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Cabot family

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cabot family
Current region
Boston, United States
Place of origin
Jersey
FounderJohn Cabot (b.1680)
Connected families
Estates

The Cabot family is an American family based in Boston and Massachusetts whose members have been prominent in the fields of politics, shipping, finance, academics, medicine, and philosophy. They are considered a Boston Brahmin family, one of the "first families of Boston," and their name caps the famous and often-quoted Boston toast by John Collins Bossidy:[1][2][3][4][5]

And this is good old Boston,
The home of the bean and the cod,
Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots,
And the Cabots talk only to God.[6]

The Cabot family in the United States began with the 1700 emigration of John Cabot from the isle of Jersey to Salem, Massachusetts, where he established a successful shipping firm, which remained the core of the family business for many generations. Descendants of John Cabot and his son, Joseph, include at least three United States Senators, two governors of Massachusetts, three ambassadors of the United States, and one governor of Connecticut, and the wife of future United States president Theodore Roosevelt. Companies or institutions founded by his direct descendants include the Lowell mills, the Groton School, the Porcellian Club, the Cabot Corporation, Lee, Higginson & Co., State Street Corporation, and Samuel Cabot Inc.

The family has long been closely associated with Harvard University, where many members have studied and where Cabot House is named after Thomas Dudley Cabot.

History

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Origins

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The Cabot family in the United States descended from John Cabot, who was born in 1680 on the island of Jersey in the English Channel, and emigrated to Salem, Massachusetts in 1700.[1] In Jersey, the family name can be traced to at least 1274, and various explanations have been given for its origin. Jersey historian George Reginald Balleine noted that in Latin, caput means "head", and in Jersey, the "cabot" is a small fish that seems all head, leading to speculation that the name is linked to the family's involvement in fishing or the size of an ancestor's head. Guy Fortescue Burrell de Gruchy, president of La Société Jersiaise, also recorded "cabot" as meaning "big-head." Another theory posits that the name is derived from cabot as a measurement of cereal, and Cabot may have been an occupational surname given to someone who measured cereal.[7]

In French, once a common language in Jersey, "cabot" means a dog or a military corporal, "caboter" is to navigate along the coast, and "cabotin" means "theatrical".[8]

Migration to British America and first generations in Salem

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Following his 1700 emigration to Salem, John Cabot became a highly successful merchant, and with his sons, Francis (b. 1717) and Joseph (b. 1720),[9] operated a fleet of privateers carrying opium, rum, and slaves.[2][10] His daughter, Elizabeth (b. 1715), married into the Higginson family, and her son, Stephen Higginson, would later become a member of the Continental Congress.

Elizabeth's and Francis's daughters, Sarah and Susanna (respectively), each successively married John Lowell, and the Cabot family became connected to the Lowell family, each giving birth to a son. Sarah was the mother of John Lowell Jr., who became a prominent Boston lawyer, and Susanna was the mother of Francis Cabot Lowell, a leading pioneer in American manufacturing and the use of the corporate form in business.

Joseph Cabot had five sons:

Joseph, George, and Samuel each studied at Harvard College before joining the family business and expanding the family's shipping fortune.[11][12][13]

Following the success of the American Revolution, in which the Cabots supported the rebellion by supplying ships and smuggling contraband through British naval blockades, the family became more prominent and wealthy still, as many of the older, leading families of Massachusetts had been loyal to the Crown and were forced to flee to England or Canada. Two early Supreme Court of the United States cases, Bingham v. Cabot (1795) and Bingham v. Cabot (1798), involved family shipping disputes.[11]

Francis Cabot branch

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Francis Cabot's daughter, Mary Ann (b. 1784), married her first cousin, Nathaniel Cabot Lee.[14][15] Their son, John Clarke Lee, founded the brokerage firm of Lee, Higginson & Co. His grandchildren included Endicott Peabody, who founded the Groton School; Alice Hathaway Roosevelt, the first wife of Theodore Roosevelt; George Cabot Lee Jr., who later led the brokerage firm; and Endicott Peabody Saltonstall, district attorney of Middlesex County. John Clarke Lee's great-grandchildren included two governors of Massachusetts, Endicott Peabody and Leverett Saltonstall.

Descendants of Francis Cabot's son, Frederick (b. 1786), later moved the family to New York City, where Francis Higginson Cabot was born in 1925. He later founded The Garden Conservancy.

