The Cabot family was part of the

Boston Brahmin The Boston Brahmins or Boston elite are members of Boston's traditional upper class. They are often associated with Harvard University; Anglicanism; and traditional Anglo-American customs and clothing. Descendants of the earliest English coloni ...

, also known as the "first families of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

History

Family origin

The Boston Brahmin Cabot family descended from John Cabot (born 1680 in

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

, a British Crown Dependencies and one of the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

), who emigrated from his birthplace to

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

in 1700. The Cabot family emigrated from Jersey, where the family name can be traced back to at least 1274. In Latin, ''caput'' means "head", and the Rev. George Balleine writes that in Jersey the "cabot" is a small fish that seems all head. In French, the basis of the Jèrriais language, "cabot" means a dog, or a military corporal, "caboter" is to navigate along the coast, and "cabotin" means "theatrical".

Rise to prominence

John Cabot (born 1680

Isle of Jersey An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * Is ...

) and his son, Joseph Cabot (born 1720 in Salem), became highly successful merchants, operating a fleet of privateers carrying opium, rum, and slaves. Shipping during the eighteenth century was the lifeblood of most of Boston's first families. Joseph's sons, Joseph Cabot Jr. (born 1746 in Salem),

George Cabot George Cabot (1751 or 1752April 18, 1823) was an American merchant, seaman, and politician from Massachusetts. He represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate and was the presiding officer of the infamous Hartford Convention. During and after hi ...

(born 1752 in Salem), and Samuel Cabot (born 1758 in Salem), Pg. 192 left Harvard to work their way through shipping, furthering the family fortune and becoming extraordinarily wealthy. Two of the earliest U.S. Supreme Court cases, ''Bingham v. Cabot'' (1795) and ''Bingham v. Cabot'' (1798), involved family shipping disputes. In 1784, Samuel Cabot relocated to Boston.

George Cabot

George Cabot and his descendants went into politics.

became a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, and was appointed but declined to be first

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

. His great-grandson,

Henry Cabot Lodge Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850 November 9, 1924) was an American Republican politician, historian, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1924 and is best known for his positions on foreign policy. ...

(born 1850 in Boston) was also a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts from 1893 until his death in 1924. In the 1916 election, Henry Cabot Lodge defeated

John F. Fitzgerald John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald (February 11, 1863 – October 2, 1950) was an American Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts. He served as a U.S. Representative and Mayor of Boston. He also made unsuccessful runs for the United ...

, former mayor of Boston and the maternal grandfather of John, Robert and Edward Kennedy. George's great-great-great grandson,

Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (July 5, 1902 – February 27, 1985) was an American diplomat and Republican United States senator from Massachusetts in both Senate seats in non-consecutive terms of service and a United States ambassador. He was considered ...

(born 1902 in

Nahant Nahant is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,334 at the 2020 census, which makes it the smallest municipality by population in Essex County. With just of land area, it is the smallest municipality by are ...

) was also U.S. Senator from Massachusetts from 1937 to 1943 and from 1946 to 1953, when he lost to

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

in the 1952 Senate election. Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. went on to be the U.S. Ambassador to

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

under President Eisenhower and ambassador to South Vietnam under President Kennedy. He was 1960 vice presidential candidate for

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

against Kennedy–

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

. George's other great-great-great grandson,

John Davis Lodge John Davis Lodge (October 20, 1903 – October 29, 1985) was an American film actor, lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was the 79th governor of Connecticut from 1951 to 1955, and later served as U.S. ambassador to Spain, Argentina, and Swit ...

(born 1903 in Washington, D.C.) was the 64th Governor of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

. George's great-great-great-great grandson, George Cabot Lodge II (born 1927, son of Henry Cabot Lodge) ran against the successful Edward M. Kennedy in the

United States Senate special election in Massachusetts, 1962 The 1962 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts was held on November 6, 1962. The election was won by Ted Kennedy, the youngest brother of then- President John F. Kennedy, who would remain Senator until his death in 2009. As of , ...

Samuel Cabot

From John Cabot's grandson, Samuel Cabot's side,

Samuel Cabot Jr. Samuel Cabot Jr. (December 21, 1784 – September 2, 1863) was an American businessman in the early-nineteenth-century China Trade, a member of the wealthy and prominent Cabot family. Early life Cabot was born in Boston, Massachusetts on Decemb ...

