John Lowell (October 18, 1824 – May 14, 1897) was a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. Cou ...

of the United States Circuit Courts for the First Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Education and career

Born on October 18, 1824, in

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 ...

, Massachusetts, Lowell received an

Artium Baccalaureus Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1843 from

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 higher le ...

and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1845 from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. He entered private practice in Boston from 1846 to 1865. He was editor of the ''Monthly Law Reporter'' from 1856 to 1860.

Federal judicial service

Lowell was nominated by President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

on March 11, 1865, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated by Judge Peleg Sprague. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on March 11, 1865, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on January 9, 1879, due to his elevation to the First Circuit. Lowell was nominated by President Rutherford B. Hayes on December 16, 1878, to a seat on the United States Circuit Courts for the First Circuit vacated by Judge George Foster Shepley. He was confirmed by the Senate on December 18, 1878, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on May 1, 1884, due to his resignation.

Later career and death

Following his resignation from the federal bench, Lowell resumed private practice in Boston from 1884 to 1897. He died on May 14, 1897, in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...

Family

Boston-born Lowell was the son of John Amory Lowell (1798–1881), the philanthropist, and his wife Susan Cabot Lowell (1801–1827). His parents were first cousins, both having as their paternal grandfather, Judge John Lowell (1743–1802); Susan Cabot Lowell < Francis Cabot Lowell < Judge John Lowell >

John Lowell Jr. (lawyer) John Lowell Jr. (October 6, 1769 in Newburyport, Essex County, Massachusetts – March 12, 1840 in Boston) was an American lawyer and influential member of the Federalist Party in the early days of the United States of America. Career John L ...

> John Amory Lowell. He was the father of James Arnold Lowell (1869-1933),James Arnold Lowell in the Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
Accessed via ancestry.com paid subscription on 11 June 2023. and grandfather of

Ralph Lowell Major Ralph Lowell (July 23, 1890 – May 15, 1978) was a World War I veteran, banker, and philanthropist from Boston. Lowell was born in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, to John and Mary Emlen Lowell (Lowell 1899, p 302). Lowell graduated f ...

through his eldest son John (1856–1922).

References

Sources