Franklin Parker on Massachusetts-born Merchant in the South and London-based Banker-Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869) and Other Writings. Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869) :: May

1 of 14: George Peabody (1795-1869): A-Z Handbook…, By Franklin Parker & Betty J. Parker, bfparker@frontiernet.net

1 of 14: George Peabody (1795-1869): A-Z Handbook of the Massachusetts-Born Merchant in the South, London-Based Banker, and Philanthropist’s Life, Influence, and Related People, Places, Events, and Institutions. ©2007, By Franklin Parker & Betty J. Parker, bfparker@frontiernet.net

This work updates and expands Franklin Parker, George Peabody, A Biography (Nashville, Tenn.: Vanderbilt Univ. Press, ©1971, revised with illustrations ©1995), and authors’ related George Peabody publications listed in the Authors’ Preface below. Note: To read on your computer Franklin Parker’s out-of-print George Peabody, A Biography, 1995, as a free Google E-book copy and paste on your browser: http://books.google.com/books?id=OPIbk-ZPnF4C&pg=PP1&lpg=PR4&dq=Franklin+Parker,+George+Peabody,+a+Biography&output=html&sig=6R8ZoKwN1B36wtCSePijnLaYJS8

Background: Why these 1 to 14 blogs on George Peabody? The authors attended George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville (renamed Peabody College of Vanderbilt Univ. July 1, 1979). Franklin Parker’s doctoral dissertation, “George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy,” 1956, has been an ongoing research and writing interest for over 50 years. The authors’ intent is to perpetuate public memory of him.

George Peabody, now largely forgotten by scholars and the public, was significant as: 1-a Massachusetts-born merchant in the U.S. South, beginning as junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29); then head of Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-43), importing dry goods and other commodities worldwide for sale to U.S. wholesalers. He transformed himself from merchant into: 2-a London-based merchant-banker, George Peabody & Co. (1838-64), which helped finance the B&O RR, the 2nd Mexican War Loan, the Atlantic Cable, and by choosing Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) as partner Oct. 1, 1854, was a root of the JP Morgan international banking firm.

Merchant-turned-banker George Peabody finally became: 3-the best known U.S. philanthropist of the 1850s-60s, founding the Peabody Homes of London for the working poor; founder in the U.S. of 7 Peabody Libraries and Lecture Halls; the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore; three Peabody Museums at Harvard (Anthropology), Yale (Paleontology), and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA (maritime history); and founder of the Peabody Education Fund for the South (1867-1914), a model for all later larger U.S. funds and foundations.

Two tributes to George Peabody:

Historian John Steele Gordon called George Peabody the “Most Underrated Philanthropist…. Peabody is unjustly forgotten today, but his unprecedented generosity was greatly appreciated in his time.” Ref.: American Heritage. Vol. 50, No. 3 (May-June 1999), pp. 68-69.

“The Peabody Fund, established in 1867 by George Peabody to assist southern education, is often credited with being the first foundation….” Ref.: Reader’s Companion to American History, ed. by Eric Foner and John A. Garraty (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991). Internet: http://HistoryChannel.com/

End of Background. HTML symbols are intended for blogging (ignore). This 1 of 14 blogs covers: 1-”Preface,” 2-authors’ published writings on GP, 3-overview of GP’s Life and Career, and 4- alphabetical entries from Abbott (Alfred Amos) to Brush (M.P.) 2.

Preface

Abbreviations used are easily recognizable and include U.S. state names (Tenn. for Tennessee, Md. for Maryland, etc.); city (NYC for New York City); titles (Pres. for President, Sen. for Senator, Rep. for Representative, Secty. for Secretary, Gov. for Governor, PM for Prime Minister, Adm. for Admiral, etc.); months of the year (Jan. for January); terms (Intro. for Introduction); and organizations (Univ. for University, Co. for Company, Dept. for Department, B&O RR for Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; n.d. for no date; n.p. for no page; etc.). The following five abbreviations are used throughout this work:

1-GP for George Peabody (1795-1869

2-GPCFT for George Peabody College for Teachers (1914-79).

3-PCofVU for Peabody College of Vanderbilt Univ. (since July 1, 1979).

4-PEF for the Peabody Education Fund (Feb. 7, 1867-1914).

5-PIB for the Peabody Institute of Baltimore (since Oct. 24, 1857).

6-Peabody Papers, PEM for George Peabody Papers, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.

7-USS for United States Ship, as in USS Plymouth: CSS for Confederate States Ship, as in CSS Alabama; and (for Britain) HMS for Her Majesty’s Ship, as in HMS Monarch.

8-VU for Vanderbilt University.

References (Ref.)

References are briefly identified at the end of most articles as Ref.:, followed by author’s last name and page or pages (or first significant words of title and page or pages if no author), with annotated reference easily found alphabetically in the back of this work.

See:

Names of persons after See: are listed by Last, First, and Middle names or initials.

Internet website URL and e-mail addresses of GP-related institutions, persons, and topics are listed in appropriate places (Ref.:, See:, other places) with date seen by the authors since URL’s often appear, disappear, and change.

Summary repetitions about people, events, and circumstances are used in the many entries that follow when their use further illuminates GP’s life and influence.

Birth and death years of persons, when known, are listed (after their names) when first mentioned in an entry.

English pound £ during GP’s years in England (1837-69) was roughly equivalent to U.S. $5.00.

Authors’ Preface: On the Trail of George Peabody (1795-1869)

(This Preface interweaves the origin of the authors’ research “On the Trail of GP,” with findings on his career and influence; lists the authors’ GP publications; and continues alphabeticlly with entries 1-14 that touch on every uncovered aspect of GP’s life, career, and influence).

1-Sept. 1946-52: We met as students at Berea College near Lexington, Ky. (Sept. 1946), Betty entering from Decatur, Ala.; Franklin from Asheville, N.C. Berea brought us together, led to our marriage (1950), and its Alumni Office got us our first teaching jobs at Ferrum Jr. College near Roanoke, Va., 1950-52.

2-To improve our teaching skills we attended George Peabody College for Teachers (GPCFT), sited next to Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, Tenn., the summers of 1951 and 1952. Attendance at Berea College, a work-study tuition-free college, enabled Franklin to extend his GI Bill entitlement (he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces, 1942-46) to help cover graduate study costs at the Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, 1949-50, and GPCFT, 1952-56, plus travel to and housing near U.S. and British libraries to read GP-related papers.

3-1952-56: A part-time job and small GPCFT scholarship for Franklin, together with Betty’s job teaching English in a Nashville business college, enabled us to be graduate students at GPCFT during 1952-56. Franklin took courses from and attached himself as doctoral candidate to Canadian-born Prof Clifton Landon Hall (1898-1987), graduate of Bishop Univ. (Quebec), McGill Univ. (Montreal), a Univ. of N.C., Chapel Hill, Ph.D. in the history of education, and widely respected on the Peabody and Vanderbilt campuses.

4-1953: Searching for a dissertation topic and finding an unexplored area in the history of higher education in Tenn., Franklin went for approval to GPCFT Dean (and later president) Felix Compton Robb (1914-97). Perhaps out of respect for Prof. Hall’s reputation, Dean Robb told Franklin of his own earlier experience at Harvard University. In a history course he had at Harvard under historian Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. (1888-1965), Schlesinger, knowing that Robb was a Peabody College administrator, urged Robb to write on GP as a founder of modern educational philanthropy. Schlesinger knew of this achievement and lamented that it had not yet been fully explored and documented.

5-Determined on a career in higher education administration, Robb chose a dissertation in that area. Perhaps regretting a good topic not pursued, Robb spoke with enthusiasm of GP’s little known role as the founder of U.S. educational philanthropy and urged Franklin to consider it as a dissertation topic.

Basic Facts

6-GP in brief: Increasingly intrigued by what we found in libraries and encouraged by small scholarships, we read GP’s original letters and papers intensively in widely scattered U.S. and British depositories during 1953-55. He was born Feb. 18, 1795, into a poor branch of the Peabodys of Mass., third of eight children in Danvers, Mass., 19 miles northeast of Boston. He lived long enough to see his birthplace (renamed South Danvers in 1855 when Danvers was divided into North Danvers and South Danvers) renamed Peabody, Mass., in his honor on April 13, 1868.

7-He attended a district school 4 years, ages 8-12 (1803-07), all his parents could afford; was apprenticed in a general store 4 years, ages 12-15 (1807-10); and worked for a year in his oldest brother’s dry goods store in Newburyport, Mass. (1810-11). His father died May 13, 1811, leaving the family in debt, the Danvers home mortgaged, with GP’s mother and the five younger children forced to live with nearby relatives. Eighteen days later, May 31, 1811, the Great Fire of Newburyport ruined all business prospects, leading to an exodus of family breadwinners.

8-Paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-1827), whose Newburyport store and stock were burned, urged his 17-year old nephew GP to join him in opening a dry goods store in Georgetown, D.C. Because his uncle could not obtain credit, GP asked a Newburyport merchant to stand surety for him for a consignment of goods on credit from a Boston merchant. With $2,000 in goods secured, uncle and nephew sailed from Newburyport (May 5, 1812) and opened the Georgetown, D.C., store (May 15, 1812).

9-His uncle soon entered other enterprises. On his own GP tended the store and was also a pack peddler selling goods to nearby homes and stores. With nearby Washington, D.C., under threat of British attack, he volunteered in the War of 1812. There he met and impressed 35-year-old fellow soldier and experienced Md. merchant Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853). Riggs took the 19-year-old GP as junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29), which imported European fabric, clothing, and other goods for sale to U.S. wholesalers. The firm moved to Baltimore in 1815 and had warehouses in Philadelphia and New York City (NYC) by 1822. See: Riggs, Elisha, Sr.

Young Merchant in the South

10-Taking early responsibility as family breadwinner, GP sent his mother and siblings flour, sugar, clothes, other necessities, and money. By 1816, age 21, he had paid the family debts and restored his mother and siblings to their home. Newburyport lawyer Ebon Mosely wrote GP on Dec. 16, 1816: “I cannot but be pleased with the filial affection which seems to evince you to preserve the estate for a Parent.” Ref.: Ebon Mosely, Newburyport, Mass., to GP, Baltimore, Dec. 16, 1816, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

11-GP paid for the education at Bradford Academy, Bradford, Mass., of five younger relatives: brother Jeremiah, from 1819; sister Judith Dodge during 1821-27, sister Mary Gaines during 1822-27, cousin Adolphus W. Peabody (paternal uncle John’s son) during 1827, and a nephew named for him (oldest brother David’s son George), also during 1827. He bought a house in West Bradford for his relatives who were enrolled in the academy and where his mother also lived for several years.

12-He later paid for the education of other relatives: nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99), at Yale Univ., later the first U.S. paleontologist at Yale; nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909), Harvard-trained lawyer; niece Julia Adelaide Peabody (b. April 25, 1835), Philadelphia finishing school; and others.

13-GP traveled in the U.S. and abroad for Riggs, Peabody & Co. He made five European buying trips during 1827-37. When Elisha Riggs, Sr., withdrew to become a NYC banker, the firm became Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-48), with GP as senior partner and Riggs’s nephew, Samuel Riggs (d. 1853), as junior partner.
GP as Md.’s Fiscal Agent Abroad

14-In 1836, as part of large scale internal improvements in many states (building roads, canals, and railroads), the Md. legislature voted to finance the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the B&O RR with interest-bearing state bonds to be sold abroad. Md. appointed three agents to sell its $8 million bond issue abroad. When one agent withdrew, GP sought and secured his place. He left for London Feb. 1837, just before the Panic of 1837.

15-A depression following the financial Panic of 1837 led the two other agents to return to the U.S. without success. GP remained in London the rest of his life (1837-69), 32 years, except for three U.S. visits (Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857; May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867; and June 8 to Sept. 29, 1869).

16-Depressed conditions after 1837 led nine states, including Md., to stop interest payments on their bonds sold abroad. GP had to sell the bonds in this depressed market and amid the angers of British and other European investors at the stoppage of interest payments. He publicly assured investors that repudiation was temporary, that payments would be retroactive. By letters, printed in newspapers, he urged officials in Md. and other defaulting states to retroactively resume interest payments.

17-GP was finally relieved to sell his part of the Md. bonds cheaply for exclusive resale by London’s Baring Brothers banking firm. In 1847-48 Md. officials acknowledged publicly that GP had upheld Md.’s credit abroad during a difficult financial panic and that, rather than burden the state treasury, had declined his own $60,000 commission. Md. Gov. Philip Francis Thomas (1810-90) transmitted Md. legislature’s resolutions of praise to him and wrote, “To you, sir…the thanks of the State were eminently due.” See: Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.

From Merchant to London-based Banker

18-Gradually curtailing business activities for Peabody, Riggs & Co., he withdrew his capital in 1843 and severed his connection in 1845 (the firm’s business ended in 1848). Coincidentally, he founded George Peabody & Co., London (Dec. 1, 1838-Oct. 1, 1864) and increasingly sold U.S. state bonds to finance roads, canals, and railroads. He succeeded in transition from merchant to investment banker.

19-With others he helped finance the second Mexican War loan; bought, sold, and shipped European iron and later steel rails for U.S. western railroads; and was a director and part- financier of the Atlantic Cable Co. He had learned to marshal capital to finance and expand U.S. business and industrial growth. In the 1850s he became the most eminent U.S. banker in London dealing in U.S. trade and securities.

20-George Peabody & Co. prospered. Asked in an interview on Aug. 22, 1869, how and when he made his money, GP said, “I made pretty much of it in 20 years from 1844 to 1864. Everything I touched within that time seemed to turn to gold. I bought largely of United States securities when their value was low and they advanced greatly.” Ref.: (Aug. 22, 1869, interview): Moorman-b, pp. 15-17.

Morgan Partnership

21-Often ill and urged by business friends to take a partner, GP on Oct. 1, 1854, at age 59 took as partner Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90). J.S. Morgan’s son John Pierpont Morgan (later Sr., 1837-1913), at age 19, began his banking career as NYC agent for George Peabody & Co. Increasing illness hastened GP’s retirement on Oct. 1, 1864. Unmarried, without a son, and knowing he would no longer control the firm, he asked that his name be withdrawn. See: Morgan, Junius Spencer.

22-GP’s was thus the root of the international banking house of J.P. Morgan, a fact amply recorded but not now generally known. His firm continued in London as J.S. Morgan & Co. (Oct. 1, 1864-Dec. 31, 1909), Morgan Grenfell & Co. (Jan. 1, 1910-Nov. 1918), Morgan Grenfell & Co., Ltd. (Nov. 1918-90), and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990), a German-owned international banking firm. Relieved of business burdens GP spent the last five years of his life (1864-69) looking after his philanthropic institutions, first begun in 1852.

Philanthropist

23-More intriguing than how GP made his money was why and how he gave it away. In 1820 he was worth between $40,000 and $50,000. His 1827 will left $4,000 for charity. His 1832 will left $27,000 (out of a $135,000 estate) for educational philanthropy. He early told intimates and said publicly in 1850 that he would found an educational or other useful institution in every town and city where he had lived and worked. He earned about $20 million during his lifetime and at his death (Nov. 4, 1869) he gave about half to philanthropy, half to his relatives. (Note: $20 million in 1869 is equivalent to $258.3 million In 2001 purchasing power: See: Philanthropy, GP’s, worth of, in Ref.: g. Internet. URL: http://www.eh.net/ehresources/howmuch/dollarq.php).

24-His philanthropic gifts (26 gifts or resulting institutes are numbered below), totaled about $10 million. His seven U.S. Peabody institute libraries, with lecture halls and lecture funds were, like the Lyceums (from 1826) and later Chautauquas (from 1872), part of the adult education centers of the time.

25-His seven Peabody Institute libraries are in: 1-Peabody, 2-Danvers, 3-Newburyport, and 4-Georgetown (all in Mass.). The four-part 5-Peabody Institute of Baltimore (PIB) contained a reference library, initially so extensive that the Library of Congress early borrowed from it, plus an art gallery, a lecture hall a lecture fund, and a conservatory of music.

26-The PIB, to which he gave a total of $1.4 million, presaged such later cultural centers as the Lincoln Center, NYC; and the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. (the PIB reference library and the PIB conservatory of music became part of the Johns Hopkins Univ., from 1982). Other Peabody libraries are in 6-Thetford, Vt. and in 7-Georgetown, D.C. (now the Peabody Room of the Washington, D.C., public library.

27-Influenced by his nephew O.C. Marsh’s scientific interests and attainments, GP founded three Peabody museums of science: 8-the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard Univ. (anthropology); 9-the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Univ. (paleontology), $150,000 each; and 10-what is now the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass. (maritime history plus Essex County historical documents), $140,000.

28-GP earlier gave the 11-Md. Institute for the Promotion of Mechanic Arts $1,000 for a chemistry laboratory and school, Oct. 31, 1851; 12-Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., $25,000 for a professorship of mathematics, Oct. 30, 1866; 13-Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, $25,000 for a professorship of mathematics and civil engineering, Nov. 6, 1866; and 14-and to former Gen. Robert E. Lee’s (1807-70) Washington College (renamed Washington and Lee Univ., 1871), Lexington, Va., $60,000 for a professorship of mathematics, Sept. 1869.

29-He gave $20,000 publication funds each to the 15-Md. Historical Society, Baltimore, Nov. 5, 1866; and the 16-Mass. Historical Society, Boston, Jan. 1, 1867. He gave 17-the U.S. Sanitary Commission to aid Civil War orphans, widows, and disabled veterans $10,000, 1864; and the 18-Vatican charitable San Spirito Hospital, Rome, Italy, $19,300, April 5, 1867.

30-He had a 19-Memorial Congregational Church built in his mother’s memory in her hometown, Georgetown, Mass., $70,000, 1866. For patriotic causes he donated to the 20-Lexington Monument, now Peabody, Mass., $300, 1835; the 21-Bunker Hill Memorial, Boston, Mass., $500, June 3, 1845; and the 22-Washington Monument, Washington, D.C., $1,000, July 4, 1854.

Peabody Homes of London

31-His largest gift, $2.5 million total, was for model low rent apartments for London’s working poor. Begun on March 12, 1862, what is now 23-the Peabody Trust Group, London, GP’s most successful philanthropy, on March 31, 2006 owned or managed over 20,000 affordable homes housing over 50,000 low income Londoners (about 59% white, 32% black, and 9% others in 2002). These include, besides Peabody Trust Group-built estates, other London public housing units whose authorities deliberately chose to come under the Peabody Trust Group because of its efficient management, facilities, playgrounds for the young, recreation for the elderly, computer centers, job training, and job placement for its working adults. Ref.: Peabody Trust Group, London-c, annual report, 2002 (and later reports). Ref.: g. Internet. “Peabody Buildings,” URL: http://www.vauxhallsociety.org.uk/Peabody.html

32-The Peabody Homes of London, GP’s most successful philanthropy, was first suggested by social reformer Lord Shaftesbury (1801-85). GP first (1859) considered and discarded the idea of building a network of drinking fountains in London. He then considered a large gift to enlarge the Ragged Schools Union, a charitable trust managing schools for poor children in England, administered by Lord Shaftesbury (before the establishment of tax supported schools). GP asked his friend, Ohio’s Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), who knew Shaftesbury, to consult with him. McIlvaine reported Shaftesbury’s advice that housing was the London poor’s greatest need. This advice determined GP’s gift of low cost model apartments. The Peabody Homes of London inspired imitators elsewhere in England and in the U.S. and brought GP many honors in England.

PEF

33-GP’s most in19,fluential U.S. gift was the $2 million 23-PEF (1867-1914) to promote public education in the eleven former Confederate states plus W.Va., added because of its poverty. He actually gave the PEF $3,484,000, but $1.1 million in Miss. state bonds and $384,000 in Fla. bonds were never redeemed by those states.

34-For 47 years the PEF helped promote public schools in the devastated post Civil War South, focusing first on aiding existing public elementary and secondary schools in larger towns to serve as models, then aiding teacher training institutes and normal colleges, and finally aiding rural public school growth.

35-The PEF was without precedent, the first multimillion dollar educational foundation in the U.S., cited by historians as the model forerunner of all subsequent significant U.S. educational funds and foundations. See: PEF.

36-High offices held by the over 50 PEF trustees during 1867-1914 included: thirteen state legislators, two U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justices, six U.S. ambassadors, eight U.S. Senators, seven in the U.S. House of Representatives, two Civil War generals, one U.S. naval admiral, one U.S. Army Surgeon-Gen., three Confederate generals, three who served in the Confederate Congress, two bishops, and six U.S. cabinet officers. For names, See: Governors, U.S. States, and GP. PCofVU. PEF. Presidents, U.S., and GP.

37-Other high offices held by PEF trustees: three were U.S. presidents (U.S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Grover Cleveland; or eight U.S. presidents if Peabody Normal College and its predecessor institutions are included), six were U.S. state governors, and three were financiers: J.P. Morgan; Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826-93), inspired by GP’s example to found Drexel Univ., Phila., and Paul Tulane (1801-87), inspired to found Tulane Univ., New Orleans, La. Ref.: Ibid.
Peabody Normal College

38-PEF first administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80) wanted a model teachers college for the South in Nashville. When the Tenn. legislature declined to pass funding legislation for several state normal school proposals, Sears through the PEF helped establish the PEF-supported 24-Peabody Normal College (1875-1911) on the Univ. of Nashville campus in place of its moribund Literary Dept. In its 36 years of existence, Peabody Normal College achieved regional and national leadership in the professional preparation of teachers.

39-GP’s PEF founding letter (Feb. 7, 1867) permitted ending the fund when its work in promoting public schools in the South was done. In 1914 the trustees distributed the fund’s total assets ($2,324,000) as follows: $474,000 went to the education departments of 14 southern universities ($40,000 each to the universities of Va., N.C., Ga., Ala., Fla., Miss., Ark., Ky., and La. [State]; $6,000 each to Johns Hopkins Univ. and to the universities of S.C., Mo., and Tex.; $90,000 to Winthrop Normal College, S.C. (now Winthrop College), founded by PEF trustees Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94); and $350,000 to the John F. Slater Fund for Negro Education (a sum given later to the Southern Education Fund, Atlanta, where it still serves African-American education). See: PCofVU. PEF. Southern Education Fund, Atlanta.

GPCFT

40-Most of the PEF principal, $1.5 million plus required matching funds, went to endow 25-GPCFT (1914-79), with a new campus built next to Vanderbilt Univ. for academic strength. For 65 years GPCFT maintained its independence, cooperating with neighboring Vanderbilt Univ. in courses, programs, and library facilities. GPCFT was in fact a unique mini-university, focused on teacher education in a variety of fields, with departments of library science, physical education, science education, and music education. It retained and enhanced its predecessor’s reputation as a leading institution in the South, with national recognition and an international student body.

41-GPCFT’s best graduates became state university presidents, deans, leading professors, researchers, and textbook writers. Its success thereby strengthened competing lower cost state university colleges of education and ironically contributed to its own demise. National recession in the 1970s combined with higher energy and other costs adversely affected higher education and particularly private colleges of education.

PCofVU

42-Wise Peabodians knew that the time was past for the survival of a private single purpose teachers college like GPCFT, despite its proud history, high regional reputation, and national and international influence. Merger took place on July 1, 1979, when GPCFT became 26-PCofVU, Vanderbilt Univ.’s. ninth school.

43-PCofVU soon increased the status of its predecessor institutions as a leading private southern university’s college of education. It quickly led the nation in preparing teachers to apply computers to student learning. Since the 1990s it has consistently ranked among the top U.S. graduate schools of education, highly esteemed in preparing special education teachers, guidance counselors, and educational researchers. Ref.: “Best Graduate Schools,” pp. 109, 111.

44-PCofVU’s history thus goes back to Davidson Academy (1785-1806), chartered by N.C. eleven years before Tenn. statehood; rechartered as Cumberland College (1806-26); rechartered as the Univ. of Nashville (1826-75); whose moribund literary dept. was rechartered as Peabody Normal College (1875-1911; rechartered as GPCFT (1914-79); renamed PCofVU (since July 1, 1979). PCofVU’s lineage of over 210 years makes it the 15th U.S. collegiate institution after the founding of Harvard College in 1636.

45-Faced with greater class and race divisions and with greater financial difficulties than counterpart colleges in other sections of the U.S., it rose phoenix-like again and again to produce educational leaders for the South, the nation, and the world. As part of Vanderbilt Univ., PCofVU carried into the 21st century GP’s motto accompanying his check for his first hometown Peabody Institute Library (1852): “Education, a debt due from present to future generations.”

Philanthropic Influence

46-GP’s philanthropic example, mainly through the PIB and the PEF, directly and personally influenced Enoch Pratt (1808-96) to found the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore’s public library; influenced Johns Hopkins (1795-1873) to found the Johns Hopkins Univ., hospital, and medical school in Baltimore; influenced Anthony Joseph Drexel to found Drexel Univ., Philadelphia; influenced Paul Tulane to found Tulane Univ., New Orleans; and influenced others who gave to institutions, funds, and foundations.

47-At his death, Nov. 4, 1869, age 74, GP was the best known philanthropist in the U.S. and Britain, a founder of U.S. educational philanthropy. But time, larger fortunes, wealthier funds and foundations have dimmed his memory, except at his institutes and among interested scholars.

Manuscript Sources

48-We did research on GP concentratedly in 1953-56, sporadically since, and again concentratedly in retirement since 1994, always impressed with his achievements and wondering why he is so neglected. We read GP- papers of the following individuals at the Library of Congress (LC), Washington, D.C.: a-William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888), business associate with whom GP helped finance the Second Mexican War loan (Corcoran is also known for donating the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, D.C.). b-Hamilton Fish (1809-93), PEF trustee, N.Y. governor, and U.S. Secty. of State involved in GP’s unusual 96-day transatlantic funeral.

49-We read the LC papers of c-John Work Garrett (1820-84), B&O RR president, who brought GP and Johns Hopkins together in his home near Baltimore, leading to the founding of Johns Hopkins Univ., Hospital, and Medical School. d-We read the LC papers of U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson (1808-75) who went to GP’s rooms at the Willard’s Hotel, Washington, D.C., Feb. 9, 1867, to thank him for the PEF as a national gift. To forestall impeachment by radical Republicans bent on punishing the defeated South, Pres. Johnson’s political advisor recommended a complete cabinet reshuffle with GP as Treasury Secty. But loyalty to his old cabinet kept Pres. Johnson from this course.

50-We read the LC papers of e-Benjamin Moran (1820-86), U.S. Legation in London Secty. (later called the U.S. Embassy), who during 1857-69 was often critical of GP in his private journal. f-We read the LC papers of the Riggs family, including Elisha Riggs, Sr., GP’s first senior partner; Samuel Riggs (Elisha Riggs, Sr.’s, nephew), GP’s second partner; and George Washington Riggs (1813-81, Elisha Riggs, Sr.’s son) who started the Riggs National Bank of Washington, D.C.

51-At the National Archives, Washington, D.C., we read a-”Veterans Records of the War of 1812″ documenting GP’s 14 days as a soldier, b-”Admirals and Commodores’ Letters,” c-”Dispatches from United States Ministers, Great Britain,” and d-”Log of USS Plymouth,” each documenting GP’s unusual 96-day transatlantic funeral (from his Nov. 4, 1869, death in London, to his final burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870, with much attendant press coverage.

52-In NYC’s Pierpont Morgan Library we read the papers of J.S. Morgan, his son J.P. Morgan, Sr., and grandson J.P. Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943). These helped explain how GP, the founding root of the House of Morgan, along with a handful of other merchant-bankers, early learned to marshal foreign capital to help finance U.S. industrial growth.

53-In Mass. we read the bulk of GP’s personal papers and business records (then not indexed or calendared) in what is now the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem. We also read his papers in depositories in Peabody, Salem, Danvers, and Boston, Mass.; at Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology; and in Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History (which has his nephew Othniel Charles Marsh’s papers).

54-In Baltimore, where GP spent 22 of his most formative commercial years, 1815-37, we read his papers at the PIB, and the papers and journals of PIB trustee John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870) who, at GP’s request for a cultural center for Baltimore, originally conceived of the idea of the PIB. In Baltimore we also read appropriate material in the Johns Hopkins Univ. Library and the Enoch Pratt Free Library, whose founders, as mentioned, GP directly influenced. See: John Pendleton Kennedy and institutions mentioned.

55-Two travel difficulties were solved in Baltimore. We needed inexpensive passage to London. Ben Welsh, under whom Betty worked in the Berea College Labor Office (he was a part time travel agent), got us a low cost berth on a transatlantic ship. To safely store our old car, the Ruckdeshells, in whose Baltimore house we roomed (secured through the Johns Hopkins Univ. student housing), phoned a friend with an empty garage who helped us raise our car on blocks for four months’ storage.

In England

56-London: Sept.-Dec. 1954: We registered as student researchers at the Univ. of London and rented an inexpensive “bed-sitter through student housing. Our daily pattern was an early breakfast of bread, peanut butter, fruit, and milk (with the outside window ledge our “fridge”), which preceded morning research in libraries. Lunch at a nearby bustling pub was followed by afternoon library research until closing time. An occasional restaurant supper treat preceded nighttime arranging of notes. We managed some Sunday and holiday visits to cultural sights and events. We survived the cold London winter nights of 1954 by huddling close to a space heater, feeding it shilling coins to keep it going,

57-At London’s British Museum Manuscript Division we read PM William E. Gladstone’s (1809-98) cabinet minutes, Nov. 10, 1869, showing the decision, first suggested by Queen Victoria, to use Britain’s newest and largest warship, HMS Monarch, to return GP’s remains from England for burial in the U.S.

Alabama Claims

58-HMS Monarch was deliberately chosen as funeral ship partly because of the public attention it would draw and partly to honor his philanthropy in the U.S. and especially in London. His gift that most warmed English hearts and brought him many British honors was his 1862 $2.5 million gift for low-cost apartments for London’s working poor. There was also a political motive for the choice of HMS Monarch, as there was for unusual British (and later U.S.) pomp and ceremony surrounding his unprecedented 96-day transatlantic funeral. See: Peabody Homes of London. Death and Funeral, GP’s.

59-GP died at the height of unresolved U.S.-British angers over serious incidents during the U.S. Civil War. One lingering anger was over the Sept. 1861 Trent Affair. Four Confederate agents seeking arms and aid in England and France slipped through a Union blockade of Charleston, S.C., sailed to Havana, Cuba, and then boarded the British mail ship Trent for England when a Union warship stopped, boarded, removed, and jailed the Confederates.

60-Britain furiously protested this illegal seizure and sent troops to Canada should war erupt between the U.S. and Britain. Calmer heads prevailed; Pres. Lincoln had the Confederates released. Also, Confederate agents secretly bought British-built ships, armed them as Confederate raiders, like the CSS Alabama, which wrecked or sank Union ships and cost U.S. lives and vast treasure. The U.S. offered proof that Britain knowingly turned a blind eye to the sale of these raiders and angrily sought indemnity.

61-Choice of HMS Monarch was thus a political decision to soften near-war British-U.S. angers over these and other Civil War incidents. Politically astute PM Gladstone at the Nov. 9, 1869, Lord Mayor’s Day banquet, five days after GP’s death, said publicly: “With the country of Mr. Peabody we [will] not quarrel.” Three years later (1872), a Geneva international court required Britain to pay the U.S. $15.5 million indemnity to settle the Alabama Claims controversy.

62-At London’s Guildhall Record Office we read a-”Journals of the Court of Common Council” recording the Freedom of the City of London honor given to GP, July 10, 1862. We also read b-”Minutes of the Committee for Erecting a Statue to Mr. George Peabody, 1866-1870,” documenting contributors to GP’s seated statue in Threadneedle St., near London’s Royal Exchange, created by U.S.-born Rome-based sculptor William Wetmore Story (1815-95), unveiled before crowds by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII, 1841-1910), July 23, 1869.

63-A replica of GP’s seated statue in London was erected in front of the PIB, April 7, 1890, by Baltimorean Robert Garrett (1847-96). GP’s seated statue in London, 1869, was the first of four statues of Americans in London, the others being of Abraham Lincoln, 1920; George Washington, 1921; and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1948.

64-At London’s Public Record Office we read a-”Alien Entry Lists” recording every time GP entered a British port, b-”Foreign Affairs Papers,” and c-”Admiralty Papers,” the last two documenting Britain’s part in GP’s unusual 96-day transatlantic funeral.

65-In London’s Westminster Abbey we read a-”Recollections by Dean [Arthur P.] Stanley of Funerals in Westminster Abbey 1865-1881.” Visiting in Naples, Italy, when he read of GP’s death in London on Nov. 4, 1869, Dean Stanley (1815-81) recalled GP’s March 12, 1862, gift for housing London’s working poor and telegraphed associates to offer Westminster Abbey for a funeral service for this generous American.

66-We read the Westminster Abbey’s b-”Funeral Fee Book 1811-1899,” which listed GP’s Abbey funeral costs. c-We stood at the permanent GP marker on the stone floor of Westminster Abbey near Britain’s unknown soldier where GP’s remains rested for 30 days (Nov. 12-Dec. 11, 1869). That marker was refurbished for the 200th GP birthday ceremony at Westminster Abbey on Feb. 18, 1995.

67-To honor his housing gift to London’s working poor, GP was made an honorary member of two ancient guilds, the Clothmakers’ Co., July 2, 1862, and the Fishmongers’ Co., April 19, 1866, whose records we read in the respective guild libraries.

68-At the Royal Archives, Windsor Castle, we read letters from Queen Victoria and her advisors to, from, and about GP. The Queen offered him a knighthood. He declined, since this honor required him to become a British subject. Unwilling to give up his U.S. citizenship he accepted instead her letters of thanks and an enameled miniature portrait she commissioned to be made especially for him. That portrait, along with his other honors, are on display at the Peabody Institute Library, Peabody, Mass.

69-We read the three brass signs on the front door of Morgan, Grenfell & Co., Ltd., 23 Great Winchester St., London, which read from bottom to top: George Peabody & Co., 1838-64; J.S. Morgan & Co., 1864-1909); and Morgan Grenfell & Co. (1909-90). The firm’s current descendant, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990), has records of George Peabody & Co. and some business papers of GP, J.S. Morgan, and J.P. Morgan, Sr. We secured a copy of GP’s death certificate from London’s General Register Office, Somerset House.

70-Turning pages of heavy dusty bound newspaper volumes at the British Library at Colindale, we found many contemporary articles about GP, especially of his elaborate U.S.-British friendship dinners in or near London from 1850 onward, most often on July 4th, U.S. Independence Day.

71-We wrote letters to British newspaper editors asking readers for any privately held GP letters or memorabilia. Two families had “George Peabody” embossed glass plates made by a souvenir glassware manufacturer in Sunderland, England, in the aftermath of his widely publicized death and 96-day transatlantic funeral. We donated GP glassware given us to U.S. Peabody institutions.

72-When first proposed for membership in exclusive British clubs, GP was denied membership (blackballed). This occurred during repudiation of interest on U.S. state bonds sold to British investors, many held by widowed families. Americans were then especially disdained. When it became known that GP had publicly protested repudiation, and particularly after his gift for housing London’s working poor, he was unanimously elected to London’s best clubs.

73-We read of GP’s admission to the most prestigious of these clubs, The Athenaeum, whose librarian Eileen Stiff (d. 1985) befriended us. We met her housemate, writer Margaret Leland Goldsmith (1895-1970), whose invaluable editorial help is mentioned later. We also visited a Peabody apartment complex where some 34,500 low income Londoners still live.

Back in the U.S.: Founders Day Address, Feb. 18, 1955

74-We returned to the U.S., loaded our old car in Baltimore with voluminous notes and microfilm, and headed for Nashville. There, David E. Short (1891-1957), president of the Nashville business school where Betty had taught English in exchange for a near-free apartment, generously let us live there again (paying whatever rent we could afford). His generosity plus part time jobs enabled us, on evenings, weekends, and holidays, to organize our voluminous GP materials. This task was suddenly hastened when GPCFT Pres. Henry H. Hill (1894-1987) asked Franklin to give the GPCFT’s Founders Day Address on Feb. 18, 1955, the first such address by a student.

75-Pressed now to succinctly tell the GP story, Franklin’s speech to a Peabody College audience highlighted GP’s career, U.S.-British friendship dinners, philanthropic influence, death in London, and unprecedented 96-day transatlantic funeral. This speech opportunity would not have happened if Dean Felix Robb had not first suggested the GP research; or if GPCFT Prof. Clifton Hall as major professor had not been widely respected on the Peabody and Vanderbilt campuses (such backing was needed by a little known untried doctoral researcher); or if Franklin not kept his five doctoral committee members abreast of findings by regular research progress reports. Doors of opportunity swung on such hinges.

76-Franklin highlighted GP’s last illness, death, and funeral: A sick 74-year-old GP joined business friend W.W. Corcoran at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., a popular mineral springs health spa (July 23-Aug. 30, 1869). Present there by chance were southern and northern political, educational and former Civil War leaders, including Robert E. Lee (1807-70), then president of Washington College, Lexington Va., renamed Washington and Lee Univ. in 1871.

77-Though confined to his cabin, GP yet heard some of the gayety of younger visitors who flocked to a Peabody Ball spontaneously held in his honor. On his few well days he and Lee walked, talked, and dined together, often applauded by visitors. GP and Lee were photographed together and with others, including visiting Civil War generals from South and North. Informal talks that last summer of GP’s life were on southern public education needs. These set a precedent for later more formal Conferences on Education in the South, 1898-1902, which in turn led to vast foundation aid which helped raise southern public schools and higher education toward national levels.

78-Distressed by the Civil War, GP in Nov. 1861 had helped two of Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s emissaries contact leaders in London to keep Britain neutral: Ohio’s Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (mentioned earlier as GP’s emissary to Lord Shaftesbury) and N.Y. state journalist and political leader Thurlow Weed (1797-1882), both GP’s long-time friends.

79-After GP’s death, when he was attacked as a Confederate sympathizer, Thurlow Weed publicly vindicated GP’s Union loyalty (which McIlvaine also affirmed). Some northern extremists, determined to punish the South, faulted GP for founding the PIB in Md. (1857) and the PEF (1867), both seen as aiding the South. Weed reported that the $2 million that went into the PEF GP originally intended (in 1859) to give to the NYC poor. But NYC public schools had prospered and the Civil War had intervened. Moved by Civil War devastation, GP determined to aid public education in the South.

80-Congress and Pres. U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson recognized GP’s PEF as a national gift. as did, Forty seven years later, GPCFT Pres. Bruce R. Payne’s (1874-1937) Feb. 18, 1916 Founders Day speech thus imaginatively interpreted GP’s PEF founding letter, Feb. 7, 1867, to ten of his 16 trustees gathered at Willard’s Hotel, Washington, D.C.: “There stand several governors of states both North and South; senators of the United States; Ulysses S. Grant and Admiral Farragut. [Chief trustee Robert C.] Winthrop is called to take the chair. Mr. Peabody rises to read his deed of gift. They kneel in a circle of prayer, the Puritan of New England, the pioneer of the West, the financier of the metropolis, and the defeated veteran of the Confederacy. [On] bended knee they dedicate this great gift. They consecrate themselves to its wise expenditure. In that act, not quite two years after Appomattox, is the first guarantee of a reunited country.” See: PEF.

81-GP gave Lee’s college Va. bonds ultimately worth $60,000 for a mathematics professorship, left for Salem, Mass., made his funeral plans, recorded his last will in NYC, and arrived in London gravely ill. Through aides, Queen Victoria invited GP to recuperate at Windsor Castle. But it was too late. He died Nov. 4, 1869, at the 80 Eaton Square (London) home of business associate Sir Curtis Lampson (1806-85). See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

82-Knowing that GP’s will required burial in Mass., Lampson telegraphed GP’s nephew George Peabody Russell, who left for England to accompany GP’s body home. Letters poured in to London newspapers asking for public honors for GP. The Queen’s advisor, Sir Arthur Helps, informed her: “There are many persons who wish to pay public respect to the memory of that good man.” See persons mentioned.

83-When PM Gladstone, at Queen Victoria’s suggestion, offered HMS Monarch as funeral ship to transport GP’s remains to the U.S., Pres. U.S. Grant and U.S. Navy officials, not to be outdone, ordered the USS Plymouth from Marseilles, France, to act as escort vessel. Boston and NYC officials, believing that their cities would be the receiving port, were chagrined when Portland, Maine, was chosen because of its deeper harbor. The U.S. Navy placed Adm. David G. Farragut in charge of a flotilla of U.S. receiving vessels in Portland harbor. GP’s funeral took on unprecedented proportions.

84-U.S. London Legation Secretary Benjamin Moran’s private journal entries reflected the consternation at mounting funeral plans. He wrote on Nov. 6, 1869: “Peabody haunts the Legation from all parts of the world like a ghost.” Again on Dec. 6, 1869: “Old Peabody has given us much trouble,” and, “Will that old man ever be buried?” See: Moran, Benjamin.

85-Although critical of GP in his private journal through the years, at the last, Benjamin Moran, witnessing GP’s Nov. 12, 1869, Westminster Abbey funeral service, was wondrously touched. He wrote with rare eloquence: “I reflected on the marvelous career of the man, his early life, his penurious habits, his vast fortune, his magnificent charity; and the honor then being paid to his memory by the Queen of England in the place of sepulchre of twenty English kings. An anthem was sung and the service end[ed]–George Peabody having received burial in Westminster Abbey, an honor coveted by nobles and not always granted kings.” Ibid.

86-The Dec. 12, 1869, transfer of the coffin from London’s Westminster Abbey to Portsmouth, England, harbor took place in pouring rain and a blowing storm. British Marines formed an honor guard. Scarlet-robed Portsmouth council members under black umbrellas mingled oddly with lines, spars, and beams of assembled ships. Guns were fired. Bugles sounded.

87-U.S. Minister to Britain John Lothrop Motley (1814-77) said to the Monarch’s Capt. John E. Commerell (1829-1901): “Into your hands I deliver Mr. Peabody’s remains.” The Monarch at Spithead Harbor, Portsmouth, awaited the end of the gale then blowing for the long voyage home.

88-British honors evoked some dissent in the U.S. One Union extremist said that returning “Peabody’s remains on a British ship of war [is an] insult. Peabody was a secessionist.” The charge, often made, was as often denied. In 1866 GP told a Baltimore audience: “My sympathies were with the Union. Three-fourths of my property was invested in United States Government and State securities. I saw no hope except in Union victory. But I could not turn my back on Southern friends.” A few radical anti-southern Congressional extremists, erroneously believing GP to have favored the Confederacy, argued against a U.S. Navy reception for his remains at Portland. They were outvoted. Both houses of Congress finally approved unanimously.

89-HMS Monarch and the USS Plymouth were met in Portland harbor, Jan. 25, 1870, by Adm. Farragut and a flotilla of U.S. ships. At Queen Victoria’s request and as a final measure of British respect, GP’s remains lay in state on the Monarch for two days. Thousands of visitors who flocked to Portland went by small boats to view his coffin aboard the Monarch. On Jan. 29, 1870, a cold New England winter’s day, Monarch seamen carried the coffin ashore. Drums sounded a muted roll. The band played the somber Death March.

90-Hushed crowds filed by his coffin lying in state in Portland’s City Hall where, on Feb. 1, 1870, The Messiah was sung, Mozart’s Requiem was played. In the bitter cold, thousands watched black plumed horses pull the hearse through Portland streets to the railway station. Many others watched en route and as the funeral train reached GP’s hometown.

91-His coffin was taken to the Peabody Institute, Peabody, Mass., where it lay in state for viewing in the Peabody library. On display there were Queen Victoria’s enameled miniature portrait made especially for him, the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal and resolutions of praise for the PEF, scrolls of the Freedom of the City of London, scrolls of honorary memberships in the Fishmongers’ and Clothworkers’ Companies, and other honors.

92-The coffin was taken to the Congregational Church for the last funeral service and the eulogy. Special trains from Boston brought solemn crowds to his hometown. The Congregational Church was filled to capacity. All eyes were on Queen Victoria’s son Prince Arthur (Duke of Connaught, 1850-1942) and his entourage, captains of the Monarch and the Plymouth, Massachusetts and Maine governors, Harvard Univ. Pres. Charles W. Eliot, mayors of six nearby cities, and trustees of GP’s institutes.

93-Eulogist Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94), GP’s philanthropic advisor, said of him in part: “What a career this has been whose final scene lies before us! The trusts he established, the institutes he founded, the buildings he raised stand before all eyes. He planned these for many years. When I expressed amazement at his purpose, he said to me, ‘Why Mr. Winthrop, this is no new idea for me. From the earliest of my manhood, I have contemplated some such disposition of my property; and I have prayed my heavenly Father day by day, that I might be enabled, before I died, to show my gratitude for the blessings which He has bestowed upon me by doing some great good for my fellow-men.’”

94-GP’s underlined words above are carved on the Westminster Abbey floor marker where his remains had rested for 30 days (Nov. 12-Dec. 11, 1869). He was buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870, near where he played as a boy and where he built the family tomb. The 96-day funeral was over. Two nations had given his funeral a rare touch of grandeur.

GP the Founder of Modern Philanthropy

95-Franklin Parker’s dissertation, “George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy,” documented these PEF firsts: 1-The PEF was the first US foundation to require the stimulating effect of matching local grants for schools it aided or founded; 2-the first to require state legislation to perpetuate state financial support of its aided schools; 3-the first multimillion dollar foundation recognized as national rather than local; and 4-the first to provide operational flexibility as conditions changed.

96-Other PEF firsts included: 5-the first U.S. foundation to elect trustees from professional and financial circles; 6-the first deliberately to use public relations to foster public acceptance and good will; 7-the first whose executives were former university officials (Barnas Sears of Brown Univ; JLM Curry of Howard College, Ala.); 8-the first to allow its trustees to disband after its job was done and distribute its assets as they saw fit (when dissolved in 1914, PEF assets endowed George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, next to Vanderbilt Univ.; funded education departments of 14 southern universities and colleges; and gave its residue to the Slater Fund for Negro colleges).

97-Historians have written the following on the PEF’s influence: 1-Charles William Dabney: [The Aug. 1869 GP-Lee meeting] inspired the Four Conferences on Education in the South from which emerged the Southern Education Board and [John D. Rockefeller’s] General Education Board. 2-Abraham Flexner: There was the closest cooperation among, and interlocking officers and trustees of, the PEF, the Southern Education Board, the General Education Board, the Samuel F. Slater Fund, the Anna T. Jeanes Foundation, and the Rosenwald Fund.

98-Historians on the PEF’s influence (cont’d): 3-Paul H. Buck: [the PEF was]: a fruitful experiment in harmony and understanding between the sections. 4-Thomas D. Clark: [the PEF] worked as an education leaven. 5-Harvey Wish: no kindness touched the hearts of the Southerners quite so much as Peabody’s educational bequest. 6-Jesse Brundage Sears: [the PEF was] the first successful precedent-setting educational foundation. 7-Daniel Coit Gilman: all subsequent foundations adopted the principles Peabody formulated.

99-Franklin’s GPCFT’s Founders Day Address, Feb. 18, 1955, documented that in their 47-years existence PEF executives and trustees pioneered the heartbeat of American educational philanthropy—using private wealth judiciously and experimentally as a lever to tackle key educational and socio-economic problems, the results if good serving as models for other agencies and governments to emulate. GP’s hope and money made this influence possible. In appreciation and to attest to his influence, southern communities have given his name to a score of streets, avenues, elementary and secondary schools, university education buildings, hotels, and at least one park. GP built better than he knew. See: Peabody, George (1795-1869), Named Institutions, Firms, Buildings, Ships, Other Facilities; Music and/or Poems Named for GP.

100-With Franklin’s speech given and handsomely printed, with the GP dissertation accepted, graduation followed in Aug. 1956. Through the years we went to teaching posts at the Univ. of Texas, Austin (1957-64); Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman (1964-68); W.Va. Univ. (1968-86), and (after retirement), Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff (1986-89), and Western Carolina Univ., Cullowhee (1989-94).

101-Over the years we did other research, wrote other books, and wrote and published GP articles (listed fully below). We submitted to several publishers “George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy,” (Nashville: George Peabody College for Teachers, 1956), 3 vols, 1,209 pp. These were returned as needing pruning and focus.

George Peabody, a Biography

102-In May 1970, GPCFT Public Relations Director John E. Windrow (1899-1984) brought together prominent New England Peabodys for a Nashville dinner conference at which Franklin spoke. The new Vanderbilt Univ. Press director, in attendance, asked to see a revised GP manuscript. This welcome request threw us into a frenzy of revision. Unexpected but welcome help came from London Athenaeum Club librarian Eileen Stiff’s friend, Margaret Leland Goldsmith, a professional writer. She and Eileen had befriended us through the years. Margaret’s editorial suggestions helped turn the dissertation into a readable 233 page book.

103-Thus, 14 years after completing the GP dissertation, Franklin Parker’s George Peabody, a Biography (Nashville: Vanderbilt Univ. Press, 1971), was published. Twenty-four years later, for GP’s 200th birthday, Feb. 18, 1795-1995, a revised and updated version was republished with 12 illustrations added. Earlier, also for GP’s 200th birthday, our 22 previously published GP articles were reprinted in a special bicentennial issue, “The Legacy of George Peabody,” Peabody Journal of Education, Fall 1994, 210 pp.

GP’s Motives

104-We long pondered GP’s philanthropic motives, strengths, weaknesses, and especially why he is he so little known today. His chief motive may have been his 1852 motto: “Education, a debt due from present to future generations.” His motive may also have been to compensate for his own lack of formal education.

105-In 1831 he replied to a nephew who asked his financial help to attend Yale College (GP’s underlining): “Deprived, as I was, of the opportunity of obtaining anything more than the most common education, I am well qualified to estimate its value by the disadvantages I labour under in the society [in] which my business and situation in life frequently throws me, and willingly would I now give twenty times the expense attending a good education could I now possess it, but it is now too late for me to learn and I can only do to those who come under my care, as I could have wished circumstances had permitted others to have done by me.”

106-His motive may been simply to succeed. He said in an 1856 speech: “Heaven has been pleased to reward my efforts with success, and has permitted me to establish a house in the great metropolis of England. I have endeavored to make it an American house, to give it an American atmosphere, to furnish it with American journals; to make it a center for American news, and an agreeable place for my friends visiting London.”

107-His motive may have been to gain honors, so abundant in his last years. After death he was elected to the New York Univ. Hall of Fame in 1900, where a bust of him was unveiled in 1926. His likeness was put on a large bronze door intended for the U.S. Capitol Building. Bicentennial programs were held on the 200th anniversary of his birth (1795-1995) at Harvard, Yale, in Nashville; in Danvers and in Peabody, Mass.; at the PIB; and at Westminster Abbey, England, where the marker at his temporary grave was refurbished.

108-Disappointment in love may have driven him. Late in life a business friend congratulated him on being the greatest philanthropist of his time. GP reportedly replied, “After my disappointment long ago, I determined to devote myself to my fellow-beings, and am carrying out that decision to my best ability.”

109-This “disappointment” may have been an early failed romance with Elizabeth Knox of Baltimore to whom he is said to have proposed twice. There is also a documented broken engagement to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905) of Providence, R.I. She visited London for young Queen Victoria’s coronation (June 28, 1838). As a school girl she had earlier been infatuated with Alexander Lardner in Philadelphia. GP met her in London, fell in love, and proposed marriage. Returning to the U.S. she again met Lardner, realized her engagement to GP was a mistake, broke their engagement, married Lardner, had two children, and outlived GP by 35 years. Her portrait painted in Philadelphia by artist Thomas Sully shows her in all her beauty.

GP’s Strengths

110-We long pondered GP’s strengths. On this point his first partner Elisha Riggs, Sr. wrote in his last letter to GP (April 17, 1852): “You always had the faculty of an extraordinary memory and strong mind which enabled you to carry out your plans better than almost any other man I ever knew…. [To] these happy faculties I attribute much of your prosperity. [Unusual] perseverance enabled you to rise to an extraordinary position…” See: Riggs, Elisha, Sr.

111-Economic historian Muriel E. Hidy’s wrote thus of GP’s strengths: “He [GP] had a vigorous personality, and, in spite of a humble origin, apparently found little difficulty in moving in prominent circles. An ability to attract firm friends among his business contemporaries gave him many useful connections….He benefited by the confidence which as a young man he had awakened in Elisha Riggs [Sr.]. Later his amiability brought him close association with “[leading U.S. business men: William Shepard Wetmore, John Cryder, and Curtis Miranda Lampson, and William Wilson Corcoran….].” See: persons named.

112-John Bright, British statesman, wrote in his diary (June 4, 1867): “Mr. Peabody is a remarkable man. He is 74 years old, large and has been powerful of frame. He has made an enormous fortune, which he is giving for good objects–chiefly for education in America and for useful purposes in London. He has had almost no schooling and has not read books, but has had much experience, and is deeply versed in questions of commerce and banking. He is a man of strong will, and can decide questions for himself.” See: John Bright.

Old Age Irritations

113-We also pondered his faults. Gout, rheumatism, and other ailments in old age sometimes made him irritable, crotchety, and abrupt. On July 14, 1869, four months before his death, he complained irritably to the trustees of his first Peabody Institute, Peabody, Mass.: “You spend too much. You spend too much.” Soon brightening he said smilingly, “Well, well, I must give you $50,000 more to get you out of trouble. And I must say that none of my foundations have given me so much satisfaction as this one at my native place.”

114-In his last decade he was incredible busy looking after his philanthropies and seeing friends and relatives. He was also set in his ways. The daughter of a business friend wrote of his autocracy in old age during his 1866-67 U.S. visit.: ‘The precision of business habits and a long old bachelor hood, combined with constitutional shyness, caused Mr. Peabody, at times, to appear to disadvantage…. He had himself accomplished so much that he felt [his] wishes…should become instantaneous facts–his small due from those around him….. [T]he ruthless serenity with which [he] countermanded luncheon and advanced the dinner hour to meet business exigencies…dismay[ed]…the hearts of the most devoted hostesses. I do not suppose Mr. Peabody ever thought of giving trouble, and certainly no one ever thought of remonstrating.”

Fleeting Fame

115-Mostly we pondered why GP, so lauded in his last years, has been largely forgotten. This may be due to the fleeting nature of fame. Each generation chooses its heroes who rise, flourish, are replaced, and often forgotten. This view is suggested by historian John Steele Gordon whose article, “Most Underrated Philanthropist,” American Heritage, Vol. 50, No. 3 (May-June 1999), pp. 68-69 reads in part: “Peabody is unjustly forgotten today, but his unprecedented generosity was greatly appreciated in his time.”

Grand Adventure

116-As researchers, looking back, we marvel at the good fortune, helpful people, and unusual turning points that enabled us to find and pursue a neglected American hero. We were 1930s depression children, the first in our families enabled to attend college in the booming aftermath of World War II that ended and altered so many lives.

117-Newly married, without children, seeking challenges–when the GP research opportunity fell our way, we saw he was worth pursuing. We were uncertain innocents, willing to take risks. We made mistakes and were often rescued by friends and fate. In retrospect being “On the Trail of GP” intermittently over the last 50 years has been a grand adventure.

Authors’ Publications on GP

Dissertation

Franklin Parker, Ed. D. Dissertation, “George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy,” (Nashville: George Peabody College for Teachers, 1956), 3 vols., 1219 pp. Sold as Doctoral Dissertation No. 19,758, microfilm or hard copy, University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 (Phone 1-800-521-0600 or 313-761-4700, FAX 313-973-1540). See: Dissertation Abstracts, XVII, No. 8 (Aug. 1957), pp. 1701-1702.

Books

1-Franklin Parker, George Peabody, A Biography. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1971, 233 pp. Although out of print 1-there is a microform reprint in CORE [Collected Original Resources in Education], IX, 3 [Nov. 1985], Fiche 7 D10 (CORE is a British miroform journal) and 2-microfilm & print versions were also sold by Books on Demand, University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 [ask for LC79-15,7741, O-8357-3261-4,2039482]). The 1971 version was recorded on 2 audio cassettes, read by narrator Bruce Bortz at the Maryland State Library, held by the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Book Number Md-PH (MDC334), less Chap. 25 “GP’s Legacy”; “An Essay on Sources”; “Sources of Extant Portraits, Photographs, and Illustrations;” and without the Index.

2-Franklin Parker, George Peabody, A Biography. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, Feb. 1995, 278 pp., revised & updated (out of print since Jan. 2002 but still avilable amazon.com and other major booksellers).

Encyclopedias

1-(With Betty J. Parker), “Peabody Education Fund in Tennessee (1867-1914).” Tennessee Encyclopedia of History & Culture (Nashville: Tennessee Historical Society, 1998), pp. 725-726.

2-Franklin Parker, “George Peabody (1795-1869), Merchant, Banker, Creator of the Peabody Education Fund, and a Founder of Modern Philanthropy,” Encyclopedia of Notable American Philanthropists, ed. by Robert T. Grimm, Jr. (Greenwood Press & Oryx Press for Indiana Univ. Center for Philanthropy in the U.S., 2003), pp. 242-246.

3-Franklin Parker, “George Peabody (1795-1869),” Encyclopedia of Philanthropy in the United States. Edited by Dwight Burlingame (Greenwood Press and Oryx Press, for Indiana Univ. Center on Philanthropy, 2003), pp. ?-?.

Journal Issue

Franklin Parker, “Legacy of George Peabody: Special Bicentenary Issue” [reprint of 21 articles], Peabody Journal of Education, LXX, No. l (Fall 1994), 210 pp., published as ISBN: 0805898956, by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, sold by Peabody Journal of Education, Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, 113 Payne Hall, Post Office Box 41, Nashville, Tenn. 37203, Phone: (615) 322-8963. $15 for individuals, $8 each for 40+ copies. Also sold at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ Price: £14, paperback , 216 pages (1996).

Pamphlet

Franklin Parker, George Peabody (1795-1869), Founder of Modern Philanthropy. Nashville, Tenn.: George Peabody College for Teachers of Vanderbilt University, 1956.

Chapter in Book

Franklin Parker, “George Peabody (1795-1869), Founder of Modern Educational Philanthropy: His Contributions to Higher Education,” pp. 71-99 in Academic Profiles in Higher Education. Edited by James J. Van Patten. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1992.

Articles in Journals, Since 1955

1-”Founder Paid Debt to Education,” Peabody Post, VIII, No. 8 (Feb. 10, 1955), p. 1.

2-”The Girl George Peabody Almost Married,” Peabody Reflector, XXVII, No. 8 (Oct. 1955), pp. 215, 224-225.

3-”George Peabody and the Spirit of America,” Peabody Reflector, XXIX, No. 2 (Feb. 1956), pp. 26-27.

4-”On the Trail of George Peabody,” Berea Alumnus, XXVI, No. 8 (May 1956), p. 4.

5-(With Walter Merrill), “William Lloyd Garrison and George Peabody,” Essex Institute Historical Collections, XCV, No. 1 (Jan. 1959), pp. 1-20.

6-”George Peabody and Maryland,” Peabody of Journal of Education, XXXVII, No. 3 (Nov. 1959), pp. 150-157.

7-”An Approach to Peabody’s Gifts and Legacies,” Essex Institute Historical Collections, XCVI, No. 4 (Oct. 1960), pp. 291-296.

8-”Robert E. Lee, George Peabody, and Sectional Reunion,” Peabody Journal of Education, XXXVII, No. 4 (Jan. 1960), pp. 195-202.

9-”George Peabody and the Search for Sir John Franklin, 1852-1854,” American Neptune, XX, No. 2 (April 1960), pp. 104-111.

10-”Influences on the Founder of the Johns Hopkins University and the Johns Hopkins Hospital,” Bulletin of the History of MedicineXXXIV, No. 2 (March-April 1960), pp. 148-153.

11-”George Peabody’s Influence on Southern Educational Philanthropy,” Tennessee Historical Quarterly, XX, No. 2 (March 1961), pp. 65-74.

12-”Maryland’s Yankee Friend–George Peabody, Esq.,” Maryland Teacher, XX, No. 5 (Jan. 1963), pp. 6-7, 24. Reprinted in Peabody Notes (Spring 1963), pp. 4-7, 10.

13-”The Funeral of George Peabody,” Essex Institute Historical Collection, XCIX, No. 2 (April 1963), pp. 67-87. Reprinted: Peabody Journal of Education, XLIV, No. 1 (July 1966), pp. 21-36.

14-”The Girl George Peabody Almost Married,” Peabody Notes, XVII, No. 3 (Spring 1964), pp. 10-14.

15-”George Peabody, 1795-1869, Founder of Modern Philanthropy,” Peabody Reflector, XXXVIII, No. I (Jan.-Feb. 1965), pp. 9-16.

16-”George Peabody and the Peabody Museum of Salem,” Curator, X, No. 2 (June 1967), pp. 137-153.

17-”To Live Fulfilled: George Peabody, 1795-1869, Founder of George Peabody College for Teachers,” Peabody Reflector, XLIII, No. 2 (Spring 1970), pp. 50-53.

18-”On the Trail of George Peabody,” mn, XLIV, No. 4 (Fall 1971), pp. 100-103.

19-”George Peabody, 1795-1869: His Influence on Educational Philanthropy,” Peabody Journal of Education, XLIX, No. 2 (Jan. 1972), pp. 138-145.

20-”Pantheon of Philanthropy: George Peabody,” National Society of Fund Raisers Journal, I, No. 1 (Dec. 1976), pp. 16-20.

21-”In Praise of George Peabody, 1795-1869,” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XV, No. 2 (June 1991), Fiche 5 AO2.

22-”George Peabody (1795-1869), Founder of Modern Educational Philanthropy: His Contributions to Higher Education,” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XVI, No. 1 (March 1992), Fiche 11 D06.

23-”Education Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869), Founder of George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, and the Peabody Library and Conservatory of Music, Baltimore (Brief History).” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XVIII, No. 1 (March 1994), Fiche ?. Abstract in Resources in Education.

24-(With Betty J. Parker), “George Peabody’s (1795-1869) Educational Legacy,” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XVIII, No. 1 (March 1994), Fiche 1 C05. Abstract in Resources in Education, XXIX, No. 9 (Sept. 1994), p. 147 (ERIC ED 369 720). (Note: Resources in Education abstracts documents published in ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) since 1966 by the U.S. Department of Education, sold in microform in hard copy).

25-(With Betty J. Parker), “Educational Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869), George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, and the Peabody Library and Conservatory of Music, Baltimore (Brief History),” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XVIII, No. 1 (March 1994), Fiche 3 A10. Abstract in Resources in Education, XXX, No. 5 (May 1995), pp. 133-134 (ERIC ED 378 070). Same in Journal of Educational Philosophy & History, XLIV (1994), pp. 69-93.

26-”Educational Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869): Photos and Related Illustrations in Printed Sources and Depositories,” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XVIII, No. 2 (June 1994), Fiche 1 D1Z; abstract in Resources in Education, XXX, No. 6 (June 1995), p. 149 (ERIC ED 397 179).

27-”The Legacy of George Peabody: Special Bicentenary Issue” [reprints 22 article on George Peabody], Peabody Journal of Education, LXX, No. 1 (Fall 1994), 210 pp.

28-”Educational Philanthropist George Peabody and Peabody College of Vanderbilt University: Dialogue with Bibliography,” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XVIII, No. 3 (Dec. 1994), Fiche 2 E06.

29-(With Betty J. Parker). “A Forgotten Hero’s Birthday [George Peabody]: Lion and the Lamb,” Crossville Chronicle, (Tenn.) Feb. 22, 1995, p. 4A.

30-(With Betty J. Parker). “America’s Forgotten Educational Philanthropist: A Bicentennial View,” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XIX, No. 1 (March 1995), Fiche 7 A11. Abstract in Resources in Education, XXXI, No. 12 (Dec. 1996), p. 161 (ERIC ED 398 126).

31-(With Betty J. Parker). “Educational Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869) and the Peabody Institute Library, Danvers, Massachusetts: Dialogue and Chronology,” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XIX, No. 1 (March 1995), Fiche 7 B01.

32-(With Betty J. Parker). “George Peabody (1795-1869); Merchant, Banker, Philanthropist,” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XX, No. 1 (March 1996), Fiche 9 B01. Abstract in Resources in Education, XXXI, No. 3 (March 1996), p. 169 (ERIC ED 388 571).

33-(With Betty J. Parker). “On the Trail of Educational Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869): A Dialogue.” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XX, No. 3 (Oct. 1996), Fiche 13 B07.

34-(With Betty J. Parker). “Educational Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869) and First U.S. Paleontology Prof. Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) at Yale University.” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XXII, No. 1 (March 1998), Fiche 7 A04.

35-(With Betty J. Parker). “Educational Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869) and U.S.-British Relations, 1850s-60s.” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XXII, No. 1 (March 1999), Fiche 1 A05. Also abstract in Resources in Education, XXXV, No. 6 (May 2000), p. ? (ERIC ED 436 444).

36-(With Betty J. Parker). “Educational Philanthropist George Peabody’s (1795-1869) Death and Funeral.” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education) and Abstract in Resources in Education (ERIC ED). Accepted and to appear soon.

37-(With Betty J. Parker). “George Peabody A-Z,” CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), Vol. 23, No. 3 (Oct. 1999), Fiche 11 C10.

38-(With Betty J. Parker). “U.S. Medical Education Reformers Abraham Flexner (1866-1959) and Simon Flexner (1863-1946) .” Abstract in Resources in Education, XXXVI, No. 1 (Jan. 2001), p. 160 (ERIC ED 443 765).

39-(With Betty J. Parker). “General Robert E. Lee (1807-70) and Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869) at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, July 23-Aug. 30, 1869.” Abstract in Resources in Education, XXXVI, No. 2 (Feb. 2001), p. 184 (ERIC ED 449 17).

40-(With Betty J. Parker). “Forgotten George Peabody (1795-1869); Massachusetts-born Merchant, London-based Banker, Philanthropist. His Life, Influence, and Related People, Places, Events: A Handbook,” 1243 pp. Abstract in Resources in Education, Vol. XXXVI, No. 3 (March 2001), p. 122 (ERIC ED 445 998).

Overview of GP’s Life and Career

(While this A to Z handbook arrangement focuses on specific persons, events, and influences–some readers might like to first read the following selected entries which collectively offer an overview of GP’s life and career):

1-Proctor, Sylvester (1769-1852) describes GP’s youth and apprenticeship in Proctor’s general store in Danvers (later South Danvers, later Peabody), Mass.

2-Riggs, Elisha, Sr. (1779-1853), Md. merchant, and GP’s first senior partner, describes GP’s early career as a dry goods importer and wholesaler merchant in the U.S. South, with 5 buying trips to Europe.

3-Bradford Academy, Mass., where GP paid for the education of his siblings, nephews, nieces, and cousins, including his same-named nephew (George Peabody, 1815-32), to whom GP’s expressed profound regret at his own lack of schooling is a key to his later philanthropy.

4-Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell (1799-1879), GP’s sister who knew him intimately and disbursed his family funds for him.

5-Corcoran, William Wilson (1798-1888), business associate and close personal friend through whom is told GP’s rise as a London-based American banker.

6-Hidy, Muriel Emmie (1906-), who chronicled his business career as a 19th century merchant in international trade.

7-Morgan, Junius Spencer (1813-90), Conn.-born merchant who GP took as partner, through whom GP’s banking career can be read.

8-Morgan, John Pierpont, Sr. (1837-1913), J.S. Morgan’s son, who at age 19 began as NYC agent for George Peabody & Co., London, and became a banking colossus (GP laid the foundation of the House of Morgan).

9-Dinners, GP’s, London (1850s), showing his social emergence and his U.S.-British friendship efforts.

10-PIB (1857), an early multicultural center which presaged such later institutes as Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center and NYC’s Lincoln Center, and whose early conflicts amid Civil War dislocations so worried GP.

11-Peabody Homes of London (1862), his largest and most financially successful gift to affordably house London’s poor.

12-PEF (1867), the philanthropic gift he said was closest to his heart, through which he hoped through public education to help elevate the defeated South and make the nation whole.

13-Kenin, Richard (1947-), who wrote perceptively of GP’s London years, hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.

14-Moran, Benjamin (1820-86), overworked, underpaid, and envious U.S. Legation in London secty. who, in his secret journal castigated GP (and others) until, attending GP’s Dec. 11, 1869, Westminster Abbey funeral service, he wrote an eloquent tribute to GP.

15-Civil War and GP describes his misunderstood role in that conflict.

16-Quotations by and about GP contains insights into his life, career, faults, and virtues.

17-Death and Funeral, GP’s, has a full account of his unprecedented 96-day transatlantic funeral and why it was used to ease near-war U.S.-British angers over the Trent Affair and the Alabama Claims.

Entries (in alphabetical order)

(Entries are in alphabetical order with Mac and Mc treated as if both are spelled Mac. Peabody-named persons are listed before Peabody-named institutions).

A

GP Celebration, S. Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856)

Abbott, Alfred Amos (1820-84). 1-Gave Welcoming Address. Alfred Amos Abbott was the Mass. dignitary who gave the welcoming address at the Oct. 9, 1856, reception and dinner for GP in South Danvers (renamed Peabody in 1868), Mass. This GP U.S. visit (during Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19, 1857) was his first return to the U.S. in nearly 20 years since leaving for London in early Feb. 1837 on his fifth European commercial trip. He went on this fifth trip abroad as head of Peabody, Riggs & Co. and also as one of three Md. agents commissioned to sell the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. portion of Md.’s $8 million bond sale abroad to raise funds for internal improvements.

Abbott, A.A. 2-South Danvers First. After having been warmly greeted on arrival in NYC, GP declined a public reception there and elsewhere on the advice of his sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell (1799-1879). She had written him while still in London that South Danvers people had voted $3,000 for a public welcome for him and “will be extremely disappointed if they do not do much more than anybody else and do it first. They are tenacious of their right to you.” Ref.: Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell, to GP, Sept. 10 and 22, 1856, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Abbott, A.A. 3-Career. Alfred A. Abbott was born in Andover, Mass., studied at Phillips Academy, Andover, entered Yale College (1837), graduated from Union College (1841), received the LL.B. degree from the Dane Law School, Harvard Univ. (1843), was admitted to the Essex County bar (1844), practiced law in South Danvers, served in the Mass. legislature’s lower house (1850-52), served in the Mass. Senate (1853), was district attorney for Essex County (1853-68), and was first appointed and twice elected Clerk of the Courts (1870-84). Ref.: Abbott, pp. 795-796.

Abbott, A.A. 4-GP’s Longtime Friend. A.A. Abbott was also GP’s intimate friend, a trustee of the Peabody Institute Library of South Danvers (founded 1852, to which GP gave a total of $217,600), chairman of its lyceum and library committee (1854-58), and president of its board of trustees (1859-84). Ref.: Ibid.

Abbott, A.A. 5-Remarks. In his Oct. 9, 1856, welcoming address, Alfred A. Abbott said of GP, in part: “… When local pride needed aid to erect the Lexington Monument he remembered us. When this town established two high schools he remembered them with prize medals. When Danvers celebrated its centennial he sent us a noble sentiment–education is a debt due from present to future generations. He paid his share and doubled the endowment of the institution before us….” Ref.: (Abbott’s speech): Proceedings…Oct. 9, 1856, pp. 39-44.

Abbott, A.A. 6-Other Speeches. Other speeches followed by Robert Shillaber Daniels (b.1791), Edward Everett (1794-1865), Mass. Gov. Henry J. Gardner (1818-92), and John Chandler Bancroft Davis (1822-1907). Ref.: New York Times, Oct. 10, 1856, p. 1, c.3; and Oct. 11. 1856, p. 2, c. 1-5. Tapley, pp. 166-167. “Public Reception,” pp. 642, 653. See: persons mentioned. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Abbott, A.A. 7-GP’s Reply. Visibly affected, GP replied, in part: “Thank you from my heart. This welcome…almost unmans me…. My old friends are largely gone. You are a new generation.” Turning to the school children, GP said: “There is not a youth within the sound of my voice whose advantages are not greater than were mine. I have achieved nothing that is not possible to the most humble among you.” Ref.: Ibid., pp. 44-46.

Abbott, A.A. 8-GP’s Reply Cont’d. “To be truly great it is not necessary to gain wealth or importance. Every boy may become a great man in whatever sphere Providence places him. Truth and integrity unsullied by unworthy acts, constitute greatness.” GP concluded: “This is my advice to you, from one who always regretted his lack of early education, now freely offered to you. We meet for the first and perhaps last time. While I live I will be interested in your welfare. God bless you all!” Ref.: Ibid.

Abbott, A.A. 9-Salem School Girl’s Letter. Not knowing that her letter would be saved and someday printed, 17-year-old Salem school girl Alice L. Putnam recorded: “A celebration was held in Danvers on Thursday, October 9th, in honor of the return of George Peabody, a native of the place who has been residing for many years in London where he has amassed an enormous fortune. He had done a great deal for Danvers during his absence, and they wished to greet his return with some public demonstration….” Ref.: Putnam, pp. 63-64.

Abbott, A.A. 10-Salem School Girl’s Letter Cont’d.: “Almost all Salem went up to the good old town, either to see the decorations, the procession, or Mr. Peabody himself….” She continued: “Mr. Peabody is a fine looking man, quite tall and stout; he looked warm and dusty from his long ride, but had a fine open countenance…. Mr. Peabody appeared very much affected and his hand trembled very much.” Ref.: Ibid.

Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, GP Critic

Abolitionist. 1-GP Critic. Abolitionist W.L. Garrison (1805-79), was born in Newburyport, Mass., not far from Danvers, where GP was born 10 years earlier. Garrison published the Liberator (1831-65), an anti-slavery journal. He was considered extreme in his views, intemperate as a polemicist writer, and hostile to the wealthy unless they supported his abolitionist cause. See: Garrison, William Lloyd. Civil War and GP.

Abolitionist. 2-Attacked GP. Garrison publicly attacked GP’s 1857 $1.4 million PIB gift as “made to a Maryland institution, at a time when that state was rotten with treason.” Garrison also attacked GP’s $2 million 1867 PEF to advance public education in 11 former Confederate states with W.Va., added because of its poverty. Ref.: Ibid.

Abolitionist. 3-Garrison Mistaken. Confusing GP the philanthropist (1795-1869) from Danvers, Mass., with the same-named George Peabody (1804-92) from Salem, Mass. (who was president of the Eastern Railroad), Garrison erroneously charged GP (in London since 1837) with favoring the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law in Mass. Ref.: Ibid.

Abolitionist. 4-Pres. Lincoln’s Death. Garrison also faulted GP for not publicly expressing sorrow at Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Garrison wrote, “Surely, Mr. Peabody owed it to his native land, and to himself as an opulent and influential American, in some way to bear an emphatic testimony at such a critical period in our national struggle; but no such testimony is on record….” Ref.: Ibid.

Abolitionist. 5-GP in W.Va. Of GP’s Aug. 1869 visit to the White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., mineral health spa (GP was then 74, sick, and three months from death), Garrison wrote angrily, “Mr. Peabody is now laboring under increasing bodily infirmities…. [Instead of going to a Northern mineral spring], true to his Southern sympathies, he hastens to the White Sulphur Springs in Virginia,… the favorite resort of the elite of rebeldom, who…collectively welcomed his presence by adopting a series of congratulatory resolutions…. [Peabody replied with his] ‘own cordial esteem and regard for the high honor, integrity, and heroism of the Southern people!’” Ref.: Ibid.

U.S. Minister to Britain During the Civil War

Adams, Charles Francis (1807-86). 1-U.S. Minister to Britain. Charles Francis Adams was the Boston-born grandson of second U.S. Pres. John Adams (1735-1826) and the son of sixth U.S. Pres. John Quincy Adams (1767-1848). He was a Harvard College graduate, a law student under Daniel Webster (1782-1852), and U.S. Minister to Britain (1861-68) during GP’s residence in London. C.F. Adams and GP had friendly contact during strained U.S.-British relations over the Civil War. Ref.: Boatner, p. 3.

Adams, C.F. 2-U.S.-British Angers. British aristocrats favored the South for socio-cultural and economic reasons (Lancashire mills needed southern cotton, purchases of which were cut off by U.S. naval blockade of Confederate ports). As U.S. Minister to Britain during 1861-68, C.F. Adams played a key role in helping prevent British recognition of the Confederacy. He also helped ease British-U.S. tensions over the Trent Affair, Nov. 8, 1861, when a Union warship illegally seized Confederate emissaries James Murray Mason (1798-1871), John Slidell (1793-1871), and their male secretaries from the British mail ship Trent. See: Alabama Claims. Trent Affair.

Adams, C.F. 3-U.S.-British Angers Cont’d. C.F. Adams also helped ease British-U.S. tension when the British-built Confederate raider CSS Alabama sank 64 Union ships with the loss of Union lives and treasure. He represented the U.S. in the Alabama Claims controversy of 1871-72, settled by international arbitration in Geneva, in which Britain paid the U.S. $15.5 million reparations for damage caused to northern ships and ports. Ref.: Ibid.

Adams, C.F. 4-Sharing Union Victory News. Early in the Civil War, through commercial contacts, GP in London had news a few hours before it was generally known of Union victories in Tenn. when Gen. U.S. Grant took Fort Henry on Feb. 6, 1862, and Fort Donelson on Feb. 15, 1862. GP shared this good news with U.S. Minister C.F. Adams and discussed the implications with a small group of U.S. and British Union sympathizers at the U.S. Legation. While U.S. Minister to Britain, C.F. Adams was a trustee of the $2.5 million Peabody Donation Fund for low rent housing for London working poor families. Ref.: Ibid.

Adams, C.F. 5-Alabama Claims. Charles Francis Adams represented the U.S. in settling the Alabama Claims controversy, 1871-72, by international tribunal in Geneva, Switzerland (earlier, about 1868 GP had been suggested as an arbiter but was not chosen). British jurist Alexander James Edmund Cockburn (1802-80) represented England. Three others from neutral countries formed the tribunal. GP’s unprecedented 96-day transatlantic funeral (he died in London, Nov. 4, 1869, during U.S.-British friction over the Alabama Claims) came about in part as officials in both countries sought to ease British-U.S. near-war angers over the Alabama Claims. Ref.: Ibid.

Adams, C.F. 6-CSS Alabama. CSS Alabama was a notorious British-built Confederate raider which sank 64 Union cargo ships (1862-64). Without a navy and with its southern ports blockaded by the North, Confederate agents evaded the blockade, went to England, secretly bought British-built ships, armed them as Confederate raiders, renamed them Alabama, Florida, Shenandoah, and others. These British-built Confederate raiders sank northern ships, wrecked northern ports, and cost Union lives and treasure. U.S. demand for reparations caused by these British-built raiders was not resolved until the 1871-72 international tribunal in Geneva determined that Britain pay the U.S. $15.5 million indemnity.

Adams, C.F. 7-Alabama Claims Cont’d. This Alabama Claims controversy was unresolved when GP died in London on Nov. 4, 1869. The U.S. was angry. Britain was resentful. Officially Britain was neutral in the U.S. Civil War. But the British upper class sympathized with the U.S. southern aristocracy. The Union blockade of southern ports cut off raw cotton needed by British cotton mills. Over half of the 534,000 British cotton mill workers lost their jobs. Fewer than one fourth worked full time. Historian Shelby Foote found that two million British workers lost their jobs in cotton mills and related industries. Ref.: Ibid.

Adams, C.F. 8-Trent Affair Angers. British-U.S. irritation also persisted over the Trent Affair. On the stormy night of Oct. 11, 1861, four Confederate emissaries evaded the Union blockade at Charleston, S.C., went by ship to Havana, Cuba, and there boarded the British mail ship Trent en route to England and France to seek aid and arms for the Confederacy. On Nov. 8, 1861, the British Trent was illegally stopped in the Bahaman Channel, West Indies, by the USS San Jacinto. Confederates James Murray Mason (from Va.), John Slidell (from La.), and their male secretaries, were forcibly removed, taken to Boston harbor, and jailed. Ref.: Ibid.

Adams, C.F. 9-Trent Affair Angers Cont’d. Anticipating war with the U.S., Britain sent 8,000 troops to Canada. But U.S. jingoism subsided. On Dec. 26, 1861, Pres. Lincoln told his cabinet, “One war at a time,” got them to state that the seizure was unauthorized, and ordered release of the Confederate prisoners on Jan. 1, 1862. Ref.: Ibid.

Adams, C.F. 10-GP’s Death and Funeral. GP’s Nov. 4, 1869, death in London and the fact that his will stipulated burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., played a part in calculated funeral honors for GP by PM William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98), Pres. U.S. Grant (1822-85), and other officials wanting to ease U.S.-British tensions over the Trent and the Alabama. Funeral honors also reflected Britain’s appreciation for the $2.5 million Peabody homes for London’s working poor. GP’s two decades of efforts to improve U.S.-British relations were also valued. Ref.: Ibid.

Adams, C.F. 11-GP’s Death and Funeral Cont’d. First Britain and then the U.S. outdid each other in these unprecedented transatlantic funeral honors: 1-a funeral service and temporary burial in Westminster Abbey (Nov. 12-Dec. 11, 1869, 30 days); 2-British cabinet decision (Nov. 10, 1869) to return his remains on HMS Monarch, Britain’s newest and largest warship, for burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass.; and 3-U.S. government decision to send USS Plymouth from Marseilles, France, to accompany HMS /i>Monarch to the U.S. Ref.: Ibid.

Adams, C.F. 12-GP’s Death and Funeral Cont’d. 4-There were impressive ceremonies in transferring GP’s remains from Westminster Abbey to Portsmouth dock to the Monarch, specially outfitted as a funeral vessel (Dec. 11, 1869); 5-hectic 35-day transatlantic voyage (Dec. 21, 1869-Jan. 25, 1870); 6-the U.S. Navy’s decision (Jan. 14, 1870) to place Adm. David G. Farragut in command of a U.S. naval flotilla to meet the Monarch in Portland harbor, Maine (Jan. 25-29, 1870); and 7-lying in state in Portland City Hall (Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 1870). Ref.: Ibid.

Adams, C.F. 13-GP’s Death and Funeral Cont’d.: 8-There was a special funeral train to Peabody, Mass. (Feb. 1, 1870), and lying in state at Peabody Institute Library (Feb. 1-8, 1870); 9-Robert Charles Winthrop’s funeral eulogy at the Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., attended by several governors, mayors, Queen Victoria’s son Prince Arthur, and other notables; 10-burial ceremony at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. (Feb. 8, 1870). Ref.: Ibid.

Adams, F.C. 1-Critical N.Y. Herald. F.C. Adams was a newspaper friend of GP who called on New York Herald editor James Gordon Bennett (1795-1872) and took him to task for his newspaper’s scurrilous articles covering GP’s 1856-57 U.S. visit. Bennett stopped his criticism of GP for a time. See: Corcoran, William Wilson. Visits to U.S. by GP.

Adams, F.C. 2-Joseph Peabody on Bennett. GP’s cousin, Joseph Peabody, in NYC, irate over the Herald’s slurs, sent GP this explanation: “I exceedingly regret that your pleasure in this country should be marred by the wretched leaders in the ‘Herald.’ You certainly have given no occasion for their remarks which disgust everybody with their wanton unreasonableness. I fear that any attempt to influence Bennett would make the matter ten times worse.” Ref.: Ibid.

Adams, F.C. 3-Joseph Peabody on Bennett Cont’d.: “He knows better than anybody that you never invited him to the [U.S. Pres. Millard] Fillmore dinner, he also knows that he was not in England at the time, so he published this falsehood expressly to provoke a reply….It seems to be well known in this community that he makes it a system to attack some prominent person, it matters little who that person may be!…as regards the ‘Herald,’ it is even better to be abused than be praised by such a rascal as Bennett.” The Herald continued to ridicule GP long after his return to London (end of Aug. 1857). Ref.: Ibid.

Adams, Henry Brooks (1838-1918). 1-Father was U.S. Minister to Britain. Henry Brooks Adams was private secretary to his father, Charles Francis Adams (1807-86, above), when the latter was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1861-68. In his book, The Education of Henry Adams (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1918), Henry Brooks Adams wrote of his contacts in London in the 1860s with important Britons and visiting and resident Americans, such as GP, Joshua Bates (1788-1864), Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), and others. Henry Brooks Adams taught history at Harvard Univ. (1870-77) and wrote important histories and biographies. Ref.: Adams-a.

Adams, Henry Brooks. 2-On Benjamin Moran. H.B. Adams’ book, Henry Adams and His Friends, A Collection of His Unpublished Letters, comp. by Harold Dean Cater (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1947), p. xxxiv, has a description of U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86), often critical of GP in his private journal. Ref.: Adams-a. See: Moran, Benjamin.

Adams, H.B. 3-On Benjamin Moran Cont’d. Adams wrote: “On the staff of the American Legation in London was Benjamin Moran, an assistant secretary. He was a man of long experience at the Legation and one who became a sort of dependable workhorse to fill in for any duty that might come up from the changing personnel. He had an exaggerated notion of his importance; he was sensitive to flattery, and easily offended. He kept an extensive diary and while it must be read from the point of view of his character, it throws an interesting light on the Legation scene.” Ref.: Adams-b, p. xxxiv. See: Moran, Benjamin.

Adams, Herbert Baxter (1850-1901). 1-Johns Hopkins Univ. Historian. Johns Hopkins Univ. historian Herbert Baxter Adams and his students used the special reference collection of the PIB Library, whose holdings were, for some years and in some fields, greater and richer than the Johns Hopkins libraries and even the Library of Congress. H.B. Adams was born in Shutesbury, near Amherst, Mass., was a graduate of Amherst College (1872) and Heidelberg Univ., Germany (Ph.D., 1876), and was one of the original faculty of the Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, founded in 1876. See: PIB. Hopkins, Johns.

Adams, H.B. 2-GP Influenced Johns Hopkins. GP had influenced fellow Baltimore merchant Johns Hopkins (1795-1873) to found that university, hospital, and medical school. In 1880 Adams began his famous seminars in history which produced many of the next generation of historians. He founded the “Johns Hopkins Studies in Historical and Political Science” publications series, helped found the American Historical Association (1884), and was its secretary to 1900. See: Johns Hopkins Univ.

Arctic Search

Advance (ship). 1-Lost British Arctic Explorer Sir John Franklin. The 144-ton Advance and the 91-ton Rescue were two vessels donated by NYC merchant Henry Grinnell (1799-1874) to the First U.S. Grinnell Expedition, 1850-52, and the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition, 1852-54, in the search for lost British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847). These expeditions, two of some 40 British and U.S. expeditions to seek the lost explorer, did not find Sir John Franklin but were the first instances of U.S. Arctic exploration. See: Franklin, Sir John. Persons named.

Advance (ship). 2-GP Aided Arctic Search. GP gave $10,000 for scientific equipment for the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition. His motivation was to promote better British-U.S. relations. He was moved by Lady Jane Franklin’s (1792-1875) public appeal to U.S. Pres. Zachary Taylor (1784-1850, 12th U.S. president during 1849-50), and to the U.S. Congress to help find her missing husband. GP, U.S. resident merchant-banker in London since 1837, had in 1851 made a $15,000 loan to help the U.S. exhibitors display the best U.S. products and arts at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (the first world’s fair). He was also becoming known for his British-U.S. friendship dinners in London, usually held on American Independence Day (July 4th). Ref.: Ibid.

Advance (ship). 3-GP Aided Arctic Search Cont’d. The U.S. Navy authorized ten U.S. naval volunteers for the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition, put the Advance and the Rescue under command of U.S. Navy Capt. Elisha Kent Kane, M.D. (1820-57). Kane, who had been U.S. naval surgeon on the First U.S. Grinnell Expedition, made the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition’s purpose a scientific one. Ref.: Ibid.

Advance (ship). 4-Elisha Kent Kane. The Advance became frozen in the Arctic. Kane and his men were forced to abandon it on May 24, 1855. They trekked 1,300 miles in 84 days, during which a third of the crew perished. Kane and the remaining crew were saved by a passing Danish vessel. Two later explorers found proof that Sir John Franklin died on June 11, 1847. Kane spent his last years writing books on the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition. Kane confirmed that he had named Peabody Bay off Greenland in recognition of GP’s $10,000 gift for scientific equipment. Ref.: Ibid.

Advance (ship). 5-HMS Resolute. Of incidental interest is an occurrence that connected the U.S. White House with the U.S. Grinnell expeditions in the search for Sir John Franklin. HMS Resolute was a British ship abandoned in the Arctic ice in the decade-long search for Sir John Franklin. Capt. Samuel Buddington of the U.S. whaler George Henry found and extricated the Resolute. The U.S. government purchased the damaged Resolute, repaired it, and returned it to Britain as a gift. Ref.: Ibid.

Advance (ship). 6-White House Desk When the Resolute was broken up, Queen Victoria had a massive desk made from its timbers and gave it to the U.S. President. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (1929-94, later Mrs. Onassis) found the desk in a White House storeroom in 1961 and had it refurbished for Pres. John F. Kennedy’s (1917-63) use. Famous photos show President Kennedy’s young son John F. Kennedy, Jr. (1960-99), playing under that desk. Pres. Bill Clinton returned the desk to the Oval Office in 1993. Ref.: Ibid.

GP’s First Dry Goods Advertisement

Advertisement of goods for sale (Sept.-Dec. 1812). 1-First advertisement. GP, then age 17, left economically depressed Newburyport, Mass., with paternal uncle (1768-1827), May 4, 1812, for Georgetown, D.C. They opened a dry goods store in Georgetown on May 15, 1812, whose management soon devolved on GP. Some three months later, beginning Sept. 28, 1812, the following advertisements appeared in a Georgetown, D.C., newspaper:

JUST RECEIVED
AND FOR SALE BY
GEORGE PEABODY

Bridge-Street
4 pieces extra superfine Black and Blue Broadcloths
20 do. [dozen] fine assorted colors do.
10 do. coarse do. do.
A few pieces Flannels and Baizes
30 do. British Shirting Cottons
50 do. White Cotton Cambricks
15 do. Coloured do. do.
25 dozen Cambrick Pocket Handkerchiefs
20 do. Gentlemen’s Leather Gloves
20 do. Cotton and Worsted Hose
30 pieces Flag and Bandanna Handk’fs
100 do. Imitation Madras do.
200 pieces India Cottons
20 lbs. Black and Blue Silk Twist
10 do. assorted Colours do.
30 do. do. Sewing Silk
50 groce Black Bindings and Gallons
Plane, Shear and Leno Muslins
An assortment of Gold Lace and Prussian Binding
A handsome assortment of Woolen and Cotton Vestings
1 case Nuns Thread
50 do. Cotton Sewings
A handsome assortment of Coat & Vest Buttons
Canvas Floor Carpets
100 Ladies Indispensables
1000 Yards Domestic Linen
500 do. Whitened Cotton Linen
1000 pair Ladies Morocco Shoes, assorted colours
100 do. do. White Satin do.
2 cases Men’s Fine Hats
3 do. do. coarse do.
Also
Gunpowder, Hyson and
Hyson Skin Teas.

Ref.: Federal Republican, and Commercial Gazette (Georgetown, D.C.), IV, Nos. 872 ff., Sept. 28, 30, Oct. 2, 7, 9, 1812.

Advertisement of goods for sale (Nov.-Dec. 1812). 2-A second series of advertisements appeared 18 times in the same newspaper:

George Peabody
Bridge Street
Has Received an Additional Supply of
SEASONABLE GOODS
viz.
Broadcloths, superfine, middlings and low priced
Thin, common and milled Kersymers
Pellico Cloths and Coatings
Kersey and Planes
A handsome assortment of Vestings
Velvets and Cords
Cotton & Worsted Hosiery
Ladies Silk do.
Ladies Elegant Silk Mantles
Black, White and Colored Cambrics
An assortment of 3-4 an yard wide Calicoes
Gurrah and Baftah Cottons
Ladies Comforts and indispensables
LADIES
Ladies habit & long Kid Gloves
Gentlemen’s Beaver Gloves
Cotton and silk shawls and Handkerchiefs
Dressed and Undressed British Shirting Cottons
Spider-Net, Plain and Spotted Muslins
Linens and Dimities
Braces, Pins & Needles
Galloons, Hat-Bindings and Ribbons
Silk-twist & Sewing Silk, assorted colours
A variety of Morocco Shoes, cheap
Silver Epaulets and Gold Lace
Prussian Binding
Military, Navy and Common Gilt Buttons
Domestic Linen
Diaper
1 Trunk White Satin Shoes
Also, Imperial HYSON, & YOUNG HYSON TEAS
2 Cases FRENCH PERFUMERY Lately Imported
Georgetown, Nov. 9.

Ref.: Federal Republican, and Commercial Gazette (Georgetown, D.C.), VII, Nov. 9, 11, 13, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27, 30, 1812; Dec. 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, 18, 21, 23, 28, 1812.

Agassiz, Louis (Jean Louis Rudolphe Agassiz, 1807-73), was a Harvard College zoologist and a leading 19th century U.S. scientist. He was asked by Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94), GP’s philanthropic advisor, to help plan the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Univ. and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard Univ., both founded in 1866, and the Peabody Academy of Science at Salem, Mass., 1867-1915 (renamed the Peabody Museum of Salem, 1915-91, and renamed the Peabody Essex Museum, since 1992). See: Peabody Essex Museum. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard Univ. Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Univ. Science, GP’s Gifts to Science and Science Education Winthrop, Robert Charles.

PEF Trustee Wm. Aiken

Aiken, William (1806-87). 1-PEF Trustee. William Aiken was one of the original 16 PEF trustees. He was born in Charleston, S.C., was a graduate of S.C. College at Columbia (1825), served in the S.C. state legislature (1838-42), was S.C. state senator (1842-44), S.C. governor (1844-46), and served in the U.S. House from S.C. (1851-57). He opposed S.C.’s secession. After the Civil War his Jan. 25, 1867, letter to GP, sent via William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888) of Washington, D.C., told of the post-war destruction of the South and confirmed GP’s intent to found the $2 million PEF for the 11 former Confederate states plus W.Va., added because of its poverty. See: PEF.

Aiken, William. 2-Pres. Johnson Called on GP. William Aiken was present when PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) read aloud GP’s Feb. 7, 1867, letter founding the PEF in an upper room at Willard’s Hotel, Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 1867, to ten of the 16 original trustees at their first meeting. Widespread favorable reports of the PEF followed. On Feb. 9, 1867, Pres. Andrew Johnson (1808-75), his secty., Col. William George Moore (1829-93), and three others, called on GP at his Willard’s Hotel rooms. With GP at the time were PEF trustees Robert Charles Winthrop, Episcopal Bishop of Ohio Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), and William Aiken; along with GP’s business friend Samuel Wetmore (1813?-85), his wife, and their son; GP’s nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909), George Washington Riggs (1813-81), and three others. Ref.: Curry-b, pp. 19, 51, 97, 98-10l. Easterby, I, pp. 128-129. See Corcoran, William Wilson. Persons named.

Aiken, William. 3-Pres. Johnson Called on GP Cont’d. Pres. Johnson took GP by the hand (GP was 72 and ill) and said he had thought to find GP alone, that he called simply as a private citizen to thank GP for his PEF gift to aid public education in the South, that he thought the gift would help unite the country, that he was glad to have a man like GP representing the U.S. in England, and invited GP to visit him in the White House. With emotion, GP thanked Pres. Johnson, said that this meeting was one of the greatest honors of his life, that he knew the president’s political course would be in the country’s best interest, that England from the Queen downward felt only goodwill toward the U.S., that he thought in a few years the U.S. would rise above its divisions to become happier and more powerful. Ref.: Ibid.

Aiken, William. 4-Pres. Johnson Called on GP Cont’d. Pres. Johnson faced impeachment by hostile radical Republicans in Congress angered at his conciliatory policy toward the former Confederate states. To avoid impeachment, Pres. Johnson’s political advisor, Francis Preston Blair, Sr. (1791-1876), advised a complete change of cabinet, with Mass. Gov. John Albion Andrew (1818-67) as Secty. of State, GP as Treasury Secty., Ohio Gov. Jacob Dolson Cox (1828-1900) as Interior Secty., Penn. Sen. Edgar Cowan (1815-85) as Atty.-Gen., Adm. D.G. Farragut (1801-70) as Navy Secty., and Gen. U.S. Grant (1822-85) as Secty. of War. But loyalty to his cabinet kept Johnson from this course. Ref.: Ibid. See: persons named.

Aiken, William. 5-GP at the White House. On April 25, 1867, before his May 1, 1867, return to London, GP called on Pres. Johnson in the Blue Room of the White House and they spoke of the work of the PEF. With GP at the White House were B&O RR Pres. John Work Garrett (1820-84) and Samuel Wetmore’s (1813?-85) 16-year-old son. GP told Pres. Johnson of young Wetmore’s interest in being admitted to West Point and Pres. Johnson said he would do what he could for the young man. Ref.: Ibid.

Ainslie, Robert, Rev. (fl. 1853-69), was minister, Christ Church, Brighton, England, whose Sunday sermon, Nov. 22, 1868, compared GP to British reformer John Howard (1726-90), and praised Baltimorean Reverdy Johnson (1796-1876) for promoting peace. GP and Reverdy were both present at Rev. Ainslie’s sermon. Johnson Reverdy Johnson, who spoke at a Brighton dinner the previous day, was then U.S. Minister to Britain with special responsibility to negotiate the Johnson-Clarendon Treaty to ease U.S.-British angers over the Alabama Claims (U.S. indemnity demands for British-built ships, including the Alabama, sold to Confederate emissaries, which sunk federal ships and cost Union lives and treasure). Ref.: [Ainslie, Robert]. See: Johnson, Reverdy.

Aix-la-Chapelle or Aachen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, near the Belgian and Dutch borders, known for its mineral spring baths. GP occasionally went there for his health and relaxation, especially after taking Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) as partner in 1854 in George Peabody & Co., London. See Morgan ,Junius Spencer.

Effect on GP Funeral

Alabama Claims (1862-1872). 1-British Built-Confederate Raider. The Confederate steamship (CSS) Alabama was the most notorious of the several British-built raider ships bought by the Confederate Navy which sunk or crippled Union ships and cost Union lives and treasure during the Civil War. Britain declared its neutrality in the U.S. Civil War (May 13, 1861) but recognized the Confederate states as a belligerent. This recognition encouraged Confederate Navy Secty. Stephen Russell Mallory (1813-73) to send Confederate Commander James Dunwody Bulloch (1823-1901) to England in May 1861 to purchase ships for the Confederacy. Bulloch purchased from Britain’s Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, England, the newly built “Hull No. 290,” soon named the SS Enrica, which was subsequently outfitted for war and renamed the CSS Alabama at the end of July 1862. For other British-built Confederate raiders, see CSS Florida (CSS, ship) CSS Shenandoah (CSS, ship) See: persons named.

Alabama Claims. 2-U.S. Minister C.F. Adams Protested. U.S. Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams (1807-86) first informed the British Foreign Office, June 23, 1862, showing affidavits from involved seamen that by building the Alabama as a Confederate warship, Britain was breaking its neutrality. But British Customs law officials ruled the evidence insufficient.

Alabama Claims. 3-Alabama Sunk 64 Union Ships. CSS Alabama was commanded by Confederate Capt. Raphael Harwood Semmes (1809-77), whose first ship, the Sumter, had earlier severely damaged northern commerce before it was trapped in Gibraltar in Jan. 1862. In CSS Alabama’s rampaging two-year cruise (June 1862 to June 1864) covering 67,000 nautical miles, she hijacked or sank 64 Union ships. Her crew members were largely pirate-adventurers from many nations, including Britain. Needing repairs, the Alabama entered the French harbor of Cherbourg on June 11, 1864.