George Cabot branch

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George, the third son of Joseph Cabot, was the most prominent of his generation. He was elected to the United States Senate, where he was an ally of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. George's descendants followed him into politics, particularly his great-grandson, Henry Cabot Lodge, who also served in the Senate from 1893 until 1924. Lodge's grandson, Henry Jr., likewise served between 1937 and 1953, and another grandson, John Davis Lodge, was the governor of Connecticut.[16][17][18] Henry Jr.'s son, named George Cabot Lodge II, ran unsuccessfully for United States Senate in 1962.

Samuel Cabot branch

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The largest and most significant branch of the family is descended from Joseph Cabot's youngest son, Samuel, who moved the family to Boston in 1784. His son, Samuel Jr., was shortly born. Samuel Jr. expanded the family fortune significantly by developing early American trading networks with China, including through his 1812 marriage to Eliza Perkins, the daughter of a more prominent merchant, Thomas Handasyd Perkins, making the combined Perkins-Cabot fortune one of the very largest in Boston.[19] Samuel Sr.'s daughter, Eliza Lee (b. 1787), married German patriot and radical Charles Follen, and they became leading figures in the early abolitionist movement against slavery in Boston.

Samuel Jr. had several notable children and descendants:

Samuel III's children were also prominent figures in Boston society, including Lilla (b. 1848), an Impressionist painter; Samuel IV (b. 1850), chemist and founder of Samuel Cabot Inc.; Arthur Tracy (b. 1852), a leading surgeon; and Godfrey Lowell (b. 1861), founder of the Cabot Corporation, America's largest producer of carbon black.[23][24][25][26][27] Godfrey Cabot Lowell's children include Thomas Dudley Cabot, the namesake of Cabot House; and John Moors Cabot, a diplomat to Europe and South America during the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations.

Walter Channing Cabot's grandsons, Paul Codman Cabot and Charles Codman Cabot, were prominent in Boston politics and business. Paul founded the State Street Corporation, and Charles was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts.

Kabotchnik v. Cabot

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In 1923, Harry H. Kabotchnik and his wife Myrtle petitioned to have his family name changed to Cabot.[28] Some prominent Cabots of Boston (Judge Cabot of the Boston Juvenile Court; Stephen Cabot, headmaster of St. George's School, Middletown, R.I.; Dr. Hugh Cabot, dean of University of Michigan Medical School[29]) along with the Pennsylvania branch of the Order of the Founders and Patriots, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania counter-sued to prevent the change.[30] Judge Charles Young Audenried eventually ruled for the Kabotchniks,[31] as there was "nothing in the law to prevent it."[32]

Boston Toast

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The widely known "Boston Toast" by Holy Cross alumnus John Collins Bossidy features the Cabot family:[1][2][3][4]

And this is good old Boston,
The home of the bean and the cod,
Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots,
And the Cabots talk only to God.[33]

Members

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Cabot family network

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Associates

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The following is a list of figures closely aligned with or subordinate to the Cabot family.

Businesses

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The following is a list of companies in which the Cabot family have held a controlling or otherwise significant interest.

Philanthropy Institutions & Miscellaneous Non-profits

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Buildings and historic sites

