
Augustus Lowell (January 15, 1830 – June 22, 1900) was a wealthy Massachusetts industrialist, philanthropist, horticulturist, and civic leader. A member of the
Brahmin
Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
Lowell family, he was born in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
to
John Amory Lowell and his second wife Elizabeth Cabot Putnam. His great-grandfather,
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 Distric ...
, was among the first Judges for the newly created federal courts, appointed by Presidents
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
and
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
. Augustus' elder brother,
Judge John Lowell, would be appointed to hold the same seats held by their great-grandfather, by Presidents
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
and
Rutherford Hayes.
Family
Lowell was amongst the fifth generation in his family to graduate from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
, class of 1850. On June 1, 1854, he married Katherine Bigelow Lawrence (February 21, 1832 - April 1, 1895), the daughter of Hon.
Abbott Lawrence. Both Augustus and Katherine were able to trace their ancestry back through the earliest colonial settlers and founders of New England, in the mid-17th century, and even further back to notable English families of the 12th and 13th centuries.
Augustus and Katherine Lowell had seven children and thus named their ,
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...
, estate, ''Sevenels''. The Lowells lost two of their children during infancy but their surviving children went on to great public prominence. Eldest son
Percival Lowell wrote several books on the Far East and on the planet Mars, and founded the
Lowell Observatory
Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark ...
in
Flagstaff, Arizona
Flagstaff ( ), known locally as Flag, is the county seat of Coconino County, Arizona, in the southwestern United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 76,831.
Flagstaff is the principal city of the Coconino Cou ...
. Their second son,
Abbott Lawrence Lowell
Abbott Lawrence Lowell (December 13, 1856 – January 6, 1943) was an American educator and legal scholar. He was president of Harvard University from 1909 to 1933.
With an "aristocratic sense of mission and self-certainty," Lowell cut a large ...
, succeeded Augustus as Trustee at the
Lowell Institute
The Lowell Institute is a United States educational foundation located in Boston, Massachusetts, providing both free public lectures, and also advanced lectures. It was endowed by a bequest of $250,000 left by John Lowell Jr., who died in 1836. T ...
in 1900, and became President of Harvard College in 1909, serving in that capacity until 1933. One of their daughters, Katharine Lowell, married (1)
(James) Alfred Roosevelt, of the
Long Island clan, and (2) T. James Bowlker, a Boston cotton mill owner. Another daughter,
Elizabeth Lowell Putnam, was a prominent activist for prenatal care. And their youngest daughter,
Amy Lowell, 20 years younger than her brothers, would become the second celebrated poet in the Lowell family.
Career

Augustus was Treasurer of the
Merrimack Manufacturing Company, a
textile mill
Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...
in
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...
, for much of his early career. In 1875, he became Treasurer of the
Boott Cotton Mills, also in Lowell. And in 1883, he was Director of The Winnipiseogee Lake Cotton and Woolen Manufacturing Company. All were positions his father, John Amory, had once held within the same companies. He was also, as of 1878, a director of the
Pacific Mills in
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence is a city located in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Merrimack River. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 89,143. Surrounding communities include Methuen, Massachusetts, Methuen ...
, the largest textile combine of its time.
Lowell was also a member of the Corporation of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
and Vice President of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
. In 1881, Augustus was appointed as the sole Trustee of the Lowell Institute, upon his father's death (Lowell 1899, pp 118–119),
[ Lowell, Delmar. (1899) ''The Historic Genealogy of the Lowells of America from 1639 to 1899,'' Rutland VT: The Tuttle Company. .] a position he would hold for the last 20 years of his life.
See also
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Lowell family
*
First Families of Boston
*
Lowell Institute
The Lowell Institute is a United States educational foundation located in Boston, Massachusetts, providing both free public lectures, and also advanced lectures. It was endowed by a bequest of $250,000 left by John Lowell Jr., who died in 1836. T ...
*
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowell, Augustus
1830 births
1900 deaths
Philanthropists from Massachusetts
Harvard College alumni
Businesspeople from Boston
American people of English descent
Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery
19th-century American philanthropists
19th-century American businesspeople