Alabama Claims. 4-CSS Alabama Sunk by USS Kearsarge. The USS Kearsarge, under Union Capt. John Ancrum Winslow (1811-73), rushed to intercept the Alabama in Cherbourg. The Alabama came out to do battle. Observed by thousands, they fired on each other on June 19, 1864, one of the last romanticized gunnery duels in the era of wooden ships. The Alabama was sunk that day. Capt. Semmes and some of his officers and crew were rescued by a British yacht, Deerhound, and taken to an English port. The Alabama’s remains were not found until Oct. 1984, when some artifacts were raised from Cherbourg harbor. Ref.: (under g. Internet): Alabama, CSS (Confederate ship). See: persons, ships, and harbor named.

Alabama Claims. 5-Alabama Claims Commission. A special international Alabama Claims Commission which met in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 187l-Sept. 1872, awarded the U.S. $15.5 million paid by Britain for damage to Union shipping by British-built Confederate ships. The Alabama and several other British-built Confederate raiders destroyed a total of 257 Union ships, compelled Union ship owners to transfer ownership of over 700 vessels to foreign registries, and hindered U.S. merchant marine activity for half a century. (Note: Before his Nov. 4, 1869, death GP was mentioned to serve on the Alabama Claims Commission but was dropped because of age and illness).

Alabama Claims. 6-GP’s Funeral Involved. GP died in London Nov. 4, 1869, at the height of U.S. grievances against Britain over the loss of life and treasure caused by the CSS Alabama and other British-built ships. When it became known that GP’s will stipulated burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., a funeral service was offered and held at Westminster Abbey Nov. 12, 1869. His remained rested in the Abbey Nov. 12 to Dec. 11, 1869 (30 days). See: Death and Funeral, GP’s (especially 189-Final Thought). Westminster Abbey, London.

Alabama Claims. 7-GP’s Funeral Involved Cont’d. On learning of GP’s death and intended burial in the U.S., Queen Victoria is said to have suggested to her advisors the return of his remains on a royal vessel. This may have led PM William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98) to praise GP in his Lord Mayor’s Day banquet speech (Nov. 9) and say: “With Mr. Peabody’s nation we will not quarrel.” PM Gladstone’s cabinet met on Nov. 10 and offered HMS Monarch, Britain’s newest and largest warship, as a funeral vessel, to carry GP’s remains from England for burial in the U.S. This decision was made partly in admiration for GP’s philanthropy, partly for his two decades of effort in promoting friendly British-U.S. relations, and partly calculated to ease U.S.-British tensions over the Alabama Claims and other U.S. Civil War irritations. See: Gladstone, William Ewart.

Alabama Claims. 8-GP’s Funeral Involved Cont’d. The Monarch, with GP’s remains aboard, escorted by USS Plymouth, a U.S. warship from Marseilles, France, crossed the Atlantic, to be met in U.S. waters on Pres. U.S. Grant’s orders by a flotilla of U.S. ships commanded by Adm. David G. Farragut (1801-70). GP’s unusual 96-day British-U.S. transatlantic funeral ended with final burial on Feb. 8, 1870, in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Ref.: Bowman. Callahan, II, pp. 257-258. Davis, W.C., p. 116. Ellicott. Foote, p. 157. Guerout, pp. 67-83. Hearn, C.G. Hoehling. Marvel. Porter, pp. 621-658. Stern, P.V.D., pp. 82, 297. Trevelyan, pp. 288-289. See: Death & Funeral. 189-Final Thought (below).Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Plymouth (USS, ship). Winslow, John Ancrum.

Alabama, CSS (British built Confederate raider ship). See: Alabama Claims (above). Adams, Charles Francis.

Albany, N.Y. Evening Journal. Thurlow Weed (1797-1882), founder and editor of the Albany, N.Y., Evening Journal during 1830-65, was an influential political leader in the Whig Party and after 1855 its successor Republican Party. GP first met Thurlow Weed in 1852. They met again in Nov. 1861 when Weed was U.S. Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s emissary to keep Britain neutral in the U.S. Civil War. GP helped Weed meet British leaders. Weed, one of GP’s early philanthropic advisors, suggested Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) of Mass. as best qualified to advise GP on his U.S. philanthropies after 1860. Weed is also the source for describing the origin of the PEF as it developed in GP’s mind. He defended GP’s pro-Union sentiment and actions in the Civil War. See: persons named.

Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (1841-1910), was the eldest son of Queen Victoria (1819-1901), who became King Edward VII of Britain during 1901-10. As Prince of Wales he unveiled GP’s seated statue by U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story (1819-95), on Threadneedle St., near London’s Royal Exchange, July 23, 1869. In his speech he eulogized GP, praised W.W. Story, and referred to U.S. Minister to Britain John Lothrop Motley (1814-77) in terms of U.S.-British friendship. Story and Motley, both present, also spoke. GP’s statue in London was the first of four statues of Americans in that city: GP, 1869; Abraham Lincoln, 1920; George Washington, 1921; and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1948. A copy of GP’s seated statue in London was placed in front of the PIB, April 7, 1890, by Robert Garrett (1847-96). See: Statues of GP. Powers, Hiram.

Albert Hall, South Kensington, London. See: Royal Albert Hall, South Kensington, London. Peabody Homes of London.

Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Prince Albert, 1819-61), was Queen Victoria’s husband, who lent his royal prestige to the idea of the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, the first world’s fair. GP lent $15,000 to the U.S. exhibitors when they had no funds from the U.S. Congress to adorn their space in the Crystal Palace exhibit hall. Congress repaid this loan three years later. Prince Albert also tempered British government response to the Nov. 8, 1861, forcible removal from the British mail packet Trent of four Confederate emissaries bound to secure arms and aid abroad by Capt. Charles Wilkes (1798-1877) of the Union warship San Jacinto in the Bahamas. See: Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair). San Jacinto (USS ship).

“a home to us all”

Albert, William S. 1-Lodged with GP, London, 1838. William S. Albert was a Baltimorean who in 1870, just after GP’s death, recalled GP’s generosity to Americans visiting London. He wrote: “In 1838 when on a visit to London, I lodged in the same house with him for several weeks. Under the same roof were assembled mutual friends from the city of his adoption [Baltimore], upon whom he took pleasure in bestowing those marks of attention so grateful in a foreign land, making the house a home to us all.” Ref.: (Albert, W.S.): Md. Historical Society-b, p. 29.

Albert, W.S. 2-GP As Md. Bond Agent Abroad. The circumstance of William S. Albert’s London visit is not known. GP left NYC on his fifth trip to London in early Feb. 1837, arriving at Portsmouth Feb. 19. He remained as the London resident of Peabody, Riggs, & Co. (1829-45), importer of wholesale dry goods and other commodities, and also as one of three agents commissioned by the Md. legislature to sell the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal part of Md.’s $8 million bond issue abroad to finance internal improvements. See: Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.

Albert, W.S. 3-Panic and Repudiation. The financial Panic of 1837 was then on and GP had to sell the bonds during depressed economic conditions that lasted through most of the 1840s. The situation was aggravated when Md. and eight other states could not pay interest on their bonds sold abroad. In this fiscal difficulty, GP traveled much in late 1837 and early 1838 in England, France, and Holland, sometimes with the other two Md. commissioners–John Buchanan (1772-1844) and Thomas Emory. Unsuccessful in selling the Md. bonds, the other two commissioners gave up and returned to the U.S. GP remained in London for the rest of his life except for three U.S. visits: Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857; May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867; and June 8 to Sept. 29, 1869. See: persons named.

Albert, W.S. 4-George Peabody & Co., from 1838. In 1838, when Baltimorean William S. Albert later wrote: “I lodged in the same house with him for several weeks,” GP lived in bachelor’s quarters on Bread St. with Irish-born fellow U.S. merchant Richard Bell. On Dec. 1, 1838, GP leased an office at 31 Moorgate St., in London’s inner city not far from St. Paul’s Cathedral where business houses occupy odd nooks and crannies. Here, with desks, chairs, a mahogany counter, a safe, and employing a clerk (Charles Cubitt Gooch, 1811-89, later a partner), GP began, informally and until his retirement, George Peabody & Co. (1838-64), renamed J.S. Morgan & Co. from 1864. GP took as partner Oct. 1, 1854, Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), whose 19-year-old son John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) began as the NYC agent for George Peabody & Co. (Note: Bread St. in the City of London is listed in a London street directory [1869] and in A-Z of Georgian London (London Topographical Society Publication number 126, 1982). See: persons named.

Albion (NYC newspaper), (May 19, 1866) p. 25, c. 3, reported that GP had to pay a huge U.S. tax soon after his arrival in NYC, for his May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867, U.S. visit.

Alger, William Rounseville (1822-1905), Rev. In his sermon at the close of the Boston Peace Jubilee, Sunday, June 20, 1869, Rev. William Rounseville Alger mentioned that GP had done more to keep the peace between Britain and America than a hundred demagogues to destroy it. Ref.: “Alger, William Rounseville,” p. 15.
Allen, Frederick Lewis (1890-1954), author of The Great Pierpont Morgan (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1949), pp. 192-212, which has many references to GP. On Oct. 1, 1854, GP took as partner Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), whose young son John Pierpont Morgan (Sr., 1837-1913) began as NYC agent for George Peabody & Co. See: persons named.

Allen, Jack (1914-2004), was GPCFT Emeritus Professor of History, author of “The Peabody Saga: A Short History of the College,” Peabody Reflector, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Summer 1980), pp. 4-13, and other articles, tracing the history of Peabody Normal College through the 1979 merger of GPCFT with Vanderbilt Univ. Jack Allen was one of three GPCFT faculty authors of a 1974 report, Design for the Future, with 107 recommendations on administration and curriculum matters intended to strengthen the institution’s future. See: PCofVU, Brief History.

Almack’s Assembly Rooms, King St., St. James’s, London, was a suite of fashionable meeting rooms designed by Robert Mylne (1765) and named after its first proprietor, William Almack (an anagram of a Mr. Macall or McCaul). At his death (1781), Almack’s was left to his niece, Mrs. Willis. As “Willis’s Rooms” the restaurant with its meeting rooms was popular in GP’s 32 years in London (1837-69) and lasted to 1890. In 1904 a new London social club adopted the name of Almack’s. GP’s July 4, 1851, dinner and dance, held in connection with the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, was at Willis’s Rooms with the Duke of Wellington as guest of honor. Ref.: “Almack’s,” Vol. I, p. 711. “Almack’s Assembly Rooms,” p. 20. See: Dinners, GP’s, London. Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair). Willis’s Rooms.

Almy, John Jay (1815-95). John Jay Almy, U.S. Navy Commodore, was chief of staff to U.S. Navy Adm. David Glasgow Farragut (1801-70) when Farragut was placed in charge of the U.S. Navy flotilla of ships assembled to receive GP’s remains aboard HMS Monarch, accompanied by USS Plymouth, at Portland harbor, Me., Jan. 25-Feb. 1, 1870. Author Allen Howard Welch’s article on GP’s funeral attributed the near-faultless Portland, Me., GP funeral reception to Commodore John Jay Almy as follows: “Observers on the local level felt that such an affair had never passed off so completely without a mar. They attributed this to the fact that the U.S. Navy had entrusted its supervision to Commodore John J. Almy, chief of Farragut’s staff, who carried out the Portland ceremonies with the precision characterizing the regular naval service.” Ref.: (J.J. Almy’s career): Shephard, Vol. 1, pp. 226-227. See: Death & funeral, GP’s. Persons named.

Alps. GP first crossed the Alps in Europe on his second commercial buying trip abroad during 1831-Aug. 10?, 1832 (15 months). With an American friend (name not known) and by frequent changes of coach horses, GP covered 10,000 miles in England, France, Italy, and Switzerland. He wrote to his sister Judith Dodge Peabody (1799-1879, who married Jeremiah Russell and after his death married Robert Shillaber Daniels), Aug. 25, 1831: “My time has been passed in England, Ireland, & Scotland but in February last [1831] in company with an American gentleman [identity not known] I left England on a tour of business & amusement & visited Paris where we passed a few days–from thence through the South of France to Savoy crossing Mount ?? (the Alps) to Turin in Italy…” See: Dodge, Judith (née Peabody) Daniels (GP’s sister).

“Apotheosis of America”

Amateis, Louis (1855-1913). 1-Artist. Artist Louis Amateis was born in Turin, Italy. He came to the U.S. in 1855, became a naturalized citizen, and was art and architecture professor and head of the fine arts department, Columbian Univ. (now George Washington Univ.), Washington, D.C. He was first known for his busts of famous Americans and memorials in Texas. Ref.: Nash, I, pp. 239-240. Amateis. Parker, F.-d., pp. 26-27, reprinted Parker, F.-zd, pp. 38-40.

Amateis, Louis. 2-”Apotheosis of America.” During 1904-08 he was commissioned for his best known design of a transom atop two bronze doors intended for the west entrance of the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. His transom design is a tableau called the “The Apotheosis of America.” A figure representing America is drawn in a chariot by lions (force) and led by a child (intellect). The figure of America stretches its arms toward the arts and sciences, symbolized by the profiles of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Peabody, Johns Hopkins, and Horace Mann. Ref.: Ibid.

Amateis, Louis. 3-Bronze Doors. Amateis finished his model in 1908. The bronze doors were cast during 1909-10 by two NYC firms, Johns Williams, Inc., and the Roman Bronze Co. Because structural changes would be needed to install the doors and transom in the U.S. Capitol Building, they are on view at the north entrance of the National Museum Building, Washington, D.C. Ref.: Ibid. See: Honors, GP’s.

Am. Assn. in London

American Association in London (1858-early 1860s). 1-GP’s July 4 Dinners. GP’s July 4th U.S.-British friendship dinners since 1851 were taken from him under somewhat strained conditions in 1858 and 1860. An American Association in London was organized March 1, 1858, as a social and charitable club. Its members proposed to sponsor a July 4, 1858, dinner. The new group’s organizers were more assertive Americans in London, more critical of the British, and less acceptable to British political and social leaders than were older commercial Americans in London, such as Joshua Bates (1788-1864), Weymouth, Mass.-born head of Baring Brothers (Bates became a British subject), and GP, head of George Peabody & Co. since Dec. 1838. See: Bates, Joshua. Moran, Benjamin.

Am. Assn. in London. 2-New Group Members. The new group’s organizers included 1-U.S.-born physician Dr. Jesse Weldon Fell (active 1850s) who experimented with a cancer cure at Middlesex Hospital, London, and wrote A Treatise on Cancer and its Treatment (London, 1857); 2-Benjamin Moran (1820-86), U.S. Legation in London clerk, 1853-57, asst. secty., 1857, and Secty. of Legation, 1857-75 (Dr. Fell had treated Mrs. Moran before her death); and 3-Gen. Robert Blair Campbell (d.1862), the last elected president of the American Association in London during its few years of existence. Ref.: Ibid. See: persons named.

Am. Assn. in London. 3-Secty. Benjamin Moran. U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran, often critical of GP in his private journal, wrote on March 20, 1858: “…about the Club. Old Peabody goes, with Bates, and others of their stamp, against it, as I expected. They are a mean souled set, who dislike all of decided character who will not follow them, and consequently oppose this, as they know it will put them in the background. Both Bates and Peabody are selfish and heartless men. They have led people heretofore & hate this scheme because it will destroy their rule.” Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Assn. in London. 4-Attempt to Appease GP. Announcing their intent to sponsor the July 4, 1858, London dinner and wanting to reconcile with old line Americans in London, an American Association in London committee of three wrote to GP on June 30, 1858: “The members of the American Association in London realized you might not understand the purpose of the Association. They passed a resolution that this letter be written to explain the purpose of the club, to invite your participation, and to urge you to take the chair at the coming Fourth of July celebration.” Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Assn. in London. 5-Attempt to Appease GP Cont’d.: “The purpose of the Association is to give relief to Americans in distress. Its by-laws were composed by some of your warmest friends…. To you above all others, the Association wished to show its appreciation by offering you the office of President. The members intended to consult your wishes regarding the dinner. We feel that you naturally, but erroneously, misapprehended our intentions.” Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Assn. in London. 6-Attempt to Appease GP Cont’d.: “The Association, even at this late date, invites you to take the chair at the dinner and promises you their support. Such a course on your part would show new proof of your attachment to your country and friends. “If you can accept the invitation your wishes for the dinner will be consulted and any number of tickets you desire for your friends shall be forwarded to you.” Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Assn. in London. 7-GP Declined. GP wrote to decline: “I received your communication and your resolution inviting me to take the chair on the approaching celebration of American Independence. I’m gratified to learn that no hostility to me personally or the course of my previous Fourth of July dinners prompted the measure you adopted. “Taking into consideration the circumstances of your arrangements and the late period of your explanation, I respectfully decline.” Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Assn. in London. 8-”We shall kill him with kindness.” Moran recorded that “Gen’l Campbell [Robert Blair Campbell, d.1862] would preside” and that “Peabody…is sore about the dinner and refuses to come, pretending to think that the Association was gotten up to prevent him giving dinners. He is a weak feeble minded & mean spirited man. We shall kill him with kindness however, & toast him in spite of himself. If not there to respond it will look bad in print.” Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Assn. in London. 9-Moran on July 4, 1858, Dinner Without GP. The July 4, 1858, dinner without GP went well and was favorably reported in U.S. and London newspapers. Moran recorded seeing “Gen’l Campbell and learned from him that Peabody’s chagrin grew out of the fact that he considers that nobody but him has a right to give the Fourth of July Dinner in London. He asked the General if official influence had been employed to get the Queen’s picture, and when assured that it had not been exercised, was much chagrined. He told the General that it was his intention to have given a Fourth of July dinner at a cost of £500 [$2,500), and that he had considered since 1851 that to him, and him alone, belonged the right to giving such entertainments in London.” Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Assn. in London. 10-Moran on July 4, 1858, Dinner Without GP Cont’d.: “The Association had taken this out of his hands, and altho’ he did not say it in so many words, he conveyed to the General’s mind the fact that it was solely on that ground that he did not accept the invitation to preside at our dinner. At best, Mr. Peabody is a selfish, vindictive, and narrow minded man.” GP gave U.S.-British friendship dinners on July 9 and 28, 1858, both well reported. The American Association in London also sponsored the July 4, 1860 dinner. There was dissension among its members and, with the coming of the Civil War and other concerns, the Association disappeared. Ref.: Ibid.

American Legation, London. The U.S. Embassy, London, was in GP’s time in that city called the American Legation, London. See: U.S. Embassy, London.

American Neptune, a journal published by the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., is the oldest U.S. journal of maritime history. See: Dudley, Robert. GP Bicentennial Celebration (Feb. 12, 1795-1995). Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Science: GP’s Gifts to Science and Science Education. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.

Arctic Exploration & GP

American Philosophical Society. 1-Arctic Search for Lost Sir John Franklin. The Smithsonian Institution, Geographical Society of New York, and the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia all gave some aid to the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition, 1853-54, in search of missing British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847). NYC merchant Henry Grinnell (1799-1874) gave two ships, the 144-ton Advance and the 91-ton Rescue. See: Kane, Elisha Kent. Other persons mentioned.

Am. Philosophical Soc. 2-GP Aided Search Led by U.S. Navy. U.S. Navy Secty. John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870) authorized 10 U.S. Navy volunteers and placed Grinnell’s two ships under the command of U.S. Navy Capt. Elisha Kent Kane, M.D. (1820-57), who had been the U.S. Navy medical officer during the First U.S. Grinnell Expedition, 1850-52. U.S. Navy backing also made the expedition one of scientific exploration. GP gave $10,000 for scientific equipment. He was motivated by a desire to promote British-U.S. friendship and by Lady Jane Franklin’s (1792-1875) appeal to U.S. Pres. Zachary Taylor (1784-1850, 12th U.S. president during 1849-50) and the U.S. Congress to find her husband. Ref.: Ibid.

U.S. Residents in London

American Residents in London. 1-Charles Francis Adams. During GP’s 32 years (1837-69) as a U.S. merchant-banker living in London, he had contact with most of the following American residents in London (listed alphabetically with a brief description): 1-Charles Francis Adams (1807-86) was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1861-68 when frictional U.S.-British events over the Civil War occurred (1861 Trent Affair and others). Adams carefully observed and reported on Confederate agents in Britain who bought British-built ships and armed them as Confederate raiders (CSS Alabama and others). GP shared Civil War and other news with Adams. See: persons named in this entry.

Am. Residents in London. 2-Henry [Brooks] Adams. Henry Adams (1838-1918) was his father’s (Charles Francis Adams) private secretary while his father was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1861-68. In his book, The Education of Henry Adams (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1918), he wrote of important Britons and well known visiting and resident Americans he knew, including GP. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 3-George Bancroft. George Bancroft (1800-91), later a famed U.S. historian, was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1846-49. His contact with GP is not known except through his nephew, who was U.S. Legation in London Secty. during those same years (See: John Chandler Bancroft Davis below). Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 4-Joshua Bates. Joshua Bates (1788-1864) was a Weymouth, Mass.-born merchant-banker who was in turn agent, partner, and director of the Baring Brothers, Britain’s long established banking firm prominent in U.S. finance from colonial times. Bates and GP had important business contacts. GP also attended at least one dinner in Bates’s home near London on Nov. 24, 1849, when the guest of honor was visiting U.S. novelist Herman Melville, mentioned in John Chandler Bancroft Davis below. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 5-James Buchanan. Born in Mercersberg, Penn., James Buchanan (1791-1868) was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1853-56 and 15th U.S. president during 1857-61. Buchanan’s super patriotic U.S. Legation in London Secty. Daniel Edgar Sickles (described below) created an incident. He refused to stand and then walked out in red-gorged anger from GP’s July 4, 1854, British-U.S. friendship dinner to protest GP’s toast to the Queen before one to the U.S. president. Sickles accused GP in letters to the press of toadying to the British. While most witnesses defended GP, Buchanan remained silent. GP had no contact with then Pres. James Buchanan when GP was in Washington, D.C., Feb. 14-23, 1857, during his 1856-57 U.S. visit. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 6-Robert Blair Campbell. Robert Blair Campbell (d.1862) from S.C. was U.S. Consul in London during 1854-61. GP had some contact with him in connection with the newly formed and short lived American Association in London (about 1858-62), a fraternal club to aid needy U.S. visitors in London. This association of newer Americans somewhat hostile to old line Americans like GP took over under strained relations July 4 dinners in 1858 and 1860, which GP had hitherto sponsored. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 7-George Mifflin Dallas. George Mifflin Dallas (1792-1864), born in Penn., was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1856-61. He attended and spoke at GP’s U.S.-British friendships dinners June 13 and July 4, 1856. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 8-John Chandler Bancroft Davis. Born in Worcester, Mass., John Chandler Bancroft Davis (1822-1907) was U.S. Legation Secty., London, under his uncle George Bancroft, U.S. Minister to Britain during 1846-49. J.C.B. Davis sometimes dined with his Harvard College classmate Henry Stevens (1819-86), born in Barnet, Vt., a London resident rare book dealer, and GP. J.C.B. Davis and GP dined on Nov. 24, 1849, at the London home of Joshua Bates (1788-1864), head of London’s Baring Brothers, with visiting U.S. novelist Herman Melville (1819-91) as guest of honor. J.C.B. Davis was a speaker at the Oct. 9, 1856, South Danvers, Mass., GP Celebration (GP’s first visit to the U.S. after nearly 20 years’ residence in London). Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 9-Edward Everett. Edward Everett (1794-1865), born in Dorchester, Mass., was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1841-45; a Harvard graduate, professor, and its president (1846-49); Mass. governor (1836-39); and held other high offices. He was the most notable orator of his time (his two-hour Nov. 9, 1863, Gettysburg Cemetery dedication address was followed by Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s two-minute 272-word speech). Edward Everett was the key speaker at the Oct. 9, 1856, GP reception in South Danvers, Mass., marking GP’s first U.S. visit after nearly 20 years’ absence abroad. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 10-Jesse Weldon Fell. Dr. Jesse Weldon Fell, M.D. (active, 1850s), was a U.S.-born physician resident in London who experimented with a cancer cure at London’s Middlesex Hospital, wrote A Treatise on Cancer, and its Treatment (London, 1857), was a friend of U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran (see name below), had treated Moran’s wife before her death, and was a member and officer of the short-lived American Association of London (1858-62), a club for social and charitable purposes. GP most likely knew of him, although their precise contact is not known. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 11-Joseph Reed Ingersoll. Joseph Reed Ingersoll (1786-1868), born in Penn., was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1852-53. GP gave U.S.-British friendship dinners in London to introduce Minister Ingersoll and his niece Miss Charlotte Manigault Wilcocks (1821-75) to London society, to resident Americans, and to visiting Americans on Oct. 12, 1852, and May 18, 1853. There was at least one press report of GP’s attending the opera and other social functions with Miss Wilcocks, with hints of a possible romance leading to marriage. GP wrote to a friend: “I have now arrived at an age that throws aside all thoughts of marriage [although] I think her [Miss Wilcocks] a very fine woman.” Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 12-Reverdy Johnson. Reverdy Johnson (1796-1876) was a Baltimore lawyer, U.S. Sen., U.S. Atty. General, and longtime GP friend. During Reverdy Johnson’s 1845 London visit, GP urged him to plan with other Baltimore friends what became the PIB gift in from 1857. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 13-Curtis Miranda Lampson. Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85) was a Vt.-born merchant who achieved wealth in the fur trade, became a London resident after 1830, was a longtime GP friend and business associate. Lampson became a naturalized British subject and was created a baronet (Sir Curtis) for his work as Atlantic Cable Co. director (GP was also a director). When a gravely ill GP returned to London from his third U.S. visit (Oct. 8, 1869) he rested at Lampson’s 80 Eaton Sq. London home where he died (Nov. 4, 1869). Lampson, involved in arranging GP’s funeral, was one of two executors of GP’s British estate. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 14-Abbott Lawrence. Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855) was born in Groton, Mass., was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1849-52, at the time of the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (the first world’s fair). When U.S. exhibitors lacked congressional funds to display U.S. industrial and art products, GP’s timely $15,000 loan saved Minister Lawrence and the U.S. from embarrassment. Minister Lawrence was also happily surprised when GP, despite British anti-American prejudice, held two successful U.S.-British friendship dinners in London on July 4 and Oct. 27, 1851. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 15-Gansvoort Melville. Gansvoort Melville (1815-46) was U.S. Legation in London Secty. before his death. GP knew Gansvoort Melville and shared his remembrance of Gansvoort with younger brother, U.S. novelist Herman Melville (1819-91), when they dined together at the London home of Joshua Bates on Nov. 24, 1849. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 16-Benjamin Moran. Benjamin Moran (1820-86), born in Penn., was an apprentice printer who went to England as a freelance writer and worked at the U.S. Legation in London as clerk (1853-57), asst. secty. (1857), and secty. (1857-75). U.S. Minister to Britain C.F. Adams’ son and private secretary Henry Adams described Moran as a “dependable workhorse” with “an exaggerated notion of his importance” who kept a journal which “must be read from the point of view of his character.” Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 17-Benjamin Moran Cont’d. Often bitter and self-important Moran wrote critically of GP in his secret journal for over a dozen years. Yet, after attending GP’s Nov. 12, 1869, Westminster Abbey funeral service, he wrote with some eloquence: “…I could now forget that I had ever warred with the dust before me…. And then I reflected on the marvelous career of the man, his early life, his penurious habits, his vast fortune, his magnificent charity; and the honor that was then being paid to his memory by the Queen of England in the place of sepulcher of twenty English kings.” Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 18-Junius Spencer Morgan. Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), born in what is now Holyoke, Mass., grew up in Hartford, Conn., and was a partner in J.M. Beebe, Morgan & Co., a Boston dry goods firm with which GP did much business. On the recommendation of James Madison Beebe (1809-75) and others GP invited and J.S. Morgan accepted partnership in George Peabody & Co., London (Oct. 1, 1854, to Oct. 1, 1864). J.S. Morgan’s then 19-year-old son John Pierpont Morgan, Sr. (1837-1913), began his famed banking career as NYC agent for George Peabody & Co. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 19-John Lothrop Motley. John Lothrop Motley (1814-77), born in Dorchester, Mass., was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1869-70. As U.S. Minister he spoke at the July 23, 1869, unveiling of GP’s seated statue by U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story (1819-95) on Threadneedle St., near London’s Royal Exchange. He visited gravely ill GP several times before his death at business friend Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson’s 80 Eaton Sq., London, home. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 20-John Lothrop Motley Cont’d. Minister Motley officially described GP’s death in a dispatch to U.S. Secty. of State Hamilton Fish (1809-93); attended GP’s funeral service, Westminster Abbey (Nov. 12, 1869); and was liaison between the U.S. State Dept., the U.S. Navy, the U.S. President, the British PM, and the British Admiralty regarding the return of GP’s remains to the U.S. aboard the British warship HMS Monarch, accompanied by the USS Plymouth which was ordered from Marseilles, France, as American escort vessel. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 21-Daniel Edgar Sickles. Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914), mentioned in connection with James Buchanan above, was Buchanan’s jingoistic super patriotic U.S. Legation in London Secty. in 1854. In protest to GP’s toast to the Queen before one to the U.S. president, Sickles refused to stand and then walked out in red-gorged anger from GP’s July 4, 1854, British-U.S. friendship dinner. Sickles accused GP in letters to the press of toadying to the British. Most witnesses defended GP. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 22-Horatio Gates Somerby. Horatio Gates Somerby (1805-72), born in Newburyport, Mass., was a London resident genealogist, GP’s longtime friend, and sometime GP agent. He did a genealogical study of the Peabody family for GP, occasionally helped arrange GP’s U.S.-British friendship dinners, and at GP’s request and expense he abstracted Md.’s colonial history records from British sources. GP gave this record as a gift to the Md. Historical Society. On Oct. 27, 1869, on behalf of GP, then on his deathbed, H.G. Somerby called on U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran to say that GP wished to see him. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 23-Henry Stevens. Henry Stevens, mentioned in connection with John Chandler Bancroft Davis above, also attended some GP-sponsored U.S.-British friendship dinners, including the Oct. 27, 1851, farewell dinner to the departing U.S. exhibitors at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (the first world’s fair). GP commissioned Stevens to compile, publish, and distribute the speeches and proceedings of that dinner in book form. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 24-Andrew Stevenson. Andrew Stevenson (1784-1857), born in Va., was Minister to Britain during 1836-41. His only known GP connection was that he was offered the Freedom of the City of London on Feb. 22, 1838, but declined the honor as being inconsistent with his official duties. GP was the second U.S. citizen offered the Freedom of the City of London and its first recipient on July 10, 1862. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 25-Russell Sturgis. Russell Sturgis (1805-87) was a U.S. born London resident merchant-banker with whom GP had many contacts. Ref.: Ibid.

Am. Residents in London. 26-Horatio G. Ward. Horatio G. Ward (d. May 1868) was a U.S.-born merchant in London and a longtime business associate of GP. Ref.: Ibid.

GP’s Father & the Am. Revolution

American Revolution. 1-GP’s Father Thomas Peabody (1762-1811), born in Andover, Mass., was age 14 when the Declaration of Independence was signed (1776). At age 17 he enlisted and served as a private in Col. Gerrish’s regiment (1779) and two years later (1781) served in Col. Rufus Putnam’s (1738-1824) regiment. Thomas Peabody was stationed at West Point, N.Y., at the time of American Gen. Benedict Arnold’s (1741-1801) treason, and was there when British spy Major John André (1751-80) was executed. He was one of 54 Peabodys who fought in the American Revolution. GP, who served 14 days as a soldier in the War of 1812, gave $500 as a patriotic gift in 1845 (from London where he had moved in Feb. 1837) to help complete the Bunker Hill Memorial Monument near Boston. See: Peabody, Thomas (GP’s father).

American Revolution. 2-Most GP Dinners Marked Patriotic Occasions. On June 17, 1852, the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill (Boston, July 17, 1775), GP gave a dinner in London attended by British and U.S. guests. For GP’s $500 gift in 1845 for the Bunker Hill Memorial Monument, see Bunker Hill Memorial Monument (Boston). For GP’s June 1, 1852, London dinner marking the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, see Dinners, GP’s, London.

Am. Revolution. 3-”My father fought in the American Revolution.” On Oct. 25, 1866, on the dedication and opening of the PIB and after having been accused of being pro-Confederate and anti-Union in the Civil War, GP said publicly with passion: “I have been accused of anti-Union sentiment. Let me say this: my father fought in the American Revolution and I have loved my country since childhood. Born and educated in the North, I have lived twenty years in the South. In a long residence abroad I dealt with Americans from every section. I loved our country as a whole with no preference for East, West, North, or South. I wish publicly to avow that during the war my sympathies were with the Union–that my uniform course tended to assist but never to injure the credit of the Union.” For GP’s father’s service in the American Revolution, see Peabody. Sixth generation. Thomas Peabody.

Am. Revolution. 4-”My father fought in the American Revolution” Cont’d.: “At the close of the war three-fourths of my property was invested in United States Government and State securities, and remain so at this time.” For GP’s Oct. 25, 1866, speech, see Civil War and GP. For GP’s forebears who fought in the French and Indian War and 54 Peabodys who fought in the American Revolution. See: Peabody, Thomas (father).

American visits, GP’s. During GP’s 32 years abroad (1837-69) as a U.S. resident in London as head of George Peabody & Co., he made three U.S. visits during 1-Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857; 2-May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867; and 3-June 8, 1869 to Sept. 29, 1869. See: Visits to the U.S. by GP.

“Heaven has…permitted me…”

Americans visiting England, and GP. 1-See: to Europe passing through London (1840s-60s) received special help from GP. He offered credit and other banking needs which earned him little profit. But he benefited enormously in goodwill, particularly when faster steamships in the 1850s brought many more U.S. visitors to London. His helpfulness and kindness surprised many who brought him letters of credit from U.S. banks or letters of introduction from influential friends. Besides extending credit when needed, he often obtained for them opera and theater tickets, gave visitors his own opera box, charmed wives and daughters with corsages, dined with and entertained them, and did other favors.

Americans visiting England & GP. 2-GP’s London Firm. The resulting goodwill helped his business. It also accounted in part for his warm receptions in U.S. cities during his three U.S. visits: 1-Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857; 2-May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867; and 3-June 8, 1869 to Sept. 29, 1869. GP’s pride in his firm, George Peabody & Co., London, and its service to visiting Americans was expressed to an audience at the GP celebration in his hometown, Oct. 9, 1856, after nearly 20 years’ absence abroad.

Americans visiting England & GP. 3-GP’s London Firm Cont’d. GP said: “Heaven has…permitted me to establish…a house in the great metropolis of England…. I have endeavored…to make it an American house, …to give it an American atmosphere–to furnish it with American journals, to make it a center for American news, and an agreeable place for my American friends visiting London.” Ref.: Proceedings…1856, pp. 47-50. New York Herald, Oct. 10, 1856, p. 1, c. 4-6; p. 8; quoted in Hidy, M.E.-c, p. 319. See: Morgan, Sr., John Pierpont. Morgan, Junius Spencer.

America’s Cup Race, England, 1851. During the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (the first world’s fair), GP won favorable press notices with his $15,000 loan to the U.S. exhibitors who lacked Congressional funds to display U.S. industry and art products. He also emerged socially that year through two much publicized U.S.-British friendship dinners in London. Americans were elated that year when the U.S. yacht America won the international yacht race in British waters, defeating the English yacht Baltic. The first prize, a silver tankard, was afterward known as America’s Cup. Ref.: Rodgers, C.T. Ffrench, p. 242. See: Dinners, GP’s (July 4 and Oct. 27, 1851).Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair).

Anderton, James (1785-1868), a solicitor (lawyer) was a member of the City of London Court of Common Council when on May 22, 1862 Council member Charles Reed (1819-81) moved a resolution to grant GP the Freedom of the City of London. Charles Reed described at length GP’s career, his March 12, 1862, gift establishing the Peabody Donation Fund for model apartments for London’s working poor (total gift $2.5 million), and other philanthropies. Alderman Benjamin Phillips seconded the motion with a short speech. Member Anderton proposed, alternately, that a bust of GP be placed in the Council Chamber. His suggestion was overruled. By a unanimous show of hands the motion was carried to grant GP the Freedom of the City of London (July 10, 1862). Charles Reed was later an MP (1868-74), president of the London school board (1873-81), an executor of GP’s estate in England after GP’s death (Nov. 4, 1869), and was knighted in 1876. See London, Freedom of the City, to GP. See persons named.

GP Papers

Andover, Mass. 1-Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. GP paid for the education of his nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99) at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., at Yale College, and in German universities. Nephew O.C. Marsh, first professor of paleontology in the U.S. at Yale Univ. and the world’s second such professor in the world, influenced his uncle GP’s founding of three science museums: the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard Univ. (Oct. 8, 1866), the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Univ. (Oct. 22, 1866), $150,000 each, and the Peabody Essex Museum (Peabody Academy of Science, 1867-1915, renamed Peabody Museum of Salem, 1915-92, renamed Peabody Essex Museum since 1992), $140,000. See: Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. Science: GP’s Gifts to Science and Science Education.

Andover, Mass. 2-GP’s Papers at Phillips Academy. GP donated $25,000 to Phillips Academy on Oct. 30, 1866, for a professorship of mathematics and natural science. In the early 1870s, the bulk of GP’s business and personal papers were taken from his London firm (J.S. Morgan Co.; previously George Peabody and Co., 1838-64) by nephew Robert Singleton Peabody (1837-1904) and stored at Phillips Academy. In the early 1930s the GP papers were sorted by date and subject into 140 boxes and 250 account and ledger books, newspaper albums, and memorabilia and deposited in 1935 at the Essex Institute, now the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., where they are organized and indexed. See: Paradise, Scott Hurtt. Persons named.

Andrew, John Albion (1818-67). 1-Pres. Johnson’s Suggested Cabinet Reshuffle. John Albion Andrew was governor of Mass. (1860-66). When GP established the PEF, Feb. 7, 1867, Pres. Andrew Johnson (1808-75) faced impeachment by hostile radical Republicans in Congress angered by his conciliatory policy toward the former Confederate states. To avoid impeachment, Pres. Johnson’s political advisor, Francis Preston Blair, Sr. (1791-1876), advised a complete change of cabinet, with Mass. Gov. John Albion Andrew as Secty. of State, GP as Treasury Secty., Ohio Gov. Jacob Dolson Cox (1828-1900) as Interior Secty., U.S. Sen. from Penn. Edgar Cowan (1815-85, senator during 1861-67) as Atty. Gen., Adm. D.G. Farragut (1801-70) as Navy Secty., Gen. U.S. Grant (1822-85) as Secty. of War, and Horace Greeley (1811-72) as Postmaster Gen. But loyalty to his cabinet kept Johnson from this course. See: PEF. Persons named.

Andrew, J.A.. 2-Career. John Albion Andrew was born in Windham, Me., a graduate of Bowdoin College (1837), a lawyer in Boston who defended fugitive slaves (1840-61), member of the Mass. legislature (1858), and Mass. governor (1860-66).

Anglo-American relations. For GP’s efforts to promote U.S.-British relations, with sources, see Death and funeral, GP’s. Dinners, GP’s, London. Sir John Franklin. Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair). Kane, Elisha Kent. Peabody Homes of London. Weed, Thurlow.

Anthropology. See: Othniel Charles Marsh. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard Univ.

Antonelli, Giacomo (1806-76), was a Roman Catholic Cardinal. For GP’s Feb. 19-28, 1868, visit to Rome, Italy, with Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94), their audience with Pope Pius IX, and GP’s $19,300 gift to Rome’s San Spirito Hospital via Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli, and sources, see San Spirito Hospital, Rome, Italy. Statues of GP.

“Apotheosis of America” is the title given a transom panel tableau on two bronze doors created by Louis Amateis (1855-1913), Italian-born artist and head of the fine arts department, Columbian Univ. (now George Washington Univ.), for the U.S. Capitol Building, featuring GP and five others symbolizing U.S. intellectual development. See: Amateis, Louis.

Appearance, GP’s. See: Peabody, George, Illustrations. Wills, GP’s (1827).

Appleton, Francis Henry (1847-1939), was the main speaker at the George Peabody Centennial Celebration held Monday, Feb. 18, 1895, at the Town Hall, Peabody, Mass. He was an agriculturist and member of the Mass. House of Representatives (1891). Ref.: “Appleton, Francis Henry,” p. 29. See:GP Centennial Celebration (Feb. 18, 1795-1895).

Archaeology, the study of material remains (fossils, relics, artifacts, and monuments), which was advanced through the influence of GP’s nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1813-99). In 1866 GP donated $150,000 each to found the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard Univ. and the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Univ. At Yale Univ. nephew O.C. Marsh was the first U.S. professor of paleontology and the second such professor in the world. Archaeology, ethnology, and natural history were further aided by GP’s donation, Feb. 26, 1867, of $140,000 to found the Peabody Academy of Science, Salem, Mass. (1867-1915), renamed Peabody Museum of Science (1915-91), when it was combined with the adjacent Essex Institute and renamed the Peabody Essex Museum in 1992. See: Anthropology. Institutions named. Marsh, Othniel Charles. Science: GP’s Gifts to Science and Science Education (Harvard and Yale).

GP’s Lost Va. Bonds

Arctic (ship). 1-Collins Line. The Arctic was one of five steamships of the Collins Line carrying passengers, freight, and mail between NYC and Liverpool. The Collins Line, financed in part by GP’s former senior partner, Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853), was started in 1849 by Edward Knight Collins (1802-78), born of Cape Cod, Mass., seafaring stock. The Collins Line competed successfully with the British mail-subsidized Cunard Lines, founded by Canadian Samuel Cunard (1787-1865), knighted in 1859. When Collins secured a U.S. Congressional mail subsidy, U.S. maritime supremacy seemed assured. Ref.: Gordon, “The Atlantic Stakes,” pp. 18, 20. Ketchum, ed., pp. 244-255.

Arctic (ship). 2-Sunk off Newfoundland. But on Sept. 27, 1854, the Collins Line steamship Arctic, moving at full speed in the fog, collided with the small French vessel Vesta 20 miles off Cape Race, Newfoundland. The Vesta limped to shore but the Arctic went down with the deaths of 322 of the 408 aboard, including Collins’ wife and child. Ref.: Ibid.

Arctic (ship). 3-GP’s Va. Bonds Lost on Arctic. Also lost on the Arctic were Va. bonds then worth $35,000 belonging to GP. After waiting for years for Virginia to redeem the lost bonds, GP presented their value with accrued interest in Aug. 1869 as a gift for a mathematics professorship to Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-70), then Washington College president (renamed Washington and Lee Univ., 1871), Lexington, Va. In 1883, the state of Va. honored the value of these bonds with accrued interest in the amount of $60,000. Refs. below.

Arctic (ship). 4-GP’s Va. Bonds Lost on Arctic. Ref.: (GP’s Aug. 1869 gift to R.E. Lee’s Washington College): Richmond (Va.) Daily Whig, Aug. 17, 1869, p. 2, c. 5 New York Herald, Aug 17, 1869, p. 7, c. 5. Albion (New York), Aug. 21, 1869, p. 495, c. 1. Ref.: (Washington College committee prosecuted GP’s claim): New York Herald, Aug. 27, 1869, p. 5, c. 4. Va., Journal…House, 1870, p. 112. Va., Journal…Senate, 1870, pp. 453-454. Freeman-b, IV, p. 438. Ref.: (Va. pays GP’s lost bonds gift): Baltimore American, May 14, 1883, and Jan. 24, 1943.

Arctic (ship). 5-GP’s Lost Va. Bonds as Gift to R.E. Lee’s College. R.E. Lee’s biographer C.B. Flood thus wryly described GP’s gift of these lost Va. bonds: “It was generosity with a touch of Yankee shrewdness: you Southerners go fight it out among yourselves. If General Lee can’t get [this lost bond money] out of the Virginia legislature, nobody can.” Ref.: Flood, pp. 215-216. See: Riggs, Sr., Elisha. Science: GP’s Gifts to Science and Science Education. Washington and Lee Univ.

Arctic exploration. See: Franklin, Sir John. Grinnell, Henry. Kane, Elisha Kent.

Army, British. See: Crampton, John Fiennes Twistleton. Crimean War.

Arnault, Aed. See: Arnoult, Aed (immediately below).

Arnoult, Aed (fl. 1860s), was a French-born artist, birth and death years unknown (an alternate spelling of his name is Aed Arnault), who may have worked in London and is mentioned in one account as Queen Victoria’s portrait painter. He painted over a life-size photograph of GP to make it resemble an oil painting. The photograph of GP was taken by Philadelphia-born London-based photographer John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1810-1901). The original copy, first exhibited at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, 1867, is in the PIB art collection. Copies that have appeared in print were signed by GP in 1868, with his handwritten quotation from his Feb. 7, 1867, PEF founding letter. Ref.: (John Mayall): Browne, Turner, and Partnow, p. 401. (Aed Arnoult): Schaaf, Larry J., pp. 279-288. See: Engraver-artists. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Peabody, George, Portraits.

Arthur, Prince, William Patrick Albert (1850-1942), was the Duke of Connaught, Queen Victoria’s son. He was on a state visit to Canada and the U.S. when he and his retinue attended GP’s funeral at the South Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., where Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) gave the eulogy followed by burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870. See: Death and funeral, GP’s. Corcoran, William Wilson. Persons named. Preface.

Artists-engravers. See: Engraver-artists. Peabody, George, Illustrations.

Astor, William Backhouse (1792-1875), was a NYC financier who attended the March 22, 1867, banquet GP gave after the PEF trustees’ second meeting at NYC’s Fifth Avenue Hotel, March 19-21, 1867. Other guests besides the trustees and their wives included NYC store owner and philanthropist Alexander Turney Stewart (1803-76) whose planned community, Garden City, Long Island, N.Y., was based on the Peabody Homes of London; historian George Bancroft (1800-91), who had been U.S. Minister to Britain (1846-49); and others. Ref.: Forney, pp. 19-31, 62-69. Harlow, pp. 3-5. See: Farragut, David Glasgow. Forney, John Wien. Grant, Ulysses Simpson. Persons named.

Athenaeum Club, 107 Pall Mall, London, SW1, the most intellectual of all London Clubs, admitted GP to membership on Feb. 3, 1863. Under its Rule Two, the Athenaeum (founded 1824) annually admitted nine members who were eminent in science, literature, the arts, or public service. GP was admitted after establishing on March 12, 1862, the Peabody Donation Fund which built and managed low-rent apartments for London’s working families (total gift, $2.5 million). Other honors followed from this gift, including GP’s being given the Freedom of the City of London (July 10, 1862, being the first U.S. citizen to receive this honor); made a member of the Clothworkers’ Company (July 10, 1862), and other honors. Ref.: “Athenaeum Club,” p. 29, Ward, pp. 195-198. See: City of London Club. Clubs, London, GP’s. Reform Club, London. Parthenon Club, London.

Atlantic (a transatlantic Collins Line steamship). On GP’s Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years’ absence in London (since Feb 1837), he sailed on the Atlantic from England, arriving in NYC Sept. 15, 1856, where he was greeted by delegations from NYC, Boston, and South and North Danvers, Mass. He left NYC on the Persia, Aug. 19, 1857, to return to England. See: Collins Line. Morgan, Junius Spencer. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Atlantic Cable. See: Atlantic Telegraph and Cable Co. (below). Field, Cyrus West. Morgan, Junius Spencer.

Atlantic Telegraph and Cable Co. On Oct. 10, 1856, Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) in London wrote to GP, senior partner in George Peabody & Co., London, then on a visit to the U.S. (Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19, 1857), that Cyrus West Field (1819-92) was organizing the Atlantic Telegraph and Cable Co. to lay a cable across the Atlantic (U.S.-England connection) and wanted GP as a director. The next month (Nov. 14, 1856) J.S. Morgan again wrote GP that his name as director was being publicly used. There were cable snaps and other delays until 1866 when the Atlantic Cable was successfully laid. See: persons named.

GP’s March-April 1857 U.S. Itinerary

Augusta, Ga. 1-GP’s March-April 1857 Itinerary. GP visited Augusta, Ga., during his Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years’ absence in London (since Feb. 1837). Besides visiting relatives and friends, his purpose was to found the PIB, Feb. 12, 1857, and to observe as an investment banker recent growth in the U.S. South and West. Refs. below.

Augusta, Ga. 2-Itinerary Cont’d. GP’s March-April 1857 itinerary included a visit to Charleston, S.C. (March 7); he then went by water on the steamer Le Grande to Augusta, Ga.; and Mobile, Ala. (March 15), where he stayed at the Battle House for a few days to recover from illness; then on to New Orleans, La., where he stayed at the St. Charles Hotel, declined a public dinner but attended a private dinner, and was made a Chamber of Commerce member (March 19-23). Refs. below.

Augusta, Ga. 3-Itinerary Cont’d. He went to Cairo, Ill., where he owned city bonds; then to St. Louis, Mo. (April 3); Terre Haute, Ind., and Indianapolis, Ind., where he stayed with Ind. Gov. Ashbel P. Willard (1820-60) (April 7); then to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he again declined a public dinner, met citizens at the Merchants’ Exchange, and received and acknowledged resolutions of praise (April 10); then to Pittsburgh, Penn. (April 14-16); and on to Oswego, N.Y. (April 25). Refs. below.

Augusta, Ga. 4-Itinerary Cont’d. Ref.: Richmond Dispatch (Va.), March 13, 1857, p. 1, c. 4. Mobile Daily Tribune (Ala), March 15, 1857. Daily Picayune (New Orleans), March 20, 1857, p. 3, c. 1; March 24, 1857, p. 1, c. 7; and March 25, 1857, p. 3, c. 1. Daily Delta (New Orleans), March 20, 1857, p. 2, c. 4; March 21, 1857, p. 2, c. 1. Sun (Baltimore), March 31, 1857, p. 1, c. 3. Daily Missouri Republican (St. Louis), April 4, 1857, p. 2, c. 3. St. Louis Daily Evening News, April 3, 1857, p. 2, c. 2. Illinois State Journal (Springfield, Ill.), April 6, 1857, p. 3. c. 1. Indianapolis Daily Journal, April 8, 1857, p. 3, c. 3. Cincinnati Daily Gazette, April 11, 1857, p. 2, c. 1. Pittsburgh Evening Chronicle, April 14, 1857, p. 1, c. 1-3. Oswego Daily Times (Oswego, N.Y.), April 25, 1857, p. 3, c. 1.

B

Shakespeare Theorist

Bacon, Delia Salter (1811-59). 1-Shakespeare Theorist. Delia Salter Bacon was a U.S. writer who believed that William Shakespeare’s (1554-1616) plays were written by a group consisting of mainly English philosopher-statesman Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English courtier Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618), and English poet Edmund Spenser (1552-99). Early orphaned by the death of her clergy father, a missionary to the Indians, she studied in the Hartford, Conn., school managed during 1822-32 by the Beecher sisters (Catharine Esther Beecher, 1800-78; Mary Foote Beecher, 1805-1900; and Harriet Beecher, 1811-96). Delia Bacon started a school herself which failed, was an unsuccessful playwright in NYC, and at age 40 wrote a manuscript stating her theory about Shakespeare.

Bacon, Delia S. 2-Friendly Aid but No Endorsements. Delia S. Bacon had friendly aid but no endorsements from Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82), Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64), and NYC banker Charles Butler (1802-97). With a letter of introduction from Butler, she went to London and called on GP in May 1853. Ref.: Charles Butler, NYC, to GP, May 14, 1853, Peabody Papers, PEM. Ref.: Muzzey, II, Part l, pp. 359-360. Ref.: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Concord, Mass., to person unknown, March 26, 1853, Peabody Papers, PEM. See: persons named.

Bacon, Delia S. 3-Eccentric Researcher. GP’s contacts with Delia S. Bacon are not known, probably limited to converting bank drafts from Butler and others. She haunted Shakespeare’s grave in Sept. 1856 but never succeeded in getting it opened to prove her theory. Nathaniel Hawthorne helped to get her book published, Philosophy of the Plays of Shakespeare Unfolded, 1857, which critics derided and which failed to sell. She was in mental institutions in England in Nov. 1857, N.Y. State in 1859, and in Hartford, Conn., where she died in 1859. She is buried in Grove St. Cemetery, New Haven, Conn., where, by coincidence, GP’s nephew Othniel Charles March (1831-99) was later buried. In an 1888 book, another U.S. eccentric believer in the Bacon-Shakespeare theory, Minneapolis Congressman Ignatius Donnelly, revived Delia Bacon’s notoriety. Ref.: (R.W. Emerson): Ralph Waldo Emerson, Concord, Mass., to person unknown, March 26, 1853, Peabody Papers, PEM. Ref.: (Delia Salter Bacon to GP): seven letters from Delia Salter Bacon to GP, 1853-54, GP Papers, PEM. Ref.: (On Delia Salter Bacon): Bacon, p. 65. Brandes, p. 89. Ref.: (Burial place): http://www.askmytutor.co.uk/d/de/delia_bacon.html

Bacon, Francis (1561-1626), English philosopher and statesman. See: Bacon, Delia Salter. Butler, Charles.

GP Critic

Baldwin, Leland DeWitt (1897-1981). 1-Historian. Leland DeWitt Baldwin was a historian whose The Stream of American History, 1952, repeated earlier-made unsubstantiated charges that GP was pro-Confederate in sympathy and anti-Union in bond sales during the Civil War. These charges were first made without substantiating evidence by John Bigelow (1817-1911), U.S. Consul Gen. in Paris (1861-64) when he wrote confidentially to Secty. of State William Henry Seward (1801-72), accusing GP of exaggerating Federal reversals in the Civil War to cause financial panic and so reap a personal fortune. Bigelow’s unsubstantiated charges were repeated by newspaper owner-editor Samuel Bowles (1826-78), by poet Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), by authors Gustavus Myers (1872-1942) and Matthew Josephson (1899-1978). (Note: For doubt cast about Bigelow’s criticism about GP’s loyalty, See: Bigelow, John below and “Bigelow, John…” in References end of book).

Baldwin, L.D. 2-Volatile Time. The onset of the Civil War was politically and financially tempestuous. European investors, initially uncertain which side would win, sold their U.S. securities. Resumption did not occur until Union victory was assured in 1864. See: Civil War and GP.

GP Honored in Baltimore, 1857

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 1-GP as Md. Bond Agent Abroad. Md. and other states in the 1820s-30s, wanting internal improvements for trade and wealth, needed foreign investment capital. The Md. legislature authorized an $8 Million bond sale abroad to finance the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the B&O RR. When one of the three commissioners for that sale dropped out, GP took his place. He left for London Feb. 1837 on his fifth commercial trip. The financial Panic of 1837 forced suspension of bond interest payments by Md. and eight other states. See: Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.

B&O RR. 2-Success Despite Panic and Repudiation. GP publicly urged Md. leaders to resume interest payments and also assured British and European investors that repudiation was temporary, that interest payment would resume and be retroactive. GP at last sold his portion of Md. bonds to London’s Baring Brothers. Aware of Md.’s financial difficulties and not wishing to burden it further, he never claimed the $60,000 commission due him. Md. recovered financially and resumed its bond interest payments retroactively, as GP predicted. Ref.: Ibid.

B&O RR. 3-GP Praised. Md. Gov. Thomas G. Pratt’s (1804-69) 1847 annual report to the legislature praised GP: “…two [commissioners] received the compensation to which they were entitled: but Mr. George Peabody…has never claimed or received one dollar of compensation…. Whilst the State was struggling with her pecuniary difficulties, he felt unwilling…to add to her burdens; and I am now officially informed that he relinquishes his claim to compensation, feeling himself sufficiently remunerated for his services by the restored credit of his State.” Ref.: Ibid.

B&O RR. 4-GP Praised Cont’d. On March 7, 1848, both houses of the Md. Assembly passed unanimously a resolution of praise for GP. Gov. Pratt’s successor, Gov. Philip Francis Thomas (1799-1876), sent this resolution to GP, adding in his cover letter: “To you, sir, …the thanks of the State were eminently due.” Md.’s resolution of praise and the governor’s thanks, widely printed in the press, brought this warm comment from the London correspondent of NYC’s Courier & Enquirer: “…the energetic influence of the Anti-Repudiators would never have been heard in England had not Mr. George Peabody…made it a part of his duty to give to the holders of the Bonds every information in his power, and to point out…the certainty of Maryland resuming [payment]…. He…had the moral courage to tell his countrymen the contempt [because of repudiation] with which all Americans were viewed…. [He is] a merchant of high standing…but also an uncompromising denouncer of chicanery in every shape.” Ref.: Ibid.

Md. Historical Society, Jan. 30, 1857)

B&O RR. 5-Md. Historical Society Dinner for GP: Jan. 30, 1857. GP’s Sept. 15, 1856 to Sept. 19, 1857, U.S. visit after nearly 20 years’ absence in London brought more praise for his Md. service, particularly from Baltimore Mayor Thomas Swann (c1806-83), long acquainted with GP. Mayor Swann was a Va.-born lawyer who moved to Baltimore about 1834 and had been a director and then president of the B&O RR (1848). Swann officiated at a Jan. 30, 1857, Md. Historical Society dinner for GP. GP spoke pleasurably to the dinner guests of his 22 years in Baltimore, during 1815-37, aged 20-42. Ref.: Ibid.

B&O RR. 6-Baltimore’s Mayor Swan on GP. Mayor Swann, responding, said: “I, too, am one of thousands of American citizens who partook of Mr. Peabody’s hospitality in London. When repudiation of our bonds was the unfortunate order of the day, he believed and caused others to believe in the ultimate redemption of Maryland’s obligation. He is a Marylander at heart and an American all over. I give you a sentiment: To George Peabody–the best representative we ever had in a foreign court.” Ref.: Ibid.

Md. Institute, Feb. 2, 1857

B&O RR. 7-Md. Institute Dinner for GP: Feb. 2, 1857. Three nights later, Feb. 2, 1857, the Md. Institute for the Promotion of Mechanic Arts held a reception and dinner for GP. Md. Institute Pres. Joshua Vansant (1803-84) referred to the Institute’s new Chemistry Dept. (to which GP gave $1,000 in 1851) and to the Great Exhibition of 1851. He told how U.S. exhibitors were embarrassed without funds to display U.S. industry and art at the 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition Hall, London. See: Md. Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, Baltimore.

B&O RR. 8-Md. Institute’s Pres. Vansant on GP. Md. Institute Pres. Vansant reported that GP’s timely loan of $15,000 allowed over six million visitors to the fair (May 1-Oct. 19, 1851) to see to best advantage at the U.S. pavilion Albert Hobbs’ (1812-91) unpickable lock, Samuel Colt’s (1814-62) revolvers, Hiram Powers’ (1805-73) statue, the Greek Slave, Cyrus Hall McCormick’s (1809-84) reapers, Richard Hoe’s (1812-86) printing press, and William Cranch Bond’s (1789-1859) spring governor. Ref.: Ibid.

B&O RR. 9-Md. Institute’s Pres. Vansant on GP Cont’d. Turning to GP Pres. Vansant said: “By this act national disgrace was averted. Congress should have promptly repaid this loan but did not. I know you did not present a claim on the government for the sum expended. The U.S. Senate at the first Session of the thirty-third Congress voted to reimburse Edward Riddle to whom your loan was made but the House of Representatives struck it out because of some constitutional obstruction. I was a member of that congress, but voted for reimbursement, otherwise I could not now honorably address you. How glad I was when the next Congress (thirty-fourth) finally approved reimbursement to Mr. Riddle, thus enabling him to repay you.” Ref.: Ibid.

B&O RR. 10-Md. Institute’s Pres. Vansant on GP Cont’d.: “Sir, the mechanics and artisans of the United States owe you thanks for enabling their productive skill to be proudly shown to the world. In their name and in the name of the Maryland Institute I bid you cordial welcome.” Ref.: Ibid.

B&O RR. 11-GP’s Reply to Md. Institute’s Pres. Vansant. GP replied to Pres. Vansant: “I am myself a working man–my success in life is due to work, and my sympathies are with labor…. When I first went to England, thirty years ago, a Mechanics Institute was generally regarded with indifference….now in that old aristocratic country…members of the most distinguished families annually lecture at these institutes.” GP’s remarks brought cheers, remarked a Baltimore Sun writer. Here was a banker who appreciated labor, identified with it, clothed it with dignity. He had struck a chord that pleased. Ref.: Ibid.

B&O RR. 12-Mayor Swann on GP. Baltimore Mayor Thomas Swann was moved to say from the platform: “It is a compliment to you, Mr. Peabody, to witness the spontaneous expression of 5,000 of the mechanics and workingmen of Baltimore. In addition to Baltimore workingmen, both branches of our city council present join me in saying that the city owes you special welcome. In the commanding position you have occupied abroad you have done much for our State and City. By supporting the character of Maryland you maintained its fame.” Ref.: Ibid.

B&O RR. 13-GP’s Reply to Mayor Swann. GP answered Mayor Swann: “You confer on me so much honor…. While it is true I said Maryland’s bonds were good, her means ample, and her citizens honorable, Marylanders themselves justified all I said and to their conduct all credit is due.” Ref.: Ibid.

B&O RR. 14-J.B. Seidenstricker on GP. After the Md. Institute dinner Baltimorean John Barnhart Seidenstricker (b. 1809) described GP’s part in selling Md.’s bonds abroad: “I was then a member of the state legislature and knew well the difficulties connected with levying a tax to uphold our bond sale abroad. George Peabody in Europe and [Baltimore lawyer] John J. Speed [1797-1852] in Maryland upheld public confidence in Maryland’s credit.” He concluded with: “The name of Peabody in Europe, and the writings of Speed in Maryland had accomplished the great work of freeing our State from repudiation.” Ref.: Ibid.

B&O RR. 15-Mayor Swann Again on GP. Mayor Swann, himself a former B&O RR director and president, then told of GP’s connection with the railroad’s expansion west to Wheeling, [W.] Va. Mayor Swann said: “I tell you that the first man who gave an impetus to the mammoth undertaking was George Peabody. We held the bonds of the State, but they could not be negotiated, and the first man I wrote to was our guest of this evening; he came promptly to our assistance, and I tell you, gentlemen, that without his aid, we could not have laid our tracks ten miles beyond Cumberland or pushed forward through the Alleghenies to the threshold of the great West.” Ref.: Ibid. See: Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.

J.W. Garrett, GP, & Johns Hopkins, 1866-67

B&O RR. 16-John Work Garrett, GP, and Johns Hopkins. B&O RR Pres. John Work Garrett (1820-84) was intimate with both GP and Johns Hopkins (1795-1873), wealthy Baltimore merchant . Garrett knew that Johns Hopkins, unmarried and a Quaker, was concerned about what kind of philanthropic gift he should leave in his will, that he earnestly sought advice. Knowing this, Garrett deliberately brought GP and Johns Hopkins together at dinner in his Baltimore home during GP’s 1866-67 U.S. visit. Sources state that within 24 hours of that meeting Hopkins drew up his will, leaving some $8 million to found the Johns Hopkins Univ., hospital, and medical school in Baltimore. See: Garrett, John Work. Hopkins, Johns.

B&O RR. 17-Other J.W. Garrett-GP Connections. J.W. Garrett accompanied GP on GP’s April 25, 1867, visit to Pres. Andrew Johnson in the Blue Room of the White House. Two years later J.W. Garrett provided a special railroad car for GP’s July 23-Aug. 30, 1869, visit to the Greenbrier Hotel, White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., where he met and talked on educational needs in the South with Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-70) and other political and education leaders of North and South. See: Johnson, Andrew. White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

B&O RR. 18-GP and Robert Garrett. It was John Work Garrett’s son, Robert Garrett (1847-96), who had a replica erected in front of the PIB, April 7, 1890, of U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story’s (1819-95) seated statue of GP, unveiled on Threadneedle St. near London’s Royal Exchange by the Prince of Wales, July 23, 1869. See: GP Statues. Garrett, Robert.

Baltimore Athenaeum was started in 1832. Its library was one of the few relatively restricted libraries in Baltimore before the availability of the reference library of GP’s PIB, founded Feb. 12, 1857, opened Oct. 25, 1866. See: PIB.

Baltimore General Dispensary, to which in his 1827 will GP left $2,000. See: Wills, GP’s.

Baltimore Library Company. See: Charles James Madison Eaton. PIB.

Baltimore, Md. Baltimore, Md. persons and organizations GP had contact with include the following (which See:): Albert, William S. B&O RR. Buchanan, John. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. Emory, Thomas. Hopkins, Johns. Johnson, Reverdy. Jones, Jr., Samuel Kennedy, John Pendleton. Md. Historical Society. Md. Institute for the Promotion of Mechanical Arts. Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP. Mayhew, William Edwards. PIB. Pratt, Enoch. Pratt, Thomas G. Riggs, Sr., Elisha. Riggs, Samuel. Speed, John Joseph. Swann, Thomas. Tiffany, Osmond Capron. Vansant, Joshua.

Minister to Britain George Bancroft

Bancroft, George (1800-91). 1-See: George Bancroft was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1846-49 and later a distinguished U.S. historian and author of the History of the United States, 10 volumes, published during 1834-74. GP had friendly relations with George Bancroft’s nephew, John Chandler Bancroft Davis (1822-1907), U.S. legation in London Secty. during 1849-54. See: Davis, John Chandler Bancroft.

Bancroft, George. 2-J.C.B. Davis Connection. GP sometimes dined in London with J.C.B. Davis and Davis’ Harvard College classmate, Vt.-born Henry Stevens (1819-86), rare book dealer in London, who later acted as GP’s agent in book shipments to Peabody Institute libraries. Davis and Stevens lived for some years in the same Morley’s Hotel, London. For details and sources of the Nov. 24, 1849, dinner at Joshua Bates’s (1788-1854) home near London, attended by Davis, Stevens, and GP, with dinner guest of honor U.S. author Herman Melville (1819-91), see Joshua Bates. Morley’s Hotel, London. Persons named. For a description of Morley’s Hotel, London, see Richard Kenin. For George Bancroft as guest at GP’s banquet for the PEF trustees, March 22, 1867, NYC’s Fifth Ave. Hotel, see Farragut, David Glasgow.

Panic of 1857

Bank of England. 1-Panic of 1857. In the Panic of 1857 GP had given large credit to Lawrence, Stone & Co. of Boston which could not repay him. Meanwhile Baring Brothers, London, were pressing GP for ƒ150,000 ($750,000) he owed them. Gathering his assets, GP applied for a $4 million loan from the Bank of England but took only ƒ300,000 ($1.5 million) of the $4 million requested. See: Morgan, Junius Spencer.

Bank of England. 2-GP Explained his Bank Loan. When an erroneous press account of his bank loan appeared, GP wrote to the editor of the New York Times as follows: “About November 20th [1857], my house considered it prudent to borrow funds to protect our own credit and save many of our American correspondents unable to meet engagements. The bills my house was liable for at the time of the loan were ƒ2,300,000 [$11,500,000] not ƒ6,000,000 [$30,000,000]. I applied for a loan of ƒ800,000 ($4 million) from the Bank of England on good securities but have only taken ƒ300,000 to this date. Of the ƒ2,300,000 [$11,500,000] bills liable, my house paid more than ƒ1,500,000 [$7,500,000] at the time of the loan. The strength of our correspondents is such that our losses will be but trifling.” Ref.: Ibid.

Bank of the U.S. Alexander Lardner (1808-48) worked for the Bank of the U.S. in Philadelphia. On Oct. 2, 1840 he married Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905), who had a broken marriage engagement with GP during 1838-39. See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth. Lardner, Alexander. Romance and GP.

Baring Brothers, London. 1-Influential Banking Firm. Britain’s influential banking firm, founded in 1770 by Francis Baring (1740-1810, created a baronet, 1793), dominated trade, investments, and securities from colonial to early U.S. national times. Francis Baring was succeeded by his second son, Alexander Baring-Ashburton (1774-1848), who had an American wife and represented Britain in the Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842, Daniel Webster represented the U.S.) which settled the U.S.-Canadian Northeast Boundary Dispute. See: Hidy, Ralph Willard.

Baring Brothers, London. 2-GP Growing Rival. George Peabody & Co. (1838-64) began as a small but ultimately successful rival. GP had business contacts and friendly relations with Joshua Bates (1788-1864), born in Weymouth, Mass., who was in turn a Baring Brothers agent, partner, and director. It was to the Baring Brothers banking firm that GP sold his Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. portion of Md.’s $8 Million Bonds. Ref.: Wallace and Gillespie, eds., I, p. 17, footnote 11. See: Bates, Joshua. Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale and GP.

Baring, Thomas (1799-1873). GP was also friendly with Thomas Baring of the Baring Brothers banking firm. Muriel Emmie Hidy in George Peabody, Merchant and Financier, 1829-1854, listed Thomas Baring and J.P. Horsley Palmer (d. 1858) as among the British notables (of some 800 guests) who attended GP’s July 4, 1851, dinner at Willis’s Rooms, London, with the Duke of Wellington as guest of honor, in connection with the Great Exhibition of 1851, London (the first world’s fair). See: Hidy, Muriel Emmie. Dinners, GP’s, London. Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair).

Sickles Affair

Barnard, Henry (1811-1900). 1-Prominent U.S. Educator. Henry Barnard attended GP’s July 4, 1854, dinner in London honoring incoming U.S. Minister to Britain James Buchanan (1791-1868). Barnard replied to a toast and gave a speech on public education in New England. The dinner was marred when jingoistic U.S. Legation Secty. Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914) objected to GP’s toast to Queen Victoria before one to the U.S. President. Sickles sat while others stood, and then in red-gorged anger walked out in protest. See: Dinners, GP’s, London.

Barnard, Henry. 2-Career. Henry Barnard was born in Hartford, Conn., was a Yale graduate (1830), a lawyer, and a member of the Conn. legislature who helped found the Conn. public school system. He was Conn. School Board secty. (1838-42), edited its Conn. Common School Journal, and did the same thing in R.I. during 1843-49. He was chancellor, Univ. of Wisconsin (1858-60); president, St. John’s College, Annapolis, Md. (1866-67); the first U.S. Commissioner of Education (1867-70); and editor of the American Journal of Education (31 vols., 1855-81). Ref.: Brubacher, p. 12.

Barnard, Henry. 3-In London Summer 1854. Henry Barnard was in London the summer of 1854 as a delegate to the International Exposition of Educational Methods. Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) earlier wrote GP on May 12, 1854, introducing Barnard: “I have great pleasure in introducing Hon. Henry Barnard of Hartford, Connecticut.” “Mr. Barnard is deeply interested in the subject of education and has for many years held the office of Superintendent of the Common Schools of Conn.” “I beg to commend him to your most kind attention….” Ref.: J.S. Morgan, Boston, to GP, London, May 12, 1854, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.

Barnard, Henry. 4-Barnard Defended GP. Jingoist U.S. Legation Secty. Sickles fanned press notoriety about his walkout from GP’s July 4, 1854, dinner by attacking GP’s patriotism in a letter to the Boston Post, July 21, 1854, p. 2, c. 1. He charged GP with “toadying” to the English. GP recorded the facts of the incident in a letter to the Boston Post. Henry Barnard added his name to those of 25 other Americans present at the dinner who wrote the Boston Post editor: “The undersigned have read Mr. Peabody’s letter to the Boston Post of Aug. 16, 1854, and without hesitation affirm as true the events described by Mr. Peabody.” There the matter ended. Ref.: London Morning Advertiser, July 7, 1854, p. 6, c. 3-4. See: Sickles, Daniel Edgar.

Barnes, Joseph K. (1817-83), was a PEF trustee, succeeding Ohio Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873). J.K. Barnes was educated at Harvard, received a Univ. of Penn. medical degree, became assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army Medical Dept. (1840), served during the Mexican War, was Surgeon-Gen. of the U.S. Army (1864-82), and attended Presidents Lincoln and Garfield on their deathbeds. He founded the Army Medical Museum and the library of the surgeon-general’s office. His PEF trustee vacancy was filled by James Davis Porter (1828-1912). See: PEF. Porter, James Davis.

Barnstead, N.H. In late winter 1810, GP, then age 15, first visited his maternal grandparents, Judith Spofford Dodge (1749-1828) and Jeremiah Dodge (1744-1824), and their son, his uncle Eliphalet Dodge, in Post Mills Village, Thetford, Vt. Young GP then stopped to visit his maternal aunt Temperance Dodge Jewett (1772-c.1872), whose husband, Jeremiah Jewett (1757-1836), was a physician in Barnstead, N.H. In memory of his visit to Thetford, Vt., GP gave, $5,000 for a public library, Aug. 1866, which opened Oct. 9, 1867, as the Peabody Library, Thetford, Vt. Ref.: Internet site (seen) March 18, 2000): http://www.valley.net~conriver/V13-7.htm Baldwin, J. A. pp. 12-15. See: Concord, N.H. Persons named. Thetford, Vt.

Joshua Bates

Bates, Joshua (1788-1864). 1-Leading U.S.-Born Banker in London: 1840s. Joshua Bates was born in Weymouth, Mass. In 1803 at age 15 he entered the business firm of William Gray & Son of Boston. From 1809 at age 21 he was a partner of a Mr. Beckford but the War of 1812 intervened. He returned to William Gray & Son, became that firm’s agent in London, where he formed a friendship with Peter Labouchére, who was connected by marriage to an official of Britain’s leading financial firm, Baring Brothers. In 1826 when Samuel Williams, U.S. banker and merchant in London, went bankrupt, Joshua Bates was able to take his place, after borrowing ƒ20,000 from Peter Labouchére. Bates became in turn agent for, partner in (at age 38), and finally director of the Baring Brothers banking firm. Ref.: “Bates, Joshua,” Vol. 1, p. 194.

Bates, Joshua . 2-GP was Bates’s Friendly Rival. This firm was organized by the sons of Sir Francis Baring (1740-1810), a director of the East India Co., who was created a baronet in 1793 and became the most powerful merchant in Europe. Bates, who became a naturalized British subject, was the most prominent U.S.-born financier in London, 1830s-40s. His daughter, Betts Bates, frequently at Court, was a favorite of Queen Victoria. GP had business and friendly relations with Joshua Bates. Ref.: Ibid.

Bates, Joshua . 3-GP in London, From Feb. 1837. GP, in England from Feb. 1837 on his fifth buying trip abroad, was Md.’s agent to sell the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal part of Md.’s $8 million bond issue. He was also head of Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-48). In the depression following the Panic of 1837, when Md.’s bonds were at a low price, GP sold his part of the Md. bonds to Joshua Bates of Baring Brothers for that firm’s exclusive resale rights. GP remained in London the rest of his life (1837-69), except for three U.S. visits in 1-Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857, 2-May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867, and 3-June 8 to Sept. 29, 1869. GP founded George Peabody & Co., London (Dec. 1838-Oct. 1, 1864), continued by his Mass.-born partner Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90, father of John Pierpont Morgan, Sr. 1837-1913) as J.S. Morgan & Co. (1864-1909), continued as Morgan Grenfell & Co. (1910-18), Morgan Grenfell & Co., Ltd. (1918-90), and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990). See: Morgan, Junius Spencer.

Bates, Joshua. 4-GP Met Herman Melville at Bates’s Home. In Nov. 1849 U.S. novelist Herman Melville (1819-91) was in London, on his only trip abroad, to market his manuscript, White Jacket. On Nov. 24, Melville was a dinner guest at Joshua Bates’s home, East Sheen, near London. Also present were GP and Vt.-born rare book dealer and bibliographer Henry Stevens (1819-86). In his journal Melville mentioned meeting GP: “On my right was Mr. Peabody, an American for many years resident in London, a merchant, & a very fine old fellow of fifty or thereabouts.” Ref.: Melville, p. 47. Leyda, p. 338. Parker, W.W., pp. 83, 126.

Bates, Joshua. 5-Herman Melville’s Journal Cont’d.: “I had intended to remain over night…but Peabody invited me to accompany him to town in his carriage. I went with him, along with [John Chandler Bancroft] Davis [1822-1907], the Secty. of Legation…. Mr. Peabody was well acquainted with Gansevoort when he was here. He saw him not long before his end. He told me that Gansevoort rather shunned society when here. He spoke of him with such feeling.” Gansevoort Melville (1815-46), Herman’s older brother, had been U.S. legation secretary in London and had helped get his brother Herman Melville’s book, Typee, published in England. GP and Henry Stevens, who both knew Gansevoort before he died in May 1846, were able to share with Herman Melville their remembrances of his late brother. Ref.: Ibid.

Bates, Joshua. 6-Bates Founded the Boston Public Library, 1852. Learning that Boston was raising funds for a public library, Joshua Bates gave $50,000 in 1852 to found the Boston Public Library. He soon after also gave the Boston Public Library 30,000 volumes, whose worth probably doubled his original gift. At his death the large hall of the Boston Public Library was named Bates Hall in his honor. Ref.: “Bates, Joshua,” Vol. 1, p. 194.

Bates, Joshua. 7-GP’s First Peabody Institute Library, 1852 That same year, in June 1852, GP gave $20,000, his first gift, to found his first Peabody Institute Library in South Danvers (renamed Peabody in 1868), to which he ultimately gave a total of $217,000. With his 1852 gift, GP enclosed a motto: “Education: a debt due from present to future generations.” See: Danvers, Mass., Centennial Celebration, June 16, 1852.

Bates, Joshua. 8-Bates-GP Compared. Joshua Bates’s 1852 gift to the Boston Public Library is said to have initiated the public library system in the U.S., although GP’s library institute gift to the small town of South Danvers, 19 miles from Boston, was also made in 1852. There is no evidence that Bates’s example influenced GP, who had earlier told intimates that he intended to give gifts of enlightenment to each town and city where he had lived. In the 1850s GP stood in Bates’s place as the most prominent U.S. merchant-banker in London. Before his death in 1869 GP was the best known philanthropist of his time, having founded seven U.S. library institutes (the PIB, $1.4 million total, included the Peabody Conservatory of Music), the 1862 model Peabody Homes for London’s working poor ($2.5 million total), and the 1867 PEF for public schools in the South ($2 million total). See: Peabody, George, Philanthropy.

Bath, England. GP occasionally went to rest in Bath, England, as in late March and early April 1862, where he received warm press accounts following his March 12, 1862, founding of the Peabody Donation Fund to build model housing for London’s working poor ($2.5 million total gift). See: Peabody Homes of London.

Beals, William (d. 1916), also known as Colonel William Beals, was the Boston decorator who furbished Car No. 77, Eastern RR, carrying GP’s remains from Portland, Me., to Peabody, Mass., Feb. 1, 1870. Ref.: (Obituary): New York Times, June 27, 916, p. 11, c. 4. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

W.Va., Summer 1869

Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant (1818-93). 1-Met GP, W.Va., Summer 1869. P.G.T. Beauregard was a former Confederate general from La. who by chance met, talked to, and was photographed with GP (Aug. 12, 1869), then visiting the mineral springs health spa at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Gathered there by chance were key southern and northern political, military, and educational leaders. GP, ill and three months from death, was there to rest and recuperate. He and Robert E. Lee talked, dined, walked arm in arm, were publicly applauded, and photographed with other prominent guests. Informal talks of later educational consequence took place on southern public education needs. See: Visits to the U.S. by GP. White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Beauregard, P.G.T. 2-Career. P.G.T. Beauregard was born in St. Bernard, La., was a West Point graduate (1838), served in the Mexican War, and was supt. of West Point (Jan. 23-28, 1861), when he resigned to serve as a Confederate general. After the Civil War he was a railroad president and wrote on military subjects. Ref.: Boatner, p. 55. For details, names of prominent participants, and sources, including historic W.Va. photos taken between Aug. 15-19, 1869, see Corcoran, William Wilson. Confederate generals. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Persons named.

Beebe, James Madison (1800-75). 1- J.M. Beebe, Morgan & Co., Boston. In 1852-53, GP, often ill, was urged by business friends to take a partner in his George Peabody & Co., London, firm. Highly recommended was Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), then a partner in J.M. Beebe, Morgan & Co. of Boston. GP valued James Madison Beebe’s good opinion of J.S. Morgan as a most likely partner. J.S. Morgan became GP’s partner during Oct. 1, 1854, to Oct. 1, 1864. His son John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), at about age 19, began his banking career as NYC agent for George Peabody & Co., London. George Peabody & Co. was thus the root of the J.P. Morgan banking empire. See: Morgan, Junius Spencer. Morgan, Sr., John Pierpont.

Beebe, J.M. 2-Other Famous J.M. Beebe Partners. J.M. Beebe, born in Pittsfield, Mass., worked in a Boston retail dry goods store at age 16 and became the largest U.S. dry goods importer. Others besides J.S. Morgan who began with Beebe and achieved distinction included Cornelius Newton Bliss (1833-1911), who served as U.S. Secty. of the Interior in Pres. McKinley’s Cabinet; and Levi Parsons Morton (1824-1920), NYC banker, U.S. Congressman, U.S. Minister to France, U.S. Vice President, and N.Y. State governor. Ref.: (J.M. Beebe): Boston Globe, Feb. 16, 1905.

Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass.

Beecher, The Rev. Charles (1815-1900). 1-Georgetown, Mass. Rev. Charles Beecher was pastor of the Congregational Church, Georgetown, Mass. (1857-70), from which 85 dissenters, including GP’s sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell Daniels (1799-1879), formed a separate congregation over doctrinal differences on Jan. 17, 1864. GP’s mother was born in Georgetown when it was called Rowley, Mass. At his sister’s suggestion, GP built a Memorial Church for the dissenters in his mother’s memory which was dedicated on Jan. 8, 1868. The $70,000 Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass., is among GP’s least known gifts. See: Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass. (1867-68). Whittier, John Greenleaf.

Beecher, Charles. 2-Career. The Rev. Charles Beecher was born in Litchfield, Conn., educated at Boston Latin School, Lawrence Academy (Groton, Conn.), and at Bowdoin College (1834). He studied theology under his father, Lyman Beecher (1775-1863) at Lane Theological Seminary, Ohio; was the brother of clergyman Henry Ward Beecher (1813-87) and of author Harriet Elizabeth (née Beecher) Stowe (1811-96). The Rev. Charles Beecher was pastor of several other churches before serving the one in Georgetown, Mass. He lived in Florida (1870-77) and was state superintendent of public instruction there for two years. Ref.: Ibid.

Begging letters

Begging letters to GP. 1-1866-67. GP was deluged with begging letters toward the end of his May 1, 1866, to May 1, 1867, U.S. visit. This was his second U.S visit since his Feb. 1837 permanent move to London. The begging letters were prompted by newspaper accounts of his 17 philanthropic gifts made during 1866-67, totaling $2,310,450. He received hundreds of letters each day which his sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Daniels opened. She sent him only those of a business or personal nature. He sent a March 7, 1867, circular letter to newspaper editors stating that in strict confidence and sworn secrecy he had delegated the opening of his mail to others and had about 4,000 begging letters burned in his presence that day. Ref.: (Begging letters): New York Tribune, March 11, 1867, p. 2, c. 3. London Times, March 30, 1867, p. 5, c. 5.

Begging letters to GP. 2-GP’s Gifts, 1866-67. GP’s 1866-67 philanthropic gifts totaled $2,305,450: 1-$100,000 added, Peabody Institute Library, South Danvers, Sept. 22, 1866 (renamed Peabody, Mass., April 13, 1868, founded June 16, 1852, total $217,000). 2-$40,000 added, Peabody Institute Library, North Danvers (now Danvers), Mass., Sept. 22, 1866, founded Dec. 22, 1856 (total $l00,000). 3-$150,000, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard Univ., Oct. 8, 1866. 4-$150,000, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale Univ., Oct. 22, 1866. 5-$500,000 added, PIB, Oct. 19, 1866, founded Feb. 12, 1857 (total $1.4 million). 6-$25,000, Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., for math professorship, Oct. 30, 1866. 7-$20,000, Md. Historical Society publication fund, Nov. 5, 1866. 8-$25,000, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, for math and civil engineering professorships, Nov. 6, 1866.

Begging letters to GP. 3-GP’s Gifts, 1866-67 (Cont’d.). 9-$5,000, Peabody Library, Thetford, Vt. 1866 (where his grandparents had lived and where he had visited at age 15 in 1810). 10-$20,000, Mass. Historical Society publication fund, Jan. 1, 1867. 11-$1 million to PEF, Feb. 7, 1867. 12-$140,000, Peabody Museum, now the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., Feb. 26, 1867. 13-$15,000, Peabody Library Association of Georgetown, D.C., April 7, 1867 (now the GP Room of the Georgetown, D.C., branch of the Public Library of Washington, D.C.). 14-$70,000, Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass. (in his mother’s memory in her hometown), 1866. 15-$30,000, Peabody Institute Library, Georgetown, Mass., 1866 (his mother’s birthplace, when it was named Rowley). 16-$15,000, Peabody Library Book Fund, Newburyport, Mass., Feb. 20, 1867 (where he had worked as clerk in his oldest brother David Peabody’s [1790-1841] dry goods store in 1811). 17-$450, autumn 1866, church repair, Barnstead, N.H., in the name of a resident relative. See: Eaton, Charles James Madison. Peabody’s, George, Philanthropy.

Begging letters to GP. 4-June 8-Sept. 29, 1869. A greatly weakened GP made his third and last U.S. visit, June 8 to Sept. 29, 1869, to see his relatives and look after and add to his philanthropic gifts. His intimates sensed that this might well be his last visit (he died Nov. 4, 1869, five weeks after his return to London). His NYC arrival was reported in a long article in the New York Times, which evaluated the Peabody Homes of London and closed with remarks about begging letters. “Wherever he goes,” the article read, “he is worried by begging letters from individuals expecting him to get them out of some scrape. When these letters go unanswered, abuse is heaped on Mr. Peabody. He was much persecuted in this way in England. Now that he is in America he should be left to the quiet and repose he so greatly needs.” Ref.: New York Times, June 9, 1869, p. 5, c. 1-2.

Bell, John (1797-1869), was a graduate of Cumberland College, Nashville (1814), which was the successor to Davidson College (1785-1806), Nashville, and the predecessor of the Univ. of Nashville (1827-75), Peabody Normal College (1875-1911), GPCFT (1911-79), and PCofVU (since 1979). John Bell was born near Nashville, practiced law to 1827, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1827-41 and Speaker in 1834), U.S. Secty. of War in Pres. William Henry Harrison’s (1773-1841) cabinet (1841), and U.S. Sen. (1847-59). He ran unsuccessfully as U.S. presidential candidate of the Constitutional Union Party in 1860, when Abraham Lincoln won election.

Bell, Montgomery (1769-1855), was a Tenn. ironmaster who left $20,000 in his will for a boys’ school. This legacy, wisely invested, resulted in Montgomery Bell Academy, founded in 1867 as the Univ. of Nashville’s preparatory school. It still exists in Nashville. Ref.: Corlew-a, pp. 58-59. Wills, p. 638.

Bell, Richard, was an Irish-born U.S. merchant friend of GP. In 1838 they lived in bachelor’s quarters on Bread St., London. See: Bread St. Albert, William S.

Bell, Robert (1821-73). On GP’s 1866-67 U.S. visit, he was in Montreal, Canada, July 7-8, 1866, where he attended Christ Church Cathedral; Church of the Messiah, Unitarian; and at a public levee (open house) spoke longest with Canadian MP from Russell, Ontario, Robert Bell about public affairs, Anglo-American relations, and Queen Victoria’s gift to him of her portrait, being specially prepared, which he received in Washington, D.C., in March 1867. Robert Bell, believed to have been born in Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland, the son of Robert Bell and Catherine Wallace, married Margaret Waugh Buckham, had two daughters, and died in Hull, Quebec. Ref.: [Bell, Robert], Vol. X, pp. 45-46. See: Visits to Canada by GP.

U.S. Sanitary Commission

Bellows, Henry Whitney (1814-82). 1-U.S. Sanitary Commission. Henry Whitney Bellows was a Unitarian minister who helped organize and was president during 1861-65 of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Modeled in part on the British Sanitary Commission in the Crimean War (Oct. 1853-Feb. 1855), the U.S. Sanitary Commission aided sick and wounded Civil War soldiers, sailors, and their dependents. It became a federal agency, June 12, 1861. Ref.: (U.S. Sanitary Commission): Boatner, p. 720.

Bellows, H.W. 2-GP Gave $10,000 to U.S. Sanitary Commission. In the winter of 1863-64, U.S. residents in London met at Westminster Palace Hotel to collect funds for the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Among those donating funds or helping collect funds were GP; Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), GP’s partner in George Peabody & Co., 1854-64; Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85), GP’s Vt.-born business friend who became a naturalized British subject; and other U.S. residents in London. In May 1864, GP sent $8,000 to the U.S. Sanitary Commission, having previously sent $500 each to the U.S. Sanitary Commission fairs in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. GP’s total donation was $10,000. Ref.: GP, London, to John Pendleton Kennedy, May 7, 1864, Kennedy Papers, PIB. NYC Albion, May 7, 1864, p. 224, c. 2. Anglo-American Times (London), Dec. 23, 1865, p. 8, c. 1-2.

Bellows, H.W. 3-Career. Henry Whitney Bellows was born in Boston, graduated from Harvard College (1831) and Cambridge Divinity School (1837), and was pastor of NYC’s First Congregational Society, Unitarian (later All Soul’s Church), during 1838-82. He helped industrialist-philanthropist Peter Cooper (1791-1883) found Cooper Union in NYC (1859). At the outbreak of the Civil War Rev. H.W. Bellows and others met at the Cooper Union to discuss Civil War military relief needs, the embryo of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. As its president during 1861-65, Rev. Bellows supervised expenditures of over $5 million in U.S. Sanitary Commission war relief and over $15 million in relief supplies. See: Civil War. U.S. Sanitary Commission. Cooper, Peter.

Belmont, August (1816-1890), was a former representative of the Rothschild banking firm of Frankfurt, Germany, and a NYC banker. He was one of over 100 prominent New Yorkers who invited GP to a public dinner by letter of Sept. 16, 1856, the day after GP’s arrival in NYC during his Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit. This was GP’s first return to the U.S. in nearly 20 years since leaving for London in Feb. 1837. He declined the NYC and other public dinners, explaining that he had promised to attend first the public dinner to be held for him in his hometown of South Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856. See: South Danvers, Mass., GP Celebration, Oct.. 9, 1856. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Benbow, Camilla Persson (1956-), became PCofVU’s third dean, from Aug. l998, succeeding second dean James William Pellegrino (1947-) during Jan. 1992-July. 1998; first dean Willis D. Hawley (1938-) during Oct. 15, 1980-89; and acting Dean Hardy C. Wilcoxon (1921-96) during July 1, 1979-80. Third PCofVU Dean Camilla Persson Benbow was born in Lund, Sweden, became a U.S. naturalized citizen in 1985, was educated at Johns Hopkins Univ. (B.A., Psychology, 1977; M.A., Psychology, 1978; M.S., Education, 1980; Ed.D., Gifted, l981). At Johns Hopkins Univ. she was Assoc. Research Scientist, Psychology (1981-86) and Asst. Prof., Psychology (1983-86). At Iowa State Univ. she was Psychology Prof. (1990-95), Distinguished Prof. (1995-98), Psychology Dept. Chair (1992-98), and Interim Dean, College of Education (1996-98). She has published two books and written over 100 professional articles in the field of Talented and Gifted Youths. Under Dean Benbow, April 30, 2000, PCofVU’s Social-Religious Building was renamed the Faye and Joe Wyatt Center for Education, after the retiring VU chancellor and his wife, under whom the historic building’s renovation took place, 1993-96 Ref.: “Iowa State’s Benbow,” p. 2. Vita, Dean Camilla Persson Benbow’s PCofVU office. “VU honors Wyatt in concrete way,” Tennessean (Nashville), April 30, 2000, p. 1B. “Faye and Joe Wyatt Center,” Tennessean (Nashville), May 2, 2000, p. 8A. See: PCofVU, history of, for its six predecessor colleges and their nineteen chief administrators. Conkin, Peabody College, index.

Broken Engagement

Bend, William B. 1-GP’s Engagement. William B. Bend, GP’s longtime merchant friend, heard in late 1838 that GP in London was engaged to be married. He wrote teasingly from NYC, Oct. 4, 1838, to GP: “I am very busy or I would write a gossipy letter to you. There is a report in circulation here that you are going to be married. Is the story true, and if it is, who is to be the happy fair? Mr. Stell [merchant friend] I understand professes to know all about the affair. I hope it is really to take place. You will be too old if you put it off much longer.” See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth.

Bend, Wm. B. 2-GP Engaged to be Married. GP was engaged to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905) in late 1838. She was said to be the most beautiful girl in Providence, R.I., from a prominent family; and a pupil of John Kingsbury (1801-74), who conducted the first R.I. high school for young women. She visited Philadelphia about 1835 where at 16 she met and was infatuated with Alexander Lardner (1808-48). They parted; he to establish himself, she to finish school and to visit London for young Queen Victoria’s coronation (June 28, 1838). GP, 42, met, fell in love with, and became engaged to Esther Hoppin, 19. A 24-year difference would ordinarily loom large. But he was in his prime, a successful merchant turned banker, with fine future prospects. Men with money often married younger wives. Friends considered them a good match and encouraged the romance. Ref.: Ibid.

Bend, Wm. B. 3-Engagement Broken. Back in the U.S., Esther again met Alexander Lardner. Their past romance rekindled. She broke her engagement to GP and returned his gifts through an intermediary. William B. Bend, following his Oct. 4, 1838, teasing letter, congratulated GP again on Feb. 10, 1839. Eight days later he received GP’s delayed Jan. 26, 1839, letter telling of the broken engagement. Chagrined and touched, Bend apologized for his teasing letters, stating that he had not known of the disappointment, and wrote sympathetically to GP (Feb. 18, 1839):

Bend, Wm. B. 4-Bend Sympathized: “My dear Peabody, I have this morning received your favour of the 26th ulto. and with my wife, grieve sincerely and deeply over its melancholy intelligence. Having myself experienced a misfortune, somewhat similar to that which has fallen you, and remember most distinctly now, though twenty years have since elapsed, the agony which I endured, I feel the more called on and the more adequate to sympathize with you, than I otherwise should do. Then in the true spirit of friendship do I offer to you my heartfelt condolence. I share in the anguish of your feelings, at the blighting of hopes so fondly cherished, at the crushing of expectations, so warmly, so sanguinely indulged in…. The pangs of despised love, though poignant must be resisted. The balmy effects of time, and the natural elasticity and recuperative energy of the human character, will afford you great relief, and I hope to see you here in the Summer quite yourself again.” Ref.: Ibid.

Bend, Wm. B. 5-Hoppin Married Lardner. Esther Elizabeth Hoppin married Alexander Lardner, Oct. 2, 1840. They moved to Philadelphia where he was a cashier in the Bank of the U.S. They had two children. When Lardner died in 1848, age 40, GP’s NYC business friend John Cryder, who knew of the broken engagement, learned of Lardner’s death, and wrote to GP (Jan. 27, 1848): “Poor Lardner died in Phila. a few days since leaving his young & interesting widow with two children & about $20,000. He was an excellent man & his death is much lamented.” Esther Elizabeth (Hoppin) Lardner died in 1905, outliving GP by 35 years and her husband by 57 years. Ref.: Ibid.

Bend, Wm. B. 6-1849. In early 1849 Bend, wanting to establish an insurance company, asked GP to join him by investing some capital. GP apparently declined by letter of Jan. 12, 1849. Bend was piqued and wrote GP on Feb. 6, 1849: “Your favor of the 12th ulto. is so disappointing…I am afraid you are too busy to serve me effectually…. You do not appear to have made any applications in my behalf, nor even to have thought of my suggestion in regard to Life, Annuity, Legacy, purchasing Companies. If the days of poetry are not past with you, these lines may meet your acceptance….” Bend continued, “You late lake [lack] rest, and eat the bread of watchfulness, work till nine o’clock at night! Do not leave your business five days in five years!… To what purpose, for whose good? If like me you had, instead of wanting a family, wanted an independent fortune, I could understand the case. But I suppose you will imitate the noble example of Mr. Smithson, and benefit posterity by the endowment of some charitable benevolent or literary institution, from your industry, skill and character….” Ref.: William B. Bend, NYC, to GP, Feb. 6, 1849, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Bennett, James Gordon (l795-l872), was born in Keith, Scotland; came to the U.S. in 1819; was Washington, D.C., correspondent of the NYC Enquirer, assistant editor of the NYC Courier and Enquirer (1829-32); and founder, editor, and reporter of the New York Herald (1835), landmark U.S. newspaper in publishing sensational news. Bennett’s New York Herald coverage of GP during his Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit was often critical and sarcastic. See: Corcoran, William Wilson. Morgan, Junius Spencer. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Benyon, William, Sir, was the Peabody Trust chairman who participated in the “Bicentenary Service of Thanksgiving for the Life and Work of George Peabody, 1795-1869,” in London’s Westminster Abbey, Nov. 16, 1995. See: GP Bicentennial Celebrations (Feb. 18, 1795-1995).

Berlin, Univ. of. Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99) attended the German universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, and Breslau in 1863-65, preparing at his uncle GP’s expense for a career as the first U.S. paleontology professor at Yale Univ. and the second such professor in the world. See: Marsh, Othniel Charles.

Berlioz, Hector (1803-69), was a famed French music composer whose only pupil, Copenhagen-born Asger Hamerik (1843-1923), became the long-tenured director of the PIB Academy (later Conservatory) of Music, from July 11, 1871, to 1898, for 27 years. See: Hamerik, Asger. PIB.

Bermuda. The route of the British warship HMS Monarch, accompanied by the American USS Plymouth, returning GP’s remains to the U.S., was from Portsmouth harbor, England, on Dec. 11, 1869, to nearby Spithead Harbor to await the end of a storm. The ships left Spithead on Dec. 21, 1869, went to Funchall Bay off Madeira, Spain, to take on coal, sailed west on Jan. 2, 1870, to Bermuda where the ships took on provisions and dispatches, then headed north to reach Portland, Maine, on Jan. 25, 1870. See: Death and funeral, GP’s.
Bicentennial Celebrations of GP’s (1795-1869) birth (Feb. 18, 1795-Feb. 18, 1995). For details of programs at 1-Yale Univ., 2-London’s Westminster Abbey, 3-Peabody Institute Library in Danvers, Mass., and elsewhere, with sources, See: GP Bicentennial Celebrations.

Loyalty Attacked

Bigelow, John (1817-1911). 1-Attacked GP’s Union Loyalty. Wallace and Gillespie, eds., Journal of Benjamin Moran, II, p. 933, note 16, stated: “A confidential letter from John Bigelow, Consul-General in Paris, to Secretary Seward [Secty. of State William Henry Seward (1801-72)] of July 17, 1862, stated that Peabody and Company were exaggerating Federal reverses to augment a panic over the safety of European investments in United States securities in order to accelerate their liquidation, in which transactions the bank was making a fortune.” (Note: Wallace and Gillespie have this note on John Bigelow because he was frequently mentioned in U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran’s [1820-86] journal). Ref.: Wallace and Gillespie, eds., II, p. 933, note 16.

Bigelow, John. 2-Attacked GP’s Union Loyalty Cont’d. “Bigelow said he had, in person, heard George Peabody doing this…. Motley [John Lothrop Motley (1814-77), then U.S. Minister to Austria during 1861-67] wrote Bigelow that the Barings were all secessionists except Joshua Bates…. Henry [Brooks] Adams [1838-1918], however, in the Education [of Henry Adams] speaks of the loyalty of Peabody and the Barings.” Ref.: Ibid.

Bigelow, John. 3-Was Bigelow Reliable? A biographical sketch of John Bigelow stated: “his charge, later elaborated in Lest We Forget (1905) and the Retrospections, that Gladstone subscribed to the Confederate cotton loan appears to have been unfounded (E.D. Adams, Great Britain and the American Civil War, 1925, II, 163).” (Note: John Bigelow wrote Lest We Forget in 1905 and Retrospections of an Active Life, 5 vols., 1903-13. Civil War passions were inflamed, July 17, 1862, when Bigelow charged GP as a Confederate sympathizer. Fearing British and French aid to the Confederate states, some minor diplomats, as Consul in Paris Bigelow was then, in error or to curry favor, sometimes magnified rumors in dispatches to Washington, D.C.). Ref.: “Bigelow, John…,” pp. 258-259.

