Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 08.djvu/257

 PEABODY

PEABODY

a descendant of Lieut. Francis Peabody, the im- migrant. He was graduated from Harvard, A.B. , 1869, A.M., 1873, and from the Harvard Divinity school, B.D., 1873. He was pastor of the First Parish chm-ch, Cambridge, Mass., 1874-80, re- signing on account of ill-health in 1880. In 1881 he was appointed Parkman professor of theology at Harvard, which chair he held until 1886, when he became Plummer professor of Christian mor- als. He was an overseer of Harvard, 1877-83. The honorary degree of D.D. was conferred on him by Yale in 1887. He is the author of: Morn- ings in the College Chapel (1897); Founder's Day at Hampton (1898); Afternoons in the College Chapel (1898); Jesus Christ and the Social Ques- tion (1900.)

PEABODY, George, philanthropist, was born in Danvers, Mass., Feb. 18, 1795; a descendant of Lieut. Francis Peabody, the immigrant (1614- 1697). He served as apprentice to a country grocer in Danvers, 1806-10; resided in Thetford, Vt,, 1810-11, and en- gaged in the dry- goods business in Newburyport, Mass., with his elder brother, David, in 1811, re- moving after the de- struction of the store by fire to George- town, D.C., to become financial assistant to his uncle, John Pea- body. Upon the out- break of the war of 1813, he joined a company of volun- teer infantry and was stationed at Fort Warburton to command the river approach to Washington. In 1814 he formed a partnership in the wholesale dry goods business with Elisha Riggs, and in 1815 the house removed to Baltimore. He traveled on horseback through western New York, Pennsylvania, Mary- land and Virginia, and in 1831 had so increased the business that branch offices were opened at Philadelphia and in New York city. In 1839 Mr. Riggs retired from business, and in 1837 Peabody established the firm of George Peabody & Co., merchant and money broker. Warn ford Court, London. Eng. Tiie business grew to be among the foremost in London and negotiated large government loans, including the sale of $8,000,000 Maryland state bonds in 1835. The $300,000 com- mission thereon Peabody remitted to the state, for which he received a special vote of thanks from the legislature. In 1851 he advanced $15,- 000 to enable the products of American industry to be properly displayed at the exhibition of that

year, and in 1853 he donated $10,000 to be used for equipping the Advaiice, which had been pre- sented by Henry Grinnell of New York city for a second arctic expedition to search for Sir John Franklin, The searchers named part of the newly-discovered territory " Peabody Land." In June, 1853, he donated the means for the estab- lishment of the Peabody Institute in his native town; in 1866 established the Peabody library at Thetford, Vt., and also founded the Peabody In- stitute at Baltimore, Md., in 1866. In 1859 he began a plan for promoting the comfort and hap- piness of the poor of London, advancing $750,000 for the foundation of a tenement-house fund. The work of erection was at once begun, and in 1864a block was opened to its tenants, the fund being increased by Mr. Peabody in 1873 to $3,500,- 000. He also gave $3,000,000 for the education of the poor children of the south, part of which fund was in Mississippi state bonds, which have re- mained inactive, but the interest from the earn- ing part of the gift is used to assist normal schools for teachers in the southern states. In 1866 he declined the choice of a baronetcy or the grand cross of the Order of the Bath. On July 33, 1869, the Prince of Wales unveiled in a public square in London a bronze statue of Mr. Peabody, the donation of the people of the city. Among his other notable gifts were the follow- ing: $150,000 to Harvard university; $150,000 to Yale; $140,000 to the Peabody Academy of Sci- ence, Salem, Mass.; $35,000 to Kenyon college, Ohio; $35,000 to Phillips academy. Andover, Mass.; $30,000 for the Massachusetts Historical society, and $100,000 for the building of a church in memory of his mother at Georgetown, Mass. He visited America for the last time in 1869, and on his return to England was in such poor health that he decided to remove to France. He died, however, in London. The funeral services were held at Westminster Abbey and his remains were brought to the United States in H. M. S. Monarch, convoyed by an American and a French vessel. When the body reached Portland, Maine, it was received by an American naval squadron and transfei'red to Peabody, Mass., where, after appro- priate services were held, it was placed in the family vault at Harmony Grove cemetery, Salem. Mass. His name was given a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, New York uni- versity, October, 1900, in " Class F, Philanthro- pists " receiving 73 votes, the highest in the class. The date of his death is Nov. 4, 1869.

PEABODY, Josephine Preston, poet, was born in New York; daughter of Charles Kilham and Susan Josephine (Morrill) Peabody; grand- daughter of Francis and Hannah Kilham (Pres- ton) Peabody and of Charles Augustine and Susan Simonds (Jackson) Morrill, and a descend-