Boston Brahmin

Boston Brahmins are wealthy Yankee families characterized by a highly discreet and inconspicuous life style. Based in and around Boston, they form an integral part of the historic core of the East Coast establishment. They are associated with the distinctive Boston Brahmin accent, and with Harvard University.

Contents

Characteristics

The term Brahmin refers to the highest caste in the caste system in India. These were the upper caste people in India involved in conducting worship in India. In America it has been applied to the old, upper crust New England families of British Protestant origin that were extremely influential in the development and leadership of arts, culture, science, politics, trade, and academia. The term was certainly applied partly in jest to characterize the often erudite and pretentious nature of the New England gentry to outsiders. The nature of the Brahmins is summarized in the doggerel "Boston Toast" by Harvard alumnus 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]

Boston's "Brahmin elite" developed a semi-aristocratic value system by the 1840s. Cultivated, urbane, and dignified, a Boston Brahmin was the very essence of enlightened aristocracy.[2][3] The ideal Brahmin was not only wealthy, but displayed suitable personal virtues and character traits. The term was coined in 1861 by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.[4] The Brahmin was expected to cultivate the arts, support charities such as hospitals and colleges, and assume the role of community leader. Although the ideal called on him to transcend commonplace business values, in practice many found the thrill of economic success quite attractive. The Brahmins warned each other against "avarice" and insisted upon "personal responsibility". Scandal and divorce were unacceptable. The total system was buttressed by the strong extended family ties present in Boston society. Young men attended the same prep schools and colleges,[5] and heirs married heiresses. Family not only served as an economic asset, but also as a means of moral restraint. Most belong to the Unitarian or Episcopal churches, although some were Congregationalists or Methodists. Politically they were successively Federalists, Whigs, and Republicans. They were marked by their manners and distinctive elocution, the Boston Brahmin accent, version of the New England accent.

Brahmin families

Many of the Brahmin families trace their ancestry back to the original founders of Boston while others entered New England aristocratic society during the nineteenth century with their profits from commerce and trade or by marrying into established Brahmin families like the Emersons and Winthrops. A few families are listed here.

Adams

Adams family

Amory

Amory family

Bacon

Bacon family

Cabot

Cabot family

Chaffee/Chafee

Chaffee family, originally of Hingham, Massachusetts[33]

Choate

Choate family

Codman

Codman family

Coffin

Coffin family, originally of Newbury and Nantucket

Coolidge

Coolidge family

Cooper

Cushing

Cushing family, originally of Hingham, Massachusetts[34]

Descendant by marriage:

Crowninshield

Crowninshield family

Descendant by marriage:

Dana

Dana family

Delano

Delano family

Dudley

Dudley–Winthrop family

Dwight

New England Dwight family

Eliot

Eliot family

Descendant by marriage:

Emerson

Emerson family

Endicott

Endicott family

Salem:

Dedham:

Forbes

Forbes family

Gardner

Gardner family, originally of Essex county

Holmes

Holmes family

Jackson

Jackson family

Lawrence

Lawrence family

Descendant by marriage: Abbott Lawrence Lowell (1856–1943): President of Harvard University

Lodge

Lodge family

Lowell

Lowell family[36]

Minot

Minot Family

Norcross

Norcross family, original settlers of Watertown, MA

Otis

Otis family,[37]

Parkman

Parkman family

Peabody

Peabody family

Perkins

Perkins family

Phillips

Phillips family

Putnam

Putnam family

Quincy

Quincy family

Rice

Rice family, originally of Sudbury, MA

Saltonstall

Saltonstall family[38]

Sears

Sears family

Tarbox

Tarbox Academic and Political Family.

Thorndike

Thorndike family

Tudor

Tudor family

Weld

Weld family

Wigglesworth

Wigglesworth Family

Winthrop

Winthrop family[39]