Bigelow, John. 4-Career. Born in Malden, N.Y., Bigelow graduated from Union College (1835), was a lawyer, afterwards a journalist, an inspector of Sing Sing prison (1845-46), an editor of the NYC Evening Post (1849-61), U.S. Consul Gen. in Paris (1861-64), U.S. Minister to France (1864-67), Secty. of N.Y. State (1875-77), a leading NYC Public Library trustee, an author and editor of the Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin, 1888. Bigelow offered no evidence or proof of his charge against GP. The onset of the Civil War was politically and financially tempestuous. European investors, initially uncertain which side would win, sold their U.S. securities. Resumption did not occur until Union victory was assured in 1864. See: Civil War and GP.

Bigelow, John. 5-Unsubstantiated Charges Repeated. Bigelow’s unsubstantiated charge was repeated (without evidence or proof) by newspaper owner-editor Samuel Bowles (1826-78) in his Springfield [Mass.] Daily Republican, Oct. 27, 1866. Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), poet and Abraham Lincoln biographer, quoted Samuel Bowles’s criticism of GP and GP’s partner Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) as follows: “Of the international bankers Peabody & Morgan, sturdy Samuel Bowles said in the Springfield [Mass.] that their agencies in New York and London had induced during the war a flight of capital from America.” Sandburg quoted Bowles: ‘”They [GP and Morgan] gave us no faith and no help in our struggle for national existence…. No individuals contributed so much to flooding the money markets with evidence of our debts to Europe, and breaking down their prices and weakening financial confidence in our nationality, and none made more money by the operation.’” Bigelow’s 1861 charge and Bowles’s 1866 charge were repeated in Gustavus Myers’ History of Great American Fortunes, 1910, 1936; Matthew Josephson’s The Robber Barons, 1934, and in Leland DeWitt Baldwin’s The Stream of American History, 1952. Refs. below.

Bigelow, John. 6-Ref.: (Civil War halt of sale of U.S. securities abroad, 1861-64): Corey, pp. 74-76; and Schuchert and LeVene, p. 75. Ref.: (Bowles’s charges against GP): Springfield [Mass.] Daily Republican, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 4, c. 2; repeated in Springfield [Mass.] Semi-Weekly Republican. Oct. 27, 1866, p. 4, c. 2; and in Springfield [Mass.] Weekly Republican, Nov. 3, 1866, p. 2, c.5; quoted in New York Times, Oct. 31, 1866, p. 4, c. 7; repeated in Sandburg-a, Abraham Lincoln, 1939, III, pp. 124-125; in Josephson, p. 60; in Myers, Vol. 1, p. 59; and Vol. 3, pp. 149-152; and in Baldwin, II, p. 121. For other GP critics with sources, see Civil War and GP. Felt, Charles Wilson. Garrison, William Lloyd. McIlvaine, Charles Pettit. Moran, Benjamin. Weed, Thurlow. Other persons named above.

Biographies of GP. See: Peabody, George, Biographies of. In References at end of book, see Chapple, William Dismore. Hanaford, Phebe Ann. Parker, Franklin. Wilson, Philip Whitwell.

Bishop, Bernice Pauahi Paki, Mrs. (1831-1883). See: Bishop, Charles Reed (1822-1915), immediately below.

GP’s influence on Charles Reed Bishop, Philanthropist in Hawaii

Bishop, Charles Reed (1822-1915). 1-Hawaiian Marriage. Charles Reed Bishop, born in Glenn Falls, N.Y., was an orphan living with his grandparents. He worked in a country store, was a farm hand, and sailed from Newburyport, Mass., around Cape Horn toward Oregon but rested en route in Honolulu, Hawaii, for months. He returned there, remaining from 1846 as clerk in the U.S. Consulate and as Collector General of Customs (1849). He met, fell in love with, and married Hawaiian Princess Bernice Pauahi Paki (1831-1883), great-granddaughter of warrior chief Kamehameha I (c1758-1819), who united the Hawaiian Islands, 1810. She had been a student in the Cooke mission school (which Bishop often visited), founded in 1837 by Mass.-born Protestant missionary teacher Amos Starr Cooke (1810-71) and his wife Juliette Montague Cooke (1812-86), soon named the Chief’s Children’s School and later the Royal School. Ref.: g. Internet under “Bishop Estate’s first trustees played key role in overthrow,” URL: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/2000/Mar/12/opinion6.html

Bishop, C.R.. 2-Bishops as Philanthropists. From her inherited landed wealth, Mrs. Bishop created in her will the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, a perpetual trust (current assets $6 billion) that funded the Kamehameha Schools (since 1887), which has since graduated 19,000 young Hawaiians. From his banking, real estate, and other incomes her husband Charles Reed Bishop founded the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu, as a memorial to his wife. It remains Hawaii’s most important museum. He also founded other charitable endeavors. Ref.: Ibid.

Bishop, C.R.. 3-Why C.R. Bishop Gave. Bishop’s biographer Harold W. Kent explained the C.R. Bishop’s philanthropic motive as follows: “William R. Castle [a friend] was walking home from a meeting with Bishop one night , and the subject of philanthropy came up. He [Castle] relates that ‘Bishop stated, he never liked to give, and that it was only with reluctance that he made donations. However, he had recently read something of the life of George Peabody and had come to the conclusion that it was wiser and better to dispose of wealth while alive than to leave it by will.’” Ref.: Kent, p. 297-298.

Bishop, C.R.. 4-GP’s Quotations which Influenced Bishop-1. Biographer Kent listed these two GP quotations which influenced Bishop: “When aches and pains came upon me, I realized I was not immortal. I became anxious to use my millions for the greatest good of humanity. I found that there were men in life just as anxious to help the poor and destitute as I was to make money. I called in friends in whom I had confidence and asked them to be trustees for my first gift. They accepted. For the first time I felt a higher pleasure and greater happiness than making money–that of giving it away for good purposes.” (Note: GP’s words to Johns Hopkins, 1867, as reported by Garrett, John Work [1820-84]. Also See: Hopkins, Johns). Ref.: Ibid.

Bishop C.R.. 5-GP’s Quotations which Influenced Bishop-2. “I have prayed my Heavenly Father day by day that I might be enabled before I died, to show my gratitude by doing some great good to my fellowmen.” [Inscribed on a tablet in the floor of Westminster Abbey]. (Note: from Robert Charles Winthrop’s Feb. 8, 1870, Eulogy at GP’s final funeral. See Winthrop, Robert Charles. Westminster Abbey. Death and funeral, GP’s [entry 174]). Ref.: Ibid.

Bishop C.R.. 6-Similar Experiences. Biographer Kent added the following on why Bishop was influenced by GP: “It was not only the quotations that moved Bishop; the life of George Peabody which was very familiar to him, was a remarkable parallel to his own. Both were born poor. School was over for both of them at the end of eighth grade. Both worked as clerk-bookkeepers in the general store of a relative. Both organized companies for trade.” Biographer Kent concluded with: “Bishop’s philanthropy, the greatest that the islands have ever seen, was induced from the biographical sketch of a distinguished American mercantilist…” Ref.: Ibid.

Bishop of London preached the sermon at Westminster Abbey, London, Sunday, Nov. 14, 1869, following the Westminster Abbey funeral service for GP on Nov. 12, 1869. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Description of GP’s Death

Bismarck, Otto von (1815-98). 1-German Chancellor. Otto von Bismarck was the German chancellor to whom U.S. Minister to Britain John Lothrop Motley (1814-77) wrote describing GP’s death. Motley wrote Bismarck on Nov. 7, 1869: “Our great philanthropist George Peabody is just dead. I knew him well and saw him several times during his last illness. It made him happy, he said, as he lay on his bed, to think that he had done some good to his fellow-creatures.” (Note: Motley earlier officially informed U.S. Secty of State Hamilton Fish of GP’s death: Ref.: John Lothrop Motley to U.S. Secty of State Hamilton Fish, Nov. 6, 1869, Dispatch No. 142, “Dispatches from United States Minister, Great Britain,” National Archives, Washington, D.C.)

Bismarck, Otto von. 2-Motley to Bismarck Cont’d.: “I suppose no man in human history ever gave away so much money. “At least two millions of pounds sterling, and in cash, he bestowed on great and well-regulated charities, founding institutions in England and America which will do good so long as either nation exists. He has never married, has no children, but he has made a large number of nephews and nieces rich. He leaves behind him (after giving away so much), I dare say, about half a million sterling.” Ref.: (Motley to Bismarck): Nov. 7, 1869, quoted in Motley, III, p. 233. For other details and sources, see Death and Funeral, GP’s.

GP at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., July 23-Aug. 30, 1869

Blacque Bey, Edouard (1824-95). 1-With GP, W.Va., Summer 1869. Edouard Blacque Bey was the Turkish Minister to the U.S. who met, spoke to, and was photographed with GP (Aug. 12), then visiting the mineral springs health spa at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., July 23-Aug. 30, 1869. Gathered there by chance were key southern and northern political, military, and educational leaders. These included 1-Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-70, then president, Washington College, Lexington, Va., renamed Washington and Lee Univ., 1871); 2-GP’s Washington, D.C., business friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888); 3-Turkish Minister to the U.S. Edouard Blacque Bey; 4-Tenn. Supt. of Public Instruction and later U.S. Commissioner of Education John Eaton (1829-1906); 5-PEF first administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80); 6-Howard College, Ala., Pres. Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (1825-1903, and later second PEF administrator); 7-seven other former Civil War generals; and others. See: Corcoran, William Wilson. Confederate Generals. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Persons named. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Blacque Bey, Edouard. 2-GP and Lee Arm in Arm. GP, ill and three months from death, was there to rest and recuperate. But he and Robert E. Lee talked, dined, walked arm in arm, and were publicly applauded. Spurning lucrative offers after Appomattox, Lee became president of a struggling Va. college. GP’s June 29, 1869, gift doubling to $2 million his PEF to aid public education in the 11 former Confederate states plus W.Va. was hailed in the press. Historic photos were taken (Aug. 12) and informal talks of later educational consequence took place on southern public education needs. Ref.: Ibid.

Blacque Bey, Edouard. 3-Journalist and Diplomat. Born of French parents in Istanbul, Blacque Bey was the grandson of a lawyer and the son of a journalist. At age eight or nine he was sent to study at Saint-Barbe College, Paris. He returned to Istanbul in 1842 at age 18, was appointed a government translator, was editor of the semi-official newspaper in French, Courrier de Constantinople, 1846. Fluent in Turkish, French, Italian, and English, his diplomatic posts included Attaché and then First Secretary in Turkey’s Paris Embassy, 1853; Turkish Consul in Naples, Italy, 1860; Chargé d’ Affairs at the newly opened Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., 1866; and Turkish Minister to the U.S., 1866-73. He was Director, Press Dept., Istanbul, 1876; Member of the State Council, 1878; Director, Sixth Municipal Dept., Istanbul, 1878-90; Ambassador to Bucharest, 1890; and again Director, Sixth Municipal Dept., Istanbul, 1891-95. He was honored with diplomatic medals from several countries. Ref.: Koçu, Vol. 5, n. pp. 2834-2835.

Blackfriars, London, was one of several dining facilities where GP held his July 4th and other U.S.-British friendship dinners. It may have been the Black Friar, 174 Queen St., EC4, on the site of the Blackfriar Monastery of the Dominican Order (founded 1221). See: Dinners, GP’s, London. Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond. Willis’s Rooms.
Blackwall, London, or Blackwall’s, was another dining facility where GP held U.S.-British friendship dinners on June 17 and July 4, 1852, and perhaps other times. See: Dinners, GP’s, London.

Pres. Johnson’s Proposed Cabinet Change

Blair, Francis Preston, Sr. (1791-1876). 1-Proposed Pres. Johnson Cabinet Change. Francis Preston Blair, Sr., was U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson’s (1808-75) political advisor when both had contact with GP in early 1867. Pres. Johnson faced impeachment by hostile radical Republicans in Congress angered by his conciliatory policy toward the former Confederate states. To avoid impeachment, Pres. Johnson’s political advisor, Francis Preston Blair, Sr., advised a complete change of cabinet, with GP as Treasury Secty. But loyalty to his cabinet kept Johnson from this course. For the eight names proposed in the Cabinet reshuffle, See: Andrew, John Albion. Congressional Gold Medal and Resolutions of Praise to GP.

Blair, F. P., Sr. 2-Pres. Johnson Called on GP. A GP-Pres. Johnson meeting followed announcement of GP’s Feb. 7, 1867, letter founding the PEF ($2 million total, 1867-69). PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) read that letter aloud in an upper room at Willard’s Hotel, Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 1867, to 10 of the 16 original trustees at their first meeting. Wide, favorable press reports followed. The next day, Feb. 9, 1867, Pres. Johnson, his secretary, Col. William George Moore (1829-93), and three others, called on GP at his Willard’s Hotel rooms. Ref.: Ibid.

Blair, F.P. 3-With GP at Willard’s Hotel. With GP at the time were PEF trustees Robert Charles Winthrop, Episcopal Bishop of Ohio Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), and former S.C. Gov. William Aiken (1806-87); along with GP’s business friend Samuel Wetmore (1812-85), his wife, and their son; GP’s nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909), George Washington Riggs (1813-81), and three others. Ref.: Ibid. See: persons named.

Blair, F.P. 4-GP-Pres. Johnson Exchanges. Pres. Johnson took GP by the hand (GP was 72 and ill) and said he had thought he would find GP alone, that he called simply as a private citizen to thank GP for his PEF gift to aid public education in the South, that he thought the gift would help unite the country, that he was glad to have a man like GP representing the U.S. in England, and invited GP to visit him in the White House. With emotion, GP thanked Pres. Johnson, said that this meeting was one of the greatest honors of his life, that he knew the president’s political course would be in the country’s best interest, that England from the Queen downward felt only goodwill toward the U.S., that he thought in a few years the country would rise above its divisions to become happier and more powerful. Ref.: Ibid.

Blair, F.P. 5-GP at the White House. GP called on Pres. Johnson in the Blue Room, White House, April 25, 1867, before his May 1, 1867, return to London. They spoke of the work of the PEF. With GP at the White House were B&O RR Pres. John Work Garrett (1820-84) and Samuel Wetmore’s 16-year-old son. GP told Pres. Johnson of young Wetmore’s interest in being admitted to West Point and Pres. Johnson said he would do what he could for the young man. Francis Preston Blair, Sr., was born in Abingdon, Va.; was a journalist and politician who established the Congressional Globe (later the Congressional Record), which published the daily proceedings in the U.S. Congress; and political supporter of Presidents Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson. Blair’s Washington, D.C., home is owned by the Federal government, called the Blair House, near the White House. Ref.: Ibid.

Eulogy from France

Blanc, Louis (1811-82). 1-GP Eulogy. French Socialist politician and journalist who, prompted by an invitation from the GP funeral arrangements committee, Peabody, Mass., sent the following eulogy on GP’s death: “The death of…George Peabody…is a public calamity, in which the whole civilized world ought to share. I feel…bound…to mourn, for the illustrious American whose life was of such value to the most needy of his fellow-men. “It is but natural…that his mortal remains should be committed to…Westminster Abbey, to be sent…in a ship of war to his native land…. There should be for men of [his] stamp…homage better calculated to show how little, compared to them, are most kings, princes, noblemen, renowned diplomats, world-famed conquerors.” Ref.: London Times, Dec. 13, 1869, p. 6, c. 2. Hanaford, pp. 241-242.

Blanc, Louis. 2-GP Eulogy Cont’d.: “The number of mourners…[at the Abbey], their silent sorrow, the tears shed by so many…of London, the readiness of the shopkeepers [in] closing their shops and lowering their blinds,–these were the homages…due one whose title in history will be…–the friend of the poor.” Louis Blanc. French writer and novelist Victor-Marie Hugo, also invited to send a statement, sent a eulogy. Ref.: Ibid. See: Death and funeral, GP’s. Hugo, Victor-Marie.

Bloodgood, J.H., was a NYC banker at 22 William St. who attempted to collect funds for a GP statue in NYC’s Central Park on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 1869 (after GP’s Nov. 4, 1869, death in London). An association for this purpose was formed, funds were raised, a subscription list was published. But this effort failed; the main reason later given was that the mounting international GP funeral honors offended believers in republican simplicity. No GP statue materialized in NYC. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Peabody Genealogy

Boadie. 1-Interest in Peabody Family Origin. Engaged to be married in late 1838 to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905), GP wanted to know his family history. He asked younger cousin Adolphus W. Peabody to learn about their forebears through family patriarch Joseph Peabody (1757-1844) of Salem, Mass., who had once owned 83 clipper ships engaged in Far Eastern trade. Not dreaming that Esther Hoppin would break off the engagement about Jan. 1839, Adolphus dutifully sent GP what was known about the family origins. See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth.

Boadie. 2-Heraldry Office, London. Family history notes from the Heraldry Office, London, indicated that their family name originated in 61 A.D. from Queen Boadicia, whose husband reigned in Icena, Britain, and was vassal to Roman Emperor Nero. Queen Boadicia’s husband died and left half his wealth to Nero. Nero seized all of it. When Queen Boadicia objected, Nero had her whipped. Queen Boadicia and a kinsman named Boadie led an unsuccessful revolt against Rome. She took her life with poison. Boadie fled to Wales. Ref.: Ibid.

Boadie. 3-Boadicia Origin of Peabody. Boadie in the Cambrian tongue meant “man” or “great man,” while Pea meant ‘hill” or ‘mountain.” By this account Peabodie meant “mountain man” or “great man of the mountain.” The coat of arms for the Peabodys, Adolphus related, was given by King Arthur shortly after the battle on the River Douglas. Relating all this to GP by letter on Jan. 14, 1838 [note: possibly 1839], Adolphus W. Peabody added: “So with all these numbers and folios, if you are curious thereabout the next time you go over, you can see if it be a recorded derivation of our patronymic or not…. You have the garb, crest, and scroll etc. (enclosed). [Joseph] says, I have heard my mother say a great many things in this way. She mostly had her information from our paternal grandmother. Sophronia [Adolphus’ sister] can tell you as much as you can well listen of a long day.” Ref.: Ibid.

Boadie. 4-Boadicia Origin of Peabody Disputed. C.M. Endicott’s A Genealogy of the Peabody Family, 1867, repeated the Queen Boadicia origin of the Peabody family name. Charles Henry Pope’s Peabody Genealogy, 1909, disagreed. Pope held that when English surnames were crystallized in the 14th century, “Paybody” referred to trustworthy men who paid servants, creditors, and employees of barons, manufacturers, or public officials. They were selected by character and ability as paymasters or paying-tellers. Pope stated that the Latin motto of the Peabody coat of arms, Murus aereus conscientia sana, meant “A sound conscience is a wall of bronze,” or since the Romans thought of bronze as a hard metal, “A sound conscience is a solid wall of defense.” Ref.: Ibid.

Bologna, Italy. GP’s second European buying trip of some 15 months was made April 1830-Aug. 15, 1831, with an unknown American friend. They went by carriage and with frequent change of horses covered some 10,000 miles in England, France, Italy (including Bologna), and Switzerland. For details and source, see Daniel, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell (GP’s sister).

Bonaparte, Jerome Napoleon (1805-1870), was a member of the famed Bonaparte family. He was born in England, came to the U.S., graduated from Harvard College, studied law but did not practice law while he lived on inherited wealth in Baltimore, where he died. GP is said to have sold a carriage for this Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte. Ref.: “Bonaparte, Jerome Napoleon,” p. 311.

Bonaparte, Napoleon I (1769-1821). A celebration in Washington, D.C., on June 5, 1813, marked the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in his Russian campaign. Somervell S. Mackall, Early Days of Washington, 1899, p. 270, published 30 years after GP’s death, stated that “the principal dinner-room was decorated by the taste of George Peabody of this town.” GP was then age 18 and had for one year managed a dry goods store in Georgetown, D.C., and was an itinerant pack peddler in the area. He and his paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-1827) had left Newburyport, Mass., May 4, 1812, had opened the store in Georgetown, D.C., on May 15, 1812. GP was in charge of the store, as his uncle developed other business interests. He may have sold goods used in the decorations, assisted in the decoration, and possibly been in charge of decorating this affair. Ref.: Mackall, p. 270.

Bonaparte, Napoleon III (1808-73). GP and PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) were received in Paris at the court of King Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte) and Empress Eugénie (1826-1920) on or about March 16, 1868. See: Corcoran, William Wilson. Other persons named. Pope Pius. San Spirito Hospital, Rome, Italy.

Boston Courier. In early March 1861 an anonymous letter writer in Boston and NYC newspapers stated that in his opinion Civil War would be good for business. When some news editors inferred that the unknown letter writer might be GP, he wrote to the Boston Courier editor, March 8, 1861: “I do not know who wrote this letter. My remarks would be the opposite. The threat of war has already lost the European market for United States securities. Concession and compromise alone would reinstate our credit abroad. I hope conciliation will prove successful. If not and war comes it will destroy the credit of North and South alike in Europe. Worse, our prestige and pride will disappear. Second rate powers may insult our flag with impunity and first rate powers wipe away the Monroe Doctrine. May Providence prevent this.” See: Civil War and GP.

Boston Harbor Warren Prison. Confederate emissaries James Murray Mason of Va. (1798-1871), John Slidell (1793-1871) of La., and their male secretaries, on their way to raise funds and arms in England and France, were forcibly removed from the British mail ship Trent on Nov. 8, 1861, and taken to Warren Prison, Boston Harbor. Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet met Dec. 26, 1861, disavowed the action, and the four Confederates were released on Jan. 1, 1862. U.S.-British friction over the Trent Affair delayed announcement until March 12, 1862, of GP’s gift of model apartments for London’s working poor ($2.5 million total gift). See: Peabody Homes of London. TrentAffair.

Boston Musical Festival, June 1869. GP, then age 74, was weak and ill on his last U.S. visit, June 8 to Sept. 29, 1869. He first stayed with his sister’s family in Salem, Mass. (Mrs. Judith Dodge née Peabody Russell Daniel, 1799-1879). Learning that Boston was holding a Peace Jubilee and Music Festival, GP in mid June quietly attended the music festival and listened to the choral music. He was recognized. At intermission Boston Mayor Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff (1810-74) announced GP’s presence which brought “a perfect storm of applause.” See: Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet.

Boston Post, July-Aug. 1854. GP’s July 4, 1854, dinner in London honoring incoming U.S. Minister to Britain James Buchanan (1791-1868) was marred when Buchanan’s jingoistic U.S. London Legation Secty. Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914) objected to GP’s toast to Queen Victoria before one to the U.S. President. Sickles sat red-gorged in anger while others stood, and then walked out in protest. Sickles fanned the controversy by attacking GP’s patriotism in a letter to the Boston Post, July 21, 1854, p. 2, c. 1. He charged GP with “toadying” to the English. GP recorded the facts in a letter to the Boston Post, verified by 25 Americans present at the dinner who wrote the Boston Post editor: “The undersigned have read Mr. Peabody’s letter to the Boston Post of Aug. 16, 1854, and without hesitation affirm as true the events described by Mr. Peabody.” See: Barnard, Henry. Sickles, Daniel Edgar.

Boston Public Library was founded in 1852 by donations from Joshua Bates (1788-1864), born in Weymouth, Mass., and London resident director of the Baring Brothers banking firm with whom GP had dealings. That same year, GP’s May 26, 1852, letter from London, read at the June 16, 1852, Danvers, Mass., Centennial Celebration, founded the first Peabody Institute Library, Danvers (renamed South Danvers and then Peabody, Mass. on April 13, 1868). See: Bates, Joshua.

Bowie, Oden (1826-94), was Md. governor (during Jan. 13, 1869 to Jan. 10, 1872) who on Feb. 19, 1870, after the delivery of GP’s remains to Portland, Me. (Jan. 25-Feb. 1, 1870), entertained HMS Monarch’s Capt. John E. Commerell (1829-1901) and U.S. Navy Secty. George Maxwell Robeson (1829-97). Ref.: Sobel and Raimo, eds., II, p. 670. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Bowlby, Rt. Rev. Ronald Oliver (1926-), a leader in British low-income housing improvement, gave the main address at the “Bicentenary Service of Thanksgiving for the Life and Work of George Peabody, 1795-1869,” in London’s Westminster Abbey, Nov. 16, 1995. A graduate of Eton College and Trinity College, Oxford Univ., the Rt. Rev. R.O. Bowlby was curate and vicar of several churches before becoming Asst. Bishop, Diocese of Lichfield (since 1991). Ref.: New York Times, July 16, 1995, section XIII-CN, p. 17, c. 1. (Career): Seen Dec. 9, 1999: Internet http://www.knowuk.co.uk See: GP Bicentennial Celebrations (Feb. 18, 1795-1995).

Loyalty Attacked Again

Bowles, Samuel (1826-78). 1-GP Charged as Confederate Sympathizer. Samuel Bowles was the owner and editor of the Springfield Republican (Mass.), started by his father, Samuel Bowles (1797-1851), which the son made into one of the best known newspapers in the U.S. By urging the union of all antislavery groups into one party, Bowles helped establish the Republican Party. He supported Pres. Lincoln and opposed Radical Republicans bent on punishing the South after Pres. Lincoln’s assassination. Bowles’s attacks on Civil War financial corruption approached muckraking intensity. His unsubstantiated charge against GP and his partner Junius S. Morgan (1813-90) on Oct. 27, 1866 as pro-Confederate Civil War profiteers echoed an earlier unsubstantiated charge made in 1862 by U.S. Consul General in Paris John Bigelow (1817-1911). See: Bigelow, John (above). Civil War and GP.

Bowles, Samuel. 2-”S.P.Q.,” Oct. 25, 1866. Samuel Bowles’s editorial attack agreed with an anti-GP charge made by an anonymous “S.P.Q.” the night GP spoke at the PIB dedication and opening on Oct. 25, 1866. In the NYC Evening Post that same date “S.P.Q.” wrote: “Mr. Peabody goes about from place to place inhaling the incense so many are willing to offer him. While Americans at home gave and did their utmost for their country in wartime, what was Mr. Peabody doing? He was making money, piling up profits, adding to his fortune. And what did he do with his gain? Did he use money made in war against those seeking to destroy this country? Did he raise and clothe a single recruit? Did he give anything to the Sanitary Commission? Did he lend the government any part of his millions? While making up his mind he did something he thought worthier–gave several hundred thousands to the poor of London and got a letter of thanks from the Queen. Many a poor fellow from simple patriotism gave all he had, his life. That man gave more than George Peabody and all his money….” Ref.: NYC Albion, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 511, c. 1. NYC Evening Post, Oct. 25, 1866, p. 2, c. 2. New York Times, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 5, c. 1-2.

Bowles, Samuel. 3-Bowles Agreed with “S.P.Q.” Bowles’s editorial, Springfield [Mass.] Daily Republican, stated (Oct. 27, 1866): “For all who knew anything on the subject knew very well that he [GP] and his partners in London gave us no faith and no help in our struggle for our national existence. They participated in the full to the common English distrust of our cause, and our success, and talked and acted for the South rather than for the Nation. Ref.: (Bowles’s charges against GP): Springfield [Mass.] Daily Republican, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 4, c. 2; repeated in Springfield [Mass.] Semi-Weekly Republican, same date, same p. and c.; repeated in Springfield [Mass.] Weekly Republican, Nov. 3, 1866, p. 2, c. 5.; and quoted in New York Times, Oct. 31, 1866, p. 4, c. 7.

Bowles, Samuel. 4-Bowles Agreed with “S.P.Q.” Cont’d.: “American-born and American-bred, the financial representatives of America in England, they [GP and partner Junius S. Morgan] were thus guilty of a grievous error in judgment, and a grievous weakness of the heart. They swelled the popular feeling of doubt abroad, and speculated upon it. Through no house were so many American securities–railroad, State and national–sent home for sale as by them. No individuals contributed so much to flooding our money markets with the evidences of our debt in Europe, and breaking down their prices and weakening financial confidence in our nationality as George Peabody and Co.; and none made more money by the operation.” Ref.: Ibid.

Bowles, Samuel. 5-Bowles’s Criticism Repeated. Bowles’s anti-GP editorial was damaging. It appeared in a prestigious newspaper from GP’s home state (Mass.). It was also repeated uncritically and without substantiating evidence by 1-poet and Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) in his Abraham Lincoln; in 2-writer Gustavus Myers’s History of Great American Fortunes, 1910, 1936; in 3-writer Matthew Josephson’s The Robber Barons, 1934; and 4-in historian Leland DeWitt Baldwin’s The Stream of American History, 1952. See: Civil War and GP. Felt, Charles Wilson. Garrison, William Lloyd. McIlvaine, Charles Pettit. Moran, Benjamin. Persons named. Weed, Thurlow.

Boyhood, GP’s. For GP’s apprenticeship, 1807-11, ages 12-16, with sources, see Sylvester Proctor. For GP’s winter 1810 (age 15) visit to relatives in N.H. and Vt., with sources, see Concord, N.H.

Bradford, Edward Anthony (1814-72), one of the 16 original PEF trustees, was born in Conn. Of the Mayflower Bradfords, graduated from Yale with distinction, studied law at Harvard (Charles Sumner, 1811-74, was one of his classmates), went to La. in 1836 to practice law, joined a New Orleans law firm (1854), and was a stockholder of the La. National Bank. U.S. Pres. Millard Fillmore nominated him as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice but believing him pro-north, U.S. senate southerners organized a vote against his confirmation. For health reasons he went to Paris, France, where he died. At a Dec. 21, 1872, New Orleans Bar Association meeting, held in his memory, Judge J.N. Lea, who had been a partner in Bradford’s law firm, said: “Perhaps no person who has ever practiced at this bar had higher conceptions of his professional obligations and duties than Mr Bradford.” E.A. Bradford was succeeded as PEF trustee by Richard Taylor (1826-79), son of Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), 12th U.S. President during 1848-50. Richard Taylor was born near Louisville, Ky., was a Yale graduate (1845), a La. planter, and a Confederate brigadier general (from Oct. 1861). Ref.: Curry-b, pp. 19, 73. (Bradford’s career): Landry.

Educating Relatives

Bradford Academy, Bradford, Mass. 1-Intro. During 1819-20s GP paid for the education at Bradford Academy (now Bradford College), Bradford, Mass., of six of his younger family members. He later paid for the education of two nephews: Othniel Charles Marsh (1832-99) at Phillips Academy, Mass., Yale, Conn., and German universities, who became a famous scientist; and George Peabody Russell (1835-1909) at Phillips Academy and Harvard Univ., who became a lawyer; and at least one niece, Julia Adelaide Peabody (b. April 25, 1835).

Bradford Academy. 2-Brief History. Bradford College, Bradford, Mass., south of Haverhill, north of what is now Peabody, originated at an early March 1803 gathering of neighbors. Fundraising began March 7, 1803, led to coeducational Bradford Academy, a secondary school, 1803-32; a junior college for women, 1932-71; and a bachelor’s degree granting college from 1971 (coeducational) until its closing in 2000. Ref.: Bradford Academy, Mass., pp. iii-xv, 27, 65, 72. Internet URL: http://www.bhe.mass.edu/p_p/includes/academic/closed/bradford.html

Bradford Academy. 3-GP’s Own Small Schooling. A bare subsistence family income limited GP’s own schooling to four years, 1802-06, ages 7-11, in a Danvers, Mass., district school; followed by four years, 1806-10, ages 11-15, apprenticeship in Sylvester Proctor’s general store in Danvers. His father was in debt and their home (205 Washington St., Danvers) heavily mortgaged when he died on May 13, 1811. The mother and six children at home had to live with relatives. GP, aged 16, worked in his older brother David Peabody’s (1790-1841) dry goods shop in Newburyport. The Great Fire of Newburyport, May 31, 1811, ruined business prospects. The fire and a New England depression induced GP to migrate with paternal Uncle John Peabody (1768-1827), to open a store in Georgetown, D.C. Uncle John could not get credit but young GP got a Newburyport merchant’s recommendation on the basis of which a Boston merchant advanced them a consignment of goods on credit worth $2,000. The Georgetown, D.C. store opened May 15, 1812. See: Newburyport, Mass.

Bradford Academy. 4-Riggs, Peabody & Co. Responsibility for the store on Bridge St., Georgetown, D.C., from May 15, 1812, soon fell on 17-year-old GP, his uncle having gone into another enterprise. GP went out from the store as a pack peddler, selling goods in the Va. and Md. area. For some 12 days in the War of 1812 he drilled in a military unit in defense of Washington, D.C. Older fellow soldier and experienced merchant Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853), then age 35, made 19-year-old GP first office helper, then traveling junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29), Georgetown, importers of dry goods and other products from abroad, sold mainly to wholesalers. The firm prospered, moved to Baltimore in 1815, and soon had NYC and Philadelphia warehouses. For details of GP leaving Newburyport, Mass., for Georgetown, D.C., and connection with Elisha Riggs, Sr., with sources, see Riggs, Sr., Elisha.

Bradford Academy. 5-GP Regained Family Home. In Nov. 1816, his older brother David, working for GP in Alexandria, Va., released the Danvers home to GP who by Jan. 1817 paid off its mortgage. Newburyport lawyer Ebon Mosely wrote GP Dec. 16, 1816, “I cannot but be pleased with the filial affection which seems to evince you to preserve the estate for a Parent.” Ref.: Ebon Mosely, Newburyport, Mass., to GP, Baltimore, Dec. 16, 1816, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Bradford Academy. 6-GP Worth $50,000, 1820. His mother and the family were back in their Danvers home. From wherever he traveled collecting debts owed Riggs, Peabody & Co., GP sent to the family funds, flour, sugar, clothes, other necessities, and local newspapers from towns where he was working. In July 1820, on a short visit home, he drove his mother by horse and buggy to visit her sister Temperance née Dodge Jewett (b.1772) and her physician husband (Dr. Jeremiah Jewett, 1757-1836) in Barnstead, Vt., where he had visited as a 15-year-old in the winter of 1810. Asked how he was doing in 1820, GP replied that he was then worth between $40,000-$50,000. Ref.: Independent Democrat (Concord, N.H.), Feb. 10, 1870, p. 2, c. 8.

Bradford Academy. 7-GP’s Relatives at Bradford Academy. To help his younger relatives attend school, GP bought a house for the family in West Bradford, Mass. His mother also lived there for a time in the 1820s. Bradford Academy catalogs list these six GP relatives who attended the academy: 1-Jeremiah Peabody (1805-77), sixth born of eight siblings and third of four brothers, who attended Bradford Academy in 1819; 2-Judith Dodge Peabody (1799-1879), fourth born and younger sister, who attended 1821-27; 3-Mary Gaines Peabody (1807-34), seventh born and third of four sisters, who attended in 1822-23; 4-Sophronia Phelps Peabody (b.1809), eighth born and fourth sister, who attended in 1827; 5-Adolphus William Peabody (b. 1814), GP’s young cousin, GP’s paternal uncle John Peabody’s son, who attended 1827-29; and 6-George Peabody (1815-32), GP’s nephew, GP’s oldest brother David Peabody’s son, who attended in 1827. Ref.: Bradford Academy, Mass., pp. iii-xv, 27, 65, 72.

Bradford Academy. 8-Educated Nephew O.C. Marsh. GP’s younger sister Judith Dodge Peabody, who attended Bradford Academy during 1821-27, also taught for a time in Chester, N.H. She later handled family concerns and distributed GP’s funds to the family during his U.S. travels, five trips abroad, and 32 years’ residence as a London banker. GP’s youngest sister Mary Gaines Peabody, who attended Bradford Academy during 1822-23, married Caleb Marsh (b.1800) on April 12, 1827. Caleb Marsh was a former Danvers neighbor who taught school near Bradford. GP paid for the education of their son, Othniel Charles Marsh (1832-99), through Phillips Academy, Yale College, Yale’s graduate Sheffield Scientific School, through the German universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, and Breslau, and paid for Marsh’s science library and fossil collection, enabling Marsh to become the first U.S. paleontology professor at Yale Univ. and the second such professor in the world. See: Marsh, Othniel Charles.

Bradford Academy. 9-Nephew O.C. Marsh’s Science Career. Influenced by this nephew’s science career, GP endowed three Peabody museums of science: at Harvard and Yale universities, Oct. 8 and 22, 1866, and what is now the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., Feb. 26, 1867. British scientist Charles Darwin later acknowledged O.C. Marsh’s fossil finds as the best proof of the theory of evolution. Marsh’s fossil finds are the basis of most of what is now known about dinosaurs and about the North American origin of the horse. Ref.: Ibid.

Bradford Academy. 10-Peabodys at Bradford. Sister Judith was teaching in Chester, N.H., when GP wrote from Baltimore to sister Mary Gaines at Bradford, May 31, 1822: “This letter will be handed to you by Mr. Greenleaf to whom I have enclosed a check on Boston for $50 for…paying your board, etc., at Bradford and have requested him to let you or Judith have money for other purposes when required…. I thought it likely you would be in need of some clothes…. I do not, by any means, wish you to dress extravagantly but at all times to appear as decent as those with whom you associate.” Benjamin Greenleaf (1786-1864), born in West Haverhill and a Dartmouth College graduate (1813), was the most successful of the early Bradford Academy preceptors (Dec. 1814 to March 1836). He wrote popular arithmetic and algebra textbooks. Ref.: (GP to sister Mary Gaines): GP, Baltimore, to Mary Gaines Peabody, Bradford, May 31, 1822, Peabody Papers, Yale Univ. Ref.: Bradford Academy, Mass., pp. iii-xv, 27, 65, 72.

Bradford Academy. 11-Other Peabodys at Bradford Cont’d. Judith left her teaching post in Chester, N.H., for another teaching post near Bradford. In a burst of gratitude she wrote GP in Baltimore, May 8, 1823: “Were my brother like other brothers, were it a common favor, which I have received from him, and could I do justice to the feelings of my own heart, I would now formally express my gratitude, but I forebear;…and, even then the happiness, that I have enjoyed while acquiring it, would lay me under obligation, which I could never cancel….” Ref.: (Sister Judith Dodge Peabody to GP): Judith Dodge Peabody, Bradford, Mass., to GP, Baltimore, May 8, 1823, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Bradford Academy. 12-Cousin Adolphus W. Peabody at Bradford. GP’s paternal uncle John Peabody died before 1826 and his wife died that year. Left without support were older daughter Sophronia Peabody and young son Adolphus W. Peabody, whom GP offered to educate. Sophronia wrote her cousin GP (March 9, 1827?): “I have decided I shall accept of your proposal for the education of Adolphus; his education is my first wish. If his life be spared, he may compensate you at some future time.” Ref.: (Cousin Sophronia Peabody): Cousin Sophronia Peabody, Washington, D.C., to GP, NYC, March 9, [believed] 1827, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Bradford Academy. 13-Cousin Adolphus W. Peabody at Bradford Cont’d. Adolphus W. Peabody enrolled at Bradford Academy during 1827-29. He lived with his cousin Judith Dodge Peabody in a house in West Bradford which GP had bought for family members attending Bradford Academy. Sister Judith Dodge Peabody, who taught nearby, cared for GP’s youngest sister Mary Gaines Peabody, attending Bradford Academy before her marriage to Caleb Marsh, cared for young cousin Adolphus W. Peabody, for GP’s sister Sophronia Phelps Peabody (b.1809), who attended Bradford Academy in 1827, and for GP’s mother who came from Danvers to live at West Bradford. They were together at Bradford through most of the 1820s. Sister Judith wrote GP that they liked their home in West Bradford, although their mother missed Danvers.

Bradford Academy. 14-Nephew Named for GP. GP also sent to Bradford Academy older brother David Peabody’s son, named George Peabody (1815-32) for his uncle. This nephew enrolled in 1827 and lived with his aunt Judith in West Bradford. This nephew wrote Aug. 28, 1827, to his father working for Riggs, Peabody & Co. in NYC about going hunting with his uncle: “Uncle George went gunning with me when he was here and did not miss once.” Ref.: Nephew George Peabody, Bradford, Mass., to his father David Peabody, NYC, Aug. 28, 1827, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Bradford Academy. 15-GP on Nephew’s Progress. GP, fond of his namesake nephew, wrote of young George’s progress to his (GP’s) mother, Feb. 6, 1830, then living with Mary Gaines and Caleb Marsh in Lockport, N.Y. GP wrote his mother: “George was well a few day ago & I have a letter from Mr. Dwight [Sereno Edwards Dwight, 1786-1850] which speaks of him in the most flattering manner & I shall probably let him take college in about two years.–Mr. Dwight says George is in a class of 18 or 19 in the languages and is decidedly the best scholar in it and discovers most promising & most assiduous application, & if he should go to college he would be one of the best scholars in his class.–He further states that George’s whole deportment is perfectly commendable & such as I should wholly approve of.–The expense including clothes, board, tuition, etc. will be nearly 500$ a year but if he continues to make as good use of his time as he now promises it will be money well laid out….” Ref.: (On nephew George Peabody): GP to his mother Mrs. Judith Peabody, c/o Caleb Marsh, Lockport, N.Y., Feb. 6, 1830, Peabody Papers, Yale Univ. Ms. See: Dwight, Sereno Edwards.

Bradford Academy. 16-On Nephew George Attending College. GP’s second European buying trip took 15 months during 1831-32. He covered 10,000 miles by carriage with frequent change of horses, buying and shipping goods to his U.S. warehouses from Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Italy, and Switzerland. Knowing that his nephew had set his heart on attending college, GP wrote his nephew from London May 18, 1831. This letter, reflective and poignant, throws light on GP’s later philanthropies. He may have written it while recalling the cultural aspects of his European trip and his own small schooling.

Bradford Academy. 17-”Deprived as I Was.” GP wrote his nephew (his underlining): “Deprived, as I was, of the opportunity of obtaining anything more than the most common education, I am well qualified to estimate its value by the disadvantages I labour under in the society [in] which my business and situation in life frequently throws me, and willingly would I now give twenty times the expense attending a good education could I now possess it, but it is now too late for me to learn and I can only do to those who come under my care, as I could have wished circumstances had permitted others to have done by me.” Ref.: GP, London, to nephew George Peabody, brother David Peabody’s son, May 18, 1831, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.; also quoted in Schuchert and LeVene, p. 21.

MP Wm. Brown & GP

Brown, William (1784-1864). 1-Merchant, MP, GP’s Friend. William Brown was a Liverpool, England, merchant and later an MP from Liverpool. He was the son of Alexander Brown (1764-1834) of Alexander Brown & Sons of Baltimore, and a business friend of GP. While in NYC in 1839 William Brown learned that GP in London was engaged to be married. He added his congratulations in a Jan. 2, 1839, business letter to GP, not knowing then that Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905) from Providence, R.I., had broken the engagement. William Brown was a philanthropic benefactor to the city of Liverpool, England. He was also honored with a knighthood. Ref.: (Sketch of William Brown): Boase-a, Vol. 3, p. 37. See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth. (For the father, Alexander Brown and his banker-merchant sons William, Liverpool; James [1791-1877], NYC; and John, Philadelphia, see Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.

Brown, Wm. 2-Spoke at GP’s July 4, 1856, Dinner. William Brown, who spoke at GP’s July 4, 1856, U.S.-British friendship dinner, said: “The day we celebrate will ever be remembered in the history of the world. For we English derive as much satisfaction from it as you do. None of us are answerable for the sins of statesmanship or the errors of our forefathers. George Washington, remembered with respect by England and the world, would rejoice to see the enterprising spirit of the country he brought into existence, a country which seeks to bridge the Atlantic and Pacific via canal and now explores the Arctic seas (cheers).” See: Dallas, George Mifflin. Dinners, GP’s, London.

Brown, Wm. 3-Spoke at GP’s July 4, 1856, Dinner Cont’d.: “I deny that England is jealous of the United States. We rejoice in your prosperity and know that when you prosper we share in it. It is not true that the fortunes of one country arise from the misfortune of another. While we have differences they can be amicably adjusted (cheers). I toast the American Minister, Mr. George M. Dallas (cheers).” Ref.: Ibid. (For more on Alexander Brown and his sons) see Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad (1837-47) and GP.

Brown, William and James, Liverpool. See: Brown, William (above) and Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad (1837-47) and GP.

Brown Univ., Providence, R.I. See: Barnas Sears.

Westminster Abbey Funeral Service

Browne, Charles Farrar (1834-67). 1-Precedent for GP’s Westminster Abbey Funeral Service. Charles Farrar Browne was a U.S. humorist who wrote under the name of Artemus Ward. GP died Nov. 4, 1869, in the 80 Eaton Sq., London, home of longtime business friend Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85). The Dean of Westminster Abbey, Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815-81), then visiting Naples, Italy, read a news account of GP’s death. Recalling GP’s March 12, 1862, gift of model housing for London’s working poor (total gift $2.5 million), Stanley telegraphed his colleagues to offer Westminster Abbey for a funeral service. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Browne, C.F. 2-U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran. Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson called on U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86), who recorded in his journal (Nov. 6, 1869): “Sir Curtis Lampson…asked me if it were possible to have a funeral service performed here over Mr. Peabody’s remains in view of the fact that they are to be conveyed to the United States and I said yes, instancing…particulars in the case of Horatio Ward and Mr. Brown[e], better known as Artemus Ward…. “These cases seemed to satisfy him and no doubt some funeral service will be performed here, probably in Westminster Abbey.” See: Moran, Benjamin.

Browne, C.F. 3-GP’s Funeral Service. A funeral service for GP was held at Westminster Abbey on Nov. 12, 1869. His remains rested in the Abbey for 30 days (Nov. 12 to Dec. 11, 1869) when the coffin was sent to Portsmouth harbor, England, and put aboard HMS Monarch for a transatlantic crossing to Portland, Maine, and final burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Horatio G. Ward (c.1810-died May 1868) was a U.S.-born merchant, a London resident, and GP’s longtime business friend. Charles Farrar Browne was born in Waterford, Maine, was a printer, a humorous lecturer and writer for newspapers, for Vanity Fair, and an author of successful humorous Artemus Ward books. He died in London.

Bruce, Sir Frederick William Adolphus (1814-67), was British ambassador to the U.S. who, in Washington, D.C., March 1867, presented to GP, then on a 1866-67 U.S. visit, the miniature portrait Queen Victoria had specially made for GP. The miniature portrait was made in 1867 by British artist F.A.C. Tilt (fl. 1866-68), baked on enamel, put in a frame of solid gold, and given to GP in appreciation for his $2.5 million Peabody Donation Fund (from 1862) for model housing for London’s working poor. This miniature portrait is in the Peabody Institute Library, Peabody, Mass. For photos of Queen Victoria’s miniature portrait, see Peabody, George, Illustrations. Victoria, Queen.

Brunswick Hotel, Blackwall, overlooking the Thames, opposite the Greenwich Hospital, is some six miles from St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. GP gave some of his U.S.-British friendship dinners there in the 1850s, including his June 17, 1852, dinner, celebrating the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Mass. (June 17, 1775), with over 100 guests, three-fourths of them Americans. See: Dinners, GP’s, London.

GP’s Grand Nephew

Brush, Murray Peabody (1872-Nov. 14, 1954). 1-GP’s Grand Nephew. Murray Peabody Brush was an educator and grand nephew of GP. In June 1925 Director Robert Underwood Johnson (1853-1937) of the N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame during 1919-37 urged George Russell Peabody (1883-May 1, 1946), another grand nephew of GP, to help raise funds for a bust of GP, who was elected in 1900 to the N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame as one of 29 of the most famous Americans. In 1901 a bronze tablet was unveiled in GP’s allotted space containing this selection from his Feb. 7, 1867, letter founding the $2 million (total) PEF: “Looking forward beyond my stay on earth I see our country becoming richer and more powerful. But to make her prosperity more than superficial, her moral and intellectual development should keep pace with her material growth.” See: Hall of Fame of N.Y.U.

Brush, M.P. 2-GP Bust, 1926. The help of GP’s grand nephew, Murray Peabody Brush, was then enlisted to raise funds for the GP bust. Trustees of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard Univ., helped raise $300. Enough funds were raised and a bust of GP by sculptor Hans Schuler (1874-1951) was unveiled May 12, 1926, at the University Heights N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame colonnade. Murray Peabody Brush was born April 17, 1872, in Zanesville, Ohio; was educated at Princeton Univ. (B.A., 1894), Johns Hopkins Univ. (Ph.D., 1898), and at the Sorbonne and College de France (1895-96); was an instructor in French at Ohio State Univ. (1898-99); was professor and dean at Johns Hopkins Univ. (1899-1919); director of Tome School, Port Deposit, Md. (1919-32); and headmaster of Calif. Prep. School, Ojai, Calif. (1932-49). He died Nov. 14, 1954, from car crash injuries. Ref.: Brush, p. 95. See: MacCracken, Henry Mitchell.

End of 1 of 14. Continued on 2 of 14. Send corrections, questions to: bfparker@frontiernet.net

2 of 14: George Peabody (1795-1869): A-Z Handbook…, By Franklin Parker & Betty J. Parker, bfparker@frontiernet.net

2 of 14: George Peabody (1795-1869): A-Z Handbook of the Massachusetts-Born Merchant in the South, London-Based Banker, and Philanthropist’s Life, Influence, and Related People, Places, Events, and Institutions. ©2007, By Franklin Parker & Betty J. Parker, bfparker@frontiernet.net

This work updates and expands Franklin Parker, George Peabody, A Biography (Nashville, Tenn.: Vanderbilt Univ. Press, ©1971, revised with illustrations ©1995), and the authors’ related George Peabody publications. Note: To read on your computer Franklin Parker’s out-of-print George Peabody, A Biography, 1995, as a free Google E-book copy and paste on your browser: http://books.google.com/books?id=OPIbk-ZPnF4C&pg=PP1&lpg=PR4&dq=Franklin+Parker,+George+Peabody,+a+Biography&output=html&sig=6R8ZoKwN1B36wtCSePijnLaYJS8

Background: Why these 1 to 14 blogs on George Peabody? The authors attended George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville (renamed Peabody College of Vanderbilt Univ. July 1, 1979). Franklin Parker’s doctoral dissertation, “George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy,” 1956, has been an ongoing research and writing interest for over 50 years. The authors’ intent is to perpetuate public memory of him.

George Peabody, now largely forgotten by scholars and the public, was significant as: 1-a Massachusetts-born merchant in the U.S. South, beginning as junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29); then head of Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-43), importing dry goods and other commodities worldwide for sale to U.S. wholesalers. He transformed himself from merchant into: 2-a London-based merchant-banker, George Peabody & Co. (1838-64), which helped finance the B&O RR, the 2nd Mexican War Loan, the Atlantic Cable, and by choosing Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) as partner Oct. 1, 1854, was a root of the JP Morgan international banking firm.

Merchant-turned-banker George Peabody finally became: 3-the best known U.S. philanthropist of the 1850s-60s, founding the Peabody Homes of London for the working poor; founder in the U.S. of 7 Peabody Libraries and Lecture Halls; the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore; three Peabody Museums at Harvard (Anthropology), Yale (Paleontology), and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA (maritime history); and founder of the Peabody Education Fund for the South (1867-1914), a model for all later larger U.S. funds and foundations.

Two tributes to George Peabody:

Historian John Steele Gordon called George Peabody the “Most Underrated Philanthropist…. Peabody is unjustly forgotten today, but his unprecedented generosity was greatly appreciated in his time.” Ref.: American Heritage. Vol. 50, No. 3 (May-June 1999), pp. 68-69.

“The Peabody Fund, established in 1867 by George Peabody to assist southern education, is often credited with being the first foundation….” Ref.: Reader’s Companion to American History, ed. by Eric Foner and John A. Garraty (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991). Internet: http://HistoryChannel.com/

End of Background. HTML symbols are intended for blogging (ignore). This 2 of 14 blogs covers alphabetically entries from Buchanan, James 1 to Curry, J.L.M. 10.

Buchanan, James (1791-1868). 1-Was U.S. Minister to Britain. James Buchanan was the 15th U.S. president during 1857-61. He was born near Mercersberg, Penn., was a lawyer, served in the Penn. legislature for two terms (from 1814), was U.S. Congressman (1821-31), Minister to Russia (1832-33), U.S. Sen. (1834-45), U.S. Secty. of State (1845-49), and U.S. Minister to Britain (1853-56), when his legation secretary Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914) created an incident. See: Presidents, U.S., and GP. Sickles, Daniel Edgar.

Buchanan, James. 2-Sickles Affair. At a GP-sponsored July 4, 1854, U.S.-British friendship dinner super patriot Sickles remained seated and then walked out while others stood when GP toasted Queen Victoria before toasting the U.S. President. Buchanan, who thought Sickles was slack in his work as secretary, was embarrassed because, like GP, he wanted to improve British-U.S. relations. The incident was aggravated when Sickles charged GP in the press as toadying to the Queen. When GP visited Washington, D.C., Jan. 1857, there was a coolness between then-Pres. Buchanan and GP. Ref.: Ibid.

Buchanan, John (1772-1844). 1-Md. Bond Agents Abroad. John Buchanan was one of three commissioners appointed by the Md. Assembly to sell abroad its bonds to raise $8 million for internal improvements. When commissioner Samuel Jones, Jr. (1800-74), resigned to become a state senator, he backed GP to replace him. Despite some opposition, GP was appointed commissioner. Amid the financial Panic of 1837 GP and the other two commissioners, John Buchanan and Thomas Emory, tried unsuccessfully to sell the bonds in London, Paris, and Amsterdam. The other two agents returned to the U.S. by Oct. 8, 1837. On this, GP’s fifth business trip to Europe, he remained in London for the rest of his life (1837-69), 32 years, except for three U.S. visits: 1-Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857, 2-May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867, and 3-June 8 to Sept. 29, 1869. See: Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.

Buchanan, John. 2-GP’s Delayed Reward. The economic depression hindered GP’s sale of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. portion of Md.’s $8 million bonds. Md. and eight other states felt they had to stop their bond interest payments. GP publicly urged Md. officials to resume interest payments and assured British investors that resumed payments would be retroactive. GP finally sold the bonds cheaply for exclusive resale by the Baring Brothers, Britain’s largest and oldest banking firm. Not wanting to burden economically depressed Md., GP declined the $60,000 commission due him. Ref.: Ibid.

Buchanan, John. 3-Md. Legislature’s Resolution of Praise. By the time Md. had recovered economically and resumed its bond interest payments (1847), GP had withdrawn his capital from Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-48) and was in transition from merchant to London-based broker-banker in U.S. securities. The Md. governor’s 1847 annual report to the legislative Assembly singled out GP as one, “who never claimed or received one dollar of the $60,000 commission due him…whilst the State was struggling with her pecuniary difficulties.” On March 7, 1848, both houses of Md.’s Assembly passed a unanimous resolution of praise to GP. Md. Gov. Philip Francis Thomas (1810-90) sent these resolutions to GP in London, adding: “To you, Sir,…the thanks of the State were eminently due.” It took ten years for GP’s efforts in selling Md. bonds to be publicly appreciated. Ref.: Ibid.

Buck, Paul Herman (1899-1978), was a U.S. historian who wrote of the PEF: “As in his [GP’s] gifts to England he had hoped to link two nations in friendly bonds, now after the Civil War it seemed to him most imperative to use his bounty in the restoration of good will between North and South…. The Peabody Education Fund…was an experiment in harmony and understanding between the sections…. Not only was the gift of Peabody one of the earliest manifestations of a spirit of reconciliation, but it was also a most effective means of stimulating that spirit in others.” Ref.: Buck, pp. 164, 166. See: PEF.

Buddington, Samuel, Capt. 1-GP gave $10,000 for science equipment for the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition of 1853-55, led by U.S. Navy Capt. Dr. Elisha Kent Kane (1820-57, a naval surgeon), searching for lost British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847). HMS Resolute was a British ship abandoned in the Arctic ice in the decade-long search for Sir John Franklin. Capt. Samuel Buddington of the U.S. whaler George Henry found and extricated the Resolute. The U.S. government purchased the damaged Resolute, repaired it, and returned it to Britain as a gift. See: Franklin, Sir John.

Buddington, Samuel. 2-White House Desk. When the Resolute was broken up, Queen Victoria had a massive desk made from its timbers and gave it to the U.S. President. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (1929-94) found the desk in a storeroom in 1961 and had it refurbished for Pres. John F. Kennedy’s (1917-63) use. Famous photos show President Kennedy’s young son John F. Kennedy, Jr. (1960-99), playing under that desk. Pres. Clinton returned the desk to the Oval Office in 1993. Ref.: Ibid. See: persons named.

Buffalo, NY. For GP’s visit to U.S. Pres. Millard Fillmore (1800-74) at Fillmore’s home in Buffalo, NY, Nov. 4, 1856, and connections with Fillmore, with sources, see Fillmore, Millard. Presidents, U.S., and GP.

CSS Alabama

Bulloch, James Dunwody (1823-1901). 1-Purchased Confederate Ships from England. Confederate Navy Secty. Stephen Russell Mallory (1813-73) sent Commander James Dunwody Bulloch (Bullock, in some sources) to England in May 1861 to purchase ships for the nonexistent Confederate Navy. Bulloch purchased from Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, England, the newly built “Hull No. 290,” soon named the SS Enrica, which was subsequently outfitted for war and renamed the CSS Alabama at the end of July 1862. See: Adams, Charles Francis. Alabama Claims.

Bulloch, J.D. 2-U.S. Minister C.F. Adams Protested. On June 23, 1862, U.S. Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams (1807-86) warned the British Foreign Office that by building the Alabama as a Confederate warship, Britain was breaking its neutrality. Minister Adams attached affidavits from involved seamen as proof of his charge. But British Customs law officials ruled the evidence insufficient. Ref.: Ibid.

Bulloch, J.D. 3-Alabama Sunk Union Ships. CSS Alabama was put under the command of Capt. Raphael Harwood Semmes (1809-77), whose first ship, the Sumter, had already severely damaged Union commerce before it was bottled up in Gibraltar in Jan. 1862. In its rampaging two-year cruise (June 1862 to June 1864) covering 67,000 nautical miles, CSS Alabama hijacked or sank 64 Union ships. Her crew were largely pirate-adventurers from many nations, including Britain. Ref.: Ibid.

Bulloch, J.D. 4-C.S.S. Alabama Sunk by USS Kearsarge. Needing repairs, the Alabama entered Cherbourg, France, June 11, 1864, where it was intercepted by the USS Kearsarge, under Capt. John Ancrum Winslow (1811-73), June 14, 1864. The Alabama came out to do battle and was sunk, June 19, 1864, in one of the last romanticized gunnery duels in the era of wooden ships, seen by thousands of observers offshore. Capt. Semmes and some of his officers and crew were rescued by the British yacht Deerhound and taken to an English port. Remains of the Alabama were found Oct. 1984 and artifacts were raised from Cherbourg harbor. Ref.: Ibid.

Bulloch, J.D. 5-International Alabama Claims Commission. An international Alabama Claims Commission that met in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 187l to Sept. 1872, awarded the U.S. $15.5 million to be paid by Britain for British-built raiders (Alabama and others), which destroyed 257 Union ships. Confederate raider successes compelled Union ship owners to transfer ownership of over 700 vessels to foreign registries. U.S. merchant marine activity was set back for half a century. Ref.: Ibid.

Bulloch, J.D. 6-GP’s Death. Two years before GP’s death, his name was mentioned as a possible arbitrator on the Alabama Claims Commission but was dropped because of age and illness. GP died in London Nov. 4, 1869, at the height of U.S.-British angers over U.S. loss of lives and treasure caused by the CSS Alabama and other British-built ships. When it became known that GP’s will stipulated burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., British officials, for political reasons, to ease U.S.-British near-war hysteria, decided to return GP’s remains to the U.S. on a royal vessel. Ref.: Ibid.

Bulloch, J.D. 7-Remains Returned on HMS Monarch. In a Lord Mayor’s Day banquet speech, British PM William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98) said (Nov. 9, 1869): “With Mr. Peabody’s nation we will not quarrel.” The next day (Nov. 10, 1869) his cabinet offered HMS Monarch, Britain’s newest and largest warship, as funeral vessel. A GP funeral service was held at Westminster Abbey and his remains lay in state in the Abbey for 30 days (Nov. 12 to Dec. 11, 1869). Ref.: Ibid.

Bulloch, J.D. 8-Unprecedented Transatlantic Funeral. HMS Monarch, with GP’s remains aboard, escorted by USS Plymouth, a U.S. warship from Marseilles, France, crossed the Atlantic, to be met in Portland harbor, Me., on Pres. U.S. Grant’s orders by a flotilla of U.S. ships commanded by Adm. David G. Farragut (1801-70). GP’s unusual 96-day British-U.S. transatlantic funeral ended with final burial on Feb. 8, 1870, in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Besides the political motive to ease U.S.-British angers over the Alabama Claims, there was genuine appreciation for GP’s philanthropy, largely in the U.S. but also by Britain for his $2.5 million Peabody model apartments for London’s working poor (from March 12, 1862). Ref.: Ibid.

Bulloch, J.D. 9-Bulloch’s Sister Married Theodore Roosevelt. An interesting sidelight is that Confederate Navy Commander James Dunwody Bulloch’s sister, Martha Bulloch (d. Feb. 12, 1884), married NYC’s Theodore Roosevelt (1831-77). Their same-named son, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), the 26th U.S. Pres. during 1901-09, was a trustee during 1901-14 of Peabody Normal College (1875-1911), Nashville, Tenn., which became GPCFT (1914-79) and continues as PCofVU (since July 1, 1979). Ref.: (Bulloch-Roosevelt connection): Hendrick, p. 370. Thayer, p. 4. See: persons named.

Bullock, James Dunwody (1823-1901). See: Bulloch, James Dunwody.

Bülow, Hans Guido Freiherr von (1830-94), was a German conductor and pianist, studied with Richard Wagner (1813-83) and Franz Liszt (1811-86), was court musician to Ludwig, King of Bavaria (1786-1868), and teacher of Asger Hamerik (1843-1923), PIB’s Academy (Conservatory after 1874) of Music’s first director. Director Hamerik enhanced the prestige of the PIB Academy of Music by attracting eminent world musicians, including Hans von Bülow, who performed during Dec.-Jan. 1875-1876. Other famous performers Director Hamerik brought to perform and lecture at the PIB were Russian-born composer Anton Rubinstein (1829-94); British popular composer Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) of Gilbert and Sullivan fame in late Dec. 1879; and Russian composer Peter Illytch Tschaikowsky (1840-93) in spring, 1891. Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow wrote in a London paper that “Baltimore was the only place in America where I had proper support.” See: PIB.

Bulwer-Lytton, Sir Henry (1801-72). Sir Henry Bulwer-Lytton (William Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer) was an English author, MP (1830-36, 1868-71), and Minister to the U.S. (1849-52) when he attended GP’s Oct. 27, 1851, London dinner honoring the departing U.S. exhibitors at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (first world’s fair). He was praised at the dinner by the main speaker, U.S. Minister to Britain Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855). See: William Wilson Corcoran. Dinners, GP’s, London. Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair). Lawrence, Abbott.

Bunker Hill, anniversary of battle of. GP gave a dinner in London attended by British and U.S. guests on June 17, 1852, the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill (Boston, July 17, 1775). See: Dinners, GP’s, London.

Bunker Hill Memorial Monument (Boston). 1-GP’s Donation. GP gave $500 as a patriotic gift in 1845 to help build the Bunker Hill Memorial Monument. Early in the American Revolution, with British ships in command of Boston Harbor, British troops determined to defeat the rebels by taking two high points, Bunker Hill (110 feet high) and Breed’s Hill (75 feet high) in Boston’s Charlestown district. Under night cover, the Americans seized the heights first, holding off the British until the Americans ran out of gunpowder. Despite having lost the battle (July 17, 1775), the Americans were heartened that their 1,600 ill-trained volunteers had held off 2,400 trained British troops and had caused the enemy 1,054 casualties to their own 100 dead, 267 wounded, and 30 taken prisoners. The Bunker Hill Memorial Monument cornerstone was laid by the Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) July 17, 1825. GP, permanently in London since Feb. 1837, helped pay for the monument’s completion. See: GP, Philanthropy. Peabody, Thomas (GP’s father).

Bunker Hill Memorial Monument (Boston). 2-Post-Civil War attacks on GP’s Loyalty. It is interesting to note, in view of post-Civil War attacks on GP’s loyalty to the Union, that his father Thomas Peabody, some of whose forebears had fought in the French and Indian Wars, was one of 54 Peabodys who fought in the American Revolution, and that GP briefly served in the War of 1812. Ref.: Ibid. See: Civil War and GP.

Burdett-Coutts, Baroness Angela Georgina (1814-1906). 1-Lady Philanthropist. Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts was a prominent 19th century British philanthropist. England’s famous journal of satire, Punch, on July 27, 1867, had a cartoon and long poem praising GP and Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts as the most prominent 19th century philanthropists. British-born Baroness Burdett-Coutts (she was created a peeress in 1871) inherited much land from her banker-grandfather, Thomas Coutts (1735-1822?). She built and endowed churches and schools; endowed three colonial bishoprics in Capetown, South Africa; Adelaide, Australia; and British Columbia, Canada. She aided Australian aborigines and Turkish peasants, built several water fountains in London, and built low-rent model homes for some 300 families at Columbia Square, London. Ref.: Punch (London), July 27, 1867, p. 33.

Burdett-Coutts, Baroness Angela Georgina. 2-Attended GP’s July 4, 1851, Dinner. Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts attended GP’s July 4, 1851, dinner and ball at Willis’s Rooms, London, during the Great Exhibition in London of 1851 (first world’s fair), with the Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley Wellington, 1769-1852) as guest of honor. For her attendance and details of the July 4, 1851, dinner, see Corcoran, William Wilson. Dinners in London, GP’s. Great Exhibition in London of 1851 (first world’s fair). Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Prince Albert).

Burk, Kathleen, author of Morgan Grenfell 1838-1988: The Biography of a Merchant Bank (London: Oxford University Press, 1989). See: Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990).

Burton, Asa (1752-1836), was a well known minister at the church five miles from Post Mills village, near Thetford, Vt., which GP attended in the winter of 1810. GP, then age 15, was visiting his maternal grandmother Judith Spofford Dodge (1749-1828) and grandfather Jeremiah Dodge (1744-1824). Ref.: Baldwin, J. A. pp. 12-15. See: Concord, N.H. Internet site (seen) March 18, 2000): http://www.valley.net~conriver/V13-7.htm Persons named. Thetford, Vt.

Bushby, Asa (1834-89), a photographer. Peabody Institute Librarian, Peabody, Mass., Fitch Poole’s (1803-73) diary listed under date of Feb. 6, 1870, after GP’s funeral service: “Bushby & Hart [photographers] taking views in library room.” See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Business career, GP’s. See: Peabody, George. George Peabody & Co. Morgan, Junius Spencer. Peabody, Riggs & Co. Elisha Riggs, Sr. Riggs, Peabody & Co.

Butler, Benjamin Franklin (1818-93), was a U.S. Representative from Mass. (Republican) who spoke at the Dec. 21, 1869, debate on U.S. House Resolution No. 96, which asked Pres. U.S. Grant (1822-85) to order a U.S. Navy reception to receive GP’s remains at the U.S. receiving port. The resolution, with some objection, was passed in the House that day, passed in the Senate on Dec. 23, 1869, and was signed into law by Pres. Grant on Jan. 10, 1870. B.F. Butler was born in Deerfield, N.H., graduated from what is now Colby College, Me. (1838), was a criminal lawyer and politician in Lowell and then Boston, Mass., served in the Mass. Legislature (1852 and 1858) and the Mass. Senate (1859-60), was a harsh and controversial Civil War Union general, a radical Republican in the U.S. House (1866-75) who led in the unsuccessful impeachment of Pres. Andrew Johnson; Mass. Gov. (1882), and nearly always in controversy. See: Death and funeral, GP’s.

Butler, Charles (1802-97), is believed to be the NYC banker who gave Delia Salter Bacon (1811-59) a letter of introduction to GP in London. Charles Butler was born in Kinderhook Landing (now Stuyvesant), Columbia County, N.Y., was a lawyer (1824), helped establish Hobart College, Geneva, N.Y., was associated with a railroad link to Chicago, helped found and was active in the affairs of Union Theological Seminary, NYC (1836), and was a frequent visitor abroad. Delia S. Bacon, U.S. writer, was an early believer in the theory that William Shakespeare’s plays were written by a group consisting of mainly Francis Bacon (1561-1626), Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618), and Edmund Spenser (1551-99). Ref.: Muzzey, Vol. 2, Part l, pp. 359-360. See Bacon, Delia Salter.

Buttre, John Chester (1821-93), engraver-artist who made an engraving of a GP photo, half-length facing right, taken by photographer Mathew B. Brady (1823-96), perhaps in Brady’s NYC studio when the PEF trustees met in NYC on or about March 23, 1867. Copy of the engraving is in the Library of Congress BIOG FILE (b&w film copy neg.). Ref.: Library of Congress BIOG FILE. See: Brady, Mathew. Peabody, George, Illustrations.

C

Cairo, Ill. During GP’s Sept. 15, 1856-Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years’ absence in London (since Feb. 1837), he visited Cairo, Ill. (March 24-April 2, 1857), where he owned city bonds. See: Augusta, Ga.

Caldwell, Sally. On Jan. 20, 1814, in Newburyport, Mass., GP’s oldest brother David Peabody (1790-1841) married Sally Caldwell, who died soon after 1815, leaving a son named George Peabody (1815-32) after his uncle. See: Chandler, Julia Adelaide (née Peabody). Peabody, David.

Cambridge, Mass. See: Harvard Univ. honorary degree to GP. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.

Am. Association in London

Campbell, Robert Blair (d.1862). 1-Americans in London. Robert Blair Campbell was U.S. Consul, London, England (1854-61). He presided over a July 4, 1858, dinner for Americans in London organized by a then newly formed American Association in London, a fraternal club to aid needy U.S. visitors. The club was led by newer American residents in London like Robert Blair Campbell, U.S. Legation Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86), and others. They feigned respect for but were privately jealous and critical of older American residents in London like GP. Moran, Blair, and a few others sponsored for a few years July 4th Independence Day dinners in London, which GP had initiated from 1850. See: Fell, Jesse Weldon. Persons named.

Campbell, R.B. 2-Career. Robert Blair Campbell was born in S.C., graduated from S.C. College (1809, later the Univ. of S.C.), was a farmer, a commander in the S.C. militia (from 1814), a general of S.C. troops (1833; in his journal Benjamin Moran referred to R.B. Campbell as “Gen. Campbell), a member of the S.C. Senate (1821-23, 1830), and a U.S. House of Rep. member from S.C. (1823-25, 1834-35, 1835-37). He moved to Ala. where he was in the Ala. House of Rep. (1840), was U.S. Consul in Havana, Cuba (1842-50); then moved to Texas where he was appointed a commissioner in determining the U.S.-Mexico border (1853); was U.S. Consul, London, England (1854-61); died in 1862 and was buried in London, July 12, 1862. Ref.: Campbell, p. 94. Wallace and Gillespie, I, p. 9, footnote 12 (many entries in index).

Canada. GP visited Toronto and Montreal, Canada, on Oct. 15 to Nov. 1, 1856 (he suffered gout attacks on this visit). He visited Montreal on July 7-22, 1866, when he traveled on the Saguenay River and fished for salmon on the Marguerite River. See: Visits to the U.S. by GP. Montreal, Canada. Quebec, Canada. Toronto, Canada.

Cannes, France. GP went to Cannes, France, March 16, 1868, where he visited George Eustis (1828-72), who was Washington, D.C., business friend William Wilson Corcoran’s (1798-1888) son-in-law. W.W. Corcoran’s only daughter Louise Morris (née Corcoran) Eustis died Dec. 4, 1867, leaving three children. From Cannes on March 16 or 17, 1868, GP and his philanthropic advisor Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) went to Paris, France, where they were received by Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, 1808-73) and Empress Eugénie (1826-1920). For details of GP’s visits to Rome, Italy, and Paris, France, during Feb.-Mar. 1868, with sources, see: persons named. San Spirito Hospital, Rome, Italy.

Carlyle, Thomas (1795-1881), was a Scottish-born author who, with a few others, gave friendly aid but no encouragement to eccentric U.S. writer Delia Salter Bacon’s (1811-59) theory that William Shakespeare’s (1554-1616) plays were written by Francis Bacon (1561-1626) and others. For Bacon’s inconsequential connection with GP, see: Bacon, Delia Salter. Butler, Charles.

HMS Monarch as Funeral Ship

Carnegie, Andrew (1835-1919). 1-Industrialist-Philanthropist. Andrew Carnegie was the Scottish-born immigrant to Pittsburgh, Penn., who rose from cotton mill bobbin boy, to telegrapher, to Penn. Railroad superintendent, to iron manufacturer, to steel magnate of what became the U.S. Steel Corporation. His various funds and foundations totaled over $350 million, including his well known Carnegie library buildings. His 1889 essay, “The Gospel of Wealth,” urged the rich to use their wealth for public good.

Carnegie, Andrew. 2-1869 Connection with GP. In his Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie, 1933, he recalled reading of the launching of Britain’s largest warship HMS Monarch, publicized in some jingoistic British newspapers as able to level a U.S. port city. Soon after, reading that GP had died in London (Nov. 4, 1869) and that GP’s will required burial in Mass., he telegraphed British cabinet member John Bright (1811-99): “First and best service for Monarch, bringing home the body of Peabody.” “Strange to say,” he wrote, “this was done, and thus the Monarch became the messenger of peace, not of destruction.” Ref.: Carnegie, p. 270. See: Bright, John. Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Carnegie, Andrew. 3-1913 Connection with GPCFT. PCofVU historian Sherman Dorn described how former U.S. Pres. William Howard Taft (1857-1930, 27th U.S. Pres. during 1909-13) wrote to Andrew Carnegie for funds for GPCFT. Historian Dorn wrote: “In a letter of 15 May 1913, former president William Taft wrote to industrialist philanthropist [Andrew] Carnegie that he should support Peabody College to help supply competent teachers for Southern schools: ‘I doubt if you could do anything that would so help the white people of the south in an educational way as to contribute this last $200,000′ of the campaign.” Carnegie did not respond but others contributed`. Ref.: Dorn, p. 17. See: persons named. PCofVU.

Oxford Honorary Degree

Carroll, Lewis (1832-98). 1-GP’s Oxford Honorary Degree, 1867. Lewis Carroll was the pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1864. He was born in Daresbury near Warrington, England; graduated from Christ Church College, Oxford (1854); took Anglican Church orders (1861); and taught mathematics at Oxford (1861-81). He was on duty as an Oxford don on Founders’ and Benefactors’ Day, June 26, 1867, when Oxford Univ. granted GP an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Ref.: Dodgson, I, p. 261.

Carroll, Lewis. 2-Journal Entry. In his journal entry that day (June 26) Dodgson recorded: “I was introduced to the hero of the day, Mr. Peabody.” Background: Dr. Henry Longueville Mansel (1820-71) of Oxford’s Christ Church College wrote asking GP if he would accept an Oxford honorary degree. GP accepted by letter on June 5, 1867. The ceremony was held during Oxford’s Encaenia, combining commencement with the celebration of spring, occasioned by readings, poetry, music, lectures, and a full-dress university parade, reflecting centuries of British tradition. Ref.: Ibid.

Carroll, Lewis. 3-Sheldonian Theatre. The honorary degree ceremony was held in the Sheldonian Theatre. Undergraduates, exerting their traditional right of banter, called aloud the names of dignitaries whom they either cheered or hissed. They cheered Lord Derby, groaned at MP John Bright (1811-99), both cheered and hissed PM William E. Gladstone (1809-98), and acclaimed PM Benjamin Disraeli (1804-81). Ref.: Ibid.

Carroll, Lewis. 4-”The lion of the day.” GP was one of six individuals granted an honorary degree that day. When GP’s name was called and he stood up, undergraduates applauded him, waved their caps, and beat the arms of their chairs with the flat of their hands. Jackson’s Oxford Journal, June 29, 1867, recorded: “The lion of the day was beyond a doubt, Mr. Peabody.” The Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford’s famous assembly hall, was designed in 1669 by Christopher Wren, who was then astronomy professor at Oxford Univ. It was Wren’s first major architectural commission and was named after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Gilbert Sheldon, who commissioned the theater while he was Oxford Univ.’s chancellor. Ref.: Ibid. Jackson’s Oxford Journal, June 29, 1867, p. 5, c. 4-6. See: persons named. Oxford Univ., England. Honors, GP’s.

Baltimore Lady to Whom GP Twice Proposed Marriage

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox) (1799-1880). 1-Alleged Romance. PIB Librarian Frank N. Jones’s (b. 1906) pamphlet, George Peabody and the Peabody Institute, 1965, reported that in 1958 Mrs. Charles Rieman (formerly Elizabeth Taylor Goodwin who married Charles Rieman in 1899) gave the PIB Library an undated manuscript by Baltimore lawyer and philanthropist James Wilson Leakin (1857-1922) entitled “Family Tree of the Knoxes and Their Connections.” In that manuscript an Oct. 17 1902, letter from James Wilson Leakin to Henrietta Cowman on their Knox ancestry told of a romance between GP and Elizabeth (née Knox) Carson, daughter of Samuel and Grace (née Gilmore) Knox of Baltimore. The relevant part of that letter is given below. Ref.: Jones, p. 7. See: Md. Historical Society Reference Librarian Francis P. O’Neill’s Aug. 30, 2001, letter to the authors in which he shared the content of J.W. Leakin’s Oct. 17 1902, letter (Librarian O’Neill’s letter in the authors’ possession).

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 2-GP’s First Proposal (c. 1815-17). Of GP’s first meeting with Elizabeth Carson, his marriage proposal, and her father’s disapproval J.W. Leakin wrote: “…Of the younger daughter [of Rev. Samuel Knox] there is a very romantic story told by the daughter of a lady who was very intimate with her: ‘When she [Elizabeth Carson] was quite a young girl, a clerk in a banking-house addressed her on a walk across the Long Bridge; that clerk’s name was George Peabody. On the return he spoke to her father and he [her father] declined to give his [GP’s] suit any encouragement because he had no means to support her and she afterwards married Mr. Carson, who was a man in a comfortable business, but who failed, leaving her with four or five children.’” Ref.: Ibid.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 3-GP’s Second Proposal (probably Jan. 26 to Feb. 14, 1857). J.W. Leakin’s letter then described GP’s second unsuccessful proposal: “When Mr. Peabody heard that she was a widow, after the lapse of years and the attendant incumbrances which it had brought to her, he came back and again addressed her while she was obliged to work for a living, keeping a boarding house. At that time Mr. Peabody was one of the leading bankers of the world, having a house in New York, London and Washington. Mrs. Carson had the old world idea, of those who are strictly brought up, that there was a great deal of deceitfulness in riches, and the story goes that she spent all night in prayer to know whether or not she ought to accept Mr. Peabody and on the next morning she told him that she felt she could not accept him.” Ref.: Ibid.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 4-Last Meeting (probably Oct. 24-25, 1866). J.W. Leakin’s letter described their third and last meeting: “I remember hearing when I was a very small boy, living with my grandmother who was then a very old lady, that this great-aunt, Mrs. Carson, came to Baltimore and went with my grandmother to a reception which was given Mr. Peabody on the occasion of the opening of the Peabody Institute, which was donated by him to this city, and when Mrs. Carson came onto the stage where he was receiving the people, he left everyone else and advanced to where she was, then an old woman of seventy, and took her in his arms in that public place and said ‘Well, Eliza, is this you?’. Afterwards, he dined with Mr. John W. Garrett, and someone said to him, ‘Mr. Peabody, I hear that you met your old sweetheart today.’ And he said ‘Yes’, but that it was a subject on which he did not care to talk; that he had had a great many successes in his life, but that that was his greatest disappointment.” Ref.: Ibid.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 5-Review: GP’s Circumstances, 1815-17. GP’s father’s death, May 13, 1811, followed by the Newburyport, Mass., fire, May 31, 1811, led GP at 16 (he clerked in his older brother’s store, ruined by the Newburyport fire) to migrate with paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-before 1826) to Georgetown, D.C., where they opened a dry good store on May 15, 1812. As a War of 1812 volunteer, GP at 19 met older (age 35) fellow soldier and experienced Georgetown, D.C., merchant Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853). Riggs in 1814 took GP as junior partner in Riggs & Peabody, which imported dry goods from abroad for sale to U.S. wholesalers. The firm moved to Baltimore in 1815. See: Great Fire of Newburyport, Mass.(May 31, 1811). Georgetown, D.C. Newburyport, Mass. Riggs, Sr., Elisha.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 6- Review: GP’s Circumstances, 1815-17 (Cont’d). Early in GP’s 22 years in Baltimore (1815-37), after which he moved permanently to London, he supported his mother and younger siblings, paid his deceased father’s debts, paid the mortgage on the family home (Danvers, Mass.) to restore it to his mother and siblings, and paid for his younger siblings’ schooling at Bradford Academy, Bradford, Mass. See: Bradford Academy, Bradford, Mass. Riggs, Peabody & Co.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 7- Review: GP’s Circumstances, 1815-17 (Cont’d). GP most likely first met Elizabeth Knox during 1815-17. When he asked her father, Samuel Knox, for his daughter’s hand in marriage, Samuel Knox thought GP unsuitable economically. In 1817, Elizabeth Knox at age 18 (GP was then age 22) married George Carson, a Baltimore bank teller. George Carson is believed to have died about 1841, after the birth of the couple’s fourth child. Elizabeth Carson, in reduced circumstances, managed a boarding house, probably with distant relatives as boarders, at 206 West Lombard St., Baltimore Ref.: Jones. Md. Historical Society’s Ref.: Libn. Francis P. O’Neill to authors, Aug. 30, 2001. See: Persons named.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 8-GP’s Circumstances, 1857. GP in London from 1837 as head of George Peabody & Co., was a rising broker-banker dealing with American securities In 1838, when he was age 42, he met, fell in love with, and was engaged to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905). Strikingly beautiful and unusually mature at age 19, she was in London for Queen Victoria’s coronation (June 28, 1838). In 1839, having returned to the U.S., she rekindled an earlier love with Alexander Lardner (1808-48) and broke her engagement to GP. She married Alexander Lardner on Oct. 2, 1840. Her portrait by artist Thomas Sully (1783-1872) in NYC’s Frick Art Reference Library shows her in all her beauty. See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth. Sully, Thomas. Lardner, Alexander.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 9- Review: GP’s Circumstances, 1857 (Cont’d). GP was intensely busy during his first U.S. visit (Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19,1857) after nearly 20 years abroad. He added funds to his Peabody Institute Libraries in North and South Danvers, Mass., and was mainly concerned to establish the PIB. He was in Baltimore Jan. 26 to Feb. 14, 1857, during which receptions were held for him by the Md. Historical Society (Jan. 30) and the Md. Institute for the Promotion of Mechanic Arts (Feb. 2).ccccccccc He met with key PIB trustees to plan his Feb. 12, 1857, PIB founding letter. Sometime during Jan. 26 to Feb. 14, 1857, GP, then age 62, made his alleged second marriage proposal to Elizabeth Carson, then 58, when she was a widow in poor circumstances managing a boarding house in Baltimore. The Jones account is that she declined, saying that people would believe she had married GP solely for his money. Ref.: Ibid.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 10-GP’s Sister on his Baltimore Receptions. GP’s sister, Mrs. Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell Daniels (1799-1879), through whom he dispensed family funds, wrote him from Mass. (on Feb. 19, 1857) that the Md. Institute reception (Feb. 2) must have touched him deeply. Among the young ladies he had saluted so “heartily” in Baltimore that night, she teased, “may have been the daughter of…the beautiful [girl] whom as you remarked one day you would have married, if you had been ’silly enough!’” It was a teasing remark with more than a touch of pity. Ref.: Mrs. Judith (née Peabody) Russell, Georgetown, Mass., to GP, Feb. 19, 1857, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 11-GP’s Sister on His Baltimore Receptions (Cont’d). Judith added, referring indirectly to his 1852 philanthropic motto: “Education: a debt due from present to future generations” (her underlining): “What…results of good, not only to your contemporaries but to ‘future generations,’ were pending on that one act of self-denial, practiced by you in the days of youthful romance. Even at this late day, I have given a tear of sympathy for what may be presumed to have been your feelings, when you made the ‘wise’ decision, and resolved to submit to what you certainly have a right to think a hard lot: and, did I believe that through life you had been less happy, I should most sincerely regret your ‘wisdom’ spite of generations, present and future–myself and posterity included….” “But my dear brother is not desolate although alone. One affection, at least, deeper, stronger, steadier than that of a wife, clinging to him with a firmer tenacity as age creeps on, and which no circumstances can change, follows him through all his wanderings. And for the children…all the children are his children.” See: Daniels, Judith (née Peabody) Russell. Danvers, Mass., Centennial, June 16, 1852.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 12-Comment on Sister Judith’s Letter. Judith’s letter does not identify Elizabeth (née Knox) Carson or Esther Elizabeth Hoppin or another as “…the beautiful [girl] whom as you remarked one day you would have married, if you had been ’silly enough!” Two other ladies were publicly romantically linked to GP in London during 1852-53: Charlotte Manigault Wilcocks (18921-75), niece of U.S. Minister to Britain Joseph Reed Ingersoll (1786-1868), and Elise Tiffany, daughter of Baltimore friend Osmond Capron Tiffany (1794-1851). GP, then age 58, wrote to an intimate friend: “I have now arrived at an age that throws aside all thoughts of marriage [although] I think her [Miss Wilcocks] a very fine woman.” See: Romance and GP. Persons named.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 13-GP’s Circumstances, 1866. On GP’s second busy U.S. visit during May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867, his main concern was to speak at the dedication of the PIB and to found the Peabody Education Fund. In Baltimore he spoke and greeted visitors at the Oct. 25, 1866, PIB dedication, the likely date he allegedly last saw Elizabeth Carson. In Leakin’s words: “…he left everyone else…took her in his arms in that public place and said ‘Well, Eliza, is this you?’” Leakin’s letter stated that Elizabeth Carson, accompanied by his grandmother “came to Baltimore…” Md. Historical Society Ref.: Libn. O’Neill, who found Elizabeth Carson’s death notice in York, Pa. (which was connected by rail with Baltimore), conjectured that she lived there with her daughter and son-in-law D.O. Prince from about the mid 1850s to her death. Ref.: O’Neill See: Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 11-Conclusion. It is doubtful that GP contemplated marriage after 1850. Publicity which accompanied his fame as a philanthropist in the 1860s mounted enormously at his last illness, Nov. 4, 1869, death in London, and unusual transatlantic funeral honors. Some obituary accounts attributed his philanthropic motive as compensation for a lost love. Such stories persisted long after his death. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s. Romance and GP.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 12-Conclusion (Cont’d.). Second PEF administrator J.L.M. Curry’s (1825-1903) 1898 book, A Brief Sketch of George Peabody, printed an undated letter from the daughter of a business friend of GP. She wrote that when her father congratulated GP on his amazing philanthropy (probably on GP’s arrival in NYC, May 1, 1866), GP reportedly replied: “Humphreys, after my disappointment long ago, I determined to devote myself to my fellow-beings, and am carrying out that dedication to my best ability.” See: Curry, Jabez Lamar Monroe.

Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 13-Conclusion (Cont’d.). There is documentation in GP’s papers about Esther Elizabeth Hoppin, Miss Willcocks, and Elise Tiffany but no direct mention of Elizabeth (née Knox) Carson. That alleged romance, which rests on the evidence of J.W. Leakin’s letter, is possible and even likely. A PIB Art Gallery catalog listing of an 1840 portrait of Elizabeth (née Knox) Carson contains the legend: “Lady to whom G. Peabody twice offered his hand.” Ref.: Jones, p. 7. See: persons named. Romance and GP. For location of her portrait, see Ref.: g. Internet, under Peabody Art Collection, Md. State Archives.

Carson, George (d.? 1841). See: Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox), (above).

Broken Engagement

Cass, Lewis (1782-1866). 1-GP’s Engagement “thoroughly discussed.” Lewis Cass was U.S. Minister to France during 1836-42. Amid the vast publicity on GP’s Nov. 4, 1869, death in London and his unprecedented 96-day transatlantic funeral, the story of GP’s broken engagement to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905) appeared in some newspapers. The Providence Journal (R.I., Dec. 22, 1869) printed the following from an anonymous letter writer about the broken engagement: “I well remember, when in London, twenty-eight years ago, hearing all this talked over in a chosen circle of American friends; and also, at a brilliant dinner-party given by General Cass in Versailles, it was thoroughly discussed in all its length and breadth.” See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth.

Cass, Lewis. 2-Career. Lewis Cass was born in Exeter, N.H.; was a lawyer in Zanesville, Ohio; was U.S. marshal for Ohio (1807-12); fought in the War of 1812; was Mich. Territory governor (1813-31); U.S. Secty. of War (1831-36); U.S. Minister to France (1836-42); U.S. Sen. from Mich. (1845-48); and U.S. Secty. of State (1857-60). Ref.: Ibid.

Castle Connell, Limerick, lreland. In June 1867 and in July 1868 GP rented the Castle Connell, Limerick, Ireland, on the Shannon River, where he liked to fish. MP John Bright (1811-89) was his guest on both occasions. GP’s little known unusual gift (amount and date of gift not known) of a stone-based metal railing in front of the Catholic Church, Limerick, Ireland, has carved on it: “THIS RAILING IS THE GIFT OF GEORGE PEABODY ESQ.” See: Bright, John. Ireland.

GP Bicentennial Celebrations (Feb. 18, 1795-1995)

Catto, Rt. Hon. Lord (Sir Stephen Gordon, 1923-), is the former head of the Morgan Grenfell Group banking firm, lineal descendant of George Peabody & Co. (1838-64), who participated in the “Bicentenary Service of Thanksgiving for the Life and Work of George Peabody, 1795-1869,” in London’s Westminster Abbey, Nov. 16, 1995. Lord Catto was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge Univ.; he succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Catto (1936); served with the RAF in WW II; and headed Morgan Grenfell & Co. Ltd. (from 1948) and its successor Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group (1980-87). Ref.: New York Times, July 16, 1995, section XIII-CN, p. 17, c. 1. (Career): Seen Dec. 9, 1999: Internet http://www.knowuk.co.uk See: GP Bicentennial Celebrations (Feb. 18, 1795-1995).

Cazenove, Philip (1798-1880), who paid for British artist Henry William Pickersgill’s (1782-1875) portrait of GP in the Corporation of London’s Guildhall, is listed in Burke’s Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 18th edn. (1965j), Vol. 1, p. 128, as “of Clapham, Founder of the Girls School at Green Lane and of Bolingbrooke Hospital.” Ref.: London Times, April 10, 1866, p. 5, c. 3; and April 11, 1866, p. 5, c. 5. [Cazenove, Philip]. See: Pickersgill, Henry William.

Centennial Celebration, GP’s, 1895. For speeches, messages received, and Queen Victoria’s cablegram, with sources, see: George Peabody Centennial Celebration (Feb. 18, 1795-1895). Victoria, Queen.

Governor of Maine

Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence (1828-1914), governor of Maine, participated in the Jan. 25-Feb. 1, 1870, reception of GP’s remains aboard HMS Monarch, accompanied by the USS Plymouth, in Portland harbor, Maine. Gov. Chamberlain was born in Brewer, Maine; graduated from Bowdoin College (1852) and attended Bangor Theological Seminary; taught at Bowdoin College (1855-62); was a Lt. Col. in the 20th Maine Infantry; won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his defense of Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg (1863); was promoted to brig. gen. in the field by commanding Gen. U.S. Grant (1822-85) in June 1864; was Maine governor (1867-71); president of Bowdoin College (1871-83); and active in railroads and industry. Ref.: Boatner, p. 135. See: Death and funeral, GP’s.

Chamier, Frederick (1796-1870). In his journal U.S. novelist Herman Melville (1819-91) recorded those present, including GP, when in Nov. 1849 he dined at the London home of Weymouth, Mass.-born head of the Baring Brothers banking firm Joshua Bates (1788-1864): “There was a Baron opposite me and a most lovely young girl, a daughter of Captain Chamier, the sea novelist….” See: Melville, Herman.

Chandler, Charles W. (d. Feb. 9, 1882). 1-Married GP’s Niece Julia Adelaide Peabody. Charles W. Chandler was principal of the high school in Zanesville, Muskingum County, Ohio (April 1855-June 1865) and interim school superintendent (Jan. 7, 1862-63). He married GP’s niece Julia Adelaide (née Peabody, b. April 25, 1835) Chandler (see immediately below) on Oct. 16, `1861, recorded in the Court of Common Pleas Probate Division, 401 Main St., Zanesville, Oh. 43701-3567. She was the daughter of GP’s oldest brother David Peabody (1790-1841). Ref.: (High school principal): Everhart, pp. 221-222. (Marriage): Tunis.

Chandler, C.W. 2-Named Executor of GP’s U.S. Estate. In his last will of Sept. 9, 1869, GP named two executors of his U.S. estates: nephew-in-law Charles W. Chandler and nephew Robert Singleton Peabody (1837-1904), son of GP’s sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Daniels (1799-1879). GP left each U.S. executor $5,000 (ƒ1,000). Ref.: Death and Funeral, GP’s, 4. See: Chandler, Julia Adelaide (née Peabody) below. Wills, GP’s.

