crowninshields

Crowninshield family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] The Danas

Dana family

[edit] The Delanos

Delano family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] The Eliots

Eliot family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] The Emersons

Emerson family

[edit] The Endicotts

Endicott family

[edit] The Forbeses

Forbes family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] The Holmeses

Holmes family

[edit] The Jacksons

Jackson family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] The Lawrences

Lawrence family

Descendant by marriage: Abbott Lawrence Lowell (1856–1943)

[edit] The Lodges

[edit] The Lowells

Lowell family

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] The Peabodys

Peabody family

[edit] The Perkinses

Perkins family

[edit] The Phillipses

Phillips family

[edit] The Putnams

Putnam family

[edit] The Quincys

Quincy family

  • Edmund Quincy (settled in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1633)
  • Josiah Quincy I (1709–1784)
  • Colonel John Quincy

Descendant by marriage:

[edit] The Saltonstalls

Saltonstall family

[edit] The Winthrops

Winthrop family

[edit] The Welds

Weld family


[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Andrews, Robert (ed.) (1996). Famous Lines: A Columbia Dictionary of Familiar Quotations. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10218-6.

[edit] External links

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