(born 1784 in Boston) furthered the family fortune by combining the first family staples of working in shipping and marrying money. In 1812, he married Eliza Perkins, daughter of merchant king Colonel Thomas Perkins.

Samuel Cabot III Samuel Cabot III (September 20, 1815 – April 13, 1885) was an American physician, surgeon, and ornithologist, as well as a member of the wealthy and prominent Cabot family. Early life Samuel Cabot III was born in Boston, Massachusetts on Sept ...

(born 1815 in Boston) was an eminent surgeon, whose daughter, Lilla Cabot Perry, was a noted Impressionist artist, and son,

Godfrey Lowell Cabot Godfrey Lowell Cabot (February 26, 1861 – November 2, 1962) was an American industrialist who founded the Cabot Corporation. Early life Godfrey Lowell Cabot was born in Boston, Massachusetts and attended Boston Latin School. His father was S ...

(born 1861 in Boston) founded

Cabot Corporation Cabot Corporation is an American specialty chemicals and performance materials company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company operates in over 20 countries with 36 manufacturing plants, eight research and development facilities and ...

, the largest

carbon black Carbon black (subtypes are acetylene black, channel black, furnace black, lamp black and thermal black) is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of coal and coal tar, vegetable matter, or petroleum products, including fuel oil, fluid ...

producer in the country, used for inks and paints. Godfrey's son,

John Moors Cabot John Moors Cabot (December 11, 1901 – February 24, 1981) was an American diplomat and U.S. Ambassador to five nations during the Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy administrations. He also served as Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-Americ ...

(born 1901 in Cambridge), a great-great-grandson of Samuel, was a U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, Colombia,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

during the

Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

and

Kennedy administration John F. Kennedy's tenure as the 35th president of the United States, began with his inauguration on January 20, 1961, and ended with his assassination on November 22, 1963. A Democrat from Massachusetts, he took office following the 1960 ...

. Another great-great grandson, Paul Codman Cabot (born 1898Pg. 21–23 in Brookline), was cofounder of America's first mutual fund and "Harvard's ndowmentMidas".

Boston Toast

The widely known "Boston Toast" by Holy Cross alumnus John Collins Bossidy features the Cabot family:

''Kabotchnik v. Cabot''

In 1923, Harry H. Kabotchnik and his wife Myrtle petitioned to have his family name changed to Cabot. Some prominent Cabots of Boston (Judge Cabot of the Boston Juvenile Court; Stephen Cabot, headmaster of St. George's School, Middletown, R.I.; Dr. Hugh Cabot, dean of Michigan University Medical School) along with the Pennsylvania branch of the Order of the Founders and Patriots, the

Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...

, and the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania counter-sued to prevent the change. Judge Charles Young Audenried eventually ruled for the Kabotchniks, as there was "nothing in the law to prevent it."

Notable members

* John Cabot (b. 1680 in Isle of Jersey) - successful ship merchant ** Elizabeth Cabot (b. 1715), married Stephen H. Higginson *** Stephen Higginson (b. 1743) *** Sarah Higginson (b. 1745), first wife of

John Lowell John Lowell (June 17, 1743 – May 6, 1802) was a delegate to the Congress of the Confederation, a Judge of the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture under the Articles of Confederation, a United States district judge of the United States Distr ...

**** John Lowell Jr. (b. 1769) ** Francis Cabot (b. 1717 in Salem) – ship merchant *** Susanna Cabot (b. 1754), second wife of John Lowell ****

Francis Cabot Lowell Francis Cabot Lowell (April 7, 1775 – August 10, 1817) was an American businessman for whom the city of Lowell, Massachusetts, is named. He was instrumental in bringing the Industrial Revolution to the United States. Early life Francis Cabot ...

(b. 1775 in Newburyport) – cofounded Harvard's

Porcellian Club The Porcellian Club is an all-male final club at Harvard University, sometimes called the Porc or the P.C. The year of founding is usually given as 1791, when a group began meeting under the name "the Argonauts",, p. 171: source for 1791 origins ...