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See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Briggs, L. Vernon. "History and Genealogy of the Cabot Family, 1475–1927". C.E. Goodspeed & Company. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 "Thomas Cabot, 98, Capitalist And Philanthropist, Is Dead". The New York Times. June 10, 1995. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Miscellany: Aug. 27, 1923". Time. August 27, 1923. Archived from the original on July 6, 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Irish in America: Smiling-eyed Beauty sheila Finn". Life. March 17, 1961. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  5. ↑ Andrews, Robert, ed. (1996). Famous Lines: A Columbia Dictionary of Familiar Quotations. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10218-6.
  6. ↑ Andrews, Robert, ed. (1996). Famous Lines: A Columbia Dictionary of Familiar Quotations. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10218-6.
  7. ↑ "Cabot - Origin". theislandwiki.org. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  8. ↑ Beryl T Atkins et al., Collins Robert French Dictionary, 1978, Collins, p. 90.
  9. 1 2 "Person Sheet: Joseph Cabot". Cyberancestors, Wooden Ships. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Cabot Family: Article from theEncyclopædia Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  11. 1 2 3 Aronson, Julie (2006). Perfect Likeness: European and American Portrait Miniatures from the Cincinnati Art Museum. Cincinnati Art Museum. ISBN 0300115806. Retrieved January 14, 2012. Pg. 192
  12. 1 2 "CABOT, George, (1752–1823)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  13. 1 2 "Rebecca Orne (Mrs. Joseph Cabot), 1757". Worcester Art Museum. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  14. 1 2 "Nathaniel Cabot Lee", RootsWeb. Accessed August 15, 2018.
  15. 1 2 "John Clarke Lee", RootsWeb. Accessed August 15, 2018.
  16. 1 2 3 "Henry Cabot Lodge Photographs ca. 1860–1945: Guide to the Photograph Collection". Massachusetts Historical Society. Archived from the original on February 14, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  17. 1 2 "LODGE, Henry Cabot, Jr., (1902–1985)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  18. 1 2 "LODGE, John Davis, (1903–1985)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  19. 1 2 "Samuel Cabot, Jr. Ledger, 1814–1821". Harvard Business School Library. Archived from the original on March 7, 2001. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  20. 1 2 "JSTOR: Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 21 (May, 1885 – May, 1886), pp. 517–520: Report of the Council, Resident Follows": 517–520. JSTOR 25129836. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  21. 1 2 Elizabeth Cabot Lee
  22. 1 2 "Cabot, Elizabeth Rogers Mason, 1834–1920. Diaries, 1859–1906: A Finding Aid". Harvard University Library. July 1985. Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  23. ↑ Noah Sheloa (September 2012). "Lilla Cabot Perry". Boston Athenæum. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  24. 1 2 "Almy family. Papers, 1649–1967 (inclusive), 1835–1967 (bulk): A Finding Aid". Harvard University Library, Radcliffe College. November 1976. Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  25. 1 2 Biographical History of Massachusetts: Biographies and Autobiographies of the Leading Men in the State, Volume II. Massachusetts Biographical Society. 1913. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  26. 1 2 "Godfrey Lowell Cabot Papers 1870–1962: Guide to the Collection". Massachusetts Historical Society. Archived from the original on November 26, 2013. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  27. ↑ "The History of Cabot Corporation". Cabot Corporation. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
  28. ↑ "Untitled". Santa Cruz News. Oct 3, 1923. Retrieved 2 January 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  29. ↑ "Miscellany: Aug. 27, 1923". Time. 27 August 1923. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  30. ↑ Joseph Van Raalte (September 30, 1923). "Again, What's in a Name If the Cabotos Could Become Cabots in Days Gone by, Why Can't the Kabotchnicks Do Likewise? They Can!". Pittsburgh Daily Post. p. 56. Retrieved 2 January 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ↑ "Kabotchnick Becomes "Cabot"; Protest Fails". Lansing State Journal. August 15, 1923. p. 2. Retrieved 2 January 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ↑ "Kabotchnik May Be Cabot, Judge is 'constrained' to Rule". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 15 August 1923. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  33. ↑ Andrews, Robert, ed. (1996). Famous Lines: A Columbia Dictionary of Familiar Quotations. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10218-6.
  34. ↑ "Francis Cabot". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  35. ↑ "Francis Cabot Lowell (1775–1817) Papers: Guide to the Collection". Massachusetts Historical Society. Archived from the original on November 26, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  36. ↑ Whipple, G.M. (1862). Historical collections of the Essex Institute, Volume IV. Essex Institute. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  37. ↑ Paine, Sarah Cushing (1912). Paine Ancestry: The Family of Robert Treat Paine, Signer of the Declaration of Independence. David Clapp & Son. p. 206. Retrieved January 11, 2012. first cotton mill.
  38. ↑ Lodge, Henry Cabot (1878). Life and Letters of George Cabot. Little, Brown and Company. p. 5. Retrieved January 11, 2012. henry now married. Pg. 568