Favorite Niece

Chandler, Julia Adelaide (née Peabody) (b. April 25, 1835). 1-GP’s Niece. During his first U.S. visit (Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug 19, 1857) after nearly 20 years’ absence as a merchant-banker in London, GP became acquainted with his niece, Julia Adelaide Peabody, then age 21. This daughter of oldest brother David Peabody (1790-1841) became GP’s favorite niece. She lived in Zanesville, Ohio, with her mother, David Peabody’s second wife, Mrs. Phebe (née Reynolds) Peabody, went to finishing school in Philadelphia at uncle GP’s expense, and married Zanesville, Ohio, lawyer Charles W. Chandler (d. 1882), who was an executor of GP’s U.S. estate at GP’s death.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 2-Background. In April 1811 David Peabody, oldest in the family of 8, employed GP, then age 16, as clerk in a dry goods shop David and partner Samuel Swett managed on State St., Newburyport, Mass. GP’s father’s death, May 13, 1811, in debt in Danvers, Mass., plus a devastating fire in Newburyport, May 31, 1811, led GP and paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-before 1826), whose store was burned, to sail from Newburyport, May 4, 1812, to Georgetown, D.C., where they opened a dry goods store, May 15, 1812. See: Riggs, Sr., Elisha.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 3-Brothers Worked for Riggs, Peabody & Co. GP managed the store, his uncle having gone into other enterprises. GP also served briefly in the War of 1812. He met older fellow soldier and experienced merchant Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853), who took GP, then age 19, as junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29), importers of dry goods from abroad for sale to U.S. wholesalers. The firm prospered. When Elisha Riggs, Sr., left the firm in 1829 to become a NYC banker, his place was taken by his nephew, Samuel Riggs (d.1853), in the renamed Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-48). See: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 4-Brothers Worked for Riggs, Peabody & Co. Cont’d. GP’s three brothers occasionally worked for the firm: David Peabody, younger brothers Thomas Peabody (1801-35), and Jeremiah Dodge Peabody (1805-77, who early left the firm to become a farmer in Zanesville, Ohio). Correspondence from family and the firms detailed below indicated that Thomas and to a lesser extent David were improvident, gambled, drank, and were often in debt. Correspondence also indicated that oldest brother David may have been remiss in dealings with GP, but that GP aided financially David’s son by his first wife (mentioned below) and daughter Julia Adelaide by his second wife. See: persons named.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 5-GP Paid for Relatives’ Schooling. On Jan. 20, 1814, in Newburyport, Mass., David Peabody married Sally Caldwell. She died soon after 1815, leaving a son named after his uncle, George Peabody (1815-32). In Nov. 1816 David transferred to GP, now the main family supporter, title to their late father’s mortgaged Danvers, Mass., home. Newburyport lawyer Ebon Mosely wrote to GP Dec. 16, 1816, “I cannot but be pleased with the filial affection which seems to evince you to preserve the estate for a Parent.” By Jan. 1817 GP had paid off his late father’s debts and restored his mother and younger siblings to their Danvers home (they had been forced to live separately with Spofford relatives in Salem, Mass.). Ref.: Ebon Mosley, Newburyport, Mass., to GP, Baltimore, Dec. 16, 1816, Peabody Papers, PEM.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 6-GP Paid for Relatives’ Schooling Cont’d. GP paid for six of his relatives’ schooling at Bradford Academy, Mass., during most of the 1820s, and bought a house for the family in West Bradford. Those who attended Bradford Academy were: 1-youngest born brother Jeremiah Peabody in 1819; 2-fourth born child Judith Dodge Peabody (1799-1879) during 1821-27; 3-seventh born and third of four sisters Mary Gaines Peabody (1807-34) in 1822-23; 4-eighth born and fourth sister Sophronia Phelps Peabody (b.1809) in 1827; 5-young cousin Adolphus William Peabody (b. 1814, paternal uncle John Peabody’s son) during 1827-29; and 6-nephew George Peabody (1815-32, oldest brother David’s son who sadly died of scarlet fever at age 17) in 1827. Ref.: (David Peabody married Sally Caldwell): Vital Records…Newburyport, Mass. …to…1849, Vol. II, p. 360. See: Bradford Academy. Persons named.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 7-Nephew Asked for Aid for College. David’s son named after GP wrote to ask if his uncle would help him financially to attend Yale College. GP, back in London after a 15-month commercial buying trip in Europe, replied positively on May 18, 1831. Perhaps the cultural scenes he briefly glimpsed on his commercial travels induced the following poignant letter that helps explain GP’s later philanthropy.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 8-”Deprived, as I was.” GP wrote his nephew (his underlining): “Deprived, as I was, of the opportunity of obtaining anything more than the most common education, I am well qualified to estimate its value by the disadvantages I labour under in the society [in] which my business and situation in life frequently throws me, and willingly would I now give twenty times the expense attending a good education could I now possess it, but it is now too late for me to learn and I can only do to those who come under my care, as I could have wished circumstances had permitted others to have done by me.” Sadly this nephew died Sept. 24, 1832, in Boston of scarlet fever, his potential unfulfilled. Ref.: GP, London, to nephew George Peabody, May 18, 1831, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 9-Elisha Riggs, Sr. on GP’s Difficult Brothers. In Jan. and Feb. 1827 Elisha Riggs, Sr., then GP’s senior partner, wrote in confidence to GP, then working out of Baltimore for the firm, of serious difficulties with younger brother Thomas Peabody and some irritations from oldest brother David Peabody. “My whole time,” Elisha Riggs, Sr., wrote to GP, “was employed late & early in attending to various business, While I was also much trouble[d] in Mind, as to what course to take with Thomas P[eabody] who I had nearly lost confidence in, and had to be attentive to every thing in the way of business myself, as but little appeared to be done as it should be without my personal attention.” See: Riggs, Sr., Elisha.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 10-Elisha Riggs, Sr. on GP’s Difficult Brothers Cont’d.: “I have caused Thomas to remove from his old boarding place to Mr. Devens where I board. [H]e has been here about three days. [H]e promises to be regular in his habits for the future and is generally in the house of nights in good time–As I often have writing for him to do in my room. I have paid all his debts of borrowed money, taylors, shoe bills, etc., with the exception of about 150$ which he borrowed he says of Brokers & Lotter [lottery, i.e. gambling] men, of which David Peabody was also bound. This I told him I would not pay at present. I keep a strick eye over him as well as my business will allow me to do–And have assured him, that if he ever acted again as he has done, that I would certainly get another Clerk–I have taken great pains and talked with him very carefully as to the consequences of his conduct–he appears penitent and I hope will keep his promise hereafter.” Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 11-Elisha Riggs, Sr. on GP’s Difficult Brothers Cont’d.: “I have acted the part of a good friend toward him in every respect, which he appears to feel and acknowledge. A short time will enable him to see and determine–I understand from Thomas that David is now employed in a lottery office. He is occasionally in the Store….” Riggs ended with: “This letter is written in haste for yourself only, as I have never mentioned to any person except yourself anything about T.P. [Thomas Peabody]. You will therefore destroy this letter….” Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 12-GP’s Mother Ill. Often in financial trouble, David in NYC wrote brother Thomas in Baltimore that he needed money. Thomas replied, Nov. 18, 1828, that he was without a job and could do nothing. Four days later GP sent Thomas $15 which Thomas sent to David. Thomas sought better prospects in South America. He wrote older brother David from Lima, Peru, April 30, 1830, that he was working there as bookkeeper for Alsop, Wetmore & Co.’s agent, that their brother GP was about to sail for England on his second European commercial buying trip (1831-32, 15 months), and that their mother, in poor health, was living with recently married daughter Mary Gaines (née Peabody) Marsh in Lockport, N.Y. On April 30, 1830, Mary wrote David in NYC that their mother was still in poor health, that she had the ague followed by a high intermittent fever. Caleb Marsh (b.1800) also wrote David that mother Peabody was seriously ill and that he did not think she would recover. Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 13-GP’s Mother Died, June 22, 1830. On June 25, 1830, Mary wrote David that their mother had died on June 22, 1830, a month short of her sixtieth year. David forwarded Mary’s letter about their mother’s death to GP by the next ship bound for England. He added to GP, in a postscript to Mary’s letter: “The above I just recd in time to forward by the Canada [ship]–which sails in an hour. I should have gone to Lockport a month since if it had been in my power to have paid the expense of the journey. Yrs. truly, D. Peabody.” Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 14-Thomas Peabody Ill and Unemployed. Thomas Peabody was ill in Lima, Peru; gave up his job there; worked his way back to the U.S. as a ship’s clerk, and lost that job when a new crew was hired. GP was out of the country on a European buying trip when Thomas landed in Baltimore without work. He wrote David in NYC: “George being out of the country my necessity for employment is very great & for the present I would be willing to take up with almost any situation.” Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 15-Thomas Peabody’s Death, 1835. Peabody family letters hint at rather than detail Thomas Peabody’s misdemeanors. He had evidently wronged brother David and begged to be forgiven. Thomas Peabody died April 16, 1835, the day before his thirty-fourth birthday. He had been operating a school and had gone to pay some debts in Buffalo, N.Y. Not having enough money to meet his obligations and overcome with remorse and shame, he died in circumstances not specified in family letters. Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 16-Thomas Peabody’s Death, 1835 Cont’d. GP, then in Europe, had the sad news in an April 20, 1835, letter, from his brother-in-law, Dr. Eldridge Gerry Little, a physician, married to GP’s youngest sister Sophronia Phelps (née Peabody) Little (b.1809). Dr. Little wrote to GP: “It becomes my painful duty to inform you of the death of Thomas. He died in Buffalo on the 16th inst. a victim of his own vices.” Four months later sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell in her Aug. 23, 1835, letter to GP, referred to Thomas as their “poor misguided brother.” She also relayed news that oldest brother David had married again. He met his second wife when he boarded at her home in Brookline, near Boston, Mass. David and his new family moved to Zanesville, Ohio, where youngest brother Jeremiah had settled on a farm. Maybe, Judith added about David, having a wife again might teach him economy. Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 17-GP and Niece Julia, 1856-57. During his 1856-57 U.S. visit GP was busy visiting friends, being honored, fêted, seeing after his institute library in what is now Peabody, Mass., founding a branch library in what is now Danvers, Mass., founding the PIB (Feb. 12, 1857), traveling to see vast changes in the U.S. since his 20-year absence abroad. He was in Zanesville, Ohio, Nov. 1856 with brother Jeremiah’s family and became acquainted with niece Julia Adelaide, age 21. He overcame her mother’s initial doubts about sending Julia to a finishing school in Philadelphia at his expense. Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 18-With Julia in Philadelphia, 1857. GP was in Philadelphia Jan. 10-18, 1857, partly to sit for a portrait in artist James Read Lambdin’s (1807-89) Philadelphia studio, partly to be with niece Julia Adelaide, then attending finishing school in Philadelphia. With GP in Philadelphia was Baltimorean and PIB trustee Charles James Madison Eaton (1808-93). Eaton, an art collector, was keen to visit the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Artist James Read Lambdin, its director, took the group to visit the art gallery. GP preferred to sit and wait while the others toured the gallery. See: Eaton, Charles James Madison.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 19-”Julia will be a solace to your declining years.” On May 20, 1857, sister Judith wrote GP from her home in Georgetown, Mass. She was glad he had taken Julia under his wing, sent her to school in Philadelphia, and had someone to lavish his affections on. She recalled how often Julia’s father David, their deceased brother, had been jobless and in debt, how GP had time and again aided David and all the family. “I trust,” she wrote, “that Julia will be a solace to your declining years, and by her affection, wipe away the remembrance of the wrongs you have received from her father.” Ref.: Mrs. Judith (née Peabody) Russell, Georgetown, Mass., to GP, May 20, 1857, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 20-Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine, April 1857, published an extensive, laudatory account of GP’s life, rise in business, saving Md.’s credit abroad, and philanthropic gifts. The article, reprinted in pamphlet form, was widely circulated. Niece Julia Adelaide had a copy, wrote to tell GP that all her friends said he was quite handsome and that she was making a miniature painting of the GP frontispiece picture. She asked in her letter, “Will ’somebody’ please send me a lock of his hair.” Ref.: Julia Adelaide Peabody, Zanesville, Ohio, to GP, April 30, 1857, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 21-GP & Niece Julia Visit Yale College. In July 1857 GP took Julia with him to New Haven, Conn., to visit Yale College, where nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99), son of GP’s deceased younger sister Mary Gaines (née Peabody) Marsh, was studying science. While there he had a visit from science Prof. Benjamin Silliman, Sr. (1779-1864). Neither man could foresee that nine years later GP would endow Peabody museums at Harvard and Yale Universities. Ref.: “George Peabody-a.”

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 22-Panic of 1857. Having Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) as partner in George Peabody & Co., London, from Oct. 1, 1854, freed GP for his 1856-57 U.S. visit. J.S. Morgan wrote GP frequently about business affairs. On Jan. 30, 1857, Morgan alerted GP to a brewing financial panic: “The drawing upon us for the last two or three mails have been very heavy and the look of our financial business is anything but encouraging for it.” Morgan warned GP again on Feb. 27 and Apr. 9: “These are times when we must keep a sharp lookout. We are in a good position and must keep so.” See: Morgan, Junius Spencer.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 23-Panic of 1857 Cont’d. On April 11 GP’s cousin Joseph Peabody wrote from NYC of a Paris firm (Greene & Co.) “obliged to suspend….” Alarmed, J.S. Morgan wrote GP, April 17, that money was stringent, and the specie of the Bank of England were down to nine million, “the lowest point in ten years.” GP hurriedly left NYC for London on Aug. 19, 1857. He found that hundreds of U.S. and British firms had collapsed, that Lawrence, Stone and Co. of Boston, which owed him a large sum, could not repay him, that Baring Brothers of London were pressing George Peabody & Co. for £150,000 ($750,000) owed them. George Peabody & Co. was in trouble. Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 24-GP to Julia about the Panic. On Nov. 13, 1857, GP wrote of his distress to niece Julia Adelaide Peabody: “This letter I promised to write you has been postponed because of my constant engagements and the unparalleled gloom of the Panic. What will happen, Heaven only knows. Lack of confidence and distrust is universal here and in the United States. I hope my house will weather the storm. I think it will do so even though so many in debt to me cannot pay. If I fail I will bear it like a man. In my conscience I know I never deceived or injured any other human being.” Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 25-GP to Julia about the Panic Cont’d : “It is less than three months since I left you in the United States, prosperous and happy. Now all is gloom and affliction. Nearly all the American houses in Europe have suspended operations and nothing but great strength can save them. It is the loss of credit of my house I fear. In any circumstances, only a small part of my private fortune will be lost. I will have enough for all my required purposes.” GP held this letter for some weeks, determined not to worry his niece and to secure a Bank of England loan. Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 26-Bank of England Loan. Gathering his assets, GP anxiously applied for a $4 million loan from the Bank of England. While the Bank of England considered the loan request, some financiers, seeing an opportunity to force GP out of business, approached GP’s partner J.S. Morgan and said that they would guarantee the loan if George Peabody & Co. ceased business in London. Second PEF administrator Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (1825-1903) later wrote that GP raged like a wounded lion “and told Mr. Morgan to reply that he dared them to cause his failure.” The Bank of England made the loan, enabling GP to satisfy his creditors, and by March 30, 1858, GP was able to repay the Bank of England. On April 16, 1858, GP wrote Washington, D.C., business friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888), “My business is again quite snug. ….Our credit…stands as high as ever before.” Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 27-GP Explained to Julia . GP held the letter to Julia for three weeks and then added: “My very dear Niece,–The three pages enclosed, as you will see from the date were written three weeks ago when I felt…that the credit of my house was in danger…. I thought to myself, Why should I make my good niece unhappy, however so my miserable self? and consequently declined to send the letter, and I am glad that I did not. “A few days after I felt it to be my duty to apply to the banks for a loan of money sufficient to carry my house through the crisis, proposing security for the full amount required, which was four million dollars. It was a severe test to my pride, but after a week spent with the Committees and Directors of the Banks I finally succeeded, and I doubt not that my house is now free from all danger…. Don’t you hold your head less high or your heart worth less than you did before, for your Uncle George had done nothing but what among sensible persons will raise him higher than before.” Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 28-J.S. Morgan Visited Julia, 1858. J.S. Morgan was in the U.S. in late 1858 and went to see GP’s niece Julia in Oct. He wrote to GP on Nov. 2, 1858, that he had seen Julia and “found her all that I had expected from your description…. I am not surprised at your feelings toward her as she seemed a person uncommonly attractive both in mind and person.” GP also wrote his niece Julia in late 1858 that, following attacks of gout in his feet and right hand, he had been to and returned from Vichy, France, where he had taken the mineral water cure under the care of a physician. His illness led him to confide to Julia that when his partnership with J.S. Morgan expired in 1864, or before, he hoped to return to the U.S. and lead a quiet life. Of the Panic of 1857 he wrote: “I am happy also to tell you that although my firm lost some money the business of the year more than made it good, and individually I am now worth much more than I supposed myself when I left the United States and I sincerely feel that what we supposed misfortunes and calamities last year were, so far as regards myself, really ‘blessings in disguise.’” Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 29-Julia in Philadelphia School. Julia, in school in Philadelphia, wrote her mother of parties she had attended at Christmas 1857, of lovely clothes her uncle had approved her buying, that she was going to NYC and then to visit GP’s business friends the Wetmores in R.I., and that she promised her uncle to write regularly to aunt Judith, who was always in touch with GP. Ref.: Ibid.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 30-Julia Married Charles W. Chandler. Julia Adelaide Peabody married Charles W. Chandler (d. Feb. 9, 1882) in Zanesville, Ohio, on Oct. 16, 1861. He was the principal of the high school in Zanesville during April 1855-June 1865, was acting school superintendent, 1862), and was named by GP before his death as one of the U.S. executives of his U.S. estate (the other U.S. executor was GP’s nephew Robert Singleton Peabody [1837-1904]). Ref.: (Julia’s marriage) Tunis. (Chandler as high school principal): Everhart, pp. 221-222.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 31-GP’s 1866-67 Visit. On May 18, 1866, soon after GP’s arrival for his second U.S. visit (May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867), Mrs. George Peabody Russell, wife of GP’s nephew (sister Judith Dodge née Peabody Russell’s son) wrote Julia Adelaide news of their uncle: “He is a very handsome old gentleman looking as they all say much better than when he left here. He seems perfectly happy and never tires of planning for the good of those who are dear to him, as you will know before long.” Ref.: Mrs. George Peabody Russell to Mrs. Julia Adelaide (née Peabody) Chandler, May 18, 1866, Peabody Papers, PEM.

Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 32-Last Visits. On Nov. 2-10, 1866, GP was in Zanesville for a family visit and saw Julia and her family (she then had two children). There were later family gatherings during GP’s third and last U.S. visit, June 8-Sept. 29, 1869. His weakened condition was evident. Saddest of all was the family gathering at his final funeral service in Peabody, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870. Court of Common Pleas Probate Division, 401 Main St., Zanesville, Oh. 43701-3567, has the marriage record of Julia Adelaide Peabody to Charles W. Chandler in 1862 and of Charles W. Chandler’s death on Feb. 9, 1882. See: Chandler, Charles W. (above). Death and Funeral, GP’s. Wills, GP’s.

Chapman, John Lee (1812-80), was the mayor of Baltimore who, with city council members, greeted GP and guests on arrival, Oct. 24, 1866, to attend PIB dedication and opening ceremonies, Oct. 25-26, 1866. GP’s guests included Charles Macalester (1798-1873) of Philadelphia, Capt. Charles H.E. Judkins of the Scotia, GP’s nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909) and wife, nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99), and George Peabody Wetmore (1846-1921) of Newport, R.I. (later R.I. governor, 1885-87, and U.S. senator. 1895-1913); and some PIB trustees. They were taken by carriage to Barnum’s City Hotel as guests of the city (GP had lived at Barnum’s from its opening [about 1836] until his departure for London in Feb. 1837). Ref.: Coyle, pp. 106-115. See: U.S. Visits, 1866-67. Persons named.

Chapple, William Dismore. Author of George Peabody (Salem, Mass.: Peabody Museum, 1948). See: Peabody, George, Biographies.

Charity Commissioners, London. On March 27, 1862, following GP’s letter of March 12, 1862, founding the Peabody Donation Fund (to build and manage model apartments for London’s working poor, $2.5 million total gift), trustee James Emerson Tennent (1791-1869) wrote to GP: “I have returned after spending a very long time with the Commissioners of Charities who enter with the most lively interest into the arrangements for our trust. They tell me that in the whole range of charities of England there is nothing to compare with the disinterestedness and magnitude of your gift.” See: Peabody Homes of London.

Charles St., and Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore. Site chosen for the PIB. For other sites proposed and discussed, see: PIB.

Charleston, S.C. During GP’s Sept. 15, 1856-Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years’ absence in London (since Feb. 1837), he visited Charleston, S.C., March 7, 1857. For details and sources of GP’s March-April 1857 travel itinerary, see: Augusta, Ga.

Chase, Salmon Portland (1808-73), was N.H.-born, a Dartmouth College graduate (1826), U.S. Senator (1849-55), Ohio governor (1855-59), Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s Treasury Secty. (1861-64), and U.S. Chief Justice (from 1864). GP sent S.P. Chase a copy of his Oct. 27, 1851, dinner book (U.S.-British friendship dinner, London, to departing U.S. exhibitors, Great Exhibition of 1851, London, first world’s fair). Chase sent GP a report by Socialist David Dale Owen (1807-60) and a letter introducing the editor of the Washington, D.C., weekly journal National Era. Ref.: Salmon P. Chase to GP, March 17, and April 27, 1853, Peabody Papers, PEM. See: Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair).

Cherbourg, France, is the French seaport on the English Channel where the Confederate CSS Alabama was intercepted (June 14, 1864) and sunk (June 19, 1864) by the Union warship, USS Kearsarge, under Capt. John Ancrum Winslow (1811-73). For details and sources on how the Alabama affected GP’s funeral, see: Alabama Claims.

Chicago Bank One. See: Peabody, George (1795-1869), Critics-18-32.

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. For GP’s part in selling abroad the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. part of Md.’s $8 million bond sale abroad, from 1837, see: Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.

Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, Ill., has New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley’s (1811-72) Aug. 24, 1854, letter asking GP to aid his wife if needed on her trip to Sweden. See: Greeley, Horace.

Childers, Hugh Culling Eardley (1827-96). On Dec. 8, 1869, First Lord of the Admiralty Hugh Culling Eardley Childers boarded HMS Monarch, Portsmouth, England, to inspect preparations in progress to receive GP’s remains. Born and died in London, Childers was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He emigrated to Australia (1850), rose rapidly in the civil service, became a member of the Australian cabinet (1856), and was founder and first vice chancellor, Univ. of Melbourne. He returned to London (1857) as Queen Victoria’s agent general; was elected Liberal MP for Pontefract (1860); was financial secretary, Treasury Dept. (1865-66); was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty in PM W.E. Gladstone’s cabinet (1868-71); was chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster (1872-73); was Gladstone’s Secretary for War (1880-82), Chancellor of the Exchequer (1882), and Home Secretary (retired 1892). Ref.: “Hugh Culling Eardley Childers,” Vol. 5, pp. 502-503. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

PEF Trustee

Childs, George William (1829-94), was elected a PEF trustee to succeed trustee Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826-93) but died before he could take his seat on the board. Childs’s place was taken by George Peabody Wetmore (1846-1921) of Rhode Island. George W. Childs was born in Baltimore, was publisher of the Philadelphia Public Ledger during 1864-94, and as a philanthropist educated over 800 children, gave a Shakespearean memorial fountain to Stratford-on-Avon, a memorial window in Westminster Abbey, and helped establish a home for printers in Colorado Springs. Ref.: Curry-b, p. 105.

Choate, Joseph Hodges (1832-1917), nephew of Rufus Choate (below) was a PEF trustee elected to succeed trustee Hamilton Fish (1809-93). Joseph H. Choate was born in Salem, Mass., was a Harvard Law School graduate (1854), a NYC lawyer who helped expose the Tweed Ring in 1871 and 1894, was U.S. Ambassador to Britain (1899-1905), and the U.S. delegate to the Second Hague Conference (1907). Ref.: Curry-b, p. 107.

Choate, Rufus (1799-1859), uncle of Joseph Hodges Choate (above), was a prominent Mass. lawyer and statesman. He was unable to attend but sent a letter instead extolling the importance on June 16, 1852, of the 100th anniversary of the separation of Danvers from Salem, Mass. This was the occasion when GP, also invited to attend but unable to leave London, had his letter dated London, May 26, 1852, read aloud by boyhood playmate John Waters Proctor (1791-1874). This letter contained GP’s first gift founding his first Peabody Institute Library to which he ultimately gave $217,000. His letter also contained his motto: Education–a debt due from present to future generations. Rufus Choate was born in Ipswich, Mass., graduated from Dartmouth College (1819), began his law practice in Danvers, served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1830-35), had a large Boston law practice, succeeded Daniel Webster (1782-1852) in the U.S. Senate (1841-45), and was a leading orator of the time. See: Danvers, Mass., Centennial Celebration, June. 16, 1852.

Christ Church College, Oxford Univ. Dr. Henry Longueville Mansel (1820-71) of Oxford Univ.’s Christ Church College wrote asking GP if he would accept an honorary degree. GP agreed on June 5, 1867, to accept. For details on the awarding of the honorary Doctor of Laws degree to GP on June 26, 1867, with sources, see: Oxford Univ., England.

Cincinnati, Ohio. During GP’s Sept. 15, 1856-Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years’ absence in London (since Feb. 1837), he visited Cincinnati, Ohio, where he declined a public dinner, met citizens at the Merchants’ Exchange, and received and acknowledged resolutions of praise (April 10, 1857). For details and sources of GP’s March-April 1857 itinerary, see: Augusta, Ga.

Exclusive Clubs

City of London Club. 1-Basis for Anti-Americanism. In 1844 GP was denied membership (blackballed) at London’s Reform Club, although proposed for membership by two members of Parliament. The economic reason for the then anti-U.S. feeling in Britain was that the Panic of 1837 and the severe depression that followed led nine states, including Md., to stop interest payments on their bonds sold abroad. GP had gone to Europe in Feb. 1837, on his fifth business trip abroad, as Md.’s agent to sell the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. part of Md.’s $8 million bond issue. He remained in London the rest of his life (1837-69) moving from dry goods merchant to securities broker to international banker. See: Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.

City of London Club. 2-Basis for Anti-Americanism Cont’d. British and European investors, many retired, their widows and children, were economically hurt and angry at the repudiating states. In this anti-U.S. context, GP was blackballed when proposed for membership in the Reform Club in 1844. Years later when his leadership role in championing resumption of interest payment on U.S. bonds became known, he was accepted without opposition into membership at the Parthenon Club (1848), the City of London Club (1850), and others. Ref.: Ibid. City of London Club, p. 51.

City of London Club. 3-GP’s Leadership Role. GP urged Md. state officials to resume interest payments quickly and retroactively. He also publicly assured British and other European investors that repudiation was temporary, that interest payments would resume, and that they would be retroactive. By 1847 news that Md. and other defaulting states had recovered, had resumed interest payments retroactively, and that GP was partly responsible echoed in financial circles on both sides of the Atlantic. The London correspondent of the New York Courier & Enquirer wrote: “…the energetic influence of the Anti-Repudiators would never have been heard in England had not Mr. George Peabody…made it a part of his duty to give to the holders of the Bonds every information in his power, and to point out…the certainty of Maryland resuming [payment]…. He…had the moral courage to tell his countrymen the [truth]…. [He is] a merchant of high standing…but also an uncompromising denouncer of chicanery in every shape.” Ref.: Ibid.

City of London Club. 4-Taken into Clubs. It was in this glow of publicity that GP was taken into the Parthenon Club (1848) four years after being blackballed at the Reform Club (1844). He proudly wrote to a friend, “This Club [Parthenon] ranks much higher than the Reform.” Election to the City of London Club (1850) was followed by membership in the prestigious Athenaeum Club (Feb. 3, 1863). Under its Rule Two, the Athenaeum annually admitted nine members who were eminent in science, literature, the arts, or public service. GP’s admission came after he established the Peabody Donation Fund (March 12, 1862) which built and managed model apartments for low income London working people (total gift, $2.5 million). Ref.: (Parthenon Club): GP to John Glenn, April 20, 1848, quoted in Hidy, M.E.-c, p. 301. Ref.: (Athenaeum Club): Ward, pp. 195-198.

City of London Club. 5-Other Honors. Other honors that followed from GP’s housing gift included the Freedom of the City of London (July 10, 1862; the first U.S. citizen to accept this honor); membership in two ancient guilds, the Clothworkers’ Company (July 2, 1862) and the Fishmongers’ Company (April 18,1866); and other honors. See: clubs named.

City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest. GP gave $165 to this hospital during 1850-55 (perhaps more but not recorded). Ref.: Parker dissertation, p. 1085.

Civil War (1861-65). See: Civil War and GP (below).

GPAttacked as Confederate Sympathizer

Civil War and GP. 1-Confederate Sympathizer? GP was attacked for alleged Civil War pro-Confederate anti-Union bond sale profiteering. He was also defended as an active Union supporter. This controversy raged from 1861 until well after his Nov. 4, 1869, death. Many European investors, initially uncertain which side would win the Civil War, sold their U.S. securities. European investors did not start buying again until Union victory was assured in 1864.

GP Critic John Bigelow

Civil War and GP. 2-Earliest Charge by John Bigelow. U.S. Consul Gen. in Paris John Bigelow (1817-1911) wrote confidentially to Secty. of State William Henry Seward (1801-72), July 17, 1862, accusing GP of exaggerating Federal reversals in the Civil War in order to cause financial panic and so reap a personal fortune. But John Bigelow did not submit proof. Wallace and Gillespie, editors of U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran’s (1820-86) journal, who mention John Bigelow’s charge against GP, add: “Henry [Brooks] Adams [1838-1918], however in the Education [of Henry Adams] speaks of the loyalty of Peabody and Barings [Baring Brothers banking firm, London].” Ref.: (Bigelow’s charge against GP): Wallace and Gillespie, eds., p. 933, note 16.

Civil War and GP. 3-Career. Born in Malden, N.Y., Bigelow graduated from Union College (1835), was a lawyer, then a journalist, an inspector at Sing Sing, N.Y., prison (1845-46), an editor of the NYC Evening Post (1849-61), U.S. Consul Gen. in Paris (1861-64), U.S. Minister to France (1864-67), Secty. of N.Y. State (1875-77), a leading NYC Public Library trustee, an author and editor of the Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin, 1888. Bigelow’s unsubstantiated charge was repeated through the years. (Note: For doubt cast about Bigelow’s criticism of GP’s loyalty, see: Bigelow, John. “Bigelow, John…” in Ref.:, end of book).

Defense of GP

Civil War and GP. 4-New York Times Defense. Other sources just as adamantly declared GP a Unionist. A writer for the New York Times, May 23, 1861, for example, reported: “Dispatches by the Persia state that the agents of the Rebel Government have explored Europe in vain for money, to be had in exchange for their bonds. Mr. Dudley Mann [Ambrose Dudley Mann, 1801-89, Confederate emissary] had sought an interview with Mr. George Peabody in the hope of negotiating a loan, and had been politely, but firmly repulsed. In no case, had they found their securities marketable at the largest discount they could offer as a temptation.” Ref.: New York Times, May 23, 1861, p. 1, c. 1; quoted in Moore, ed., I, p. 76.

Civil War and GP. 5-New York Times Defense Cont’d. Reports of GP’s alleged southern sympathies surfaced occasionally in the vast publicity at his death and protracted 96-day transatlantic funeral. A writer in the New York Times again sprang to GP’s defense, quoting GP’s explanation made to a group of NYC friends during his May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867 U.S. visit. One of this group said to GP: “I read in a newspaper today an article about you. It said that you sympathized with the South during the war, that you made money by speculating in Confederate bonds. What is the truth of this?” New York Times, Jan 27, 1870, p. 1, c. 5-7.

Civil War and GP. 6-New York Times Defense Cont’d. GP sprang to his feet and said with some emotion: “I have read paragraphs like that too and am utterly at a loss to know how such an impression got about. Nothing I ever said or did during the war justifies this charge. Let me deny the insinuation in the strongest terms. From the beginning throughout I condemned the cause of the South in taking up arms against the government. In adhering to the cause of the North I injured my reputation with some of my friends who advocated the cause of the South.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 7-New York Times Defense Cont’d.: “As for speculating in Confederate bonds, the only money that I made out of the South during the War was made in this way: Agents of the Confederate government called on me and importuned me to use my influence in negotiating a loan for the Confederacy in England. I immediately and peremptorily refused to have anything to do with it, and told them that in my opinion any American ought to be ashamed to have anything to do with an attempt to break up and destroy such Government as they enjoyed. Finding that I would have nothing to do with their bonds, they sought aid elsewhere.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 8-New York Times Defense Cont’d.: “The sympathies of many English capitalists were with them, and they finally succeeded in enlisting four or five men of large means in their scheme, and a meeting was held, at which time they were to close the negotiations for a loan of $75,000,000 to the Confederacy, receiving its bonds therefor at fifty cents on the dollar. Just before the final papers were to be signed one of the capitalists remarked to the company that, before he affixed his signature, he thought he would go down and consult his friend Peabody, and see what he thought of it. Another of the party said he would do the same thing, and they both came to me, told me what had been done, and asked my advice. Said I, ‘Gentlemen, why will you pay 50 cents on the dollar for these bonds, when, by waiting a year, you can get them for 25 or 30 cents on the dollar?’” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 9-New York Times Defense Cont’d.: “‘You do not believe, do you, Mr. Peabody,’ replied one of the gentlemen, ‘That these bonds can be bought a year hence for that price?’ ‘I certainly do,’ I replied; ‘and to prove that I am sincere, I will stipulate to sell you a million dollars worth in one year from today at 25 cents on the dollar.’ “They both then agreed that they would have nothing more to do with the loan, but to show that they had no faith in what I said about the future value of the [Confederate] bonds, they were both anxious to accept my offer, and required me to reduce my stipulation to writing. I did so. The year came round, and Confederate bonds were worth less than even I anticipated. But, gentlemen, I held them to their bargain and received $60,000 from them in fulfillment of it, which was all the money I ever made by speculating on the bonds of the Confederacy.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 10-GP’s Defense in the Boston Courier. In early March 1861 an anonymous letter writer in Boston and NYC newspapers stated that in his opinion Civil War would be good for business. He wrote that if the North compromised with the South it would ruin the national credit. Because some newspapers inferred that the unknown letter writer might be GP, he wrote to the Boston Courier editor, March 8, 1861: “I do not know who wrote this letter. My remarks would be the opposite. The threat of war has already lost the European market for United States securities. Concession and compromise alone would reinstate our credit abroad. I hope conciliation will prove successful. If not and war comes it will destroy the credit of North and South alike in Europe. Worse, our prestige and pride will disappear. Second rate powers may insult our flag with impunity and first rate powers wipe away the Monroe Doctrine. May Providence prevent this.” Ref.: Boston Courier, March 8, 1861; also quoted in New York Herald, March 27, 1861, p. 1, c. 4. For pro-Confederate charge by anonymous writer “S.P.Q.” and defense by Thurlow Weed and others, see: “S.P.Q.” Weed, Thurlow (both below).

GP Critic Benjamin Moran

Civil War and GP. 11-Benjamin Moran. U.S. Legation Secty. Benjamin Moran criticized GP as pro-Confederate in his private journal. This Philadelphia-born printer went to London as a freelance writer, published a travel book (1854), married an English woman in ill health, and worked at the U.S. Legation in London during 1853-75. Moran was aptly described by historian Henry [Brooks] Adams (1838-1918), private secretary to his father, U.S. Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams (1807-86): “On the staff of the American Legation in London was Benjamin Moran, …a man of long experience at the Legation and one who became a sort of dependable workhorse to fill in for any duty that might come up from the changing personnel. He had an exaggerated notion of his importance; he was sensitive to flattery, and easily offended. He kept an extensive diary and while it must be read from the point of view of his character, it throws an interesting light on the Legation scene.” Ref.: Wallace and Gillespie, I, p. 123.

Civil War and GP. 12-Moran’s First GP Entry. Moran’s first entry on GP’s return to London after a Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit: “Monday, 31 Aug (’57)…George Peabody, the puffing American note shaver has returned to London from a tour of self-glorification in the United States. This is the fellow who gives private dinners on the Fourth of July at public taverns to which he invites everyone in a good suit of clothes who will applaud him and then publishes the proceedings, toasts, and all, in the public journals. It is worth noting that he pays his clerks less and works them harder than any other person in London in the same business, and never gave a man a dinner that wanted it. His parties are advertisements, and his course far from benevolent. He never gave away a cent that he didn’t know what its return would be. He has no social position in London and cannot get into good Society. He generally bags the new American Minister for his own purposes and shows him up around the town, if he can, as his puppet to a set of fourth-rate English aristocrats and American tuft-hunters who eat his dinners and laugh at him for his pains.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 13-Moran on Saltpeter Purchase. Moran believed GP had interfered in the purchase for the Union of saltpeter, a gunpowder ingredient. He recorded: “Lammont [Lammot] DuPont [1831-84] came here lately to purchase saltpeter, and had a heavy credit on Barings for the purpose. For prudent reasons he transferred his account to another house, & old Peabody hearing this, & finding it did not come to him, induced Samson [Marmaduke Blake Sampson, d.1876, London Times editor] the Traducer of the U.S., who writes the money articles of The Times to get up a cry against the export of the articles & stop it. This has succeeded, as Gov’t has issued an order in Council on the subject. The saltpeter was a private speculation, but to make powder for our Govt. and this avaricious old rogue Peabody has prevented it leaving the country through spite.” Ref.: (Saltpeter): Ibid., II, p. 918.

Civil War and GP. 14-Moran on Trent Affair. Of the Nov. 8, 1861 Trent Affair (U.S. illegal removal of four Confederates from a British ship), Moran wrote: “George Peabody came in soon after me [with news]…. He had met Dudley Mann [Ambrose Dudley Mann, 1801-89, Confederate emissary to get arms and aid from England] in the street…. Peabody either had been to see Mrs. Slidell [wife of one of the seized Confederates], or was going to see her, and was certain there would be no war [with Britain over the Trent]. His whole manner is that of a hypocrite, and he is carrying water on both shoulders, being determined to stand well on both sides, in any event.” Ref.: (Trent): Ibid., pp. 932-933. See: Moran, Benjamin. Trent Affair.

Civil War and GP. 15-Moran on J.R. Potter and GP. Moran recorded on Dec. 2, 1863: “We have had a visit this morning from John R. Potter [b. 1815], Esq. of Manchester [merchant and former mayor, 1848-50], a warm friend of ours during this great struggle…. He stated he had been in Scotland during the summer and there he met the inflated Mr. George Peabody. Supposing him to be loyal, as a matter of course, he spoke to him freely in favor of the Government; but was astonished to find him luke-warm and faithless to his country. In fact, his sentiments were of that class that are always indulged in by hypocrites in trying times. His tone was denunciatory of the Government and its policy, and had a greater effect in favor of the rebels than a speech of Slidell or Mason would have had.” Ref.: (John Potter): Wallace and Gillespie, eds., II, p. 1241.

Civil War and GP. 16-Moran on GP’s Housing Gift.: “His [GP’s] late hollow gift to the poor of London has made him an authority with English people, and as they know him to be a New England man, his opinions in favor of secession are regarded as just and adopted by many as conclusive. He did much damage to us in Scotland this summer. But he has been a disguised rebel all the way through…. Mr. Potter says he as an Englishman, was placed in the strange position when in Scotland, of being obliged to defend a loyal president of the U.S. and this great war of freedom, against the attacks and misrepresentations of an American from Massachusetts, who while pretending to be a lover of his country, and a patriot, was by his language a confessed traitor and defender of falsehood, treason, slavery, and piracy.…” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 17-Benjamin Moran Cont’d. Moran recorded on Feb. 1864: “Wm. Evans has been up to know whether the U.S. Five-twenty bonds are or are not payable in coin. A great fight has been created by Peabody & Morgan putting into circulation a story in the city that they are not. This is part of the conduct of these hypocrites. Peabody is a rebel and does all in his power to destroy the credit of his country, while Morgan practices treason covertly while openly professing loyalty…. So strong is the hold on American belief, that this man Peabody is loyal that no refutation will shake it, and he therefore goes on and does us ten times more injury than a flat rebel; because his intercourse with loyal men is a strong endorsement in the minds of Englishmen of the truth of his opinions on our affairs.” Moran’s entry for April 1865 recorded: “The famous Geo. Peabody came in and sat an hour talking to me. He is a rebel and don’t conceal it.” Ref.: Ibid., p. 1411.

Change of Name: South Danvers to Peabody, Mass.

Civil War and GP. 18-Name Change, South Danvers to Peabody, March 13, 1868. Pro-Confederate charge and denial arose in a March 1868 petition sent to the South Danvers, Mass., town council to change the town’s name from South Danvers to Peabody, Mass. South Danvers citizens voted their approval which then went to the Mass. legislature in Boston, where the proposal met opposition. The charge was made again in the Mass. legislature–that GP had been pro-Confederate, anti-Union, and a rebel sympathizer in the Civil War. A petition signed by 100 citizens opposed to the change of name was presented at a late March 1868 hearing at the State House, Boston. At the hearing a Mr. H.W. Poole explained that GP was unpopular with some in South Danvers because of his alleged southern sympathies during the rebellion. See: Peabody, Mass.

Civil War and GP. 19-Name Change, South Danvers to Peabody Cont’d. GP was stoutly defended at the hearing, especially by Gen. William Sutton, who said that relatively few in South Danvers objected to the proposed name change. Two years before, the business community particularly wanted a name change. “South Danvers” implied a section of Danvers, when South Danvers was in fact a separate town. Even the U.S. post office had difficulty separating Danvers and South Danvers mail. In fact, “Peabody” was chosen over other suggested names: “Bowditch,” after the locally born famed navigator and mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch (1773-1838); “Antwerp,” because the French spelling of that city in Belgium, “D’Anvers,” was believed to be the original source for “Danvers”; “Brooksby,” the name of the village when first settled in 1626 as part of Salem; “Osborne,” after many of that family in South Danvers; and “Sutton” after a prominent citizen, Gen. William Sutton. Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 20-Second Vote, April 30, 1868. To overcome the impasse in the change of name, the hearings committee proposed a compromise: the State of Mass. would recognize the name change to “Peabody” if there was a second favorable vote by South Danvers citizens. In April 1868, before the town’s second vote, friends of GP issued a handbill which explained: “At a…town meeting, duly called and legally conducted, we voted to change the town’s name to Peabody…. Opponents who failed to defeat it at the ballot box protested…. Rather than have the name change take effect under imputation of ‘trickery, wire pulling, and underhand work,’ we agreed to a second town vote.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 21-Second Vote, April 30, 1868, Cont’d. The pro-GP handbill then explained his financial record in the Civil War: “The charges against Mr. Peabody are unfounded. He never held a dollar of rebel debt nor dealt in rebel bonds. On the contrary over three million dollars of his own money was in United States bonds on which he drew no interest until the war was over. He used his influence to help sell our bonds when we were hard pressed for money and when other bankers in England invested in the Confederate Loan. The success of the rebellion would have shattered his fortune.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 22-2nd Vote, April 30, 1868 Cont’d. Opposition declined. On the second vote, April 30, 1868, of the 625 votes cast, there were 379 yeas, 246 nays, with change of name advocates winning by 133 votes. Thus, the town first called Brooksby (1626), later known as Salem Village, then Danvers (1752-1852), then South Danvers (1852-68), became Peabody, Mass. (from April 13, 1868, by official Mass. records). Ref.: Ibid.

Critic W.L. Garrison

Civil War and GP. 23-W.L. Garrison. Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison’s (1805-79) article, “Mr. Peabody and the South,” NYC’s Independent, Aug. 19, 1869, attacked GP’s patriotism: “During the protracted moral and political struggle for the abolition of slavery in this country…Mr. Peabody was with the South in feeling and sentiment… His leanings were toward the South; not indeed to the extent of disunion, but rather for reunion on terms that would be satisfactory to herself.” Garrison criticized GP on these six points (Garrison’s quotes): 1-GP’s PIB gift (total $1.4 million, 1857-69) was “made to a Maryland institution, at a time when that state was rotten with treason.” 2-GP’s $2 million PEF for aiding public education in the 11 former Confederate states plus W.Va. Garrison criticized the PEF for giving more to white than to black schools, for going along with racially segregated schools, and for not insisting on aiding mixed white and black schools. Ref.: Independent (NYC), Aug. 19, 1869, p. 1, c. 5-7; and Nov. 11, 1869, p. 4, c. 1. Parker, F.-f, pp. 1-20; reprinted Parker, F.-zd, pp. 49-68.

Civil War and GP. 24-W.L. Garrison Cont’d. Garrison’s criticism of GP on six points continued with: 3-GP’s not showing public sorrow at Pres. Lincoln’s assassination: “When the news of the tragical death of President Lincoln reached England…surely Mr. Peabody owed…in some way to bear an emphatic testimony at such a critical period…but no such testimony is on record.” 4-GP, then ill and two months from death, went not to a northern health resort but to a southern mineral spa, White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., “the favorite resort of the elite of rebeldom.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 25-W.L. Garrison Cont’d. 5-GP’s accepting at the Old White Hotel, White Sulphur Springs, resolutions of praise for his PEF. 6-GP’s thanks for these resolutions of praise (Garrison quoted GP as saying: “I shall be glad, if my strength would permit, to speak of my own cordial esteem and regard for the high honor, integrity and heroism of the Southern people!!”) [Garrison’s underlining]. Garrison commented as follows on GP’s response to the resolutions of praise given him in W.Va.: “The record of ‘the Southern people’ is one of lust and blood, of treachery and cruelty, of robbery and oppression, of rebellion and war; and to panegyrize their ‘high honor, integrity, and heroism’ is an insult to the civilized world.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 26-W.L. Garrison Cont’d. Garrison’s last critical article, “Honored Beyond His Deserts,” Independent, Feb. 10, 1870, followed the vast publicity accompanying GP’s Nov. 4, 1869, death in London, 96-day transatlantic funeral, and Feb. 8, 1870, burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Garrison wrote: “The ‘pomp and circumstance’ attending the burial…of the late George Peabody have been…extraordinary…. Mr. Peabody was simply a quiet, plodding, shrewd, and eminently successful man of business, with the strongest conservative tendencies, and ever careful to avoid whatever might interfere with his worldly interests, or subject him…to popular disesteem…. His sympathies …were…with a pro-slavery South [more] than with an anti-slavery North; and he carried his feelings in that direction almost to the verge of the Rebellion*.” Ref.: Ibid. Independent (NYC), Feb. 10, 1870, p. 1, c. 2-3.

GP Critic Charles Wilson Felt

Civil War and GP. 27-Charles Wilson Felt. The asterisk after “Rebellion*” footnoted for corroboration a GP critic, Charles Wilson Felt (1834-?). The footnote* quoting Felt at the bottom of the page read: “Corroborative of this charge, take the testimony of Charles W. Felt, Esq., as given in a letter to the Evening Post, dated Manchester (Eng.), Jan. 8th last [1870]:” (Note: Born Nov. 18, 1834, in Salem, Mass., the son of Ephaim Felt and Eliza [née Ropes], C.W. Felt was an inventor (believed to have been a promoter of railroads in cities and towns [i.e., trolley cars]). Ref.: Ibid. See: Felt, Charles Wilson. Garrison, William Lloyd.

Civil War and GP. 28-Charles Wilson Felt Cont’d. [Felt wrote]: ‘I was in London in October and November, 1861, having a letter of introduction from Edward Everett to Mr. Peabody. I was astonished and mortified to hear Mr. Peabody, in the course of a short conversation, indulge in such expressions as these: [Felt quoted GP as saying to him]: ‘I do not see how it can be settled, unless Mr. [Confederate Pres. Jefferson] Davis gives up what Mr. Lincoln says he is fighting for–the forts the South has taken–and then separate.’ ‘You can’t carry on the war without coming over here for money; and you won’t get a shilling.’ ‘Harriet Beecher Stowe [1811-96, in London, 1852] was over here, but I would not go to see her, though I was invited: and now she writes that this is our war! Such things don’t go down over here.’…[Felt continued]: I made one other call upon him; but I could only regard him as recreant to his country in the time of her greatest need.” [Garrison’s italics]. Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 29-Charles Wilson Felt Cont’d. Felt’s Jan. 8, 1870, letter from Manchester, England, printed in the NYC Evening Post, Jan. 21, 1870, was written to refute Thurlow Weed’s (1797-1882) vindication of GP as a staunch Unionist during the Civil War. Weed’s vindication, printed in the New York Times, Dec. 23, 1869, was confirmed publicly by Ohio Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873) and others. Felt wrote: “I have seen Mr. Weed’s vindication of George Peabody’s course in the Civil War. He acknowledges finding Peabody undecided as late as December, 1861. No loyal American could be doubtful after Fort Sumter, Bull Run, and Front Royal. I don’t doubt that Peabody ran to Minister Adams with news of Federal success at Fort Donelson for he then saw which would be the winning side. He became a friend of the North when he saw it would win.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 30-Garrison and Felt. The title of Garrison’s editorial clearly implied and agreed with what Felt more directly stated: that GP was honored beyond his true merit, that it would have been better if he had remained in the U.S. instead of going to England to die, that GP’s return to England was a bid for notoriety. Ref.: (Charles Wilson Felt refuted Weed’s vindication): C.W. Felt, Manchester, England, to NYC Evening Post editor, Jan. 8, 1870, published in the NYC Evening Post, Jan. 31, 1870. Felt’s letter also in Parker, F.-f, pp. 1-20; reprinted in Parker, F.-zd, pp. 50-68. Ref.: (Weed’s vindication): New York Times, Dec. 23, 1869, p. 2, c. 3-4; reprinted in Weed-a.

Thurlow Weed’s Vindication of GP as Union Supporter

Civil War and GP. 31-Weed’s Vindication. Thurlow Weed’s vindication of GP carried weight because of Weed’s political importance. He was the politically influential owner and editor of the Albany, N.Y. Evening Journal, leading news organ of the old Whig Party and its successor Republican Party. He was a political king maker, having masterminded the election of William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) as ninth U.S. president in 1841, helped get the presidential nomination for Henry Clay (1777-1852) in 1844, and backed Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) as 12th U.S. president during 1849-50. Weed managed William Henry Seward’s (1801-72) political career as N.Y. state legislator, governor, and senator; worked for Seward’s nomination for the presidency in 1860 but backed Abraham Lincoln after Lincoln won the nomination. Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 32-Weed’s Vindication Cont’d. Weed was intimate with GP from 1851, was GP’s early philanthropic advisor, and spoke at length to GP about the Civil War in Dec. 1861 when he and Ohio Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873) were two of Pres. Lincoln’s unofficial emissaries to keep Britain and France neutral in the Civil War. Weed stated that in London in Dec. 1861 he found Britain in a rage over the Trent Affair, the illegal U.S. removal of Confederate emissaries Mason, Slidell, and their male secretaries from the British Trent bound for Liverpool. Britain moved to a war footing and sent 8,000 troops to Canada in case of a U.S.-British war. After leaving U.S. Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams, Weed called on GP and recorded their talk about the Civil War. Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 33-Weed’s Vindication Cont’d. The Weed-GP conversation (condensed from Weed’s “Vindication”): GP: I am surprised and I regret that the United States has become unnecessarily involved in Civil War. Weed: Yes, it is a great calamity but it was forced upon the North. GP: Could not the Federal Government have avoided it? Weed: I would like to explain why the rebellion was both premeditated and inevitable. GP: I would like to hear your views. It will require strong evidence to satisfy me that wise and good men could not have prevented this unnatural war.” Weed described to GP the historical incidents leading to South Carolina’s secession. Weed said (his underlining): “The avowed purpose of prominent statesmen of the Southern states has been to preserve slavery in the Union or to establish a slave confederacy outside of it. South Carolina has held this attitude for forty years. The Missouri Compromise of 1850 attempted to adjust the extension of slavery in the new territories and the South immediately brought into the union three slave states. You will remember the resistance of the slave states to the admission of California with a constitution prohibiting slavery.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 34-Weed’s Vindication Cont’d.: “This was followed by a visit of distinguished Whigs in Congress from Georgia and North Carolina–Stevens [full name not known], [Robert A.] Toombs [1810-85, Ga.], and [Thomas Lanier] Clingman [1812-97, N.C.]–to President [Zachary] Taylor threatening the dissolution of the Union if the rights of the slave states were violated. Mr. Peabody, I passed these gentlemen as they left the White House. I found General Taylor greatly excited by that interview. He told me, Vice-President [Hannibal] Hamlin [1809-91], and a senator from Maine what had occurred ten minutes after the Southern congressmen left him. Nothing, in my opinion, but the fact that General Taylor was himself a Southern gentleman, prevented Civil War then and there.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 35-Weed’s Vindication Cont’d.: “You also recall the Kansas conflict which upset the balance between slave and free states. In 1860 a census of Congress showed conclusively that the Congress favored freedom over slavery. I maintain, Mr. Peabody, that this fact precipitated the rebellion. The evidence for my opinion is that the Democratic party was thwarted in electing a Democratic President by the persistent actions of the slave delegates to the Democratic National Convention of 1860. The Southern Democrats refused to nominate a Union Democrat. By their support of [John Calvin] Breckinridge [1821-75] they intended to gain the election of Lincoln. This was a pretext for rebellion sufficient to draw the Southern people into line with their leaders.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 36-Weed’s Vindication Cont’d.: “Let me say also that a disloyal Secretary of the Navy [?Isaac Toucey, 1796-1869, of Conn.?] sent nearly all our warships to foreign countries in order to leave the North unprepared for the war forced on the government. Let me add, Mr. Peabody, that in 1859-60 a secessionist Secretary of War [John Buchanan Floyd, 1807-63, from Va. and later a Confederate general] transferred large quantities of arms and ammunition from Northern to Southern arsenals. With all this, I admit and still believe, that but for radical men in Washington the rebellion might have been limited. North Carolina and Tennessee, loyal in the beginning, might have been held in the Union.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 37-Weed’s Vindication Cont’d. GP listened; he then spoke with deliberation: “I think now that the Northern side is more in the right than I had thought it was. For several months my talks have been with Americans who presented the question differently. The business years of my life, as you know, were spent in Georgetown, District of Columbia, and in Baltimore. My private sympathies while in England have been against the institution of slavery. But during these many years of excitement on that subject I regarded the extremists of both sides as equally mischievous. This view made me think that extreme men were alike enemies of the Union.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 38-Weed’s Vindication Cont’d. In his “Vindication” Weed explained that London had news, March 5, 1862, of Union victory in Tennessee. Gen. U.S. Grant had taken Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. GP had the news a few hours earlier from his NYC agents and rushed to share it with U.S. Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams and others. Recalling the event, Weed wrote: “I know of no more unerring test of men’s real sentiment and sympathy in a season of war, than their manner of receiving good news…. Tried by this test, Mr. Peabody’s sympathies were loyal, for he voluntarily came out of his way to bring news of an important Union victory; though he never ceased as often as he had occasion to speak on the subject, to deplore the war.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 39-Weed’s Vindication Cont’d. During Nov. 1861, when the above GP-Weed conversation occurred, GP helped Weed meet such British government leaders as 1-Lord Clarence Edward Paget (1811-95), 2-Foreign Secty. John Russell (1792-1878), 3-MP William W. Torrens McCullagh (1813-94) and 4-MP Sir James Emerson Tennent (1791-1869) representing Belfast, Ireland. Weed’s vindication cited above was confirmed by Ohio Episcopal Bishop McIlvaine. Ref.: Charles Pettit McIlvaine to Thurlow Weed, Dec. 24, 1869, quoted in New Haven Daily Palladium (Conn.), Jan. 6, 1870, p. 2, c. 2-3. See: McCullagh, William Torrens.

GP Critic George Francis Train

Civil War and GP. 40-George Francis Train. George Francis Train (1829-1904) was a Boston-born financier of city railway lines who had disappointing experiences introducing street railways in English cities. Pro-Irish, anti-British, and anti-Confederate during the Civil War, he publicly attacked GP after GP’s March 12, 1862, founding of model apartments for London’s working poor (total gift $2.5 million). GP learned of this attack from British friend and Peabody homes trustee James Emerson Tennent’s June 20, 1862, letter. Four months later, GP heard more of Train from his friend and sometime agent Horatio Gates Somerby (1805-72), a Newburyport, Mass-born and London resident genealogist. Somerby, visiting in Boston, wrote GP (Oct. 7, 1862) that the day before at Faneuil Hall, he had listened to anti-Confederate speeches by U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner (1811-74) from Mass. and George Francis Train. Somerby reported that Train, an activist demonstrator, had fought with Boston police and been led handcuffed along State St. and jailed. See: Train, George Francis.

Civil War and GP. 41-George Francis Train Cont’d. After GP’s Nov. 4, 1869, death and during the publicity attending GP’s transatlantic funeral, George Francis Train gave another speech in Boston, generally regarded as ranting and incoherent. He again railed against GP as follows: “I regard the fact of George Peabody’s remains being brought over on a British ship of war [HMS Monarch, accompanied by the USS corvette Plymouth] the greatest insult ever offered to America. George Peabody was a secessionist. The Alabama Claims is still unsettled and American citizens are dying in British prisons.” Train was seen as an eccentric, even by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, who described G.F. Train as “a notorious charlatan who was exciting the mirth of the country by posing as a self-constituted candidate for President.” Ref.: Ibid.

GP’s Defense as Union Supporter

Civil War and GP. 42-GP’s Defense, PIB, 1866. GP carefully explained his Civil War views at the dedication and opening of the PIB, Oct. 25, 1866. In the nine years and eight months since its Feb. 12, 1857, founding, Civil War differences had aggravated disputes over PIB jurisdiction between the PIB trustees and the Md. Historical Society trustees (PIB planner John Pendleton Kennedy originally wanted the Society to be housed in the PIB and to help guide PIB programs). Civil War differences had also aggravated disputes over the building site at Mount Vernon Place and building costs. Split loyalties over the war, southern resentment over radical Republican military rule, and his own misunderstood position on the Civil War were much on GP’s mind when he spoke at the dedication. Ref.: PIB, Founder’s Letters and Papers, 1868, pp. 90-97. New York Times, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 5, c. 1-2.

Civil War and GP. 43-GP’s Defense, PIB, 1866, Cont’d. He said (Oct. 25, 1866): “I have been accused of anti-Union sentiment. Let me say this: my father fought in the American Revolution and I have loved my country since childhood. Born and educated in the North, I have lived twenty years in the South. In a long residence abroad I dealt with Americans from every section. I loved our country as a whole with no preference for East, West, North, or South. I wish publicly to avow that during the war my sympathies were with the Union–that my uniform course tended to assist but never to injure the credit of the Union. At the close of the war three-fourths of my property was invested in United States Government and State securities, and remain so at this time.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 44-GP’s Defense, PIB, 1866, Cont’d.: “When war came I saw no hope for America except in Union victory but I could not, in the passion of war, turn my back on Southern friends. I believed extremists of both sides guilty of fomenting the conflict. Now I am convinced more than ever of the necessity for mutual forbearance and conciliation, of Christian charity and forgiveness, of united effort to bind up the wounds of our nation.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 45-GP’s Defense, PIB, 1866, Cont’d.: He humbly concluded: “To you, therefore, I make probably the last appeal I shall ever make. May not this Institute be a common ground where all may meet, burying former differences and animosities, forgetting past separations and estrangements. May not Baltimore, the birthplace of religious toleration in America, become the star of political tolerance and charity. Will not Maryland, in place of a battleground of opposing parties, become the field where good men may meet to make the future of our country prosperous and glorious, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from our northern to our southern boundary.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 46-GP’s Defense, PIB, 1866, Cont’d.: Blaming himself for jurisdictional disputes between PIB and Md. Historical Society trustees, GP humbly asked the Md. Historical Society as a favor to him to withdraw from PIB management. They acquiesced, harmony returned, and he soon gave a gift of $20,000 for the Md. Historical Society publication fund. Ref.: Ibid.

GP Critic “S.P.Q.”

Civil War and GP. 47-”S.P.Q.,” 1866. The day GP spoke at the PIB dedication and opening (Oct. 25, 1866), an anti-GP letter appeared in several newspapers. The anti-GP writer, who called himself “S.P.Q.,” wrote: “Mr. Peabody goes about from place to place inhaling the incense so many are willing to offer him. While Americans at home gave and did their utmost for their country in wartime, what was Mr. Peabody doing? He was making money, piling up profits, adding to his fortune. And what did he do with his gain?” Ref.: NYC Albion, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 511, c. 1. NYC Evening Post, Oct. 25, 1866, p. 2, c. 2. New York Times, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 5, c. 1-2.

Civil War and GP. 48-”S.P.Q.,” 1866 Cont’d.: “Did he use money made in war against those seeking to destroy this country? Did he raise and clothe a single recruit? Did he give anything to the Sanitary Commission? Did he lend the government any part of his millions? While making up his mind he did something he thought worthier–gave several hundred thousands to the poor of London and got a letter of thanks from the Queen. Many a poor fellow from simple patriotism gave all he had, his life. That man gave more than George Peabody and all his money. He can yet redeem himself by aiding the disabled veterans who deserve his beneficence as much as the poor of London.” Ref.: Ibid.

Defender GP Defender “R.D.P.”

Civil War and GP. 49-”R.D.P.” Defender. A GP defender against “S.P.Q.’s” attack, who signed his letter “R.D.P.,” wrote in the NYC Evening Post, Oct. 26, 1866: “I read with surprise the attack of ‘S.P.Q.’ on George Peabody. Now, in regard to the Sanitary Commission I remember reading in your newspaper of Mr. Peabody’s gifts to that organization [GP gave a total of $10,000 to the U.S. Sanitary Commission to aid the war-wounded]. How could Mr. Peabody send his son to the war when unmarried he had none, or a nephew when no man has that power over his relatives? The intimation that Mr. Peabody made money by speculating on bonds may also be applied to the most patriotic of our bankers. He is not a politician but all who know him know that his patriotism is large and that he loves the whole country. He gives his wealth to public institutions as a permanent source of benefit to all. I am not a personal friend of Mr. Peabody’s but come forward in the name of thousands who recognize the noble disposition of his wealth and say he may well enjoy the applause of those who love such deeds.” Ref.: NYC Evening Post, Oct. 26, 1866, p. 2, c. 4.

New York Times’s GP Defender

Civil War and GP. 50-New York Times Defender. A more detailed defense came from an unknown letter writer in the New York Times, Oct. 27, 1866: “When Lafayette revisited this country in 1825 amid honors and acclaim one voice was raised against him. Now Mr. Peabody returns to bestow his gifts amid heartfelt thanks and one hoarse voice attacks his patriotism. What charges are made? First, that Mr. Peabody seeks the limelight of universal praise. What is the truth of this? Since his return Mr. Peabody has passed his time quietly with relatives in his hometown. He declined, persistently, tenders for public demonstrations. In New York he declined private dinners. The man who refused a title from the Queen of England has avoided what he could of popular demonstration in this country.” Ref.: New York Times, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 5, c. 1-2.

Civil War and GP. 51-New York Times Defender Cont’d.: “The next charge made is that Mr. Peabody deliberately made money at his country’s expense. What is the truth of that? He upheld the credit and character of his country. When Englishmen and Secessionists said our people would not pay taxes, our securities would be repudiated, Mr. Peabody not only repelled the imputations, but proved his confidence in and devotion to the Union by purchasing what they were anxious to sell. If he had bought Confederate bonds, he would not now be rich. If he profited by defending our credit by purchasing Government stock, is that cause for reproach? Did we not all do just that?” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 52-New York Times Defender Cont’d. The same New York Times letter writer then quoted GP’s defense of his position given at the Oct. 25, 1866, PIB dedication and opening, followed by the writer’s answer to “S.P.Q.’s” third charge against GP: “You ask, thirdly, what does Mr. Peabody do with his money? Implying that as a salve to his conscience he gives to charity that which was dishonorably earned. What is the truth of this? His personal expenses have always been frugal. His manner of life and habits have always been commonplace. Since his return to this country Mr. Peabody has given two-and-a-half million dollars to educational philanthropy. This subjects him to half a column of abuse in the Evening Post,” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 53-New York Times Defender Cont’d. The New York Times letter writer concluded with his answer to “S.P.Q.’s” last attack: “Lastly, you say Mr. Peabody can yet retrieve himself by doing for the disabled soldiers and sailors of this country what he has done for the poor of London. How Mr. Peabody will dispose of the rest of his estate will become known later. When he shall have crowned all his former acts of charity for his countrymen will some other ‘S.P.Q.’ impugn his motives and traduce his character?” Ref.: Ibid.

BP Critic Samuel Bowles

Civil War and GP. 54-Samuel Bowles. Owner-editor Samuel Bowles’s (1826-78) editorial in his Springfield [Mass.] Daily Republican, Oct. 27, 1866, agreed with “S.P.Q.’s” attack on GP. Bowles’s anti-GP editorial was damaging because 1-Bowles had made his newspaper (inherited from his father) one of the best in the U.S.; 2-his attack came from GP’s home state of Mass.; and 3-Bowles had a favorable reputation for disclosing Civil War financial corruption. GP’s gifts, Bowles’s editorial began, came from a sense of justice, a feeling of generosity, and a desire to be remembered. Bowles continued: But GP’s business heart was also moved to make amends for the injustice he had done to his country. Bowles wrote: “For all who knew anything on the subject knew very well that he and his partners in London gave us no faith and no help in our struggle for our national existence. They participated in the full to the common English distrust of our cause, and our success, and talked and acted for the South rather than for the Nation.” For origin, details, and sources of Bowles’s charges against GP, see: Bigelow, John.

Civil War and GP. 55-Samuel Bowles Cont’d.: “American-born and American-bred, the financial representatives of America in England, they were thus guilty of a grievous error in judgment, and a grievous weakness of the heart. They swelled the popular feeling of doubt abroad, and speculated upon it. Through no house were so many American securities–railroad, State and national–sent home for sale as by them. No individuals contributed so much to flooding our money markets with the evidences of our debt in Europe, and breaking down their prices and weakening financial confidence in our nationality as George Peabody and Co. and none made more money by the operation.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 56-Samuel Bowles’s Longtime Effect. Although an unknown friend sprang to GP’s defense (New York Times, Oct. 31, 1866, below) in answer to Bowles’s attack, Bowles’s criticism had a harmful long-term effect. Bowles was quoted in Carl Sandburg’s (1878-1967) Pulitzer prize biography, Abraham Lincoln, 1939: “Of the international bankers Peabody & Morgan, sturdy Samuel Bowles said in the Springfield [Mass.] Republican that their agencies in New York and London had induced during the war a flight of capital from America.” Sandburg then quoted Bowles: ‘”They gave us no faith and no help in our struggle for national existence…. No individuals contributed so much to flooding the money markets with evidence of our debts to Europe, and breaking down their prices and weakening financial confidence in our nationality, and none made more money by the operation.’” See: Bowles, Samuel. Sandburg, Carl.

Civil War and GP. 57-Unsubstantiated Charges Repeated. Thus, John Bigelow made the first unsubstantiated charge in 1862 that GP profited financially by pro-Confederate anti-Union bond sales, a charge repeated by Samuel Bowles in 1866; by Gustavus Myers’ History of the Great American Fortunes, 1910, rev. 1936; by Matthew Josephson’s The Robber Barons, 1934; and by Leland DeWitt Baldwin’s The Stream of American History, 1952–none with proof. See: persons named.

25 Years’ Acquaintance Defends GP

Civil War and GP. 58-Reply to Critic Samuel Bowles. The unknown friend who sprang to GP’s defense against Samuel Bowles’s attack signed his letter in the New York Times, Oct. 31, 1866, “A Twenty-Five Years’ Acquaintance.” This GP “Acquaintance” wrote that Bowles’s accusations in the Springfield Republican were more unjust and injurious than “S.P.Q.’s” lose charges. The allegations were untrue and Bowles was misinformed. GP’s “Acquaintance” wrote: “During six of the gloomiest months of the rebellion I was almost a daily visitor at the Peabody Bank in Old Broad-street, London. It was there the friends of our cause–and only its friends–were to be met with. There we waited and watched for telegraphic intelligence, Mr. Peabody and Mr. Morgan deploring any disaster and rejoicing in every success. I remember particularly how warmly they joined in the celebration of our victory at Fort Donelson. Both Mr. Peabody and Mr. Morgan promoted and facilitated every suggestion of our friends in London, for the promotion of our cause.” Ref.: New York Times, Oct. 31, 1866, p. 4, c. 7.

Civil War and GP. 59-25 Years’ Acquaintance Cont’d: “Messrs. Peabody and Morgan, instead of depreciating American securities and American credit, did all they could to uphold both. The sentiment of England and France was unmistakably against us. Financial ‘distrust’ pervaded the continent. Messrs. Peabody & Co. could not refuse to ’send home’ the securities of their correspondents. Such, indeed, was the ‘distrust’ at home that many of our capitalists sent their money abroad for safekeeping.” The writer continued: “If the charges of the Springfield Republican were true, Peabody & Co. would have taken the ‘Confederate loan,’ and have been losers thereby. How, if ‘they shared in the English feeling of distrust,’ could they have ‘made millions’ by speculating in Federal securities? If they believed in the success of the rebellion would they have invested their millions in Northern securities?” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 60-25 Years’ Acquaintance Cont’d.: “Men are known by the company they keep,” stated GP’s “Acquaintance,” pointing to Sir James Emerson Tennent [1791-1869] Member of Parliament from Belfast and a British government official] and Sir Henry Holland [1788-1873, British government official], both Unionists. Loyal Americans constantly came to George Peabody & Co. while secessionists went elsewhere, he wrote. “So far, the only individual whom the almoner of millions have wronged, is George Peabody, who has not had his fair share of the vast wealth he is distributing. Indeed, but for the happiness he derived while making his money, in conferring happiness upon others, he would have been without compensation, for he lived frugally, in plain lodgings, without a carriage or a servant.” Ref.: Ibid.

Civil War and GP. 61-25 Years’ Acquaintance Cont’d.: “While, for forty years, Mr. Peabody was habitually liberal with his relatives and his friends, he actually stinted himself. I remember an occasion when Mr. Peabody, quite ill at his lodgings in Cork-street, without an attendant and without the ordinary comforts of a sick room, was maturing his plan for giving away millions. But if Mr. Peabody has been habitually and even severely economical in his personal expenditures, he has been just to his relatives, liberal with his friends, prodigal in his hospitalities, munificent in his charities, and more than princely in his gifts.” (The anonymous “acquaintance of 25 years” may have been N.Y. state political leader and newspaper editor Thurlow Weed [1797-1882]). Ref.: Ibid.

Charge and Counter Charge

Civil War and GP. 62-Charge and Counter Charge. Before Thurlow Weed’s vindication appeared on Dec. 23, 1869, and Charles Wilson Felt’s counter charge appeared on Jan. 21, 1870, a NYC Post journalist who had interviewed GP during the Civil War wrote: “Mr. Peabody was a genuine American. His long residence in London wrought no change in his feelings toward his country. ‘The war might have been, should have been prevented,’ said he to me one day; ‘but the Union is cheap even at this great sacrifice of blood and treasure. Mr. Lincoln erred, at times, in the first part of his administration, and I have spoken against some of his measures:–my so doing has gained for me the reputation of being Southern in feeling. True, I want justice done the South. I want to see the whole country prosperous and happy.’” Thus has charge and counter charge swirled around GP’s course in the Civil War. Ref.: (NYC Post): NYC Post correspondent, quoted in Daily Signal (Zanesville, Ohio), Nov. 24, 1869, p. 2, c.5. See: persons named throughout Civil War and GP (above).

Civil War and GP. 63-Historian William Weisberger’s Conclusion. Historian William Weisberger concluded: “Peabody became involved in the Civil War in several ways. Despite disruptions caused by the war, he encouraged Morgan [Junius Spencer Morgan] to engage in the financing of exports to and imports from both Northern and Southern firms; Robert Garrett & Sons of Baltimore, one of Peabody’s leading accounts for many years, continued during the early 1860s to utilize the services of Peabody & Company to collect bond coupon payments and to purchase and sell British and European currencies. Another aspect of Peabody’s life, which was spent in London during the war, concerned Union and Confederate leaders who looked to the elderly financier for political support.

Civil War and GP. 64- Historian William Weisberger’s Conclusion (Con’td.). “Peabody, who was privately an abolitionist, adopted a stance of nonalignment, for he believed that the war was destroying American political and economic institutions. On the one hand, Peabody continued to provide personal assistance to his friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888) who was a Confederate supporter. One the other hand, Peabody developed cordial relations with Charles Francis, Thurlow Weed, and other Union leaders.” Ref.: Weiberger, pp. 1468-1469.
Civil War and U.S.-British Relations. See: Alabama Claims. Dinners, GP’s, London. Trent Affair.

Mass. Governor William Claflin & GP

Claflin, William (1818-1905), was Mass. governor during 1869-71 when he and his staff attended GP’s funeral service in Peabody, Mass., on Feb. 8, 1870. He was born in Milford, Mass., educated in the public schools and at Brown Univ. He was a merchant in the shoe and leather business in St. Louis, Mo., for many years; settled in Boston, Mass.; served in the Mass. House of Representatives (1849-53); in the Mass. Senate (1860-61); was a member of the Republican National Committee (1864-72); Mass. Lt. Gov. (1866-68); Mass. Gov. (1869-71); Republican member, U.S. House of Representatives (1877-81); Vice Pres. of Boston Univ. (1869-72); and Pres. of Boston Univ. (from 1872). Ref.: Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds., pp. 709-711. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Clarendon, Lord (George William Frederick Villers Clarendon, 1800-70), was British Foreign Secty., mentioned in Benjamin Moran’s journal entry (Nov. 12, 1869) as attending GP’s funeral ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Ref.: Ibid. See: Moran, Benjamin.

Clark, Thomas D. (1903-2005), U.S. historian, wrote of the influence of the PEF: “Since 1867 the Peabody Fund has worked as an educational leaven, and by the beginning of the twentieth century such matters as consolidation, compulsory attendance, teacher training, vocational education and general lifting of Southern standards received ardent editorial support. Especially was this true in the first decade of this century when the famous education publicity crusades were under way.” Ref.: Clark, p. 30. See: PEF.

GPCFT’s Fifth President John M. Claunch

Claunch, John M. (1906-d. Nov. 21, 1990). 1-GPCFT’s Fifth President. John M. Claunch was GPCFT’s fifth president from Aug. 1, 1967 to 1974. Previous presidents: 1-Bruce Ryburn Payne (1874-1937) during 1911-37; 2- Sidney Clarence Garrison (1887-1945) during 1937-44; 3-Henry Harrington Hill (1894-1987) during 1945-60 and interim pres. during 1962-63; and 4-Felix Compton Robb (1914-97) during 1961-66. See persons named.

Claunch, John. 2-Career. Born in Kelly, La., John Claunch graduated from Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College, Nacogdoches, Texas (B.A., 1928), and the Univ. of Texas at Austin (M.A., 1937; Ph.D., 1956). He was a one-term state representative from Scury, Texas; school supt., Wright City, for several years; a WWII Capt., U.S. Army Air Forces, 1942-46, and helped establish an airmen training program, Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio. At Southern Methodist Univ., Dallas, Texas, he was an Instructor in Government, 1938-1942; Asst. Prof. of Government, 1946-54; Director of Dallas College (SMU’s Downtown continuing education branch), 1948-1957; and Prof. of Government, 1956-67. Ref.: Internet Information from SMU Archivist Elizabeth Hinton, Oct. 4, 2000: ehinton@mail.smu.edu. Obit., Dallas, Texas Morning News, Nov. 23, 1990

Claunch, John. 3- GPCFT Retirement. His retirement as GPCFT’s president, announced Aug. 20, 1973, became official June 1, 1974, when he was succeeded by John Dunworth (1924-), GPCFT’s sixth and last president during 1974-79, before amalgamation as PCofVU, Vanderbilt Univ.’s ninth school, since July 1, 1978. Pres. Claunch lived in Nashville for several years before returning to Dallas, where he died Nov. 21, 1990, age 84. Ref.: “Claunch, John.”

Claunch, John. 4-Difficulties at GPCFT. Pres. John Claunch clashed with Director Nicholas Hobbs (1915-83) and other Kennedy Center (created 1965) personnel over research faculty salaries, administrative position support, budgets, research space allocation, and Peabody jobs for Kennedy Center faculty spouses. Peabody-Kennedy Center difficulties remained after Hobbs became Vanderbilt Univ. Provost. Two Center directors asked federal officials to threaten suspension of federal grants unless Peabody’s president cooperated with the Kennedy Center. See: persons named.

Claunch, John. 5- Difficulties at GPCFT Cont’d. PCofVU historian Sherman Dorn wrote that .budget deficits during Claunch’s presidency limited his ability to raise faculty salaries, that he never had the same faculty rapport achieved by Pres. Henry H. Hill, that he “never established himself as a respected administrator of the college, that he several times rebuked faculty initiatives. Ref.: Dorn, p. 73. See: PCofVU, history of, for GPCFT difficulties before merger with Vanderbilt Univ. (July 1, 1978 ) and for PCofVU’s six predecessor colleges and their nineteen chief administrators.

Clay, Henry (1777-1852), was U.S. Secty. of State during 1825-29 when he issued GP’s first passport dated Oct. 22, 1827. See: Wills, GP’s.

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850) dispute, 1853-54. U.S.-British differences over a possible intercontinental canal across Nicaragua or Costa Rica or other part of Central America where both countries had expansionist designs were partially resolved in the 1850 Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. But differences and incidents continued. GP was suggested as U.S. arbiter in the dispute but was rejected by the British, with Baltimorean Reverdy Johnson (1796-1876) chosen. See: Upham, Nathan Gookin.

Cleveland, Grover (1837-1908), 22nd and 24th U.S. Pres., during 1885-89, 1893-97, was PEF trustee during 1885-99, for fourteen years. See: Conkin, Peabody College, index. Presidents, U.S., and GP.

Cleveland, Ohio. On his U.S. visit during Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857, GP was in Zanesville, Ohio, with his youngest brother Jeremiah Peabody’s (1805-77) family, Nov. 1-3, 1856, and then went to Cleveland, Ohio, to visit Episcopal Bishop of Ohio Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873). See: Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Clifford, John Henry (1809-76), was one of the 16 original PEF trustees. He was born in Providence, R.I., was a lawyer in Bedford, Mass., served in the Mass. legislature (1835), was Mass. Atty. General (1849-53 and 1854-58), was Mass. Governor (1853-54); and president of the Mass. Senate (1862). After retirement (1867), he was president of the Boston and Providence Railroad Company and president of the Board of Overseers of Harvard Univ. He was replaced as PEF trustee by Theodore Lyman (1833-97). Ref.: Curry-b, pp. 19, 46, 64, 75. Fuess, II, pp. 215-216.

GP’s First British Honor

Clothworkers’ Co., London. 1-GP’s First British Honor, July 2, 1862. Britons were surprised and grateful for GP’s March 12, 1862, letter founding the Peabody Donation Fund to build model apartments for London’s working poor (total gift $2.5 million, 1862-69). The first honor to GP from his gift came from The Clothworkers’ Co., an esteemed medieval guild, which granted him honorary membership in a ceremony on July 2, 1862. Ref.: Peabody Donation, p. 28. London Times, July 4, 1862, p. 5, c. 5.

Clothworkers’ Co., London. 2-July 2, 1862, Ceremony. That day GP, accompanied by longtime business friend Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85), heard Alderman Sir John Musgrove (1793-1881) of the City of London, move “that the Freedom and Livery of the Company be presented to George Peabody, Esq.” Alderman John Humphery (d. 1863) seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Josiah Wilson (c.1793-1862), The Master of the Company, referred to eminent men on whom the same honor had been earlier bestowed: Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850) and Queen Victoria’s husband Albert of Saxe-Co-burg-Gotha (Prince Albert, 1819-61). Ref.: “Court Orders of The Clothworkers’ Co., London,” July 2, 1862, with confirmation generously sent by Archivist D.E. Wickham, Oct. 12, 1999.

Clothworkers’ Co., London. 3-GP’s First British Honor, July 2, 1862 Cont’d. The Master of the Company then introduced GP and presented him with the Freedom of the ancient guild. After the oath of a Freeman was administered, GP said: “I thank the honorable Company of Clothworkers’. This ancient company is well known in my country. My own countryman and friend, Robert C. Winthrop, is a descendant of a past Master of this Company.” GP then spoke about the progress his trustees were making on building model homes for London’s working poor. GP was escorted through the Great Hall and the building and sat down with many guests for a large banquet. Ref.: Ibid.

Clothworkers’ Co., London. 4-Ancient Guild. The Clothworkers’ Co., an ancient guild, is twelfth in rank among London’s some 80 livery companies. These guilds, first chartered in King Edward III’s (1312-77) reign, originally regulated work conditions, apprenticeship, trade, and membership. Each guild chose their officers who elected the Common Council of the City of London, which in turn elected the mayor, other officials, and members of Parliament for London. Each company chose a “livery” (costume) and distinctive badges. Thus, colorfully attired members have been part of pageants and royal coronations to the present. For details and sources of GP’s even greater honor eight days later, July 10, 1862, being granted the Freedom of the City of London, see: London, Freedom of the City of London to GP. Fishmongers’ Co. Honors, GP’s.
Clubs, London, GP’s . See: City of London Club (above).

Coates, Ezra Jenks, was described by economic historian Muriel Emmie Hidy (b.1906) as a former Bostonian merchant, a close friend of GP, with whom he had business relations going back before 1837. They shared a bachelor’s apartment at 11 Devonshire St., Portland Place, London. Coates headed a London commission firm; had a Liverpool firm involved in trade in corn; and was a partner in Coates, Hillard & Co., a dry goods firm in Manchester, Nottingham, and NYC. Coates, nearly insolvent in 1837 when GP aided him, hid his continued insolvency from GP who aided him again in 1847. Coates’s bankruptcy in 1848 estranged him from GP (and others), who realized that Coates had compromised their friendship by hiding his financial difficulties. Ref.: Hidy, M.E.-c, p. 255.

Cobden, Richard (I804-65), called the “Apostle of Free Trade,” was, along with fellow MP John Bright (1811-99), a friend of GP who favored the North in the U.S. Civil War. He is believed to be the liberal MP who raised funds in 1850 to liberate Hungarian patriot Lajos (Louis) Kossuth (1802-94), imprisoned in Turkey in 1850 by the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. GP, when asked for funds, asked for further information, and then gave £50. Kossuth was freed and was enthusiastically received on a tour of the U.S. in 1851-52. See: Kossuth, Lajos (Louis).

Civil War Irritants Affecting GP

Cockburn, Alexander James Edmund (1802-80). 1-U.S.-British Angers Over Alabama Claims. A.J.E. Cockburn was a British jurist who represented England in settling the Alabama Claims controversy (1871-72) by international tribunal in Geneva, Switzerland. Former Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams (1807-86) represented the U.S. There were three other members from neutral countries. This Geneva tribunal determined that Britain pay the U.S. $15.5 million indemnity for Union losses in ships, lives, and treasure by British-built Confederate ships. Without a navy and with its southern ports blockaded by the North, Confederate agents evaded the blockade, went to England secretly, bought British-built ships, armed them as Confederate raiders, and renamed them Alabama, Florida, Shenandoah, and others. CSS Alabama, the most notorious Confederate raider ship, alone sank 64 Union cargo ships (1862-64). See: Alabama Claims.

Cockburn, A.J.E. 2-Trent Affair. An earlier U.S.-British irritant during the Civil War, the 1861 Trent Affair, was coupled in angers over the Alabama Claims. On the stormy night of Oct. 11, 1861, four Confederates seeking aid and arms in England and France evaded the Union blockade at Charleston, S.C., went by ship to Havana, Cuba, and there boarded the British mail ship Trent for England. On Nov. 8, 1861, the Trent was illegally stopped in the Bahama Channel, West Indies, by the Union USS San Jacinto’s crew. Confederates James Murray Mason (1798-1871, from Va.), John Slidell (1793-1871, from La.), and their male secretaries were forcibly removed, taken to Boston harbor, and jailed. Anticipating war with the U.S., Britain sent 8,000 troops to Canada. But Pres. Lincoln diffused U.S. jingoism, allegedly told his Cabinet, “one war at a time” on Dec. 26, 1861, got them to disavow the unauthorized seizure, and released the Confederate prisoners on Jan. 1, 1862. See: Trent Affair.

Cockburn, A.J.E. 3-British Losses from Cutoff of Southern Cotton. Officially neutral in the U.S. Civil War, British aristocrats sympathized with the U.S. southern aristocracy. British cotton mill owners and their workers were economically hurt by the Union blockade of southern ports which cut off raw cotton needed by British cotton mills. Over half of the 534,000 British cotton mill workers lost their jobs. Fewer than one fourth worked full time. Historian Shelby Foote found that two million British workers lost their jobs in cotton-related industries. Ref.: Ibid.

Cockburn, A.J.E. 4-GP Connection with Alabama Claims. A minor GP connection was that about 1868 he was suggested as an Alabama Claims arbiter but being old and infirm was not chosen. A more important GP connection was his Nov. 4, 1869, death in London while U.S.-British angers flared over the Alabama Claims. When GP’s will became known, requiring burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., British officials, seeking to diffuse U.S. angers and also in sincere appreciation for GP’s philanthropy (particularly his $2.5 million model apartments for London’s working poor), made his 96-day transatlantic funeral unprecedented for a plain American citizen. U.S. officials were hard put to match British funeral honors. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Cockburn, A.J.E. 5-GP Funeral Overview. GP’s unusual funeral in brief: 1-Westminster Abbey funeral service and temporary burial (Nov. 12-Dec. 11, 1869). 2-British cabinet decision (Nov. 10, 1869) to return his remains on HMS Monarch, Britain’s newest and largest warship, for transatlantic funeral voyage. 3-U.S. government decision to send USS Plymouth from Marseilles, France, to accompany HMS Monarch to the U.S. 4-impressive ceremony transferring GP’s remains from Portsmouth dock to the Monarch, specially outfitted as a funeral vessel (Dec. 11, 1869). 5-transatlantic voyage (Dec. 21, 1869-Jan. 25, 1870). See: Alabama Claims. Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Cockburn, A.J.E. 6-GP Funeral Overview Cont’d.: 6-the U.S. Navy’s decision (Jan. 14, 1870) to place Adm. David G. Farragut in command of a U.S. Navy flotilla to meet the Monarch in Portland harbor, Me. (Jan. 25-29, 1870). 7-lying in state in Portland City Hall (Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 1870); special funeral train to Peabody, Mass (Feb. 1, 1870), and lying in state at Peabody Institute Library (Feb. 1-8, 1870). 8-Robert Charles Winthrop’s funeral eulogy at the Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., attended by several governors, mayors, Queen Victoria’s son Prince Arthur, and other notables. 9-final burial at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. (Feb. 8, 1870). Ref.: Ibid.

Cockburn, A.J.E. 7-Motives for GP’s Unusual Funeral. Thus in part did GP’s death and funeral play a part in softening U.S.-British angers over the Alabama Claims and other Civil War differences. Mixed with this motive were admiration for his commercial career, high regard for his philanthropies, and appreciation for his twenty years’ effort to promote U.S.-British friendship. Alexander James Edmund Cockburn studied at Cambridge Univ., was called to the bar (1829), was an MP and a distinguished Parliamentary committee leader, was knighted (1850), became solicitor-general (1851-56), was chief justice of common pleas (1856), and lord chief justice (1859). See: Alabama Claims. Adams, Charles Francis. Death and Funeral, GP’s. Trent Affair.

Collins, Edgar Knight (1802-78). See: Collins Line.

GP’s Lost Va. Bonds

Collins Line. 1-Atlantic Steamship Line. The Collins Line was a transatlantic steamship line financed in part by GP’s former senior partner, Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853), when he was a NYC banker. The line was organized by Edward Knight Collins (1802-78), inaugurated in 1849, and had five steamships (Atlantic, Arctic, Baltic, Pacific, and Adriatic) carrying passengers, freight, and mail between NYC and Liverpool. The Collins Line wrested transatlantic voyage leadership from England’s mail-subsidized Cunard Line, started in 1840 by Canadian Samuel Cunard (1787-1865), knighted in 1859. When Collins secured a U.S. Congressional mail subsidy, U.S. maritime supremacy seemed assured. Ref.: Gordon, “The Atlantic Stakes,” pp. 18, 20. See: Arctic (ship).

Collins Line. 2-Arctic Sunk. On Sept. 27, 1854, the Collins Line steamship Arctic at full speed in the fog collided with the small French vessel Vesta 20 miles off Cape Race, Newfoundland. The Vesta limped to shore but the Arctic sank. Of the 408 aboard, 322 drowned, including Collins’ wife and child. Also lost on the Arctic were Va. bonds then worth $35,000 belonging to GP. After waiting for years for the state of Va. to redeem the lost bonds, GP presented their value with accrued interest in Aug. 1869 as a gift for a mathematics professorship to Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-70), then Washington College president (renamed Washington and Lee Univ., 1871), Lexington, Va. In 1883, the state of Virginia honored the value of these bonds with accrued interest in the amount of $60,000. R.E. Lee’s biographer C.B. Flood thus wryly described GP’s gift of these lost Va. bonds: “It was generosity with a touch of Yankee shrewdness: you Southerners go fight it out among yourselves. If General Lee can’t get [this lost bond money] out of the Virginia legislature, nobody can.” Ref.: Ibid.

Colt, Samuel (1814-1862). Colt’s revolvers were shown at the U.S. pavilion, Great Exhibition of 1851. GP lent U.S. exhibitors $15,000 when the U.S. Congress neglected to appropriate funds to display U.S. industry and art products to advantage. See: Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair).

Commemorative stamp, U.S. A GP U.S. commemorative stamp was unsuccessful in Tenn., 1941, and in Mass., 1993, for his birth bicentennial (Feb. 12, 1795-1995). A GP cancellation stamp was achieved in 1999. See: Honors, GP’s. U.S. Postage Stamp Honoring GP.

Commerell, John Edmund (1829-1901), was captain of HMS Monarch, the British warship which transported GP’s remains from Portsmouth harbor, England, to Portland, Me, Dec. 21, 1869, to Jan. 25, 1870. Capt. John Edmund Commerell was age 40 when he commanded the Monarch’s transatlantic transfer of GP’s remains. He first distinguished himself at age 16 as a midshipman aboard HMS Firebrand. He was one of the first to receive the Victoria Cross, June 26, 1857, during the Crimean War, and attained the rank of captain in 1859 after leading a division of seamen in a landing force in North China. See: Death and funeral, GP’s.

Common Lodging House Act, 1851, was England’s first legislative step to improve workingmen’s housing. See: Peabody Homes of London.

GP at Age 15

Concord, N.H., where GP, then age 15 in the winter of 1810, stopped at Stickney’s Tavern on his return by horseback from visiting his maternal grandparents at Post Mills village near Thetford, Vt. (grandmother Judith Spofford Dodge [1749-1828] and grandfather Jeremiah Dodge [1744-1824]). Among the many news accounts at GP’s death (Nov. 4, 1869) and transatlantic funeral, were several about his 1810 visit to Stickney’s Tavern, Concord, N.H. The landlord had some boys who helped do chores. The story is told that GP played with the boys and helped them saw and split wood. The next day, ready to pay for his lodging and depart, Mr. Stickney declined payment saying that GP had earned his night’s stay. Ref.: Boston Journal, Nov. 5, 1869, p. 4, c. 3-5. Republican and Statesman (Concord, H.H.), Nov. 12, 1869, p. 1, c. 2. Newport Mercury (Newport, R.I.), Nov. 13, 1869, p. 3, c. 1. Independent Democrat (Concord, N.H.), Feb. 10, 1870, p. 2, c. 8. Peabody Press (Peabody, Mass.), Feb. 23, 1870. See: persons and towns named.

Confederate bonds. For GP, Confederate bonds, and the Civil War, with sources, see: Civil War and GP. “S.P.Q.”

GP with R.E. Lee in W.Va., Aug. 15-19, 1869

Confederate Generals. 1-White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Aug. 15-19, 1869. Some former Civil War generals, Union and Confederate, were among those who met, spoke to, and were photographed with GP (Aug. 12), then visiting the mineral springs health spa at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., July 23-Aug. 30, 1869. Gathered there by chance were southern and northern political, military, and educational leaders. These included 1-Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-70, then president, Washington College, Lexington, Va., renamed Washington and Lee Univ., 1871); 2-GP’s Washington, D.C., business friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888); 3-Turkish Minister to the U.S. Edouard Blacque Bey (1824-95); 4-Tenn. Supt. of Public Instruction and later U.S. Commissioner of Education John Eaton (1829-1906); 5-PEF first administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80); 6-Howard College, Ala., Pres. Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (1825-1903), later the second PEF administrator; 7-seven former Civil War generals; and others. See: Peabody, George, Illustrations. Persons named. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Confederate Generals. 2-White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Aug. 15-19, 1869 Cont’d. GP, ill and three months from death, was there to rest and recuperate. But he and Robert E. Lee talked, dined, walked arm in arm, and were publicly applauded. Spurning lucrative offers, Lee became president of a struggling Va. college. GP had just doubled to $2 million his PEF to aid public education in the 11 former Confederate states plus W.Va. Historic photos were taken and informal talks of later educational consequence took place on southern public education needs. Ref.: Ibid.

Confederate Generals. 3-White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Aug. 15-19, 1869 Cont’d. In the main photograph, taken Aug. 12, 1869, the five individuals seated on cane-bottomed chairs were: GP front middle, Robert E. Lee to GP’s right; William Wilson Corcoran to GP’s left; at the right end Ambassador Edouard Blacque Bey; at the left end Richmond, Va., judge and public education advocate James Lyons (1801-82). Standing behind the five seated figures were seven former Civil War generals, their names in dispute until correctly identified in 1935 by Leonard T. Mackall of Savannah, Ga., as follows: from left to right: James Conner (1829-83) of S.C., Martin Witherspoon Gary (1819-73) of S. C., Robert Doak Lilley (1836-86) of Va., P.G.T. Beauregard (1818-93) of La., Alexander Robert Lawton (1818-96) of Ga., Henry Alexander Wise (1806-76) of Va., and Joseph Lancaster Brent (b.1826) of Md. There is also a photo of GP sitting alone and a photo of Lee, GP, and Corcoran sitting together. Ref.: Ibid. See: Persons named.

Confederate Memorial Hall, PCofVU. To make its campus more welcome to people of all races and ethnicity Vanderbilt Univ. (VU) officials announced plans in Sept. 2002 to remove the word “Confederate” carved in stone on a PCofVU dormitory named Confederate Memorial Hall. The cost of the dormitory, built in 1935, included $50,000 donated by the Tenn. branch, United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) so that the dorm would house students descended from Confederate veterans. To stop removal of “Confederate” from the building the UDC in Oct. 2002 sued VU in Davidson County Chancery Court for breach of contract. The county court dismissed the UDC lawsuit. But on appeal, the Tenn. Court of Appeals on May 3, 2005, viewing the case as a breach of contract, said that if “Confederate” was removed UDC would be entitled to the return of its original donation plus interest, amounting to over a million dollars. To put the dispute to rest, VU officials, who for years had referred to the dorm as simply Memorial Hall, said, “It was time to move on,” allowed the stone-carved word “Confederate” to remain. See: PC of VU. Ref.: Tennessean (Nashville), Jan. 6, 2005, pp. 1Ai-2A; Jan. 9, 2005, pp. 18A-19A; Jan. 10, 2005, p. 6A; Jan. 21, 2005, p. 5A; May 17, 2005, p. 11A; http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/04/12/63719571.shtml?Element_ID=63719571

Congress, U.S. On Dec. 21, 1869, the U.S. House of Representatives debated a joint Congressional resolution calling for an official U.S. Navy reception for GP’s remains at the Portland, Me., receiving port. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s. Congressional Gold Medal and Resolutions of Praise to GP (below).

PEF: Praise & Gold Congressional Medal

Congressional Gold Medal and Resolutions of Praise to GP. 1-PEF. GP’s Feb. 7, 1867, letter founding the PEF ($2 million total, 1867-69) was read aloud by PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) in an upper room at Willard’s Hotel, Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 1867, to 10 of the 16 original trustees at their first meeting. This letter received wide favorable press coverage.

Congressional Gold Medal. 2-On Feb. 9, 1867, Pres. Andrew Johnson (1808-75, 17th U.S. president during 1865-69), his secretary, Col. William George Moore (1829-93), and three others, called on GP at his Willard’s Hotel rooms. With GP at the time were PEF trustees Robert Charles Winthrop, Episcopal Bishop of Ohio Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), and former S.C. Gov. William Aiken (1806-87); along with GP’s business friend Samuel Wetmore (1812-85), his wife, and their son; GP’s nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909), George Washington Riggs (1813-81), and three others. Ref.: New York Herald, Feb. l0, 1867, p. 8, c. 1; April 29, 1867, p. 8, c. 2; London Times, Feb. 28, 1867, p. 5, c. 3. Bergeron, ed., p. 23.

Congressional Gold Medal. 3-Pres. Johnson Called on GP. With emotion Pres. Johnson took GP by the hand (GP was age 72 and ill) and said he thought he would find GP alone, that he called simply as a private citizen to thank GP for his PEF gift to aid public education in the South, that he thought the gift would do much to unite the country, that he was glad to have a man like GP representing the U.S. in England. He invited GP to visit him in the White House. Also with emotion, GP thanked Pres. Johnson, said that this meeting was one of the greatest honors of his life, that he knew the president’s political course would be in the country’s best interest, that England from the Queen downward felt goodwill toward the U.S., that he thought in a few years the country would rise above its divisions to become happier and more powerful. Ref.: Ibid.

Congressional Gold Medal. 4-Pres. Johnson Called on GP Cont’d. Pres. Johnson faced hostile radical Republicans in Congress bent on impeaching him for his conciliatory policy toward the former Confederate states. To avoid impeachment, Pres. Johnson’s political advisor, Francis Preston Blair, Sr. (1791-1876), suggested a complete cabinet change with GP as Treasury Secty. and seven others. But loyalty to his cabinet kept Johnson from this course. Ref.: (Proposed reconstituted Johnson cabinet): Francis Preston Blair, Sr., to Pres. Andrew Johnson, Feb. 12 and 24, 1867, Andrew Johnson Papers, Library of Congress Ms.; quoted in part in Bergeron, ed., pp. 22-23. Oberholtzer, I, pp. 469-470. Sioussat, p. 105. Milton, p. 385. Smith, W.E.-a, II, pp. 332-334. Smith, W.E.-b, II, p. 332. For the eight names proposed in the Cabinet reshuffle, see Andrew, John Albion.

Congressional Gold Medal. 5-GP Visited Pres. Johnson at the White House. On April 25, 1867, before his May 1, 1867, return to London, GP called on Pres. Johnson in the Blue Room of the White House and they spoke of the work of the PEF. With GP were John Work Garrett (1820-84, B&O RR president), and the 16-year-old son of Samuel Wetmore. GP told Pres. Johnson of young Wetmore’s interest in being admitted to West Point and Pres. Johnson said he would do what he could for the young man. See: persons named.

Congressional Gold Medal. 6-U.S. Senate, March 5, 1867. U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner (1811-74, R-Mass.) introduced his joint Congressional resolutions on March 5, 1867: “Resolved: that both Houses of Congress present thanks to George Peabody of Massachusetts, for his gift for education for the South and Southeastern states…. Resolved: that the President of the United States have a gold medal struck to be given, along with these resolutions, to Mr. Peabody in the name of the people of the United States.” Ref.: Sumner, Vol. 14, pp. 317-320.

Congressional Gold Medal. 7-Debate. On March 8, 1867, Sen. Sumner spoke for his resolutions: “…Mr. Peabody deserves the thanks of Congress for an act great in itself and great as an example. I recall no instance in history where a private person during his life has bestowed so large a sum in charity…. Mr. Peabody contributes to education in the most distressed part of our country…. It will serve as an example…. This charity is historic. It stands apart. It commands attention.” Raising objections Senators James Wilson Grimes (1816-72, R-Iowa) and Thomas Warren Tipton (1817-99, R-Neb.) asked why the resolutions could not first be looked into by an investigating committee. Ref.: Ibid.

Congressional Gold Medal. 8-GP Defended. Sen. Reverdy Johnson (1796-1876, D-Md.) endorsed the resolutions and defended GP against Senators Grimes and Tipton’s implications that GP was less than loyal to the Union: “I rise because of my intimacy with the subject of the resolution. He [GP] was born in Massachusetts but came to Baltimore early. I found him there in 1817 and was connected with him as attorney to client. I watched his progress and met him in London in 1845 and 1854. He always exerted his influence for the United States; sustained the credit of the states, particularly Maryland. On our national Independence day he brought together Americans and leading Englishmen, preserving good relations between our countries before and through the Civil War…. During the rebellion he was a friend of the Union. He has taken an unprecedented course of educational help to bring back among us the Southern states….” The Senate voted 36 yeas, 2 nays (Senators Grimes and Tipton), with 15 senators absent. Ref.: U.S. Govt.-d, Journal of the U.S. Senate, 1867, pp. 6, 19, 20, 40, 45, 47, 63, and Index 228.

Congressional Gold Medal. 9-U.S. House of Representatives, Mar. 9, 1867. The resolutions were debated in the U.S. House of Representatives on Mar. 9, 1867. Rep. Abner Clark Harding (1807-74, R-Ill.) moved: “To amend the resolution to strike out the gold medal…. I am informed Mr. Peabody made profit from the rebellion which he aided and abetted.” Harding’s amendment failed. The resolutions passed in the U.S. House March 14, 1867, were announced and enrolled in the U.S. Senate March 15, and signed by Pres. Johnson on March 16, 1867. Ref.: U.S. Govt.-c, Congressional Globe…March 4-December 2, 1867, Vol. 89, pp. 28-30, 38-75, 83, 94, 108. New York Times, March 9, 1867, p. 1, c. 5.

Congressional Gold Medal. 10-PEF as a National Gift. Thus in open debate the U.S. Congress recognized GP’s PEF as a national gift. GP and Robert Charles Winthrop both thanked Sen. Charles Sumner for introducing the resolutions. Before returning to London at the end of his 1866-67 U.S. visit, GP was invited for a talk with Pres. Johnson in the White House. Ref.: PEF, Proceedings…Trustees, Vol. 1, p. vi. Ref.: (GP visit to the White House): New York Herald, April 29 and May 1, 1867. Baltimore Sun, April 27, 1867.

Congressional Gold Medal. 11-U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner. Boston-born Charles Sumner graduated from Harvard Law School (1830), lectured there, and spent 1837-40 in Europe. As U.S. Sen. (1851-74) he was an aggressive abolitionist, a radical Republican favoring a harsh Reconstruction program for the former 11 Confederate states, and wanted Pres. Andrew Johnson impeached. On May 22, 1856, Sumner’s antislavery speech in the Senate, “Crime against Kansas,” criticized S.C. Sen. Andrew Pickens Butler (1796-1857) and provoked a near-lethal caning from Butler’s nephew Preston Smith Brooks (1819-1857). Sumner favored the release of Confederate emissaries James Murray Mason (1798-1871), John Slidell (1793-1871), and their male secretaries, seeking European arms and aid, illegally removed by officers of a Union warship from the British mail packet Trent, Nov. 8, 1861, in the West Indies Bahama Channel. Ref.: U.S. Govt. Biographical Directory…Am. Congress. Pierce, IV, p. 323, note 4.

Congressional Gold Medal. 12-Congressional Gold Medal Described. NYC silversmiths and jewelers Starr and Marcus finished the Congressional gold medal for GP in May 1868. It was said to be the most unusual gold medal made in the U.S. to that time. The central piece was a round design three inches in diameter and a half inch thick, on which GP’s left profile, head and shoulders, was carved in relief. The reverse bore the inscription: “The People of the United States to George Peabody, in Acknowledgment of his Beneficent Promotion of Universal Education.” Ref.: Laubat, I, pp. 421-426. New York Times, May 26, 1868, p. 2, c. 2-3; and Jan. 29, 1869, p. 5, c. 5.

Congressional Gold Medal. 13-Congressional Gold Medal Cont’d. The central profile piece was mounted on a base six inches long, three-fourths of an inch thick, and one and one-fourth inches high. Above the base on the left end as GP’s profile faced it were palmetto trees under which were carved the figures of two children, one white, the other black, arms outstretched toward a counterpart carved figure of Benevolence to the right of the center piece. The figure of Benevolence held her left hand pointing to GP while her right hand held a spray of laurel. Ref.: New York Herald, May 29, 1868, p. 3, c. 6; and Jan. 31, 1869. London Times, Aug. 25, 1868, p. 8, c. 4; and Feb. 12, 1869.

Congressional Gold Medal. 14-Congressional Gold Medal Cont’d. On the reverse of the base beneath the center medallion was a globe which revolved. Around the globe were etched books, a map of the U.S., a square, compass, and other instruments representing education and the progress of art and science. On the front of the base beneath the two children was the carved work, “Education.” Beneath the figure of Benevolence was the word “Knowledge.” In the center of the base beneath Peabody’s profile was the American national shield in enamel with a laurel and oak branch on either side coming from the bottom center in a V-shape. The medal was made of gold; the whole was eight inches high, six inches wide, one and one-half inches deep. The Congressional medal was enclosed in a handsome open cabinet of ebony and Birdseye maple lined with purple velvet, and placed on its pedestal so it could be revolved and seen from any position. It had not been struck from dies but had been handmade by tools, was more a piece of artistic statuary than a medal, and was reported to have cost $5,000. Ref.: Ibid.