, helped introduce power loom in U.S. ** Joseph Cabot (b. 1720 in Salem) – successful ship merchant *** Capt. John Cabot (b. 1745 in Salem) – cofounded America's first cotton mill, John Cabot House namesake *** Joseph Cabot Jr. (b. 1746 in Salem) – ship merchant ***

(b. 1752 in Salem) – successful ship merchant, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, appointed but declined to be first

**** Henry Cabot Pg. 568 (b. 1783) ***** Anna Cabot (b. 1821) ******

(b. 1850 in Boston) – U.S. Senator from Massachusetts and ardent opponent of

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

*******

George Cabot Lodge George Cabot "Bay" Lodge (October 10, 1873 – August 21, 1909) was an American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life Lodge was born in Boston on October 10, 1873, and grew up at his parents' home in Nahant, Massachusett ...

(b. 1873 in Boston) – poet ********

(b. 1902 in Nahant, MA) – U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, incumbent 1952 U.S. Senate candidate from Massachusetts against

, U.S. Ambassador to

and South Vietnam, and 1960 vice presidential candidate for

against Kennedy–

********* George Cabot Lodge II (b. 1927) – Harvard Business School professor, 1962 U.S. Senate candidate from Massachusetts against Edward M. Kennedy ********

(b. 1903 in Washington, D.C.) – 64th Governor of

*** Francis Cabot (b. 1757 in Salem)"Francis Cabot"
RootsWeb. Accessed January 7, 2016. **** Mary Ann Cabot (b. 1784) - married her first cousin, Nathaniel Cabot Lee (b. 1772),"Nathaniel Cabot Lee"
RootsWeb. Accessed August 15, 2018. son of Joseph Lee and Elizabeth Cabot (daughter of Joseph Cabot) ***** John Clarke Lee (b. 1804 in Boston) ****** George Cabot Lee (b. 1830 in Boston) *******

Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt Alice Hathaway Roosevelt (; July 29, 1861 – February 14, 1884) was an American socialite and the first wife of President Theodore Roosevelt. Two days after giving birth to their only child, she died from undiagnosed Bright's disease. Early lif ...

(b. 1861), first wife of President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

**** Frederick Cabot (b. 1786 in Salem) ***** Francis Cabot (b. 1825 in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

)"Frederick Cabot"
RootsWeb. Accessed January 7, 2016. ****** Francis Higginson Cabot (b. 1859 in Boston)"Francis Cabot"
RootsWeb. Accessed January 7, 2016. ******* Francis Higginson Cabot (b. 1896) — vice president, Stone & Webster ******** Francis Higginson Cabot (b. 1925 in New York City) — noted gardener and horticulturistFox, Margalit
"Francis H. Cabot, 86, Dies; Created Notable Gardens"
''The New York Times'' (November 27, 2011): "A son of the New York branch of one of Boston's storied families ..." *** Samuel Cabot (b. 1758 in Salem) — successful ship merchant ****

(b. 1784 in Boston) — shipping businessman *****

(b. 1815 in Boston) – eminent surgeon ******

Lilla Cabot Lilla Cabot Perry (born Lydia Cabot; January 13, 1848 – February 28, 1933) was an American artist who worked in the American Impressionist style, rendering portraits and landscapes in the free form manner of her mentor, Claude Monet. Perry was ...

(b. 1848 in Boston) – among first American impressionist artists, contributor to Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ******

Samuel Cabot IV Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bib ...

(b. 1850) – chemist, founder of

Valspar The Valspar Corporation is an American manufacturer of paint and coatings based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. With over 11,000 employees in 26 countries and a company history that spans two centuries, it was the sixth largest paint and coating corpor ...

's Cabot Stains ****** Arthur Tracy Cabot (b. 1852 in Boston) – progressive surgeon ******

(b. 1861 in Boston) – founder of

, philanthropist who sponsored the restoration of the Harvard

Museum of Comparative Zoology A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

's complete

Kronosaurus ''Kronosaurus'' ( ; meaning "lizard of Kronos") is a potentially dubious genus of extinct short-necked pliosaur. With an estimated length of , it was among the largest pliosaurs, and is named after the leader of the Greek Titans, Kronos. It ...

skeleton. ******* James Jackson Cabot (b. 1891 in Cambridge) *******

Thomas Dudley Cabot Thomas Dudley Cabot (May 1, 1897 – June 8, 1995) was an American businessman. He also became U.S. Department of State's Director of Office of International Security Affairs. Early life Cabot was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His father wa ...

