Lowell, John, 1743-1802. A collection of poems by a young gentleman of Harvard Colledge & a young lady of Newbury, 1759-1760. HUD 2759, Harvard University Archives.

This collection of five manuscript poems contains three poems written by an unidentified "young lady of Newbury" and two poems believed to have been written by John Lowell during his junior and senior years at Harvard College, from 1759 to 1760. One of the poems was written following the death of Daniel Treadwell (1735-1760), who had graduated from Harvard College in 1754 and was employed as Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at King's College (now Columbia University) when he died of consumption at a young age in 1760. Two poems, one by each author, were written following the death of British General James Wolfe, a hero of the Seven Years' War who died in 1759 while leading the taking of Quebec. In addition, the collection contains a poem by Lowell about the Biblical story of creation and the fall of man, and a humorous poem composed by the female author, written from the perspective of a robin (bird) and requesting that a young gentleman, presumably Lowell, stop shooting at robins from his cherry tree. Notes in the manuscript indicate that several of these poems were published, sometimes unknown to or against the wishes of their author. The young lady's poem about Daniel Treadwell was published in the Hampshire Gazette on May 9, 1760. Lowell's poem about General Wolfe was published in Green & Russell's Boston Post-boy & Advertiser on January 1(?), 1760. The young lady's poem about General Wolfe was published in the Hampshire Gazette on February 22, 1760.

Biographical Notes

Prominent jurist and lawyer John Lowell (1743-1802) was born in Newbury, Massachusetts on June 17, 1743. He attended Harvard College, where he received an A.B. in 1760. While an undergraduate, Lowell excelled as a writer of poetry and prose. Following graduation, he studied law under Oxenbridge Thacher. He began practicing law in 1763, was admitted as an attorney in 1765 and as barrister in 1767; his highly successful practice extended from Newburyport, Massachusetts into New Hampshire and Maine. Lowell married Sarah Higginson of Salem in 1767; she died only a few years later, in 1772. He remarried, to Susanna Cabot, in 1774; she died in 1777. Lowell's third marriage, to Rebecca Russell, was in 1778. Lowell served as Selectman and Moderator of Newburyport, Representative to the General Courts of Newburyport and Boston, a framer of the Massachusetts constitution, jurist, delegate to the Continental Congress, and federal judge, among other notable positions. He was a member of the Harvard Corporation and a founding trustee of Philips Academy. John Lowell died in Roxbury, Massaschusetts on May 6, 1802.