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Boston Brahmin

The Boston Brahmins are members of Boston's historic upper class. From the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, they were often associated with a cultivated New England accent, Harvard University, Congregationalism and Unitarianism and to a lesser extent Episcopalianism, 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. They are considered White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs).

Etymology

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. The term is derived from the brahmin, the chief priestly caste in the Hindu caste system. The appropriated term became a shorthand to refer to the old, wealthy, and elite New England families of traditionally English 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.

Characteristics

The nature of the Brahmins is referenced in the doggerel "Boston Toast" by Holy Cross alumnus John Collins Bossidy, first recited at a 1910 alumni dinner in the city:

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 descended from landowners 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. 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, and deportment, cultivate the arts, support charities such as hospitals and colleges, and assume the role of community leaders. Although the ideal called on them 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, 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, although some were Congregationalists or Methodists. 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.

List of Boston Brahmin families

Adams

Amory

Appleton

Patrilineal line:

Other notable relatives:

Bacon

Bates

Originally from Boston and Britain:

Boylston

Boylston Family

Bradlee

Bradlee Family Direct line:

  • Nathan Bradley I, earliest known member born in America, in Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts, in 1631.
  • Samuel Bradlee, constable of Dorchester, Massachusetts.
  • Nathaniel Bradlee, Boston Tea Party participant, member of Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association.
  • Josiah Bradlee I, Boston Tea Party participant; m. Hannah Putnam.
  • Josiah Bradlee III (Harvard), m. Alice Crowninshield.
  • Frederick Josiah Bradlee I (Harvard), Director of the Boston Bank.
  • Frederick Josiah Bradlee Jr. (Harvard, 1915), on the first All-American football team at Harvard; m. Josephine de Gersdorff.
  • Frederick Josiah Bradlee III, Broadway actor, author.
  • Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (1921–2014) (Harvard, 1942), Chief Executive Editor of The Washington Post.
  • Ben Bradlee Jr. (born 1948), journalist and writer.
  • Joseph Putnam Bradlee (1783–1838), Commander of the New England Guards, chairman of the State Central Committee, Director and then President of the Boston City Council.
  • Samuel Bradlee Jr., lieutenant colonel during the American Revolutionary War.
  • Thomas Bradlee, Boston Tea Party participant; member of Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association; Member of the St. Andrews Lodge of Freemasons.
  • David Bradlee, Boston Tea Party participant; Captain in the Continental Army, member of the St. Andrews Lodge of Freemasons.
  • Sarah Bradlee, "Mother of the Boston Tea Party".