See also

References

  1. ^ Andrews, Robert (ed.) (1996). Famous Lines: A Columbia Dictionary of Familiar Quotations. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10218-6. 
  2. ^ Ronald Story, Harvard and the Boston Upper Class: The Forging of an Aristocracy, 1800–1870 (1985).
  3. ^ Paul Goodman, "Ethics and Enterprise: The Values of a Boston Elite, 1800–1860", American Quarterly, Sept 1966, Vol. 18 Issue 3, pp 437–451.
  4. ^ Holmes entitled the first chapter of his 1861 novel Elsie Venner "The Brahmin caste of New England"; he had long been writing about the group without using the term "Brahmin".
  5. ^ Ronald Story, "Harvard Students, The Boston Elite, And The New England Preparatory System, 1800–1870", History of Education Quarterly, Fall 1975, Vol. 15 Issue 3, pp 281–298.
  6. ^ Briggs, L. Vernon. "History and Genealogy of the Cabot Family, 1475-1927". C.E. Goodspeed & Company. http://www.digital-editions.com/CABOT.htm. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
  7. ^ "Person Sheet: Joseph Cabot". Cyberancestors, Wooden Ships. http://www.cyberancestors.com/cummins/ps87/ps87_164.htm. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
  8. ^ "Rebecca Orne (Mrs. Joseph Cabot), 1757". Worcester Art Museum. http://www.worcesterart.org/Collection/Early_American/Artists/badger/rebecca_o/discussion.html. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
  9. ^ "CABOT, George, (1752 - 1823)". Biogrpahical Directory of the United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=c000009. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
  10. ^ a b c "Henry Cabot Lodge Photographs ca. 1860-1945: Guide to the Photograph Collection". Massachusetts Historical Society Library. http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fap044. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
  11. ^ a b "LODGE, Henry Cabot, Jr., (1902 - 1985)". Biogrpahical Directory of the United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=l000394. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
  12. ^ a b "LODGE, John Davis, (1903 - 1985)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000395. Retrieved July 29, 2011. 
  13. ^ "Francis Cabot Lowell (1775-1817) Papers: Guide to the Collection". Massachusetts Historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0251. Retrieved July 30, 2011. 
  14. ^ "Samuel Cabot Papers 1713-1858: Guide to the Microfilm Edition". Massachusetts Historical Society Library. http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0322. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
  15. ^ "Samuel Cabot, Jr. Ledger, 1814-1821". Harvard Business School Library. http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/sfa/samuelcabotjr.htm. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
  16. ^ "Samuel Cabot, M. D". Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 21: 517–520. 1885. JSTOR 25129836. 
  17. ^ "Almy family. Papers, 1649-1967 (inclusive), 1835-1967 (bulk): A Finding Aid.". Harvard University Library, Radcliffe College. November 1976. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00089. Retrieved August 15, 2011. 
  18. ^ Biographical History of Massachusetts: Biographies and Autobiographies of the Leading Men in the State, Volume II. Massachusetts Biographical Society. 1913. http://books.google.com/?id=AS4EAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT66&lpg=PT66&dq=Arthur+Tracy+Cabot+samuel#v=onepage&q=Arthur%20Tracy%20Cabot%20samuel&f=false. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
  19. ^ "Godfrey Lowell Cabot Papers 1870-1962: Guide to the Collection". Massachusetts Historical Society Library. http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0146. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
  20. ^ "Senior trustee, Thomas D. Cabot, dies at 98". MIT News. June 21, 1995. http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1995/cabot-0621.html. Retrieved July 26, 2011. 
  21. ^ "Mabel Brandon and Louis Cabot". New York Times. June 1, 1997. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/01/style/mabel-brandon-and-louis-cabot.html. Retrieved July 30, 2011. 
  22. ^ "Linda Black Is Married". New York Times. January 29, 1989. http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/29/style/linda-black-is-married.html?src=pm. Retrieved July 30, 2011. 
  23. ^ "John Moore (sic) Cabot is dead at 79; U.S. Ambassador to 5 countries". New York Times. February 25, 1981. http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F10716F73C5D0C768EDDAB0894D9484D81. Retrieved March 29, 2008. 
  24. ^ "WEDDINGS;Sara R. Snow and Timothy P. Cabot". New York Times. February 11, 1996. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/11/style/weddings-sara-r-snow-and-timothy-p-cabot.html. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
  25. ^ Town & Country, Volumes 75-76. Town & Country. February 20, 1919. http://books.google.com/?id=zAZUAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA8&lpg=RA2-PA8&dq=Cabot+bradley#v=onepage&q=cabot%20bradley&f=false. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
  26. ^ "Cabot, Elizabeth Rogers Mason, 1834-1920. Diaries, 1859-1906: A Finding Aid". Harvard University Library. July 1985. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~sch00484. Retrieved August 13, 2011. 
  27. ^ Who's Who in New England: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men and Women of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. A.N. Marquis & Company. 1916. http://books.google.com/?id=5jk1AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA199&lpg=PA199&dq=cabot,+henry#v=onepage&q=cabot%2C%20henry&f=false. Retrieved August 13, 2011. 
  28. ^ Passion for Reality: Paul Cabot and The Boston Mutual Fund. Xlibris Corporation. 2006. ISBN 9781425715021. http://books.google.com/?id=h5HYlLUEIp8C&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=passion+for+reality+paul+cabot#v=onepage&q=henry+b+cabot&f=false. Retrieved August 13, 2011. Pg. 21-23
  29. ^ "Paul C. Cabot, 95, Financial Strategist; Began Mutual Funds". New York Times. September 4, 1994. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/04/obituaries/paul-c-cabot-95-financial-strategist-began-mutual-funds.html. Retrieved August 13, 2011. 
  30. ^ "Universities: Harvard's Midas". TIME Magazine. April 16, 1965. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,841848,00.html. Retrieved August 13, 2011. 
  31. ^ "U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925 > 1922 > Roll 1953 - Certificates: 163726-164099, 08 May 1922-08 May 1922". National Archives. 2006. http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/view.aspx?dbid=1174&iid=USM1490_1953-0553&pid=675581&email=. Retrieved August 13, 2011. 
  32. ^ "Elise Cabot Forbes Papers: 1875-1960 Offsite Storage Inventory". Massachusetts Historical Society Library. http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0107. Retrieved August 19, 2011. 
  33. ^ History of the Town of Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Solomon Lincoln Jr., Caleb Gill, Jr. and Farmer and Brown, Hingham, 1827
  34. ^ History of the Town of Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Solomon Lincoln, Jr., Caleb Gill, Jr. and Farmer and Brown, Hingham, Mass., 1827
  35. ^ Hall, Alexandra [2009]. The New Brahmins. Boston Magazine
  36. ^ Lowell, Delmar R., The Historic Genealogy of the Lowells of America from 1639 to 1899; Rutland VT, The Tuttle Company, 1899; ISBN 9780788415678.
  37. ^ John J. Waters, The Otis Family in Provincial and Revolutionary Massachusetts (U. of North Carolina Press, 1968)
  38. ^ Robert Moody, The Saltonstall Papers, 1607-1815: Selected and Edited and with Biographies of Ten Members of the Saltonstall Family in Six Generations. Vol. 1, 1607-1789 vol 2 1791-1815 (1975).
  39. ^ Malcolm Freiberg, "The Winthrops and Their Papers," Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, 1968, Vol. 80, pp 55-70

External links