Lowell was born in [[Boston, Massachusetts]]. His mother, Anna Cabot Jackson Lowell (1811–1874), a daughter of [[Patrick Tracy Jackson]], married Charles Russell Lowell, JrSr., the eldest son of Unitarian Minister, [[Charles Russell Lowell, Sr.]] and brother of [[James Russell Lowell]]. She wrote verse and books on education. Lowell graduated as the [[valedictorian]] from [[Harvard College]] in 1854, and worked in an iron mill in [[Trenton, New Jersey]], for a few months in 1855. He spent two years abroad, and from 1858 to 1860 was local treasurer of the [[Burlington and Missouri River Railroad]]. In 1860, he took charge of the [[Mount Savage Iron Works]] in [[Cumberland, Maryland]].