Brinley

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

  • Francis Brinley, Esq. (1632–1719), arrived from England in 1651 after the English Civil War, with his two sisters, children of Thomas Brinley, auditor to King Charles I&II, his original home became Newport's White Horse Tavern, Judge, book collector, land-owner (RI, MA, NJ), Governor's assistant, m: Hannah Carr (niece of RI Gov. Caleb Carr). Boston estate at Hanover and Elm, current site of Government Center.
  • William Brinley, Esq. (1656–1704), first son of Francis, Judge in Newport, co-founder of Trinity Church, Newport, first Anglican church in RI, disinherited by father after marriage.
  • William Brinley, Esq. (1677–1753), only child of Wm. Brinley, Judge in Monmouth, NJ, passed over for younger cousin Francis Brinley.
  • John Brinley (1713–1775), Brinley grist mill owner in Oakhurst, NJ.
  • William Brinley (1754–1840), Major in Revolutionary War.
  • Sylvester C. Brinley (1816–1905), founded Brinley, Ohio (a.k.a. Brinley Station) in 1855.
  • Thomas Brinley (1661–1693), second son of Francis, Boston/London merchant, co-founder of King's Chapel, Boston, first Anglican church in colonial New England.
  • Eliakim Hutchinson (1711–1775), Judge, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Suffolk County, and one of Boston's richest men, owner of Shirley Place (now Shirley-Eustis House) m:Elizabeth Shirley (daughter of MA Gov William Shirley).
  • Colonel Francis Brinley (1690–1765): Colonel in Ancient & Honorable Artillery Company, merchant, land-owner (Datchet House/Brinley Place-Roxbury, Brinley Place-Framingham), one of the richest Bostonians of the 18th century, grandfather's heir, m: Deborah Lyde, granddaughter of Judge Nathaniel Byfield.
  • Francis Brinley Fogg Sr. Esq. (1795–1880), m. Mary Middleton Rutledge of Middleton Place, TN state senator, started Nashville public schools, school board president, namesake Fogg School opened in 1875, a founder of and Christ Church Cathedral Nashville.
  • Catherine Grace Frances Moody Nevinson Gore (1798–1861), English writer.
  • Francis William Brinley (1796–1859), merchant, mayor of Perth Amboy, NJ, Surveyor of NJ state.
  • Francis Brinley Jr., Esq. (1800–1880), Harvard 1818-Porcellian Club, President of Boston Common Council, MA state legislator (House and Senate), clerk to Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, delegate to state constitutional convention, commander of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.
  • (1809–1868), Importer for Edward Brinley & Co., Old Faneuil Hall, Boston.
  • George Brinley (1817–1875), noted book collector, pioneer of the Americanist movement.
  • Emily Malbone Morgan (1862–1939), founder of the Colonel Daniel Putnam Association and the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross.
  • Godfrey Malbone Brinley (1864–1939), top 10 US tennis pro, later master at St. Paul's school.
  • Edward Brinley Faneuil Adams (1871–1922), Harvard 1892/Law 1897, Harvard Law librarian.
  • Daniel Putnam Brinley (1873–1963), artist (painter, muralist, impressionist).
  • Charles Henry Brinley Esq (1825–1907), Judge in AZ, involved in early CA/AZ politics, int'l merchant, appointed Vice Consul to Mexico by Pres Theo. Roosevelt.
  • Charles Brinley (1880–1946), silent actor.
  • Emily Borie Ryerson (1863–1939), Titanic survivor, suffragette, philanthropist.
  • Anne Brinley Coddington (1628–1708), third wife of Governor William Coddington, who arrived with the Winthrop fleet in 1630 and became an early MA magistrate, the first Governor of Rhode Island/founder of Portsmouth and Newport, RI, and mother and grandmother of subsequent Governors.
  • William Coddington Jr.(1651–1689), colonial Governor of Rhode Island.
  • Mary Coddington (1654–1693), wife of Gov. Peleg Sanford of RI.
  • William Coddington III (1680–1755), colonial Governor of Rhode Island, merchant, judge, m: Content Arnold.
  • Margaret Sanford Hutchinson (1716–1754), wife of Thomas Hutchinson (governor), last loyalist Gov. of MA.
  • Lucretia Rudolph Garfield (1832–1918), First Lady, wife of 20th U.S. President James A. Garfield.
  • Ted Danson (born 1947), actor, activist.
  • Grisell Brinley Sylvester (1635–1687), wife of Nathaniel Sylvester, together they became the first white settlers and owners of all of Shelter Island, NY. She is credited with bringing boxwoods to the colonies.
  • Brinley Sylvester (1690–1752), built Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island, which was made a non-profit educational farm by the 11th generation heir.
  • Charles Ward Apthorp Jr. (1729–1797), owner of Manhattan's Apthorp Farm, merchant, NY Governor's Council 1763–83
  • Sarah Wentworth Apthorp Morton (1759–1846), poet, wife of Perez Morton, MA Speaker and AG.
  • Charles Bulfinch (1763–1844), Harvard 1781/4, architect in Boston and of the US Capitol building.
  • Sen. James Lloyd (1769–1831), Harvard 1787/90, US Senator from MA, merchant, businessman.
  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945), Harvard 1904, 32nd and longest serving President of the United States.
  • Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee (1921–2014), Harvard 1942, Executive Editor of The Washington Post.

Buckingham

Originally from Boston and Britain:

Cabot

Chaffee/Chafee

Originally of Hingham, Massachusetts:

  • Thomas Chaffee (1610–1683), businessman and land-owner.
  • Jonathon Chaffee (1678–1766), businessman and land-owner.
  • Matthew Chaffee (1657–1723), Boston land-owner.
  • Adna Romanza Chaffee (1842–1914), U.S. general.
  • Adna R. Chaffee Jr. (1884–1941), U.S. general:
  • Zechariah Chafee (1885–1957), philosopher, civil libertarian.
  • John Chafee (1922–1999), U.S. senator.
  • Lincoln Chafee (born 1953), former U.S. senator, former Rhode Island governor, 2016 U.S. presidential candidate for the Democratic party.

Choate

Coffin

Originally of Newbury and Nantucket:

Coolidge

Cooper

  • John Cooper (1609–1669), colonist
  • Samuel Cooper (1725–1783), clergyman
  • Samuel D. Cooper Jr. (1750–1824), revolutionary
  • Samuel D. Cooper III (1778–1853), trade merchant
  • Priscilla Cooper Tyler (1816–1889), First Lady of the United States
  • Theodore Cooper (1839–1919), civil engineer
  • Frederic Taber Cooper (1864–1937), writer

Crowninshield

Descendants by marriage:

Cushing

Originally of Hingham, Massachusetts:

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:

  • William Fabens (1810–1883), lawyer, member of Assembly, Senate.
  • William Chandler Fabens (1843–1903), Lynn attorney, namesake of Fabens Building.
  • Samuel Augustus Fabens (1813–1899), master mariner in the East India and California trade.
  • Francis Alfred Fabens (1814–1872), mercantile businessman, San Francisco judge, attorney.
  • Joseph Warren Fabens (1821–1875), U.S. Consul at Cayenne, businessman, Envoy Extraordinary of the Dominican Republic.
  • George Wilson Fabens (1857–1939), attorney, land commissioner and superintendent of Southern Pacific Railroad, namesake of Fabens, Texas.

