PERCIVAL LOWELL. 845 



University. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of 

 Arts and Sciences in 1878, and long served on its Rumford Committee. 



The last years of liis life were passed in a house that he built for 

 himself on Garden Street, Cambridge. Mr. Leavitt had worked 

 so hard that he never learned to play; and although fondly cared for 

 by his family, to whom he was devoted, and notwithstanding his 

 interest in civic afl'airs, it is to be feared that time hung heavily on his 

 hands, when he felt that his health demanded his retirement from 

 business. 



In 1867 he married Anne Elizabeth Pettit of Philadelphia who died 

 in 1889. They had five children, the survivors being Mrs. Walter 

 Wesselhoeft, Mrs. Paul Van Daell, and Miss Margaret A. Leavitt. 



G. R. Agassiz. 



PERCIVAL LOWELL (1855-1916) 



Fellow in Class I, Section 1, 1892. 



On both his maternal and paternal sides Percival Lowell came of 

 stock prominent in the development of New England. The cities 

 of Lowell and Lawrence were named for his ancestors. His father, 

 Augustus Lowell, was a Vice President of the American Academy, 

 his mother Katharine Lawrence was the daughter of a former Minister 

 to Great Britian. 



Lowell was born in Boston on March 13th, 1855, and fitted for 

 college at "Noble's" school. He took honors in mathematics at 

 Harvard and graduated cum laude in 1876. The elder Pierce spoke 

 of him as one of the two most brilliant mathematicians whom he had 

 seen at Harvard. 



After leaving college he entered business in Boston. LTnlike most 

 devotees of pure science he possessed a marked gift for business 

 matters, and became a force in the business world, where he occupied 

 various positions of responsibility and trust. 



From 1883 to 1893 he devoted his life chiefly to literature and 

 travel. Much of this time was spent in the far East, chiefly in Japan, 

 where for some years he made his headquarters in a charming native 

 house in Tokio. He was appointed foreign secretary of the Special 

 Mission from Korea to the United States, and conducted its travels 



