The phrase "Brahmin Caste of New England" was first coined byOliver Wendell Holmes Sr., a physician and writer, in a January 1860 article inThe Atlantic Monthly.[10] The term is derived from thebrahmin, the chief priestly caste in theHindu caste system. The appropriated term became a shorthand to refer to the old, wealthy, and eliteNew England families of traditionallyEnglish Protestant origin that became influential in the development of American institutions and culture. The influence of the oldAmerican 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]
The nature of the Brahmins is referenced in thedoggerel "Boston Toast" byHoly Cross alumnus John Collins Bossidy:
And this is good old Boston, The home of thebean and thecod, Where theLowells talk only toCabots, 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 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 enlightenedaristocracy.[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, and deportment, 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 againstavarice 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 theUnitarian orEpiscopal churches,[19] although some wereCongregationalists orMethodists.[20] Politically, they were successivelyFederalists,Whigs, andRepublicans. 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 aspreppy. 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 theRoyal 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]
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 theContinental Army, member of the St. Andrews Lodge ofFreemasons.
Francis Brinley, Esq. (1632–1719), arrived from England in 1651 after theEnglish Civil War, with his two sisters, children of Thomas Brinley, auditor to KingCharles I&II, his original home became Newport'sWhite 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 ofGovernment Center.
William Brinley, Esq. (1656–1704), first son of Francis, Judge in Newport, co-founder ofTrinity 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 cousinFrancis Brinley.
John Brinley (1713–1775), Brinley grist mill owner inOakhurst, NJ.
William Brinley (1754–1840), Major in Revolutionary War.
Sylvester C. Brinley (1816–1905), foundedBrinley, Ohio (a.k.a. Brinley Station) in 1855.
Thomas Brinley (1661–1693), second son of Francis, Boston/London merchant, co-founder ofKing'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 (nowShirley-Eustis House) m:Elizabeth Shirley (daughter of MA GovWilliam Shirley).
ColonelFrancis Brinley[29] (1690–1765): Colonel inAncient & 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 JudgeNathaniel Byfield.
Francis Brinley Fogg Sr. Esq. (1795–1880), m. Mary Middleton Rutledge ofMiddleton Place, TN state senator, started Nashville public schools, school board president, namesakeFogg School opened in 1875, a founder ofSewanee University of the South. and Christ Church Cathedral Nashville.
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.
Anne Brinley Coddington (1628–1708), third wife of GovernorWilliam 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.
Grisell Brinley Sylvester (1635–1687), wife ofNathaniel Sylvester, together they became the first white settlers and owners of all ofShelter Island, NY. She is credited with bringingboxwoods to the colonies.
Brinley Sylvester (1690–1752), builtSylvester 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'sApthorp Farm, merchant, NY Governor's Council 1763–83
Sidney Brooks Everett (1868–1901), member of theBoston City Council (1892–1894), American Consul to theDutch East Indies (appointed 1897), and secretary and chargé de affairs to the American Legation inGuatemala (1900–1901).
Jake Auchincloss (born 1988), Captain in United States Marines, City ofNewton, Massachusetts Councilman (2015–2020), United States Congressman for Massachusetts (2021–present)
Roger Putnam (1893–1972), Mayor of Springfield, Director of the Economic Stability Administration (ESA)
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 toMajor General Meade during the American Civil War, and United States congressman from Massachusetts
Theodore Lyman IV (1874–1954), director of Jefferson Physics Lab, Harvard. TheLyman series of spectral lines, the craterLyman on the far side of the Moon, and the Lyman Physics Building at Harvard are named after him.
Michael Paine (1928–2018), an acquaintance ofLee Harvey Oswald, unknown to Paine and his wife Oswald had been hiding his Carcano Model 38 infantry carbine rifle in the garage of theirIrving, Texas home, that was used to kill PresidentJohn F. Kennedy, and wound Texas GovernorJohn Connally on November 22, 1963, and used beforehand in a failed attempt on the life of far-right activist, resigned Army General,Edwin Walker, in April of that year.
Ruth Paine (1932–present) friend ofMarina Oswald, who was living with her at the time of the assassination of President Kennedy.
John G. Palfrey I (1796–1881), played a leading role in the creation ofHarvard Divinity School, first Dean of Harvard Divinity School, U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts, Unitarian minister, historian[42]
Joseph Peabody (1757–1844), merchant, shipowner, philanthropist whose company sailedclipper ships in theOld China Trade from its base in Salem, Massachusetts
Alexander Hamilton Rice (1818–1895), industrialist, mayor of Boston, governor of Massachusetts, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts
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
Joseph Warren (1741–1775), major general in Massachusetts colony militia, hero/martyr ofBunker Hill, president of Massachusetts Congress; sentPaul Revere on his famous midnight ride
Winslow Warren (1838–1930), American attorney who served as Collector of Customs for the Port of Boston during the second administration of Grover Cleveland
Lucy Winthrop Downing: mother of diplomatSir George Downing, 1st Baronet, founder of New York, of Downing Street, London, and ultimately of Downing College, Cambridge, UK; Lucy's letter to her brother Governor Winthrop provided the impetus for the founding of Harvard College; sister of
^Rosenbaum, Julia B. (2006).Visions of Belonging: New England Art and the Making of American Identity. Cornell University Press. p. 45.ISBN9780801444708.By the late nineteenth century, one of the strongest bulwarks of Brahmin power wasHarvard University. Statistics underscore the close relationship between Harvard and Boston's upper strata.
^Holloran, Peter C. (1989).Boston's Wayward Children: Social Services for Homeless Children, 1830-1930. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p. 73.ISBN9780838632970.
^Cople Jaher, Frederic (1982).The Urban Establishment: Upper Strata in Boston, New York, Charleston, Chicago, and Los Angeles. University of Illinois Press. p. 25.ISBN9780252009327.
^Story, Ronald (1985) [1980].Harvard and the Boston Upper Class: The Forging of an Aristocracy, 1800–1870. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press.ISBN9780819561350.OCLC12022412.
^F. Sullivan, John (2001).Class and Status in America: A Contemporary Perspective. Dorrance Publishing. p. 2.ISBN9781637640722.were members of Unitarian and Episcopal churches
^J. Harp, Gillis (2003).Brahmin Prophet: Phillips Brooks and the Path of Liberal Protestantism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 13.ISBN9780742571983.
^Farrell, Betty (1993).Elite Families: Class and Power in Nineteenth-Century Boston. SUNY Press.ISBN1438402325.
^Muskett, Joseph James, ed. (1900).Appleton of New England. Vol. 1. Exeter: William Pollard & Co. pp. 330–334. RetrievedFebruary 20, 2014.{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)
^"Jonathan Jackson".Our Family Tree.Jonathan Jackson → James Jackson → Francis Henry Jackson → James Tracy Jackson → James Tracy Jackson, Jr. → Francis Gardner Jackson → Francis Gardner Jackson, Jr. → Patrick Graves Jackson.
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