The Lowell family was founded in America by Percival Lowle (1571–1664); his grown son's John (1595–1647) and Richard (1602–82); and his daughter, Joanna Oliver (1609–77), when their families sailed from England to the newly established settlement of Newburyport on the north shore of the Merrimack River in the failing Province of Maine aboard the merchant ship Jonathan in 1639. Percival was a well-established Bristol merchant who took over the company his father and his maternal grandfather started a generation earlier. Seal of Newburyport, MA Newburyport is a small coastal city located in Essex County, Massachusetts. ... The Merrimack River, formed by the confluence of the Pemigewasset River (left) and Winnipesaukee River (right) is shown on a map of the northeastern United States The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an earlier spelling that is sometimes still used) is a 110-mile-long (177-kilometer-long) river in... The 1622 grant of the Province of Maine is shown outlined in blue. ... Bristol is a unitary authority with city and ceremonial county status in South West England. ...

The Lowle's migration to the new world came at the onset of the Bishops' Wars which is commonly referred to as the begining of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and the English Civil Wars. A period of extreme conflict between The Church of England and The Church of Scotland; England and Ireland and Scotland; and the Parliament of England and King Charles I. All of which lead to the trial and execution of the monarch in 1649. The Bishops Wars, a series of armed encounters and defiances between England and Scotland in 1639 and 1640, were part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. ... The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in Scotland, Ireland, and England between 1639 and 1651 at a time when these countries had come under the Personal Rule of the same monarch. ... The term English Civil War (or Wars) refers to the series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between English Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... The Church of Scotland (C of S, also known informally as The Kirk; until the 17th century officially the Kirk of Scotland) is the Christian national church of Scotland. ... The Long Parliament is the name of the English Parliament called by Charles I, in 1640, following the Bishops Wars. ... Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. ...

John and Richard both changed their surname to Lowell after becoming established in the new world.

John's decendants migrated southward establishing the line that would become the Boston Lowell's, one of the original Brahmin families of Boston, a family of great wealth and influence in politics, education, business, and culture. Studying at Harvard University has been deep family tradition for over 250 years. This branch of the Lowell family is heavily concentrated in the Boston area, especially in Brookline and Cambridge but several descendants have migrated to New York City, NY and Philadelphia, PA easily integrating with the social elite. Boston Brahmins, 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 who founded the city of Boston, Massachusetts and originally settled New England. ... Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. ... Harvard Square, May 2000 Cambridge is a city in the greater Boston area in Massachusetts, United States. ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the United States, the most densely populated major city in North America, and is at the center of international finance, politics, entertainment, and culture. ... This article refers to the largest city of Pennsylvania. ...

Richard's decendants migrated north and established the line that would become known as the Maine Lowell's. This branch has a history rich in boat building, shipping, ranching/farming, and poineering. While Lowell's from this branch can be found in every state the significant concentrations of the family are in Maine, California, and Florida.

Notable Lowell's

• Abbott Lawrence Lowell, historian and President of Harvard University
• Amy Lowell, poet, co-founder and strong proponent of Imagism (sometimes jokingly called "Amygism")
• Carey Lowell, actress, wife of actor Richard Gere
• Charles Russell Lowell, Union General in the American Civil War
• Christopher Lowell, interior designer and TV host
• Delmar R. Lowell historian and geneologist
• Ava Lowle Willing, Philadelphia socialite and wife of John Jacob Astor IV (an RMS Titanic casualty)
• Francis Cabot Lowell, businessman and founder of Lowell, Massachusetts
• Guy Lowell, architect and landscape designer
• James Russell Lowell, writer, poet, and foreign diplomat
• John Lowell, statesman
• John Lowell, Jr., through his will, founder of the Lowell Institute
• Maria White Lowell, poet, abolistionist, and wife of James Russell Lowell
• Percival Lowell, astronomer and founder of Lowell Observatory
• Robert Lowell, poet