Forbes

Forbes Family

Gardner

Gardner Family Originally of Essex county:

Gillett

  • Jonathan Gillett (1609–1677), colonist
  • Edward Bates Gillett (1817–1899), attorney
  • Frederick Huntington Gillett (1851–1935), 37th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
  • Arthur Lincoln Gillett (1859–1938), clergyman
  • Ezra Hall Gillett (1823–1875), clergyman and author
  • Charles Ripley Gillett (1855–1948), clergyman

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

  • Theodore Lyman I (1753–1839), China trade merchant, commissioned Samuel McIntire to build one of New England's finest country houses, The Vale
  • Theodore Lyman II (1792–1849), brigadier general of militia, Massachusetts state representative, mayor of Boston
  • Theodore Lyman III (1833–1897), natural scientist, aide-de-camp to Major General Meade during the American Civil War, and United States congressman from Massachusetts
  • Theodore Lyman IV (1874–1954), director of Jefferson Physics Lab, Harvard. The Lyman series of spectral lines, the crater Lyman on the far side of the Moon, and the Lyman Physics Building at Harvard are named after him.

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

  • Thomas Handasyd Perkins (1764–1854), merchant, pioneer of the China trade, philanthropist
  • Charles Perkins (1823–1886), art historian, philanthropist, founder of the Museum of Fine Arts
  • Edward Perkins (1856–1905), constitutional lawyer
  • Maxwell Perkins (1884–1947), literary editor of Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and F. Scott Fitzgerald

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

  • Lemuel Shattuck (1793–1859), politician, historian, bookseller and publisher.
  • Henry Lee Shattuck (1879–1971), attorney, philanthropist, and politician

Shaw

Storrow

Sturgis

  • James Perkins Sturgis (1791 - 1851), wealthy merchant
  • Nathaniel Russell Sturgis (1779 - 1856), merchant and socialite m. Susannah Thomsen Parkman, daughter of Samuel Parkman, an influential merchant
  • Sarah Blake Sturgis (1815–1902), abolitionist, women's rights supporter, anti-imperialist and philanthropist
  • Ann Cushing Sturgis Paine, married into the Paine family
  • Russell Sturgis (1805–1887), merchant active in the China trade
  • Henry Parkman Sturgis, United States Consul to the Philippines

Thayer

Thayer Family

  • Brevet Brigadier General Sylvanus Thayer (1785–1872), U.S. general (Army), Father of West Point
  • Nathaniel Thayer (1769–1840), Unitarian minister; father of
  • Nathaniel Thayer Jr. (1808–1883), financier, philanthropist; partner in John E. Thayer and brother firm which he left to clerks Kidder and Peabody after his retirement. One of the most generous citizens of Boston donating Thayer Hall to Harvard University; an overseer of Harvard, 1866–1868, and a fellow, 1868–1875; father of
  • Nathaniel Thayer, III (1851–1911), capitalist, pioneer railroad promoter
  • Bayard Thayer (1862–1916), millionaire sportsman, horticulturist
  • Eugene Van Rensselaer Thayer (1855–1907), financier, capitalist; father of
  • Eugene Van Rensselaer Thayer Jr. (1881–1937), Harvard class of 1904; President of Merchants and Chase National Banks; Chairman of Stutz motorcars
  • James Bradley Thayer (1831–1902), American legal writer, educationist
  • Ernest Thayer (1863–1940), American poet, author of "Casey at the Bat", and uncle of Scofield Thayer
  • Scofield Thayer (1889–1982), American poet, publisher
  • Eli Thayer (1819–1899), member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts
  • John A. Thayer (1857–1917), member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts
  • John R. Thayer (1845–1916), member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts
  • Brevet Major General John Milton Thayer (1820–1906), U.S. senator, U.S. Civil War general (Union Army); governor of Nebraska
  • Webster Thayer (1857–1933), judge at the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti
  • William Greenough Thayer (1863–1934), American educator; father of
  • Sigourney Thayer (1896–1944), theatrical producer, aviator, poet
  • Tommy Thayer (born 1960), lead guitarist for the rock band Kiss

Thorndike

Thorndike Family

Tudor

Tudor Family

Warren

Weld

Weld Family

Whitney

Wigglesworth

Wigglesworth Family

Winthrop

Winthrop Family

Patrilineal descendants:

Other descendants:

  • Kwame Anthony Appiah (born 1954), philosopher, author, cultural theorist and descendant in the female line of John Winthrop.

Bibliography

  • Cleveland Amory, The Proper Bostonians, 1947

See also

References