Congressional Gold Medal. 15-Gold Medal Seen, Washington, D.C. When finished, the gold medal was sent to the Department of State, was seen by Pres. Johnson’s cabinet on May 26,1868, and was exhibited in the U.S. Capitol Building. GP had designated the Peabody Institute Library in Peabody, Mass., as final depository for the gold medal. Ref.: New York Times, May 26, 1868, p.2, c. 2-3.

Congressional Gold Medal. 16-Seen in London, Christmas Day, 1868. Wanting to see it himself in London, GP wrote to Secty. of State William Henry Seward (1801-72) on Sept. 18, 1868: “Knowing the uncertainty of life, particularly at my advanced age, and feeling a great desire of seeing this most valued token my countrymen have been pleased to bestow upon me, I beg…that the medal, with its accompanying documents, may be sent to me here, through our Legation.” Seward replied on Oct. 7 that the gold medal was being sent to GP via U.S. dispatch agent in London, Benjamin Franklin Stevens (1833-1902). The gold medal arrived in London in Nov. 1868. GP, away from London then, saw it for the first time on Christmas Day, 1868. He opened the package before gathered friends who admired the delicate workmanship. See: Stevens, Benjamin Franklin.

Congressional Gold Medal. 17-GP Thanked Secty. of State W.H. Seward. In acknowledging receipt, GP wrote to Seward on Jan. 6, 1869: “…It is not possible for me to feel more grateful than I do for this precious memorial…coming as it does from 30 millions of American citizens through their representatives in Congress, with the full accord and cooperation of the President. This medal, together with the rich illuminated transcript of the Congressional resolution, I shall shortly deposit in the Peabody Institution at the place of my birth.” GP, with a few months to live, made his last trip to the U.S., June 8-Sept. 29, 1869, returned to London gravely ill, and died there Nov. 4, 1869. Ref.: GP, London, to Secty. of State William Henry Seward, Washington, D.C., Sept. 18, 1868, quoted in New York Times, Jan. 29, 1869, p. 5, c. 5; also quoted in Laubat, p. 426. New York Herald, Jan. 31, 1869, p. 4, c. 3. London Times, Feb. 12, 1869, p. 4, c. 6.

W.Va., 1869

Conner, James (1829-83). 1-Met GP, W.Va., 1869. James Conner was a former Confederate general from S.C. who by chance met, talked to, and was photographed with GP, then visiting the mineral springs health spa at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., July 23 to Aug. 30, 1869. Gathered there by chance were key southern and northern political, military, and educational leaders. GP, ill and three months from death, was there to rest and recuperate. He and Robert E. Lee talked, dined, walked arm in arm, were publicly applauded, and photographed with other prominent guests. Informal talks of later educational consequence took place on southern public education needs. For GP in W. Va., leaders he met, and photos taken between Aug. 15-19, 1869, See: Corcoran, William Wilson. Confederate generals. Eaton, John. Lee, Robert E. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Conner, James. 2-Career. James Conner was born in S.C., graduated from S.C. College (1849), became a lawyer and an active secessionist, served in the Civil War in which he lost a leg, became a Brig. Gen., June 1, 1864, and was Attorney Gen. of S.C. in 187. Ref.: Boatner, p. 171.

Cook, George Smith (1819-1902), was a Conn.-born photographer who learned daguerreotype photography in New Orleans (1843-45), went on a five-year photographing trip through the South, settled in Charleston, S.C. (1849), operated Mathew Brady’s (1823-96) photo studio in NYC (1851-52), and had a photo studio in Richmond, Va. (1880-1902). The photos of GP reproduced in the following book may have been taken by George Smith Cook or an associate on or about Aug. 12, 1869, at, W.Va.: Alfred Lawrence Kocher and Howard Dearstyne, Shadows in Silver, a Record of Virginia, 1850-1900, in Contemporary Photographs Taken by George and Huestis Cook with Additions from the Cook Collection (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1954), pp. 189-190. Ref.: Wilson and Ferris, I, pp. 158-159. See: Peabody, George, Illustrations (under Kocher).

Coolidge, (John) Calvin (1872-1933), 30th U.S. president, during 1923-29. See: Presidents, U.S., and GP.

GP-Peter Cooper Connections

Cooper, Peter (1791-1883). 1-GP-Peter Cooper Contact. GP had minor contact with the industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper. Born in NYC and with little formal schooling (like GP), Cooper had a remarkable career. He invented a cloth-shearing machine, manufactured glue, was an iron maker, was the first to roll wrought iron beams for fireproof buildings, was interested in canals, was president of several telegraph companies, and was connected with the laying of the first Atlantic cable (GP was a director of Cyrus West Field’s [1819-92] Atlantic Cable Co.). Peter Cooper founded a free higher education institution in NYC, Cooper Union (1859), and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. presidency in 1876. A minor GP-Peter Cooper connection was at the Oct. 9, 1856, GP celebration in South Danvers, Mass. (renamed Peabody on April 13, 1868). This visit was GP’s first return to the U.S. in nearly 20 years since leaving for London in Feb. 1837. Peter Cooper was among those unable to attend who sent a letter praising GP as an eminent U.S. merchant-banker in London and a promoter of U.S.-British friendship. See: South Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856, GP Celebration.

U.S. Sanitary Commission

Cooper, Peter. 2-Minor GP-Peter Cooper Contact Cont’d. Another GP-Peter Cooper connection had to do with Cooper Union and the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. NYC Unitarian minister Henry Whitney Bellows (1814-82), who helped Peter Cooper found Cooper Union, met with others at that institution to plan how to aid sick and wounded Civil War soldiers, sailors, and their dependents. This meeting led to the founding of the U.S. Sanitary Commission (1861-65), organized by the federal government on June 12, 1861. Donations were made to the U.S. Sanitary Commission at Westminster Palace Hotel, London, winter 1863-64 by GP, his George Peabody & Co. partner, Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), GP’s Vt.-born business friend Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85, who became a naturalized British subject), and others. In May 1864, GP sent $8,000 to the U.S. Sanitary Commission, having previously sent $500 each to U.S. Sanitary Commission fairs in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. GP’s total donation was $10,000. The U.S. Sanitary Commission spent over $5 million in Civil War relief and over $15 million in relief supplies. See: Bellows, Henry Whitney. Civil War. U.S. Sanitary Commission.

N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame

Cooper, Peter. 3-N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame, 1900. GP and Peter Cooper were among the 29 most famous Americans elected to the New York Univ. Hall of Fame in 1900. N.Y.U. Chancellor Henry Mitchell MacCracken (1840-1918) originated the idea of the N.Y.U. Hall of Fame as an educational use for the beautiful 630-foot campus colonnade overlooking the Hudson River. Mrs. Finley J. Shepard’s $100,000 gift made the project possible (she was financier Jay Gould’s [1836-92] daughter, née Helen Gould). The 29 most famous Americans were elected by 97 well known scholar-judges from over 1,000 names submitted by the public. See: Hall of Fame of N.Y.U.

Cooper, Peter. 4-N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame, 1900 Cont’d. Of the 29 elected to the N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame, GP was 16th from the top of the list, or 15th if placed ahead of Henry Clay [1777-1852], with whom GP tied for 16th place. In the businessmen-philanthropists category, GP received 74 votes and Peter Cooper received 69 votes. Of the other 28 most famous names selected, GP had personal contact with Daniel Webster (1782-1852), U.S. Grant (1822-85), Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-82), Washington Irving (1783-1859), S.F.B. Morse (1791-1872), D.G. Farragut (1801-70), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64), Peter Cooper (1791-1883), Robert E. Lee (1807-70), and Asa Gray (1810-88). Ref.: Ibid. See: Persons named.

Cooper, Peter. 5-N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame, 1900 Cont’d. In 1901 a bronze tablet was unveiled in the space allotted to GP with an inscription from his PEF founding letter, Feb. 7, 1867: “Looking forward beyond my stay on earth I see our country becoming richer and more powerful. But to make her prosperity more than superficial, her moral and intellectual development should keep pace with her material growth.” On May 12, 1926, a bust of GP by sculptor Hans Schuler (1874-1952, born in Alsace Lorraine, Germany), was unveiled at his assigned place on University Heights overlooking the Hudson River. John Work Garrett (1872-1942) represented the PIB trustees, grandnephew Murray Peabody Brush (b.1872) unveiled the bust, and GPCFT Pres. Bruce Ryburn Payne (1874-1937) gave the address. Ref.:Ibid. See: MacCracken, Henry Mitchell. Payne, Bruce Ryburn. Schuler, Hans.

Peabody Normal College

Cooper, William F. (1820-1909). 1-Tenn. Judge & Trustee, Univ. of Nashville. Before his 1911 retirement as Peabody Normal College president, former Tenn. Gov. James Davis Porter (1828-1912) told how he helped first PEF administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80) establish the Peabody Normal College on the campus of the Univ. of Nashville: “…I was with Dr. Sears, the first General Agent of [the] Peabody Board in 1875 [PEF], and he said to me, ‘If you will furnish the house I will establish a normal college in Nashville. I am satisfied it is the best place in the South.’ This was within twenty minutes of my inauguration as Governor of the State.”

Cooper, William F. 2-Tenn. Gov. J.D. Porter Cont’d. “I said to him, ‘Meet me here tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock and I will inform you whether I can secure the building for you. I am very anxious to see the school established. Before that hour I interviewed Judge William F. Cooper, Edwin H. Ewing [1809-1902], Edward D. Hicks, III [1831-94] and other members of the Board of Trustees of the University of Nashville and obtained from them consent to establish the college in buildings of the University, and when Dr. Sears called I was able to offer him the most eligible building and the best location of any point in the City of Nashville. He accepted the offer, and in the winter following, the school was organized and entered upon a career of the very greatest success.” See: PCofVU. PEF. Persons Named.

Corcoran, Louise Morris. See: Eustis, Louise Morris (née Corcoran).

Business Friend Wm. W. Corcoran

Corcoran, William Wilson (1798-1888). 1-GP’s Business Friend. William Wilson Corcoran was GP’s business associate and personal friend for over 30 years. Their personal contacts and correspondence are detailed because they cover important aspects of GP’s life. W.W. Corcoran’s Irish-born father migrated to the U.S. in 1783 and settled in Georgetown, D.C., in 1788. W.W. Corcoran was born in Washington, D.C., educated in private schools and attended Georgetown College (now Georgetown Univ.) for one year. In 1815 he went into the dry goods store owned by his two brothers. They established him in the same business in 1817. Although the firm of W.W. Corcoran & Co. failed in 1823, he later reimbursed his creditors. He married Louise Amory Morris, Dec. 23, 1835, daughter of U.S. Naval Commodore Charles Morris (1784-1856), active in the War of 1812. He entered banking in the District of Columbia from 1828 and was increasingly successful, retiring early to devote his remaining years to philanthropy.

Corcoran, W.W. 2-Connection with Riggs and GP. Corcoran formed an important banking firm, Corcoran & Riggs, Washington, D.C. (1840-48), with George Washington Riggs (1813-81), son of Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853). Elisha Riggs, Sr., was the established Md. merchant who saw promise in GP, a young fellow soldier in the War of 1812. GP, age 17, had newly arrived (May 15, 1812) from economically depressed Newburyport, Mass., with his paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-before 1826) to open a dry goods store in Georgetown, D.C. In Riggs’s family sources, GP (then age 19) was Elisha Riggs, Sr.’s (then age 35) “office boy” for a short time, and then junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29). Later in London, in 1838-39, GP took Elisha Riggs, Sr.’s son, George Washington Riggs, under his wing and taught him the mercantile trade and broker-banker business. Elisha Riggs, Sr., who became a NYC banker after 1829, helped finance the banking firm of Corcoran & Riggs. Elisha Riggs, Sr., wrote of Corcoran’s connections: “He [Corcoran] has the friendship of the government offices at Washington which is very desirable.”

Corcoran, W.W. 3-Mexican War Loan. Needing funds to pay for the Mexican War, the U.S. government proposed a $16 million bond sale abroad. In 1848 Corcoran & Riggs bid successfully to sell abroad $14,065,550 of this Second Mexican War loan. This U.S. bond sale abroad enhanced U.S. government credit and was the basis of Corcoran’s fortune. GP in London helped sell part of these bonds. Corcoran retired on April 1, 1854, to manage his properties and his philanthropies. Ref.: (Corcoran’s career): Curry-b, p. 95. Hidy, M.E.-b, p. 8. King, Vol. II, Part 2, pp. 440-441. Riggs, E.F.

Corcoran, W.W. 4-Basis of the Riggs National Bank, Washington, D.C. George Washington Riggs (educated at Round Hill School, Mass., and at Yale College) left Corcoran & Riggs, headed the banking firm of Riggs & Co., Washington, D.C. (1854-81), and was succeeded by his son Elisha Francis Riggs (1851-1910). When Elisha Francis Riggs retired in 1896, Riggs & Co. became the Riggs National Bank on the original site of Corcoran & Riggs, the corner of 15th St. and N.Y. Ave., Washington, D.C. George Washington Riggs, named by GP as one of the 16 original PEF trustees (during 1867-81), was succeeded as PEF trustee by Philadelphia banker Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826-93). A.J. Drexel attributed his founding of Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, in 1891, to his PEF trustee experience. Ref.: Ibid. (For more on the Riggs Bank, said to have been founded in 1836, see under References: Ruane, Michael E., “Checks and Balance Sheets of a City’s History,” Washington Post National Weekly Edition, Vol. 23, No. 40 [July 24-30, 2006], p.34).

Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Corcoran, W.W. 5-Philanthropies. Having amassed considerable wealth, Corcoran, retired since 1854, began constructing the Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1859, whose opening was delayed by the Civil War. Sympathetic with the Confederacy but never actively opposed to the Union, Corcoran lived abroad during 1862-65. He founded the Louise Home in 1869 for “gentlewomen…reduced by misfortune” ($550,000) and saw the Corcoran Art Galley inaugurated Feb. 22, 1872, based on his own art collection (total gift, $1.6 million). Ref.: Ibid.

Corcoran, W.W. 6-Daughter. Corcoran’s only child was a daughter, Louise Morris Corcoran (1838-67). GP, who helped the Corcorans on their European trips with banking needs, travel plans, and cultural entertainment in London, was fond of daughter Louise. She married George Eustice (1828-72), son of the chief justice of La.’s supreme court. Eustice was one of four Confederate envoys sent to seek funds and arms from Britain and France. Louise Morris (née Corcoran) Eustice was on the British ship Trent when her husband and the three other Confederate envoys were illegally removed on Nov. 8, 1861, held in Boston Harbor’s Warren Prison, and released Jan. 1, 1862. Corcoran’s many acquaintances included political and financial leaders of the time. The Trent Affair is described below as it affected GP and Corcoran’s daughter. See: persons named. Trent Affair.

Great Exhibition of 1851, London

Corcoran, W.W. 7-Great Exhibition of 1851, London. GP, in frequent mail contact with Corcoran, wrote him of his loan to the U.S. exhibitors at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (first world’s fair) and of the two Exhibition-connected GP dinners. GP’s social emergence in 1851, along with favorable publicity on his two Exhibition-connected U.S.-British friendship dinners, preceded and likely encouraged his subsequent philanthropic gifts. His first gift was made the next year, June 16, 1852. He founded his first Peabody Institute in his hometown, Danvers, Mass. (renamed South Danvers, 1855, renamed Peabody on April 13, 1868).

Corcoran, W.W. 8-Great Exhibition of 1851, London Cont’d. The first world’s fair, London, 1851 (official name: “The Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, held in London, 1851″) catapulted GP, in a small way, and others to fame. The idea occurred to Henry Cole (1808-82), Society of Art (later Royal Society of Art) member, successful children’s book author, editor of several journals, assistant keeper of the Records Office, and British Post Office reorganizer. He attended the Paris Exposition, 1849, which showed only French industrial products. In London, in talks (June 29, 1849) with Albert of Saxe-Co-burg-Gotha (Prince Albert, 1819-61), Queen Victoria’s husband, and president (1848) of the Society of Art, Henry Cole found royal support for a first world’s fair. Cole later founded the 1-South Kensington Museum, London, and 2-the National Training School, from which came the Royal College of Music, London. Ref.: Gibbs-Smith. Johnson, B.P.

Corcoran, W.W. 9-Early Plans. Backed by Prince Albert, a Royal Commission was appointed (Jan. 3, 1850), approval sought from manufacturers in Britain and other countries, funds were raised, Hyde Park was chosen as the site, and 245 building designs were received. Rejecting these designs and about to choose their own, the Building Committee received from Joseph Paxton (1801-65), the Duke of Devonshire’s superintendent of gardens at Chatsworth, a hastily submitted sketch. Paxton’s sketch of a large, strikingly handsome crystal-like glass structure supported by barrel-like iron transepts appeared in the Illustrated London News, July 6, 1850, winning public favor and Royal Commission approval. Nine months later the majestic Crystal Palace arose on 20 acres of Hyde Park. Ref.: Dalzell.

Corcoran, W.W. 10-Some Critics. A London Times critic wrote: “The whole of Hyde Park and, we will venture to predict, the whole of Kensington Gardens, will be turned into the bivouac of all the vagabonds of London so long as the Exhibition shall continue.” A House of Commons member said: “It is the greatest trash, the greatest fraud, and the greatest imposition ever attempted to be palmed upon the people of this country. The object…is to introduce amongst us foreign stuff of every description…. It is meant to bring down prices in this country, and to pave the way for the establishment of cheap and nasty trash.… All the bad characters at present scattered over the country will be attracted to Hyde Park…. I advise persons residing near the Park to keep a sharp lookout for their silver forks and spoons and servant maids.” Many tree lovers complained about cutting down three giant elms on the site. Paxton roofed them in, giving the building one of its distinguishing features. Later knighted, Paxton was later an MP from Coventry, 1854-65. Ref.: Gibbs-Smith, p. 9.

U.S. Exhibitors & GP

Corcoran, W.W. 11-Early Plans. Invited to participate, U.S. Secty. of State John Middleton Clayton (1796-1856) accepted, delegating authority (March 7, 1850) to the National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Arts, Washington, D.C. State governors were asked to appoint committees to select exhibits and make needed arrangements. U.S. Pres. Millard Fillmore (1800-74) authorized a U.S. Navy ship (U.S. frigate St. Lawrence) to transport U.S. exhibits. Commissioner Charles F. Stansbury (d. 1882) of Washington, D.C., was appointed (without salary) to assemble the exhibits in NYC and place them aboard the St. Lawrence. Commissioner Edward W. Riddle of Boston was appointed (also without salary) to accompany the exhibits, shipped at exhibitors’ expense. The St. Lawrence under Capt. Joshua R. Sands left NYC Feb. 8, 1851, for Southampton. On arrival in Southampton, March 1851, a lack of money brought on a crisis. Ref.: (U.S. exhibitors): Griffis, p. 86.

Lack of Funds

Corcoran, W.W. 12-Crisis: Lack of Funds. Federally sanctioned and largely state managed by hundreds of committee members, U.S. exhibitors’ need for funds in Southampton and London had been neglected. It was a chaotic laissez faire muddle. No one had thought of funds to pay for shipping the crated exhibits from Southampton to London or to pay to decorate the large (40,000-square foot) U.S. exhibit space in the Crystal Palace. The crated U.S. exhibits lay scattered like rubble. Ref.: Ibid.

Corcoran, W.W. 13-Lack of Funds Crisis Cont’d. The U.S. Legation, without funds, the U.S. exhibitors, and the U.S. residents in London were all embarrassed. British ridicule appeared in the satirical Punch: “We could not help…being struck by the glaring contrast between large pretension and little performance…of the large space claimed by…America….What was our astonishment…to find that their contributions to the world’s industry consists…of a few wine-glasses, a square or two of soap, and a pair of salt-cellars! For a calculating people our friends the Americans are thus far terribly out in their calculations.” Ref.: (U.S. exhibitors without funds): Griffis, p. 86. London Times, Jan. 29, 1851, p. 4, c. 4; Feb. 24, 1851, p. 8, c. 6. Punch, quoted in Ffrench, pp. 237-238; also quoted in London Times, May 22, 1851, p. 8, c. 1. NYC Evening Post, July 15, 1851, p. 1, c. 5-6.

Corcoran, W.W. 14-U.S. Exhibitors Ridiculed. The New York Evening Post’s London correspondent criticized U.S. Commissioner Edward W. Riddle: “It is a national disgrace that American wares, which are good, are so barely displayed, so vulgarly and ambitiously spread out over so large a space.” British disdain for brash Americans was reinforced when U.S. locksmith Alfred C. Hobbs (1812-91) walked into a Piccadilly locksmith shop, pointed to a sign offering a reward to anyone opening the firm’s famous lock, picked the lock, claimed the reward, and repeated the performance at another locksmith firm. Without funds, U.S. Minister to Britain Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855) was at a loss. He knew it would take months to get Congress to appropriate funds, if at all. Ref.: (Alfred C. Hobbs): Ffrench, op. cit., pp. 240-241.

GP’s Loan

Corcoran, W.W. 15-GP’s Loan. “The whole affair looked like a disgraceful failure,” a New York Times writer later recorded. “At this juncture Mr. Geo. Peabody, of whom not one exhibitor in twenty had ever heard, and who was personally unknown to every member of the Commission, offered through a polite note addressed to Mr. Lawrence, to advance £3,000 [$15,000] on the personal responsibility of Mr. [Edward W.] Riddle and his secretary, Mr. [Nathaniel Shattwell] Dodge [1810-74]. This loan, afterward [three years later re]paid by Congress, relieved the Commission of its difficulties, and enabled our countrymen to achieve their first success in industrial competition with the artisans and manufacturers of Europe.” Ref.: (GP’s loan): New York Times, Aug. 4, 1869, p. 2, c. 1. “Proceedings of Thirty-third Congress, First Session, House of Representatives, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 1854,” quoted in Washington, D.C., Daily Globe, Aug. 24, 1854, p. 1, c. 6-7. See persons named.

Corcoran, W.W. 16-GP Described, 1851. The New York Times article described GP’s little known status in 1851: “Mr. Peabody was then 57 years old. A large-framed man, six feet in height, slightly stooping at the shoulders, of easy address, retiring in manner, rather reticent of speech, neat in apparel and dignified in bearing–he appeared rather the English gentleman of leisure than an American merchant…. He had realized a considerable fortune even for London.” “Still,” the article explained, “he was not widely known. Mr. [Joshua] Bates [1788-1864], Mr. Sturgis [1805-87], Mr. (later Sir) Curtis M. Lampson [1806-85] and twenty other Americans [in London] had a larger commercial reputation.” Ref.: Ibid.

Corcoran, W.W. 17-Over Six Million Visitors. Partly through GP’s loan over six million visitors to the first world’s fair saw to best advantage U.S. manufactured products and arts. The most talked about were Albert C. Hobbs’s (1812-91) unpickable lock, Samuel Colt’s (1814-62) revolvers, Hiram Powers’ (1805-73) statue, the Greek Slave, Cyrus Hall McCormick’s (1809-84) reapers, Richard Hoe’s (1812-86) printing press, and William Cranch Bond’s (1789-1859) spring governor. The 599 U.S. exhibits won 159 awards, or one award for every four exhibits, a record somewhat better than awards won by British exhibits. Ref.: (GP’s loan to U.S. Exhibitors): Griffis, p. 86. New York Times, Aug. 4, 1869, p. 2, c. 1. U.S. Govt. “Proceedings…33rd Cong., 1st Sess., House of Rep., Tues., Aug. 1, 1854,” quoted in Daily Globe (Washington, D.C., Aug. 24, 1854), p. 1, c. 6-7. See: persons named.

Corcoran, W.W. 18-GP as Genial Host. Despite business affairs, GP hosted many U.S. visitors. He helped get for them tickets to the House of Lords, the opera, and the Botanical Gardens. He urged his Washington, D.C., business friend W.W. Corcoran to come for the exhibit: “I…regret that your business will not permit you to come to London…. I hope you will yet come…. The exhibition is worth coming for… I only regret…I have passed but one hour in it since the first day it opened, although I have a season ticket.” To his former senior partner Elisha Riggs, Sr., GP wrote: “To see the buildings alone is worth a voyage across the Atlantic.” Ref.: GP, London, to W.W. Corcoran, Washington, D.C., May 23, 1851, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress; also quoted in Corcoran, p. 95.

U.S.-British Friendship Dinner, July 4, 1851

Corcoran, W.W. 19-July 4, 1851, Dinner. GP had hosted smaller scale U.S.-British friendship dinners before 1851. His motive in the dinners, as in making the loan to the U.S. exhibitors, was to ease U.S.-British animosities which still rankled over the American Revolution, War of 1812, and the U.S. Maine-New Brunswick, Canada, boundary dispute of 1842. With so many prominent U.S. visitors present, and in the international spirit of the Great Exhibition, GP first thought in June 1851 to host a U.S.-British friendship dinner on July 4, 1851. U.S. visitors would like celebrating Independence Day. Britons might resent it. Would British society attend?

Corcoran, W.W. 20-Minister Lawrence Wary. GP sounded out U.S. Minister Abbott Lawrence, who discreetly asked the opinion of London social leaders. On June 26, 1851, Minister Lawrence found a wary reaction to the idea. In a private and confidential letter he warned GP: “Lady Palmerston was here. She has seen the leading ladies of the town and quoted one as saying the fashionables are tired of balls. I am quite satisfied that the fashionables and aristocracy of London do not wish to attend this Ball. Lady Palmerston says she will attend. I do not under those circumstances desire to tax my friends to meet Mrs. Lawrence and myself–Your party then I think must be confined to the Americans–and those connected with America, and such of the British people as happen to be so situated as to enjoy uniting with us.” (Note: Lady Emily Lamb Palmerston, 1787-1869, wife of British PM Henry John Temple Palmerston, 1784-1865). Ref.: Abbott Lawrence to GP, June 26, 1851, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Corcoran, W.W. 21-Duke of Wellington as Guest of Honor. Prospects looked dim. GP persisted, wanting to build on the Great Exhibition spirit of goodwill. An Independence Day dinner might succeed, he thought, if he had a truly distinguished British guest of honor. Through mutual friends, GP approached the Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley Wellington, 1769-1852), England’s greatest living hero. The man who beat Napoleon at Waterloo reportedly huffed, “Good idea.” With the 84-year-old Duke of Wellington as guest of honor, British society eagerly attended. The Friday night, July 4, 1851, dinner was an enormous success. Ref.: Chapple, p. 8. Wilson, P.W., p. 45. See: persons named.

Corcoran, W.W. 22-800 at Dinner. The July 4, 1851, dinner was held at the exclusive Willis’s Rooms, sometimes called Almack’s, conducted by a professional Bond St. master of ceremonies. The spacious ballroom was decorated with portraits of Queen Victoria and George Washington, tastefully arranged flowers, and skillfully blended British and U.S. flags. Over a thousand guests came and went, with eight hundred at dinner, including members of Parliament, former Tenn. Gov. Neill Smith Brown (1810-86, then U.S. Minister to Russia); London’s Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress; the Bank of England’s junior governor Thomson Hankey (1805-93); the 19th century’s greatest woman philanthropist Baroness Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906); Crystal Palace architect Joseph Paxton; and others. See Persons named.

Corcoran, W.W. 23-800 at Dinner Cont’d. An orchestra played and a ball followed in a spacious ballroom decorated with medallions and mirrors, lit by 500 candles set in cut-glass chandeliers. When the Duke of Wellington entered the band played, “See the Conquering Hero Comes.” GP rose, approached the “iron duke,” shook his hand, escorted him through the hall amid applause, and introduced him to U.S. Minister Abbott Lawrence. (By coincidence there is an equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington in front of the Royal Exchange, London, by British sculptor Francis Legatt Chantry [1781-1841]; and nearby on Threadneedle St. is GP’s seated statue by U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story [1819-95]). Ref.: New York Times, Aug. 4, 1868, p. 2, c. 2. (Statues mentioned): New York Times, Feb. 28, 1988, Sec. 2, p. 39, c.1. See: Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair). Willis’s Rooms.

Corcoran, W.W. 24-Praised in the Press. The London Times, reporting that His Grace had a good time and left at a late hour, also referred to GP as “an eminent American merchant.” The Ladies Newspaper had a large woodcut illustration of GP introducing the Duke to Abbott Lawrence. The aristocratic London Morning Post took favorable note of the affair. Ref.: London Times, July 9, 1851, p. 5, c. 3. Ladies Newspaper and Pictorial Times (London), July 26, 1851, p. 43. Sun (London), July 11, 1851, p. 1, c. 5-6. North American and United States Gazette (Philadelphia), July 23, 1851, p. 1, c. 4. NYC Spirit of the Times, July 26, 1851, p. 1, c. 2; and Aug. 2, 1851, p. 279.

Corcoran, W.W. 25-Minister Lawrence Congratulated GP. Totally pleased, U.S. Minister Lawrence wrote to GP: “I should be unjust…if I were not to offer my acknowledgments and heartfelt thanks for myself and our country for the more than regal entertainment you gave to me and mine, and to our countrymen generally here in London…. “Your idea of bringing together the inhabitants of two of the greatest nations upon earth…was a most felicitous conception…. I congratulate you upon the distinguished success that has crowned your efforts…. [You have] done that which was never before attempted.” Ref.: Abbott Lawrence to GP, July 5, 1851, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Corcoran, W.W. 26-N.Y. State Agent Praised GP. Reporting on the U.S. Exhibition to his superiors, N.Y. State agent Benjamin Pierce Johnson (1793-1869) praised GP’s loan and his July 4, 1851, dinner (in part): “…every American connected with the Exhibition owes a debt of gratitude [to Mr. George Peabody of London]….” Ref. Johnson, B.P.

Departing U.S. Exhibitors Dinner, Oct. 27, 1851

Corcoran, W.W. 27-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner to Departing U.S. Exhibitors. On Oct. 6, 1851, Charles F. Stansbury of Washington, D.C., a departing U.S. commissioner to the Great Exhibition, proposed a dinner to honor GP for his loan. Graciously declining, GP instead gave his own Oct. 27, 1851, dinner to the departing exhibitors, grander and even better received than was his July 4, 1851, dinner. The menu, proceedings, and speeches were printed in beautifully bound books. Copies were sent to distinguished attendees and others. Ref. Baltimore Patriot & Gazette, Oct. 28, 1851, p. 2, c. 1. (Proceedings): Stevens.

Corcoran, W.W. 28-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner to Departing U.S. Exhibitors Cont’d. The Oct. 27, 1851, dinner was held at the London Coffee House, Ludgate Hill, where Benjamin Franklin as U.S. emissary had met friends to discuss colonial affairs over food and drinks. British and U.S. flags draped life-size paintings of Queen Victoria, George Washington, and Prince Albert. Pennants and laurel wreaths decorated the long hall. At 7:00 P.M. GP took the chair, grace was said, and dinner was served to 150 U.S. and British guests, many of them connected with the just-closed Great Exhibition of 1851. Ref. Ibid.

Corcoran, W.W. 29-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner to Departing U.S. Exhibitors Cont’d. The toastmaster, a Mr. Harker, began: “Mr. Peabody drinks to you in a loving cup and bids you all a hearty welcome.” A U.S.-made loving cup of English oak, inlaid with silver, inscribed “Francis Peabody of Salem to George Peabody, of London, 1851″ was passed around until each guest tasted from it. After dessert, GP rose and first toasted, “The Queen, God bless her.” All stood. The band played God Save the Queen. His second toast was to “The President of the United States, God bless him.” All rose. Hail Columbia was played. His third toast to “The health of His Royal Highness Prince Albert” brought more flourishes of music. Ref. Ibid.

Corcoran, W.W. 30-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner to Departing U.S. Exhibitors Cont’d. U.S. Minister Abbott Lawrence was toasted. The band played Yankee Doodle. U.S.-British friendship speeches were given by U.S. Minister Abbott Lawrence and former British Minister to the U.S. Sir Henry Bulwer-Lytton (1801-72). GP said: “I have lived a great many years in this country without weakening my attachment to my own land…. I have been extremely fortunate in bringing together…a number of our countrymen…and…English gentlemen [of] social and official rank…. May these unions still continue, and gather strength with the gathering years.” The proceedings lasted more than four hours. Good reports of its effect reverberated in the press. Ref. Ibid. See: persons named.

Corcoran, W.W. 31-Aftermath of GP’s Generosity. Corcoran, who read in the press of GP’s loan to the U.S. exhibitors and of the praise for his U.S.-British friendship dinners, wrote to GP, “You will make us proud to call you friend and countryman.” GP answered (Oct. 3, 1851): “However liberal I may be here, I cannot keep pace with your noble acts of charity at home; but one of these days I mean to come out, and then if my feelings regarding money don’t change and I have plenty, I shall become a strong competitor of yours in benevolence.” Ref. (W.W. Corcoran): GP to Corcoran, Oct. 3, 1851, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms, and quoted in Corcoran, p. 101.

Corcoran, W.W. 32-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner Book. GP had his friend and sometime agent Henry Stevens (1819-86), who attended the Oct. 27, 1851, dinner, collect, publish, and distribute in a handsome book the Oct. 27, 1851, dinner menu, proceedings, and speeches. Henry Stevens, born in Barnet, Vt., was a successful London-based rare book dealer and bibliographer. Ref. Stevens (comp.). Parker, W.W., pp. 83, 126. Kenin, pp. 87-94. Lydenberg, VII, pp. 611-612. (Letters about sending and receiving Oct. 27, 1851, dinner proceedings book, compiled by Stevens, are in Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.)

Corcoran, W.W. 33-GP’s 1851 Successes Springboard to Philanthropy. GP had early told intimates he intended to found an educational or other useful institute in each town and city where he had lived and worked. A year after the Great Exhibition of London of 1851, GP established his first Peabody Institute Library in his hometown of Danvers, Mass. (renamed South Danvers, 1855, renamed Peabody on April 13, 1868). GP was invited but was unable to leave London to attend the June 16, 1852, centennial celebration of Danvers’ separation from Salem, Mass. He sent instead a letter, sentiment, and check establishing his first Peabody Institute Library.

Corcoran, W.W. 34-”Education–a debt due from present to future generations.” GP’s letter from London, May 26, 1852, read aloud by schoolmate John Waters Proctor (1791-1874), said in part: “By George Peabody, of London: ‘Education–a debt due from present to future generations.’ In acknowledgment of the payment of that debt by the generation which preceded me in my native town of Danvers…I give…the sum of $20,000….’” Like the lyceums and chautauquas that followed, his first Peabody Institute had a library, lecture hall, lecture fund, and annual prizes for best pupils. Ultimately, GP gave his hometown Peabody Institute a total of $217,600 (1852-69). For GP’s first (1852) Peabody Institute gift, Danvers, now Peabody, Mass., see South Danvers, Mass., Centennial Celebration. John Waters Proctor. Sylvester Proctor. For GP’s earlier (Oct. 31, 1851) $1,000 gift for a chemistry laboratory and school for Baltimore’s Md. Institute, see Md. Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, Baltimore. William H. Keighler. Ref. (Md. Institute): GP to Md. Institute Pres. William H. Keighler, Oct. 31, 1851, Garrett Papers, Library of Congress Ms. Quoted in American and Commercial Daily Advertiser (Baltimore), Nov. 27, 1851, p. 2, c. 1.

Corcoran, W.W. 35-Oct. 12, 1852, Dinner. GP honored departing U.S. Minister to Britain Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855) at an Oct. 12, 1852, London dinner. That dinner also introduced incoming U.S. Minister Joseph Reed Ingersoll (1786-1868, minister during 1852-53) and his niece Miss Charlotte Manigault Wilcocks (1821-75). Although sometimes ill in the summer of 1853, GP’s social entertainment included Charlotte Wilcocks and Elise Tiffany, daughter of Baltimore friend Osmond Capron Tiffany (1794-1851).

Whiff of Romance

Corcoran, W.W. 36-Miss Wilcox and Elise Tiffany. From Paris in June 1853 Elise Tiffany’s brother George Tiffany asked GP by letter to help get an apartment for them in London. He added, “I just asked Elise if she had any message for you. She says, ‘No, I have nothing to say to him whilst Miss Wilcocks is there.’” The Tiffanys had been invited to the May 18, 1853, dinner for the Ingersolls but Elise would not go. Her brother George Tiffany explained in a letter to GP: “Elise knows the entertainment is to the American Minister and Miss Wilcocks. The thing is impossible. Her trunks will not pack, nor her Bills pay…. As to the Scotch trip of a couple of weeks, Elise counts upon your making that sacrifice as a balm to her wounded feelings, caused by the various reports all through the winter.” Ref. (George Tiffany to GP): George Tiffany, Paris, to GP, London, June 7, 1853, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass

Corcoran, W.W. 37-No Thoughts of Marriage. GP had gone to the opera with Miss Wilcocks and they appeared together at social functions. A London reporter for a NYC newspaper wrote about a possible romance: “Mr. Ingersoll gave his second soiree recently. Miss Wilcocks does the honors with much grace, and is greatly admired here. The world gives out that she and Mr. Peabody are to form an alliance, but time will show…” GP, then age 58, had no matrimonial intentions, as he explained in a letter to Washington, D.C., business friend W.W. Corcoran: “I have now arrived at an age that throws aside all thoughts of marriage [although] I think her [Miss Wilcocks] a very fine woman.” Ref. GP, London, to William Wilson Corcoran, Washington, D.C., May 3, 1853, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms. Also quoted in Corcoran, pp. 110-111.

Arctic Exploration

Corcoran, W.W. 38-Lost British Arctic Explorer Sir John Franklin. Corcoran, GP’s contact in Washington, helped in GP’s $10,000 gift for scientific equipment for the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition. British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) and 137 seamen left on May 18, 1845, to search for the legendary Northwest Passage. They were never seen alive again. Lady Jane Franklin’s (1792-1874) appeal to Pres. Zachary Taylor and the U.S. Congress led NYC merchant Henry Grinnell (1799-1874) to offer two search ships. This First U.S. Grinnell Expedition, 1850-52, failed to find Sir John Franklin. See: Franklin, Sir John.

Corcoran, W.W. 39-Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition for Sir John Franklin, 1853-55. GP learned through W.W. Corcoran that Grinnell had petitioned Congress through U. S. Sen. Hamilton Fish from N.Y. (1808-93) for U.S. Navy help in a Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition. U.S. Navy Secty. John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870) coordinated the second U.S. expedition, with Grinnell’s two ships and GP’s $10,000 gift for scientific equipment. The second U.S. search expedition was led by U.S. Navy Commander Elisha Kent Kane, M.D. (1820-57), medical officer on the first U.S. search expedition. Navy Secty. Kennedy, a Baltimorean, first knew GP as a fellow solder in the War of 1812. Later, in 1857, Kennedy was the chief planner and trustee of GP’s $1.4 million PIB. See: Franklin, Sir John. Kennedy, John Pendleton.

Corcoran, W.W. 40-Initiated U.S. Arctic Exploration. To attract additional aid, Kane publicized GP’s $10,000 gift for scientific equipment. As he hoped, funds and equipment came from the Smithsonian Institution, the Geographical Society of N.Y., and the American Philosophical Society. It fell to later explorers to find conclusive proof that Sir John Franklin died on June 11, 1847. The two U.S. Grinnell Expeditions initiated U.S. Arctic exploration; led Kane to name Peabody Bay, off Greenland, for GP; and enabled GP to help promote an early instance of U.S.-British international technical cooperation. Ref. Ibid.

Corcoran, W.W. 41-White House Desk Connection. There was also an interesting later development. The British ship HMS Resolute, abandoned in the Arctic ice in the search for Sir John Franklin, was found and extricated by a Capt. Buddington of the U.S. whaler George Henry. The U.S. government purchased, repaired, and returned Resolute to Britain as a gift. In turn, when the Resolute was broken up, Queen Victoria had a massive desk made of its timbers as a gift to the U.S. President. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (1929-94) found that desk in a storeroom in 1961 and put it in Pres. John F. Kennedy’s (1917-63) oval office. Famous photos show their small son John playing under that desk. Ref. Ibid. See: persons named. White House, Washington, D.C.

Washington Monument

Corcoran, W.W. 42-Washington Monument, July 4, 1854. W.W. Corcoran wrote to GP in London, June 19, 1854: “Would you like to donate to the Washington Monument now being organized? Donors of $1,000 have their names inscribed on a tablet in the monument.” GP replied that he had just returned from a July 4, 1854, British-U.S. friendship dinner he gave at London’s Star and Garter Hotel for 150 guests: “While seated beneath the portrait of [George] Washington…it recalled to my mind the magnificent Monument now being erected in your city to the Father of his Country…. That I might have a hand in its construction…I…authorize you to place my name on the subscription list for one thousand dollars.” Ref. (GP’s gift to Washington Monument): Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. National Archives. Washington National Monument, Board of Managers, “Journal” entry, July 25, 1854. Washington Weekly Reporter (Washington, Penn.), Aug. 9, 1854, p. 2, c. 5.

Corcoran, W.W. 43-Washington Monument, July 4, 1854, Cont’d. The Washington Monument originated in a Congressional resolution (1783) to honor the first U.S. president with an equestrian statue. George Washington demurred about any expense to the national treasury. After Washington’s death (1799) U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall (1755-1835) suggested some kind of a George Washington memorial. In 1832 a Washington National Monument Society began to raise funds. The obelisk-style Washington Monument was designed by U.S. Architect of Public Buildings Robert Mills (1781-1855). The cornerstone was laid July 4, 1848. Construction was halted for lack of funds. In 1852 Corcoran, GP, and others responded to appeals. Congress did not appropriate funds until 1876. With donors’ names inscribed inside (including GP), the 555 foot and 5/8th inch tall Washington Monument, completed in 1880, opened to the public in 1888. See: Washington Monument, Washington, D.C. Persons named.

GP & the Sickles Affair

Corcoran, W.W. 44-July 4, 1854, Dinner and the Sickles Affair. Corcoran’s and GP’s donation to the Washington Monument came at the time of GP’s frictionable July 4, 1854, Independence Day dinner. He gave the dinner at the Star and Garter Hotel, London, to honor incoming U.S. Minister to Britain James Buchanan (1772-1868, later 15th U.S. President, 1857-61). Controversial new U.S. Legation Secty. Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914) was a super-patriot at a time of U.S. jingoism over winning the Mexican War and acquiring parts of Texas and California. When GP toasted as usual first the Queen, then the U.S. President, Sickles objected, sat while the other 149 guests rose, then stalked out of the banquet room “stiff and red-gorged.” U.S.-British press reports of Sickles’ walkout fanned the furor. In a letter to the Boston Post, July 21, 1854 Sickles charged GP as unpatriotic and “toadying” to the British. Letters appeared in the press for a month, mostly anti-Sickles and pro-GP. See: Sickles, Daniel Edgar.

Corcoran, W.W. 45-Sickles Affair Aftermath. Sickles’ later difficulties included his shooting to death the son of Francis Scott Key (Philip Barton Key), Feb. 27, 1859, for alleged inappropriate attention to Sickles’ wife. Sickles was acquitted as of unsound mind. On the Sickles affair, Corcoran wrote GP that: “Buchanan had not the slightest respect” for Sickles but for political reasons could not reprove him. Buchanan, with a less controversial new legation secretary, wrote to Sickles: “Your refusal to rise when the Queen’s health was proposed is still mentioned in society, but I have always explained and defended you.” Two years later, while GP was in Washington, D.C., during his 1856-57 U.S. visit, and when James Buchanan was the 15th U.S. president, the two men did not meet. Ref. Ibid. Persons named.

GP Celebration, South Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856

Corcoran, W.W. 46-Oct. 9, 1856, S. Danvers, Mass., GP Celebration. W.W. Corcoran could not attend but sent a congratulatory letter when GP’s hometown friends (Danvers, renamed South Danvers, 1855, renamed Peabody, Mass. on April 13, 1868) held a GP Celebration Day on Oct. 9, 1856. The occasion marked GP’s first U.S. return visit (Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857) in nearly 20 years since settling in London in Feb. 1837. Delegations from Boston, NYC, and elsewhere who met him at NYC dockside offered him public dinners. He declined, explaining that his sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell (1799-1879) had written him that South Danvers people had voted $3,000 for a public welcome for him and that they “will be extremely disappointed if they do not do much more than anybody else and do it first. They are tenacious of their right to you.” See: South Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856, GP Celebration.

Corcoran, W.W. 47-Oct. 9, 1856, S. Danvers, Mass., GP Celebration Cont’d. Some 20,000 people descended on tiny S. Danvers. There were marching bands, marching schoolchildren, dinner for 1,500, and speeches by Alfred Amos Abbott (1820-84), Edward Everett (1794-1865) and others, with responses by GP. Letters from distinguished persons invited but, like Corcoran, unable to attend, included Abbott Lawrence (who died shortly before the Oct. 9, 1856 celebration), jurist Rufus Choate (1799-1859), Edmund Grattan of the British Consulate in Boston, writer Washington Irving (1783-1859), Arctic explorer Elisha Kent Kane, manufacturer and philanthropist Peter Cooper (1791-1883), Mass. statesman and later GP’s philanthropic advisor Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94), statesman and college president Josiah Quincy, Jr. (1772-1864), historian George Bancroft (1800-91), educator Henry Barnard (1811-90), and others. The gala day’s events, dinner menu, speeches, and letters received were published in a handsome book, copies of which were sent to dignitaries. Ref. Ibid. Proceedings…Reception and Dinner…GP…Danvers, Oct. 9, 1856, pp. 55-109. See: persons named.

Panic of 1857

Corcoran, W.W. 48-Panic of 1857. Hundreds of U.S. and British business firms failed during the financial Panic of 1857. George Peabody & Co. was severely threatened. The crisis was brought on by over speculation in western U.S. lands, poorly managed railroads needing large capital, and overbuying of goods in eastern U.S. cities. The crisis was furthered by poor U.S. wheat sales abroad, the sinking of a packet ship with $1.6 billion in California gold bullion aboard, and the failure of some railroads, banks, and insurance companies. GP had given large credit to Lawrence, Stone and Co. of Boston, which could not repay him. Meanwhile, Baring Brothers pressed GP for $750,000 (£150,000) he owed them. Gathering all his assets, GP applied for a $4 million loan. The Bank of England, which seldom made such loans, did so for GP. See: Morgan, Junius Spencer. Panic of 857.

Corcoran, W.W. 49-Panic of 1857 Cont’d. Second PEF administrator J.L.M. Curry (1825-1903) is the source for reporting that during the loan negotiations some unscrupulous financiers tried to force GP out of business. GP’s partner Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) was told that a loan would be guaranteed to George Peabody & Co. if it ceased business in London at the end of 1858. J.L.M. Curry reported that, “When Mr. Morgan brought this message to Mr. Peabody, he was in a rage like a wounded lion, and told Mr. Morgan to reply that he dared them to cause his failure.” After repaying the Bank of England loan on March 30, 1858, GP wrote W.W. Corcoran: “My business is again quite snug…. Our credit…stands as high as ever before.” Ref. (J.L.M. Curry): Curry-b, p. 7 (Italics added). Ref. (GP to Corcoran): GP, London, to W.W. Corcoran, Washington, D.C., April 16, 1858, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms, also quoted in Corcoran, pp. 168-169. For U.S. Legation in London’s Secty. Benjamin Moran’s (1820-86) Nov. 6 and 21, 1857, comments on GP’s Panic of 1857 difficulties, See: Moran, Benjamin (Ref. Wallace and Gillespie, pp. 162, 175, 181).

N.Y. Herald’s False Reports

Corcoran, W.W. 50-N.Y. Herald’s False Reports. Editor James Gordon Bennett’s N.Y. Herald article, Sept. 20, 1859, stated: “There is a rumor that the firm of George Peabody & Co. is to be dissolved or remodeled. The cause I have not heard, but I know that the head of the house has never been pleased nor satisfied since certain events during and previous to the great crisis of 1857. Before that disgraceful failure in Boston, connected with Lawrence, of Lawrence, Stone & Co., a draft was actually drawn amounting to some £80,000 [then equivalent to $400,000] and some real or fanciful security offered. This draft was accepted, and the negotiation had been about completed when the senior partner, Mr. Peabody, came in and put a veto on the whole transaction. As matters turned out the securities were not worth a straw. Lawrence failed and but for the timely appearance of Mr. Peabody, his firm would have been seriously damaged by the stroke of the pen.” Ref.: New York Herald, Sept. 20, 1859, p. 2, c. 2.

Corcoran, W.W. 51-N.Y. Herald’s False Reports Cont’d. Another N.Y. Herald article, Oct. 12, 1859, accused GP of using his influence with the London Times financial writer to attack business rivals. The article read: “…Money articles in the Times follow what George Peabody favors or opposes, reflecting his personal enmities, piques, quarrels….” Asked to comment on Editor James Gordon Bennett’s New York Herald anti-GP articles, GP wrote the Baltimore American editor to say that they were false. Ref. New York Herald, Oct. 12, 1859, p. 2, c. 2. Ref. (GP’s denial letter to Baltimore American, Dec. 23, 1859, reprinted): New York Times, Jan. 12, 1860, p. 1, c. 6.

Corcoran, W.W. 52-N.Y. Herald’s False Reports Cont’d. W.W. Corcoran wrote GP and scoffed at the charge: “I read a letter in the Herald some time since alluding to your influence with the London Times which if true, makes you more potential than Lord Palmerston [Henry John Temple Palmerston (1784-1865), British Prime Minister during 1855-58].” GP’s distant cousin in NYC Joseph Peabody wrote GP that N.Y. Herald Editor James Gordon Bennett deliberately provoked controversy to sell newspapers, that he published “falsehood[s] expressly to provoke a reply…. He makes it a system to attack some prominent person, it matters little who that person may be!…” Ref. W.W. Corcoran, Washington, D.C., to GP, Dec. 20, 1859, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. Ref. Joseph Peabody, NYC, to GP, Montreal, Canada, Oct. 18, 1856, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. For criticism of GP in the N.Y. Herald during GP’s 1856-57 U.S. visit, reasons for Bennett’s criticism, and sources, see Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Corcoran, W.W. 53-GP, Gout, March 1859. Often ill with gout in 1858-59, GP sought relief in health spas in southern France. He wrote to Corcoran: “I have been a great sufferer by rheumatic gout in my knees and arms, as also my right hand, for several months. I have been here for three weeks for the benefit of the waters, and may remain a fortnight longer. I am now quite well, except my right hand, which is painful when I write, and I fear you will hardly be able to make out what I have written.” Ref. GP to W.W. Corcoran, March 22, 1859, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms., quoted in Corcoran, p. 178.

Trent Affair

Corcoran, W.W. 54-1861 Trent Affair. The Nov. 8, 1861, Trent Affair affected GP in two minor ways. Because it threatened near-war hysteria between the U.S. and Britain, it delayed to March 12, 1862, announcement of the Peabody Donation Fund for model homes for London’s working poor (total gift $2.5 million). It also affected W.W. Corcoran’s only child, daughter Louise Morris (Corcoran) Eustice, married to and accompanying her husband, George Eustice (1828-72), one of four Confederates illegally removed from the British ship Trent. Despite a Union blockade of southern ports, on the stormy night of Oct. 11, 1861, Confederate emissaries James Murray Mason (1798-1871), his secretary J.E. McFarland, both from Va., John Slidell (1793-1871), his secretary George Eustice, both from La., and some of their families, sailed from Charleston, S.C., to Havana, Cuba. In Havana they boarded the British mail ship Trent, bound for Liverpool, England, to seek arms and aid for the Confederacy in Britain and France. See: Trent Affair.

Corcoran, W.W. 55-1861 Trent Affair Cont’d. On Nov. 8, 1861, in the Bahamas, Union warship San Jacinto’s Capt. Charles Wilkes (1798-1877) seized and forcibly removed the four envoys from the British ship Trent and took them to Boston Harbor’s Fort Warren Prison. When Louise Morris (Corcoran) Eustice reached England, GP’s partner Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) went to see about her welfare. Britain, which sent troops to Canada in case of a U.S.-British war, demanded release of the four prisoners. U.S. jingoism calmed. At his cabinet meeting (Dec. 26, 1861) Pres. Lincoln allegedly cautioned in a jocular vein: “one war at a time, gentlemen,” got the cabinet to disavow Capt. Wilkes’s action as independent and unauthorized, and got the four Confederates released on Jan. 1, 1862. For details of GP and the Trent Affair, with sources, see: Trent Affair. Persons named.

Corcoran, W.W. 56-GP to Corcoran, Dec. 2, 1862. GP suffered painful attacks of gout in his left knee in late 1862, went to Brighton for the sea air, and wrote to W.W. Corcoran that the Queen’s physician Sir Henry Holland (1788-1873) had advised him to try the warm sun of southern France. GP wanted Corcoran to be his traveling companion to Nice, Florence, and Rome. He wrote this to Corcoran and, with some gloom, asked about Civil War news. GP wrote (Dec. 10, 1862): “I left my bed on Friday, after a confinement of thirteen days with a very painful attack of gout in my left knee, and came here [Brighton] on Sunday to try the effect of sea air in restoring me again to health and strength. I have greatly improved in three days, and hope to return to town on Monday, quite well.” Ref. GP, Brighton, to William Wilson Corcoran, Dec. 2, 1862, Corcoran Papers, VIII, Accession Nos. 8570 and 8571, Library of Congress Ms.; also quoted in Corcoran, p. 200.

Corcoran, W.W. 57-GP to Corcoran, Dec. 2, 1862, Cont’d.: “In reply to your note dated 2d, I have pretty much made up my mind (under advice of Sir Henry Holland) to pass about three months of the winter at Nice, making a short visit to Florence and Rome, and I need not say how happy I shall be if you will be my traveling companion for a part or all the time.” Ref. Ibid.

Corcoran, W.W. 58-GP ill, late 1862-63 Cont’d.: “I expect to leave here about the 10th of January, and probably may be accompanied to Paris by some friends, in which case I shall remain till about the 20th, and then proceed South.” “If you can see any indication of light through the clouds that now so badly darken our once happy country, don’t fail to drop me a line, as I think your position at present much better than mine for that purpose.” “Please give my warm regards to Loula [Corcoran’s only child, a daughter] and Mr. Eustice [her husband, George Eustice, 1828-72]. Don’t forget to kiss the baby–for yourself.” Ref. Ibid.

Corcoran, W.W. 59-GP to Corcoran, Nice, France, 1863. GP described his trip from Marseilles to Nice to Corcoran (Feb. 11, 1863): “The last day from Marseilles is through a most interesting country, and for several hours after you take the diligence [stagecoach] you will see, on one side, the olives and mulberry trees in their summer costume–the fruit trees in blossom–and in the distance, on the other, the Alps covered with snow. I mention these particulars because I think you will ‘tear yourself'’ from the baby [Corcoran’s grandchild] in the course of next week and join me here. It is full of English and Americans, and the climate is most beautiful; there has not been any rain for twenty-seven days, and ever since my arrival there has been hot, sunny, cloudless weather–so much so that no fire has been required, night or day.” Ref.: GP, Nice, France, to William Wilson Corcoran, Feb. 11, 1863, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms.; also quoted in Corcoran, pp. 201-202.

Corcoran, W.W. 60-Corcoran Unable to Join GP, Nice, France. GP had a courier (messenger) whom he wrote Corcoran he would continue to pay and share with Corcoran. “If you join me,” he wrote Corcoran, “you need bring no letter of credit.” Corcoran wrote that he could not leave Washington, D.C. GP replied jokingly: “My dear Corcoran: I see by your letter of the 15th that you mean to cut me as a traveling companion; those Confederates of the right kind being better than one not exactly defined.” Ref.: GP, Nice, France, to William Wilson Corcoran, Feb. 18, 1863, Corcoran Papers, IX, Accession No. 8705, Library of Congress Ms.; also quoted in Corcoran, pp. 202-203.

GP’s Dinner & Concert, Nice, France, March 1863

Corcoran, W.W. 61-GP’s Dinner & Concert, Nice, France, March 1863. In Nice in March [17?], 1863, GP gave a lavish dinner and concert in honor of the marriage of the Prince of Wales (Albert Edward, 1841-1910, reigned as King Edward VII, 1901-l0). [Note: The Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria’s eldest son, would on July 23, 1869, unveil GP’s seated statue by U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story (1819-95) on Threadneedle St., near London’s Royal Exchange]. Ref.: (GP’s dinner and concert, Nice, France, March 1863): NYC Albion, April 11, 1863, p. 178, c. 2; Hare, pp. 191-192.

Corcoran, W.W. 62-GP’s Dinner & Concert, Nice, France, March 1863 Cont’d. Attending this dinner in Nice were King Louis [Ludwig] of Bavaria (1786-1868), Lord Brougham [Henry Peter Brougham, 1778-1868], and William Slade (1817-1901), U.S. Consul in Nice. Always careful, GP conferred in advance with Consul Slade about toasts to avoid offending anyone. The affair was expensive, one bill being 12,000 francs. Ref.: William Slade, U.S. Consulate at Nice, to GP, March 10, 16, 17, 23; (also letter and bill): Adam Hay, Nice, to GP, March 18, 1863, all in Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. For U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran’s criticism of this dinner, See: Benjamin Moran. Slade, William.

GP In Ireland, 1865

Corcoran, W.W. 63-GP in Ireland, 1865. In the summer of 1865 (June to Aug.), seeking relief from gout attacks, GP fished for salmon on a lake he rented on the Standish O’Grady estate, County Limerick, Ireland, then believed to be managed by 4th Viscount, Paget Standish (1835-77). Ref.: (Standish O’Grady): NYC Albion, June 17, 1865, p. 271, c. 3. [Standish, Paget].

Corcoran, W.W. 64-GP Wrote to Corcoran. From Ireland on Aug. 5, 1865, GP wrote W.W. Corcoran, then in Paris, France: “I cannot remain in London a week without risk of gout, and when I left, 1st June, I did not expect to return for five months, and I shall probably carry out my intention. With the exception of ten days in London, I have been here since 1st of May, very hard at work fishing for salmon six or ten hours a day, and living on a plain diet, which has kept me free of gout and in excellent health. I feel assured that nothing but this hard exercise in the open air will do so, and I have leased a fine fishery on the Shannon to commence lst April, 1867, and end 1st April, 1872, and hope we may both live to meet there even to the last date.” Ref.: GP, Ireland, to William Wilson Corcoran, Aug. 5, 1865, Corcoran Papers, XII, Accession Nos. 9704 and 9705, Library of Congress Ms., quoted in Corcoran, pp. 209-210.

Corcoran, W.W. 65-GP to Corcoran Cont’d. (GP did not know that these plans were not be, that in April 1872 he would be dead two years and three months, and that his last four years of life would see his greatest philanthropic gifts and bring his last great honors). GP’s Aug. 5, 1865, letter to Corcoran concluded: “If I live till March, it is my intention to go to the United States for a year, and work hard to endeavor to place ‘my house in order’ there, and then to pass the time that may allotted me in quiet, and, in a measure retired from the world. “I am now on my way to Scotland, and shall reach Invergarry about the 12th. Shall you come to Scotland this season?” Ref.: Ibid.

GP Critic Abolitionist Wm. Lloyd Garrison

Corcoran, W.W. 66-GP Joined Corcoran, W.Va., summer 1869. During GP’s last U.S. visit, June 8-Sept. 29, 1869, abolitionist extremists and radical Republicans, bent on punishing the Confederate South, mistakenly charged GP as a rebel sympathizer. Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison (1805-79) faulted GP’s $1.4 million for the PIB (1857-69) as “made to a Maryland institution, at a time when that state was rotten with treason.” Even more criticized was GP’s $2 million (1867-69) PEF to promote public education in the 11 former Confederate states plus W.Va. because of its poverty. Ill and two months before his death (in Aug. 1869) GP went, at W.W. Corcoran’s urging, to join Corcoran at the White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. health spa. See: Lee, Robert E. PEF. White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Corcoran, W.W. 67-W.L. Garrison’s Attack on GP, 1869-70. Of GP’s July 23-Aug. 30, 1869, White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., visit, Garrison wrote: “Mr. Peabody is now laboring under increasing bodily infirmities… [Instead of going to a Northern mineral spring] true to his Southern sympathies, he hastens to the White Sulphur Springs in Virginia,…the favorite resort of the elite of rebeldom, who…collectively welcomed his presence by adopting a series of congratulatory resolutions…. [to which GP replied with his] ‘own cordial esteem and regards for the high honor, integrity and heroism of the Southern people!’” Ref.: NYC Independent, Feb. 10, 1870, p. 1, c. 2-3. Parker, F.-f, pp. 1-20.

Corcoran, W.W. 68-W.L. Garrison’s Attack on GP, 1869-70 Cont’d. Four months after GP’s death, Garrison wrote: “During his [GP’s] long years in England he never once aided popular liberty or spoke against slavery. His sympathies were with the pro-slave South right to the outbreak of the Rebellion. His patriotic record cannot be examined with any pride or pleasure…. He did not want the Union dissolved; neither did he want the South conquered. He wanted peace which would satisfy the South, leaving slavery intact.” Ref.: Ibid. See: Civil War and GP. Garrison, William Lloyd.

Thurlow Weed’s Defense of GP

Corcoran, W.W. 69-Weed Defended GP as Pro Union. Longtime friend and N.Y. state political leader Thurlow Weed (1797-1882), confirmed by Ohio Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), defended GP as pro Union. Early in the Civil War Pres. Lincoln sent Weed and McIlvaine as emissaries to explain the Union cause to British leaders and to keep Britain from helping the Confederacy with arms and aid. Weed reported and McIlvaine confirmed that GP in London helped them contact British leaders and that GP turned away Confederate agents seeking through his firm to raise European loans for the Confederacy. Ref.: New York Times, Dec. 23, 1869, p. 2, c. 3-4; reprinted Weed, T., “The Late George Peabody….,” pp. 9-15.

Corcoran, W.W. 70-Weed Defended GP as Pro Union Cont’d. Weed wrote: “Some of Mr. Peabody’s accusers discern, or think they discern, evidence of rebel sympathies in his great educational gift for the poor of the formerly slave States; but even in this they err. That money, until some time after the conclusion of the war, was intended for the City of New York…. He [GP] had told me fifteen years earlier about his intention to do something for the industrious poor of New York…. But the [Civil] war and its consequences changed his views….” Ref.: Ibid.

Corcoran, W.W. 71-Weed Defended GP Cont’d.: “[GP] had not decided his action when he arrived [GP’s U.S. visit, May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867], nor until he had conversed with several Northern friends, all of whom approved of the effort to educate and elevate the masses in ignorance and poverty, black and white, which pervades the whole South…. When he arrived here, in 1866, he communicated his then immature programme for the education and elevation of the Southern poor, and consulted with me in relation to suitable men for trustees. And it may be proper to say here, that the beneficent plan finally adopted, was the suggestion of the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, of Boston.” Ref.: Ibid. See: PEF. Weed, Thurlow.

“…the South is ruined…”

Corcoran, W.W. 72-S.C. Gov. Aiken on a Devastated South. The ruined South GP saw personally early in his May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867, U.S. visit convinced him to aid public education in the southern states. Intimate friends who confirmed to him the national value of the PEF idea included Thurlow Weed, R.C. Winthrop, others, and particularly former S.C. Gov. William Aiken (1806-87). Gov. Aiken had agreed to be one of the few prominent southerners on the 16-member PEF board of trustees. GP wrote Aiken to meet him in Washington, D.C., at the end of Jan. 1867.

Corcoran, W.W. 73-S.C. Gov. Aiken Cont’d. Aiken’s reply, sent via W. W. Corcoran, underscored the plight of the South: “Mr. Peabody invites me to meet him in Washington the end of January. I wrote to him at Salem that I would but he may be with you now. “I am now so bound down here, trying to nurse what remains of my property, that I cannot command my time. I have been laboring hard the whole summer, and shall scarcely make both ends meet. I intended to persevere and see what can be done….” Ref.: Aiken, S.C., to Corcoran, Jan. 25, 1867, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms, quoted in Corcoran, pp. 224-225.

Corcoran, W.W. 74-S.C. Gov. Aiken Cont’d.: “I think the South is ruined…. Nothing…can save the South from absolute want; …its destruction is certain. What a terrible change from plenty and happiness to poverty and ruin, and the question naturally occurs to my mind. Who has been benefited by it? Certainly not the white or black man of the South. It is the first step taken toward the destruction of this once great and glorious Republic.” Ref.: Ibid.

Corcoran, W.W. 75-S.C. Gov. Aiken’s Career. William Aiken was born in Charleston, S.C., was a graduate of South Carolina College at Columbia (1825), was a S.C. state representative (1838-42), S.C. state senator (1842-44), S.C. governor (1844-46), and S.C. member of the U.S. House of Rep. (1851-57). He opposed S.C.’s secession. Ref.: Curry-b, pp. 19, 51, 97, 98-10l. Easterby, I, pp. 128-129. See: Aiken, William. Eaton, John. PEF.

Corcoran, W.W. 76-Death of Corcoran’s Daughter, 1867. Corcoran was with his only child, daughter Louise Morris (née Corcoran) Eustis (1838-67), when she died in Cannes, France, Dec. 4, 1867, after a long illness. She left three children. GP shared Corcoran’s grief: “My Dear Corcoran, I received your note of the 4th, announcing the death of your angelic daughter on that day. Although anticipated (and you must have been prepared for the afflicting event), no power but that of God can assuage the grief and affliction of a father at the loss of such a child, and an only child, in which, for more than a quarter of a century, a large portion of your happiness has been centered. Be assured, my dear friend, that I sincerely sympathize and condole with you in this severe dispensation of Providence.” Ref.: GP, London, to Corcoran, Dec. 14, 1867, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms., quoted in Corcoran, p. 249.

GP and Winthrop in Rome & Paris

Corcoran, W.W. 77-GP and Winthrop, Rome, Feb. 1868. GP lost 20 pounds during his year-long U.S. visit (May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867), which he never fully regained. He traveled in Europe in 1868, next to the last year of his life, with philanthropic advisor and PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop. During Feb. 19-27, 1868, GP wrote Corcoran about sitting in U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story’s (1819-95) Rome studio for a GP seated statue to be placed on Threadneedle St., near London’s Royal Exchange (unveiled July 23, 1869, by the Prince of Wales). Ref.: (GP to Corcoran): GP, London, to Corcoran, Jan. 14, 1868, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms., and Motley, III, p. 204. Ref.: (GP’s Feb. 1868 Rome visit): Parker, “George Peabody…” dissertation, 1956, pp. 776, 783-786. New York Herald, March 22, 1868, p. 4, c. 5. NYC Albion, March 21, 1868, p. 140, c. 2. PEF-c, II, p. 309. Mass. Historical Society Proceedings, Vol. 10 (1867-1869), p. 339.

Corcoran, W.W. 78-GP and Winthrop, Audience with Pope. About Feb. 24-25, 1868, GP and Winthrop had an interview in Rome with Pope Pius IX (Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, pope during 1846-78). It was GP’s only audience with the Pope and Winthrop’s second audience (his first audience with the Pope was in 1860). GP gave a gift of $19,300 to San Spirito Hospital, a Vatican charitable hospital in Rome, probably on Feb. 24-25, 1868. Ref.: (GP’s audience with Pope Pius IX): South Danvers Wizard (South Danvers, Mass.), March 25, 1868, p. 2, c. 5. Ref.: (R.C. Winthrop’s account): Winthrop-c, pp. 97, 100. Ref.: (A.D. White’s account): White, A.D., II, p. 424. Ref.: (GP’s gift via Cardinal Antonelli to San Spirito Hospital): New York Herald, March 21, 1868, p. 4, c. 4, listed GP’s gift as 1,000 francs. New York Herald. April 22, 1868, p. 7, c. 4, listed GP’s gift as 5 million francs to the pontifical treasury. Baltimore Times, Nov. 6, 1869, p. 4, c. 3-5, listed GP’s gift as $1 million for pontifical charities.

Corcoran, W.W. 79-False Report of GP Statue in Rome. GP’s audience with the Pope and gift to the San Spirito Hospital may have been the basis for a press item from Rome on GP’s death (Nov. 4, 1869) and transatlantic funeral: “A statue of Mr. Peabody is to be erected at Rome by order of the Pope.” But no GP statue in Rome ever materialized. Ref.: (False report of GP statue in Rome): Dundee Courier and Argus (Dundee, Scotland), Nov. 9, 1869, p. 3, c. 5. Catholic Opinion (London), Nov. 20, 1869, p. 462, c. 1.

Corcoran, W.W. 80-GP and Winthrop, in France. GP left Rome Feb. 27, 1868, for Genoa, then went by boat to Nice, France, arriving March 3, 1868, where Baltimorean friend John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870), on his way to Rome, briefly visited him. GP went to Cannes, France, March 16, 1868, where he visited George Eustis (1828-72), Corcoran’s son-in-law, and W.W. Corcoran’s grandchildren. From Cannes, about March 17, 1868, GP and Winthrop went to Paris, France, where they were received by Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, 1808-73) and Empress Eugénie (1826-1920). Ref.: (GP received by Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie): GP, Nice, to R.C. Winthrop, Rome, March 15, 1868, Winthrop Papers, Mass. Historical Society, Boston. Mass. Historical Society Proceedings, Vol. 10 (1867-69), p. 340. For other details of GP’s visits to Rome, Italy, and Paris, France (Feb-Mar. 1868), See: Eustis, Louise Morris (née Corcoran). Eustis, George. Eugénie, Empress. San Spirito Hospital, Rome, Italy.

GP’s Last Illness

Corcoran, W.W. 81-Holmes on GP’s Illness. GP was greatly weakened during his final four-month U.S. visit, June 8-Sept. 29, 1869. He saw family, friends, and made last visits to his Peabody Institutes in New England and Baltimore. Poet Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-94), who read a poem he composed about GP at the July 14-16, 1869, dedication of the Peabody Institute Library in Danvers, Mass., referred to GP’s appearance in a letter to historian-statesman John Lothrop Motley (1814-77), as “…the Dives who is going to Abraham’s bosom and I fear before a great while….” Ref.: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Boston, to John Lothrop Motley, Rome, July 18, 1869, quoted in Morse, pp. 180-181.

Corcoran, W.W. 82-Toward White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (July 23-Aug. 30, 1869). W.W. Corcoran urged GP to join him at the White Sulphur Springs health spa in W.Va. GP’s nephew, George Peabody Russell (1835-1909), wrote to Corcoran: “…Mr. Peabody…is weaker than when he arrived…. He has…decided to go to the White Sulphur Springs…[and asks you to] arrange accommodations for himself, and servant, for Mrs. Russell and myself.” Ref.: George Peabody Russell, Salem, to W.W. Corcoran, July 6, 1869, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress, quoted in Corcoran, p. 299 (with date believed erroneously listed as June 6, 1869).

Corcoran, W.W. 83-McIlvaine on GP’s Illness. Ohio Episcopal Bishop C.P. McIlvaine also remarked to R.C. Winthrop how ill GP looked: “The White Sulphur Springs will, I hope, be beneficial to our excellent friend; but it can be only a very superficial good. [His] cough is terrible, and I have no expectation of his living a year.” Ref.: C.P. McIlvaine, Cincinnati, to R.C. Winthrop, July 22, 1969, quoted in Carus, ed., pp. 298-299.

GP’s Last Hurrah

Corcoran, W.W. 84-John Eaton on GP, W.Va. GP arrived at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., on July 23, 1869. Also at the springs was Tenn.’s superintendent of public instruction John Eaton (1829-1906). He wrote in his annual report: “Mr. Peabody shares with ex-Gov. Wise the uppermost cottage in Baltimore Row, and sits at the same table with General Lee, Mr. Corcoran, Mr. Taggart, and others….Being quite infirm, he has been seldom able to come to parlor or dining room, though he has received many ladies and gentlemen at the cottage…. His manners are singularly affable and pleasing, and his countenance one of the most benevolent we have ever seen.” Ref.: (Eaton on GP): Eaton, Appendix T, pp. 1-liii, also quoted in Dabney, I, p. 107, footnote 10.

Corcoran, W.W. 85-W.Va. Resolutions, July 27-28, 1869. GP’s presence, publicity on the doubling of his PEF to $2 million, his illness, and confinement to his cottage prompted a meeting on July 27 at which former Va. Gov. Henry Alexander Wise (1806-76) drew up resolutions read publicly in GP’s presence amid a crowd on July 28 in the “Old White” hotel parlor: The resolutions stated in part: “On behalf of the southern people we tender thanks to Mr. Peabody for his aid to the cause of education…and hail him ‘benefactor.’” GP, seated, replied, “If I had strength, I would speak more on the heroism of the Southern people. Your kind remarks about the Education Fund sound sweet to my ears. My heart is interwoven with its success.” Ref.: New York Times, July 31, 1869, p. 4, c. 7.

Corcoran, W.W. 86-Peabody Ball, W.Va. Merrymakers at the “Old White” decided to hold a Peabody Ball on Aug. 11, 1869. GP, too ill to attend, from his cottage heard the gaiety. Historian Perceval Reniers wrote of this Peabody Ball: “The affair that did most to revive [the Southerners’] esteem was the Peabody Ball…given to honor…Mr. George Peabody…. Everything was right for the Peabody Ball. Everybody was ready for just such a climax, the background was a perfect build-up. Mr. Peabody appeared at just the right time and lived just long enough. A few months later it would not have been possible, for Mr. Peabody would be dead.” Ref.: Richmond Daily Whig (Va.), Aug. 13, 1869, p. 2, c. 3-4. Ref.: Reniers, pp. 218-219.

Corcoran, W.W. 87-Sears on GP’s Presence. With GP at the springs that July 23-Aug. 30, 1869, was first PEF administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80), who wrote: “Yesterday he [GP] went to the public dinner-table (about 1500 persons are here and dine in a long hall) and then sat an hour in the parlor, giving the ladies an opportunity to take him by the hand….” Sears also wrote why GP’s presence at White Sulphur Springs was important: “…both on account of his [GP’s] unparalleled goodness and of his illness among a loving and hospitable people [he received] tokens of love and respect from all, such as I have never before seen shown to any one. This visit…will, in my judgment, do more for us than a long tour in a state of good health….” Ref.: Undated letter from Barnas Sears, quoted in Curry-b, pp. 52-53.

GP’s Last Photos

Corcoran, W.W. 88-Famous Photos, W.Va. GP, Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-70), and others were central figures in noteworthy photos taken at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., on Aug. 12, 1869. In the main photograph, the five individuals seated on cane-bottomed chairs are: GP front middle, Robert E. Lee to GP’s right; W.W. Corcoran to GP’s left; at the right end Edouard Blacque Bey (1824-95), Turkish Minister to the U.S.; at the left end Richmond lawyer James Lyons (1801-82). Standing behind the five seated figures were seven former Civil War generals, their names in dispute until correctly identified in 1935 by Leonard T. Mackall of Savannah, Ga., from left to right: James Conner (1829-83) of S.C., Martin Witherspoon Gary (1819-73) of Penn., Robert D. Lilley of Va., P.G.T. Beauregard (1818-93) of La., Alexander Robert Lawton (1818-96) of Ga., Henry Alexander Wise (1806-76) of Va., and Joseph Lancaster Brent (1826-1905) of Md. There is also a photo of GP sitting alone and a photo of Lee, GP, and Corcoran sitting together. See: persons named.

Corcoran, W.W. 89-Famous Photos, W.Va. Cont’d. Ref.: (W.Va. Photos): Conte, pp. 69-71. Dabney, Vol. 1, facing p. 83 (Lee, GP, and Corcoran seated in one group). Freeman-a, Pulitzer Prize Edition 1935, appendix (incorrectly listed John White Geary [1819-73] of Penn., John Bankhead Magruder [1810-71] of Va., and Lewis Wallace [1827-1905] of Ind., who were not in the photo; and omitted Martin Witherspoon Gary [1831-81] of S.C. and Alexander Robert Lawton [1818-96] of Ga., who were in the photo). Freeman-b, 1947, Vol. 4, p. 438 [correct identification]. Kocher and Dearstyne, pp. 189-190 (Title of this book attributed photos as “taken by George and Huestis Cook with Additions from the Cook Collection”). Lanier, R.S., ed., Vol. 5, p. 4. Meredith, pp. 84-85. Miller, ed., Vol. 10, p. 4. Murphy, p. 58. New York World, Sept. 14, 1869, p. 12, c. 2 (Recorded Gen. J. Bankhead Magruder as stating that the main photo was taken after GP consented to be its central figure). Richmond Daily Whig (Va.), Aug. 20, 1869, p. 3, c. 2 (Stated that the photos were taken by Anderson and Johnson of Anderson’s Richmond photographic establishment). See: Peabody, George, Illustrations. Persons named. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

R.E. Lee & GP

Corcoran, W.W. 90-Gift to Lee’s Washington College. GP made two gifts to Robert E. Lee at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., that Aug. 1869: a small private gift of $100 to Lee’s Episcopal church in Lexington, Va., in need of repairs (W.W. Corcoran also gave $100). GP also gave to Lee’s college (Lee was president of Washington College, Lexington, Va., 1865-70, renamed Washington & Lee Univ., 1871) Va. bonds worth $35,000 when lost on the Arctic, a Collins Line steamer, sunk Sept. 27, 1854, off Cape Race, Newfoundland, with the deaths of 322 of the 408 persons aboard. GP had petitioned the Va. legislature to reimburse him for the lost bonds, but this had not been done in Aug. 1869 when he gave Lee’s college the value of the bonds for a mathematics professorship. In 1872 the value of the bonds and in 1881 the interest accrued, $60,000 total, were paid by Va. to Washington and Lee Univ. See: Arctic (ship). Collins Line. Lee, Robert E. Riggs, Sr., Elisha. Science: GP’s Gifts to Science and Science Education. Washington and Lee Univ.

Corcoran, W.W. 91-Gift to Lee’s Washington College Cont’d. Lee’s biographer C.B. Flood wryly described GP’s gift: “It was generosity with a touch of Yankee shrewdness: you Southerners go fight it out among yourselves. If General Lee can’t get [this lost bond money] out of the Virginia legislature, nobody can.” Ref.: Flood, p. 287.

Corcoran, W.W. 92-Leaving W. Va. On Aug. 30, 1869, GP left White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., on a special railroad car provided by B&O Railroad Pres. John Work Garrett. Robert E. Lee rode a short distance with him. This was GP’s last summer of life, his only contact with R.E. Lee, and his last contact with Corcoran. For Lee it was next to the last summer of life (R.E. Lee died Oct. 12, 1870).

Corcoran, W.W. 93-GP’s Last Days, U.S. GP headed north from White Sulphur Springs, recorded his last will (Sept. 9, 1869), arranged for his burial at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., and boarded the Scotia in NYC for London, Sept. 29, 1869. He landed at Queenstown, Ireland, Oct. 8, 1869, and hastened to rest at the London home of longtime business friend Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85), where he died Nov. 4, 1869.

Corcoran, W.W. 94-Lee Sent Photos. On Sept. 25, 1869, at the request of Peabody Institute Librarian Fitch Poole (1803-73, Peabody, Mass.), Lee sent Poole a photo of himself, adding “and shall feel honoured in its being placed among the ‘friends’ of Mr. Peabody, who can be numbered by the millions, yet all can appreciate the man who has [illumined] his age by his munificent charities during his life, and by his wise provisions for promoting the happiness of his fellow creatures.” Ref.: (R.E. Lee to Fitch Poole), Lee, p. 370.

Will Lee Attend GP’s Funeral?

Corcoran, W.W. 95-R.E. Lee at GP’s Funeral? The last GP-Corcoran connection was a controversy over Lee’s attending GP’s final funeral service in Peabody, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870. Lee was invited to attend but ill health forced him to decline. He explained in a Jan. 26, 1870, letter to Corcoran: “I am sorry I cannot attend the funeral obsequies of Mr. Peabody. It would be some relief to witness the respect paid to his remains, and to participate in commemorating his virtues; but I am unable to undertake the journey. I have been sick all the winter, and am still under medical treatment. I particularly regret that I shall not have the pleasure of seeing you. Two trustees of Washington College will attend the funeral. I hope you can join them.” Ref.: Robert E. Lee to William Wilson Corcoran, Jan. 26, 1870, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms., quoted in Corcoran, p. 311.

Corcoran, W.W. 96-R.E. Lee at GP’s Funeral? Cont’d. That same day (Jan. 26, 1870), one of the two trustees of Washington College who planned to attend wrote Corcoran: “I first thought that General Lee should not go, but have now changed my mind. Some of us believe that if you advise the General to attend he would do so. Use your own discretion in this matter.” Ref.: Trustee Boliver Christian to W.W. Corcoran, Jan. 26, 1870, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms.

Corcoran, W.W. 97-R.E. Lee at GP’s Funeral? Cont’d. Robert Charles Winthrop, who was to deliver GP’s funeral eulogy Feb. 8, 1870, was also concerned that Lee might attend. Friends feared that a demonstration against Lee might mar the ceremony. On Feb. 2, 1870, Winthrop wrote two private and confidential letters, the first to Baltimorean John Pendleton Kennedy: “There is apprehension here, that if Lee should come to the funeral, something unpleasant might occur, which would be as painful to us as to him. Would you contact friends to impart this to the General? Please do not mention that the suggestion came from me.” Ref.: R.C. Winthrop, Brookline, Mass., to W.W. Corcoran, Feb. 2, 1870, Kennedy Papers, PIB.

Corcoran, W.W. 98-R.E. Lee at GP’s Funeral? Cont’d. Winthrop’s second letter to Corcoran read: “I write to you in absolute confidence. Some friends of ours, whose motives cannot be mistaken, are very anxious that Gen’l. Lee should not come to the funeral next week. They have also asked me to suggest that. Still there is always apprehension that from an irresponsible crowd there might come some remarks which would be offensive to him and painful to us all. I am sure he would be the last person to involve himself or us, needlessly, in a doubtful position on such an occasion. The newspapers at first said that he was not coming. Now, there is an intimation that he is. I know of no one who could [more] effectively give the right direction to his views than yourself. Your relation to Mr. Peabody & to Mr. Lee would enable you to ascertain his purposes & shape his course wisely…. I know of no one else to rely on.” Ref.: R.C. Winthrop to W.W. Corcoran, Feb. 2, 1870, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms.

Corcoran, W.W. 99-R.E. Lee at GP’s Funeral? Cont’d. Lee wrote his daughter Mildred Lee the same day as Winthrop’s letters (Feb. 2, 1870) that he was too ill to attend: “I am sorry that I could not attend Mr. Peabody’s funeral, but I did not feel able to undertake the journey, especially at this season.” Corcoran replied to Winthrop that Lee had no intention of coming. He could not imagine, he wrote, that so good and great a man as Lee would receive anything but a kind reception. Corcoran himself was ill and regretted that he could not attend to pay his respects to “my valued old friend.” Corcoran missed GP’s funeral but no doubt read of Winthrop’s eulogy and GP’s burial at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Ref.: (R.E. Lee to Mildred Lee): R.E. Lee to daughter Mildred Lee, Feb. 2, 1870, quoted in Lee, p. 383.

Corné, Michele Felice (c1752-1845), marine artist. See: Science: GP’s Gifts to Science and Science Education (Peabody Essex Museum). 64-Collections.

Cornell Univ. Library, Ithaca, N.Y. The Ezra Cornell (1807-74) Papers, Cornell Univ. Library, have letters pertaining to GP.

Cosmopolitan Club, London. U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86) was at the Cosmopolitan Club, London, Nov. 15, 1869, and recorded in his journal: “Peabody was discussed and Mr. Hughes said he was the only foreigner ever buried in Westminster Abbey. Others were naturalized.” For details of Moran’s private journal entries on GP’s Nov. 4, 1869, death and subsequent funeral events, with sources, See: Moran, Benjamin.

Court of Common Council, City of London, is the governing body of the Corporation of the City of London. It was Charles Reed (1819-81), a member of the Court of Common Council, who first introduced his resolution on May 22, 1862, proposing that GP be granted the Freedom of the City of London. This honor was bestowed on GP on July 10, 1862. See: London, Freedom of the City of London, to GP. Reed, Charles.

Covington, Edward J., engineer-research of Millfield, Ohio. See: Starr, John W.

GP & the PEF

Coulter, E. Merton (1890-1981), historian, wrote of the PEF: “The greatest act of help and friendship that came to the South during the Reconstruction originated with George Peabody, Massachusetts-born English banker and benefactor…. The South was deeply moved by this beam of light piercing their blackest darkness.” Ref.: Coulter, p. 327. See: PEF.

Courtenay, William Ashmead (1831-1908), was a PEF trustee (from 1887). He was born in Charleston, S.C., was a manufacturer, bookseller, publisher, Confederate officer (1861-65), mayor of Charleston (1879-87), editor of the Charleston Year Books, and involved in proposing a GP statue in the U.S. Capitol Building. Ref.: “Courtenay-c,” p. 265. See: PEF.

Covey, William H., was the medical attendant who, under attending physician William Withey Gull, M.D. (1816-99), cared for GP during his final illness (from Oct. 1869) and death (Nov. 4, 1869) at Curtis Miranda Lampson’s (1806-85) home, 80 Eaton Sq., London. Dr. Covey supervised the embalming of GP’s remains for the unusually long 96-day transatlantic funeral voyage. See: William Withey Gull. Curtis Miranda Lampson.

GP & Pres. Andrew Johnson

Cowan, Edgar (1815-85). 1-Suggested in a Pres. Andrew Johnson Cabinet Reshuffle. Edgar Cowan was a U.S. Sen. from Penn. during 1861-67. When GP established the PEF, Feb. 7, 1867, U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson (1808-75) faced impeachment by hostile radical Republicans in Congress angered by his conciliatory policy toward the former Confederate states. To avoid impeachment, Pres. Andrew Johnson’s (1808-75) political advisor, Francis Preston Blair, Sr. (1791-1876), advised a complete change of cabinet, with Mass. Gov. John Albion Andrew (1818-67) as Secty. of State, GP as Treasury Secty., and six others. But loyalty to his cabinet kept Johnson from this course. For GP’s two visits with Pres. Johnson, Feb. 9 and April 25, 1867, with sources, see Congressional Gold Medal and Resolutions of Praise to GP. PEF. For the eight names proposed in the Cabinet reshuffle, see Andrew, John Albion.

Cowan, Edgar. 2-Career. Edgar Cowan was born in Westmoreland County, Penn.; graduated from Franklin College, Ohio (1839); practiced law in Greensburg, Penn.; was in the U.S. Senate (Penn., Republican, 1861-67); was appointed U.S. Minister to Austria by Pres. Johnson, but was not confirmed by the Senate; resumed law practice in Greensburg, Penn. Ref.: U.S. Govt.-f, p. 834.

Cox, Jacob Dolson (1828-1900), Ohio governor was, like U.S. Sen. from Penn. Edgar Cowan (1815-85) above, proposed as a cabinet officer (U.S. Interior Secty.) in a reconstituted Pres. Andrew Johnson cabinet. For GP’s two visits with Pres. Johnson, Feb. 9 and April 25, 1867, with sources, see Congressional Gold Medal and Resolutions of Praise to GP. PEF. For the eight names proposed in the Cabinet reshuffle, see Andrew, John Albion.

GPCFT Novelist & Historian

Crabb, Alfred Leland (1884-1979). 1-GPCFT Historian. Alfred Leland Crabb was GPCFT English professor (1927-49) who taught English and writing courses. He was Peabody Journal of Education editor for 38 years (1932-70), was a GPCFT historian, a historian of Nashville, and a regional novelist of note. He frequently guided and lectured visitors about historic Nashville ante-bellum homes and Civil War scenes and incidents. He was born in Warren County near Bowling Green, Ky.; attended Bethel College, McKenzie, Tenn., Southern Normal School, and Western Kentucky State College, Bowling Green, Ky. He taught and was principal of several rural public schools in Ky. and La.; and taught and was dean at what is now Western Ky. Univ. Ref.: Bain, et al., eds., pp. 101-102. Harwell-a, p. 215. Harwell (on A.L. Crabb), p. 215. Windrow, ed. Conkin, Peabody College, index.

Crabb, A.L. 2-Novels A.L. Crabb entered GPCFT in 1914 when it opened adjacent to Vanderbilt Univ. following its rechartering from Peabody Normal College (1875-1911) to GPCFT. He earned the bachelor’s degree from GPCFT in 1916; a master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia Univ.; and the doctorate degree from GPCFT in 1925. A.L. Crabb’s first book with colleagues (Alsletter and Newton) was Genealogy of George Peabody College for Teachers, 1935. His doctoral student John Edwin Windrow (1899-1984), also a longtime GPCFT professor and administrator, edited Peabody and Alfred Leland Crabb: The Story of Peabody As Reflected in Selected Writings of Alfred Leland Crabb (Nashville: Williams Press, 1977) A.L. Crabb obituary, Nashville Tennessean, Oct. 3, 1979. (Note: A.L. Crabb was a doctoral committee member of co-author Franklin Parker and advised him on his GP dissertation). Ref.: Ibid. Parker, Franklin. “George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy” (Ed.D., GPCFT, 1956), three vols.

Crabb, A.L. 3-Novels and other Writings. A.L. Crabb’s historical novels are set in Nashville, Chattanooga, and elsewhere in Tenn. and Ky., all published by Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, Ind. His Nashville trilogy covers 40 years of Nashville’s history, from the eve of the Civil War to 1897, the year of the Tenn. Centennial Exposition, years of upheaval for that city, Tenn., and the U.S.: 1-Dinner at Belmont; A Novel of Captured Nashville (1942); 2-Supper at the Maxwell House: a Novel of Captured Nashville (1943); and 3-Breakfast at the Hermitage; A Novel of Nashville Rebuilding (1945). A.L. Crabb’s Civil War trilogy that followed include: 3-Lodging at the St. Cloud: A Tale of Occupied Nashville (1946); 4-A Mockingbird Sang at Chickamauga: A Tale of Embattled Chattanooga (1949); and 5-Home to Tennessee: A Tale of Soldiers Returning (1952).

Crabb, A.L. 4-Novels and other Writings Cont’d.. A.L. Crabb’s novel 6-Home to The Hermitage: A Novel of Andrew and Rachel Jackson (1948) was dramatized on the “Cavalcade of America” radio program in 1948. His book 7-Journey to Nashville (1957) described the adventures of the parties led by James Robertson and John Donelson as they trekked through Tenn. to establish Nashborough (present Nashville). He wrote 8-Reunion at Chattanooga: A Novel of Chattanooga Rebuilding (1950); 9-Home to Kentucky (1953); and 10-Peace at Bowling Green (1955). His Nashville: Personality of a City (1960) described the people, places, and subjects he depicted in his novels. He also wrote 11-Andrew Jackson’s Nashville (1966), Acorns to Oak (1972), and many articles. For PCofVU’s six predecessor colleges and their nineteen chief administrators, see PCofVU, history of.

Predecessors to PCofVU

Craighead, Thomas Brown (c.1750-1825). 1-First Principal, Davidson Academy. Thomas Brown Craighead was the founder and first principal of 1-Davidson Academy (1785-1806), chartered in Nashville by the N.C. legislature eleven years before Tenn. statehood. Davidson Academy was rechartered as 2-Cumberland College (1806-26); and rechartered again as the 3-Univ. of Nashville (1826-75). At PEF’s first administrator Barnas Sears’s (1802-80) urging, helped by newly inaugurated Tenn. Gov. James Davis Porter (1828-1912), and through PEF financial support, the Univ. of Nashville’s moribund literary department became 4-State Normal School (1875-89), officially renamed 5-Peabody Normal College (1889-1911) and jointly financed by PEF and the Tenn. legislature. See PCofVU, history of. Conkin, Peabody College, index.

Craighead, T.B. 2-Transition to PCofVU. Peabody Normal College was moved from its south Nashville location next to Vanderbilt Univ. and rechartered as 6-GPCFT (1914-79); which was rechartered as PCofVU since July 1, 1979. Thomas Brown Craighead was thus the founder and first administrator of the first collegiate institution in Nashville, Tenn. (Davidson Academy), which through six name changes, nearly two centuries later, is currently PCofVU. Ref.: Ibid.

Craighead, T.B. 3-Nashville’s Early Minister. Thomas Brown Craighead was a graduate of the College of New Jersey, chartered in 1746 by the “New Light ” (evangelical) Presbyterians, and renamed Princeton Univ. after 1896. The College of New Jersey under Pres. John Witherspoon (1723-94) imbued many graduates with missionary zeal to preach and teach on the frontier. Two other graduates who started schools on the Tenn. frontier (statehood, 1796) were (besides Thomas Brown Craighead) Samuel Doak (1749-1830), founder of Martin Academy (incorporated 1783, renamed Washington College, 1795); and Hezekiah Balch (1741-1810), founder of Greeneville College (1794), later renamed Tusculum College. Rev. Craighead preached in S.C., N.C., and Va. He was then invited to become Nashville’s first minister by Tenn. pioneer James Robertson (1742-1814). Rev. Craighead arrived in Nashville in 1785, mounted a stump, and preached to all who would listen.

Craighead, T.B. 4-Administrators, Davidson Academy and Successors. Chief administrators include: 1-Thomas Brown Craighead was Davidson Academy’s principal during its 1785-1806 existence plus three years (to 1809) of its rechartered successor, Cumberland College (1806-26). Craighead was succeeded by 2-Pres. James Priestley (1760-1821) from Oct. 24, 1809, to Feb. 4, 1821. Pres. James Priestley was succeeded by 3-Pres. Philip Lindsley (1786-1850), at whose suggestion Cumberland College was rechartered as the Univ. of Nashville from Nov. 27, 1826, to 1875. Pres. Philip Lindsley resigned, 1850, and was succeeded by his physician son, 4-Dr. John Berrien Lindsley (1822-97), chancellor during 1850-72, succeeded in turn by 5-Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith (1824-95), Univ. of Nashville chancellor during 1872-75. Ref.: Connelly, p. 216. Corlew, pp. 119-120. Dykeman, pp. 161-162. Wooldridge, pp. 386, 615-619. For PCofVU’s six predecessor colleges and their nineteen chief administrators, see PCofVU, history of.

Crampton, John Fiennes Twistleton (1805-86), was British Minister to the U.S. at the time of the Crimean War (1855-56). See: Crimean War (below).

Crimean War

Crimean War (1855-56). 1-Indiscreet Recruit of U.S. Volunteers for British Army. During the Crimean War, which pitted Russia against England, France, and other countries, British Minister to the U.S. John Fiennes Twistleton Crampton (1805-86) indiscreetly tried to recruit U.S. volunteers for the British army. U.S. Secty. of State William Learned Marcy (1786-1857) objected and demanded Crampton’s recall. Ref.: (Crimean War): Bailey, pp. 298-299.

Crimean War. 2-GP’s June 13, 1856, U.S.-British Friendship Dinner. Just after the Crimean War, with U.S.-British relations strained, GP sponsored a June 13, 1856, U.S.-British friendship dinner to introduce the new Minister to Britain, George Mifflin Dallas (1792-1864). The dinner was held at the Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond, eight miles from London on the Thames. Former British Minister to the U.S. Henry Bulwer-Lytton (1801-72) was to have proposed the health of U.S. Minister Dallas. But Bulwer-Lytton, being Crampton’s colleague, explained to GP that to appear at this dinner and propose the health of U.S. Minister Dallas would be unfair to his colleague and predecessor John F.T. Crampton, whom the U.S. had asked to be replaced. Ref.: (June 13, 1856, dinner): New York Daily Times, July 4, 1856, p. 2, c. 4-5. Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper (London), June 22, 1856, p. 5, c. 3. John Pendleton Kennedy’s journal, IX, “Travel in England, May 10-Oct. 20, 1856″ entry dated Friday, June 13, 1856, Kennedy Papers, PIB, Baltimore.

Crimean War. 3-Effect on GP. It was a tribute to GP that he could succeed in sponsoring this U.S.-British friendship dinner at this particular time of tension and misunderstanding. Two years before, at GP’s July 4, 1854, U.S. Independence Day dinner, at the same Star and Garter Hotel, an anti-British incident had marred the occasion. Objecting to a toast to Queen Victoria before one to the U.S. President, jingoistic U.S. Legation Secty. in London Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914) refused to stand, walked out, and charged GP in letters to the press with toadying to the British. GP’s role in trying to promote U.S.-British friendship was not easy, although he generally won approbation from all sides. See: Dinners, GPs, London. Persons named.

Critics. See: Peabody, George (1795-1869), Critics.

Croft, William (1678-1727) and Henry Purcell (1659-95) were English music composers whose works were sung at GP’s funeral service at Westminster Abbey on Nov. 12, 1869. Participant U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran’s (1820-86) journal entry thus recorded his impression of this music: “The grand music of Purcell and was sweetly sung by deep voiced men and silvery voiced boys, the heavy tones of the organ blending with the human music and all rising like incense over the benevolent man’s grave.” See: Death and Funeral, GP’s. Persons named.

Crowe, William J., Jr. (1925-), U.S. Navy Admiral, was U.S. Ambassador to Britain (1994-97) who participated in the “Bicentenary Service of Thanksgiving for the Life and Work of George Peabody, 1795-1869,” in London’s Westminster Abbey, Nov. 16, 1995. Ky.-born and a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Adm. Wm. J. Crowe commanded the U.S. Naval Forces in Europe and the Pacific; and was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dept. of Defense, 1985-89. Ref.: New York Times, July 16, 1995, section XIII-CN, p. 17, c. 1. (Career): Seen Dec. 9, 1999: Internet http://www.knowuk.co.uk See: GP Bicentennial Celebrations (Feb. 18, 1795-1995).

Cryder, John, was GP’s NYC business friend who, knowing of GP’s broken engagement to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905) about Jan. 1839, wrote him nine years later of the death of her husband Alexander Lardner (1808-48). Cryder wrote to GP, Jan. 27, 1848: “Poor Lardner died in Phila. a few days since leaving his young & interesting widow with two children & about $20,000. He was an excellent man & his death is much lamented.” Esther Elizabeth (Hoppin) Lardner outlived GP by 35 years and her husband by 57 years. See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth.

Crystal Palace Exhibition. See: Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair).

Cubitt, William (1791-1863), was the Right Hon. Mayor of the City of London who officiated when GP was granted the Freedom of the City of London, July 10, 1862. See:: London, Freedom of the City of London, to GP.

Predecessors of PCofVU

Cumberland College, Nashville, Tenn. (1806-26). 1-Predecessor, PCofVU. Cumberland College was rechartered from its predecessor, Davidson Academy (1785-1806). Cumberland College was later rechartered as the Univ. of Nashville (1826-75). It was from the Univ. of Nashville’s moribund Literary Dept. that PEF administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80), helped by newly inaugurated Tenn. Gov. James Davis Porter (1828-1912), created Peabody Normal College (1875-1911), renamed GPCFT (1914-79), and renamed PCofVU, since 1979. Ref.: Folmsbee, et al., pp. 24-25. Corlew. See: Sears, Barnas. Conkin, Peabody College, index.

Cumberland College, Nashville, Tenn. 2-Fifteenth U.S. College. GPCFT historian Alfred Leland Crabb (1884-1980) wrote that its lineage (now, PCofVU’s lineage), despite some closures for lack of funds, made it the 15th collegiate institution since the founding of Harvard College in 1636. Cumberland College was closed six years because of financial problems (1816-22). Philip Lindsley (1786-1855) was Cumberland College president two years after its reopening (1824). The Univ. of Nashville (1826-75) was closed temporarily in 1850; its medical department began operation in 1851. The Univ. of Nashville reopened in 1855, the year Pres. Philip Lindsley died, with Lindsley’s physician son, John Berrien Lindsley, M.D. (1822-97), as chancellor. For PCofVU’s six predecessor colleges and their nineteen chief administrators, see PCofVU, history of.

