John Lowell "Jack" Gardner Jr. (November 26, 1837 – December 10, 1898) was an American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist. He and his wife,

Isabella Stewart Gardner Isabella Stewart Gardner (April 14, 1840 – July 17, 1924) was a leading American art collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. She founded the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Gardner possessed an energetic intellectual cu ...

, were patrons of the arts whose collection is now housed in the

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was found ...

.''Gardner Family Papers'' 1772-1915.
The Massachusetts Historical Society

Background

Gardner's mother, Catherine Endicott Peabody (1808–1883), of Brookline, Massachusetts, was the daughter of the Salem shipowner,

Joseph Peabody Joseph Peabody (December 9, 1757 – January 5, 1844) was a merchant and shipowner who dominated trade between Massachusetts and the Far East for a number of years. Family and career He was descended from Francis Peabody of St. Albans, England, ...

(1757–1844), who made a fortune importing pepper from Sumatra and was one of the wealthiest men in the United States at the time of his death in 1844. Gardner's paternal grandfather, Samuel Pickering Gardner (1768–1843), descended from Thomas Gardner and from the father of

Timothy Pickering Timothy Pickering (July 17, 1745January 29, 1829) was the third United States Secretary of State under Presidents George Washington and John Adams. He also represented Massachusetts in both houses of Congress as a member of the Federalist Party ...

.''George Gardner Family Papers'' 1659-1900.
The Massachusetts Historical Society
Through his paternal grandmother, Rebecca Russell Lowell, he descended from

Percival Lowell Percival Lowell (; March 13, 1855 – November 12, 1916) was an American businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars, and furthered theories of a ninth planet within the Solar System. ...

who had arrived at

Cape Ann Cape Ann is a rocky peninsula in northeastern Massachusetts, United States on the Atlantic Ocean. It is about northeast of Boston and marks the northern limit of Massachusetts Bay. Cape Ann includes the city of Gloucester and the towns of ...

in 1639. After spending time at Harvard, Gardner joined his father's

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...

trading business. The Gardners entered into partnership with Peabody, and their ships sailed many seas. Some of those ships were as follows (

clipper ships A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Cl ...

are not linked): ''Arabia'', ''Bunker Hill'', ''California'', ''Democrat'', ''Duxbury'', ''Eclipse'', ''Gentleman'', ''Grotius'', ''Lenore'', ''Lepanto'', ''Lotos'', , ''Mars'', ''Monterey'', ''Nabob'', ''Napke'', ''Naples'', ''Pallas'', ''Pioneer'', ''Plant'', ''Plato'', ''Ruble'', ''Sappho'', ''Shawmut'', ''St Paul'', , ''Sumatra'', ''Thetis'', and ''Unicorn''. The younger Gardner had financial interests besides shipping, such as railroads ( Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad) and mining ( Calumet and Hecla Mining Company). He supported the America's Cup defender,

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

.Gardner, Frank A MD 933
Gardner memorial : a biographical and genealogical record of the descendants of Thomas Gardner, planter, Cape Ann, 1624, Salem
' (also, vi
ancestry.com

Marriage

He married Isabella Stewart on April 10, 1860. They had one son, John Lowell Gardner III, who was born June 18, 1863. He died March 15, 1865. After their son's untimely death, the couple started to travel and collect. In 1875, Gardner's brother, Joseph, died. He had been a widower since 1865. He left three young sons, including

Augustus P. Gardner Augustus Peabody Gardner (November 5, 1865 – January 14, 1918) was an American military officer and Republican Party politician from Massachusetts. He represented the North Shore region in the Massachusetts Senate and United States House of Re ...

who was ten years old at the time. John and Isabella 'adopted' and raised the boys. Augustus accompanied them on some of their 'hunts' for collectibles.

References

External links

Thomas Gardner Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, John Lowell, Ii 1837 births 1898 deaths People from Brookline, Massachusetts Businesspeople from Boston Harvard University alumni Peabody family 19th-century American businesspeople