  39. 1 2 "Francis Cabot", RootsWeb. Accessed January 7, 2016.
  40. ↑ "George Cabot Lee", RootsWeb. Accessed August 15, 2018.
  41. ↑ "Frederick Cabot", RootsWeb. Accessed January 7, 2016.
  42. 1 2 "Francis Cabot", RootsWeb. Accessed January 7, 2016.
  43. 1 2 Fox, Margalit. "Francis H. Cabot, 86, Dies; Created Notable Gardens". The New York Times (November 27, 2011): "A son of the New York branch of one of Boston's storied families ..."
  44. ↑ "Senior trustee, Thomas D. Cabot, dies at 98". MIT News. June 21, 1995. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
  45. ↑ "Mabel Brandon and Louis Cabot". The New York Times. June 1, 1997. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  46. ↑ "Linda Black Is Married". The New York Times. January 29, 1989. Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  47. ↑ "John Moore (sic) Cabot is dead at 79; U.S. Ambassador to 5 countries". The New York Times. February 25, 1981. Retrieved March 29, 2008.
  48. ↑ "Weddings; Sara R. Snow and Timothy P. Cabot". The New York Times. February 11, 1996. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  49. ↑ "Andrew Cabot". Privateer Rum. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  50. ↑ Deang, Shyna Mae (21 July 2025). "Kristin Cabot's Husband Comes from One of Boston's Wealthiest Families with a Fortune Spanning Over 100 Years". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  51. ↑ "Town & Country, Volumes 75–76". Town & Country. February 20, 1919. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  52. ↑ "Charles M. Cabot Dead In Beverly". The Boston Globe. September 6, 1915.
  53. ↑ Who Was Who in the Theatre: 1912-76, p. 353, vol. 1 A-C, compiled from editions originally published annually by John Parker; this version by Gale Research. ISBN 0-8103-0406-6 ;UK ISBN 0-273-01313-0
  54. ↑ Engle, Kathy. "Internationally known Western artist Hugh Cabot dies at 75", Green Valley News (May 27, 2005): "Born in Boston, the son of a decidedly patrician family ..."
  55. ↑ Who's Who in New England: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men and Women of the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. A.N. Marquis & Company. 1916. p. 199. Retrieved August 13, 2011. cabot, henry.
  56. ↑ "Paul C. Cabot, 95, Financial Strategist; Began Mutual Funds". The New York Times. September 4, 1994. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  57. ↑ "U.S. Passport Applications, 1795–1925: Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925 > 1922 > Roll 1953 – Certificates: 163726-164099, 08 May 1922-08 May 1922". National Archives. 2006. Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  58. ↑ "Elise Cabot Forbes Papers: 1875–1960 Offsite Storage Inventory". Massachusetts Historical Society. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
  59. ↑ Lodge, Henry Cabot (1878). Life and Letters of George Cabot. Little, Brown and Company. p. 41. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  60. ↑ Fertilizer Abstracts: Volume 1 (Report). National Fertilizer Development Center, Tennessee Valley Authority. 1968. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-03-02. Gulf Central is a joint venture of Gulf Interstate Company, Houston; Cabot Corporation, Boston, Mass.[;] and Loeb, Rhoades & Co., the New York investment bankers.
  61. ↑ Lewis, John R. (1969). "Nitrogen". Metals, Minerals & Fuels (Report). Minerals Yearbook, Volumes 1-2. Bureau of Mines. p. 793. Retrieved 2023-03-02. [A] second independently owned and operated common carrier anhydrous ammonia pipeline system was under construction at the end of 1968...Built to transport ammonia from the major producing areas of the Texas and Louisiana gulf coast to consuming centers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Indiana, and Missouri, the new line, varying in diameter from 6 to 10 inches, will be known as the Gulf Central...¶Owners of the Gulf Central line were listed as the Gulf National State Bank of Houston, Tex.; Cabot Corporation of Boston, Mass.; Loeb, Rhoades and Co., New York; and a subsidiary of the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.
  62. ↑ "GEORGE E. CABOT, REALTY MANAGER:Founder, President of Boston Firm Dies at 85—Athenaeum Head Was Museum Trustee". New York Times. 1946-04-19. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  63. ↑ Hall, Peter D. (1984) [1982]. The Organization of American Culture, 1700-1900. Private Institutions, Elites, and the Origins of American Nationality. New York University Press. p. 64. ISBN 0-8147-3425-1.
  64. ↑ "Obituary: Lewis P. Cabot". Press Herald. 2020-01-12. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  65. ↑ "Paul C. Cabot, 95, Financial Strategist; Began Mutual Funds". New York Times. 1994-09-04. p. 41, Section 1. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  66. ↑ Fox, Margalit (2011-11-27). "Francis H. Cabot, 86, Dies; Created Notable Gardens". New York Times. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
  67. ↑ Cohen, Rich (2012). The Fish that Ate the Whale. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux. p. 186. ISBN 9780374299279.
  68. ↑ Mirra, Carl (2008). United States Foreign Policy and the Prospects for Peace Education. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-7864-3321-6.
  69. ↑ Ambrose, Stephen (2012) [1981]. Ike's Spies: Eisenhower and the Espionage Establishment. Anchor Books. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-307-94660-7. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
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