Cunard, Sir Edward (1816-69), was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; was for 30 years the NYC agent of the British-owned Cunard Lines; and succeeded to his father’s title. Edward Cunard was one of the NYC delegation (including Washington Irving, 1783-1859; August Belmont, 1816-90; and others) which greeted GP on his arrival on the Atlantic, NYC, Sept. 15, 1856, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years’ absence in London (since Feb. 1837). The NYC delegation, along with delegations from Boston and other cities, offered a public reception dinner to GP, which he graciously declined, stating his obligation to first attend a public reception in his hometown of South Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856. See: South Danvers, Mass., GP Celebration, Oct. 9, 1856. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Cunard Steamship Co. (British transatlantic line). See: Scotia.

2nd PEF Administrator J.L.M. Curry

Curry, Jabez Lamar Monroe (1825-1903). 1-Southern Educator. J.L.M. Curry, a leading statesman and educator of the South, was the second PEF administrator during 1881-85 and 1888-1903. He succeeded first PEF administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80). Sears daughter, Elizabeth Corey (née Sears) Fultz (b. Oct. 14, 1838; died 1900; she married John Hampden Fultz [1840 or 1845-1912?) on Oct. 12, 1874), assisted her father in his last illness. On his death, July 6, 1880, she was acting PEF administrator, prepared the 1880-81 PEF annual report, until the appointment of second PEF administrator Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (1825-1903) on Feb. 2, 1881. Curry was born in Lincoln County, Ga., attended an “old field” school near his home (unused barn or building on a fallow field used as a school), a Presbyterian parson’s school, and an academy at Willington, S.C. In 1834 when he was age nine his father moved to Talladega, Ala., where he was a slave-owning planter. Young Curry graduated from the Univ. of Ga. (1839-43), at age 18; and graduated from Harvard Univ.’s Dale Law School (1845), where future U.S. Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-93, 19th U.S. Pres., 1877-81) was his classmate. Refs. (Elizabeth Corey [née Sears] Fultz): May. (Curry): Dabney, II, p. 124. Conkin, Peabody College, index.

Curry, J.L.M. 2-Dedicated Educator. While in Cambridge, Mass., he eagerly heard speeches by such luminaries of the time as former slave Frederick Douglass (c.1817-95), Wendell Phillips (1811-84), statesman-historian George Bancroft (1800-91), Rufus Choate (1799-1859), John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), statesman Daniel Webster (1782-1852), and educators Henry Barnard (1811-1900) and Horace Mann (1796-1859). Curry later wrote, “Mann’s…earnest enthusiasm and democratic ideas fired my young mind and heart; and since that time I have been an enthusiastic and consistent advocate of Universal education.” Ref.: Dabney, II, p. 124.

Curry, J.LM. 3-Statesman, Soldier, College President. In Ala. Curry read law, wrote for a newspaper, and when the Mexican War started in 1846 he joined a regiment in Texas and was made a second sergeant. Returning to Ala. he practiced law, was elected to the Ala. legislature (1847-56) and served on a committee that created the Ala. public schools. A firm believer in states rights, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1857-61). With Lincoln’s election he resigned from the U.S. Congress, served in the Confederate Congress (1861-62), was a cavalry officer and aide to Confederate generals Joseph E. Johnston (1807-91) and Joseph Wheeler (1836-1906). Arrested on May 30, 1865, his property confiscated in Sept. 1865, he took the oath of allegiance to the U.S., Oct. 1865. Finding it difficult to make a living, he assisted his Baptist pastor in Talladega until he became president of Howard College, Ala., a Baptist college, during 1865-68. He was professor of English and public law, Richmond College, Va. (1868-81). Here he had friendly contact with first PEF administrator Barnas Sears, who lived in Staunton, Va. Ref.: Flexner, pp. 14-21, 29.

Curry, J.L.M. 4-Second PEF Administrator. Accepting the outcome of the Civil War, Curry put aside animosity and was among the first southerners to encourage black education. Learning early of GP’s intended PEF gift, Curry wrote PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) in Jan. 1867 to praise the fund’s intended aid to southern education. Barnas Sears developed a high regard for Curry, considered in 1873 that Curry should succeed him, and shared with Curry in 1877 in Sears’s home at Staunton his thoughts on PEF policy. Ref.: Dabney, I, pp. 124-130.

Curry, J.L.M. 5-Second PEF Administrator Cont’d. Knowing that Sears wanted Curry to succeed him, Winthrop and the trustees after considering others, unanimously chose Curry on Feb. 2, 1881. Curry was welcomed by political leaders, both South and North. He interrupted his service as second PEF administrator (1881-85) to become U.S. Minister to Spain during 1885-88. The PEF trustees replaced Curry for these three years with Samuel Abbott Green (b.1830), a PEF trustee from 1883. Ref.: Ibid.

Curry, J.L.M. 6-Second PEF Administrator Cont’d. Curry returned as PEF administrator during 1885-1903. In the PEF’s first phase Sears focused on public elementary schools and normal schools. In the PEF’s second phase Curry focused on teacher education, using three-fifths of its expenditures for that purpose. During his last few years Curry did triple duty as PEF administrator, head of the John F. Slater Fund for Negro Education (1890-1903), and director of the Southern Education Board (1901-03). Ref.: Ibid.

“…halo of romance…”

Curry, J.L.M. 7-Mr. Humphreys’ Daughter. In his GP biography and PEF history, J.L.M. Curry printed an undated letter he received from the daughter of a Mr. Humphreys. She wrote that when GP arrived during a U.S. visit (no date given but probably May 1, 1866, in NYC), her father, a commercial friend of GP of long standing, went to see GP and congratulated him on his amazing philanthropy. GP, then a very old man, said quietly, “Humphreys, after my disappointment long ago, I determined to devote myself to my fellow-beings, and am carrying out that dedication to my best ability.” She added in her letter to J.L.M. Curry: “These expressions made to my father, and so far as I am aware, to him alone, referred to an incident which has had its day and among the circle of Mr. Peabody’s friends, its halo of romance. Mr. Peabody’s own touching reference to it can, after the lapse of so many years, be recorded without incrimination, as showing his own reading of an important page in his life history.” Ref.: (Mr. Humphreys’ daughter): Curry-b, p. 12. Ref.: Parker, F.-b, pp. 215, 224-225; reprinted in Parker, F.-o, pp. 10-14; reprinted in Parker, F.-zd, pp. 33-37. For Mr. Humphreys’ daughter’s complete letter, see Humphreys.

Curry, J.L.M. 8-Mr. Humphreys’ Daughter Cont’d. GP’s alleged remark to Humphreys, “my disappointment long ago,” may or may not refer to his broken engagement about Jan. 1839 to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905). If so, this alleged remark is his only known indication that the loss of Esther Hoppin was a prime motive for his philanthropy. See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth. Humphreys. Lardner, Alexander. Sully, Thomas. Romance and GP.

Curry, J.L.M. 9-At White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. J.L.M. Curry, Barnas Sears, Robert E. Lee (1807-70, then president of Washington College, Va.), and John Eaton (1829-1906, then Tenn. Supt. of Public Instruction) were educators present during GP’s visit to White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., July 23-Aug. 30, 1869. The informal talks which took place on the public education needs of the South set a significant precedent for later Conferences on Education in the South (1898-1903). J.L.M. Curry was heavily involved in these conferences which led to large and significant foundation aid for southern education. For names of prominent participants, and sources, including historic W.Va. photos taken between Aug. 15-19, 1869, see Corcoran, William Wilson. Confederate generals. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Persons named. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

No GP Statue in Statuary Hall

Curry, J.L.M. 10-No GP Statue in Statuary Hall. J.L.M. Curry tried unsuccessfully to get a statue of GP in Statuary Hall, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Capitol Bldg., Washington, D.C., where each state has two statues of its greatest citizens. The first such proposal was made in a conference of Va. Superintendents of Education and recorded in the 1885 annual report of Va.’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. This report came to PEF second administrator J.L.M. Curry’s attention. In Curry’s 1891 PEF annual report he wrote: “As 1892 will be a quarter of a century since the foundation of the Trust, would it not be a most fit and graceful recognition of Mr. Peabody’s unparalleled bounty, if the states which have been the beneficiaries of the Fund should, by combined action, contribute a bronze or marble statue to be placed by consent of Congress, in the old Hall of the House of Representatives, where are collected the images of so many renowned Americans.” •Ref.: Farr, II, p. 29. •Curry-b, p. 111. •PEF, Vol. V, pp. 131-132, 175, 293.

End 2 of 14. Continued on 3 of 14. Send corrections, questions to: bfparker@frontiernet.net

3 of 14: George Peabody (1795-1869): A-Z Handbook…, By Franklin Parker & Betty J. Parker, bfparker@frontiernet.net

3 of 14: George Peabody (1795-1869): A-Z Handbook of the Massachusetts-Born Merchant in the South, London-Based Banker, and Philanthropist’s Life, Influence, and Related People, Places, Events, and Institutions. ©2007, By Franklin Parker & Betty J. Parker, bfparker@frontiernet.net

This work updates and expands Franklin Parker, George Peabody, A Biography (Nashville, Tenn.: Vanderbilt Univ. Press, ©1971, revised with illustrations ©1995), and the authors’ related George Peabody publications. Note: To read on your computer Franklin Parker’s out-of-print George Peabody, A Biography, 1995, as a free Google E-book copy and paste on your browser: http://books.google.com/books?id=OPIbk-ZPnF4C&pg=PP1&lpg=PR4&dq=Franklin+Parker,+George+Peabody,+a+Biography&output=html&sig=6R8ZoKwN1B36wtCSePijnLaYJS8

Background: Why these 1 to 14 blogs on George Peabody? The authors attended George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville (renamed Peabody College of Vanderbilt Univ. July 1, 1979). Franklin Parker’s doctoral dissertation, “George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy,” 1956, has been an ongoing research and writing interest for over 50 years. The authors’ intent is to perpetuate public memory of him.

George Peabody, now largely forgotten by scholars and the public, was significant as: 1-a Massachusetts-born merchant in the U.S. South, beginning as junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29); then head of Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-43), importing dry goods and other commodities worldwide for sale to U.S. wholesalers. He transformed himself from merchant into: 2-a London-based merchant-banker, George Peabody & Co. (1838-64), which helped finance the B&O RR, the 2nd Mexican War Loan, the Atlantic Cable, and by choosing Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) as partner Oct. 1, 1854, was a root of the JP Morgan international banking firm.

Merchant-turned-banker George Peabody finally became: 3-the best known U.S. philanthropist of the 1850s-60s, founding the Peabody Homes of London for the working poor; founder in the U.S. of 7 Peabody Libraries and Lecture Halls; the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore; three Peabody Museums at Harvard (Anthropology), Yale (Paleontology), and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA (maritime history); and founder of the Peabody Education Fund for the South (1867-1914), a model for all later larger U.S. funds and foundations.

Two tributes to George Peabody:

Historian John Steele Gordon called George Peabody the “Most Underrated Philanthropist…. Peabody is unjustly forgotten today, but his unprecedented generosity was greatly appreciated in his time.” Ref.: American Heritage. Vol. 50, No. 3 (May-June 1999), pp. 68-69.

“The Peabody Fund, established in 1867 by George Peabody to assist southern education, is often credited with being the first foundation….” Ref.: Reader’s Companion to American History, ed. by Eric Foner and John A. Garraty (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991). Internet: http://HistoryChannel.com/

End of Background. HTML symbols are intended for blogging (ignore). This 3 of 14 blogs covers alphabetically entries from Curry, J.L.M. 11 to Dwight, Sereno Edwards.

Curry, J.L.M. 11-No GP Statue in Statuary Hall Cont’d. Curry urged this action again in a stirring appeal to Va.’s General Assembly in 1895. On Feb. 1, 1896, Va. state Sen. William Lovenstein (1840-96) introduced a resolution and Curry’s Jan. 24, 1896, supporting letter, calling for a GP statue, which the Senate agreed to on Feb. 7 and the House of Delegates agreed to on Feb. 8. The Va. Senate asked the governor to correspond with other southern governors. On Feb. 25, 1896, the S.C. legislature asked its governor to do the same, with friends of the proposal appropriating $1,500. In Tenn. the matter was brought up without action being taken. At the end of 1896 a member of the Tenn. Joint Legislative Committee on Education suggested that Peabody Normal College students raise funds for the proposed statue. These efforts were not successful. Refs. below.

Curry, J.L.M. 12-No GP Statue in Statuary Hall Cont’d. . Va., Commonwealth of-c, p. 341, 380, 392 (appended as Senate Document No. XI). S.C.-a, Acts, p. 373. S.C.-b, Journal, Senate, 1896, pp. 6-46. S.C.-c, Journal, House , 1896, pp. 6-46. Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, NY), Feb. 2, 1896, p. 24, c. 2. Courtenay-a. Courtenay-b, pp. 1-10. Va., Commonwealth of-c, pp. 341, 380, 392. Manarin, pp. 224-225. “To Honor Peabody,” Richmond Dispatch (Va.), Feb. 2, 1896, p. 12, c. 1.

Curti, Merle Eugene (1897-1996), U.S. historian, wrote the Foreword to Franklin Parker, George Peabody, A Biography (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1971 and 1995 revision). He was an authority on U.S. philanthropy, the social ideas of U.S. educators, and U.S. scholarship in the 20th century. Born in Papillion, Neb., M.E. Curti earned the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in history from Harvard Univ.; taught history at Beloit College, Smith College, and Columbia University, and in the History Dept., Univ. of Wisconsin (1942-68), retiring as Frederick Jackson Turner Professor Emeritus. His books included The Growth of American Thought (winner of the 1944 Pulitzer Prize in History); Roots of American Loyalty, 1946; and The Making of American Community; A Case Study of Democracy in a Frontier County, 1959.

D

Dabney, Charles William (1855-1945), was a Va.-born educator, administrator, and historian of U.S. education in the South. He was president of the Univ. of Tenn. (1887-1904) and the Univ. of Cincinnati (1904-20). In his book, Universal Education in the South (1936, 2 vols.), he wrote of the influence of the PEF: “George Peabody [was] the first of the line of philanthropists to aid the Southern states in their struggle for education after the Civil War.” [And]: “The gift of Mr. Peabody in its purpose to help cure the sores of a distressed people by giving them aid for a constructive plan of education was original and unique. It was not for the mere relief of suffering; it was to lay the foundations for future peace and prosperity through enlightenment and training. In this sense he was a pioneer of a new philanthropy, which did not seek only to palliate, or merely to eliminate the causes of evil and distress, but to build up a better and stronger human society.” Ref.: Dabney, I, pp. 101, 104. See: PEF. Quotations by and about GP.

Dabney, Morgan and Co. John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) became junior partner in Dabney, Morgan & Co., NYC, in 1864. See: John Pierpont Morgan, Sr. Junius Spencer Morgan.

Dalguise, Scotland, where GP went to rest and fish during 1862-63.

GP & U.S. Minister to Britain G.M. Dallas

Dallas, George Mifflin (1792-1864). 1-U.S. Minister to Britain. GP gave a U.S.-British friendship dinner and entertainment in London, June 13, 1856, to introduce incoming Minister G.M. Dallas. George Mifflin Dallas was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1856-61. He succeeded U.S. Minister James Buchanan (1791-1868), minister during 1853-56, and was in turn succeeded by Charles Francis Adams (1807-86), who was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1861-68. G.M. Dallas was born in Philadelphia, graduated from Princeton College (1810), became a lawyer (1813), was U.S. Sen. from Penn. (1831-33), Penn. Atty. General (1833-35), U.S. Minister to Russia (1837-39), and U.S. Vice President (1845-49) under U.S. Pres. James K. Polk (1795-1849, 11th U.S. president during 1845-49). Among the 130 guests present was Baltimorean John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870), who wrote in his journal about the June 13, 1856, dinner: “A great banquet given by Mr. P., with tickets to the Concert there at 3…we got to dinner about 7. We number nearly 130.” See: Dinners, GP’s, London. Persons named.

Dallas, G.M. 2-Crimean War. This June 13, 1856, dinner which introduced Minister Dallas was held soon after the Crimean War (1855-56, Russia vs. England, France, others), amid some anti-British feeling in the U.S. British Minister to the U.S. John Crampton indiscreetly tried to recruit U.S. volunteers for the British army. U.S. Secty. of State William Learned Marcy (1786-1857) objected and had Crampton recalled. Former British Minister to the U.S. Henry Bulwer-Lytton (1801-72) was to have proposed the health of U.S. Minister Dallas at GP’s June 13, 1856, dinner. But Bulwer-Lytton, being Crampton’s colleague, explained to GP that to appear at this dinner and propose the health of U.S. Minister Dallas would be unfair to his dismissed colleague John Crampton and would evoke British public resentment. It was a tribute to GP that he could still successfully sponsor this U.S.-British friendship dinner at that tense time of misunderstanding and mistrust. Ref.: Ibid. See: Crimean War. Persons named.

Dallas, G.M. 3-July 4, 1856, Dinner Speech: GP. GP gave a July 4, 1856, Independence Day dinner for more than 100 Americans and a few Englishmen at the Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond, eight miles from London on the Thames at which Minister G.M. Dallas gave a short speech. GP prefaced his toast with these remarks: “I have before me two loving cups, one British the second of American oak, presented to me some years ago by Francis Peabody [1801-68], now present.” (Note: Distant cousin Francis Peabody of Salem, Mass., was the fourth son of famed Salem, Mass., shipmaster Joseph Peabody [1757-1844]). Ref.: (July 4, 1856, dinner speeches): London Times, July 7, 1856, p. 10, c. 5-6. London Morning Advertiser, July 7, 1856, p. 4, c. 1-3. New York Times, July 24, 1856, p. 2, c. 2-3. Prime, pp. 630-631.

Dallas, G.M. 4-July 4, 1856, Dinner Speech: GP Cont’d.: “Let me say a few words before passing these cups. The first dinner I gave in connection with American Independence Day was a dinner in 1850 at which the American Minister, American and English friends were present. In 1851, the Great Exhibition year, I substituted a ball and banquet. Some of my friends were apprehensive that the affair would not be accepted that year of Anglo-American rivalry but the acceptance of the Duke of Wellington made the affair successful. For twenty years I have been in this kingdom of England and in my humble way mean to spread peace and good-will. I know no party North or South but my whole country. With these loving cups let us know only friendship between East and West.” Ref.: Ibid.

Dallas, G.M. 5-July 4, 1856, Dinner Speech: PM Brown. GP proposed “The Day We Celebrate,” followed by “Her Majesty, the Queen,” and “the President of the United States.” MP William Brown (1784-1864) from Liverpool said: “The day we celebrate will ever be remembered in the history of the world. For we English derive as much satisfaction from it as you do. None of us are answerable for the sins of statesmanship or the errors of our forefathers. George Washington, remembered with respect by England and the world, would rejoice to see the enterprising spirit of the country he brought into existence, a country which seeks to bridge the Atlantic and Pacific via canal and now explores the Arctic seas (cheers).” Ref.: Ibid.

Dallas, G.M. 6-July 4, 1856, Dinner Speech: PM Brown Cont’d.: “I deny that England is jealous of the United States. We rejoice in your prosperity and know that when you prosper we share in it. It is not true that the fortunes of one country arise from the misfortune of another. While we have differences they can be amicably adjudicated (cheers). I toast the American Minister, Mr. George M. Dallas (cheers).” Ref.: Ibid.

Dallas, G.M. 7-July 4, 1856, Dinner Speech: Minister Dallas. Minister G.M. Dallas said: “I rejoice to find so many patriots present to celebrate American Independence Day. We are, as a country, but eighty years old, yet how proud we are of her (cheers). Small and feeble at birth, she now contains twenty-seven million people. Once on the margin of the Atlantic she is now an immense continent. It is a matter of sincere regret that the free nations are not always the sincerest friends (hear, hear).” A complimentary toast was proposed to GP as host. His few remarks in response concluded by saying that the land of his birth was always uppermost in his mind. When he sat down the band played “Home, Sweet Home.” Ref.: Ibid.

Dallas, G.M. 8-July 4, 1856, Dinner Speech: S.F.B. Morse. Present at this dinner was Irish-born sculptor John Edward Jones (1806-62), who made a bust of GP in 1856. Also present was U.S. inventor Samuel F.B. Morse (1791-1872). A toast to “The Telegraph” was suddenly proposed. Not anticipating the toast and not having a reply at hand, Morse rose and modestly quoted from Psalm 19: “Their line is gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world.” Ibid. See: persons named. U.S. Ministers to Britain and GP.

Dana, Daniel (1771-1859), was the pastor of the Congregational Church, Federal St., Newburyport, Mass. In 1811 when GP was age 16 he attended this church, sitting in his paternal uncle John Peabody’s (1768-before 1826) pew, when he clerked in his older brother David Peabody’s (1790-1841) dry goods store. Daniel Dana was the uncle of Samuel Turner Dana (1810-77), Boston merchant, with whom GP had business dealings and in whose Boston home GP rested on June 10, 1869. See Dana, Samuel Turner. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Dana, James Dwight (1813-1895), was born in Utica, N.Y., was a Yale graduate under chemistry Professor Benjamin Silliman, Sr. (1779-1864), whose daughter he married. As Silliman Professor of Natural History and Geology at Yale, James Dwight Dana taught GP’s nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99) at Yale’s graduate Sheffield School of Science (1861-62). When O.C. Marsh learned of his uncle GP’s intent to aid science at Harvard Univ., Marsh consulted Dana and the Sillimans, senior and junior, who encouraged Marsh to influence GP’s gifts of $150,000 each to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard Univ. and the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Univ., both founded 1866. See: Marsh, Othniel Charles. Science: GP’s Gifts to Science and Science Education.

Dana, Samuel Turner (1810-77), was a Boston merchant with whom GP had business dealings and whose uncle Daniel Dana (1771-1859) was pastor of the Congregational Church, Federal St., Newburyport, Mass., which GP attended with his paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-before 1826) in 1811. GP rested at Samuel Turner Dana’s Boston home on June 10, 1869. See Dana, Daniel. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

GP & Favorite Sister Judith

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell (1799-1879). 1-GP’s Sister. Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell Daniels was GP’s younger sister by four years, fourth born of eight children of Thomas Peabody (1762-1811) and Judith (née Dodge) Peabody (1770-1830), in South Parish, Danvers, Mass (renamed Peabody on April 13, 1868). In Sept. 1831 she married lawyer Jeremiah Russell (d. May 2, 1860) and lived in Georgetown, Mass. (formerly Rowley, her mother’s birthplace). See: Georgetown, Mass.

GP’s Family Link

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 2-Judith was GP’s Family Link. She was for most of GP’s life abroad his family link and his disburser of family funds, including payment for clothing, other needs, and education costs in private schools of his brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was the mother of George Peabody Russell (1835-1909), GP’s nephew, a Harvard graduate and lawyer who went with GP to White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., summer 1869, accompanied GP’s remains after death from London for burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., and was one of the 16 original PEF trustees.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 3-Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass. After her first husband Jeremiah Russell’s death about 1860, Judith married again in 1862 to GP’s childhood school friend Robert Shillaber Daniels (b.1791). They too lived in Georgetown, Mass. A doctrinal dispute between the minister and some parishioners, including Judith, in the Georgetown, Mass., Congregational church, resulted in the separate worship by the dissenters in a temporary chapel. In 1866, at the suggestion of his sister Judith and in his mother’s memory, GP built a memorial Congregational church for $70,000 in Georgetown, Mass. The intimate contacts between GP and his sister Judith through the years, by letters and during his three U.S. visits from London, offer insights into GP’s family relations, commercial career, friendships, hometown relations, and other concerns. See: Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass. Persons named.

GP, Age 18

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 4-June 28, 1813, Letter. GP’s June 28, 1813, letter to his sister Judith was written a year and a month after his arrival in Georgetown, D.C., from Newburyport, Mass., with paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-before 1826). Uncle and nephew opened a dry goods store, May 15, 1812, in Georgetown whose operation soon fell on GP, his uncle developing other interests. The letter, with errors, was hastily written when GP was age 18, two days after his 12 days’ service in a military unit to defend the military district of D.C. in the War of 1812. Judith was then staying with their maternal grandparents in Thetford, Vt.: Jeremiah Dodge (1744-1824) and Judith (née Spofford) Dodge (1749-1828).

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 5-June 28, 1813, Letter Cont’d. GP wrote Judith: “GeorgeTown (D.C.) 28 June 1813 Dear Miss J. Peabody Amagion not dear Sister that two years absence has eras[d] you from my memory. Nor impute my remissness in not before answering you[r] Interesting letter of the 9th April, to any diminution of love, when I assure you not a day passes but what brings you and the rest of my friends to my memory, and makes me more and more regret the loss of their Society. I however pass my time as pleasantly as can be expected so far from them.” Ref.: GP, Georgetown, D.C., to Judith Peabody, Thetford, Vt., June 28, 1813, Archives, Peabody Institute Library, Peabody, Mass. Printed copy in newspaper clipping pasted back of a GP portrait, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 6-June 28, 1813, Letter Cont’d.: “The acquaintances I have found are not very numerous, but agreeable, most particularly the society of some young Ladies which can only be exceeded by that of my distant friends, which I expect to have enjoyed for a short time before this, but owing to the situation of our business, I regret to say it will be impossible for me to leave till next Spring, at which time I anticipate with pleasure a short visit at Thetford where I have spent some of my pleasantest days and on which I often derive pleasure in ruminating and at which place I think with your Thetford friends, you cannot but pass your time agreeably.” Ref.: Ibid.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 7-June 28, 1813, Letter Cont’d.: “But in my Situation I cannot feel that ease & tranquillity I should wish as the management of the business in which I am engaged entirely devolves on me, and subjects me to all the cares and anxieties that generally attends it. We are also under considerable apprehensions of an attack from the British upon this district, So much so that the President has made a requisition of 500 men which have been ordered on duty and are now encamp.d within sight of this place. I was one of the detach.d members, but fortunately the day previous to the draft attach.d myself to a choir of Artillery, otherwise it would have cost me from 50 to 75$ for a Substitute. My duty however now is not the easyest having to meet every other day for the purpose of drill exercise and which is the case with every person capable of military duty in the district.” Ref.: Ibid.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 8-June 28, 1813, Letter Cont’d.: “Almost every mail from the southward brings accounts of some new depredations committed in the Chesapeake Bay. This day’s brought accounts of the destruction of Hampton a small town near Norfolk, and the passengers in the stage mentioned that when they left, families were moving from Norfolk in every direction expecting an attack from the British. The President is dangerously sick, he has sent 50 miles for a physitian [sic]. My last letters from Achsah was in May the family was in good health, Achsah informd me that Uncle D was in N.Y. I wish you to Inform me In what part of the city he resides, as should I go there this fall I should like to call on him. I hope Uncle Elipholet has recovered his health before this, my respects to him and all the rest of the folks and Remain Yr Affe. Brother Geo. Peabody Tell Gransir I shall for the present send him one of the Papers Printed in this Vicinity.” For GP’s circumstances at the time and location of this letter, See: War of 1812. Ref.: Ibid.

GP Educating Relatives

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 9-Bradford Academy, 1820s. Soon after his arrival in Georgetown, D.C., May 1812, GP became the family’s main support. By 1816 he had paid his deceased father’s debts and restored the mortgaged Danvers home to his mother and younger siblings who from his father’s death (May 11, 1811) had to live with Spofford relatives in Salem. GP then paid for five relatives’ schooling at Bradford Academy, Bradford, Mass.: 1-his youngest brother Jeremiah Dodge Peabody (1805-77), who attended Bradford in 1819; 2-sister Judith Dodge, from 1821; 3-sister Mary Gaines Peabody (1807-34), 1822; 4-younger cousin Adolphus William Peabody (b. 1814, paternal uncle John Peabody’s son), 1827-29; and 5-nephew George Peabody (1815-32, oldest brother David Peabody’s son), 1827. See: Bradford Academy, Bradford, Mass.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 10-Judith’s Burst of Gratitude. Judith had taught school for a time in Chester, N.H., returned to teach near Bradford, and soon managed a home GP bought in West Bradford where his mother and relatives attending Bradford Academy lived. In a burst of gratitude, Judith wrote to GP in Baltimore May 8, 1823: “Were my brother like other brothers, were it a common favor, which I have received from him, and could I do justice to the feelings of my own heart, I would now formally express my gratitude, but I forebear;…and even then the happiness, that I have enjoyed while acquiring it, would lay me under obligation, which I could never cancel…” Ref.: Judith Dodge Peabody, Bradford, Mass., to GP, Baltimore, May 8, 1823, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 11-Grandfather Jeremiah Dodge’s Death. Judith wrote GP on March 18, 1824, that their maternal grandfather Jeremiah Dodge (1744-1824) had died on Feb. 29, 1824, age 79: “We received a letter from Thetford last week informing us that our venerable and beloved Grandfather is no more; he died on the 29th Feb. after an illness of only five days. Grandma did not write of what disorder, but we had previously heard of the melancholy event, by a casual traveller, who stated that he died of a fever. Grandmother’s health is not good….” Surviving maternal grandmother Judith (née Spofford) Dodge (1749-1828) was then age 75, had been married 54 years, and died four years later in 1828. Their daughter Judith (née Dodge) Peabody, GP’s mother, was the first born of eight children. Ref.: (Grandfather Jeremiah Dodge’s death): Judith Dodge Peabody, Danvers, Mass., to GP, Baltimore, March 18, 1824, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

GP’s First European Buying Trip

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 12-GP’s First Trip Abroad. In Oct. 1827 GP prepared for his first European commercial trip. He had an opportunity to sell a crop of southern cotton for the cotton mills in Lancashire, England. To do this in person rather than by correspondence meant better profit plus opportunity to purchase salable cotton prints, woolens, linens, and other dry goods for U.S. markets. He also wanted to develop foreign agents and connections for Riggs, Peabody & Co. His passport from Washington, D.C., dated Oct. 22, 1827, signed by U.S. Secty. of State Henry Clay, listed GP as Age 32, Stature 6 feet l inch, Forehead low, Eyes light blue, Nose rather large, Mouth small, Chin pointed, Hair dark brown. Ref.: (GP’s Oct. 22, 1827, passport): Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

GP’s Second European Buying Trip

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 13-GP’s Second European Trip, April 1830-Aug. 15, 1831. GP wrote Judith of his second commercial buying trip abroad, April 1830 to Aug. 15, 1831, about 19 months, With an unknown American friend he traveled by carriage some 10,000 miles in England, France, Italy, and Switzerland. He wrote Judith on Aug. 25, 1831: “Dear Sister, I’m happy to inform you of my arrival here about two weeks since after a pleasant…(for the season) passage from Liverpool.–The Ship being new and very easy I suffered much less by sickness than usual, and during most of the time was able to eat my meals with the other passengers.” Ref.: GP, NYC, to Judith Dodge Peabody, West Bradford, Mass., Aug. 25, 1831, Peabody Papers, Yale Univ.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 14-GP’s Second European Trip, April 1830-Aug. 15, 1831 Cont’d.: “My general health never was better than at the present time, hard labour & the climate of England having had the good effect, I trust of eradicating from my system all disposition to Bilious Fevers to which I was a few years since very subject.–My time has been passed in England, Ireland, & Scotland, but in February last [1831] in company with an American gentleman [identity not known] I left England on a tour of business & amusement & visited Paris where we passed a few days–from thence through the South of France to Savoy crossing Mount ?Anis? (the Alps) to Turin in Italy–to Genoa–Lucca–Pisa (where is the celebrated leaning tower), Leghorn, Rome (where we passed 13 days) to Naples–Mount Vesuvius–Pompeii &c–back to Rome–Florence–Bologna–Venice–Padua–Verona–Milan–cross at the Simplon (one of the highest of the Alps on snow 40′ deep 1 May) into Switzerland–descended the valley of Rhone to Geneva–passed near Mt. Blanc to Lyon–Paris &c.–” Ref.: Ibid.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 15-GP’s Second European Trip, Jan. 1830-Aug 15, 1831 Cont’d.: “We traveled in our own carriage drawn by from 2 to 4 horses which we changed every 10-15 miles and by paying the postilions liberally we traveled very rapidly [and] was enabled to see as much of the countries in 2 months as most persons would have done in 4 besides attending to business–Whenever the country was uninteresting we traveled night as well as day, & eat our meals in our carriage without stopping–during the 15 months of my absence I have traveled nearly 10,000 miles by land without the slightest accident having occurred–have purchased goods in England–Ireland–Scotland–France & Italy & shipped to this country to amount to $400,000 a considerable portion of which are now arriving here–Phila. & Baltimore and are selling to a good profit–so that in every respect my tour to Europe will result most advantageously & fully answer my expectations.–” Ref.: Ibid.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 16-GP’s Second European Trip, April 1830-Aug 15, 1831 Cont’d.: “I have not yet been to Baltimore[,] business having detained me here & in Phila. I return from the latter city 2 days since intending to go to New Haven, but finding it impractical I have wrote George [Peabody, nephew, 1815-32, oldest brother David Peabody’s son] to come here for a day or two & after I have arranged for his future studies shall go to Baltimore.–probably in 2 or 3 days.–From David I learn you are all well and that Sophronia is married but does not know where she is, I therefore wish Judith to forward this letter to her & Mary after reading it.–David not being very well, has by my recommendation gone into the interior of New York & will probably pass some time with Mary & Sophronia.–The weather has been unusually hot & being obliged to attend to a good deal of business I have suffered much by it.–It is now however getting cool. Yours affectionately George Peabody” Ref.: Ibid.

GP’s Sister Judith Married, 1831

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 17-Sister Judith Married, 1831. Judith Dodge Peabody sent GP’s Aug. 25, 1831, letter on his European travels to sisters Sophronia and Mary Gaines. She added at its end the exciting news of her own pending marriage: “…I shall be married about the 20th Sept. I intend with very little ceremony….” Her 16-year-old nephew George Peabody (1815-32), who died of scarlet fever the next year, walked from Haverhill, Mass., to Rowley, Mass., with a friend to visit his Aunt Judith and wrote to his father, David Peabody (1790-1841) in Buffalo, N.Y.: “She is in very good spirits now. She has been married about three weeks to Mr. Jeremiah Russell who is a very likely man and is doing a very good business as a lawyer.” Ref.: (Judith to be married): added by Judith to end of GP’s Aug. 25, 1831, letter describing his second European trip to Judith. Ref.: Nephew George Peabody (1815-32), Haverhill, Mass., to his father David Peabody, Buffalo N.Y., Oct. 11, 1831, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

GP’s 1856-57 U.S. Visit

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 18-GP’s 1856-57 U.S. Visit. Incredibly busy during his first U.S. visit after nearly 20 years’ absence in London (Sept. 15, 1856-Aug. 19, 1857), GP stayed when in Mass. at sister Judith’s home in Georgetown, Mass. Greeted on arrival by delegations and swamped with public dinner invitations, he declined them all until after his hometown reception. Judith had written him while still in England not to accept public dinners before the Oct. 9, 1856, public affair planned for him by his hometown friends. South Danvers, Mass., people, she wrote, had voted $3,000 for a public welcome for him and they “will be extremely disappointed if they do not do much more than anybody else and do it first. They are tenacious of their right to you.” See: Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 19-GP’s 1856-57 U.S. Visit Cont’d. On Oct. 9 GP went from Georgetown by carriage with sister Judith and her son, his nephew George Peabody Russell, to their gaily decorated hometown of South Danvers, Mass. GP was greeted by a gun salute, by the committee on arrangements, by crowds of over 20,000 people, by bands playing and by marching school children. GP spoke after the welcoming address by Alfred Amos Abbott (1820-84). With pride in his London firm, GP told 1,500 dinner guests, including Edward Everett (1794-1865), U.S. Minister to Britain during 1841-45: “Heaven has been pleased to reward my efforts with success, and has permitted me to establish…a house in a great metropolis of England…. I have endeavored…to make it an American house; to furnish it with American journals; to make it a center for American news, and an agreeable place for my American friends visiting England.” Ref.: Ibid. For Oct. 9, 1856, proceedings, speeches, and sources, See: South Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856, GP Celebration.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 20-GP’s 1856-57 U.S. Visit Cont’d. For the first time his nieces and nephews saw their Uncle George, who had been paying for their schooling. He was a legend made real. Nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99), about to enter Yale College, wrote in his diary (Oct. 12, 1856): “Reached Georgetown in the evening and found Uncle George here. Was much pleased with him.” GP told two of his nephews that if they conducted themselves well and were steady in their business, he would in a few years place them in a position where hard labor would be unnecessary. He did not intend to make them rich, he said, but by their own effort they would have a good income. If any of his nephews disgraced themselves or him, he admonished, or became engaged or married before being financially able to do so, he would withdraw his support and strike their names from his will. Turning to Judith he asked her to relate these terms to all his nephews. Ref.: Schuchert and LeVene, p. 73.

“…make a home for you…”

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 21-”…make a home for you…” On Nov. 5, 1856, while GP was traveling to see friends, Judith wrote to him in a burst of gratitude: “George, if you want me to move to South Danvers and make a home for you among people who love you, I will do so. I don’t know how I will use the leisure you have made possible for me. I remember now what you said to me–that no one thinks better of me for being better off than my neighbors. What are your plans for Thanksgiving?” Ref.: Mrs. Judith (née Peabody) Russell, Georgetown, Mass., to GP, Nov. 5, 1856, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 22-Teasing Remark; Touch of Pity. Judith worried about GP’s health on his travels by train, boat, and coach. He was frequently ill and she hoped he was always near medical aid. She knew of his concerns getting ready for his Feb. 12, 1857, letter founding the PIB. She read news accounts of receptions for him given by the Md. Historical Society, Jan. 30, 1857, and the Md. Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, Feb. 2, 1857. The Md. Institute reception, she wrote him Feb. 19, 1857, must have touched him deeply. Among the young ladies he had saluted so “heartily” in Baltimore that night, she teased, “may have been the daughter of…the beautiful [girl] whom as you remarked one day you would have married, if you had been ’silly enough!’” It was a teasing remark, yet there was more than a touch of pity in it. Ref.: Mrs. Judith (née Peabody) Russell, Georgetown, Mass., to GP, Jan. 1, Feb. 19, 1857, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

“I have given a tear of sympathy…”

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 23-”I have given a tear of sympathy…” Judith added poignantly in her Feb. 19, 1857, letter to GP (her underlining): “What…results of good, not only to your contemporaries but to ‘future generations,’ were pending on that one act of self-denial, practiced by you in the days of youthful romance. Even at this late day, I have given a tear of sympathy for what may be presumed to have been your feelings, when you made the ‘wise’ decision, and resolved to submit to what you certainly have a right to think a hard lot: and, did I believe that through life you had been less happy, I should most sincerely regret your ‘wisdom’ spite of generations, present and future–myself and posterity included….” “But my dear brother is not desolate although alone. One affection, at least, deeper, stronger, steadier than that of a wife, clinging to him with a firmer tenacity as age creeps on, and which no circumstances can change, follows him through all his wanderings. And for the children…all the children are his children.” Ref.: Ibid.

GP’s Niece Julia Adelaide

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 24-GP and Niece Julia Adelaide. When GP’s Feb. 12, 1857, PIB founding letter was published in Mass. newspapers, Judith was thrilled: “The latter part of it,” she wrote GP, “has been copied into all the religious newspapers, as being very important and impressive.” She was glad of his visit to Zanesville, Ohio. Knowing how lonely he was she was glad how quickly he took to his heart niece Julia Adelaide Peabody (b. April 25, 1835), their deceased brother David Peabody’s daughter. She was glad GP had sent Julia to school in Philadelphia. She recalled how GP had worked for David in Newburyport, Mass., how GP had risen by determination and hard work, how David’s fortunes fell until he could not pay his rent in NYC, how time and again GP had aided brothers David, Thomas, Jeremiah, and all the family. Poor Thomas had been the worst in lack of gratitude. David, too, had incurred debts. GP helped pay these debts and made good on activities of both brothers that bordered on dishonesty. See: Persons named.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 25-GP and Niece Julia Adelaide Cont’d. “I trust,” Judith wrote GP May 20, 1857, “that Julia will yet be a solace to your declining years, and by her affection, wipe away the remembrance of the wrongs you have received from her father.” Ref.: Mrs. Judith (née Peabody) Russell, Georgetown, Mass., to GP, April 20 and May 20, 1857, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 26-Family Burial Lot. In her same May 20, 1857, letter to GP Judith wrote that she had been to Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., as he had requested. Here she had seen “the most beautiful lot in Danvers part….” This choice of the Peabody family burial place was among the last things GP arranged on his 1856-57 visit. On this plot on Anemone Ave., lot number 51, would be placed the remains of their father and mother, along with their deceased siblings: Achsah Spofford (1791-1821), Thomas (1801-35), Mary Gaines (1807-34), and David (1790-41). Here nearly 13 years later on a cold and stormy Feb. 8, 1870, GP would be buried. Some sources at the time of his burial described it as on a knoll which as a boy he could see from the top of his Danvers home, a place where he had once played. Ref.: Ibid. See Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Judith’s Son: George Peabody Russell

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 27-1859. Judith received a brooch from GP in May 1859. He had taken Matthew Brady’s (1823-96) photograph of him and had a miniature of it made into a brooch for her. She thanked him and related the family news. She had invited Julia to visit her but Julia declined because her mother was ill. Judith, concerned about GP’s health, told him not to write if it was painful for him to do so, that their old friend Horatio Gates Somerby (1805-72), Newburyport, Mass.-born London resident genealogist and sometime GP agent, had offered to write to her for him. Her son, George Peabody Russell, had graduated from Harvard College (B.A., 1856), spent some time working in Rufus Choate’s (1799-1859) law office, and had joined his father’s law practice. Judith’s husband, Jeremiah Russell, whose debts GP had helped to pay, was now in better circumstances. Judith hoped GP would spend his last years quietly in the U.S. with her. Ref.: Mrs. Judith (née Peabody) Russell, Georgetown, Mass., to GP, May 30, 1859, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 28-Nephew GP Russell. Judith’s son George Peabody Russell wrote gratefully to his uncle in late Aug. 1859: “If I am anything in the world, I shall owe it to you…. I will try to imitate the example of the good man with whom your care placed me to commence the study of that profession [Rufus Choate]; and in honesty and integrity in all dealing with my fellow-men, I will strive to follow the noblest example of which I know–your own.” G.P. Russell, one of the 16 PEF original trustees, accompanied his gravely ill uncle GP to White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., July 23-Aug. 30, 1869. Notified of GP’s death in London, Nov. 4, 1869, nephew G.P. Russell left for England to accompany his uncle’s remains home for burial. Ref.: George Peabody Russell, Haverhill, to GP, Aug. 30, 1859, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 29-Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass., 1867-68. For the Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass., GP built in honor of his mother (she was born there when it was called Rowley, Mass.), 1867-68, at sister Judith’s suggestion, See: Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass.

Close Brother-Sister Relationship

Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell. 30-At GP’s Funeral. From the 1830s onward GP was in close mail contact with sister Judith Dodge through whom he conducted family business, payments, gifts, and other matters. On his three U.S. visits (1856-57, 1866-67, and 869) he stayed in her Georgetown, Mass. home. Theirs was a close brother-sister relationship. She probably knew more about him, his thoughts, ambitions, fears, hopes, and regrets than any other human being. While other GP-Judith family letters are not known, the last contact with her was by Peabody Institute’s (Peabody, Mass.) first librarian Fitch Poole (1803-73). He recorded in his diary [Nov. 7 [1869]: “Saw Mrs. Daniels about funeral. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s. Poole, Fitch.

Daniels, Robert Shillaber (b.1791), second husband of GP’s sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell (1799-1879). He gave a welcoming speech at the Oct. 9, 1856, GP celebration dinner. See: Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell.

Danvers Centennial Celebration, 1852. See: Danvers, Mass., Centennial Celebration, June 16, 1852.

Danvers Fire Brigade, Light Infantry Co., Salem Brass Band, and other civic units participated with enthusiasm at the Danvers Centennial Celebration, June 16, 1852 (renamed South Danvers in 1855 and renamed Peabody, Mass., April 13, 1868). See Danvers, Mass., Centennial Celebration, June 16, 1852.

Danvers, Mass., was originally named Brooksby Village, Mass. (1626), was renamed Salem Village (to 1752), then Danvers (1752-1855; GP was born on Feb. 18, 1795), was then divided into North Danvers and South Danvers (1855-68, with GP’s family home in South Danvers), and finally renamed Peabody, Mass. (since April 13, 1868). GP’s birthplace, 205 Washington St., Peabody, Mass., is now the George Peabody House Civic Center. See: Brooksby, Mass. Peabody, Mass. South Danvers, Mass.

First Peabody Institute Library, 1852

Danvers, Mass., Centennial, June 16, 1852. 1-Danvers-Salem Separation Centennial. GP, absent in London, chose to announce his first Peabody Institute Library gift in his hometown on June 16, 1852, the day of the Danvers, Mass., Centennial Celebration. The 100th anniversary of Danvers’ separation from Salem, Mass., was a gala occasion. Danvers streets were full of horse-drawn vehicles, flags flying, and buildings gaily decorated. Marching to the speakers’ platform and to the stirring music of the Salem Brass Band were uniformed members of the Light Infantry Company, the Danvers Fire Dept., and 1,500 school children. Ref.: Centennial…Danvers, Mass.,…June 16, 1852. Tapley-b, pp. 161-163. “Danvers Centennial Celebration,” Littell’s Living Age, Vol. 34, No. 425 (July 10, 1852), pp. 85-87. American Journal of Education, Vol. l, No. 3 (March 1856), pp. 237-242; and Vol. 29 (1879), pp. xxxviii-xxxix.

Danvers, Mass., Centennial, June 16, 1852. 2-Speeches. The Gov. of Mass. and others gave speeches. Names of prominent Danvers and Salem men and women were read aloud and their lives described. Letters extolling the importance of the day were read from prominent Mass. political figures, including Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94), Daniel Webster (1782-1852), Edward Everett (1794-1865), Rufus Choate (1799-1859), and others. Mindful that GP was Danvers’ best known and most successful native son, proud of his being a merchant-banker in London, the Committee on Arrangements had invited GP to attend. He was unable to leave London but all present had heard that his acknowledging letter would be read publicly, that within that letter was a gift to the town of Danvers and a sealed sentiment. Ref.: Ibid.

GP’s May 26, 1852, Letter

Danvers, Mass., Centennial, June 16, 1852. 3-GP’s May 26, 1852, Letter. GP’s letter, dated London, May 26, 1852, was read publicly by John Waters Proctor (1791-1874), GP’s playmate as a boy, whose better-off family had sent him to Lancaster Academy when GP was apprenticed in Sylvester Proctor’s store. GP’s letter to the Committee on Arrangements read: “I acknowledge your letter inviting my presence at the one hundredth anniversary of the separation of Danvers and Salem and regret that my engagements do not permit me to attend.” Ref.: Ibid.

Danvers, Mass., Centennial, June 16, 1852. 4-GP’s May 26, 1852, Letter Cont’d.: “It was in a humble house in the South Parish that I was born and in the common schools there obtained the limited education my parents could afford. To the principles learned there I owe the foundations for any success Heaven has been pleased to grant me. Though my early manhood was spent in Baltimore I still cherish the recollections of my early days and anticipate visiting again the town where I was born.” “It is sixteen years since I left my native land. I have seen the great changes in her wealth, power, and position among nations. I had the mortification to witness the social standing of Americans in Europe seriously affected; but, thank Heaven, I have lived to see the cause nearly annihilated. I can hardly see bounds to our possible future if we preserve harmony among ourselves, keep good faith with the rest of the world, and plant the New England Common School among the emigrants filling up the Mississippi Valley.” “I enclose a sentiment to be opened after the reading of this letter.” Ref.: Ibid.

Danvers, Mass., Centennial, June 16, 1852. 5-GP’s May 26, 1852, Letter Cont’d. John W. Proctor opened the sealed envelope and read: “By George Peabody, of London: Education–a debt due from present to future generations.” “In acknowledgment of the payment of that debt by the generation which preceded me in my native town of Danvers, and to aid in its prompt future discharge, I give to the inhabitants of that town the sum of TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS, for the promotion of knowledge and morality among them.” Ref.: Ibid.

Danvers, Mass., Centennial, June 16, 1852. 6-GP’s May 26, 1852, Letter Cont’d.: “This gift has occupied my mind for some years. I add these conditions only to accomplish the purpose of my sentiment: that the legal voters shall meet to accept the gift and elect twelve trustees to establish a Lyceum for lectures free to all, that seven thousand dollars shall be invested in a building for the Lyceum, that ten thousand dollars be invested as a permanent fund. All else I leave to you merely suggesting it advisable to exclude sectarian theology and political discussion forever from the walls of instruction.” “If Captain Sylvester Proctor [1769-1852, to whom GP had been apprenticed, aged 12-16, 1807-11] shall be living then and there be no objection, I shall request that he be selected to lay the cornerstone of the Lyceum Building.” Ref.: Ibid.

Danvers, Mass., Centennial, June 16, 1852. 7-Cornerstone Laid, Aug. 20, 1853. Because Sylvester Proctor died Sept. 20, 1852, the cornerstone of the first Peabody Institute (Danvers, renamed South Danvers, 1855-68, and Peabody since 1868) was laid on Aug. 20, 1853, by former U.S. Minister to Britain Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855). This first Peabody Institute (lecture hall, lecture fund, and public library) was dedicated on Sept. 29, 1854, with lawyer-jurist Rufus Choate (1799-1859) as main speaker, and was soon after opened to the public. To his first Peabody Institute in what is now Peabody, Mass., GP gave a total of $2l7,000 (1852-69). Soon after Danvers was divided into North Danvers and South Danvers (1855-68), GP established his second Peabody Institute in neighboring Danvers, Mass. (formerly North Danvers), giving it a total of $100,000 (1856-69). Ref.: (Abbott Lawrence cornerstone laying speech, Aug 20, 1853): Hill, R.H., p. 7. New York Herald Edition for Europe, Aug. 24, 1853, p. 1, c. 2. Cochrane (comp.), pp. 49-50. See: Lawrence, Abbott. Proctor, Sylvester. U.S. Ministers to Britain and GP.

Darbishire, Henry Astley (1825-99), was the British architect who designed the 19th century estates containing Peabody homes of London. He owned one copy of a GP portrait by British artist Lowes Cato Dickinson (1819-1908); a second copy is owned by the Peabody Trust of London which built and managed the Peabody homes of London; and a third copy is in the PIB. Ref.: Information supplied by Christine Wagg, Peabody Trust Central Administration, London, Aug. 25, 1998. Ref.: [Darbishire]. See: Dickinson, Lowes Cato. Peabody, George, Illustrations.

Darwin, Charles (1809-1882), British scientist and leading advocate of the theory of evolution, stated in a letter in 1880 to Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99) that Marsh’s fossil findings provided the best evidence for the theory of evolution in the past 20 years. For O.C. Marsh’s visit to Charles Darwin and other scientists during Marsh’s 1863-65 study in Europe, with sources, See: Marsh, Othniel Charles.

Davenport, Moses (1806-61). During GP’s Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit he attended the Essex County Agricultural Fair, Newburyport, Mass. (Oct. 2, 1856). He recognized and greeted merchant and former mayor Moses Davenport (1806-61). A man stepping from the crowd said to GP: you don’t know me. Shaking the man’s hand GP replied, “Yes, I do, Prescott Spaulding [1781-1864],” explaining to all that this was the merchant who stood surety for his first $2,000 goods on consignment from Boston merchant James Reed in early 1812 when at age 17 he left Newburyport, Mass., with paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-before 1826) to open a store in Georgetown, D.C., May 15, 1812. Ref.: “Davenport, Moses…,” pp. 7-8. See: Visits to the U.S. by GP.

PCofVU Predecessors

Davidson Academy, Nashville, Tenn. 1-Origin. Fort Nashborough was built 1779-80 on the Cumberland River to protect the earliest settlers. In 1784 surveyor Thomas Molloy divided a 640-acre land grant including Fort Nashville into three tracts. The southernmost tract was set aside as public property to support a school. Davidson Academy (1785-1806) was chartered as a collegiate institution Dec. 29, 1785, by the N.C. legislature, eleven years before Tenn. statehood in 1796. The N.C. legislature endowed it with 240 acres of land. On Sept. 11, 1806, Davidson Academy was rechartered as Cumberland College (1806-26) by the Tenn. legislature. On Nov. 27, 1826, Cumberland College was rechartered again by the Tenn. legislature as the Univ. of Nashville (1826-75); rechartered as Peabody Normal College (1875-1911); rechartered as GPCFT (1914-79); and renamed PCofVU, since 1979. Ref.: Corlew-a, pp. 119-120. “The First Nashville, 1780’s,” Nashville Tennessean, Sept. 2, 1996, p. 6A. Folmsbee, et . al., pp. 274-275. Nichols, pp. 278-279. Conkin, Peabody College, index.

Davidson Academy, Nashville, Tenn. 2-15th U.S. College. This lineage makes PCofVU the 15th collegiate institution in the U.S. since Harvard College opened in 1636. There were short closures for lack of funds. When Cumberland College was suspended six years because of financial problems (1816-22), it operated as a grammar school. Philip Lindsley (1786-1855) of Princeton College, N.J., was elected Cumberland College president April 26, 1824. The Univ. of Nashville (1826-75), was closed temporarily in 1850; its medical department began in 1851. The Univ. of Nashville, reopened in 1855, the year President Philip Lindsley died, succeeded by his physician son, John Berrien Lindsley, M.D. (1822-97), as chancellor. Ref.: Ibid. See: persons named. For PCofVU’s six predecessor colleges and their nineteen chief administrators, see PCofVU, history of.

Davis, Capt. A Capt. Davis commanded the brig Fame (ship) on which GP, then age 17, and his paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-before 1826) left Newburyport, Mass., May 4, 1812, to open a merchandise store on Bridge St., Georgetown, D.C., May 15, 1812. See: Fame (ship). Newburyport, Mass.

U.S. London Legation Secty. J.C.B. Davis

Davis, John Chandler Bancroft (1822-1907). 1-U.S. Legation Secty., London. J.C.B. Davis, who had contact with GP in London and the U.S., was born in Worcester, Mass. He went to London when his uncle, U.S. historian and statesman George Bancroft (1800-91), was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1846-49. Davis was U.S. Legation Secty., London (1849-54), where he knew and sometimes dined with GP. Davis was later U.S. correspondent of the London Times (1869 and 1871), was U.S. Ass’t. Secty. of State (1873-74), represented the U.S. in the Alabama Claims, was U.S. Minister to Germany (1874-77), and was judge of the U.S. Court of Claims (1878-82). He wrote Mr. Sumner, the Alabama Claims, and their Settlement (1878), and other works.

Davis, J.C.B. 2-Dinner with Author Herman Melville. J.C.B. Davis’s Harvard classmate was Henry Stevens (1819-86), born in Barnet, Vt., a rare book dealer and resident in London after 1845. Stevens was sometimes GP’s agent in book purchases for his Peabody Institute libraries. Davis and Stevens both lived for a time at Morley’s Hotel, London. GP sometimes dined with one or both. On Nov. 24, 1849, with J.C.B. Davis present, GP dined at the home of Joshua Bates (1788-1864), Mass.-born but naturalized British subject and head of Baring Brothers, Britain’s leading banking firm dealing with U.S. trade and securities. The guest of honor was visiting U.S. author Herman Melville (1819-91). They talked in part about knowing Melville’s older brother Gansvoort Melville (1815-46), who had been U.S. Legation Secty. and died three years before in 1846. Ref.: Leyda, p. 338. Melville, p. 47. Parker, W.W., pp. 83, 126. See: persons named.

GP Celebration, S. Danvers, Oct. 9, 1856

Davis, J.C.B. 3-Oct. 9, 1856, Danvers, Mass. J.C.B. Davis was one of the speakers at the Oct. 9, 1856, South Danvers, Mass., public greeting for GP, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years’ absence in London. GP’s sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell (1799-1879) had written him not to accept public dinners before the one planned for him by his hometown friends. South Danvers, Mass., people, she wrote, had voted $3,000 for a public welcome for him and they “will be extremely disappointed if they do not do much more than anybody else and do it first. They are tenacious of their right to you.” See: Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell.

Davis, J.C.B. 4-Oct. 9, 1856 Speeches: Danvers, Mass.: GP’s Pride in his Firm. Early Oct. 9, 1856, GP left Georgetown, Mass., by carriage with his sister Judith and her son (his nephew) George Peabody Russell (1835-1909), to go to their gaily decorated hometown of South Danvers, Mass. At the Maple St. Church, from which flags flew, GP was greeted by a gun salute, by the committee on arrangements, and by over 20,000 people. Bands played and school children marched by. Alfred Amos Abbott (1820-84) gave the welcoming address. With pride in his London firm, GP told 1,500 dinner guests, including Edward Everett (1794-1865, U.S. Minister to Britain during 1841-45): “Heaven has been pleased to reward my efforts with success, and has permitted me to establish…a house in a great metropolis of England…. I have endeavored…to make it an American house; to furnish it with American journals; to make it a center for American news, and an agreeable place for my American friends visiting England.” Ref.: Proceedings…1856, pp. 55-56.

Davis, J.C.B. 5-Oct. 9, 1856, Danvers, Mass.: J.C.B. Davis Speech. After speeches by Mass. Gov. Henry J. Gardner (1818-92) and Edward Everett, J.C.B. Davis, representing N.Y. state, reminded the audience of GP’s aid to the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition’s (1853-55) search for lost British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1886-47) and GP’s aid to the U.S. exhibitors at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (the first world’s fair). Davis said: “How proud New York is that its own merchant, Henry Grinnell [1799-1874], joined George Peabody in a gallant venture to search the Arctic seas for Sir John Franklin.” Ref.: Ibid.

Davis, J.C.B. 6-Oct. 9, 1856 Danvers, Mass.: J.C.B. Davis Speech Cont’d.: “I have been a guest at Mr. Peabody’s dinners and particularly recall the 1851 Independence Day dinner. In the midst of a most discouraging time, when our wares were stored away in corners of the Crystal Palace, Mr. Peabody not only saved the day by refurbishing our area but conceived the plan for a Fourth of July Dinner. The idea and its execution was a timely stroke of genius. “I can never fully describe that occasion. When the hero of Waterloo [Duke of Wellington] and the Napoleon of American commerce [GP] walked arm in arm into Almack’s, a marked English respect took place toward America. We owe to Mr. Peabody more than any other man, grateful thanks for cordial friendship from England and the Continent which reflects the English press.” [Loud applause]. Ref.: Ibid. See: Abbott, Alfred Amos. Everett, Edward. Gardner, Henry J.

GP-Lincoln Connection

Davis, J.C.B. 7-Lincoln’s Assassination Connection. In 1851 while a “Yankee mania” briefly swept Britain, young London barrister Tom Taylor wrote a farcical comedy play, Our American Cousin, which he sold to a publisher for ƒ80 (about $400). Anxious to have it produced on stage, Tom Taylor in 1858 asked J.C.B. Davis to bring the play to the attention of U.S. producer Lester Wallach. Wallach, not interested, suggested that Davis take the play to actress and stage manager Laura Keene (1826-73). She was not interested initially, but needed a fill-in play during costume and casting problems with her scheduled A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream. She bought the play for $1,000, staged it, and found it a popular success in the U.S. By coincidence Our American Cousin was presented in Chicago May 20, 1860, at the close of the Republican Party Convention in that city when Abraham Lincoln was nominated as the party’s presidential candidate. On April 14, 1865, with the Civil War ended and a burden lifted from his shoulders, Pres. and Mrs. Lincoln went to see Our American Cousin, starring Laura Keene, at the Ford Theater, Washington, D.C., the night he was assassinated. Ref.: Reck.

GP’s Last Illness

Death and Funeral, GP’s. 1-Last Illness, U.S. GP, age 74, was often ill during his last four-month U.S. visit, June 8 to Sept. 29, 1869. He saw family and friends, looked after the welfare of his U.S. institutes, and added gifts to them. He looked feeble and his hands trembled when he spoke at the July 14, 1869, Peabody Institute Library dedication, Danvers, Mass. (total gift $100,000). The next day, July 15, 1869, poet Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-94) read his poem, “George Peabody,” before GP and dignitaries at a large reception at the Peabody Institute Library, Peabody, Mass. Two days later, Holmes described GP in a letter to U.S. Minister to Britain John Lothrop Motley (1814-77) as “the Dives who is going to Abraham’s bosom and I fear before a great while….” . Oliver Wendell Holmes, Boston, to John Lothrop Motley, Rome, July 18, 1869, quoted in Morse, II, pp. 180-181.

Death & Funeral. 2-Last Illness, U.S. Cont’d. Longtime friend Ohio Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), glad that GP was going to rest at the White Sulphur Springs health spa in W.Va. (July 23-Aug. 30, 1869), wrote to GP’s philanthropic advisor Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94): “The White Sulphur Springs will, I hope, be beneficial to our excellent friend; but it can be only a very superficial good. [His] cough is terrible, and I have no expectation of his living a year…” Scheduled to leave NYC for England on the Scotia on Sept. 29, 1869, GP made his last will, had a tomb built, and ordered a sarcophagus for his grave Ref.: Charles Pettit McIlvaine, Cincinnati, to Robert Charles Winthrop, July 22, 1869, quoted in Carus, pp. 298-299.

GP’s Last Will

Death & Funeral. 3-Last Will, Sept. 9, 1869. GP was at the NYC home of long-time business friend Samuel Wetmore (1812-85) when he recorded his last will, Sept. 9, 1869: 1-”My remains shall be sent to Peabody, Massachusetts, U.S.A., and buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. 2-”I give [office clerk] Henry West, 22 Old Broad St., London, ƒ2,200 [$11,000], or to his wife, Louise West, in case of his death. 3-”I give to [office clerk] Thomas Perman of 22 Old Broad St., London, ƒ1,000 [$5,000], or to his wife, Annette Emma Perman, or to her child in case of his and her death. 4-”I give the Trustees of the Peabody Donation Fund of London ƒ150,000 [$750,000] for homes for the poor of London, to be allocated in two sums, ƒ100,000 [$500,000] in 1873 and ƒ50,000 [$250,000] any time after that [$2.5 million total gift]. If it is necessary to add another trustee I suggest the name of Charles Reed [1819-81].” (Refs. at end of Last Will).

Death & Funeral. 4-Last Will, Sept. 9, 1869 Cont’d. 5-”I constitute Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson [1806-85] and Charles Reed executors of my British possessions. George Peabody Russell [1835-1909, nephew], Robert Singleton Peabody [1837-1904, nephew], and Charles W. Chandler [nephew-in-law, d. Feb. 9, 1882] will constitute the executors of my U.S. possessions. It is my wish that both groups always act in harmony. 6-”I give to each British executor ƒ5,000 [$25,000] and to each American executor $5,000. 7-”The residue of my estate now and hereafter due I give to the family trust already established [variously estimated between $1.5 and $4 million]. 8-”This is my last will and testament written in my hand and sealed this 9th day of September 1869.” George Peabody. Witnessed by: Sarah T. B[oerum] Wetmore [1820-99] of 15 Waverly Place, New York [wife of Samuel Wetmore, 1812-85]. George F. Tenney, Salem, Mass.”

Death & Funeral. 5-Last Will, Sept. 9, 1869, Cont’d. Ref.: (GP’s will): New York Tribune, Dec. 14, 1869, p. 1, c. 1. New York Herald, Dec. 14, 1869, p. 7, c. 1; Jan. 5, 1870, p. 7, c. 2 and Apr. 14, 1870, p. 10, c. 3. Peabody Press (Peabody, Mass.), Dec. 8, 1869, p. 2, c. 3. London Times, Dec. 24, 1869, p. 10, c. 3; and April 14, 1870, p. 10, c. 3. Aberdeen Herald (Aberdeen, Scotland), Nov. 13, 1869, p. 3, c. 1. Aberdeen Free Press (Aberdeen, Scotland), Dec. 28, 1869, p. 4, c. 5. Zanesville Daily Signal (Zanesville, Ohio), Nov. 27, 1869, p. 3, c. 2 and Dec. 15, 1869, p. 2, c. 3. Zanesville Daily Courier (Zanesville, Ohio), Dec. 14, 1869, p. 3, c. 5. Salem Register (Salem, Mass.), Jan. 10, 1870, p. 2, c. 3. Salem Observer (Salem, Mass.), Jan. 15, 1870. Manchester Guardian (Manchester, England), Dec. 27, 1869, p. 4, c. 1.

GP’s Last Departure, U.S.

Death & Funeral. 6-Last Departure, U.S. On Sept. 10, 1869, GP in Salem, Mass., for a few days, had a tomb built at Harmony Grove Cemetery and ordered a sarcophagus made of granite to mark his grave. The coffin shaped monument had “Peabody” carved on one side and later had carved on the other side the names and birth and death dates of GP, his parents, brothers, and sisters. Ref (GP’s departure NYC, Sept. 29, 1869): Curry-b, p. 53. Sun (Baltimore), Nov. 6, 1869, p., 1, c. 4-5. New York Herald, Sept. 30, 1869, p.7, c. 4; April 14, 1870, p. 10, c. 3. Peabody Press (Peabody, Mass.), Oct. 6, 1869, p. 2, c. 3. Ref.: (GP’s sarcophagus): Anglo-American Times (London), Oct. 2, 1869, p. 9, c. 1.

GP’s Last Return, London

Death & Funeral. 7-Last Illness, England. GP reached Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland, Oct. 8, 1869, and hurried to London. Gravely ill, he rested at the home of long-time business friend Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85), 80 Eaton Sq., London. The London Anglo-American Times, Oct. 23, 1869, reported: “Mr. Peabody has been lying all week very ill at 80, Eaton Square, where he had stopped, on his way to the south of France, to consult Dr. Gull [Sir William Withey Gull, M.D., 1816-99]. There has been no improvement, and the latest report was that, though easier on Thursday night, his condition remained the same. Every one, from the Queen downward, has been making inquiries about the eminent American philanthropist.” Ref.: Anglo-American Times (London), Oct. 23, 1869, p. 11, c. 3; and Oct. 30, 1869, p. 10, c. 3.

Death & Funeral. 8-U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran. On Oct. 17, 1869, the fast sinking philanthropist sent his friend and sometime agent, Newburyport, Mass.-born London resident genealogist Horatio Gates Somerby (1805-72), to ask U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86) to call on him. Moran’s journal entry (Oct. 27, 1869): “Horatio G. Somerby came and said Mr. Peabody wished to see me. I promised to call and sent the old man my regards. But Somerby did not know how ill the old man is. The Times of to-day says he is in a dangerous state and Mr. Motley [John Lothrop, 1814-77] tells me he is really dying. A few hours must close his earthly career. Considering that Mr. Somerby is Peabody’s private Secretary it is very, very odd that he did not know of his dangerous state…. I afterwards called at Mr. Peabody’s and found him better.” Ref.: Benjamin Moran’s journal, Wed., Oct. 27, 1869, Library of Congress Ms. See: Moran, Benjamin.

GP & Queen Victoria

Death & Funeral. 9-Queen Victoria Invited GP to Visit Windsor Castle. After learning of GP’s return to London and before she knew of his grave condition, Queen Victoria asked her privy councilor Arthur Helps (1813-75) to invite GP to visit her at Windsor Castle. Helps transmitted the Queen’s message to Sir Curtis Lampson on Oct. 30: “Regarding Mr. Peabody, the Queen thinks the best way would be for her to ask him down to Windsor for one or two nights, where he could rest–and need not come to dinner, or any meals if he feels unequal to it; but where she could see him quietly at any time of the day most convenient to him.” Ref.: below.

Death & Funeral. 10-Queen Victoria’s Invitation Sent to Lampson. Helps added in his cover letter to Lampson: “You will be the best judge whether this should be mentioned to Mr. Peabody, and, if you think it should, will doubtless choose a favorable time for doing so.” Helps concluded with: “Hoping to hear a better account of our good friend’s health today….” Ref.: Arthur Helps to Curtis Miranda Lampson, Oct. 30, 1869, Royal Archives, Q. 11/78, Windsor Castle. Queen’s invitation mentioned in London Times, Oct. 30, 1869, p. 8, c. 2. New York Tribune, Nov. 12, 1869, p. 1, c. 1. London Sun, Oct. 30, 1869, p. 2, c. 6. See persons named.

GP’s Last Health Reports

Death & Funeral. 11-Press Health Reports, 1869. The English press carried daily reports on GP’s condition: The London Times, Oct. 27, 1869, p. 7, c. 3, announced that GP was dangerously ill. Edinburgh Scotsman, Oct. 28, p. 8: “Mr. Peabody, who was reported seriously ill at Eaton Square, is said to be slightly better according to the latest report although he continues very weak.” London Times, Oct. 29, p. 7, c. 2: “George Peabody is rather more comfortable but still continues seriously ill.” Edinburgh Scotsman, Oct. 29, p. 8: “At a late hour on Wednesday night [Oct. 27] the answer to inquiries was that Mr. Peabody had somewhat rallied, but that no hopes were entertained of his recovery. Dr. [William Withey] Gull [M.D., 1816-99] and Mr. [William H.] Covey [medical attendant] are among the medical attendants who have visited the great philanthropist since his return from America a little more than a fortnight ago.”

Death & Funeral. 12-Press Health Reports, 1869 Cont’d. London Times, Oct 30, p. 9, c. 4: “Mr. Peabody is rather stronger this evening.” Edinburgh Scotsman, Nov. 1, p. 3: “He had a good night, Friday night, and was better this morning.” London Sun, Nov. 1, p. 3, c. 5: “Mr. Peabody passed a quiet night and is much the same as yesterday.” Manchester Guardian, Nov. 2, p. 5, c. 6: “Slight improvement Sunday night.” Edinburgh Scotsman, Nov. 3, p. 3: “Mr. Peabody is in a precarious state and was not well Monday night.” London Times, Nov. 4, p. 7, c. 3: “Mr. Peabody remains very weak but no important change has occurred during the last two days.” Edinburgh Scotsman, Nov. 3, p. 3, and Manchester Guardian, Nov. 3, p. 5, c. 3: “Mr. Peabody is in a very precarious state…”

GP Deathbed Account by R. C. Winthrop

Death & Funeral. 13-Deathbed Account by Winthrop. GP died Thurs., Nov. 4, 1869, 11:30 p.m. GP’s philanthropic advisor and PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop reported this first of three deathbed accounts in his Feb. 8, 1870, eulogy at GP’s final funeral service, South Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass. Said Winthrop: “I cannot…release you until I have alluded…to an incident of the last days, and almost the last hours, of this noble life, which has come to me from a source which cannot be questioned [Ohio’s Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine, below]. While he was lying, seemingly unconscious, on his death-bed in London, at the house of his kind friend, Sir Curtis Lampson, and when all direct communication with him had been for a time suspended, it was mentioned aloud in his presence, in a manner, and with a purpose to test his consciousness, that a highly valued acquaintance had called to see him; but he took no notice….” Ref.: (Deathbed-Winthrop): Winthrop-a, III, p. 47. Winthrop-b, pp. 21-22. New York Time, Feb. 9, 1870, p. 1, c. 4-7.

Death & Funeral. 14-Deathbed Account by Winthrop Cont’d. “Not long afterwards, it was stated in a tone loud enough for him to hear, that the Queen herself had sent a special telegram of inquiry and sympathy; but even that failed to arouse him. “Once more, at no long interval, it was remarked, that a faithful minister of the Gospel, with whom he once made a voyage to America, was at the door; and his attention was instantly attracted [London clergyman Dr. Thomas Nolan, 1809-82, mentioned in C.P. McIlvaine’s deathbed account below]. “The ‘good man,’ as he called him with his latest breath, was received by him, and prayed with him, more than once. ‘It is a great mystery,’ he feebly observed, ‘but I shall know all soon’; while his repeated Amens gave audible and abundant evidence that those prayers were not lost upon his ear or upon his heart.” Refs. below.

Death & Funeral. 15-Deathbed Account by Winthrop Cont’d. Robert Charles Winthrop’s Eulogy is also the source for the statement that among GP’s last words were: “Danvers, Danvers, don’t forget, Danvers.” Ref.: (”Danvers, Danvers, don’t forget, Danvers”): Winthrop-b, p. 21. Also quoted in: PEF-c, Proceedings, I, p. 164. Report of the Centennial Celebration of the Birth of George Peabody, p. 64. White, Alden P., p. 13. Semicentennial of GPCFT, p. 29. See: Winthrop, Robert Charles.

Deathbed Account of GP by C. P. McIlvaine

Death & Funeral. 16-Deathbed Account by McIlvaine. Winthrop’s account of GP’s death came from Ohio’s Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine, GP’s long-time intimate friend, chief advisor on the March 12, 1862, Peabody Homes of London gift, and a PEF trustee. McIlvaine sent to Winthrop, Nov. 20, 1869, this deathbed account as it came from his daughter, visiting the dying GP: “I have just received another letter from my daughter in London, giving further particulars of Mr. Peabody’s death. “After the visit mentioned in her former letter, when Mr. Peabody took no notice of anybody, he sent several times for his confidential man of business [possibly Simon Winter, GP’s valet the last month of his life] who came and stayed for some time with him; but he never roused enough to tell him what he wanted. Once in the middle of the night he asked the nurse if he was dying. The nurse answered that he was very ill indeed. He said he knew it, and was prepared. Sir Curtis Lampson told him he knew he would desire to know the…truth…that he was dying.” Ref.: (Deathbed-McIlvaine): C.P. McIlvaine to R.C. Winthrop, Nov. 20, 1869, quoted in Carus, ed., pp. 294-296.

Death & Funeral. 17-Deathbed Account by McIlvaine Cont’d.: “The clergyman mentioned in the previous letter was Dr. [Thomas] Nolan, one of the London Church clergy…. He represented the British and Foreign Bible Society, at the same anniversary of the American Bible Society at which you spoke. A very earnest, good man, and an old friend of mine. He called several times, and once more Mr. Peabody could see him. And when Dr. Nolan prayed, he responded several times, Amen; but he could never say much, and it was at all times difficult to understand him. The last time Dr. Nolan saw him was on Tuesday the 2nd, or Wednesday, 3rd of October. He was heard to say to himself, ‘Great mystery’; and after some time adding–’but I shall know all soon,’ showing that his mind was consciously working, though he seemed unconscious.” Ref.: Ibid. See: Nolan, Thomas [1809-82, vicar, St. Peter’s, Regent Sq., London, 1857-73].

Death & Funeral. 18-Deathbed Account by McIlvaine Cont’d.: “He knew the members of the Lampson family at times. My daughter says they were most faithful in their attentions; and as they thought they perceived that there was something he wanted to communicate, they always had one of the family with him, besides the nurse. My daughter was with him three times. The first time, as before mentioned, he was unconscious. ‘The second time’ (I now use her own words) ‘I sat by him some time. At last he put out his hand and touched me, saying, ‘I thought there was some one here.’ I leaned down by him and said, ‘Yes, it is N. McIlvaine’; and he knew me perfectly, and kissed me. I said, ‘I am so glad you know me. Shall I give your love to my father?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘I have written.’ Then he again became unconscious. After a time, I stooped down and kissed his forehead, and said, ‘Good-bye,’ when he again roused up and kissed me, evidently thinking he was in America, and said, ‘How is your Mother?’ In a moment he was gone again. I saw him again, the night before he died. But he was perfectly unconscious and unable to speak. His tongue lost its power for some time before he died. He suffered very little at last.” Bishop McIlvaine’s letter ended: “These are sad details of our departed friend. But they have some light in them. I am so glad such a man as Dr. Nolan was with him.…” Ref.: Ibid.

Deathbed Account of GP: J. L. Motley to U.S. Secty. of State Fish

Death & Funeral. 19-Deathbed Account by Motley to U.S. Secty. of State Fish. The third death account is in U.S. Minister to Britain John Lothrop Motley’s official dispatch to U.S. Secty. of State Hamilton Fish (1809-93) on Nov. 6, 1869: “It is with deep regret that I inform you of the death of that good benefactor to humanity, George Peabody. “The event took place on the night before last, the 4th inst. at half past 11 o’clock. Mr. Peabody, as you are aware, left the United States in broken health. “For a few days after reaching London he was able to be taken down stairs daily to the family circle of Sir Curtis Lampson, No. 80 Eaton Square, at whose house he was residing and where he was tenderly cared for during his last illness but his strength soon failed him. He lingered some few days in a condition which enabled him occasionally while lying in his bed to receive visits from a friend or two. It was my privilege to see him thus two or three times.” Ref.: John Lothrop Motley to Hamilton Fish, Nov. 6, 1869, Dispatch No. 142, “Dispatches from United States Minister, Great Britain,” National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Death & Funeral. 20-Deathbed Account by Motley to U.S. Secty. of State Fish Cont’d.: “On the last occasion, which was about a fortnight before his death, he seemed in good spirits and was evidently encouraged about his health. He conversed fluently and in a most interesting manner about the great work of his life–his vast scheme for benefiting those needing aid in England and America–and narrated the way in which the project first grew up in his mind and generally developed itself into the wide proportions which it had at last assumed.” Ref.: Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 21-Deathbed Account by Motley to U.S. Secty. of State Fish Cont’d.: “I remarked to him that it must make him happy, lying there on his sickbed, to think of the immense benefits which he had conferred on the poor of two great countries, not only in his generation, but so far as we could judge as long as the two nations should exist. “He observed with a placid smile that it made him very happy to think of it. He was sure that the institutions founded by him would do much good.” Ref.: Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 22-Deathbed Account by Motley to U.S. Secty. of State Fish Cont’d.: “Very soon after this interview Mr. Peabody became too weak to receive visits except from the family of Sir Curtis Lampson, the physicians and a clergyman. Bulletins of his condition were published regularly in the journals and inquiries as to his health were made regularly by the Sovereign of the country and by persons of all classes. “During the last few days of his life, he was almost entirely unconscious and he passed away at last without pain and without a struggle.” Ref.: Ibid.

Deathbed Account: Motley to Bismarck

Death & Funeral. 23-Deathbed Account by Motley to Count von Bismarck. U.S. Minister Motley also described GP’s death in a Nov. 7, 1869, letter to German statesman Count von Bismarck (Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck-Schönhausen, 1815-98): “Our great philanthropist George Peabody is just dead. I knew him well and saw him several times during his last illness. It made him happy, he said, as he lay on his bed, to think that he had done some good to his fellow-creatures. “I suppose no man in human history ever gave away so much money. “At least two millions of pounds sterling, and in cash, he bestowed on great and well-regulated charities, founding institutions in England and America which will do good so long as either nation exists. “He has never married, has no children, but he has made a large number of nephews and nieces rich. He leaves behind him (after giving away so much), I dare say, about half a million sterling.” Ref.: (Motley to Bismarck): Nov. 7, 1869, quoted in Motley, III, p. 233.

GP’s Death Certificate

Death & Funeral. 24-Death Certificate. GP’s death certificate information in the General Registration Office, Somerset House, London, was supplied by Simon Winter, mentioned in funeral news accounts as GP’s valet during GP’s last weeks. GP’s death certificate read in part: “Registration District, Saint George Hanover Square. 1869. Death in the District of Belgrave in the County of Middlesex. No. 277. (1). When and where died. Fourth November 1869. 80 Eaton Square. (2). Name and surname. George Peabody. (3). Sex. Male. (4). Age. 74 years. (5). Rank or profession. Gentleman. (6). Cause of death. Gout Some months Exhaustion Certified. (7). Signature, description and residence of informant. Simon Winter Present at the Death 80 Eaton Square Pimlico. (8) When registered. Sixth November 1869….” Ref.: (GP’s death certificate): From certified copy of the entry of death secured by authors from the General Registration Office, Somerset House, London, Oct. 7, 1954.

Death & Funeral. 25-Demand for Public Honors. There was much public interest in GP’s death. The London Daily News printed on Nov. 8: “We have received a large number of letters, urging that the honours of a public funeral are due to the late Mr. Peabody’s memory.” Ref.: (Public honors for GP): London Daily News, Nov. 8, 1869, p. 5, c. 3.

Death & Funeral. 26-Westminster Abbey Offered. The Dean of Westminster Abbey, Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815-81), also moved to honor GP publicly, was in Naples, Italy, Nov. 5, 1869, when he read of GP’s death. Years later he recorded: “The next funeral of which I was cognizant was the only one that I made an exception to my general rule of not proposing anything as from myself, and it was then done under very peculiar circumstances. I was in Naples, and saw in the public papers that George Peabody had died. Being absent, considering that he was a foreigner, and at the same time, by reason of his benefactions to the City of London, [the word ‘fully’ followed but was scratched out] entitled to a burial in Westminster Abbey, I telegraphed to express my wishes that his interment there should take place. Accordingly it was so arranged.” Ref.: Westminster Abbey, “Recollections by Dean Stanley of Funerals in Westminster Abbey 1865-1881,” pp. 21-22.

Why Such Funeral Honors?

Death & Funeral. 27-Why Such Funeral Honors? CSS Alabama. GP’s 96-day transatlantic funeral was unprecedented (overview given below). The pomp and circumstance between his death in London, Nov. 4, 1869, and burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870, came from attempts to reconcile serious post-Civil War U.S.-British tensions. GP died during U.S.-British tension over the Alabama Claims. CSS Alabama was a notorious British-built Confederate raider which sank 64 northern cargo ships during 1862-64. See: Alabama Claims. Death & Funeral. 189-Final Thought (below).

Alabama Claims

Death & Funeral. 28-Why Such Funeral Honors? Alabama Cont’d. Without a navy and with its southern ports blockaded by the North, Confederate agents evaded the blockade, went to England, secretly bought British-built ships, armed them as Confederate raiders, renamed them Alabama, Florida, Shenandoah, and others, which sank northern ships and cost northern lives and treasure. Britain, officially neutral in the U.S. Civil War, was continually reminded of its breaches of neutrality by U.S. Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams (1807-86) when he had intelligence of Confederate purchases of British built ships. U.S. demand for reparations for damages from British-built raiders lasted for at least eight years (1864-72). Ref.: Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 29-Why Such Funeral Honors? Alabama Cont’d. About 1868 GP was suggested but being old and ill was not chosen as an arbiter in the reparation dispute which was resolved at a Geneva international tribunal in 1871-72. The $15.5 million indemnity which Britain paid the U.S. was negotiated by former U.S. Minister Charles Francis Adams for the U.S., British jurist Alexander James Edmund Cockburn (1802-80) for Britain, and three others from neutral countries. At GP’s death, Nov. 4, 1869, this Alabama Claims controversy was unresolved and tense. The U.S. was angry. Britain was resentful. Ref.: Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 30-Why Such Funeral Honors? British Cotton Mills Hurt. Though officially neutral in the U.S. Civil War, the British upper class sympathized with the U.S. southern aristocracy. The Union blockade of southern ports cut off raw cotton needed by British cotton mills. Over half of the 534,000 British cotton mill workers lost their jobs. Of those still working less than one fourth worked full time. Historian Shelby Foote found that two million British jobs were lost in cotton mill and related industries. A desire to defuse angers over the Alabama Claims was one reason British officials first, and then U.S. officials, outdid each other in unusual homage to GP during his transatlantic funeral. Ref.: Ibid. See: Death & Funeral. 189-Final Thought (below).

Trent Affair

Death & Funeral. 31-Why Such Funeral Honors? Trent. Another reason for GP’s unusual funeral honors was to lessen resentment over the still rankling Nov. 8, 1861, Trent Affair. On the stormy night of Oct. 11, 1861, four Confederate emissaries evaded the Union blockade at Charleston, S.C., went by ship to Havana, Cuba, and there boarded the British mail ship Trent, bound for Southampton, England. The Confederate emissaries sought aid and arms from Britain and France. On Nov. 8, 1861, the Trent was illegally stopped in the Bahama Channel, West Indies, by USS San Jacinto’s Capt. Charles Wilkes (1798-1877). Confederates James Murray Mason (1798-1871, from Va.), John Slidell (1793-1871, from La.), and their male secretaries were forcibly removed and imprisoned in Boston harbor’s Fort Warren Prison. Anticipating war with the U.S., Britain sent 8,000 troops to Canada. But U.S. jingoism subsided. Pres. Abraham Lincoln reportedly told his cabinet, “one war at a time,” got the cabinet on Dec. 26, 1861, to disavow the illegal seizure and to release the Confederate prisoners on Jan. 1, 1862. See: Trent Affair.

Death & Funeral. 32-GP and the Trent Affair. GP was indirectly and directly affected by the Trent Affair, which delayed until March 12, 1862, public announcement of his gift of Peabody homes for London’s working poor (total gift $2.5 million). Also, GP’s longtime business friend William Wilson Corcoran’s (1798-1888) only child, a daughter, was married to George Eustice (1828-72) of La., secretary to and arrested with Confederate emissary John Slidell. Mrs. Louise Morris (née Corcoran) Eustice was on the Trent when it landed in Liverpool, England. GP’s partner Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) visited her to see after her welfare. Ref.: Ibid. See Peabody Homes of London.

Death & Funeral. 33-GP Funeral Honors to Soften U.S.-British Angers. Softening near war U.S.-British tension was thus behind the funeral honors for GP by Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98) and other officials. British funeral honors also reflected sincere appreciation for the Peabody apartments for London’s working poor. Many marveled that GP, an American, would give that kind of gift in that large amount to a city and country not his own. Britons also valued GP’s two decades of efforts to improve U.S.-British relations. Ref.: Ibid.

GP’s Funeral Overview

Death & Funeral. 34-Funeral Honors Overview. British and U.S. officials extended unprecedented transatlantic funeral honors, which included: a-A Westminster Abbey funeral service (Nov. 12, 1869) and temporary burial there for 30 days (Nov. 12-Dec. 11, 1869). b-British cabinet decision (Nov. 10, 1869) to return GP’s remains for burial in the U.S. on HMS Monarch, Britain’s newest and largest warship, repainted slate gray above the water line, with a specially built mortuary chapel. c-U.S. government decision (between Nov. 12-15, 1869) to send the corvette USS Plymouth from Marseilles, France, to accompany HMS Monarch to the U.S. d-Transfer (Dec. 11, 1869) of GP’s remains from Westminster Abbey, London, on a special funeral train to Portsmouth dock, impressive ceremonies in the transfer of remains from Portsmouth dock to the Monarch, specially outfitted as a funeral vessel. e-The transatlantic crossing of HMS Monarch and the USS Plymouth (Dec. 21, 1869-Jan. 25, 1870) from Spithead near Portsmouth, past Ushant, France, to Madeira island off Portugal, to Bermuda, and north to Portland, Me.

Death & Funeral. 35-Funeral Honors Overview Cont’d. f-The U.S. Navy’s decision (Jan. 14, 1870) to place Adm. David Glasgow Farragut (1801-70) in command of a U.S. naval flotilla to meet the Monarch in Portland harbor, Me. (Jan. 25, 1870). g-The Monarch captain’s request, on behalf of Queen Victoria, that the coffin remain aboard for two days as a final mark of respect, while Portlanders viewed the coffin in a somberly decorated mortuary chapel (Jan. 27-28, 1870). h-Lying in state of GP’s remains in Portland City Hall (Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 1870). i-A special funeral train from Portland, Me., to Peabody, Mass (Feb. 1, 1870). j-Lying in state of GP’s remains at the Peabody Institute Library (Feb. 1-8, 1870). k-Robert Charles Winthrop’s funeral eulogy at the South Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., attended by several governors, mayors, Queen Victoria’s son Prince Arthur, and other notables (Feb. 8, 1870). L–Final burial ceremony at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. (Feb. 8, 1870).

U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran

Death & Funeral. 36-Moran on Escalating Funeral Plans. U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran’s journal entries show the escalating British-U.S. funeral honors. Moran recorded (Nov. 6, 1869): “Sir Curtis Lampson came and asked me if it were possible to have a funeral service performed here over Mr. Peabody’s remains in view of the fact that they are to be conveyed to the United States and I said yes, instancing…particulars in the case of Horatio G. Ward [b.1810?-died May 1868 ] and Mr. Brown[e], better known as Artemus Ward [Charles Farrar Browne, 1834-67, U.S. humorist writer-lecturer using the name Artemus Ward, who died in London]…. “These cases seemed to satisfy him and no doubt some funeral service will be performed here, probably in Westminster Abbey.”

Death & Funeral. 37-Moran on Escalating Funeral Plans Cont’d. (Moran Nov. : “Sir Curtis Lampson [reported that] The Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey has asked that Mr. Peabody be buried in the Abbey. This can hardly be assented to: But a funeral service will no doubt take place there, and has been fixed for Friday, inst., at 1 o’clock [Nov. 12, 1869].” Ref.: (Lampson asked Moran about London funeral service and Westminster Abbey offer): Benjamin Moran’s journal, Nov. 6 and 8, 1869, Library of Congress Ms.

PM Gladstone & GP

Death & Funeral. 38-Royal Navy Vessel as Funeral Ship: PM Gladstone. The British cabinet chaired by PM William Ewart Gladstone met at 2:00 P.M., Nov. 10, 1869, and decided to offer a Royal Navy ship to return GP’s remains. By letter that day Gladstone so informed Curtis Miranda Lampson in whose home GP died. GP funeral researcher Allen Howard Welch’s article (cited where it sheds new light on GP funeral) stated that Queen Victoria first suggested use of a Royal Naval ship to return GP’s remains. Welch wrote: “The Queen, in fact, was personally grieved, and it was her own request that a man-of-war be employed to return Peabody to his homeland.” Ref.: (Queen Victoria first suggested returning GP’s remains on a Royal Navy ship): Welch, pp. 116-137, who cited as reference: Cabinet Minutes (1869), Gladstone Papers, British Museum Additional MSS. 44463, p. 113. Clowes, Vol. VII, p. 227. London Times, Nov. 15, 1869, p. 7.

Death & Funeral. 39-Royal Navy Vessel as Funeral Ship: PM Gladstone Cont’d. The night before, Nov. 9, 1869, in a major speech at the Lord Mayor’s Day banquet, Gladstone referred to British-U.S. difficulties and then mentioned GP’s death: “You will know that I refer to the death of Mr. Peabody, a man whose splendid benefactions…taught us in this commercial age…the most noble and needful of all lessons–…how a man can be the master of his wealth instead of its slave [cheers]. And, my Lord Mayor, most touching it is to know, as I have learnt, that while, perhaps, some might think he had been unhappy in dying in a foreign land, yet so were his affections divided between the land of his birth and the home of his early ancestors, that…his [wish] has been realized–that he might be buried in America, [and] that it might please God to ordain that he should die in England [cheers]. My Lord Mayor, with the country of Mr. Peabody we are not likely to quarrel [loud cheers, italics added].” Ref.: (Gladstone’s Nov. 9, 1869, speech): London Times, Nov. 10, 1869, p. 5, c. 5. [Commentary on Gladstone’s Nov. 9, 1869, speech on GP] Saturday Review of Politics, Literature and Art, Vol. 28, No. 733 (Nov. 13, 1869), p. 621. Manchester Guardian, Nov. 25, 1869, p. 7, c. 4.

Softening Alabama Claims Anger

Death & Funeral. 40-Softening Alabama Claims Angers. U.S. Minister to Britain J.L. Motley sent the full London Times account of Gladstone’s Nov. 9, 1869, speech to U.S. Secty. of State Hamilton Fish. Gladstone’s conciliatory speech led many to believe in an early settlement of Alabama Claims difficulties. The Manchester Guardian wrote: “The New York Herald and other prominent journals regard Mr. Gladstone’s speech at the Lord Mayor’s banquet as indicating a probably early satisfactory settlement of the Alabama Claims.” Ref.: Manchester Guardian, Nov. 26, 1869, p. 3, c. 2.

Death & Funeral. 41-Softening Alabama Claims Angers Cont’d. The military journal, Army and Navy Gazette, reported: “Private telegrams have been received in London from New York, stating that the honour done to the remains of the late Mr. Peabody, and to the fact that our Government having conveyed his body to America in a ship of war, has had a great effect on the States, and has gone far towards doing away with the ill-feeling caused by the Alabama difficulties. There is a story going about to the effect that the special correspondent in London of a well known American paper lately telegraphed to ask his employers what line he should take upon the Alabama question. The reply, through the cable, was, ‘Let the matter drop; it’s played out.’” Ref.: (Motley sent Gladstone’s speech to Fish): Nov. 11, 1869, “Dispatches from United Ministers, Great Britain,” Dispatch No. 148, National Archives. Ref.: Army and Navy Gazette (London), Dec. 18, 1869, p. 802, c. 2.

Death & Funeral. 42-Moran Again. Benjamin Moran’s journal entry (Nov. 9, 1869): “Sir Curtis Lampson called early to-day about the funeral ceremonies over Mr. Peabody in Westminster Abbey…. “At his own request Mr. Gladstone is to be present in the Abbey in his capacity of Prime Minister…. He spoke to Sir Curtis Lampson about sending the remains home in a ship of war and asked [if U.S. Minister to England] Mr. Motley would approve, saying that he might bring the subject officially to his notice. The suggestion is no doubt from the Queen; but Mr. Motley can give no opinion one way or another…and has decided after consulting with me to refer the question…to the Govt. at Washington for their instructions. It [use of a royal vessel] is without precedent, and as Mr. Peabody was a copperhead and never gave a cent to the institutions founded for the widows and orphans of the war, and moreover is a private citizen–it is placing the Minister in embarrassing circumstances….” Ref.: (Lampson called on Moran): Benjamin Moran’s journal entry, Nov. 6, 1869, Moran Papers, Library of Congress Ms. Ref.: (Gladstone’s offer of HMS Monarch): Moran’s journal entry, Nov. 9, 1869, Library of Congress Ms. Ref.: (Offer of Westminster Abbey): Moran’s journal entry, Nov. 8, 1869, Library of Congress Ms.

Embalming of GP’s Remains

Death & Funeral. 43-Embalming. Moran recorded hearing how GP’s remains had been embalmed: “Dr. [William Withey] Gull, Peabody’s chief physician, told me today that he had the body embalmed by injecting arsenic into the veins and tanning, and that the result was very successful. The features will be recognizable for years.” The Lancet, a British medical journal, published a detailed account of how GP’s remains were embalmed: “The preservation of the remains of the late Mr. Peabody was entrusted to the hands of Dr. Pavy [Frederick William Pavy, 1829-1911, of Guy’s Hospital, London]. The process carried out consisted in injecting the whole body through the arteries with a strong solution of arsenic, containing also some bichloride of mercury. Twenty-four hours afterwards another liquid, consisting of a saturated solution of tannic acid was thrown in, with the view of effecting the gradual conversion of the gelatinous structures into the tannogelatine, or the basis of leather.” Ref.: Moran’s journal entry, Nov. 12, 1869, Library of Congress Ms.

Death & Funeral. 44-Embalming Cont’d. “None of the viscera were removed or disturbed; and before the opening into the chest, required for the injection practiced through the aorta, was closed, an arsenical paste, or rather cream, consisting of arsenic, camphor, and spirit, was introduced into the thoracic cavity, and also through an opening in the diaphragm into the cavity of the abdomen, and freely distributed about. Death had taken place about two-and-a-half days before the process was commenced, and decomposition had set in so as to produce great distension of the abdomen; but the process was found to check all this, and when completed all signs of a tendency to decomposition were removed. We may add that under the silk shroud and upon the floor of the coffin there was placed a bed of well-burnt animal charcoal.” Ref.: Lancet, p. 33. Also quoted in Dundee Courier and Argus (Dundee, Scotland), Dec. 6, 1869, p. 3, c. 4. For the embalming, Dr. Frederick William Pavy of Guy’s Hospital, London, was paid £31 and ten shillings (about $157.50), in Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. See: Pavy, Frederick William.

Benjamin Moran on GP’s Westminster Abbey Funeral

Death & Funeral. 45-Moran on W.A. Funeral Service. Moran’s private journal entries on GP since 1857 had invariably been critical. But in his entry on GP’s Westminster Abbey funeral service Moran’s better nature emerged. His account follows in full for its detail and rare eloquence. He wrote (Nov. 12): “At about 12 to-day Mr. Motley and I arrived in his carriage at Sir Curtis Lampson’s, 80 Eaton Square, where we met Sir Curtis [Miranda Lampson] and his three sons, J.S. Morgan, Russell Sturgis, Mr. [U.S. Consul in London] F.[reeman] H.[arlow] Morse [1807-91], Mr. [U.S. Vice Consul in London Joshua] Nunn, Drs. Gull and Covey, Horatio G. Somerby, and several other gentlemen, who were to act as mourners at the funeral of Mr. George Peabody in Westminster Abbey. Mr. Charles Reed [1819-81], M.P., did not reach the house on time, but we took him up in the street. Mr. Motley, Sir Curtis, Mr. Reed and I were in the first carriage. Two royal carriages followed those of the mourners and the Minister’s carriages were immediately behind that of the executors. The cortege of private carriages was very long. We left the house at about 1/4 to 1 and arrived at the Abbey in about half an hour, the streets all the way being crowded with spectators, the mass evidently being workingmen of the better class.” Ref.: Moran’s journal entry Nov. 12, 1869, Moran’s Papers, Library of Congress Ms.

Death & Funeral. 46-Moran on W.A. Funeral Service Cont’d. “The day proved fine. Mr. Motley and I followed closely to the coffin and entered the grand old Abbey from the West cloister, the procession taking a circuitous course into the Nave and then passing between crowds in solemn black. The sun’s rays glanced in yellow beams over the grey stone of the aisles and improved the scene. We followed into the choir where many spectators were assembled, and the body was deposited under the lantern, with a wreath of white camellias on the coffin. I noticed…Mr. Gladstone, Lord Clarendon, Mr. Arthur Helps, the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs…in…the chancel…just in front of the tomb of Henry the Fifth. As we entered the Nave chanting to the organ began, and soon after the body entered the choir the burial service was proceeded with in all the solemnity peculiar to it. As the voices of the choristers rang out, my eyes involuntarily went with them up to the carved ceiling and then glanced over the choir, down the vaulted nave, across which a golden sunlight was streaming like a halo around the head of a Saint.” Ref.: Ibid. See: persons named.

Death & Funeral. 47-Moran on W.A. Funeral Service Cont’d. “The scene was sacred. Beholding it as I did–being one of the actors–it was impressive…. I thought of Peabody as I stood by his coffin and heard the priests chanting over his remains, and…mentally remarked that I could now forget that I had ever warred with the dust before me. And then I reflected on the marvelous career of the man, his early life, his penurious habits, his vast fortune, his magnificent charity; and the honor that was then being paid to his memory by the Queen of England in the place of sepulcher of twenty English Kings.” Ref.: Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 48-Moran on W.A. Funeral Service Cont’d. “The coffin was borne back through the choir to the grave near the great west door in the nave; and here the rest of the ceremony took place in a vast crowd of spectators. The grand music of Purcell [Henry Purcell, 1659-95, English composer] and Croft [William Croft, 1678-1727, English composer] was sweetly sung by deep voiced men and silvery voiced boys, the heavy tones of the organ blending with the human music and all rising like incense over the benevolent man’s grave. The Prime Minister of England and the United States Minister stood near the head participating in the ceremony, while Mrs. Motley, Lady Lampson, Mrs. Morgan, and other American ladies were grouped at the foot. ‘Ashes to ashes,’ said the priest, an anthem was sung, and the service was at an end–George Peabody having received burial in Westminster Abbey, an honor coveted by nobles and not always granted kings. “A wreath of immortelles [everlasting] was thrown into the lap of Peabody’s statue the other day, and loud cries were made to call the new street in the city from the Bank [of England] to Blackfriars Bridge after him….” Ref.: Ibid. See: persons named.

