Boston Brahmin

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A 1768 illustration of Boston Common in Colonial Boston, home to many Boston Brahmin. 1768 BostonCommon byChristianRemick.png
A 1768 illustration of Boston Common in Colonial Boston, home to many Boston Brahmin.

The Boston Brahmins, or Boston elite, are members of Boston's historic upper class. [1] From the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, they were often associated with a cultivated New England accent, [2] Harvard University, [3] Anglicanism, [4] and traditional British-American customs and clothing. Descendants of the earliest English colonists are typically considered to be the most representative of the Boston Brahmins. [5] [6] They are considered White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs). [7] [8] [9]

Contents

Etymology

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., who coined the phrase "Brahmin" in a January 1860 article he authored for The Atlantic Monthly. Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr c1879.jpg
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., who coined the phrase "Brahmin" in a January 1860 article he authored for The Atlantic Monthly .

The phrase "Brahmin Caste of New England" was first coined by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., a physician and writer, in a January 1860 article in The Atlantic Monthly . [10] The term Brahmin refers to the privileged, priestly caste within the four castes in the Hindu caste system. By extension, it was applied in the United States to the old wealthy New England families of British Protestant origin that became influential in the development of American institutions and culture. The influence of the old American gentry has been reduced in modern times, but some vestiges remain, primarily in the institutions and the ideals that they championed in their heyday. [11]

Characteristics

The typical dress of the Boston elite, c. 1816-1817. Benjamin Crowninshield (captain).jpg
The typical dress of the Boston elite, c.1816–1817.
Beacon Hill, a preeminent neighborhood for Boston Brahmin located near the Massachusetts State House in Boston. Beacon Hill and Massachusetts State House P1010887.jpg
Beacon Hill, a preeminent neighborhood for Boston Brahmin located near the Massachusetts State House in Boston.

The nature of the Brahmins is referenced in the doggerel "Boston Toast" by Holy Cross 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. [13] [14]

Many 19th-century Brahmin families of large fortune were of common origin; fewer were of an aristocratic origin. The new families were often the first to seek, in typically British fashion, suitable marriage alliances with those old aristocratic New England families that were descended from land-owners in England to elevate and cement their social standing. The Winthrops, Dudleys, Saltonstalls, Winslows, and Lymans (descended from English magistrates, gentry, and aristocracy) were, by and large, happy with this arrangement. All of Boston's "Brahmin elite", therefore, maintained the received culture of the old English gentry, including cultivating the personal excellence that they imagined maintained the distinction between gentlemen and freemen, and between ladies and women. They saw it as their duty to maintain what they defined as high standards of excellence, duty, and restraint. Cultivated, urbane, and dignified, a Boston Brahmin was supposed to be the very essence of enlightened aristocracy. [15] [16] The ideal Brahmin was not only wealthy, but displayed what was considered suitable personal virtues and character traits.

The Brahmin were expected to maintain the customary English reserve in dress, manner, snd deportment, and cultivate the arts, support charities such as hospitals and colleges, and assume the role of community leaders. [17] :14 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. This culture was buttressed by the strong extended family ties present in Boston society. Young men attended the same prep schools, colleges, and private clubs, [18] and heirs married heiresses. Family not only served as an economic asset, but also as a means of moral restraint.

Most belonged to the Unitarian or Episcopal churches, [19] although some were Congregationalists or Methodists. [20] Politically, they were successively Federalists, Whigs, and Republicans. They were marked by their manners and once distinctive elocution. Their distinctive Anglo-American manner of dress has been much imitated and is the foundation of the style now informally known as preppy. Many of the Brahmin families trace their ancestry back to the original 17th- and 18th-century colonial ruling class consisting of Massachusetts governors and magistrates, Harvard presidents, distinguished clergy, and fellows of the Royal Society of London, a leading scientific body, while others entered New England aristocratic society during the 19th century with their profits from commerce and trade, often marrying into established Brahmin families. [21]

