Francis Cabot Lowell (judge)


Francis Cabot Lowell was a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and 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 January 7, 1855, in Boston, Massachusetts, Lowell received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1876 from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Laws in 1879 from Harvard Law School. He entered private practice in Boston from 1880 to 1898. He was private secretary to Justice Horace Gray of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts from 1880 to 1882. He was a city councilman for Boston from 1889 to 1891. He was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1895.

Federal judicial service

Lowell was nominated by President William McKinley on January 5, 1898, to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated by Judge Thomas Leverett Nelson. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 10, 1898, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on April 15, 1905, due to his elevation to the First Circuit.
Lowell was nominated by President Theodore Roosevelt on February 15, 1905, to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the United States Circuit Courts for the First Circuit, to a new joint seat authorized by 33 Stat. 611. He was confirmed by the Senate on February 23, 1905, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on March 6, 1911, due to his death in Boston.

Family and membership

For many years, Lowell was in partnership with his well-known cousin A. Lawrence Lowell. Francis Cabot Lowell was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1895.