Reporter on GP’s Westminster Abbey Funeral

Death & Funeral. 49-Reporter on W.A. Funeral Service. The London reporter for the New York Times also recorded his impressions of the Nov. 12, 1869, GP Westminster Abbey funeral service: “My trans-Atlantic heart beat…quicker at the thought of clergy and nobility, Prime Minister and people, of this great realm gathered to lay [GP] among sleeping Kings and statesmen. The crowd outside was, if possible, more interesting than that within. The gaunt, famished London poor were gathered in thousands to testify their respect for the foreigner who has done more than any Englishman for their class, and whose last will contains an additional bequest to them of £150,000.” Ref.: New York Times, Nov. 26, 1869, p. 2, c. 3.

Sermon at GP’s Westminster Abbey Funeral

Death & Funeral. 50-Bishop of London Sermon, W.A., Sunday, Nov. 14, 1869. Many sermons on GP were preached on Sunday, Nov. 14, 1869, following the Westminster Abbey Friday, Nov. 12, 1869, GP funeral service. Westminster Abbey’s Dean Stanley recalled years later: “On the subsequent Sunday, by an arrangement which has since become frequent, but which had not then been fully established, an external preacher took my place. I forget by whose management it came about, but it was most appropriate. It was the Bishop of London [Rt. Hon. & Rt. Rev. John Jackson, 1811-85] who on that occasion only,–as being the Bishop in whose diocese the benefactions had been made, and yet who, on the other hand, by his peculiar position, was the one Bishop who never officiates in the Abbey—preached the sermon….” Ref.: [Unpublished]: Westminster Abbey, “Recollections by Dean Stanley of Funerals in Westminster Abbey 1865-1881,” pp. 21-22. (Rt. Hon. & Rt. Rev. John Jackson): “Jackson, John.”

Death & Funeral. 51- Bishop of London’s Sermon, W.A., Sunday, Nov. 14, 1869, Cont’d. Taking his text from Hebrews 6:11, the Bishop of London, addressing the largest Abbey Sunday congregation to that time, said in part: “The representatives of two governments paid him homage. No man is recorded in England’s history more remarkable for his gifts to mankind than George Peabody. He worked not only for himself but for others and for God. He was self-made, simple in his habits, with no ambition for rank or power His glory was in benefiting mankind. Henceforth the name George Peabody will belong equally to his native land and his adopted country, binding together their peoples who have common origin, language, and laws. No untitled commoner ever drew round his grave so large a concourse of sincere mourners as George Peabody…. His name will be the birthright of two great nations….” Ref.: New York Times, Nov. 27, 1869, p. 1, c. 6-7. Manchester Guardian (Manchester, England), Nov. 15, 1869, p. 2, c. 7. Herts Advertiser and St. Albans Times (St. Albans, England), Nov. 20, 1869, p. 3, c. 1-2. Brighton Daily News (Brighton, England), Nov. 15, 1869, p. 5, c. 4. London’s News of the World, Nov. 20, 1869, p. 6, c. 2-4.

Death & Funeral. 52-Episcopal Bishop of Ohio C.P. McIlvaine’s Reaction. Widely read U.S. press reports of the Westminster Abbey funeral service and of the Bishop of London’s sermon led Episcopal Bishop of Ohio Charles Pettit McIlvaine to write to a clergy friend: “The honours paid the memory of my dear old friend, Mr. Peabody, especially the funeral solemnities in Westminster Abbey by order of the Queen, and the sermon by the Bishop of London, are very gratifying to us Americans. He deserves them….” Ref.: Carus, ed., p. 294.

U.S. or Britain to Return GP’s Remains?

Death & Funeral. 53-U.S. or Britain to Return GP’s Remains? U.S. Minister to Britain Motley received two messages at the same time. British Foreign Secty. Lord Clarendon’s message, Nov. 13, 1869, stated that Queen Victoria wished to show her respect by transporting GP’s remains to the U.S. on a British ship of war. U.S. Secty. of State Hamilton Fish’s message, Nov. 12, 1869, asked Motley to inform the British government that U.S. Rear Adm. William Radford (1808-90), U.S. Naval European commander, was sending a U.S. vessel from Marseilles, France, as funeral ship. Ref.: (Motley receives conflicting messages): Moran’s journal entry Nov. 13, 1869, Library of Congress Ms.

Benjamin Moran’s Journal on GP’s Funeral

Death & Funeral. 54-Minister Motley’s Dilemma. Benjamin Moran recorded Motley’s dilemma: “These communications threw Mr. Motley into one of his fits of indecision and when I arrived he hardly knew what to do. I advised that he should telegraph the substance of Lord Clarendon’s note to Mr. Fish and ask for instructions. This he did and late tonight he received a telegram from Washington saying the President yielded to the Queen’s Govt…… “And thus the matter for the present rests, more noise having been made over the old fellow dead than living. [Lord Clarendon] said that Her Majesty would have created Peabody a Peer had he been disposed to accept.” Ref.: Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 55-Moran Again (Nov. 15, 1869). Moran, a typically harassed legation secretary, recorded: “Mr. Motley has been in a worry all day about this business. Old Peabody has given us much trouble and it seems as if he never would be quiet…. I paid a visit to the Duchess of Somerset…. The Duchess was grieving about Peabody, and thinks the Queen should have created him a Duke. One of the Diplomatic Corps said to her that the English were making too much of the old man, at which her Grace was offended. I think the Diplomat was right.” [Moran at the Cosmopolitan Club that night.] “Peabody was discussed and Mr. Hughes said he was the only foreigner ever buried in Westminster Abbey. Others were naturalized.” Ref.: Moran’s journal entry Nov. 15, 1869, Library of Congress Ms.

Death & Funeral. 56-Moran Again (Nov. 16, 1869): “Mr. Peabody haunts the Legation from all parts of the world like a ghost.” Moran (Nov. 19, 1869): “Sir Curtis Lampson and Mr. George Peabody Russell [1835-1909, GP’s nephew, son of sister Judith] came to see me about noon to-day…. G.P. Russell is a dull sort of young man, and by no means very polished. “Mr. Motley returned to town…and was very much excited because he must go to Portsmouth to deliver Peabody’s remains…. He never knows his own mind ten minutes.” Ref.: Moran’s journal entries Nov. 16, 19, 1869, Library of Congress Ms.

Death & Funeral. 57-Moran Again (Nov. 20, 1869): “Motley fidgety as usual–a note from Lampson about sending Peabody home.” Moran (Nov. 22, 1869): “Adm. Radford now says he don’t know where the Richmond is and asks if he may send the Plymouth. [Discussion about the Alabama claims controversy.] “It looks to me as if even old Peabody’s gifts to the London poor would not settle the feeling that in fact, exist between the two countries.” Moran recorded (Nov. 23, 1869) what Motley indiscreetly told him was said about GP at the Prince of Wales’s dinner: “And the Prince of Wales said it was rumored about that Lady Lampson was old Peabody’s daughter. Thus the living great slander the dead.” Ref.: Moran’s journal entries Nov. 20 and 22, 1869, Library of Congress Ms.

Death & Funeral. 58-Moran Again (Dec. 6, 1869): [The Motleys were invited to dine with the Queen at Windsor.] “But it delays the departure of old Peabody’s remains. Will that old man ever be buried? Indeed it seems as if he would not. He gives trouble to all classes of officials, royal, republican, state, diplomatic, naval, consulate, military, ecclesiastic, and civil, and has stirred up commotion all over the world.” Ref.: Moran’s journal entry Dec. 6, 1869, Library of Congress Ms.

GP’s Funeral Ship HMS Monarch

Death & Funeral. 59-Why HMS Monarch was Chosen as Funeral Ship. The large British iron cruiser HMS Inconstant was first considered to return GP’s remains to the U.S., according to GP funeral researcher Allen Howard Welch. But on Nov. 12 U.S. government officials instructed U.S. Minister to Britain J.L. Motley to respectfully inform Queen Victoria’s government that the U.S. preferred to return GP’s remains on a U.S. warship. At the same time U.S. Rear Adm. William Radford, U.S. Navy European commander, was instructed to send his best ship to return GP’s remains. This conflict spurred the British Admiralty to go “all out” in naming HMS Monarch as funeral ship. When advised that a U.S. ship could not reach England in time, Pres. U.S. Grant accepted the British plan but ordered a U.S. Naval vessel to accompany the Monarch. Ref.: Welch, pp. 116-137, quoted as sources (for the HMS Inconstant): London Times, Nov. 13, 1869, p. 9; (for Adm. Radford’s being instructed to send a U.S. warship as funeral ship): New York Times, Nov. 13, 1869, p. 3; (for Pres. U.S. Grant’s acceptance of HMS Monarch as funeral vessel but accompanied by a U.S. Naval ship): London Times, Nov. 15, 1869, p. 7.

Death & Funeral. 60-HMS Monarch Described. The irony in Britain’s friendly insistence in taking the lead in GP’s transatlantic funeral voyage was that in the War of 1812, 56 years earlier, GP had been a volunteer U.S. soldier to stop the British fleet from moving up the Potomac to sack the U.S. Capitol. HMS Monarch, the Royal Navy’s first successful armored turret ship, was designed after the revolving gun turret had been effectively used on U.S. Civil War iron-clad monitors. The Monarch’s keel was laid down in England’s Chatham dockyard, June 1866; she was launched in May 1868, and was completed in June 1869, at a cost of £345,575. With armor and equipment she totaled 8,300 tons, measured 330 feet in length, carried 27,700 square feet of sail, had a beam of 57 and a half feet, a mean draft of 24 feet, was originally armed with four 12 inch and three seven inch guns, was capable of 15 knots under full steam, making her the fastest battleship of the day. She served mainly in the Channel Islands and ended her career at Simonstown, South Africa, in 1906. See: War of 1812. Ref.: (HMS Monarch described): London Times, Dec. 10, 1869, p. 3. Bennett, p. 234. Clowes, Vol. VII, p. 26. (Information from) Maritime Arts & History Dept., Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.

Monarch as Funeral Ship Suggested by Andrew Carnegie

Death & Funeral. 61-Monarch Suggested by Andrew Carnegie to John Bright. Researcher A.H. Welch wrote: “Oscar Parkes, an authority on British war vessels, attributed the choice of HMS Monarch to return GP’s remains to the U.S. to an anonymous cablegram received from America by [MP] John Bright: ‘First and best service possible for “Monarch,” bring home Peabody.’ Parkes claimed that many years later Andrew Carnegie met Bright and took credit for the cable.” Ref.: Welch, pp. 116-137, quoted as sources (for Andrew Carnegie’s suggestion of using HMS Monarch): Clowes, Vol. VII, p. 227, and Parkes, p. 136.

Death & Funeral. 62-Andrew Carnegie’s Autobiography. In Andrew Carnegie’s (1835-1919) Autobiography (1933), the Scottish-born steel maker and philanthropist recalled reading of the launching of Britain’s largest warship HMS Monarch, publicized in jingoistic British newspapers as able to level a U.S. port city. After reading of GP’s Nov. 4, 1869, death in London and of GP’s will requiring burial in Mass., he telegraphed British cabinet member John Bright (1811-99): “First and best service for Monarch, bringing home the body of Peabody.” “Strange to say,” Carnegie wrote, “this was done, and thus the Monarch became the messenger of peace, not of destruction.” Ref.: Carnegie, p. 270. See: Carnegie, Andrew.

Portsmouth, England

Death & Funeral. 63-Delays and Visitors, Portsmouth Dock. The Admiralty first set HMS Monarch to sail Nov. 27, 1869. But the USS Richmond, first ordered to accompany HMS Monarch, was in the Mediterranean and could not join the Monarch in time. The USS Plymouth was then ordered to accompany the Monarch. The USS Plymouth could not get from Marseilles, France, to join the Monarch before Dec. 1, 1869. She would also need time to take on coal and make other preparation for an Atlantic crossing. The USS Richmond and the USS Kenosha
were also ordered to accompany the Monarch but for some reason neither arrived. Ref Welch, pp. 116-137, listed these sources on the non-arrival of USS Richmond and USS Kenosha: London Times, Dec. 24, 1869, p. 7; Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle (Portsmouth, England), Nov. 27, 1869, p. 4.

Death & Funeral. 64-Delays and Visitors, Portsmouth Dock Cont’d. The Monarch’s departure was reset for sometime during Dec. 2-6, which came and went with GP’s remains still at Westminster Abbey. The USS Plymouth arrived Dec. 6, 1869, and completed her coaling Dec. 9. She was a corvette; i.e., a highly maneuverable armed escort ship, wooden-built, without armor, with ten guns, long, narrow, and looked like a merchant clipper. On Dec. 8, 1869, First Lord of the Admiralty Hugh Culling Eardley Childers (1827-96) boarded HMS Monarch to inspect preparations in progress to receive GP’s remains. Ref.: (Description of USS Plymouth): London Times, Dec. 10, 1869, p. 3. Ref.: (H.C.E. Childers): Hampshire Telegraph (Portsmouth, England), Dec. 11, 1869, p. 4. See: Childers, Hugh Culling Eardley.

Death & Funeral. 65-Delays and Visitors, Portsmouth Dock Cont’d. With the transfer of GP’s remains again reset for Saturday, Dec. 11, 1869, workmen had time (Nov. 23 to Dec. 11) to outfit the Monarch in full naval mourning. Her turrets, funnel, hurricane deck, lower masts, bowsprits, yards, and blocks aloft were all painted a “French gray.” A ribbon of gray was painted around the outer sides of the bulwarks. To receive the coffin and for public viewing in ceremonies at Portsmouth and at the U.S. receiving port, a lofty pavilion was built on the ship’s upper deck, its canopy covered and lined with black cloth trimmed with white silk fringe. Here the coffin would be placed on a bier. Ref.: (HMS Monarch outfitted as funeral vessel): Army and Navy Gazette Dec. 18, 1869, p. 811. Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle, Jan. 1870, p. 29. London Times, Dec. 4, 1869, p. 9.

Death & Funeral. 66-Mortuary Chapel Built on HMS Monarch. For the transatlantic crossing the ship’s carpenter built a circular mortuary chapel on the aftermost portion of the main deck where the coffin could be secured. The chapel’s dome, walls, and deck were covered in black cloth. From the center of the dome radiated white silk cords, looped around the upper walls in festoons of cloth fringed with deep white lace. Facing the entrance was the American eagle in a device of silver with the inscription “E Pluribus Unum.” Around the walls at intervals was the monogram “G.P.” in silver, wreaths of immortelles, and silver-plated brackets with double wax lights. The bier was in the center of this chapel. Huge silver-plated candlesticks stood at each corner of the bier. Each candlestick, nearly three feet high, held wax tapers almost as tall as the holders. Visitors, admitted aboard in the first week in Dec. 1869, numbered in the thousands. The London Times (Dec. 4, 1869) added: “the continual stream…from 9 o’clock in the morning till near sunset, and especially after noon, never seeming to slacken.” Ref.: Ibid.

Benjamin Moran on Portsmouth Transfer

Death & Funeral. 67-Moran on Preparations at Portsmouth. U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran recorded (Dec. 8, 1869): “There is another hitch about sending away Peabody’s remains. He must go on board the Monarch on Saturday morning [Dec. 11], or not for ten days to come, as the tide will not serve as to get the ship out of the harbor, except at night, and the Admiralty don’t want the risk taking her away in the dark.” Ref.: Moran’s journal entry Dec. 8, 1869, Library of Congress Ms.

Death & Funeral. 68-Moran on Transfer of Remains, Portsmouth, Dec. 11, 1869. In gossipy style, Moran described the transfer of GP’s remains on Dec. 11 (as he interpreted events involving U.S. Minister Motley): “He [Mr. Motley] has gone by special train to Portsmouth…and if no hitch takes place–about which I am not so sure–we shall get rid of the old fellow on Monday and the people on the other side will then have their time…. Mr. Motley got back about 7:30 from Portsmouth…. As usual, Johnny Bull blundered in the arrangements…. Nobody knew what to do. Captain [John Edmund] Commerell [1829-1901, of Monarch] seemed frightened and nervous. The remains were put on board pretty much as you would embark a bale of goods, only there was no invoice…. When ready to leave for their return every official had disappeared….” Ref.: Moran’s journal entries Dec. 11, 1869, Library of Congress Ms.

Death & Funeral. 69-Moran on Transfer, Dec. 11, 1869 Cont’d. “Sir James Hope [1808-81], the Commandant, had left, no doubt, from fear he would be obliged to get them a luncheon and the consequence was that Minister, executors, and friends got refreshments at the railway station–the viands consisting of ‘cakes and ale.’ A tablet to Geo. Peabody is to be placed in Westminster Abbey.” Ref.: Ibid. Ref.: (For biographical source on Sir James Hope): “Hope, Sir James (1808-81),” IX, pp. 1212-1214.

Portsmouth Transfer Ceremony

Death & Funeral. 70-Portsmouth, Dec. 11, 1869 Cont’d. Unlike Moran’s flippant private journal view, newspaper accounts emphasized the solemnity of the Dec. 11, 1869, transfer of GP’s remains from Westminster Abbey by train to Portsmouth harbor and placed aboard HMS Monarch. Dec. 11, 1869, was a cold, damp, dark morning in London. Dean A.P. Stanley of Westminster Abbey was present at 7: 00 A.M. when GP’s coffin was taken from the Abbey to a waiting hearse. The hearse, followed by other carriages, headed for Waterloo Station. Two British railroads had offered special funeral trains without charge. Sir Curtis Lampson had arranged for the London and South-Western Railway Co. to provide the funeral train. Accompanying the coffin on the funeral train were U.S. Minister to Britain John Lothrop Motley, Sir Curtis M. Lampson, GP’s British estate executor Charles Reed (1819-81), GP’s former partner Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), U.S.-born London resident genealogist and GP’s friend Horatio Gates Somerby, GP’s nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909) who had arrived a few days before, and others. Ref.: (Cold drenching rain and howling wind): Hampshire Telegraph (Portsmouth, England), Dec. 15, 1869, p. 3, c. 3-4.

Death & Funeral. 71-Portsmouth, Dec. 11, 1869 Cont’d. At 12:30 P.M. in the cold, drenching rain, the funeral train left Waterloo Station, passed through Guilford (1:23 P.M.), where many people congregated, through Petersfield (2:12 P.M.), Rowlands Castle (2:26 P.M.), Havant (2:34 P.M.), and Portsmouth (2:41 P.M.), where hundreds of people waited in the cold rain. A special track siding avoided the Landsport Station and carried the slowly moving funeral train to the Portland dockyard. Ref.: (Special train): Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson to John Lothrop Motley, Dec. 3, 1869, “Dispatches from United States Ministers, Great Britain,” enclosure No. 20 to Dispatch No. 195, U.S. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Brighton Daily News (Brighton, England), Dec. 13, 1869, p. 3, c. 1-2. Ref.: (Funeral train timetable): Hampshire Telegraph (Portsmouth, England), Dec. 11, 1869, p. 8, c. 1-2.

Death & Funeral. 72-Portsmouth, Dec. 11, 1869 Cont’d. The funeral train entered the north gate of the dockyard, a quarter of a mile from where HMS Monarch was moored. In the steady downpour two facing lines of marines and seamen rested on their reversed arms in the British military symbol of mourning. Spectators, many of them women, lined the jetty and neighboring docks. From above, the scene showed a sea of black umbrellas mingling oddly with the lines, spars, and beams of the ships at dock. Portsmouth and Ryde town council members stood out boldly in their scarlet robes of office. Portsmouth Mayor George Sheppard (b.1815, believed previously a justice of the peace) had earlier suggested a procession through Portsmouth streets, but this plan was dropped. Refs. below.

Death & Funeral. 73-Portsmouth, Dec. 11, 1869 Cont’d. At 3:00 P.M. when the slowly moving funeral train stopped, a gun salute went up from HMS Excellent. The Monarch’s bow battery echoed the boom. Bugles blared a funeral dirge. Ships in the harbor lowered their ensigns to half mast and raised the U.S. ensign abreast their foretopmost crosstrees. The USS Plymouth lowered her ensign. HMS Duke of Wellingtonguns fired at minute intervals. Guns boomed in the cold rain. The wind blew violently through the Monarch’s rigging. Ten seamen bore the coffin from the train to the Monarch, preceded by Royal Navy Chaplain, Rev. John Jacob Harrison (1822-88). Following the coffin up the railed gangway were Motley, Lampson, Reed, Morgan, Somerby, and G.P. Russell. The bearers lowered the coffin to the quarterdeck and placed it on a black covered bier specially prepared on a black curtained pavilion. The gun salutes ceased. The handing over ceremony began. Refs. below. See: persons and ships named.

Death & Funeral. 74-Portsmouth, Dec. 11, 1869, Motley to Commerell. U.S. Minister to Britain Motley stepped up to HMS Monarch’s Capt. John Edmund Commerell. In the blowing wind Motley said: “The President of the United States, when informed of the death of George Peabody, the great philanthropist, at once ordered an American ship to convey his remains to America. Simultaneously, the Queen appointed one of Her Majesty’s ships to perform that office. This double honor from the heads of two great nations to a simple American citizen is, like his gift to the poor, unprecedented. The President yields cordially to the wish of the Queen. “All that was mortal of our lamented friend was taken from Westminster Abbey, where seldom before has a foreigner been so honored. As minister of the Republic at the Court of Her Majesty I deliver to your safe keeping, at the request of the relatives and executors of Mr. Peabody, his revered remains.” Refs. below. See: persons named.

Death & Funeral. 75-Portsmouth, Dec. 11, 1869, Commerell to Motley. Capt. Commerell answered: “I accept this sacred trust. These remains shall be solemnly cared for and guarded, for the memory of George Peabody is held dear by the people of my country.” The transfer was complete. But blowing gales and storms kept the Monarch at Spithead off Portsmouth harbor during Dec. 11-20, 1869. Refs. below.

Death & Funeral. 76-Portsmouth, Dec. 11, 1869; Capt. Commerell’s career. John Edmund Commerell, age 40, first distinguished himself at age 16 as a midshipman aboard HMS Firebrand. He was one of the first to receive the Victoria Cross, June 26, 1857, during the Crimean War, and attained the rank of captain in 1859 after leading a division of seamen in a landing force in North China. Ref.: (Capt. Commerell): Welch, pp. 116-137. Clowes, Vol. VI, pp. 215, 341; Vol. VII, pp. 129-130, 575. (Note: For the career of Capt. William H. Macomb [1819-72] of the USS Plymouth, ordered by the U.S. Navy to accompany HMS Monarch on the transatlantic funeral voyage, See: Ref.: Hamersly, p. 61; and g. Internet under Macomb, William H.

Death & Funeral. 77-Portsmouth, Dec. 11, 1869. Ref.: (Westminster Abbey, London, to Portsmouth harbor, handing over ceremony, speeches, sources in alphabetical order): Aberdeen Herald (Aberdeen, Scotland), Nov. 20, 1869, p. 3, c. 3; and Nov. 27, 1869, p. 4, c. 5. Anglo-American Times (London), Dec. 11, 1869, p. 11, c. 1-2. Annual Register; A Review of Public Events at Home and Abroad for the Year, 1869 (London: Longman & Co., 1870), Part II, pp. 144-146. Birmingham Weekly Post (Birmingham, England), Dec. 18, 1869, p. 3, c. 6. Boston Guardian (Boston, Lincolnshire, England), Nov. 27, 1869, p. 2, c. 5. Brechin Advertiser (Brechin, England), Nov. 30, 1869, p. 3, c. 3. Daily News (London), Dec. 13, 1869. Dundee Courier and Argus (Dundee, Scotland), Dec. 13, 1869, p. 3, c. 4. g. Internet, Monarch, HMS (statistics, brief history, sketch of).

Death & Funeral. 78-Portsmouth, Dec. 11, 1869. Ref.: [Speeches by Minister Motley and Capt. Commerell] Hampshire Telegraph (Portsmouth, England), Dec. 15, 1869, p. 3, c. 2. “Historical Funerals…,” pp. 46-48. Illustrated London News, Vol. 55, No. 1573 (Dec. 25, 1869), pp. 648 and 661. Inverness Advertiser (Inverness, Scotland), Nov. 16, 1869, p. 2, c. 3. Morning Post (London), Dec. 13, 1869. New York Herald, Nov. 28, 1869, p. 3, c. 1; and Dec. 14, 1869, p. 7, c. 1. New York Times, Dec. 14, 1869, p. 5, c. 1. New York Tribune, Dec. 14, 1869, p. 1, c. 1. Portsmouth Times and Naval Gazette (Portsea, England), Dec. 18, 1869, p. 6, c. 3-5. Sheffield Times (Sheffield, England), Dec. 18, 1869, p. 12, c. 2. Sun (London), Dec. 13, 1869, p. 2, c. 2. Times (London), Dec. 10, 1869, p. 3, c. 5; and Dec. 13, 1869, p. 6, c. 1-2.

Storms Delay Departure

Death & Funeral. 79-Storms Delay; Moran’s Last Entries. While storms delayed departure of the Monarch, Benjamin Moran made his last journal entries on GP (Dec. 13, 1869): “I dined at J.S. Morgan’s in the evening [and] George Peabody Russell was there…. A dull fellow…. I called at the Duchess of Somerset yesterday and found Mr. Childers [Hugh Culling Eardley Childers, 1827-96], First Lord of the Admiralty…there. Her Grace was full of lamentations for old Peabody; but rather exalted over the rumor that the ‘great philanthropist’ had left none of his money to Sir Curtis Lampson and his family–or next to none.” Moran (Dec. 15, 1869): “He [U.S. Minister John Lothrop Motley] is long winded about Old Peabody’s embarkation, and somewhat prosy.” Moran (Jan. 1, 1870): “I was told that Peabody had left Lady Emerson Tennent nothing and that she is in distress.” Moran (Feb. 12, 1870): “Lord Derby (Late Lord Stanley [Edward Henry Smith Stanley Derby, 15th Earl, 1826-93]) was very cordial and laughed at the delay in burying old Peabody.” Thus, Moran, all too human and often critical, ended his journal entries on GP with gossip trivia. Ref.: Moran’s journal entries Dec. 13 and 15, 1869; Jan. 1 and Feb. 12, 1870, Library of Congress Ms. See: persons named.

Praise and Eulogy

Death & Funeral. 80-Resolutions of Praise on GP’s Death (Philadelphia). GP’s widely reported death and funeral brought tributes and resolutions of praise. On Nov. 5, 1869, in Philadelphia, to a national convention of Jewish religious leaders (rabbis), the Rev. Dr. Samuel Hirsch (1815-89), Rabbi of Philadelphia’s Knesseth Israel (1866-88), spoke of GP’s life, philanthropy, and death. The convention unanimously passed a resolution of esteem for GP. Ref.: Philadelphia, Penn., Rabbiner-Conferenz. See: Hirsch, Rev. Samuel.

Death & Funeral. 81-Resolutions of Praise on GP’s Death (Tenn. Legislature). The Tenn. legislature, among the first to pass a resolution on GP’s death, recorded: “Whereas, we have received, with deep regret, the melancholy tidings of the death of George Peabody, whose life has been distinguished by an ardent philanthropy, manifesting itself in numerous acts of the most disinterested and munificent charity, and endearing his name to the heart of his adopted as well as his native country, therefore, Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of TennesSee:, that, in the death of this distinguished American, we deplore the loss of a benefactor of our race, whose memory deserves to be held in perpetual and grateful reverence–not alone by those who have been the recipients of his charities–but all mankind who have been blessed by his example.” Ref.: Tenn. Acts of …TennesSee:…1869-1870, Resolution No. XV, p. 667.

Death & Funeral. 82-Victor Hugo’s Eulogy, France. Unusual eulogies for GP came from two French intellectuals. French writer Victor Marie Hugo (1802-85) wrote: “America has reason to be proud of this great citizen of the world and great brother of all men,–George Peabody. Peabody [was a man who suffered] in all sufferings, a…man who [felt] the cold, the hunger, and thirst of the poor. Having a place near Rothschild, he found means to change it for one near Vincent de Paul.” Hugo concluded: “May Peabody return to you, blessed by us! Our world envies yours…. The free American flag can never display enough stars above his coffin.” Ref.: London Times, Dec. 13, 1869, p. 6, c. 1-2; reprinted in Hanaford, pp. 240-242.

Death & Funeral. 83-Louis Blanc’s Eulogy, France. The second letter was from French political writer Louis Blanc (1811-82): “The death of…George Peabody…is a public calamity, in which the whole civilized world ought to share. I feel…bound…to mourn, for the illustrious American whose life was of such value to the most needy of his fellow-men.” Blanc continued: “It is but natural…that his mortal remains should be committed to…Westminster Abbey, to be sent…in a ship of war to his native land…. There should be for men of [his] stamp…homage better calculated to show how little, compared to them, are most kings, princes, noblemen, renowned diplomatists, [and] world-famed conquerors.” Blanc concluded: “The number of mourners…[at the Abbey], their silent sorrow, the tears shed by so many…of London, the readiness of the shopkeepers [in] closing their shops and lowering their blinds,–these were the homages…due one whose title in history will be…–the friend of the poor.” The London Times indicated that these eulogies may have come in response to funeral invitations from the Peabody, Mass., committee on funeral arrangements. Ref. Ibid.

GP Critics and Defenders

Death & Funeral. 84-Abolitionist Critic W.L. Garrison. Many praised while some criticized GP. Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison (1805-79) wrote in his NYC Independent
(Nov. 11, 1869) that he wished GP had more strongly opposed slavery: “We cannot disguise ourselves, in surveying his character, a certain unlovely coldness and selfishness which…prompted him eagerly to amass, and grudgingly to disburse his abundant means for many years. Nor can we pay any warm tribute to the patriotism of an American who, during the war against the rebellion, divided his meager sympathy equally between slavery and liberty.” See Civil War and GP.

Death & Funeral. 85-GP Defenders Weed and McIlvaine. Two prominent pro-Union leaders sprang to GP’s defense in print, citing instances showing him as a staunch Unionist. New York State political figure and newspaper editor Thurlow Weed (1797-1882) wrote a long defense published in the New York Times (Dec. 23, 1869) and other newspapers. Episcopal Bishop of Ohio Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873) publicly endorsed Weed’s defense. In 1861-62 both were Pres. Lincoln’s private emissaries sent (Nov. 1861) to keep Britain and France neutral in the U.S. Civil War. In London both had consulted GP, who put them in touch with British leaders. Weed’s and McIlvaine’s vindication was challenged by Charles Wilson Felt, a Mass.-born type set inventor who claimed to have talked to GP in London in 1861 and stated that he heard GP speak of separation. Felt concluded with: “It would have been better if Mr. Peabody had remained in the United States instead of coming to England to die. His purpose in doing so was a bid for notoriety.” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 86-Critic George Francis Train. On Dec. 27, 1869, George Francis Train (1829-1904), pro-Irish anti-British extremist, gave a speech in Boston attacking GP: “I regard the fact of George Peabody’s remains being brought over on a British ship of war the greatest insult ever offered to America. George Peabody was a secessionist. The Alabama Claims is still unsettled and American citizens are dying in British prisons.” Thus were charge and countercharge, praise and criticism, made about GP’s Civil War sympathies while British and U.S. officials outdid each other in extending him unprecedented funeral honors. Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 87-Awaiting Storm’s End. The Monarch steamed the few miles from Portsmouth to Spithead and anchored near the Plymouth. GP’s coffin was moved from the upper deck pavilion and placed in the mortuary chapel where marine sentries stood guard. Nephew George Peabody Russell, who would accompany GP’s remains across the Atlantic to the U.S. receiving port, was given cabin accommodations. The funeral ships were due to sail Dec. 13, 1869, but were detained by blowing gales during Dec. 12-20, 1869. Rumors that more U.S. ships and a French national ship would arrive as escort vessels proved false. Ref. (Detained by storms): Gray, pp. 116-137. London Times, Dec. 14, 1869, p. 10, c. 3, and Dec. 20, 1869, p. 12. Aberdeen Free Press (Aberdeen, Scotland), Dec. 17, 1869, p. 5, c. 2. Dundee Courier and Argus (Dundee, Scotland), Dec. 17, 1869, p. 3, c. 4. Ref. (False report of a French escort vessel): Paradise, p. 337. Hoyt, p. 150. U.S. Govt.-g, h, i.

Death & Funeral. 88-Queen Victoria on the Royal Yacht. Some excitement came at 1:00 P.M., Dec. 18, 1869, when the royal yacht Albert with Queen Victoria aboard passed Spithead to view the funeral ships. USS Plymouth saluted with 21 guns and raised the British ensign. For two weeks while the gales blew thousands of visitors boarded the imposing Monarch and passed silently by the coffin on its dais in the solemn mortuary room. Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 89-Delay and Wonder. Delay of the funeral ships by storms allowed time for wonder at GP’s funeral honors. The Scottish Inverness Courier editor asked: “Why so much honor shown to this man, a foreigner, by all England?” The editor answered with another question: “No doubt Mr. Peabody is deserving of all these honours…. But there can be no doubt that much of the honour done to Mr. Peabody is due to the fact that it is an American who has done all this. A countryman of our own could not expect to have his charities thus recognized.” The editor hoped that other rich men might emulate GP: “It may be hoped that the honours which have been heaped upon Mr. Peabody during his life, and since
Death, will have a stimulating effect upon other rich men to devote their wealth to the benefit of their fellow-creatures. Such honours have hardly ever been bestowed before except upon crowned heads….” Ref. Inverness Courier (Inverness, Scotland), Nov. 18, 1869, p. 5, c. 3.

Death & Funeral. 90-Delay and Wonder Cont’d. The Scottish Ayrshire Express criticized the expenditure in time and money: “The honour thus paid to his memory is of course well deserved, but still it does seem strange to employ two vessels of war to take the ’silent dust’ of the deceased across the Atlantic. If both vessels took over a hundred or a hundred and fifty emigrants each to lessen the burden of our poverty and misery here, this would be doing a good work far more in accordance with the ideas of the kindhearted man we have lost than is this extravagant employment of men and ships.” The Herts Advertiser and St. Albans Times credited GP’s example with inspiring another philanthropic gift: “Mr. Peabody’s noble example seems to be gaining strength…. M.M. Reicenheim, bankers at Berlin, have presented the Jewish community of that city with 250,000 thalers for the erection of an orphan asylum.” Ref. Ayrshire Express (Ayr, Scotland), Dec. 11, 1869, p. 4, c. 4-5. Herts Advertiser and St. Albans Times (St. Albans, England), Dec. 18, 1869, p. 2, c. 2.

House Debate on U.S. Navy Reception for GP’s Remains, Dec. 15, 1869

Death & Funeral. 91-U.S. House of Rep., Dec. 15, 1869. On Dec. 15, 1869, while the funeral ships awaited the storm’s end, U.S. Rep. Thomas Laurens Jones (1819-87, Democrat-Ky.) introduced U.S. House Resolution No. 96, which praised GP and asked Pres. U.S. Grant (1822-85) to order a U.S. Navy reception when GP’s remains entered the U.S. receiving port. The resolution was debated on Dec. 21, 1869, passed in the House, but amid charge and rebuttal that GP had been pro-Confederate and anti-Union. The resolution was passed in the Senate on Dec. 23, 1869, and signed into law by Pres. Grant. Ref. U.S. Govt.-g. Congressional Globe, 41st Congress, 2nd Session, Part I, December 6-February 1, 1869-1870, XC, p. 294. London Times, Dec. 16, 1869, p. 10, c. 1. Hanaford, p. 231. New York Herald, Dec. 22, 1869, p. 4, c. 3. New York Times, Dec. 22, 1869, p. 1, c. 4. Dundee Courier and Argus (Dundee, Scotland), Dec. 17, 1869, p. 3, c. 4. Hampshire Telegraph (Portsmouth, England) Dec. 22, 1869, p. 2, c. 5.

Death & Funeral. 92-U.S. House of Rep., Dec. 15, 1869, Cont’d. U.S. House Resolution No. 96 read: “Whereas, in the death of George Peabody…our country and the world have sustained [great] loss…. “And whereas the Queen of Great Britain, the authorities of London, and the Emperor of France have made extraordinary provision for the transfer of his remains to his native land; therefore, “It is resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America Congress, “That the President of the United States…[shall prepare to receive his remains]…in a manner commensurate with the…dignity of a great people.” News of the Congressional resolution read: “The President was authorized to order as many ships as were convenient to meet at sea the European convoy conducting George Peabody’s remains home.” Ref. Ibid.

Transatlantic Crossing

Death & Funeral. 93-Transatlantic Crossing, Dec. 21, 1869-Jan. 25, 1870. The storms subsided on Dec. 20, 1869. At 1:00 A.M., Dec. 21, 1869, HMS Monarch and USS Plymouth moved south from Spithead. Beyond the town of Ushant, France, gale winds and rain swirled the ships around so that they lost sight of each other. Madeira island off Portugal had previously been set as a rendezvous point. The funeral ships went south separately and met at Madeira (Dec. 30), went west separately to Bermuda, and joined up as they steamed north to New England. Ref. (Transatlantic crossing): Manchester Guardian (Manchester, England), Dec. 22, 1869, p. 5, c. 1. “Log of the Monarch,” Admiralty 53/9877, Public Record Office, London. Portsmouth Times and Naval Gazette (Portsea, England), Feb. 12, 1870, p. 4, c. 4. [Note: For artist Robert Dudley’s large oil on canvas painting, “HMS Monarch Transporting the Body of George Peabody,” acquired by the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., 1995, see American Neptune. Death and Funeral, GP’s. Robert Dudley. GP Bicentennial Celebration (Feb. 18, 1795-1995)]. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass. Persons named.

Death & Funeral. 94-Transatlantic Crossing, Dec. 21, 1869-Jan. 25, 1870 Cont’d. A Plymouth officer later explained why he was glad at separation: “Left Spithead 21st, and kept on the starboard quarter of the Monarch as long as we could, but on the 2nd day out, the wind freshening, we separated during the night, at which we were very pleased, for there was always some nonsense about going too fast or too slow, and no end of signals. I am sure the separation was a great relief to both ships. We had beautiful weather after crossing the Bay of Biscay. Christmas Day was as bright and lovely as the month of June….” Ref. (Plymouth officer): Hampshire Telegraph (Portsmouth, England), Jan. 8, 1870, p. 4, c. 5.

House Debate on U.S. Navy Reception, Dec. 21, 1869

Death & Funeral. 95-U.S. House of Rep. Debate, Dec. 21, 1869. On Dec. 21, 1869, the day the funeral ships left Spithead, U.S. Rep. Thomas Laurens Jones (D-Ky.) called for discussion of his U.S. House Resolution No. 96 requesting a U.S. Navy reception for GP’s remains. The debate, in brief: a-Rep. William Henry Kelso (1812-79, R-NY) rose as a point of order to say that the resolution should go to the Appropriation Committee. b-House Speaker James Gillespie Blaine (1830-93, R-Me.) reminded Kelso that unanimous consent was given Dec. 15 for House discussion. Refs. at end of Congressional debate.

Death & Funeral. 96-U.S. House of Rep. Debate, Dec. 21, 1869 Cont’d. c-Rep. Benjamin Franklin Butler (1818-93, R-Mass.) said he understood that GP’s remains would arrive before U.S. naval ships could meet the funeral ship. e-Jones (D-Ky.) said GP’s remains will not arrive for a week; Pres. Grant can yet fulfill this resolution. f-Butler (R-Mass.) did not think a U.S. naval ship could be readied in a week. g-If not, Jones (D-Ky.) said, then Pres. Grant can still order ships that are ready. Jones gave a passionate tribute to GP as the greatest philanthropist of this age and asked that the resolution be considered apart from party rancor. h-Rep. Robert Cumming Schenck (1809-90, R-Ohio) moved to adjourn to allow Congress to consider if it should go to this expense at all. i-Rep. Daniel Wolsey Voorhees (1827-97, D-Ind.) expressed his regret, in view of GP’s vast gifts to U.S. education and science, that a move to adjourn was made. j-Rep. Schenck defended his move to adjourn and, amid scattered applause, challenged GP’s patriotism during the Civil War. k-Rep. Jones expressed shame that his proposal to honor GP had evoked rancorous debate. He mentioned withdrawing it.

Death & Funeral. 97-U.S. House of Rep. Debate, Dec. 21, 1869 Cont’d. l-But the House refused to adjourn. With Rep. Schenck still objecting, the House passed the resolution, which went to the Senate on Dec. 23, was examined and passed, and was signed into law by Pres. Grant on Jan. 10, 1870. A New York Tribune editorial (Dec. 22, 1869, p. 6, c. 2) regretted that GP’s Union loyalty had been questioned again in the House, especially after Thurlow Weed’s public vindication of GP as aiding Pres. Lincoln’s emissaries (Weed and others) sent to London in Nov. 1861 to keep England and France neutral in the Civil War. GP’s funeral researcher A.H. Welch explained the anti-GP bitterness in the congressional debate: “…many northerners were not sympathetic toward Peabody for remaining in England during the Civil War, and for his financial support to southern education after the war.” Ref Welch, p. 127.

Death & Funeral. 98-U.S. House of Rep. Debate, Dec. 21, 1869 Cont’d. Ref. U.S. Govt. , op. cit., pp. 294-295. U.S. Govt.-e, Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1949 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1950), p. 1389 on Rep. Thomas Laurens Jones; p. 1400 on Rep. William Henry Kelso; pp. 926-927 on Benjamin Franklin Butler; p. 1886 on Rep. Thomas Swann; p. 1782 on Rep. Robert Cumming Schenck; pp. 1958-1959 on Rep. Daniel Wolsey Voorhees. London Times, Dec. 23, 1869, p. 5, c. 1. New York Tribune, Dec. 22, 1869, p. 3, c. 6. New York Herald, Dec. 22, 1869, p. 4, c. 3. Anglo-American Times (London), Jan. 8, 1870, p. 8, c. 2. U.S. Govt.-h, Journal of the United States House of Representatives, 41st Congress, 2nd Session, 1869-1870, pp. 66, 100, 101, 103, 104, 114; index, p. 1524. U.S. Govt.-i, Journal of the United States Senate, 41st Congress, 2nd Session, 1869-1870, pp. 67, 68, 70, 85; index, p. 1270. New York Tribune, Dec. 22, 1869, p. 6, c. 2. See Persons named.

HMS Monarch’s Log

Death & Funeral. 99-HMS Monarch’s Log. The USS Plymouth made good time at 14 knots an hour and anchored at Funchall Bay, Madeira, Portugal, several days before HMS Monarch arrived. Mindful of the warship’s cargo and mission, the Monarch’s captain proceeded cautiously on this its first transoceanic voyage. The Monarch’s log read: “Sat., Dec. 25, 1869: Christmas Day. Sighted English brigantine and exchanged colours. Sun., Dec. 26: Passed the brigantine Anne. Tues., Dec. 28: Exchanged colours with British barque Coransius. Wed., Dec. 29: Steering for Madeira.” Ref. “Log of the Monarch,” Admiralty 53/9877, Public Record Office, London. Anglo-American Times (London), Jan. 8, 1870, p. 10, c. 2. New York Herald, Jan. 17, 1870, p. 5, c. 1.

Death & Funeral. 100-HMS Monarch’s Log Cont’d.: “Thurs., Dec. 30: Standing along north side of Madeira. Two ships visible. Donegal, S.W. 1 mile. Plymouth, S.W. 1 1/2 miles. Fri., Dec. 31: Madeira. At single anchor in Funchall Bay. 11:15 P.M. Completed coaling. Received 200 tons. Sat., Jan. 1, 1870: New Year’s Day. Madeira. Sun., Jan. 2: 1:40 P.M. HMS Donegal sails. 8 P.M. Weighed anchor and proceeded under steam. Plymouth in company.” The Monarch moved slowly from Madeira, using steam sparingly to save coal. Reaching Bermuda slightly in advance of the Monarch, the Plymouth took on provisions and dispatches. Ref. Ibid.

London Street Named for GP?

Death & Funeral. 101-London Sportsman: London Street Named After GP? While the funeral ships crossed the Atlantic, there was talk of naming a newly opened London street after GP. When the Metropolitan Board of Works chose another name, the London Sportsman objected: “It was noted a short time since that the new street leading from the Mansion House to Blackfriar’s Bridge should be called Peabody Street, in remembrance of the good man who has done so much for the poor of the metropolis. The proposal was a very reasonable one, for, if there is any honour at all in having an important thoroughfare named after one, the munificent American certainly deserved it; and, if there is not there was no harm in selecting a title that was quite as good as any other.” Ref. London Sportsman, Dec. 25, 1869, p. 4, c. 1.

Death & Funeral. 102-London Sportsman Cont’d.: “The Board have, however, chosen to call the street Queen Victoria Street, as if there were not already sufficient thoroughfares so called in the metropolis to show that we are the most loyal people in the world. It is evident that benevolence is not a recommendation for the favours which they have to distribute, and it is well that Mr. Peabody at least does not require his name stuck up at a street corner to secure the friendly remembrance of the people of London.” Ref. Ibid.

Which U.S. Receiving Port?

Death & Funeral. 103-Which Port? The public did not know at which U.S. port the funeral ships would anchor. U.S. Navy Secty. George Maxwell Robeson (1829-97) reportedly ordered NYC and Boston port admirals to confer with local authorities in case the landing was made in either city. Spirited rivalry arose between Boston and Portland, Me., and to some degree with NYC. GP had many merchant and banker friends in both Boston and NYC. He had been offered public honors in both cities on his last three U.S. visits. Boston’s commerce, wealth, location, and antiquity made its citizens think of themselves as the center of New England society and fashion. New Yorkers had similar views. Because of its deeper harbor the British Admiralty on Dec. 14, 1869, chose Portland, Me. (on May 28, 1857, almost 13 years earlier, GP had visited the Thomas Shaw family in Portland, Me.). Ref. Mortuary Honors, pp. 3-4.

Death & Funeral. 104-Boston Chagrined. When it was learned that Portland would be the chosen port, Bostonians, chagrined and disappointed, were sure Portlanders would make a muddle of receiving GP’s remains. A contemporary news account described the petty Boston-Portland jealousy as follows: “When the mighty men of Boston knew that England’s…”Monarch” was bringing the body of the great philanthropist to his last resting place, they called a meeting and decided with what fitting honors and glories it would be received…, arranged a programme, and said, ‘thus shall it be done to the man whom Boston delighteth to honor’; but, when the telegraph flashed the astounding news that little Portland was to be the port…all was changed in the minds of the mighty men…. Fearing that the Portlanders…would blunder…they wrote…to Mr. George Peabody Russell…that nothing could be in worse taste…than to have any other funeral ceremonies than…in Peabody….” Ref. London Times, Dec. 14, 1869, p. 4, c. 2.

Approaching Portland, Me.

Death & Funeral. 105-Approaching Portland, Me. On Jan. 23, 1870, a cold and foggy Sunday morning, the Plymouth in advance of the Monarch, was 60 miles southeast of Montauk Point, the eastern extension of Long Island, N.Y. Plymouth seamen hailed the passing steamer, Hunter, coming from Providence, R.I., bound for Philadelphia, and asked by signals for the bearing of Block Island, off R.I. The Hunter’s captain, not comprehending and not knowing of the Plymouth’s errand, steamed on without answer until it came upon the Monarch. The sight of the formidable gray-painted funeral ship with muted turret guns quite stopped the Hunter. The Hunter’s captain at last understood and signaled clear directions. A false report later circulated that the Hunter had been disrespectful, a report the Monarch’s Capt. James Edmund Commerell took pains to deny in print for he knew he was on a unique mission of goodwill. Ref. “In Memoriam, Newspaper Notices of the Death of George Peabody” (New York: 1870), collected by George Harmon Peabody and presented by Charles Breckinridge Peabody (GP’s nephews) to the PIB.

Death & Funeral. 106-Approaching Portland, Me. Cont’d. Tuesday morning, Jan. 25, 1870, broke clear and bright. The storm of the last two day left its glittering coat of ice on the Monarch and the Plymouth. At dusk the two ships approached the New England coastline. Thirty miles off Portland, Me., the Plymouth boomed her cannon as a signal of their arrival and of the need for a pilot to guide their docking. GP’s remains were near his native land. The long voyage home had almost ended. Ref. Ibid.

Portland Reception Plans

Death & Funeral. 107-Portland Reception Plans, Jan. 25-Feb. 1, 1870. On Jan. 25, 1870, in NYC on his way to Boston and then Peabody, Mass., for GP’s final burial, Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine wrote to a fellow clergyman about the Portland reception. He also mentioned that the unprecedented funeral was a tribute to philanthropy as represented by GP’s example: “A fleet of Government ships under the command of the Admiral of our Navy [D.G. Farragut], has gone out to meet the Monarch, and convey her into Portland. A military escort has been ordered to accompany the body from the port to Danvers. Committees of various State Legislatures, and City Corporations, will be at the funeral, and in all respects very great honours, corresponding with those so handsomely paid in England, will be rendered to Philanthropy in the example of Mr. Peabody.” Ref. Charles Pettit McIlvaine, NYC, to Rev. William Carus, Jan. 25, 1870, quoted in William Carus, ed., pp. 299-300. See Persons named.

Death & Funeral. 108-Portland Reception Plans Cont’d. Adm. David Glasgow Farragut was placed in charge of the naval reception at Portland. He acknowledged his orders to the U.S. Navy Secty. George M. Robeson: “I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 14th inst. in which you…tender me the management of the Naval part of the obsequies in honor of the late Mr. Peabody.” In 1867, while Pres. Andrew Johnson faced impeachment, his political adviser suggested a cabinet reshuffle to save him. Farragut, one of the 16 original PEF trustees, was suggested as U.S. Navy Secty. and GP as U.S. Treasurer. But loyalty to his original cabinet kept Pres. Johnson from this course. Ref. (Farragut in charge): Adm. D.G. Farragut, NYC, to U.S. Navy Secty. George M. Robeson, Washington, D.C., January 15, 1870, “Admirals and Commodores’ Letters, Jan.-June 1870,” Naval Records, National Archives Ms. For Farragut and GP in a reconstituted Pres. Andrew Johnson cabinet, see Congressional Gold Medal and Resolutions of Praise to GP. Andrew, John Albion.

Death & Funeral. 109-Adm. David Glasgow Farragut. Also, the Portland reception was Farragut’s last official duty. He was age 68, then ill with pneumonia, and died seven months later (Aug. 14, 1870). Ref. New York Times, Feb. 27, 1870, p. 3. Spears, p. 370.

Death & Funeral. 110-Maine Legislative Plans. On Dec. 18, 1869, before the Monarch’s arrival on Jan. 25, 1870, Maine officials published the following preliminary plans to receive GP’s remains: “Two state military companies will act as escort and guard of honor. Flags on state buildings will be lowered to half-mast throughout the funeral fleet’s presence. Funeral salutes will be fired from the arsenal guns at Portland and Fort Preble. The executive council and heads of departments are invited to participate.” Ref. (Dec. 18, 1869, plans): State of Maine General Order No. 6, Dec. 18, 1869, quoted in Boston Daily Advertiser, Dec. 23, 1869, p. 2, c. 3. Hampshire Telegraph (Portsmouth, England), Jan. 8, 1870, p. 4, c. 3. Maine, State of. Special Order No. 13, dated Dec. 21, 1869, in Maine Adjutant General, p. 39.

Maine Legislative Wrangling

Death & Funeral. 111-Maine Legislative Wrangling. But wrangling arose on Jan. 6, 1870, on a resolution introduced in the Maine House of Representatives requiring the entire legislature, governor, state council, and department heads to attend in a body. This resolution for en masse attendance was argued, tabled (Jan. 6), argued again, and tabled again (Jan. 7). A Joint Select Committee reported adversely on the resolution, saying that funeral plans already taken were ample (Jan. 17). The resolution was again considered and tabled (Jan. 19). A Maine Senate paper ordered the legislature to adjourn the day the funeral fleet landed (Jan. 22). When that Senate order reached the House, some members moved for its indefinite postponement. But a House vote refused indefinite postponement (Jan. 25). Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 112-Maine Legislative Wrangling Cont’d. Finally, a House and Senate reconciliation committee resolved the dispute: the legislature would adjourn for attendance at the ceremony (Jan. 26-28). It must be said in justice that circumstances not of its own choosing had made the city of Portland and the state of Maine host for an unusual naval reception. Despite debate, delays, and some harsh words, state officials did attend the obsequies in a body. Press reports of the Portland reception ceremonies were laudatory. And Maine bore the inevitable reception costs. Ref. (Attendance en masse?): Maine-a, pp. 13, 41, 63, 78, 85, 107, 112, 116, 124-125, 132. Maine-b, pp. 50, 81, 91, 102, 109, 117, 122, 124-125, 132, 137.

Death & Funeral. 113-Behind the Maine Dispute. A Boston Times article gave one possible answer for the wrangling in the Maine legislature: “It may explain many things concerning the proceedings in the [Maine] Legislature and elsewhere, when it is known that Mr. Peabody, although applied to, refused to subscribe to the Portland fund after the great fire of July 4, 1866. At least it is whispered that this fact had no little influence in disturbing harmonious action concerning the funeral.” Ref. (Portland fire): Boston Times, Jan. 30, 1870, p. 2, c. 1.

Death & Funeral. 114-Behind the Maine Dispute Cont’d. Another deeper rooted reason for the dispute was political revenge. Some Maine legislators still believed that GP had been pro-Confederate and anti-Union. This charge had been publicly refuted by N.Y. state newspaper owner and Republican Party leader Thurlow Weed and Ohio Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine. Both were Pres. Lincoln’s emissaries sent to London in Nov. 1861 to keep England and France neutral in the U.S. Civil War. Both published accounts showing how GP had helped them contact British political leaders in Nov. 1861. Both knew GP intimately, talked with him in London, and confirmed his Union loyalty. Still, the charge against GP persisted. Ref. New York Journal of Commerce, Jan. 10, 1870, in PIB news clip album, “In Memoriam, Newspaper Notices of the Death of George Peabody” (New York, 1870), collected by George Harmon Peabody and presented by Charles Breckinridge Peabody (GP’s nephews) to the PIB.

Arrival, Portland Harbor

Death & Funeral. 115-Awaiting HMS Monarch at Portland, Me. Adm. Farragut arrived in Portland Jan. 22 with his wife and secretary, was met by the Portland funeral committee, and was escorted to the Falmouth Hotel to rest. Mrs. Farragut visited her son, Lt. Farragut, Third U.S. Artillery, at nearby Fort Preble. Adm. Farragut was informed that day that U.S. monitors Miantonomoh and Terror had left Boston to escort HMS Monarch into Portland harbor. That evening Farragut visited Portland City Hall to inspect funeral decorations. Portland, full of young military men and thousands of curious visitors, was in a gay mood. Not knowing when the Monarch would arrive, time hung heavy. Someone organized a ball for the military in Fluento Hall. At 10:30 P.M., Jan. 25, at the height of the merrymaking a messenger from Adm. Farragut’s headquarters at Falmouth Hotel burst in to announce, “The Monarch has arrived.” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 116-HMS Monarch at Portland, Me., Jan. 25, 1870. Rain and hail kept the Monarch outside Portland until harbor pilot Capt. Willard brought her to Portland’s outer harbor. USS Plymouth’s Capt. William E. Macomb came ashore that night, reported to Adm. Farragut at the Hotel Falmouth, met with city and state officials, and described the transatlantic voyage. On Jan. 26, 1870, 10:30 A.M., the Plymouth’s guns saluted the receiving fleet of U.S. monitors. Cannons were fired from nearby Fort Preble. Crowds watched from shore. HMS Monarch’s Capt. John E. Commerell called on Adm. Farragut at the Falmouth Hotel. Commerell said that it was the desire of Her Majesty’s government to have the remains stay on board for two days as a final mark of respect (Jan. 27-28, 1870). Farragut consulted with Maine Gov. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (1828-1914), the Portland authorities, and various funeral committees. It was decided that the remains would not be landed until Sat., Jan. 29, 1870. See Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence.

Last Monarch Honors

Death & Funeral. 117-Last Monarch Honors, Jan. 27-28, 1870. Adm. Farragut sent dispatches on Portland reception developments to U.S. Navy Secty. George M. Robeson (Jan. 22 and 26, 1870): a-HMS Monarch and USS Plymouth had arrived at Portland Jan. 25, were welcomed as directed by U.S. monitors Miantonomah and Terror, and the revenue cutter Mahoning. b-Monarch’s Capt. John E. Commerell informed Adm. Farragut at the Falmouth Hotel (Jan. 26) of his government’s wish that as a final mark of respect, GP’s coffin remain on public view aboard for two days, Jan. 27-28. c-This wish was granted so that GP’s coffin would be transferred on Jan. 29 from the Monarch to Portland City Hall. Ref. Adm. David Glasgow Farragut to U.S. Navy Secty. George M. Robeson, Jan. 22 and 26, 1870, “Admirals and Commodores’ Letters January-June 1870,” Naval Records, National Archives Ms.

Death & Funeral. 118-Last Monarch Honors, Jan. 27-28, 1870, Cont’d. Farragut wrote U.S. Navy Secty. George M. Robeson (Jan. 22 and 26, 1870): “I have the honor to report the arrival of the Monarch and Plymouth, with the remains of the late Mr. Peabody, on the evening of the 25th inst. The night was tempestuous but the pilot succeeded in bringing them into the outer harbor. “On the following morning your orders were carried out by the Monitors going out and escorting them in accordance to the programme laid down by myself. “After consulting with the Governor of the State, the authorities of Portland and the Trustees, it was arranged that the body will not be landed until Saturday [Jan. 29] at which time I shall see that it is done with all the solemnity I can command. I have retained a tug (Leyden) from Boston and required an additional one from Portsmouth (Port Fire)…. “I shall visit the Monarch tomorrow accompanied by the State and City authorities.” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 119-Last Monarch Honors, Jan. 27-28, 1870, Cont’d. On Thursday and Friday, Jan. 27-28, honor sentinels stood guard over GP’s coffin on the Monarch. Thousands of visitors lined Portland harbor to gaze at the assembled naval armada. Tender craft, tugs, and small vessels carried all who wished to view the coffin in the mortuary chapel aboard the Monarch. In Annapolis, Md., a legislative committee drafted resolutions on the death of GP, who had lived in Baltimore as a young merchant for 22 years (1815-37). The resolutions read in part: “…his name will stand preeminent in history…generations yet unborn will learn to venerate his memory….” Md. sent two senators and two representatives to attend the ceremonies at Portland and the funeral at Peabody, Mass. Ref. Md., State of-e, pp. 23, 154-156.

Death & Funeral. 120-Winthrop from Boston; Relatives from Ohio. Among those in Portland for the receiving ceremonies were Robert Charles Winthrop, who would deliver GP’s eulogy on Feb. 8 in Peabody, Mass., and a Boston citizens’ committee. They had left Boston on Jan. 26. Also traveling east for the final service and burial in Peabody, Mass., were Jeremiah Dodge Peabody (1805-77), only surviving of the four Peabody brothers, and nieces and nephews from Zanesville, Ohio. Ref. (Winthrop from Boston; relatives from Ohio): New York Times, Jan. 27, 1870, p. 1, c. 5-7.

Transfer: Monarch to Portland City Hall

Death & Funeral. 121-From Monarch to Portland City Hall, Jan. 29, 1870. After two last days’ lying in state aboard the Monarch, GP’s remains were transferred from the Monarch to Portland City Hall Saturday morning, Jan. 29, 1870. At 10:45 A.M., with the funeral fleet a half mile out of Portland harbor, 12 Monarch seamen raised the coffin from its dais in the mortuary chapel, placed it on a wheeled bier and brought it to the main deck by means of an inclined plane. With marines drawn to attention, the drummer sounded a muted roll and the ship’s band played the somber “Death March” from Saul. Officers and crew bared their heads, the boatswain’s whistle piped shrilly, the coffin was made fast with a roped rig, and was swung over the side of the Monarch to the Leyden. Ref. Mortuary Honors, pp. 12-24.

Death & Funeral. 122-From Monarch to Portland City Hall, Jan. 29, 1870 Cont’d. The steam tug Iris pulled the Leyden, which bore the body, followed by a double line of 22 small craft. The armada made a striking naval display as it covered the half mile from the outer harbor to Portland’s Eastern Wharf. Mournful music wafted across the water and flashing gunfire echoed from Fort Preble. Scarlet uniforms drew the eye in ranked array and rows of oars were held aloft like wooden soldiers. The steam tug Iris approached the wharf, cast off her lines, and slipped out of the way. The two lines of boats closed ranks bow to stern along the Eastern Wharf. Adm. Farragut and his staff, British marines, and the Monarch’s officers stepped ashore. Twelve British sailors lifted the coffin from the Leyden, marched in slow step bearing the coffin on their shoulders, and moved in solemnity to the end of the wharf. U.S sailors from the Mahoning relieved the 12 British pallbearers and placed the coffin in a waiting hearse. Ref. Ibid.

Handing Over GP’s Remains

Death & Funeral. 123-Capt. Commerell To Maine Gov. Chamberlain, Jan. 29, 1870. HMS Monarch’s Capt. Commerell saluted Maine Gov. Chamberlain and said (in part): “The remains of this good man were placed in my charge by Mr. Motley, Minister of the United States to the Court of St. James. The body was conveyed from the country of his adoption to the land of his birth. Governor Chamberlain, into your hands I now deliver my sacred trust. The sufferance [workman], the widow and the orphan on both sides of the Atlantic, both North and South, will henceforth bless [his] name….” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 124-Maine Gov. Chamberlain’s Reply, Jan. 29, 1870. Gov. Chamberlain replied (in part): “I receive this sacred trust and express the appreciation of the American people for the tender honors with which the Queen of England restored to its native land this precious dust. England honored this man while he lived. When he ceased, she laid him with her Kings. You return without him but you bear a nation’s gratitude, reverence, and love.” The funeral procession then moved slowly from the wharf to Portland City Hall where the coffin was placed on a catafalque and an honor guard was posted around it. Through Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 29-30, the remains lay in state behind closed doors. Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 125-Portland City Hall. On Monday, Jan. 31, the Portland City Hall auditorium was opened to a constant stream of visitors. This, the second largest city hall auditorium in the U.S., had been elaborately prepared by marine artist Harrison Bird Brown (1831-1915). Brown had worked for two weeks to convert the auditorium into a solemn and striking mausoleum. The auditorium, measuring 130 feet by 80 feet by 40 feet, required 7,000 yards of black alpaca and broadcloth to cover the ceiling. In all he used 30,000 yards of cloth, draped with velvet, containing silver stars, white rosettes, and heavy tassels. Nodding plumes brightened the ominous black. At the far end of the interior stood the superb catafalque on which the GP coffin rested. See Harrison Bird Brown. Ref. (Portland City Hall): Eastern Argus (Portland, Me.), Jan. 15, 1870, p. 3, c. 2. Mortuary Honors, pp. 4-7, 12-34. New York Times, Feb. 2, 1870, p. 5, c. 1.

Death & Funeral. 126-Portland City Hall Cont’d. The constant stream of visitors passed quietly by this regally somber structure. On either side of the catafalque were the national symbols of England and the U.S. Silver escutcheons studded the catafalque and bore mottoes. One read: “Kind hearts are more than coronets.” Another: “But the greatest of these is Charity”; and still another: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven.” Rare flowers specially procured and guarded against the cold filled silver vases three feet high. Their fragrance wafted through the elaborately and somberly draped auditorium. Ref. Ibid.

Portland Lawyer’s Diary Entry on GP’s Funeral

Death & Funeral. 127-William Willis’s Diary. Prominent Portland, Me., lawyer, state senator, Portland, Me., mayor (1857), civic leader, historian, and businessman William Willis (1794-1870) wrote of the Portland reception of GP’s remains in four pages of his diary (the diary in four volumes, covers Oct. 14, 1844 to Feb. 13, 1870). William Willis, then age 76, a year older than the deceased GP, was a pallbearer of GP’s coffin on Feb. 1, 1870, the day the remains left Portland by train for Peabody, Mass. Ref. Diary of William Willis, Vol. 4 (March 1, 1865 to Feb. 13, 1870), pp. 215-217, Portland Room, Portland, Me., Public Library.

Death & Funeral. 128-Willis’s Diary, Cont’d. “Saturday Jan 15, 1870: …The City is making elaborate preparations for the reception of the body of Mr. Peabody. The City Hall is simply & beautifully draped with a catafalque to receive the corpse & the State furnishes a funeral car specially constructed for the occasion.…” “Tuesday Jan 18, 1870: …The draping & decorations of the City Hall is said to be in a very high & chaste style of art, under the supervision of H. B. Brown [Portland, Me., marine artist Harrison Bird Brown, 1831-1915]….” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 129-Willis’s Diary, Cont’d. “Wednesday Jan 19,1870: …All the people are awaiting the arrival of the Peabody fleet, which is hourly expected. Admiral Farragut is ordered here by government to do the honors for the Amer. fleet. The City Hall is most elaborately and beautifully decorated; The funeral car is in fine style of drapery & finish; but people are asking what all this parade is for. Mr. Peabody did nothing for Portland after our great fire; he declined doing any thing altho’ then in the country. These questions whispered now will have a hoarser voice by & by….” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 130-Willis’s Diary, Cont’d. “Saturday Jan 22, 1870:…The American fleet was expected in port this evening…. “Sunday Jan 23, 1870:… The American fleet arrived last even’g, the Miantonomah, Terror [two U.S. monitors, italics added] & 2 sp.[ecial?] tugs. Admiral Farragut & wife arrived yesterday P. M.” “Monday Jan 24, 1870: … The curiosity people are gathering here for the Peabody ceremony. It is said that J? B. Brown [?marine artist Harrison Bird Brown] is to give a brilliant reception this week.” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 131-Willis’s Diary, Cont’d. “Wednesday Jan 26,1870: …The English ship of war Monarch & Plymouth arrived in our harbor last even’g at 7 o’cl. with the body of Mr. Peabody. They were escorted this morning by the Amer. ships Miantonomah & Terror to their anchorage within port ? Great numbers of persons were on the hills & wharves to see their movements. The arrangement is that the body remains 2 days on board the Monarch in State where it will receive visitors. After that it is taken under State escort headed by the Gov. & State to the City Hall where it will remain two more days on exhibition when it will be taken under a large escort by the relatives & friends to its place of sepulchre? at Peabody where final & elaborate services will be rendered.” [italics for ships names added]. Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 132-Willis’s Diary, Cont’d. “Thursday Jan 27, 1870: …Visitors numerous to the fleet to see the body of Peabody in State on board of the Monarch. Have not been out.” “Friday Jan 28, 1870: …Have been appointed one of the Pall bearers for the Peabody funeral Feb. 1.” “Saturday Jan 29, 1870: … Mr. Peabody’s remains were formally taken about 11 o’clock from the Monarch & conveyed under a marine & State military procession to the City Hall, where they will be until Tuesday fore noon when they will be moved with great State under a large military & civil escort to the North Station to be transported to Peabody for final interment.” …. [Italics for ship’s name added]. Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 133-Willis’s Diary, Cont’d. “Tuesday Feb 1, 1870: A brisk snow storm this morning continued till 11 o’clock. Notwithstanding this the funeral service for Mr. Peabody went in admirable taste & order, attended by the English & American officers and a numerous multitude of persons from abroad of distinction & very large collection of persons in the streets. I went out for the first [time] for near a fortnight, as one of the pall bearers. The devotional services were performed by Bishop Neely, attended by Mr. [Rev. J.J.] Harrison, Chaplain of the Monarch & Mr. Hayes, Bishop’s assist. 5? Comp[anies] of U.S. troops were out in good style & 2 [?battalions of] militia. There was no jar, no confusion, but every [thing] went on in a most satisfactory manner….” [Italics for ship’s name added. Rev. John Jacob Harrison, 1822-88, was a Royal Navy chaplain]. Ref. Ibid. See Harrison, John Jacob. Willis, William.

GP’s British Property in Court

Death & Funeral. 134-GP’s British Property in Court. While GP’s remains lay in state in Portland City Hall, news reached the U.S. in late Jan. 1870 about land GP owned at Stockwell near London. GP’s British property was the subject of a British court inquiry, the gist of which follows. GP’s last will left ƒ200,000 ($1,000,000) to the Peabody Donation Fund, which built apartments for London’s working poor. Part of this gift was GP’s real estate at Stockwell, south of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway. Opportunity to buy the land (13 acres, one rod, and 14 perches) came in 1866. GP paid ƒ15,622 ($78,110 ) for it and included it as part of his gift to the Peabody Donation trust. Ref. “George Peabody Escheat Papers, 1869-1870,” Treasurer-Solicitor’s Office, London.

Death & Funeral. 135-GP’s British Property in Court Cont’d. Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson, long-time business friend and Peabody Donation Fund trustee, and others, told GP at the time that because he was not a British subject, he could not legally buy the land, obtain title to it, own it, or dispose of it. An arrangement was made whereby Sir Curtis Lampson, Vt.-born but who had become a naturalized British subject, bought the land in his name using GP’s money. The property in theory was GP’s and he gave it to the Peabody Donation Fund. Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 136-GP’s British Property in Court Cont’d. But British law held that on the death of a foreigner property held by that foreigner must be escheated (returned) to the Crown. This now happened. But it was understood from the first that after the facts were legally determined, the Crown would turn over the property to the trustees. Because GP at death had been cast as a hero and because British mortmain law (death gifts of land or property) was not generally known in the U.S., some U.S. newspapers were critical of this British seizure of GP’s property. Ref. Ibid. “In Memoriam, Newspaper Notices of the Death of George Peabody” (New York, 1870), collected by George Harmon Peabody and presented by Charles Breckinridge Peabody (GP’s nephews) to the PIB.

Death & Funeral. 137-GP’s British Property in Court Cont’d. Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson’s sworn statement in court easily settled the matter: “I knew the late Mr Peabody intimately from the year 1837 until his death…. He was never naturalized in England and had no permanent abode here. He lived at a hotel or lodgings or with friends, sometimes in England, sometimes in America but never had any settled establishment. He declined to accept an English title or to be naturalized….” Some readers of Lampson’s statement felt a touch of sadness in Lampson statement. Ref. Ibid. New York Times, Jan. 25, 1870, p. 5, c. 3-4. Zanesville Daily Courier (Zanesville, Ohio), Jan. 28, 1870, p. 2, c. 4.

Death & Funeral. 138-GP’s British Property in Court Cont’d. The court found that GP was an alien who had purchased the land under arrangement with Sir Curtis Lampson, had given the land to the Peabody Donation Fund and, as the property was escheated to the Crown, by royal prerogative that property was turned over to the trustees. Thus the matter ended, except for the touching and sad light it shed on GP as a bachelor-banker who lived alone and somewhat apart. Ref. Ibid. Lancet, Vol. 1 (Jan. 22, 1870), p. 134. New York Tribune, Jan. 20, 1870, p. 4, c. 5. European Mail (London), Jan. 23, 1870.

Alabama Claims Again

Death & Funeral. 139-Alabama Claims Again. Public interest, sympathy, and admiration during GP’s last illness, death, and funeral softened but did not solve Alabama Claims differences. The Paul Mall Gazetteeditorialized: “The peace between America and England does not depend on the memory of George Peabody’s benevolence. It depends on the behavior of both nations. If one wronged the other, respect for George Peabody would not stop the injured country from asserting its rights.” Ref. (Pall Mall Gazette): quoted in Salem Gazette (Salem, Mass.), Dec. 7, 1869.

Death & Funeral. 140-Alabama Claims Again Cont’d. GP’s death and funeral provided a sympathetic, emotional tie, reduced conflict, and made negotiation preferable, as stated in the Portsmouth Times and Naval Gazette: “As to the ‘Alabama question’ however, it seems as far from [a] satisfactory settlement as ever…. Postponement is, nevertheless, decidedly preferable to open rupture, and while the body of the lamented George Peabody…is being borne with almost Imperial honours across the ocean to American shores, a message of peace as it were between his two Fatherlands, may not all parties and factions for once forget minor differences, and united in the assertion, as well as the sentiment, that with the native country of that good citizen of the United States and great benefactor of the poor of the United Kingdom we in England shall not readily quarrel.” Ref. Portsmouth Times and Naval Gazette (Portsea, England), Dec. 25, 1869, p. 4, c. 2. See Death & Funeral. 189-Final Thought (below).

GP Statue Rumors

Death & Funeral. 141-GP Statue in Rome? News report of a GP statue in Rome proved false. The rumor probably arose from GP’s visit to Rome in Feb. 1868, his audience with the Pope, and his gift of $19,300 to San Spirito Hospital, a Vatican charitable hospital. GP was in Rome mainly for sittings in U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story’s (1819-95) Rome studio for the GP seated statue Story was preparing for placement on Threadneedle St., near the Royal Exchange (unveiled July 23, 1869, by the Prince of Wales). GP and his philanthropic advisor Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) were introduced to Pope Pius IX (Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, 1792-1878, Pope during 1846-78) about Feb. 24 or 25, 1868, by former U.S. Legation in Rome Secty. James Clinton Hooker. For GP’s Feb. 1868 Rome visit and audience with the Pope, see Corcoran, William Wilson.

Death & Funeral. 142-GP Statue in Rome? Cont’d. Leaving the Pope, James Clinton Hooker introduced GP and Winthrop to Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli (1806-76), who told them of the Vatican’s charitable hospital of San Spirito in Rome. That night GP sent the cardinal his gift of $19,300. No statue of GP materialized in Rome. GP and Winthrop subsequently visited Nice, France, and Paris, France, where both were received at the court of Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, 1808-73) and Empress Eugénie (1826-1920). See Eustis, Louise Morris (née Corcoran). Eustis, George. Persons mentioned. Rome, Italy.

Death & Funeral. 143-GP Statue in NYC? A move for a GP statue in NYC began on Saturday, Nov. 20, 1869. Some NYC merchants and bankers met in the N.Y. Stock Exchange, proposed that an association be formed and funds collected for a GP statue in NYC’s Central Park. The meeting was short lived after a few opponents spoke strongly against the proposal and walked out. Another attempt was made on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 1869, by banker J.H. Bloodgood at 22 William St., NYC. An association was formed, funds were raised, a subscription list was published. But this effort also failed; the main reason later given was that the mounting international honors offended patriotic believers in republican simplicity. No GP statue materialized in NYC. Ref. New York Herald, Nov. 24, 1869, p. 3, c. 4. Dundee Courier and Argus (Dundee, Scotland), Dec. 14, 1869, p. 3, c. 3. Morning Herald (London), Dec. 9, 1869, p. 6, c. 2. London Times, Dec. 9, 1869, p. 4, c. 2.

Funeral Train to Peabody, Mass.

Death & Funeral. 144-City Hall Through Portland Streets, Feb. 1, 1870. Snow fell the morning of Feb. 1, 1870, the day of transfer from Portland City Hall to the funeral train. At City Hall prayers for the dead were read from the Episcopal Church ritual. Three hundred voices sang choruses from the Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem. GP’s coffin was borne out of City Hall and placed on a funeral hearse which traversed Congress, Pearl, Middle, State, Danforth, and Commercial Streets, Portland. About noon while snow still fell, 12 Plymouth sailors placed the coffin aboard Eastern Railroad funeral train’s car No. 77. Ref. New York Times, Feb. 2, 1870, p. 5, c. 2 and Feb. 9, 1870, p. 1, c. 5.

Death & Funeral. 145-Funeral Train to Peabody, Mass., Feb. 1, 1870. Four companies of the Fifth U.S. Artillery Battalion filled the first five cars, followed by official delegates and the press. At 1:00 P.M., bells tolled, the band played a dirge, and the funeral train moved through the swirling snow from Portland to Kennebunk, Me.; and to Portsmouth, N.H., where there was a switch of engines. Ref. (Eastern Railroad funeral train timetable): Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. Mortuary Honors, p. 24.

Death & Funeral. 146-Funeral Train to Peabody, Mass., Feb. 1, 1870 Cont’d. The new engine bore the name “George Peabody,” not for GP but for a distant cousin of the banker-philanthropist with the same name, George Peabody (1804-92), president of the Eastern Railroad, the son of Joseph Peabody (1757-1844) of Salem, Mass. Ref. (Switch to “George Peabody” engine, Portsmouth, N.H.): Eastern Argus (Portland, Me.), Feb. 2, 1870, p. 3, c. 2-3.

Death & Funeral. 147-Funeral Train to Peabody, Mass., Feb. 1, 1870 Cont’d. Car No. 77’s interior had earlier been specially decorated in Salem, Mass., by Col. William Beals (d. 1916) of Boston. The seats had been removed, the interior draped with black serge and white alpaca, the windows and doors covered with drapery, and the floor carpeted in black and green. The interior roof was hung with folds of alternate black and white cloth. At either end of the car were British and U.S. flags. In the center the coffin rested on a black velveted dais ten feet long. Decorating the dais were silver bullion rings, hanging tassels, rosettes, and heavy silver lace. The whole was an imposingly regal funeral car. At 2:00 P.M., the funeral train passed through Newburyport, Mass., where GP at age 16 had worked in older brother David Peabody’s (1790-1841) dry goods shop, through Ipswich and Beverly, and at 5:00 P.M. entered Peabody, Mass. Ref. Ibid. See: Beals, William.

Death & Funeral. 148-Peabody, Mass., Feb. 1-8, 1870. Boston decorator C.W. Barth and staff transformed the Peabody Institute library reading room into a funeral reception hall. The coffin rested on a canopied catafalque, draped in mourning. Above and near the casket, in a specially built case, were displayed the honors GP had received in life: a-the porcelainized miniature portrait Queen Victoria had specially made of herself for GP (delivered March 1867), b-the Congressional gold medal and resolution of praise for his PEF (Congressional bill introduced and signed, March 5-18, 1867), c-the freedom of the city of London in a gold box (July 10, 1862), parchment scrolls of honorary membership in the ancient guilds of d-Clothworkers’ (July 2, 1862) and e-Fishmongers’ (April 19, 1866), along with the lunch box he carried each day from lodging to office. Ref. (Boston decorator C.W. Barth and staff): Peabody Press (Peabody, Mass.), Jan. 19, 1870, p. 2, c. 2. Ref. (GP honors kept at Peabody Institute Library, Peabody, Mass.): New York Times, Feb. 2, 1870, p. 5, c. 1-3.

Death & Funeral. 149-Funeral Invitations. Peabody, Mass., and Danvers, Mass., town funeral committees sent invitations to GP’s relatives, friends, trustees, and local and state civic leaders and distinguished New England officials and persons. The one received by long time business friend William Wilson Corcoran read: “The funeral of the late Mr. George Peabody will take place in this, his native town, soon after the arrival of his remains in this country. The services will be held at the South Congregational Church…. “A committee will be in attendance at the Institute, upon the day of the funeral, to furnish tickets of admission to the church….” Ref. (W.W. Corcoran’s invitation to GP’s funeral): Committee on Invitation, Peabody, Mass., to William Wilson Corcoran, no date, Corcoran Papers XVI, Accession No. 105113, Library of Congress Ms., quoted in Corcoran, pp. 310-311.

Queen Victoria’s son Prince Arthur at GP’s Final Funeral

Death & Funeral. 150-Queen Victoria’s Son, Prince Arthur. Queen Victoria’s son Prince Arthur (William Patrick Albert Arthur, 1850-1942, Duke of Connaught) attended the GP funeral in Peabody, Mass., on Feb. 8, 1870. Prince Arthur was on a Canadian tour when in mid-Nov. 1869, British Ambassador to the U.S. Sir Edward Thornton (1817-1906) received Queen Victoria’s approval for Prince Arthur to visit in the U.S. Prince Arthur left Montreal, Canada, on Jan. 20, 1870, went to Washington, D.C., where he met Pres. U.S. Grant, and was in NYC on Jan. 29, 1870. A Jan. 27 letter from his military aide, Lt. Col. (later Sir) Howard Cawfurd Elphinestone (1829-90), to Queen Victoria’s advisor in England, contained the first mention of Prince Arthur’s possible attendance at GP’s funeral: “Should Mr. Peabody’s funeral take place soon after that, Col. Elphinestone thought it would be a gracious act on the part of the Prince to attend.” Prince Arthur left NYC on Feb. 5, 1870, for Boston and left Boston on Feb. 8 for Peabody, Mass. Refs. below.

Death & Funeral. 151-Queen Victoria’s Son, Prince Arthur Cont’d. Ref. Draft of letter, British Ambassador to the U.S. Edward Thornton to Foreign Office, probably mid-Nov. 1869, Foreign Office 5/1163, No. 399, Public Record Office, London. Lt. Col. H. Elphinestone, British Legation, Washington, D.C., to Gen. Charles Grey [1804-70] for Queen Victoria, Jan. 27, 1870, Royal Archives, Additional Ms. A/15/1557, Windsor Castle, England. Lt. Col. H. Elphinestone, Railway Station, Peabody, Mass., to Gen. Grey for Queen Victoria, Feb. 8, 1870, Royal Archives, Additional Ms. A/15/1571, Windsor Castle, England. [Elphinestone, Howard Cawfurd].

Will Robert E. Lee Attend?

Death & Funeral. 152-Will Robert E. Lee Attend? Prince Arthur’s attendance at GP’s funeral added a royal touch and attracted favorable press attention. Former Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s (1807-70) attendance (he had been invited to the funeral) was uncertain and would have been controversial. Robert E. Lee was then president of Washington College, Lexington, Va. (president since 1865, renamed Washington and Lee Univ. in 1871). He had been with GP three months earlier in their first and only meeting during GP’s six-week visit (July 23-Aug. 29) to White Sulphur Springs health spa in W.Va. This visit occurred amid publicity after GP doubled his PEF donation to $2 million, June 29, 1869. For GP, Lee, and others at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., see Corcoran, William Wilson. Lee, Robert E.

Death & Funeral. 153-Lee, GP, Others, W.Va., (July 23-Aug. 29, 1869). Gathered at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., by chance, were a remarkable group of northern and southern statesmen, educators, and military leaders. GP and Lee talked and dined together and were photographed together and with other prominent guests (Aug. 12). Resolutions of praise for GP, composed by former Va. Gov. and Confederate Gen. Henry Alexander Wise (1806-76), were read to GP amid a crowd on July 28, 1869. A Peabody Ball was spontaneously held on Aug 11, 1869, whose jollity GP, too ill to attend, heard from his cottage. The informal talks that took place on the education needs of the South set a precedent for later significant conferences on southern educational needs. Besides a small gift to help restore Lee’s church in Lexington, Va., GP gave Lee’s college a gift of Va. bonds for a mathematics professorship, bonds which, when redeemed 12 years later (1881), totaled $60,000. GP, accompanied by Lee for a short distance, left White Sulphur Springs on Aug. 30, 1869, on a special railroad car provided by B&O Railroad Pres. John Work Garrett (1820-84). Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 154-R.E. Lee on GP’s Death. In Lexington, Va., reading of GP’s death in London on Nov. 4, 1869, Robert E. Lee wrote (Nov. 10, 1869) to GP’s nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909), who had been with GP in White Sulphur Springs and there met Lee: “The announcement of the death of your uncle, Mr. George Peabody, has been received with the deepest regret wherever his name and benevolence are known; and nowhere have his generous deeds–restricted to no country, section or sect–elicited more heartfelt admiration than at the South. He stands alone in history for the benevolent and judicious distribution of his great wealth, and his memory has become entwined in the affections of millions of his fellow-citizens in both hemispheres.” Ref. Robert E. Lee, Lexington, Va., to George Peabody Russell, Nov. 10, 1869, quoted in Salem Gazette (Salem, Mass.), Nov. 30, 1869, p. 2, c. 1.

Death & Funeral. 155-R.E. Lee on GP’s Death Cont’d.: “I beg, in my own behalf, and in behalf of the Trustees and Faculty of Washington College, Va., which was not forgotten by him in his act of generosity, to tender the tribute of our unfeigned sorrow at his death. With great respect, Your obedient servant R.E. Lee.” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 156-Lee Too Ill to Attend. Lee was invited to attend GP’s funeral service in the South Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., and final burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem. But Lee, then ill and himself a year from death, had to decline. He explained his condition in a Jan. 26, 1870, letter to mutual friend William Wilson Corcoran, who had been with them at White Sulphur Springs: “I am sorry I cannot attend the funeral obsequies of Mr. Peabody. It would be some relief to witness the respect paid to his remains, and to participate in commemorating his virtues; but I am unable to undertake the journey. I have been sick all the winter, and am still under medical treatment. I particularly regret that I shall not have the pleasure of seeing you. Two trustees of Washington College will attend the funeral. I hope you can join them.” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 157-Concern about Lee’s Possible Attendance. The same day Lee wrote to Corcoran (Jan. 26, 1870), one of the two Washington College trustees who planned to attend also wrote Corcoran: “I first thought that General Lee should not go, but have now changed my mind. Some of us believe that if you advise the General to attend he would do so. Use your own discretion in this matter.” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 158-R.C. Winthrop’s Concern that Lee Might Attend. Robert Charles Winthrop, who was to deliver GP’s funeral eulogy on Feb. 8, 1870, was also concerned about rumors that Lee might attend. Winthrop and others feared that a demonstration against Lee might mar the ceremony. On Feb. 2, 1870, Winthrop wrote two letters marked private and confidential, the first to Baltimorean John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870): “There is apprehension here, that if Lee should come to the funeral, something unpleasant might occur, which would be as painful to us as to him. Would you contact friends to impart this to the General? Please do not mention that the suggestion came from me.” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 159-R.C. Winthrop’s Concern that Lee Might Attend Cont’d. Winthrop’s second letter to Corcoran read: “I write to you in absolute confidence. Some friends of ours, whose motives cannot be mistaken, are very anxious that Genl. Lee should not come to the funeral next week. They have also asked me to suggest that. Still there is always apprehension that from an irresponsible crowd there might come some remarks which would be offensive to him and painful to us all. I am sure he would be the last person to involve himself or us, needlessly, in a doubtful position on such an occasion. The newspapers at first said that he was not coming. Now, there is an intimation that he is. I know of no one who could more effectively give the right direction to his views than yourself. Your relation to Mr. Peabody & to Mr. Lee would enable you to ascertain his purposes & shape his course wisely…. I know of no one else to rely on.” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 160-Lee Too Ill to Attend. Lee wrote his daughter Mildred Lee (1846-1904) the same day as Winthrop’s letters (Feb. 2, 1870) that he was too ill to attend: “I am sorry that I could not attend Mr. Peabody’s funeral, but I did not feel able to undertake the journey, especially at this season.” Corcoran replied to Winthrop that Lee had no intention of coming. He could not imagine, he wrote, that so good and great a man as Lee would receive anything but a kind reception. Corcoran himself was ill. He wrote to Lee his regret that he could not attend to pay his respects to “my valued old friend.” But he read with sad interest of Winthrop’s eulogy and of GP’s final burial. Ref. Ibid.

Fitch Poole’s Diary on GP’s Death and Final Funeral

Death & Funeral. 161-Fitch Poole’s Diary. Fitch Poole (1803-73), first librarian, Peabody Institute Library, Peabody, Mass., kept a diary. His short entries from GP’s death to final eulogy, funeral, and burial are as follows: “1869, Nov. 4: Thursday. Geo. Peabody died at 11 & 1/2 o’clock in London. Nov. 5: News came this day of the death of Geo. Peabody last night 1/2 past 11 o’clock in London. Closed the Institute. Nov. 7: …Saw Mrs. Daniels about funeral [GP’s sister, Mrs. Judith née Peabody Daniels, 1799-1879]. Nov. 8: Closed Institute one week. Front portion in mourning. 1870, Jan. 31: Went to Portland. Large no. of visitors from abroad. Snow. P.M. Feb. 1: Storm continued. Committee called at Mayor’s office and at City Hall where funeral exercises were held.” Ref. Fitch Poole’s Diary, PEM, Salem, Mass.; also quoted in [Poole, Fitch], pp. 58-59.

Death & Funeral. 162-Fitch Poole’s Diary Cont’d.: “At 1 o’clock started for home. Feb. 3: At Institute. Many visitors. Got out program with Abbott. Feb. 4: Very cold. About zero. Great throngs at Institute. Eve’g. Committee at Institute. Got my tickets. Feb. 5: Snow and variable. At Institute. 6617 visitors. Eve’g. Committee met. Got my 5 tickets. Feb. 6: …Bushby & Hart [photographers] taking views in Library room. Feb. 7: At Institute. Over 8000 visitors. People busy making preparations for tomorrow. Feb. 8: Cloudy & wet snow storm. Town full of strangers. Several of our friends here…. Eve’g. tired out.” Ref. Ibid.

Insufficient U.S. Govt. Representation at GP’s Funeral

Death & Funeral. 163-McIlvaine on Insufficient U.S. Govt. Representation. The British government was represented by Prince Arthur and his retinue, British Ambassador to the U.S. Edward Thornton and his staff, and HMS Monarch’s Capt. John E. Commerell and his officers. Both Ohio Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine, resting at Robert Charles Winthrop’s Brookline, Mass., home, after the Portland, Me., ceremonies, and Winthrop, who would give the final eulogy, mentioned the lack of U.S. government representation to U.S. Secty. of State Hamilton Fish (1809-93), a PEF trustee.

Death & Funeral. 164-McIlvaine on Insufficient U.S. Govt. Representation Cont’d. McIlvaine wrote Fish: “There is want of proper representation of the government at the final service next Tuesday at Peabody. Admiral Farragut is exhausted and unable to attend. Since the British minister and Prince Arthur will be there it is important to our own credit for the United States government to be represented. The popular feeling exceeds my expectation and would well entertain even the appearance of the President at the funeral [Pres. U.S. Grant was also a PEF trustee].” Ref. Charles Pettit McIlvaine, Brookline, Mass., to Hamilton Fish, Feb. 2, 1870, “Correspondence of Hamilton Fish,” LXVII (January 6-February 22, 1870), Fish Papers, Accession Nos. 9512 and 9513, Library of Congress Ms.

Death & Funeral. 165-Winthrop on Insufficient U.S. Govt. Representation. Winthrop wrote similarly to Secty. Fish: “I returned from Portland last evening. The ceremonies were admirably conducted. Delays were tedious but unavoidable. The present delay at Peabody, Massachusetts, is due to a request of George Peabody himself. He had told his friends he would like to rest for a week in his native town before being put under the ground. Admiral Farragut returned to New York exhausted. I hope the Peabody funeral goes as well as it did in Portland. Prince Arthur, Minister Edward Thornton, and Captain Commerell are to be there. Pity that some chiefs of the United States military or the civil government cannot be there. The Chairman of the Danvers committee came to see me and asked if you have given the order for a battalion of regular soldiers to be here.” “I wish you could attend yourself, or President Grant and General Sherman. It would lessen the embarrassment of the Prince and British minister being there.” Ref. Robert Charles Winthrop, Brookline, Mass., to Hamilton Fish, February 2, 1870, LXVII (January 6-February 22, 1870), Fish Papers, Accession Nos. 9514 and 9517, Library of Congress Ms.

GP’s Funeral Costs

Death & Funeral. 166-Funeral Costs. GP’s known funeral costs include: a-Expenses listed in Peabody Papers, Peabody Essex Institute, Salem, Mass.: ƒ48, one shilling, and seven pence, then equivalent to about $240.00. b-Cost at Westminster Abbey, London, funeral service, Nov. 12, 1869: ƒ130 pounds, 13 shillings, and ten pence, then equivalent to about $653.50, included fees for the sacristies, vergers, bearers, bell ringers, almsmen, porters, mourners, and the price of fabrics, candles, and ninety pairs of white gloves (GP’s $653.50 Westminster Abbey funeral cost was just over twice as much as the next Abbey funeral of British novelist Charles Dickens, 1812-70, which cost about $303.00). c-Cost paid by the state of Maine: March 21, 1870, firing salutes at GP obsequies, $24.97. April 6, 1870, hotel bill for special committees, $2,178.83. Aug. 30, 1870, Portland Mechanic Blues for escort and guard duties, $355.00. Portland Light Infantry for escort and guard duties, $188.00. Dec. 30, 1870, Payment to Col. Thomas W. Hyde for duties as Staff Officer, $56.00. Total paid by state of Maine: $2,802.80.

Death & Funeral. 167-Funeral Costs Cont’d. d-Cost paid by the town of Peabody, Mass.: $4,800.00 (a town council proposal to repudiate this debt was defeated). Unknown but considerable were British government Admiralty costs involving HMS Monarch; and U.S. Navy costs involving USS Plymouth as escort vessel and U.S. receiving vessels at Portland, Maine, under Adm. D.G. Farragut. Grand total of known GP funeral cost was $8,496.30.

Death & Funeral. 168-Funeral Costs Cont’d. Ref. Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. Westminster Abbey Muniments, “Funeral Fee Book 1811-1899,” p. 231. State of Maine Executive Council, “Register of the Council,” XXXIV (1870), pp. 110, 180-181, 318-319, 595-599, Maine State Library, Augusta, Maine. Peabody Press (Peabody, Mass.), March 23, 1870, p. 2, c. 5.

Final Funeral, Peabody, Mass.

Death & Funeral. 169-South Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870. Storms occurred during GP’s 96-day funeral odyssey: on Dec. 11, 1869, on transfer of GP’s remains from Westminster Abbey to Portsmouth harbor, England; on Jan. 26, 1870, on transfer from HMS Monarch to Portland City Hall, Me.; and on Feb. 8, 1870, the day of final funeral service and eulogy at South Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., and burial at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Ref. (Storms during GP’s funeral): New York Times, Feb. 9, 1870, p. 1, c. 5.

Death & Funeral. 170-South Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870 Cont’d. Despite bad weather thousands poured into tiny Peabody, Mass. Special morning trains, all full, ran from Boston to Peabody, Mass., at 7:30, 9:30, and 10:45. Large crowds were quiet and respectful. The 50 state troopers on duty had little to do but give directions. The same mid-morning train brought Prince Arthur and his retinue, British Minister to the U.S. Edward Thornton, Mass. Gov. William Claflin (1818-1905) and his staff, Robert Charles Winthrop, former U.S. Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams (1807-86), Pres. Charles William Eliot (1834-1926) and others of Harvard Univ., and other delegates. Ref. Ibid. Ref. (Arrival of Prince Arthur and others and train schedules, Boston to Peabody, Mass.): Boston Herald, Feb. 16, 1895, quoted in Report of the Centennial Celebration of the Birth of George Peabody, Held at Peabody, Mass. Monday, February 8, 1895 (Cambridge, Mass.: Riverside Press, 1895), pp. 79-82.

Death & Funeral. 171-South Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870 Cont’d. At 10:30 A.M., 13 pallbearers lifted the coffin from its catafalque in the Peabody Institute Library main reading room and carried it to a black hearse drawn by six horses escorted by military men. The hearse had been somberly decorated by the same C.W. Barth of Boston who had decorated the Peabody Institute’s main reading room. The procession moved to the South Congregational Church. Over a hundred carriages followed slowly through crowd-lined Peabody streets. Snow fell. The wind blew. Ref. (Hearse decorated by C.W. Barth of Boston): Peabody Press (Peabody, Mass), Jan. 19, 1870, p. 2, c. 2.

Death & Funeral. 172-South Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870 Cont’d. South Congregational Church filled quickly. Prince Arthur, in the seventh pew from the pulpit, held all eyes. Behind him were the Monarch’s Capt. Commerell, the Plymouth’s Capt. Macomb, Adm. Farragut’s staff, Gov. William Claflin of Mass., Gov. Joshua L. Chamberlain of Me., and the mayors of eight New England cities. On the first six rows sat GP’s relatives, elderly citizens who knew him in youth, and the trustees of his institutes and funds. Anthems were sung. Scripture was read. Robert Charles Winthrop rose to give the eulogy. Ref. Winthrop-a, III, p. 48. Winthrop-b, pp. 3-11, 22-23.

R. C. Winthrop’s Eulogy on GP’s Life and Death

Death & Funeral. 173-Winthrop’s Eulogy. Robert Charles Winthrop, descendant of an early governor of Mass. Bay Colony, a Harvard Univ. graduate, trained in Daniel Webster’s law office, member and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, GP’s philanthropic advisor, and PEF board of trustees president, gave his eulogy of GP. Winthrop said: “What a career this has been whose final scene lies before us! Who can contemplate his rise from lowly beginnings to these final royal honors without admiration? His death, painless and peaceful, came after he completed his great dream and saw his old friends and loved ones.” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 174-Winthrop’s Eulogy Cont’d.: “He had ambition and wanted to do grand things in a grand way. His public charity is too well known to bear repetition and I believe he also did much private good which remains unknown. The trusts he established, the institutes he founded, the buildings he raised stand before all eyes. I have authority for saying that he planned these for many years, for in private talks he told me all he planned and when I expressed my amazement at the magnitude of his purpose, he said to me with guileless simplicity: ‘Why Mr. Winthrop, this is no new idea to me. From the earliest of my manhood, I have contemplated some such disposition of my property; and I have prayed my heavenly Father, day by day, that I might be enabled, before I died, to show my gratitude for the blessings which He has bestowed upon me by doing some great good to my fellow-men.’ [The underlined words are engraved on GP’s marker in Westminster Abbey, London, where his remains rested for 30 days, Nov. 12-Dec. 11, 1869. That marker and the above words on it were refurbished for the Feb. 12, 1995, bicentennial ceremony at Westminster Abbey]. Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 175-Winthrop’s Eulogy Cont’d.: “To measure his gifts in dollars and pounds or in the number of people served is inadequate. He did something more. The successful way he arranged the machinery of world-wide philanthropy compels attention. It is a lesson that cannot be lost to history. It has inspired and will continue to inspire others to do likewise. This was the greatness of his life. “Now, all that is mortal of him comes back, borne with honors that mark a conquering hero. The battle he fought was the greed within him. His conquest was the victory he achieved over the gaining, hoarding, saving instinct. Such is the conqueror we make ready to bury in the earth this day. Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 176-Winthrop’s Eulogy Cont’d.: “And so was fulfilled for him a prophecy he heard once as the subject of a sermon, on which by some force of reflection lingered in his mind and which he more than once mentioned to me: ‘And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear nor dark; but it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, or night: but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light.’” Winthrop stated that GP first heard this text, Zechariah 14:6-7, in a sermon by the Rev. Dr. John Lothrop (1772-1820) of Brattle Street, Boston, date not known. Ref. Ibid. See Lothrop, John.

Death & Funeral. 177-Winthrop’s Eulogy Cont’d.: “And so we bid thee farewell, noble friend. The village of thy birth weeps. The flower of Essex County stands at thy grave. Massachusetts mourns her son. Maine does honor to thee. New England and Old England join hands because of thee. The children of the South praise thy works. Chiefs of the Republic stand with royalty at thy bier. And so we bid thee farewell, friend of mankind.” Ref. Ibid. (Winthrop’s eulogy of GP was widely reprinted): New York Times, Feb. 9, 1870, p. 1, c. 4-7. Times (London), Feb. 10, 1870, p. 5, c. 1. New York Herald, Feb. 9, 1870, p. 4, c. 1-4. Peabody Education Fund, Vol. 1, pp. 151-167.

GP’s Burial at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass.
Death & Funeral. 178-Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870. The New York Times described the final scene at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass.: “There were about two hundred sleigh coaches in the procession. The route was shortened somewhat in consequence of the prevalence of the storm. On arriving at the Peabody tomb, there was no special service, the coffin being placed reverently therein, after which the procession returned to the Institute, and the great pageantry attending the obsequies of the great philanthropist was ended.” Ref. (Final scene, Harmony Grove Cemetery): New York Times, Feb. 9, 1870, p. 1, c. 7.