List of Boston Brahmin families

Selected Boston Brahmins
Samuel Adams, American statesman, Massachusetts governor, and Founding Father of the United States. J S Copley - Samuel Adams.jpg
Samuel Adams, American statesman, Massachusetts governor, and Founding Father of the United States.
Samuel Appleton, American merchant. SamuelAppleton BostonAthenaeum14.png
Samuel Appleton, American merchant.
John Amory Lowell, banking merchant. JohnAmoryLowell.jpg
John Amory Lowell, banking merchant.
Robert L. Bacon, U.S. Congressman and attorney. Robert L Bacon.jpg
Robert L. Bacon, U.S. Congressman and attorney.
Benjamin Bates, philanthropist, business magnate, and namesake of Bates College. Benjamin E Bates founder of Bates College.jpg
Benjamin Bates, philanthropist, business magnate, and namesake of Bates College.
William Alfred Buckingham, American politician, Connecticut governor, and U.S. senator. The history of the Civil War in America; comprising a full and impartial account of the origin and progress of the rebellion, of the various naval and military engagements, of the heroic deeds (14760322754).jpg
William Alfred Buckingham, American politician, Connecticut governor, and U.S. senator.
William Gardner Choate, federal judge and founder of Choate Rosemary Hall. William Gardner Choate (Federal judge from New York).jpg
William Gardner Choate, federal judge and founder of Choate Rosemary Hall.
John Coolidge, railroad executive and son of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge. COOLIDGE, JOHN LCCN2016860932.jpg
John Coolidge, railroad executive and son of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge.
Samuel Cooper, Congregational minister. SamuelCooper.jpg
Samuel Cooper, Congregational minister.
Benjamin Williams Crowninshield, colonist. BWCrowninshield.jpg
Benjamin Williams Crowninshield, colonist.
Thomas Cushing, Massachusetts colonial speaker of the house. Thomas Cushing, Member of Continental Congress.jpg
Thomas Cushing, Massachusetts colonial speaker of the house.
Joseph Dudley, Royal Governor of Massachusetts. Joseph Dudley attributed to Peter Lely.jpg
Joseph Dudley, Royal Governor of Massachusetts.
William Emerson, Massachusetts minister. Rev. William Emerson (Polyanthos, May 1812).jpg
William Emerson, Massachusetts minister.
John Lowell Gardner, American businessman and art collector. Antonio Mancini - Portrait of John Lowell Gardner.jpg
John Lowell Gardner, American businessman and art collector.
Patrick Tracy Jackson, Boston manufacturer. PT Jackson.jpg
Patrick Tracy Jackson, Boston manufacturer.
Abbott Lawrence, politician and founder of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Abbott Lawrence.jpg
Abbott Lawrence, politician and founder of Lawrence, Massachusetts.
Henry Cabot Lodge, American statesmen and congressman. Cabotlodgenationalportrait.jpg
Henry Cabot Lodge, American statesmen and congressman.
James Otis, colonial lawyer. JamesOtisJr by Blackburn.jpg
James Otis, colonial lawyer.
George Peabody, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and founder of the House of Morgan and the Peabody Institute. Peabodyg.png
George Peabody, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and founder of the House of Morgan and the Peabody Institute.
Charles C. Perkins, art historian, philanthropist, and founder of the Museum of Fine Arts. Charles Callahan Perkins.png
Charles C. Perkins, art historian, philanthropist, and founder of the Museum of Fine Arts.
John Phillips, educator and founder of Phillips Exeter Academy. Portrait of John Phillips.jpeg
John Phillips, educator and founder of Phillips Exeter Academy.
John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States. George P.A. Healy - John Quincy Adams - Google Art Project.jpg
John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States.
Sylvanus Thayer, the father of West Point. SylvanusThayer.jpg
Sylvanus Thayer, the father of West Point.
John G. Palfrey I, leader in founding Harvard Divinity School, U.S. Congressman, and Unitarian minister. John G. Palfrey I, Founder of Havard Divinity School.jpg
John G. Palfrey I, leader in founding Harvard Divinity School, U.S. Congressman, and Unitarian minister.
David Sears, businessman and philanthropist. David Sears.jpg
David Sears, businessman and philanthropist.
Thomas Dudley, first Massachusetts Bay Colony governor. Gov. Thomas Dudley.jpg
Thomas Dudley, first Massachusetts Bay Colony governor.
Joseph Warren, Major general and physician. JosephWarrenByCopley.jpeg
Joseph Warren, Major general and physician.

Adams

Amory

Appleton

Patrilineal line: [22]

Other notable relatives: [23] [24] [25]

Bacon

Bates

Originally from Boston and Britain:

Boylston

Boylston Family

Bradlee

Bradlee Family Direct line: [26] [27] [28]

Brinley

Brinley Family of Boston, Newport, Rhode Island, and Shelter Island, New York:

Buckingham

Originally from Boston and Britain:

Cabot

Chaffee/Chafee

Originally of Hingham, Massachusetts: [30]

Choate

Coffin

Originally of Newbury and Nantucket:

Coolidge

Cooper

Crowninshield

Descendants by marriage:

Cushing

Originally of Hingham, Massachusetts: [31]

Descendant by marriage:

Dana

Dana Family

Delano

Delano Family

Dudley

Dudley Family

Dwight

Dwight Family

Eliot

Eliot Family

Emerson

Emerson Family

Endicott

Endicott Family Salem:

Dedham:

Everett

Everett Family

Descendants through the marriage of Sarah Preston Everett (1796–1866) and noted journalist Nathan Hale (1784–1863):

Fabens

Of Marblehead and Salem: [33]

Forbes

Forbes Family

Gardner

Gardner Family Originally of Essex county:

Gillett

Hallowell

Hallowell Family

Healey/Dall

Holmes

Holmes Family

Jackson

Jackson Family

Knowles

Knowles Family

Lawrence

Lawrence Family

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

Lodge

Lodge Family

Lowell

Lyman

Minot

Minot Family

Norcross

Norcross family Original from Watertown, Massachusetts

Oakes

Oakes family

Otis

Otis family

Paine

Paine Family

Palfrey

Palfrey Family

Parkman

Parkman Family

Peabody

Peabody Family

Perkins

Perkins Family

Phillips

Phillips Family

Other notable relatives:

Putnam

Putnam Family

Quincy

Quincy Family

Rice

Rice Family Originally of Sudbury, Massachusetts:

Saltonstall

Saltonstall Family

Sargent

Sears

Sears Family

Sedgwick

Sedgwick Family

Shattuck

Shaw

Storrow

Sturgis

Thayer

Thayer Family

Thorndike

Thorndike Family

Tudor

Tudor Family

Warren

Weld

Weld Family

Whitney

Wigglesworth

Wigglesworth Family

Winthrop

Winthrop Family

Patrilineal descendants:

Other descendants:

Bibliography

See also

Related Research Articles

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