John Lowell was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on June 17, 1743, the son of John and Sarah (Champney) Lowell. He graduated from Harvard College in 1760 and became an attorney in 1762. He served in the Massachusetts House in 1778 and 1780 to 1782, in the Continental Congress from 1782 to 1783, and from 1784 to 1785 was a member of the Massachusetts Senate. He was a Judge of the Massachusetts Court of Appeals from 1784 to 1789. In 1789 he was appointed United States District Judge serving until 1801. From 1801 until his death Lowell was Judge of the United States Circuit Court. He was a botanist and served as President of the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, in addition to being a founder of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. By his first wife Sarah he had three children: Anna Cabot, John, and Sarah Champney; by his second wife Susanna he had two children: Francis Cabot and Susanna Cabot; and by his third wife Rebecca Russell, he had three children: Rebecca Russell, Charles, and Elizabeth Cutts. John Lowell died on May 6, 1802, in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Thomas Russell was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on April 7, 1740, the son of James and Katherine (Graves) Russell. He became a prominent and wealthy merchant in Boston who was largely involved in direct trade with the West Indies. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1788 and was a member of the State Council from 1789-1794. Thomas Russell had three wives, Elizabeth Henly, Sarah Sever, and Elizabeth Watson, and six surviving children. He died on April 8, 1796, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Sarah Russell was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on December 2, 1750, the daughter of James and Katherine (Graves) Russell. She resided in Charlestown and died on October 14, 1819.

Samuel Pickering Gardner was born in Salem, Massachusetts, to John and Elizabeth (Pickering) Gardner on May 14, 1767. He graduated from Harvard College in 1786 and was a merchant first in South Carolina and after 1793 in Boston. In 1797 he married Rebecca Russell Lowell, and they had five surviving children: Elizabeth Pickering, Mary Lowell, John Lowell, Sarah Russell, and George. Samuel Gardner died on December 16, 1843, in Boston, Massachusetts.