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Boston Brahmins, or simply "Brahmins"—sometimes also called the First Families of Boston—are a blue-blooded class of New Englanders who claim hereditary or cultural descent from the Anglo-Saxon Protestants (commonly called WASPs) who founded the city of Boston, Massachusetts and originally settled New England. They are part of the historic core of the East Coast Establishment, along with wealthy families of New York and Philadelphia.Some of the Brahmins trace descent back to the original founders of Boston. Others bought their way into society in the 19th century with the profits of commerce, and by marrying into other Brahmin families like the Emersons and Winthrops.
The term Brahmin comes from the Indian caste system, of which the Brahmins are the highest caste. The American phrase was probably coined by writer Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., as part of a January 1860 article in the Atlantic Monthly called "The Professor's Story."
They are often perceived as marked by their distinctive elocution, high level of education and wealth and generally progressive politics. The nature of the Brahmins is summarized in the doggerelDoggerel describes verse considered of little literary value. The word is derogatory, from Middle English. Doggerel might have any or all of the following failings: trite, cliched, or overly sentimental forced or imprecise rhymes faulty metre misordering poem, "Boston Toast," by John Collins Bossidy .
- "So this is good old Boston,
- The home of the bean and the cod,
- Where the Lowells talk only to the Cabots,
- And the Cabots talk only to God."
1 Original Brahmin families
Brahmin families frequently intermarried. According to Yankee magazine and other sources, some Boston Brahmin families include the:
- Adams family
- Samuel AdamsSamuel Adams ( September 27, 1722 October 2, 1803) was an American revolutionary and organizer of the Boston Tea Party. He was also one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence ( 1776). Born to a wealthy Boston family, Adams attended Harvard
- John AdamsJohn Adams ( October 30, 1735 July 4, 1826) was the first ( 1789- 1797) Vice President of the United States, and the second ( 1797- 1801) President of the United States. His son, John Quincy Adams, was the sixth President of the United States ( 1825- 1829 & Abigail AdamsAbigail Smith Adams Date of Birth: November 11, 1744 Place of Birth: Weymouth, Massachusetts Date of Death: October 28, 1818 Place of Death: Quincy, Massachusetts Occupation: First Lady of the United States Remarks: Wife of John Adams and mother of John Q
- John Quincy AdamsFor other people named John Adams, see John Adams (disambiguation). John Quincy Adams Order 6th President Term of Office March 4, 1825 March 3, 1829 Followed James Monroe Succeeded by Andrew Jackson Date of Birth July 11, 1767 Place of Birth Braintree, Ma
- Charles Francis Adams, Sr.Charles Francis Adams ( August 18, 1807, Boston November 21 1886, Boston), the son of John Quincy Adams and Louisa Adams, was an American lawyer, politician, diplomat and writer. When only two years old he was taken by his father to St. Petersburg, Russia
- Henry Adams
- Charles Francis Adams, Jr.
- Charles Francis Adams III
- Cabot family
- Choate family
- Cushing family
- Crowninshield family
- Delano family
- Eliot family
- Emerson family
- Endicott family
- Forbes family
- Holmes Family
- Jackson family
- Jonathan Jackson
- Patrick Tracy Jackson
- Lawrence family
- Lodge family
- Lowell family
- Peabody family
- Phillips family
- Putnam family
- Quincy family
- Saltonstall family
- Sturgis family
- Winthrop family