(b. 1897 in Cambridge) – businessman and philanthropist,

Cabot House Cabot House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. Cabot House derives from the merger in 1970 of Radcliffe College's South and East House, which took the name South House (also known as "SoHo"), until the name ...

namesake ******** Louis Wellington Cabot – businessman, philanthropist, former chairman of Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, married Mabel Hobart ******** Linda Cabot Black – cofounder of

Opera Company of Boston The Opera Company of Boston was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts, that was active from the late 1950s through the 1980s. The company was founded by American conductor Sarah Caldwell in 1958 under the name Boston Opera Gr ...

and Opera New England *********

Sophie Cabot Black Sophie Cabot Black (born 1958) is an American prize-winning poet who has taught creative writing at Columbia University. Early life Cabot was born in New York, New York and raised on a small farm in Wilton, Connecticut. Pg. 34 Her father is Davi ...

(b. 1958) – poet *******

(b. 1901 in Cambridge) – U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, Colombia,

, and

during the

and

s ******** Lewis Cabot ******* Eleanor Cabot –

Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate The Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate is a nonprofit country house and garden ground museum in Canton, Massachusetts. It is operated by The Trustees of Reservations. The grounds are open every day, sunrise to sunset, without charge. History In 1902, ...

namesake *****

Edward Clarke Cabot Edward Clarke Cabot (August 17, 1818 – January 5, 1901) was an American architect and artist. Life and career Edward Clarke Cabot was born April 17, 1818, in Boston, Massachusetts to Samuel Cabot Jr. and Eliza (Perkins) Cabot. He was the ...

(b. 1818) — architect and artist ***** Elizabeth Cabot Lee (b. 1819 in Boston) — philanthropist and co-sponsor of the

Harvard Museum of Natural History The Harvard Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum housed in the University Museum Building, located on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It features 16 galleries with 12,000 speciments drawn from the col ...

's famous

Glass Flowers The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants (or simply the ''Glass Flowers'') is a collection of highly realistic glass botanical models at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Created by Leopold and Rudo ...

exhibit. Widely known as Elizabeth C. Ware (her married name). *****

James Elliot Cabot James Elliot Cabot (June 18, 1821 – January 16, 1903) was an American philosopher and author, born in Boston to Samuel Cabot, Jr., and Eliza Cabot. James (known by his family and friends as "Elliot") had six brothers: Thomas Handasyd Cabot (b. ...

(b. 1821 in Boston) — philosopher and author ******

Richard Clarke Cabot Richard Clarke Cabot (May 21, 1868 – May 7, 1939) was an American physician who advanced clinical hematology, was an innovator in teaching methods, and was a pioneer in social work. Early life and education Richard Clarke Cabot was born May 21 ...

(b. 1868 in Brookline, Massachusetts) — clinical physician, social work pioneer ****** Hugh Cabot (b. 1872 in

Beverly Farms Beverly Farms is a neighborhood comprising the eastern part of the city of Beverly, Massachusetts, in Massachusetts's North Shore region, about 20 miles north of Boston. Beverly Farms is an oceanfront community with a population of about 3,500, ...

) ******* Hugh Cabot (b. 1905 in Boston) ******** Hugh Cabot III (b. 1930 in Boston) — painterEngle, Kathy
"Internationally known Western artist Hugh Cabot dies at 75"
''Green Valley News'' (May 27, 2005): "Born in Boston, the son of a decidedly patrician family ..." ***** Walter Channing Cabot (b. 1829) ****** Henry Bromfield Cabot (b. 1861 in Boston) – lawyer ******* Paul Codman Cabot (b. 1898 in Brookline) ******* Charles Codman Cabot (b. 1900 in Brookline) — associate judge of the

Supreme Court of Massachusetts The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously functi ...

, Boston Bar Association president ******

Elise Cabot Forbes Elise or Elyse may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Elise, the unidentified person to whom Beethoven dedicated ''Für Elise'' * ''Elise'', a 1979 speculative fiction novel by Ken Grimwood * ''Élise ou la vraie vie'' (''Elise, or the Real Life' ...

(b. 1869) — maternal grandmother of Michael Paine **** Eliza Lee Cabot Follen (b. 1787 in Boston) – abolitionist and writer

References

External links

Papers, 1786–1945

Schlesinger Library The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America is a research library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. According to Nancy F. Cott, the Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Director ...

, Radcliffe Institute,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

The Cabot Family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabot Family American people of French descent Business families of the United States Families from Massachusetts People from Boston Political families of the United States