Death & Funeral. 179-Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870 Cont’d. GP’s remains were laid to rest in Harmony Grove Cemetery, whose 65 acres of avenues and walks were first laid out in 1840. It had been a thick walnut grove when he was a boy and could be seen from the attic of the house where he was born. On a knoll where he had once played he had chosen the family burial plot on Anemone Ave., lot number 51. Here he had brought together the remains of his mother, father, sisters, and brothers. Here he himself was interred. Ninety-six days of unprecedented honors had ended. Only his memory and his works remained. Ref. (Harmony Grove Cemetery described): Webber and Nevins, p. 187. Essex Institute, p. 199. Ref. (Peabody family plot, Harmony Grove Cemetery): Whipple and Smith, p. 61.

Monarch Officers U. S. Tour
Death & Funeral. 180-Capt. Commerell’s U.S. Tour. Funeral researcher Allen Howard Welch explained the Jan. 25-Feb. 1, 1870, near-faultless Portland, Me., GP funeral reception as follows: “Observers on the local level felt that such an affair had never passed off so completely without a mar. They attributed this to the fact that the U.S. Navy had entrusted its supervision to Commodore John J.[ay] Almy [1815-95], chief of Farragut’s staff, who carried out the Portland ceremonies with the precision characterizing the regular naval service.” Funeral researcher Welch was more complimentary of HMS Monarch Capt. John Edmund Commerell: “More of the credit, however, must go to Captain Commerell, whose bearing and courtesy had disarmed much of the anti-Peabody opposition and taken the sting from America’s official indifference.” Ref. (below).

Death & Funeral. 181-Capt. Commerell’s U.S. Tour Cont’d. Capt. Commerell’s activities included a-Feb. 1, 1870: standing arm in arm with Portland Mayor William LeBaron Putnam (1835-1918) at the transfer of GP’s remains from Portland City Hall to the funeral train bound for Peabody, Mass. This was followed by b-Commerell’s attendance at a dinner for dignitaries given by Me. Gov. Chamberlain at the Falmouth Hotel. c-Feb. 4: reception, dinner, and soiree given by Gov. Chamberlain in Augusta, Me. for Commerell and his Monarch officers. d-Feb. 9: The Haydn Assn. of Portland (300 voices) toured the Monarch, sang songs including the “Star Spangled Banner,” and were thanked by Capt. Commerell. e-Feb. 10: Capt. Commerell gave a dinner aboard the Monarch for Portland’s elite. Ref. (below).

Death & Funeral. 182-Capt. Commerell’s U.S. Tour Cont’d. f-That day he also accepted U.S. Navy Secty. George M. Robeson’s invitation to visit Annapolis, Md. g-Feb. 13: HMS Monarch left Portland with Me. Gov. Chamberlain aboard (he was bound for Washington, D.C.). h-Feb. 19: The Monarch arrived at Annapolis, Capt. Commerell was received by U.S. Navy Secty. Robeson, and both were entertained by Md. Gov. Oden Bowie (1826-94). i-Feb. 25: Some 150 persons, including U.S. Cabinet members, dined aboard the Monarch. j-March 1: Monarch officers were guests of the City of Baltimore. k-March 4: Monarch left Baltimore for the return Atlantic crossing, reached Spithead out of Portsmouth, England, March 27, setting a transatlantic record for a British armored ship. Refs. below.

Death & Funeral. 183-Capt. Commerell’s U.S. Tour Cont’d. Ref. Welch, pp. 116-137, who cited (for Capt. Commerell’s U.S. tour and later career): New York Times, Jan. 30, 1870, p. 1; Feb. 1, 1870, p. 1; Feb. 2, 1870, p. 5; Feb. 4, 1870, p. l; Feb. 5, 1870, p. l; Feb. 9, 1870, p. 1; Feb. 10, 1870, p. 1; Feb. 11, 1870, p. 5; Feb. 14, 1870, p. 1; Feb. 20, 1870, p. 1; Feb. 21, 1870, p. 4; Feb. 26, 1870, p. 1; March 1, 1870, p. 4; March 5, 1870, p. 4; London Times, Feb. 5, 1870, p. 5; Feb. 10, 1870, p. 12. “Log of the Monarch,” Dec. 30, 1869; Jan. 2, 15, 18, 23, 25; Feb. 22, March 3, 1870 Admiralty 53/9877, Public Record Office, London.

Death & Funeral. 184-Commerell & Monarch: Later Career. Capt. Commerell was appointed Admiral of the Fleet in 1892. He died in 1901. A few years later in 1906 the ship he earlier commanded, HMS Monarch, then Britain’s largest and most powerful warship, ended its career at Simonstown, South Africa. The Monarch never had a more interesting assignment or rendered more impressive service than when it returned GP’s remains for burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Ref. Welch, p. 137.

GP’s Death & Funeral In Retrospect

Death & Funeral. 185-Afterward: R.C. Schenck Replaced U.S. Minister Motley. In 1870, U.S. Pres. Grant, after recalling John Lothrop Motley as U.S. Minister to Britain, replaced him with the same Robert Cummings Schenck, Ohio Republican Congressman, who on Dec. 21, 1869, had bitterly opposed the Congressional resolution requesting a U.S. Naval reception to greet HMS Monarch’s return of GP’s remains to American soil. R.C. Schenck had lost reelection to Congress in 1870 when Pres. Grant appointed him U.S. Minister to Britain (1870-76). In that capacity, Schenk became a member of the Joint Commission that arbitrated the Alabama Claims and signed the Treaty of Washington in May 1871 by which Britain paid the U.S. $15.5 million in reparations. Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 186-Afterward: “coldness at the White House.” U.S. Pres. Grant had been expected to visit the Monarch when she was in Annapolis, Md., but he did not do so. There is no record that Capt. Commerell, when he was in Annapolis, was ever invited to Washington, D.C. GP funeral researcher Allen Howard Welch ended his article with the plaintive statement: “The coldness at the White House remained substantially unthawed by Queen Victoria’s efforts to send a private American citizen back to his homeland in ‘an almost royal state.’” Ref. Ibid.

Death & Funeral. 187-Retrospect. For an American without office or title, GP’s funeral was unprecedented, commanded international attention, and attracted international press coverage. Reconciliation of U.S.-British differences over Civil War irritations played a part. So too did appreciation for his philanthropy and for his efforts at Anglo-American friendship. Although many admired his philanthropy, some northern extremists saw as traitorous his $1.4 million Peabody Institute of Baltimore and even more so his $2 million PEF for public education in the South.

Death & Funeral. 188-Retrospect Cont’d. Extreme viewpoints, then so strongly held, have since lost their sting. What the average newspaper reader of the time thought of GP’s life, death, and funeral honors can only be surmised. Some extreme Unionists disdained his commercial life in the South, thought his wealth ill gained, suspected his philanthropy, and thought his funeral honors vain, expensive, and trivial. Others sensed nobility in what he tried to do, saw his life and works as heroic, and were touched by the grandeur of his funeral, now little remembered.

Death & Funeral. 189-Final Thought. Because of GP’s prominence his death would have merited more than normal press attention. But because he died at the height of U.S. grievances over the Alabama Claims and because Britain led and the U.S. followed in using his death to try to ease U.S.-British tensions, his transatlantic funeral received unusual ceremony and attention. One account states that the settlement of the Claims in 1872-73 “repaired relations with an important ally, opened London capital markets to American borrowing (essential to the funding of the war debt) and found their way into international law as the definitive standard for the obligations of neutrals in wartime.” It seems that GP in death as in life helped bridge U.S.-British relations. Ref. Washington Post National Weekly Edition, Vol. 18, No. 30 (May 21-27, 2001), p. 33.

Deems, James Monroe (or Munroe) (1818-1901). To start the PIB Academy of Music, the trustees turned to this Baltimore composer, former Univ. of Va. adjunct professor (1849-58), trained in music in Dresden, Germany, Civil War Union officer (served as Major, 1st Md. Cavalry, Dec. 20, 1861; promoted Lt. Col. Nov. 10, 1862; breveted Brig. Gen.; mustered out Nov. 1863), and a European-trained musician. He helped organize 12 PIB concerts in 1866, 11 in 1867; hired local musicians, performers, and soloists; wrote the then popular Telegraph Quickstep; and also hired Boston musician Lucien H. Southard (1827-81), who was named director. Ref. Boatner, p. 229. Keefer, p. 158f. Schaaf-c, p. 275 See PIB, Music.

Depositories. For GP’s letters and papers, and related letters and papers of others, see back-of-book References.

Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since 1990). George Peabody & Co., London (Dec. 1, 1838-Oct. 1, 1864) was renamed J.S. Morgan & Co. (Oct. 1, 1864-Dec. 31, 1909). On Junius Spencer Morgan’s death (1813-90) the firm was controlled by John Pierpont Morgan, Sr. (1837-1913). The firm continued as Morgan Grenfell & Co. (1910-18), Morgan Grenfell & Co., Ltd. (1918-90), and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990), a German owned banking firm. See George Peabody & Co. Morgan, Junius Spencer.

Devens, Charles (1820-91), was a PEF trustee. He was born in Charlestown, Mass., educated at Harvard Univ., was in the Mass. senate (1848-49), a U.S. marshal for the district of Mass., a Union general in the Civil War (1861-66), Mass. Supreme Court associate justice (1873-77, 1881), and U.S. attorney general (1873-81). Ref. Curry-b, pp. 102-103.

Dickens, Charles (1812-1870), was the British novelist whose Westminster Abbey funeral service was the next after GP’s funeral service (Charles Dickens died June 9, 1870). For a comparison of GP and Charles Dickens’ funeral service costs at Westminster Abbey, see Death and funeral, GP’s. For mention of Charles Dickens’ daughter’s presence in the Council Chamber of London’s Guildhall when GP was given the Freedom of the City of London (July 10, 1862), with sources, see London, Freedom of the City of London.

Dickinson, Lowes Cato (1819-1908). 1-Painted GP’s Portrait. Lowes Cato Dickinson was a British artist, one copy of whose portrait of GP is owned by the Peabody Trust of London, which built and managed the Peabody Homes of London. A second copy was owned by Henry Astley Darbishire (1825-99), British architect, who designed the 19th century estates containing Peabody Homes of London. A third copy is in the PIB. Ref. Information supplied by Christine Wagg, Peabody Trust Central Administration, London, Aug. 25, 1998. (On L.C. Dickinson): Dictionary of National Biography CD-ROM.

Dickinson, L.C. 2-Others who Painted GP’s Portrait. Other known portraits of GP were painted by (in alphabetical order): a-Conway-Mass.-born Chester Harding (1792-1866); b-Boston-born George Peter Alexander Healy (1813-94); c-James Reid Lambdin (1807-89); d-Philadelphia-born photographer John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1810-1901), whose life-size photo of GP was said to have been painted over by Queen Victoria’s portrait painter, Jules Arnoult, to resemble an oil painting; and e-London-born Henry William Pickersgill (1782-1875). See artists named. Engravers-artists. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Peabody, George, Portraits of. Schuler, Hans (for his bust of GP in N.Y.U. Hall of Fame). Story, William Wetmore Story (for his seated GP statue in London, a copy of which is in Baltimore).

Dielman, Louis Henry (1864-1959), was the fifth PIB librarian during 1926-42, for 16 years. He was born in New Windsor, Md., then famous for its mineral springs, where his father managed the local Dielman Inn. Dielman was card cataloguer for the Md. State Library, 1900-04; assistant librarian at the Enoch Pratt Free Library (1904-11); and began work in the PIB library in 1911. After leaving the Peabody Library, Dielman was on the staff of the Md. Historical Society, was the second editor of the Maryland Historical Magazine (1910-38; while still at the PIB), and compiled biographical reference cards on some 100,000 prominent Marylanders for the Md. Historical Society. He retired to his birthplace, New Windsor, and was a much admired local historian whom the townspeople familiarly called “Mr. Lou.” See PIB Ref. Library.

Dillingham, George Allen (1937-), wrote The Foundation of the Peabody Tradition (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1989). He earned the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from GPCFT. His book, especially good for its biographical material, has chapters on: 1-Southern Education after the Civil War (Role of the Peabody Education Fund), 2-Peabody Normal College, Its Program for the Preparation of Teachers, 3-Its Faculty and Administrative Leadership, and 4-Its Role in Southern Education. See PCofVU, brief history.

Dinner for GP, in South Danvers, Mass., South Danvers, Mass. GP’s U.S. visit during Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857, was incredibly busy. On arrival he declined invitations to public dinners from merchant-committees from NYC, Boston, and elsewhere. He explained that he was obligated to accept first a day of welcome on Oct. 9, 1856, by the people of his birthplace, South Danvers, Mass. This hometown celebration, festivities, and speeches were widely reported in the U.S. press and in a book, Proceedings At The Reception and Dinner in Honor of George Peabody, Esq., of London by the Citizens of the Old Town of Danvers, October 9, 1856 (Boston: H.W. Dutton & Son, 1856). See South Danvers, Mass. Oct. 9, 1856, GP Celebration. Abbott, Alfred Amos. Daniels, Robert Shillaber. Davis, John Chandler Bancroft. Everett, Edward. Gardner, Henry J. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

PEF Trustees Banquet, Feb. 19-22, 1867

Dinner, GP’s, NYC. 1-PEF Trustees’ March 22, 1867, Banquet. GP’s Feb. 7, 1867, letter founding the PEF was read aloud the next day (Feb. to ten of the original 16 PEF trustees gathered in an upper room of Willard’s Hotel, Washington, D.C. The 16 PEF trustees next met with GP during Feb. 19-22, 1867, in NYC. One of these evenings GP invited two trustees, Adm. David Glasgow Farragut (1801-70), Pres. U. S. Grant (1822-85) and their wives to attend an opera. GP exchanged photos with the two military leaders. On March 22, 1867, at NYC’s Fifth Avenue Hotel, GP gave a banquet for the PEF trustees and their wives. Among the 73 guests was 1-NYC store owner Alexander Turney Stewart (1803-76), whose store was later bought by and named Wanamaker’s. A.T. Stewart built a model community in Garden City, N.Y., based on the plan of GP’s model apartments for London’s working poor (from 1862). Ref. (Farragut and Grant at opera with GP): Lewis, p. 335. For details and sources of Pres. Johnson’s proposed cabinet reshuffle, see Congressional Gold Medal and Resolutions of Praise to GP.

Dinner, GP’s, NYC. 2-PEF Trustees’ March 22, 1867, Banquet Cont’d. Other dinner guests were: 2-NYC financier William Backhouse Astor (1792-1875); 3-historian George Bancroft (1800-91), who had been U.S. Minister to Britain (1846-49), and others. Adm. Farragut sat at GP’s left and Mrs. Grant on his right. Note: there was a previous GP-Farragut-Grant connection when, to try to prevent Pres. Andrew Johnson’s (1808-75) impeachment, his political advisor Francis Preston Blair, Sr. (1791-1876) proposed a complete change of Pres. Johnson’s cabinet, with GP as Treasury Secty., Farragut as Navy Secty., and Grant as Secty. of War. But loyalty to his cabinet kept Johnson from this plan. Ref. Ibid.

Dinner, GP’s, NYC. 3-R.C. Winthrop’s Speech. The military men were in full dress uniform. PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop rose to speak: “The time is at hand,” he said, “for the departure of George Peabody. I have here resolutions [from] the trustees [who]…thank him for his hospitality to us in Washington and New York. We consider this trust a high honor. We wish him God’s blessing as he takes leave of this country.” Winthrop concluded with: “Since he arrived last May he has performed acts of charity without precedent in the annals of the world. It was my friend Daniel Webster who said that the character of Washington was our greatest contribution to the world. Now we can add the example of George Peabody. The greatest philanthropist of his age.” For details and sources, see Farragut, David Glasgow. For GP’s specific philanthropic gifts during his May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867, U.S. visit (totaled $2,310,450), see Begging Letters to GP. Peabody, George, Philanthropy.

Dinner, GP’s, NYC. 4-GP’s Response. GP said, after Winthrop’s speech: “Never have I been more honored than at this time by the presence of the highest officers of our Army and Navy, by the most distinguished men of the North and the South. May this gathering of friends be an omen of brighter days to come to our beloved country (applause). Let me close with two toasts. I give you our country, our whole country (enthusiastic applause and the playing of the national anthem).” GP concluded: “Finally, the country where I have lived and prospered, and to its Queen.” (Great applause). Press reports complimented the banquet, the speeches, and noted the public’s approval of the PEF’s intent to advance public education in the devastated South. Before dispersing, the trustees and GP went to famed Civil War photographer Mathew Brady’s (1823-96) NYC studio for their only group photo on March 23, 1867. Ref. Ibid.

GP’s Public Relations Sense

Dinner, GP’s, NYC. 5-Public Relations. Years later, former PEF trustee William Lawrence (1850-1941) described in his memoirs the PEF trustees’ banquets and GP’s penchant for favorable publicity: “There was in Mr. Peabody a touch of egotism and a satisfaction in publicity which worked to the advantage of this fund; by the selection of men of national fame as trustees he called the attention of the whole country to the educational needs of the South and the common interests of North and South in building up a united Nation.” “The trustees,” Lawrence wrote, “brought their wives to the annual meeting in New York, and in the evening met at the most sumptuous [banquet] that the hostelry of those days, the Fifth Avenue Hotel, could provide; the report of which and of what they had to eat and drink was headlined in the press of the South and the North. This annual event took place upon the suggestion of Mr. Peabody and at the expense of the fund; and in its social influence and publicity was well worth the cost.” Ref. Ibid.

GP’s Dinners, London

Dinners, GP’s, London. 1-July 4, 1850. Little is known of GP’s first July 4, 1850, U.S. friendship dinner except his bare mention of it in his July 4, 1856, dinner speech: “The first dinner I gave in connection with American Independence Day was a dinner in 1850 at which the American Minister, American and English friends were present.” For GP’s mention of his first July 4, 1850, U.S.-British friendship dinner, with sources, see Dallas, George Mifflin. Dinners, GP’s, London, July 4, 1856 (below).

Great Exhibition of 1851, London

Dinners, GP’s, London. 2-Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (First World’s Fair) GP’s two important U.S.-British friendship dinners in 1851 were on July 4, 1851, during the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (first world’s fair), and on Oct. 27, 1851, for the departing U.S. exhibitors. Background: Henry Cole (1808-82), Society of Art (later Royal Society of Art) member, had the idea for a first world’s fair showing each nation’s best industrial and art products. Knowing that such a large enterprise needed royal sponsorship, Cole turned to Albert of Saxe-Co-burg-Gotha (Prince Albert, 1819-61), Queen Victoria’s husband and Society of Art president. German-born Prince Albert nurtured the idea past all obstacles to reality. A Royal Commission (Jan. 3, 1850) helped raise funds, issued contracts, and invited the world’s nations to participate. Joseph Paxton (1801-65) designed the striking glass-covered Crystal Palace in Hyde Park to house the exhibits. See Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair). Persons named.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 3-Great Exhibition of 1851 Cont’d. The U.S. Congress appointed nonpaid commissioners in charge. U.S. Pres. Millard Fillmore (1800-74) authorized the U.S. Navy’s St. Lawrence to transport U.S. products and exhibitors to Southampton, England (Feb. 1851). But Congress did not appropriate funds to uncrate and transport the exhibits from Southampton to London or to adorn the large (40,000 sq. ft.) U.S. pavilion at the Crystal Palace. Crates strewn about the unadorned pavilion provoked the satirical Punch to poke fun at “the glaring contrast between large pretensions and little performance…by America.” The London correspondent of the New York Evening Post called it “a national disgrace that American wares…are so barely displayed; so vulgarly spread out over so large a space.” GP was then a comparatively little known U.S. resident merchant-turned-bond-broker-and-banker in London (since Feb. 1837). He and other U.S. residents knew it might take months for Congress to appropriate funds, if at all. For details of the July 4, 1851, dinner, and sources, see Corcoran, William Wilson. Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair).

Dinners, GP’s, London. 4-Great Exhibition of 1851 Cont’d. GP quietly offered a $15,000 loan through U.S. Minister to Britain Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855). U.S. legation officers, U.S. exhibitors, and U.S. residents in London were relieved and grateful. Partly through GP’s loan, which Congress repaid three years later, over six million visitors to the first world’s fair saw U.S. manufactured products and arts displayed to best advantage. U.S. items most talked about were Albert C. Hobbs’s (1812-91) unpickable lock, Samuel Colt’s (1814-62) revolvers, Hiram Powers’ (1805-73) statue, the Greek Slave, Cyrus Hall McCormick’s (1809-84) reapers, Richard Hoe’s (1812-86) printing press, and William Cranch Bond’s (1789-1859) spring governor. With the Great Exhibition of 1851 open in London, and amid sometimes jocular, more often serious, U.S.-British rivalry, GP proposed to sponsor a U.S.-British friendship dinner on July 4, 1851, U.S. Independence Day, in the capital of Britain from which the American colonies had revolted 75 years past. See persons named.

July 4, 1851 Dinner, London

Dinners, GP’s, London. 5-July 4, 1851: Will British Society Attend? GP had on a small scale hosted U.S.-British friendship dinners before 1851. His motive in the dinners, as in making the loan to the U.S. exhibitors, was to improve U.S.-British relations. Anti-U.S. quips in London newspapers saddened him, as did anti-British reports in U.S. newspapers. He was painfully aware of past strained relations. It had been 10 years since the U.S.-British dispute over the Maine boundary, 37 years since the War of 1812, 75 years since the American Revolution. In the international spirit of the Great Exhibition, and with so many prominent U.S. visitors present, GP had the idea in June 1851 to host a U.S.-British friendship dinner. He chose July 4, 1851, a date U.S. visitors would appreciate but Britons might resent. Could he do it on a larger than usual scale? Would British society attend?

Dinners, GP’s, London. 6-July 4, 1851: Will British Society Attend? Cont’d. GP sounded out his friends, especially U.S. Minister to Britain Abbott Lawrence. Mr. Lawrence discreetly asked the opinion of London social leaders. On June 26, 1851, he found a wary reaction to the idea. In a private and confidential letter he warned GP: “Lady Palmerston was here. She has seen the leading ladies of the town and quoted one as saying the fashionables are tired of balls. I am quite satisfied that the fashionables and aristocracy of London do not wish to attend this Ball. Lady Palmerston says she will attend. I do not under those circumstances desire to tax my friends to meet Mrs. Lawrence and myself–Your party then I think must be confined to the Americans–and those connected with America, and such of the British people as happen to be so situated as to enjoy uniting with us.” Ref. (London society won’t attend): Abbott Lawrence to GP, June 26, 1851, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 7-July 4, 1851: Will British Society Attend? Cont’d. Prospects looked dim. GP persisted. He wanted to build on the Great Exhibition spirit of goodwill. He thought his proposed friendship dinner might succeed if a truly distinguished British guest of honor attended. Through mutual friends, GP approached the Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley Wellington, 1769-1852), then England’s greatest living hero. The man who beat Napoleon at Waterloo reportedly huffed, “Good idea.” When it was known that the 84-year-old Duke of Wellington would attend, British society followed. GP’s Friday night, July 4, 1851, dinner succeeded enormously. Ref. (Duke of Wellington): Chapple, p. 8. Wilson, P. W., p. 45. See persons named.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 8-July 4, 1851: Dinner, Dance, and the Duke. The Friday night, July 4, 1851, dinner was held at the exclusive Willis’s Rooms, sometimes called Almack’s. GP hired a professional master of ceremonies, a Mr. Mitchell of Bond St. On either end of the spacious ballroom were portraits of Queen Victoria and George Washington. Flowers were tastefully arranged. English and U.S. flags were skillfully blended. More than a thousand guests came and went that evening. Eight hundred sat down to dinner. Ref. (July 4, 1851, dinner): New York Times, Aug. 4, 1868, p. 2, c. 2. See Willis’s Rooms. Persons named.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 9-July 4, 1851: Dinner, Dance, and the Duke Cont’d. Present were Members of Parliament, former Tenn. Gov. Neill Smith Brown (1810-86), who was then U.S. Minister to Russia; London’s Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress; Thomson Hankey (1805-93), the Bank of England’s junior governor; Baroness Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906), the 19th century’s greatest woman philanthropist; Joseph Paxton of Crystal Palace fame; and other English nobility. An orchestra played and a ball followed in a spacious ballroom decorated with medallions and mirrors, lit by 500 candles in cut-glass chandeliers. At 11 p.m. as the Duke of Wellington entered, the band struck up “See the Conquering Hero Comes.” GP approached the “Iron Duke,” shook his hand, and escorted him through the hall amid applause, and introduced him to U.S. Minister Abbott Lawrence. See Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair). Persons named.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 10-July 4, 1851: Praise. The London Times reported that His Grace had a good time and left at a late hour. The same article referred to GP as “an eminent American merchant.” The Ladies Newspaper had a large woodcut illustration of GP introducing the Duke to Abbott Lawrence. Even the aristocratic London Morning Post took favorable note of the affair. U.S. Minister Abbott, gushing with pride and thanks, wrote to GP: “I should be unjust…if I were not to offer my acknowledgments and heartfelt thanks for myself and our country for the more than regal entertainment you gave to me and mine, and to our countrymen generally here in London.” Lawrence went on: “Your idea of bringing together the inhabitants of two of the greatest nations upon earth…was a most felicitous conception….” Lawrence concluded: “I congratulate you upon the distinguished success that has crowned your efforts…. [You have] done that which was never before attempted.” (By coincidence there is an equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington in front of the Royal Exchange, London, by British sculptor Francis Legatt Chantry [1781-1841]; and nearby on Threadneedle St. is GP’s seated statue by U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story [1819-95]). Ref. (Statues mentioned: New York Times, Feb. 28, 1988, Sec. 2, p. 39, c.1. See Corcoran, William Wilson. Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair). Willis’s Rooms.

Oct. 27, 1851 Dinner to Departing U. S. Exhibitors

Dinners, GP’s, London. 11-Oct. 27, 1851: Departing U.S. Exhibitors. On Oct. 6, 1851, U.S. commissioner to the Great Exhibition Charles F. Stansbury and other exhibitors, about to return to the U.S., invited GP to be guest of honor at a farewell dinner. He gratefully declined on Oct. 11, said they had overestimated his services, added that his l5 years in London had erased sectional and political difference, and that he did what he could to further the U.S. as a whole. This invitation may have prompted his own Oct. 27 dinner to the departing exhibitors. It was grander and better received than his July 4, 1851, dinner. Also, he had the proceedings and speeches recorded, printed, and beautifully bound copies selectively distributed to U.S. and British officials. Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 12-Oct. 27, 1851: Departing U.S. Exhibitors Cont’d. The Oct. 27, 1851, dinner was held at the London Coffee House, Ludgate Hill, where Benjamin Franklin as American ambassador had met friends to discuss American colonial affairs over food and drinks. British and U.S. flags draped life-size paintings of Queen Victoria, George Washington, and Prince Albert. Pennants and laurel wreaths decorated the long hall. At 7:00 P.M. GP took the chair, grace was said, and dinner was served to 150 U.S. and British guests, many of them connected with the just-closed Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 13-Oct. 27, 1851: Departing U.S. Exhibitors Cont’d. The toastmaster, a Mr. Harker, began: “Mr. Peabody drinks to you in a loving cup and bids you all a hearty welcome.” A U.S.-made loving cup of English oak, inlaid with silver, inscribed “Francis Peabody of Salem to George Peabody, of London, 1851,” was passed around until each guest tasted from it. After dessert, GP rose and gave the first toast to, “The Queen, God bless her.” All stood as the band played God Save the Queen. His second toast was to “The President of the United States, God bless him.” All rose while Hail Columbia was played. His third toast to “The health of His Royal Highness Prince Albert” brought more flourishes of music. U.S. Minister Abbott Lawrence was toasted and the band played Yankee Doodle. Ref. Ibid. (Note: The loving cup was given to GP by distant cousin Francis Peabody [1801-68] of Salem, Mass., fourth son of famed Salem, Mass., shipmaster Joseph Peabody [1757-1844]).

Dinners, GP’s, London. 14-Oct. 27, 1851: Speeches. U.S. Minister Lawrence spoke of the many ties binding the U.S. and Britain. He praised Sir Joseph Paxton, “The man…who…[planned] a building such as the world never saw before.” He praised Earl Granville (Granville George Leveson-Gower, 1815-91), who had “the skill and enterprise to execute the plan.” He praised Sir Henry Bulwer-Lytton (William Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer, 1801-72), British ambassador to the U.S. U.S. Minister Lawrence said to the departing exhibitors: “We came out of the Exhibition better than was first anticipated…. You will take leave of this country…impressed with the high values of the Exhibition…in the full belief that you have received every consideration.” Ref. New York Times, Nov. 13, 1851, p. 4, c. 2-3. See persons named.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 15-Oct. 27, 1851: Speeches Cont’d. Sir Henry Bulwer-Lytton, grasping the hand of Abbott Lawrence, said: “I clasp your hand as that of a friend and claim it as that of a brother. [Cheers] The idea of this Great Exhibition…was…to collect…the mind of the whole world, so that each nation might learn and appreciate the character and intelligence of the other.” “You live under a Republic,” he said to the Americans, “and we under a Monarchy, but what of that? The foundations of both societies are law and religion: the purpose of both governments is liberty and order.” Hand in hand,” he concluded, “we can stand together…the champions of peace between nations, of conciliation between opinions.” Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 16-Oct. 27, 1851: Speeches Cont’d. GP, ending the festivities, stood. When the cheers subsided, he said: “I have lived a great many years in this country without weakening my attachment to my own land…. I have been extremely fortunate in bringing together…a number of our countrymen…and…English gentlemen [of] social and official rank…. May these unions still continue, and gather strength with the gathering years.” The proceedings lasted more than four hours. The evening was favorably reported in the press. Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 17-Oct. 27, 1851: U.S.-British Press. The New York Times gave two full columns to the dinner. Another NYC newspaper stated: “George Peabody’s dinners were timed just right. For years there have been built up antagonism and recrimination. Suddenly a respected American, long resident in London with a host of American and English friends, brings them together. The thing works and…elicits applause and appreciation from both the American and English press.” Great Exhibition participant Charles B. Haddock’s (1796-1861) letter in a Concord, N.H., newspaper read: “Mr. Peabody’s dinner to the departing Americans had several good effects. (1) It highlighted American achievement at the Exhibition; (2) brought George Peabody into notice; (3) raised Abbott Lawrence’s esteem as United States Minister to England.” Ref. Ibid. Congregational Journal (Concord, N.H.), Dec. 17, 1851, p. 1, c. 6-7.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 18-Oct. 27, 1851: U.S.-British Press Cont’d. Haddock cont’d.: “It is something to have sent to the Exhibition the best plough, the best reaping machine, the best revolvers–something to have outdone the proudest naval people in the world, in fast sailing and fast steaming, in her own waters…. Moreover, it is a great pride for America to have George Peabody and Abbott Lawrence in England who represent the best of America and uphold its worth and integrity.” Haddock referred to the U.S. yacht America, which won the 1851 international yacht race, defeating the English yacht Baltic in British waters. The first prize (a silver tankard) was afterward known as America’s Cup. Ref. Ibid. Ref. (America’s Cup): Rodgers (comp.). quoted in Ffrench, p. 242. See America’s Cup (1851).

Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner Proceedings Book

Dinners, GP’s, London. 19-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner Proceedings Book. GP commissioned Henry Stevens (1819-86) to compile and have printed in a book the dinner menu, toasts, proceedings, and speeches. GP’s friend Henry Stevens was born in Barnet, Vt., a graduate of Yale College (1841) and Harvard Law School, who went to London in July 1845, and remained there for the rest of his life as a rare book dealer and bibliographer. He bought U.S. books for the British Museum and sold British books to U.S. libraries. Stevens had 50 copies printed and bound in cloth by Nov. 25, 1851, and sent copies to departing U.S. exhibitors. For distribution and acknowledgments of Oct. 27, 1851, dinner Proceedings book compiled by Stevens, with sources, see Corcoran, William Wilson.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 20-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner Proceedings Book Cont’d. Through U.S. Minister Abbott Lawrence, GP gave a copy printed on vellum to Pres. Millard Fillmore (1800-74). Pres. Fillmore acknowledged receipt and wrote to Abbott Lawrence: “From all I have heard of Mr. Peabody, he is one of those ‘Merchant Princes’ who does equal honor to the land of his birth and the country of his adoption. This dinner must have been a most grateful treat to our American citizens and will long be remembered by the…guests…he entertained as one of the happiest days of their lives…. The banquet shows that he still recollects his native land with fond affection, and it may well be proud of him.” For GP’s July 4, 1855, dinner, with former U.S. Pres. Millard Fillmore as guest of honor, see Fillmore, Millard.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 21-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner Proceedings Book Cont’d. U.S. Minister Lawrence also sent copies on vellum to Prince Albert, The Duke of Wellington, and Lord Granville. Lawrence wrote to GP: “I have a note from Colonel Grey [1804-70, later Gen. Charles Grey, Queen Victoria’s advisor], the secretary to Prince Albert, acknowledging the receipt of your beautiful volume with expressions of thanks to you for it, from his Royal Highness.” U.S. Minister to Britain Abbott Lawrence’s son, after sending copies to Boston dignitaries, wrote to GP that the book was “much talked of in Boston and has been greatly praised.” GP’s nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909) wrote his uncle from Harvard, where GP was paying for his college education: “Your parting entertainment to the American Exhibitors has caused your name to be known and appreciated on this side of the Atlantic…. In fact, you have become quite a public character.” Ref. (Abbott Lawrence to GP), Jan. 16, 1852, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. See persons named. Stevens, Henry.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 22-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner Aftermath: Beginning of GP’s Philanthropy. Praise of GP in Baltimore newspapers may have prompted the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts to make him an honorary member. He read a newspaper report of the Maryland Institute’s effort to raise funds for a school of chemistry. GP wrote to Maryland Institute’s Pres. William H. Keighler (1804-85), Oct. 31, 1851, enclosing a $1,000 gift for the chemistry school “as a small token of gratitude toward a State from which I have been mighty honored, and a City in the prosperity of which I shall ever feel the greatest interest.” This still little known gift began his educational philanthropy. The next year, June 1852, when his hometown of Danvers, Mass., celebrated its 100th year of separation from Salem, Mass., GP, who could not attend, sent his first check to found his first Peabody Institute Library, accompanied by a motto, “Education–a debt due from present to future generations.” Ref. (Md. Institute): GP to Md. Institute Pres. William H. Keighler, Oct. 31, 1851, Garrett Papers, Library of Congress Ms. Quoted in American and Commercial Daily Advertiser (Baltimore), Nov. 27, 1851, p. 2, c. 1.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 23-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner Aftermath: Beginning of GP’s Philanthropy Cont’d. To Washington, D.C., friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888), who had written to GP, “You will make us proud to call you friend and countryman,” GP answered: “However liberal I may be here, I cannot keep pace with your noble acts of charity at home; but one of these days I mean to come out, and then if my feelings regarding money don’t change and I have plenty, I shall become a strong competitor of yours in benevolence.” Thus, during Abbott Lawrence’s years as U.S. Minister to Britain, GP emerged as a significant promoter of U.S.-British friendship. GP told only a few intimates of his early determination to found an educational institution in each city where he lived and worked. Public praise for his loan to the U.S. exhibitors at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and praise for his two Exhibition-connected dinners furthered that determination. GP emerged socially in the 1850s. In the 1860s he became the best known philanthropist of his time. Ref. GP to W.W. Corcoran, Oct. 3, 1851, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms., and quoted in Corcoran, p. 101. See persons named.

1852 Dinners

Dinners, GP’s, London. 24-John Charles Frémont, Early 1852
Dinners. U.S. visitors in London who attended GP dinners, June 17 and July 4, 1852, included dashing Savannah, Ga.-born explorer-politician John Charles Frémont (1813-90). Frémont, and his wife, Jesse (née Benton) Frémont (1824-1902), daughter of U.S. Sen. from Missouri Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858), were in London to raise funds to finance mining on their California Mariposa Estate. While acting governor of California at the outbreak of the Mexican War, 1846-47, Frémont borrowed money to meet territorial expenses. These debts were the cause of Frémont’s arrest in London on April 7, 1852, as he and his wife were about to step into a carriage. A victim of circumstances, he appealed to GP, who deposited the bail needed for his release the next day, April 8, 1852. Ref. (Charles C. Frémont): Sun (Baltimore), July 10, 1852, p. 2, c. 1. New York Herald, June 29, 1852, p. 4, c. 3. Exchequer of Pleas, London. Gibbs and others versus John Charles Frémont, April 8, 1852. Messrs. Sanford to GP, April 8, 1952, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. Nevins, pp. 319-392, 395, 399, 404. Joseph Reed Ingersoll to GP, July 25, 1852, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. See persons named.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 25-John Charles Frémont, Early 1852 Dinners Cont’d. GP’s June 17, 1852, dinner, celebrated the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Mass. (June 17, 1775). It was held at the Brunswick Hotel, Blackwall, opposite the Greenwich Hospital some six miles from St. Paul’s overlooking the Thames. Over 100 guests were at the dinner, three fourths of them Americans. Besides John Charles Frémont, guests included U.S. Minister to Britain Abbott Lawrence and Mrs. Lawrence, MP from Liverpool William Brown (1784-1864), Thomson Hankey (1805-93) of the Bank of England, N.Y. state editor and political leader Thurlow Weed (1797-1882), and others. After dinner Minister Abbott Lawrence spoke. He skillfully compared the Battle of Bunker Hill, which gave freedom to the American continent, with the Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815), which freed Europe from Napoleon. These adjacent anniversaries, Lawrence said, symbolized the U.S. and England as keeping freedom’s light burning. MP William Brown and Thomson Hankey also spoke. Refs. below.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 26-John Charles Frémont, Early 1852 Dinners Cont’d. Ref. (GP’s June 17 and July 4, 1852, dinners and speeches): NYC Commercial Advertiser, July 9, 1852, p. 2, c. 1-2. Republic (Washington, D.C.), July 10, 1852, p. 2, c. 5. Leader (London), June 26, 1852, pp. 603, 708. Sun (Baltimore), July 10, 1852, p. 2, c. 1. Albany Evening Journal (Albany, N.Y.), July 3, 1852, p. 3, c. 4 and July 7, 1852, p. 2, c. 2. British Army Dispatch (London), July 9, 1852, p. 445, c. 1-3. Daily Cincinnati Gazette (Ohio), July 30, 1852, p. 2, c. 3. See persons named.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 27-Thurlow Weed, June 17, 1852, Dinner. GP forwarded mail and secured tickets to exhibits and the opera for Thurlow Weed. Weed described the Bunker Hill anniversary dinner in his Albany Evening Journal. He referred to GP as “the American Merchant Prince, who makes London so pleasant to his countrymen.” In Nov. 1861 when Weed was Pres. Lincoln’s emissary in London to keep England neutral in the U.S. Civil War, he again saw GP, who helped him meet British officials. Asked later to be GP’s philanthropic advisor, Weed recommended as better qualified Mass. statesman Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94). In Dec. 1869, after GP’s death, when some articles charged GP as pro-Confederate, Weed publicly vindicated GP as a staunch Unionist. GP invited his War of 1812 military commander, then in Europe, to his July 4, 1852, dinner, also held at the Brunswick Hotel, Blackwall. His commander, in Berlin and unable to attend, wrote GP: “I hope you will not forget your old commander on that day and that you will drink his health as I shall drink yours wherever I may be.” Ref. (GP’s Md. commander): G.H. (or G.W.?) Steward, Baltimore, written from Berlin, to GP, June 20, 1852, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. See Civil War and GP. Persons named.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 28-Oct. 12, 1852, Dinner. GP gave a dinner in London on Oct. 12, 1852, to introduce incoming U.S. Minister J.R. Ingersoll and his niece, Miss Charlotte Manigault Wilcocks (1821-75). The dinner also honored the departing U.S. Minister to Britain, Abbott Lawrence. Present was Joshua Bates (1788-1864), born in Weymouth, Mass., who early went to London where he became agent for, partner in (1826), and soon head of the Baring Brothers. Present too was Russell Sturgis (1805-87), U.S-born London resident merchant-banker. GP’s dinner enabled the Ingersolls to meet U.S. residents in London and prominent Britishers. One GP critic, however, wrote in his private journal that GP’s dinners had an ulterior motive. Secty. of the U.S. Legation in London Benjamin Moran (1820-86) wrote (Aug. 31, 1857): “He [GP] generally bags the new American Minister for his own purposes and shows him up around the town, if he can, as his puppet to a set of fourth rate English aristocrats and American tuft-hunters who eat his dinners and laugh at him for his pains.” Ref. (Oct. 12, 1852, dinner): Boston Daily Journal, Nov. 1, 1852, p. 2, c. 3. Ref. (Moran’s journal): Wallace and Gillespie, eds., I, p. 123.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 29-Oct. 12, 1852, Dinner Cont’d. Legation Secty. Moran’s sarcastic views, however, were discredited by the editors of his published journal (1948) and by historian Henry [Brooks] Adams (1838-1918), private secretary to his father, Charles Francis Adams (1807-86), U.S. Minister to Britain during 1861-68. Henry Adams wrote: “Benjamin Moran…had an exaggerated notion of his importance; he was sensitive to flattery, and easily offended…. [His] diary…must be read from the point of view of his character….” Ref. (Henry Adams on Moran): Adams, H-b., p. xxxiv. See persons named.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 30-Oct. 12, 1852, Dinner Cont’d. GP’s gifts of apples and tea, use of his opera box, and U.S.-British friendship dinners earned Minister Ingersoll’s thanks in a letter on June 16, 1853: “I do but echo the general sentiment, in expressing to you the feelings of regard and esteem which you have inspired.” Ref. J.R. Ingersoll was commissioned U.S. Minister to Britain on Aug. 21, 1852, arrived in London Sept. 30, 1852, presented his credentials on Oct. 16, 1852, and was relieved Aug. 23, 1853; letter from Archivist, National Archives, Washington, D.C., to authors, Dec. 23, 1955.

1853 Dinner

Dinners, GP’s, London. 31-May 18, 1853, Dinner. GP’s May 18, 1853, dinner provided more contact with London society for U.S. Minister J.R. Ingersoll and his niece, Miss Wilcocks. The dinner was held at the Star and Garter, Richmond, about eight miles from London, overlooking the Thames. The 150 guests (65 English, 85 Americans) included Harvard Univ. professor (and president in 1860) Cornelius Conway Felton (1807-62). He later wrote in his book, Familiar Letters from Europe, of being a guest “at a splendid and costly entertainment” in 1853 by GP with Martin Van Buren (1782-62, eighth U.S. Pres., 1837-41) and “many very distinguished persons” present. Ref. Felton, p. 28. New York Daily Times, June 1, 1853, p. 8, c. 2-5. Baltimore American and Commercial Daily Advertiser, June 3, 1853, p. 2, c. 3-4. Daily National Intelligencer (Washington, D.C.), June 7, 1853, p. 3, c. 1-3. Curry-b, p. ix.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 32-May 18, 1853, Dinner Cont’d. A band and vocalists began and ended the dinner with the British and U.S. national anthems. After the sumptuous meal GP expressed his pleasure at bringing together U.S. and British friends. Minister Ingersoll then read the toasts: “The Queen: the President of the United States: and the people of the United States and the United Kingdom: the two great nations, whose common origin, mutual interests and growing friendships, serve to cement a union created by resemblance in language, liberty, religion and law.” Ingersoll’s speech that followed his toasts contained complimentary references to former U.S. Pres. Martin Van Buren and to GP. These references evoked cheers. Van Buren rose and paid respects to the occasion and to GP as host. Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 33-May 18, 1853, Dinner Cont’d. GP’s friend, Episcopal Bishop of Ohio Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873) rose to speak. Years later he would help GP plan the Peabody apartments for London’s working poor (from March 12, 1862, $2.5 million total gift). McIlvaine said, referring to GP’s British-U.S. dinners: “When history should come to be written, and due weight should be given to all the influences which tend to perpetuate international concord, if history should consent to notice incidents apparently so trifling as social festivities and the interchange of friendly greetings, it would assign…a very high place to their host as one who had done very much in this way to promote mutual knowledge and goodwill between the people of the two great nations who were there represented.” The dinner and speeches received transatlantic press coverage. What the dinner cost GP is not known, but one bill, only part of the total, was about $940. Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 34-May 18, 1853, Dinner Cont’d. Also present at this GP dinner honoring Minister J.R. Ingersoll were Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) and Mrs. Morgan. Because GP was often ill, business friends had long urged him to take an American partner to give continuity to George Peabody & Co. Friends recommended J.S. Morgan as a likely partner of great probity, experienced in dry-goods importing and knowledgeable about securities and banking. GP and Morgan had been in correspondence about a possible partnership. The J.S. Morgans and their 16-year-old son, John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), had come to London expressly to look into the possible partnership. See Morgan, Junius Spencer. Morgan, Sr., John Pierpont.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 35-May 18, 1853, Dinner Cont’d. The May 18, 1853, dinner allowed GP and Morgan to take each other’s measure in a social setting. Young J.P. Morgan, who was not at the dinner, wrote to his cousin that night, “Father and Mother went to a dinner given by George Peabody at Richmond.” GP and J.S. Morgan were both favorably impressed. The Morgans returned to Boston. J.S. Morgan visited U.S. firms with which George Peabody & Co. did business. Morgan decided to accept. He made another trip to London to examine the company books. The partnership took effect the next year, Oct. 1, 1854. Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 36-May 18, 1853, Dinner Cont’d. Contact with Minister J.R. Ingersoll also had the touch of a possible romance, entirely on the part of Ingersoll’s niece, Charlotte Manigault Wilcocks. Although sometimes ill in the summer of 1853, GP’s social entertainment included Miss Wilcocks and another lady, Elise Tiffany, daughter of Baltimore friend Osmond Capron Tiffany (1794-1851). From Paris in June 1853 Elise Tiffany’s brother George Tiffany asked GP by letter to help get an apartment for them in London. He added, “I just asked Elise if she had any message for you. She says, ‘No, I have nothing to say to him whilst Miss Wilcocks is there.’” Ref. George Tiffany, Paris, to GP, London, June 7, 1853, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 37-May 18, 1853, Dinner Cont’d. The Tiffanys had been invited to the May 18, 1853, dinner for the Ingersolls but Elise would not go. Her brother George Tiffany explained in a letter to GP: “Elise knows the entertainment is to the American Minister and Miss Wilcocks. The thing is impossible. Her trunks will not pack, nor her Bills pay…. As to the Scotch trip of a couple of weeks, Elise counts upon your making that sacrifice as a balm to her wounded feelings, caused by the various reports all through the winter.” Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 38-May 18, 1853, Dinner Cont’d. GP had gone to the opera with Miss Wilcocks and they appeared together at social functions. A London reporter for a NYC newspaper wrote about a possible romance: “Mr. Ingersoll gave his second soiree recently. Miss Wilcocks does the honors with much grace, and is greatly admired here. The world gives out that she and Mr Peabody are to form an alliance, but time will show….” GP, then age 58, had no matrimonial intentions, as he explained in a letter to intimate Washington, D.C., business friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888): “I have now arrived at an age that throws aside all thoughts of marriage [although] I think her [Miss Wilcocks] a very fine woman.” Ref. GP, London, to William Wilson Corcoran, Washington, D.C., May 3, 1853, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms. Also quoted in Corcoran, pp. 110-111.

1854 Dinner

Dinners, GP’s, London. 39-July 4, 1854 Dinner: Sickles Affair. GP’s July 4, 1854, Independence Day dinner, Star and Garter Hotel, London, honored incoming U.S. Minister to Britain James Buchanan (1791-1868), later 15th U.S. President during 1857-61. The incident that marred the dinner occurred when jingoistic U.S. Legation Secty. Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914), objected to GP’s toast to “The Queen” before one to “The U.S. President.” Sickles refused to stand and angrily walked out. See Sickles, Daniel Edgar. Corcoran, William Wilson.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 40-July 4, 1854 Dinner: Sickles Affair Cont’d. D.E. Sickles was born in NYC, attended what is now New York Univ., and was brought in as U.S. Legation Secty. in London by incoming U.S. Minister Buchanan. In 1853 before he arrived in London, Sickles wrote GP to reserve rooms for himself, wife, and baby, a courtesy service George Peabody & Co. did for visiting Americans. GP consulted Sickles and others about his planned July 4, 1854, Independence Day banquet. Sickles suggested that it be a subscription dinner and that he, Sickles, arrange it. GP insisted on paying for the dinner as usual but let Sickles help select guests, send invitations, and help plan the entertainment. GP always first toasted Queen Victoria as British head of state and secondly the U.S. President. Sickles, an ultra-patriot at a time of U.S. jingoism (the U.S. had recently won the Mexican War and acquired parts of Texas and California), considered the order of toast a national insult, sat while the other 149 guests stood for the two toasts. Stiff and red-gorged, wrote his biographer, Sickles stormed out of the banquet. Buchanan, guest speaker at the banquet, remained. Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 41-July 4, 1854 Dinner: Sickles Affair Cont’d. U.S.-British press reports of Sickles’ walkout were fanned to a furor when an anonymous letter (Sickles later admitted writing the letter) in the Boston Post, July 21, 1854, p. 2, c. l, attacked GP’s lack of patriotism and chided him for “toadying” to the English. One reader swayed by this charge wrote GP: “If you had a grain of national feeling you wouldn’t have done it…. You are no longer fit to be called an American citizen.” Such reaction led GP and others to send the facts to the Boston Post. Pro and con letters were published for months in the press. Most letter writers criticized Sickles and exonerated GP. Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 42-July 4, 1854 Dinner: Sickles Affair Cont’d. Sickles’ subsequent career was also controversial. On Feb. 27, 1859, while serving in the U.S. Senate (1857-61), he shot to death Philip Barton Key (son of Francis Scott Key, 1779-1843) for Key’s alleged attentions to Sickles’ wife. Sickles was acquitted of the murder charge as of unsound mind, the first U.S. court use of that defense. In the Civil War Sickles was a Union general and lost a leg at Gettysburg. As Reconstruction commander of the Carolinas during 1865-67, his punitive actions against former Confederates were said to have been so severe that Pres. Andrew Johnson (1808-75) transferred him to another command. Sickles was U.S. Minister to Spain (1869-73), served again in the U.S. Congress, helped establish Gettysburg as a national park, and helped secure the land for NYC’s Central Park. Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 43-July 4, 1854: Sickles Charged–GP Rebutted. A friend wrote GP: “We are astounded that you lower yourself by a correspondence with the most contemptible of all Americans, Sickles, who was indicted by a New York Grand Jury for fraud, which indictment stands to this day.” Another informant wrote GP that proof of Sickles’ guilt in committing fraud was contained in letters stolen from the NYC post office by Sickles’ direction. Statements from several July 4, 1854, dinner participants defending GP’s actions were published. Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 44-July 4, 1854: GP Defended. Horatio Gates Somerby (1805-72), Newburyport, Mass.-born genealogist, London resident, and GP’s friend and sometime agent, helped arrange the dinner. Somerby explained his part in the dinner: “At Mr. Peabody’s request I drew up a series of toasts and submitted them to Mr. Buchanan…..[These] were returned to me as approved…. Mr. Sickles did indeed object to Englishmen being present. The Minister approved and Mr. Peabody’s course was independent of Mr. Sickles’ opinion.” A letter from 26 Americans present at the dinner, including Henry Barnard (1811-1900), Conn. Superintendent of Common Schools (later first U.S. Commissioner of Education), read: “The undersigned have read Mr. Peabody’s letter to the Boston Post of Aug. 16, 1854, and without hesitation affirm as true the events described by Mr. Peabody.” Ref. Ibid. See persons named.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 45-July 4, 1854: Aftermath. Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855) of Boston, former U.S. Minister to Britain (1849-52), wrote GP: “The attack made upon you I deem unworthy of any man who professes to be a gentleman. Your misfortune was in having persons about you who were not worthy to be at your table. I had hard work to get rid of some men in England who hung about me, but cost what it would I would not permit a certain class of adventurer to approach me.” Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 46-July 4, 1854: Aftermath Cont’d. Longtime business friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888) of Washington, D.C., with whom GP had helped sell U.S. bonds abroad that financed the Mexican War, wrote GP that [U.S. Minister to Britain James] “Buchanan had not the slightest respect” for Sickles but for political reasons could not reprove him. Buchanan, with a less controversial new legation secretary, wrote to Sickles: “Your refusal to rise when the Queen’s health was proposed is still mentioned in society, but I have always explained and defended you.” Two years later, while GP was in Washington, D.C., during his 1856-57 U.S. visit, and when James Buchanan was the 15th U.S. President, there was a coldness between the two men, who did not meet again. Ref. Ibid. See persons named.

1856 Dinner

Dinners, GP’s, London. 47-June 13, 1856, Dinner. George Mifflin Dallas (1792-1864).was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1856-61, replacing U.S. Minister James Buchanan. G.M. Dallas was in turn replaced by Charles Francis Adams (1807-86), U.S. Minister to Britain during 1861-68. G.M. Dallas was born in Philadelphia, graduated from Princeton College (1810), was a lawyer (1813), U.S. Sen. from Penn. (1831-33), Penn. Attorney General (1833-35), U.S. Minister to Russia (1837-39), and U.S. Vice President (1845-49) under U.S. Pres. James K. Polk (1795-1849, 11th U.S. President during 1845-49).

Dinners, GP’s, London. 48-June 13, 1856, Dinner Cont’d. GP gave a U.S.-British friendship dinner and entertainment on June 13, 1856, to introduce incoming Minister G.M. Dallas. The 130 guests included 1-the Lord Mayor of London and the Mayoress; 2-Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85) and Mrs. Jane (née Walter) Lampson (C.M. Lampson was a Vt.-born naturalized British subject and GP’s longtime business friend); 3-Junius Spencer Morgan, who become GP’s partner in George Peabody & Co. on Oct. 1, 1854 (his son John Pierpont Morgan, Sr., began his banking career as NYC agent for George Peabody & Co.) and Mrs. Morgan; 4-Sir Joseph Paxton (1801-65), British architect who designed the Crystal Palace to house the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, the first world’s fair; and 5-John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870), Baltimore-born novelist and U.S. statesman who, at GP’s request, designed the PIB, to which GP gave a total of $1.4 million, 1857-69; and others. Ref. New York Times, July 4, 1856, p. 2, c. 4-5; London Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, June 22, 1856, p. 5, c. 3.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 49-June 13, 1856, Dinner Cont’d. J.P. Kennedy wrote in his journal about the June 13, 1856, dinner: “A great banquet given by Mr. P., with tickets to the Concert there at 3…we got to dinner about 7. We number nearly 130.” The June 13, 1856, dinner which introduced Minister Dallas was held soon after the Crimean War (1855-56, Russia vs. England, France, others). There was in the U.S. some anti-British feeling about this European conflict. British Minister to the U.S. John Crampton indiscreetly tried to recruit U.S. volunteers for the British army. U.S. Secty. of State William Learned Marcy (1786-1857) objected and had Crampton recalled. Ref. Kennedy’s journal, IX, “Travel in England, May 10-October 20, 1856, entry dated Friday, June 13, 1856,” Kennedy Papers, PIB.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 50-June 13, 1856, Dinner Cont’d. It happened that former British Minister to the U.S. Henry Bulwer-Lytton (1801-72) was to have proposed the health of U.S. Minister Dallas at GP’s June 13, 1856, dinner. But Bulwer-Lytton, being Crampton’s colleague, explained to GP that to appear at this dinner and propose the health of U.S. Minister Dallas would be unfair to his dismissed colleague John Crampton and would evoke British public resentment. It was a tribute to GP that he could still successfully sponsor this U.S.-British friendship dinner at that tense time of misunderstanding and mistrust. See Crimean War. Persons named.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 51-July 4, 1856, Dinner: GP’s Remarks. GP gave a July 4, 1856, Independence Day dinner for more than 100 Americans and a few Englishmen at the Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond, eight miles from London on the Thames at which Minister G.M. Dallas gave a short speech. GP prefaced his toast with these remarks: “I have before me two loving cups, one British the second of American oak, presented to me some years ago by Francis Peabody [1801-68, distant cousin from Salem, Mass.] now present. Let me say a few words before passing these cups. The first dinner I gave in connection with American Independence Day was a dinner in 1850 at which the American Minister, American and English friends were present. In 1851, the Great Exhibition year, I substituted a ball and banquet. Some of my friends were apprehensive that the affair would not be accepted that year of Anglo-American rivalry but the acceptance of the Duke of Wellington made the affair successful. For twenty years I have been in this kingdom of England and in my humble way mean to spread peace and good-will. I know no party North or South but my whole country. With these loving cups let us know only friendship between East and West.” See Dallas, George Mifflin.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 52-July 4, 1856, Dinner: Wm. Brown’s Speech. GP proposed “The Day We Celebrate,” followed by “Her Majesty, the Queen,” and “the President of the United States.” MP from Liverpool William Brown (1784-1864), said: “The day we celebrate will ever be remembered in the history of the world. For we English derive as much satisfaction from it as you do. None of us are answerable for the sins of statesmanship or the errors of our forefathers. George Washington, remembered with respect by England and the world, would rejoice to see the enterprising spirit of the country he brought into existence, a country which seeks to bridge the Atlantic and Pacific via canal and now explores the Arctic seas (cheers). “I deny that England is jealous of the United States. We rejoice in your prosperity and know that when you prosper we share in it. It is not true that the fortunes of one country arise from the misfortune of another. While we have differences they can be amicably adjusted (cheers). I toast the American Minister, Mr. George M. Dallas (cheers).” Ref. Ibid.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 53-July 4, 1856, Dinner: Minister Dallas Said: “I rejoice to find so many patriots present to celebrate American Independence Day. We are, as a country, but eighty years old, yet how proud we are of her (cheers). Small and feeble at birth, she now contains twenty-seven million people. Once on the margin of the Atlantic she is now an immense continent. It is a matter of sincere regret that the free nations are not always the sincerest friends (hear, hear).” A complimentary toast was proposed to GP as host. His few remarks in response concluded by saying that the land of his birth was always uppermost in his mind. When he sat down the band played “Home, Sweet Home.” Present at this dinner was Irish-born sculptor John Edward Jones (1806-62), who made a bust of GP in 1856. Also present was U.S. inventor Samuel Finlay Breese Morse (1791-1872). A toast to “The Telegraph” was suddenly proposed. Not anticipating the toast and not having a reply at hand, Morse rose and modestly quoted from Psalm 19: “Their line is gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world.” Ref. Ibid. See persons named.

1858 Dinner

Dinners, GP’s, London. 54-July 22, 1858, Dinner. New York Herald’s editor James Gordon Bennett (1795-1872) had written hostile articles covering GP’s whirlwind Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years’ absence in London. GP, having hurriedly returned to London to save his firm from Panic of 1857 pressures, resumed his U.S.-British friendship dinners. His July 22, 1858, dinner at the Star and Garter, Richmond Hill, near London, attended by 30 Briton and 60 Americans, had as guest of honor U.S. Minister to France John Young Mason (1799-1859). Other guests including Baltimorean John Pendleton Kennedy and New York Times editor Henry Jarvis Raymond (1820-69). Ref. New York Herald, Aug. 15, 1858, p. 1, c. 4-6. See Morgan, Junius Spencer. Panic of 1857. Persons named. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Dinners, GP’s, London. 55-July 22, 1858, Dinner. Cont’d. Another GP critic, U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86), read with glee Bennett’s criticism of GP’s July 22, 1858, London, dinner and recorded in his private journal: “The New York Herald of the 15th inst. just at hand has an article ridiculing Peabody’s dinner to old Mason at Richmond on the 29th of July [July 22, Moran’s error], and very properly says Peabody is not admitted to good Society here, that the titled snobs who sit at his table are merely nobodies & only go for a dinner, & that any nobleman would consider himself insulted to receive an invitation to dine at a tavern. This is a sore cut to the old fool.” See Moran, Benjamin.

1862 Dinner

Dinners, GP’s, London. 56-July 4, 1862. GP’s July 4, 1862, dinner at the Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond, was attended by Vt.-born rare book dealer and bibliographer Henry Stevens (1819-96). Stevens’ biographer wrote of this dinner: “Henry was as usual invited to Peabody’s Fourth of July Dinner in 1862, and was one of the sixty who gathered at the Star and Garter Hotel at Richmond. Peabody had been suffering from gout and lacked his usual spirit, so this was called merely a dinner on the Fourth and there were no political speeches.” There were earlier and later GP-sponsored U.S.-British friendship dinners. Those dinners detailed above were the ones reported in the press or in journals or memoirs. Ref. Parker, W.W., p. 251.

Disderi, Andre Adolphe Eugene (1819-89), French photographer, who patented the visiting card (carte de visite) photograph, had studios in Paris and London, and made a visiting card photograph of GP. See Peabody, George (1795-1869), Illustration: picturehistory. Ref. McCauley.

District of Columbia. See Georgetown, D.C. Washington, D.C.

Dixon, James (1814-73), was one of the five trustees GP asked to propose a plan for the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Univ., which GP endowed on Oct. 22, 1866 with $150,000. The other four trustees were Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99), Benjamin Silliman, Sr. (1779-1864), and Jr., and James Dwight Dana (1813-95). James Dixon was a Conn.-born lawyer and legislator (1837-38, 1844-46), U.S. House member (1845-49); was Conn. Sen. (1849-54); and U.S. Sen. (1857-69). See Marsh, Othniel Charles.

Dobbin, George Washington (1809-91), was a Md. judge and trustee of the PIB.

Doctors, GP’s. See Keep, Nathan Cooley, Dr.. Putnam, Dr. Charles Gideon, Dr.

Dodge, Eliphalet S. (1776-1854), was GP’s maternal uncle, son of his maternal grandfather Jeremiah Dodge (1744-1824) and grandmother Judith (née Spofford) Dodge (1749-1828). See Dodge, Jeremiah.

GP’s Maternal Grandfather

Dodge, Jeremiah (1744-1824). 1-GP’s Maternal Grandfather. Jeremiah Dodge was GP’s maternal grandfather who married Judith Spofford (1749-1828) on March 25, 1770. They lived at Post Mills Village near Thetford, Vt. Their oldest daughter, Judith Dodge (1770-1830), married Thomas Peabody (1762-1811) on July 16, 1789, and had eight children, including third born GP (1795-1869). At age 15 in the winter of 1810, toward the end of his four year apprenticeship (during 1807-11) in Sylvester Proctor’s (1769-1852) store, GP traveled on horseback to visit his maternal grandparents. Several news accounts at GP’s death (Nov. 4, 1869) and transatlantic funeral described his 1810 visit. There was a large pine tree at an inconvenient place which his grandfather often spoke of hiring someone to remove. GP, using an available ax and saw, felled the tree, a story often told by his grandparents and others in the family. Ref. (Marriage): Vital Records of Rowley, Mass., p. 282.

Dodge, Jeremiah. 2-GP’s Maternal Grandfather Cont’d. With his grandparents or alone GP walked on Sunday mornings to attend a church five miles from his grandparents’ home. A modern descendant of the Dodges, Anne A. Dodge of Ely, Vt., wrote the authors on June 14, 1954: “I remember hearing my father telling of George Peabody’s coming, as a boy, to the Jeremiah Dodge family and living with them…. I remember hearing my father tell of the days when George Peabody used to walk from Post Mills, barefooted, shoes in hand, to attend church at Thetford Hill, a distance of about five miles.” GP’s grandparents had two sons, (uncle) Eliphalet S. Dodge (1776-1854) who lived with his family on a nearby farm, and (uncle) Daniel Dodge, a master mariner who commanded a sailing ship which traded between NYC and Canton. As a boy, GP sometime spoke of going to sea. Invariably seasick on his five transatlantic commercial buying trips (1827-37), he jokingly referred to his early seagoing thoughts in letters to his sisters.

Dodge, Jeremiah. 3-Barnstead, N.H. Leaving his grandparents, GP stopped overnight at Stickney’s Tavern, Concord, N.H. The landlord had some boys who helped do chores. The story is told that GP played with the boys and helped them saw and split wood. The next day when GP offered to pay for his lodging Mr. Stickney declined payment saying that GP had earned his night’s stay. GP proceeded to Barnstead, N.H., to visit his maternal aunt, his mother’s sister, Mrs. Temperance Dodge Jewett (1772-1872?), married to physician Jeremiah Jewett (1757-1836). The story was told that in a heavy snowstorm Dr. Jeremiah Jewett had to be away on sick calls, and GP fed the horses, cared for the stable stock, broke paths from the house to the barn and road, and cut firewood. In memory of his 1810 visit with his grandparents, GP gave $5,000 for a public library in Thetford, Vt., in 1866. That same year (1866) he gave $450 for a church repair in Barnstead, N.H., in the name of his maternal aunt, Mrs. Jeremiah Jewett. Ref. Internet site (seen) March 18, 2000): http://www.valley.net~conriver/V13-7.htm Baldwin, J. A. pp. 12-15. See Concord, N.H. Persons named. Post Mills Village, Thetford, Vt. Stickney’s Tavern, Concord, N.H.

Dodge, Judith Spofford (1749-1828), GP’s maternal grandmother, wife of GP’s grandfather, Jeremiah Dodge (1744-1824), both of whom their grandson GP (1795-1869) visited at age 15 in the winter of 1810 in Post Mills Village, near Thetford, Vt. See Dodge, Jeremiah.

Dodge, Nathaniel Shattwell (1810-74), was secty. or assistant to Commissioner Edward W. Riddle of Boston, initially in charge of the 500 U.S. exhibitors and their products shown at the Crystal Palace, Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, the first world’s fair. Edward W. Riddle in turn awaited the arrival of Chief Commissioner Charles F. Stansbury of Washington, D.C. When the exhibitors found themselves without congressional funds to display their exhibits, it was GP’s $15,000 loan, repaid by Congress three years later, which permitted American industry and art to be seen to best advantage by over six million visitors. Nathaniel Shattwell Dodge remained in London until 1861, wrote for the press under the name John Carver, and was a friend of U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86). See Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair). Persons named.

GP’s Oxford Univ. Hon. Doctor of Laws Degree

Dodgson, Charles Lutwidge (1832-1898). 1-Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, writing under the pseudonym of Lewis Carroll, was the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1864. He was born in Daresbury near Warrington, England; graduated from Christ Church College, Oxford (1854); took Anglican Church orders (1861); and taught mathematics at Oxford (1861-81) He was on duty as don on Founders’ and Benefactors’ Day, June 26, 1867, when Oxford Univ. granted GP an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. In his journal entry that day (June 26) he recorded: “I was introduced to the hero of the day, Mr. Peabody.” Dr. Henry Longueville Mansel (1820-72) of Oxford’s Christ Church College wrote asking GP if he would accept an honorary degree. GP agreed by letter of June 5, 1867, to accept. The ceremony was held during Oxford’s Encaenia, combining commencement with the celebration of spring, occasioned by readings, poetry, music, lectures, and a full-dress university parade, reflecting centuries of British tradition. Ref. Dodgson, I, p. 261. See Mansel, Henry Longueville. Oxford Univ.

Dodgson, C.L. 2-Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford Univ. The honorary degree ceremony was held in the Sheldonian Theatre. Undergraduates, exerting their traditional right of banter, called aloud the names of dignitaries whom they either cheered or hissed (they cheered Lord Derby [1826-93], groaned at MP John Bright [1811-99], both cheered and hissed PM William E. Gladstone [1809-98], and acclaimed PM Benjamin Disraeli [1804-81]). Ref. Ibid.

Dodgson, C.L. 3-”The lion of the day…” GP was one of six individuals granted an honorary degree that day. When GP’s name was called and he stood up undergraduates applauded him, waved their caps, and beat the arms of their chairs with the flat of their hands. Jackson’s Oxford Journal, June 29, 1867, recorded: “The lion of the day was beyond a doubt, Mr. Peabody.” The Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford’s famous assembly hall, was designed in 1669 by Christopher Wren, who was then astronomy professor at Oxford Univ. It was Wren’s first major architectural commission and was named after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Gilbert Sheldon, who commissioned the theater while he was Oxford Univ.’s chancellor. Ref. Ibid. See Carroll, Lewis. Honors, GP’s, in Life and after Death (in chronological order).

Poem About GP

Dole, George Thurlow (1808-84). 1-Wrote Poem about GP. George Thurlow Dole was a Yale College graduate and class poet (1838), attended Yale Divinity School, and was a Congregational minister in several Mass. towns. At Yale Univ.’s Phi Beta Kappa Society, 1868, he delivered the following poem about GP, whose philanthropy helped found Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History (founded Oct. 22, 1866, $150,000 gift):
Let all the rich, who mean, when they shall die
To do great things by legacy,
How to make sure a worthy end, and see
And taste the pleasure, learn of Peabody.

Dole, G.T. 2-Biographical Sketch. G.T. Dole was born in Newbury, Mass., attended nearby Dummer Academy, and at age 16 (1824) was an apprentice and then a skilled machinist in Lowell, Mass. (1824-33). Determined to be a minister, he prepared again at Dummer Academy for Yale College, then Yale Divinity School, finishing at Andover Theological Seminary (1841). He was a Congregational minister in Beverly, Mass. (1842-51), North Woburn, Mass. (1852-55), Lanesboro, Mass. (1856), taught at Williams Academy, Stockbridge, Mass., preached near Stockbridge (1864-75), and died in Reading, Mass. Elected Poet by his Yale graduating class, his long poem was delivered On Presentation Day (Graduation Day), July 4, 1834. He was active on school boards, had lung illness in college and throughout his life and died of acute bronchitis. Refs. below.

Dole, G.T. 3-Biographical Sketch. Ref. (G.T. Dole, biographical sketch): Biographical Record of the Class of 1838 in Yale College. Printed for Private Distribution. (New Haven, Conn.: Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor Printers, 1879), pp. 5-12 (G.T. Dole’s Yale College Senior Class Poem); pp. 53-55 (G.T. Dole, biography); p. 187 (G.T. Dole’s obituary notice). Ref. (G.T. Dole’s 1868 poem on GP): Kenin and Wintle, eds., p. 590. See Blanc, Louis. Hugo, Victor-Marie. Marsh, Othniel Charles. Science: GP’s Gifts to Science and Science Education.

Donation Fund. See Peabody Donation Fund in London (now Peabody Trust, which builds and manages the Peabody Homes of London).

Dorn, Sherman, wrote A Brief History of Peabody College. (Nashville: Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, 1996). He was then research assistant professor at PCofVU. He has a history degree from Haverford College and a history Ph. D. degree from the Univ. of Pennsylvania. His book, commissioned by Dean James W. Pellegrino of PCofVU, is based on PCofVU archives, and covers the origins of Peabody Normal College (1875-1911), its transition to a “super teachers college” (GPCFT, 1914-79), to its present status as PCofVU (since 1979), Vanderbilt Univ.’s ninth school. Also by Sherman Dorn, “Payne’s Ambition,” Peabody Reflector, Vol. 65, No. 1 (Spring 1995), pp. 2-3. See Payne, Bruce Ryburn. PCofVU, brief history of. See Glenn, Gustavus Richard.

Dorsey, John, editor of On Mencken (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980), p. 54, indicated that Baltimore newspaper writer, author, and critic Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956) used the PIB Library reference collection to write some of his books. See PIB Reference Library.

Dos Passos, John (1896-1970), was a U.S. novelist who used the resources of the PIB Library to write his book, Three Men Who Made the Nation (1957). Chicago-born and a Harvard graduate (1916), Dos Passos is known for his novels Three Soldiers (1921), his trilogy U.S.A. (1937), and Midcentury (1961). Ibid.

Drexel, Anthony Joseph (1826-93), was a PEF trustee influenced by that experience to found in 1891 Drexel Univ., Philadelphia. A.J. Drexel was born in Philadelphia, entered the banking firm of Drexel & Co., founded (1838) by his father, Francis Martin Drexel, an Austrian immigrant. Drexel was head of Drexel, Morgan & Co. of NYC; and head of Drexel, Harjes & Co., Paris. With George William Childs (1829-94) he owned the Philadelphia Public Ledger. See PEF.

Drexel, Morgan & Co. See: Peabody, George (1795-1869), Critics-18-32.

Dublin, Ireland. GP wrote of poverty he saw in rural Ireland during his first nine-month commercial buying trip to Europe (Nov. 1827-August 1828). He wrote to his sister Sophronia Phelps Peabody (April 16, 1828): “As soon as you leave this city [Dublin] the inhabitants of the smaller towns and villages are in the most deplorable state of Poverty and wretchedness. It was not unusual, on leaving a public house in a country town, to be [surrounded] by 20 or 30 beggars at a time, which always excited in my mind feelings of congratulations, that I lived in a country where such things are unknown, but where industry and economy never fail to procure the comforts of life.” Ref. GP, Paris, to Sophronia Peabody, April 16, 1828, quoted in Schuchert and LeVene, pp. 70-71. See Visits to Europe by GP. For GP’s gift of a railing fence to the Catholic Church, Limerick, Ireland, see Ireland.

Dudley, Robert (fl. 1865-91), was the artist whose painting, HMS Monarch Transporting the Body of George Peabody,” 1870, large oil on canvas, 43″ x 72,” depicted the British warship HMS Monarch, leaving Portsmouth harbor, England, to transport GP’s remains across the Atlantic for burial in New England, accompanied by the USS corvette Plymouth. A photo by Mark Sexton of the painting appeared as the cover on The American Neptune, Fall 1995 (published at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.), and identified as “a recent museum acquisition in recognition of the bicentennial of George Peabody’s birth. The same Robert Dudley is believed to have made a set of lithographs entitled “Memorial of the Marriage of HRH Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, to HRH Alexandra, Princess of Denmark,” published 1864, London, by Day and Son. Ref. http://www.pem.org/neptune/desc554.htm (seen Dec. 29, 1999). See (under Ref.): American Neptune. Death and Funeral, GP’s. Dudley, Robert. GP Bicentennial Celebration (Feb. 18, 1795-1995). Peabody, George, Illustrations. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.

Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley Wellington, 1769-1852) was the guest of honor at GP’s July 4, 1851, dinner, London. See Dinners, GP’s, London. Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair).

Dunbar, Carl O. (1891-1979), was at Yale Univ.’s Peabody Museum of Natural History for 40 years, as graduate student in paleontology under Prof. Charles Schuchert (1858-1942), and for 17 years as director, succeeding Albert Eide Parr (1900-91). Ref. “Carl O. Dunbar…,” p. 44.

Duncan, Sherman & Co. In 1864 Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), GP’s partner in George Peabody & Co., London (from Oct. 1, 1854), placed his son, John Pierpont Morgan (Sr., 1837-1913), as junior partner in the NYC banking firm Duncan, Sherman & Co. (founded 1851 by Alexander Duncan), which chiefly represented George Peabody & Co., London. See Morgan, Junius Spencer. Redlich, Fritz.

Dunkeld, Perthshire, Scotland. GP went to rest at Dunkeld, Perthshire, in the Scottish highlands, particularly after his Oct. 1, 1854, partnership with Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90).

Dunworth, John (1924-2005), had been education dean at Ball State Univ., Muncie, Ind., before becoming GPCFT’s sixth and last president during 1974-79. Budget and other financial constraints forced the talks with VU that led to PCofVU merger, July 1, 1979. He resigned May 1, 1979, was named first dean of the then-new Univ. of W. Fla. College of Education, Pensacola; later served as Supt., Santa Ana, Calif., Unified School District; and came out of retirement to serve as principal for a year to help salvage an 83-student rural school facing closure in sparsely populated Blackwater River State Forest of the Fla. Panhandle. See PCofVU. Conkin, Peabody College, index.

“Deprived as I was…”

Dwight, Sereno Edwards (1786-1850). 1-Same-Named Nephew. Sereno Edwards Dwight was headmaster of New Haven Gymnasium, New Haven, Conn., a European-type boarding school attended about 1830 by GP’s nephew, George Peabody (1815-32), son of GP’s older brother David Peabody (1790-1841). GP had earlier paid for this nephew’s schooling at Bradford Academy, Bradford, Mass. (from 1827), and was prepared to pay his way through Yale College when the nephew died in Boston on Sept. 24, 1832, of scarlet fever. See Bradford Academy, Bradford, Mass. Peabody, David (GP’s oldest brother). Peabody, George (1815-32, GP’s nephew).

Dwight, Sereno Edwards (1786-1850). 2-”Deprived as I was…” This nephew’s request for funds from his uncle to attend Yale College led GP to reply poignantly, May 18, 1831, from London (GP’s underlining): “Deprived as I was, of the opportunity of obtaining anything more than the most common education I am well qualified to estimate its value by the disadvantages I labour under in the society [in] which my business and situation in life frequently throws me, and willingly would I now give twenty times the expense attending a good education could I possess it, but it is now too late for me to learn and I can only do to those that come under my care, as I could have wished circumstances had permitted others to have done by me.” Ref. GP, London, to George, son of David Peabody, May 18, 1831, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. Quoted in Schuchert and LeVene, p. 21.

Dwight, Sereno Edwards (1786-1850). 3-Career. Sereno Edwards Dwight was the son of Timothy Dwight (1752-1817), who was a Yale graduate (1769), won renown for his preaching as Congregational minister, and was Yale president (1795-1817). The son, Sereno Edwards Dwight, born in Greenfield Hill, Conn., was also a Yale graduate (1803), practiced law in New Haven (to 1816), was also a Congregational minister, Boston (1817-26), and with his brother Henry opened the short-lived New Haven Gymnasium (1829-31).

End of 3 of 14. Continued on 4 of 14. Send corrections, questions to: bfparke@frontiernet.net

4 of 14: George Peabody (1795-1869): A-Z Handbook…, By Franklin Parker & Betty J. Parker, bfparker@frontiernet.net

4 of 14: George Peabody (1795-1869): A-Z Handbook of the Massachusetts-Born Merchant in the South, London-Based Banker, and Philanthropist’s Life, Influence, and Related People, Places, Events, and Institutions. ©2007, By Franklin Parker & Betty J. Parker, bfparker@frontiernet.net

This work updates and expands Franklin Parker, George Peabody, A Biography (Nashville, Tenn.: Vanderbilt Univ. Press, ©1971, revised with illustrations ©1995), and the authors’ related George Peabody publications. Note: To read on your computer Franklin Parker’s out-of-print George Peabody, A Biography, 1995, as a free Google E-book copy and paste on your browser: http://books.google.com/books?id=OPIbk-ZPnF4C&pg=PP1&lpg=PR4&dq=Franklin+Parker,+George+Peabody,+a+Biography&output=html&sig=6R8ZoKwN1B36wtCSePijnLaYJS8

Background: Why these 1 to 14 blogs on George Peabody? The authors attended George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville (renamed Peabody College of Vanderbilt Univ. July 1, 1979). Franklin Parker’s doctoral dissertation, “George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy,” 1956, has been an ongoing research and writing interest for over 50 years. The authors’ intent is to perpetuate public memory of him.

George Peabody, now largely forgotten by scholars and the public, was significant as: 1-a Massachusetts-born merchant in the U.S. South, beginning as junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29); then head of Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-43), importing dry goods and other commodities worldwide for sale to U.S. wholesalers. He transformed himself from merchant into: 2-a London-based merchant-banker, George Peabody & Co. (1838-64), which helped finance the B&O RR, the 2nd Mexican War Loan, the Atlantic Cable, and by choosing Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) as partner Oct. 1, 1854, was a root of the JP Morgan international banking firm.

Merchant-turned-banker George Peabody finally became: 3-the best known U.S. philanthropist of the 1850s-60s, founding the Peabody Homes of London for the working poor; founder in the U.S. of 7 Peabody Libraries and Lecture Halls; the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore; three Peabody Museums at Harvard (Anthropology), Yale (Paleontology), and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA (maritime history); and founder of the Peabody Education Fund for the South (1867-1914), a model for all later larger U.S. funds and foundations.

Two tributes to George Peabody:

Historian John Steele Gordon called George Peabody the “Most Underrated Philanthropist…. Peabody is unjustly forgotten today, but his unprecedented generosity was greatly appreciated in his time.” Ref.: American Heritage. Vol. 50, No. 3 (May-June 1999), pp. 68-69.

“The Peabody Fund, established in 1867 by George Peabody to assist southern education, is often credited with being the first foundation….” Ref.: Reader’s Companion to American History, ed. by Eric Foner and John A. Garraty (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991). Internet: http://HistoryChannel.com/

End of Background. HTML symbols are intended for blogging (ignore). This 4 of 14 blogs covers alphabetically entries from: Eaton to Hapsburgs.

E

C.J.M. Eaton & the PIB

Eaton, Charles James Madison (1808-93). 1-PIB Creation. C.J.M. Eaton was a public spirited Baltimorean, art collector, GP’s long time friend, and an original PIB trustee connected with its origins. He worked with other early PIB planners, particularly John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870). Kennedy was largely responsible for planning the five part PIB, modeled in part on the British Museum, consisting of: 1-a reference library, 2-lecture hall and lecture fund, 3-art gallery, 4-music conservatory, and 5-prizes to the best Baltimore public school students, all jointly governed by both the PIB trustees and the Md. Historical Society trustees, with the Md. Historical Society housed in the PIB building. For early PIB plans and trustees, with sources, see also Kennedy, John Pendleton. PIB.

Eaton, C.J.M. 2-PIB Trustee. This joint governance never materialized. Both sets of trustees disagreed over building site, design, cost; and which set of trustees made final decisions. Some Md. Historical Society trustees feared that their older organization would be submerged in the new PIB. Civil War angers aggravated these differences. Before the PIB dedication and opening, Oct. 25, 1866, at GP’s request, the Md. Historical Society withdrew from this arrangement, compensated by GP’s $20,000 gift to its publication fund. Ref. (Early Baltimore and its libraries): Hubbell, p. 481. Kahn (Master’s thesis), pp. 2-4. Scharf-a, pp. 280, 403, 405. Uhler-f, pp. 61-64.

Eaton, C.J.M. 3-Eaton in London, 1851. But all this lay in the future. In 1851, C.J.M. Eaton was in London. GP asked Eaton for ideas for a cultural institution in Baltimore GP wished to endow. Eaton was then president of the Library Company of Baltimore, begun about 1790 and the only reference library available to the Baltimore public. Eaton explained his idea of transferring the Library Company of Baltimore’s 11,000 volumes to the Md. Historical Society. This move would bring together some 500 members of both groups. Eaton hoped that the Md. Historical Society might raise $25,000 as a permanent library fund. Ref.: Ibid.

Eaton, C.J.M. 4-Eaton to GP, 1855. Four years later, in 1855, Eaton was about to merge his Library Company of Baltimore’s 11,000 volumes with the Md. Historical Society’s library. He wrote to GP in London, reminded him of their 1851 talks, and wondered if GP would like to finance the permanent library fund. Eaton wrote: “I remember with pleasure our téte a téte over anchovy toast and something to moisten it after the opera during my last visit to England four years ago. I expressed a hope that I might be present and helpful should the ground work be laid for your projected munificence to Baltimore. I spoke of the plan, then only an idea but since adopted, of transferring the property of the Library Company of Baltimore (of which I am the President) to the Maryland Historical Society, thus bringing together about 500 members representing the cultural forces of our community.” Ref.: Charles James Madison Eaton to GP, Sept. 15, 1855, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Eaton, C.J.M. 5-Eaton to GP, 1855 Cont’d.: “The conditions of transfer are for the library of more than 11,000 volumes to circulate to members, be freely open to the public for reference, and that the Maryland Historical Society raise $25,000 as a permanent fund to improve the library collection. “The Maryland Historical Society’s function is to record manuscripts and antiquities of Maryland. It has a library, reading room, and gallery of paintings. I believe that its members will, in time, raise the fund desired. Yet I would rejoice if you would take over the venture in your name. Many Baltimore friends would also consent to help.” Ref.: Ibid.

Eaton, C.J.M. 6-GP Asked Others for a PIB Plan. In London in 1854 GP also asked visiting Baltimorean lawyer and statesman Reverdy Johnson (1796-1876) to discuss with John Pendleton Kennedy and William Edwards Mayhew (1781-1860) plans for his intended Baltimore cultural institution. Kennedy’s journal entries (Dec. 8 and 19, 1854) described Kennedy’s talks with Reverdy Johnson and Mayhew about GP’s proposed Baltimore cultural institution. Kennedy was in London and attended GP’s June 13, 1856, dinner honoring incoming U.S. Minister to Britain George Mifflin Dallas (1772-1864). They talked about GP’s forthcoming Sept. 1856-Aug. 1857 U.S. visit when GP planned to found the PIB. See Dinners, GP’s, London. Persons named.

J.P. Kennedy, Chief PIB Planner

Eaton, C.J.M. 7-PIB Plan Unfolded. Kennedy’s journal described his 1-Feb. 5, 1857, meeting with Mayhew in Baltimore, 2-Kennedy’s preliminary plan for the PIB, 3-his [Kennedy’s] visit together with Mayhew on Feb. 7, 1857, to GP, then ill with gout in his Baltimore hotel room, 4-GP’s offer of $300,000 with more money later, 5-GP’s urging purchase soon of a large lot permitting future building expansion, 5-GP’s mention of “Charles Eaton as an active coadjutor…,” and 6-GP’s proposed large gift to the city of London. Kennedy, Eaton, and Mayhew met with GP again, Feb. 9, 1857 (GP was in bed with a swollen knee). They selected trustees from a long list. GP signed the Feb. 12, 1857, PIB founding letter before he left Baltimore for Washington, D.C., Feb. 13. The news broke upon Baltimore with great excitement. See: Kennedy, John Pendleton.

Clash over Building Site

Eaton, C.J.M. 8-Building Site Differences. Mayhew was elected PIB trustee president, Kennedy was trustee vice president, and Eaton trustee building committee chairman. Kennedy’s journal entries record his frustrations at PIB trustees meetings because members differed on the PIB’s purposes. Kennedy recorded (March 12, 1857): “We have got to wrangling about the object and the plan. One portion of the Board are narrow in their views and do not appreciate the object as they ought to. They would make it a kind of literary and gossiping Club house. I want a large lot and arrangement for an Institution that will be national as well as local. My impression is that for the sake of ample accommodations we should get a few acres of grounds in the suburbs–and there build on them according to our means.–I have no opinion of a Board to do any good work.–I begin to fear we shall not get on well.” Ref.: Kennedy’s journal, VIIk (March 15, 1857-Dec. 6, 1859), entry Tues., March 14, 1857, Kennedy Papers, PIB.

Eaton, C.J.M. 9-Building Site Differences Cont’d. News that PIB property was being sought, Kennedy heard, had raised land costs. Lots outside Baltimore were offered free in hope that adjacent property would rise in value. Kennedy recorded (April 2, 1857): “I go to the Athenaeum rooms at 12 where I meet the Trustees of the Peabody Institute. The proposals to sell lots are reported–twenty-three offers–but all that are most desirable [are] so exorbitant they are inadvisable. We decline them all. Real property has gone up a hundred per cent since the Peabody donation. The committee are directed to continue their search in their own way.” Ref.: Ibid., entry Thurs., April 2, 1857, Kennedy Papers, PIB.

Eaton, C.J.M. 10-Building Site Differences Cont’d. To GP, touring southern cities, Eaton wrote of PIB event and trustee differences (March 21, 1857): “…strange and extreme ideas are now in conflict without any hard or improper feelings,–[some] hints from you are all that is wanted to keep us prudent.” Kennedy wanted a large lot of 200 or more square feet for later expansion. He proposed an available city reservoir lot outside Baltimore. Eaton objected, wanting a small lot of 100 square feet in the city. Ref. Charles James Madison Eaton, Baltimore, to GP, March 21 and 26, 1857, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Eaton, C.J.M. 11-Building Site Differences Cont’d. Kennedy recorded (April 23, 1857): “My offering this proposition kindles great irritation in Eaton, the Chairman of the Building Committee, who treats it very rudely. He is in a most ridiculous state of petulance and nervous agitation, and makes some silly speeches today, in reply to [Mayor] Swann, who supports my resolution. He has been electioneering amongst the members of the Board and seems to have persuaded them that he can build and organize the institute upon a plan which will not require over 100 ft. lot…. After a great deal of wrangling we adjourn until tomorrow.” Ref. Charles James Madison Eaton, Baltimore, to GP, March 21 and 26, 1857, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. Ref. Kennedy’s journal, op cit., entry Thurs., April 23, 1857, Kennedy Papers, PIB.

Eaton, C.J.M. 12-Building Site Differences Cont’d. GP was on his southern tour when on March 7, 1857, in the presence of Charleston, S.C.’s, mayor, he signed and returned the PIB letter of deed which Eaton had sent him. Returning to Baltimore, GP went with Kennedy to see possible PIB building sites, which included 1-the city-owned reservoir lot, 2-Loyola College property, and 3-a corner lot at Mt. Vernon and Washington Place. Kennedy’s journal (May 12, 1857): “Peabody arrives here today. He sends for me and we have a good deal of conversation in reference to the proceedings of the Board of Trustees. The difficulties are in the selection of a site. We visit the several lots spoken of. He is greatly pleased with the lot at the corner of Mt. Vernon and Washington Place… The whole would cost upwards of $100,000.” Ref.: (GP returned signed PIB letter of deed): GP, Charleston, S.C., to William Edwards Mayhew, March 7, 1857, PIB Archives.

Eaton-Kennedy Differences

Eaton, C.J.M. 13-Building Site Differences Cont’d. Kennedy quoted GP’s concern over trustee differences: “You know, my letter inculcates harmony of action, and I want you all to be satisfied.” GP also said: “They talk of making the building a monument to me. I do not want a monument. The monument will be in the usefulness of the Institute.” Kennedy’s journal continued to show disagreement with Eaton. Kennedy recorded the May 16, 1857, trustees’ decision to purchase the Howard lot, Charles St. and Mt. Vernon Place, the PIB’s present location. Kennedy wrote (May 16, 1857): “Eaton has gone to work to reverse the decision of Thursday and to my utter astonishment succeeds. He represents Mr. Peabody as discontented with our decision for the college lot–that is to say disappointed.” Ref. Kennedy’s journal, op cit., entries May 12 and 16, 1857, Kennedy Papers, PIB.

Eaton, C.J.M. 14-Building Site Differences Cont’d. Kennedy thought the Mt. Vernon Place lot too expensive. He deplored Eaton’s talk of hiring out halls and having shops on the first floor of the PIB as “quite incompetent,” “not in keeping with Peabody’s wish,” and a “frivolous” [view ] “of mere ostentation.” Kennedy was disappointed but would not argue about the PIB trustees’ decision on the Howard lot. Kennedy wrote in his journal: “I fear this [decision]–and as the Board seems to be quite impracticable I shall give myself but little trouble about it. It is very difficult to infuse into the gentlemen any real appreciation of what they might accomplish with this munificent donation towards the highest culture of the community in such pursuits as are contemplated in the scheme disclosed in the [Feb. 12, 1857, founding] letter.” Ref. Ibid.

Eaton, C.J.M. 15-Eaton-Kennedy at Odds. Eaton, an art collector, wrote GP his thought that Kennedy wished to emphasize the library. Eaton wanted to emphasize equally the library, lectures, art gallery, music academy, prizes to best Baltimore scholars–all under the cooperative direction of the PIB trustees and the Md. Historical Society trustees, with the latter in rooms in the PIB. Kennedy confined his doubts to his journal. Eaton, not above slander, wrote to GP that a “disappointed politician makes an irritable trustee,” and again: “There are more personalities mixed up in this stuff unworthy to be put on paper, but exhibition of human weakness is better to laugh at than to make of consequence.” Of Kennedy’s planned trip to Europe in mid-Aug. 1857, Eaton wrote GP: “I understand that Mr. Kennedy will embark on the 15th August which gives me more satisfaction than pain. If he carries his peculiarities into English society he will not enjoy himself as much as he should.” Ref. Charles James Madison Eaton to GP, July 4, 9, 17, and Aug. 7, 1857, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Eaton, C.J.M. 16-PIB Clash Seen by Kennedy Biographer. Kennedy’s biographer, Charles H. Bohner, thus characterized the early PIB clash: “Forced by petty jealousy and snobbery to compromise, he [Kennedy] decided to resign but Peabody persuaded him to continue.” Bohner added: “Peabody, on his part, found that philanthropy embroiled him in the bickering of men who grew officious when invited to spend his money.” Kennedy persisted, serving as elected PIB board of trustees president (1860 to his death in 1870), weathering two storms that threatened to end the grand PIB experiment: 1-the Panic of 1857 and 2-a near fatal clash between PIB and Md. Historical Society trustees over which would rule. Ref. Bohner, p. 215. See: Kennedy, John Pendleton. See PIB. 17-GP’s Influence Through the PIB.

GP & Art in Philadelphia

Eaton, C.J.M. 17-GP in Philadelphia (on Art). GP was in Philadelphia Jan. 10-18, 1857, partly to sit for a portrait in artist James Read Lambdin’s (1807-89) studio, partly to see his 21-year-old niece Julia Adelaide Peabody (b. April 25, 1835), daughter of GP’s deceased oldest brother David Peabody (1790-1841) and his second wife. Niece Julia was in school in Philadelphia at uncle GP’s expense. C.J.M. Eaton, keen on art, was also with GP and niece Julia in Philadelphia. Artist Lambdin was also director of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Wanting to ask GP for a donation, Lambdin took the group to visit the art gallery. GP preferred to wait for them on a bench in the academy. Ref.: James Read Lambdin’s unpublished manuscript dated 1869, intended for publication in the Chronicle (Germantown, Penn.), founded by grandson John Oldmixon Lambdin, and quoted in Baltimore Sun, Nov. 1, 1915, p. 7, c. 5.

Eaton, C.J.M. 18-GP in Philadelphia (on Art). Years after GP’s death (Nov. 4, 1869), Lambdin recorded GP as saying on that occasion, “I do not feel much interested in such matters. You may be surprised when I tell you that, although I have lived for twenty years within pistol shot of the Royal Academy and the National Gallery in London, I have never been within their walls.” Lambdin later commented in his manuscript: “Such was the personal appreciation by this good man of those arts, the value of which he has since acknowledged by his princely gifts to the institution bearing his name. I need not say that after this confession the subject nearest to my heart was left unmentioned.” Ref.: Ibid.

GP & the Panic of 1857

Eaton, C.J.M. 19-Panic of 1857. Leaving NYC, Sept. 19, 1857, GP faced the Panic of 1857 in London. Pressed to pay outstanding bills and unable to collect what was owed to him by Boston’s Lawrence, Stone & Co., GP applied to borrow £300,000 ($1.5 million) from the Bank of England. He soon repaid the amount borrowed and emerged practically unscathed. C.J.M. Eaton, writing GP of panic conditions in Baltimore, added that the PIB plans were on hold, that the trustees would not ask for money during the crisis. William Edwards Mayhew confirmed Eaton’s view by writing GP: “The Trustees of the Institute have all been very willing to progress slowly and surely during the last three months and will do nothing more than attend to preparatory measures that will require no funds for months to come. They will not think of drawing for one dollar until they know that it will be agreeable to and convenient for you.” Ref.: Charles James Madison Eaton, Baltimore, to GP, London, Dec. 11, 1857; and William Edward Mayhew, Baltimore, to GP, Dec. 12, 1857; both Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Eaton, C.J.M. 20-Panic of 1857 Cont’d. Eaton informed GP that the PIB trustees had secured a charter of incorporation, March 9, 1858. Building construction began in 1858. The building was planned by British born architect practicing in Baltimore Edmund George Lind (1828-1909). The plan called for a white marble building in grand Renaissance style, 150 feet long by 75 feet wide. Mentioning a small controversy over the material to be used for the exterior of the building, Eaton wrote GP July 5, 1858: “There has been some bad spirit shown by two or three of the [Md.] Historical Society” members. But he hoped the misunderstandings would end in concord. He had heard it said that if difficulties did continue the Society members would “wait until the committee reports on the organization of the institute and then decline [to enter] if all things are not satisfactory.” Ref.: Charles James Madison Eaton, Baltimore, to GP, London, July 5, 1858, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Eaton, C.J.M. 21-Panic of 1857 Cont’d. W.E. Mayhew also reported to GP on Nov. 11, 1858, that J.P. Kennedy had returned from Europe, met with the PIB trustees, and spoken of GP with respect and kindness; and that Kennedy would give the address when the Baltimore high school medals and prizes were to be conferred. Ref.: William Edwards Mayhew, Baltimore, to GP, Nov. 11, 1858, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

PIB Cornerstone, April 16, 1859

Eaton, C.J.M. 22-PIB Cornerstone, April 16, 1859. While GP in London talked to friends about his proposed gift to the city of London, Eaton on May 7, 1859, wrote him that the PIB building was being constructed. Placed in the cornerstone on April 16, 1859, were the following 11 items: 1-copies of Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine, Vol. 36, No. 4 (April 1857), pp. 428-437, containing the GP biographical sketch and GP engraving by John Charles Buttre (1821-93) from a daguerreotype. 2-Proceedings at the Reception and Dinner in Honor of George Peabody, Esq., of London, by the Citizens of the Old Town of Danvers, October 9, 1856 (Boston: H.W. Dutton & Son, 1856). Ref.: (Placed in PIB cornerstone, April 16, 1859): Scharf-a, p. 568. Uhler-f, p. 62.

Eaton, C.J.M. 23-PIB Cornerstone, April 16, 1859 Cont’d. 3-some gold and silver coins. 4-Baltimore public school reports. 5-Md. Institute reports. 6-Md. Historical Society reports. 7-B&O RR reports. 8-Baltimore Board of Trade reports. 9-Baltimore city government reports. 10-that day’s Baltimore newspapers. 11-and a piece of the Atlantic Cable. Ref.: Ibid.

PIB-MHS Trustees Clash

Eaton, C.J.M. 24-Which Set of Trustees Dominate? On May 18, 1859, William Edwards Mayhew wrote GP of apprehension about the exact role the Md. Historical Society would play in the PIB, about which set of trustees, PIB or Md. Historical Society, would exert ultimate control. Eaton, believing GP intended for the PIB trustees to have the final say, expressed his thought that if the Society wished to withdraw it would be best to let them go, and that GP could placate them with a contribution to their publication fund. Eaton wrote GP (June 20, 1859): “The Society I feel persuaded would jump at the donation.” Ref.: William Edwards Mayhew, Baltimore, to GP, May 8, 1859, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Eaton, C.J.M. 25-GP Asked for “harmony and trust.” Seven years later, the matter fell the way Eaton predicted. GP, an ocean’s distance away, often ill, and with business problems, drafted the following to Eaton: “I am a great lover of harmony and trust it will be preserved…. If there should be dissensions, do not write me anything about them.” But GP did not send this draft to Eaton. However irritating it might be, it was prudent to know of PIB progress and difficulties from Eaton, Mayhew, Kennedy, and others. As the Civil War raged, GP reluctantly agreed with the trustees to postpone the PIB opening. Ref.: Charles James Madison Eaton, Baltimore, to GP, London, March 7, April 25, May 9 and 19, June 20, 1859; and GP to Charles James Madison Eaton, Aug. 24, 1859; Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Eaton, C.J.M. 26-PIB-MHS Clash. The Civil War ended. GP prepared for a year’s U.S. visit (May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867). He wanted to resolve the PIB-Md. Historical Society dispute and to dedicate and open the PIB. The climax came in the PIB trustees’ Feb. 12, 1866, letter asking the Md. Historical Society trustees to decline to enter the PIB as outlined in GP’s Feb. 12, 1857, founding letter (GP in London received a copy of this letter). A Md. Historical Society committee reviewed that letter, issued a response (April 5, 1866) that strongly denounced the PIB trustees’ withdrawal request, and recommended legal action to settle the dispute (copy to GP). Ref. Md. Historical Society-a.

MHSLawsuit Threatened

Eaton, C.J.M. 27-PIB-MHS Clash Cont’d. The Md. Historical Society’s review began: “The Society accepted the terms of Mr. Peabody’s founding letter after it was explained by Mr. Kennedy who helped Mr. Peabody draw it up. Mr. Kennedy explained to the Society that it was Mr. Peabody’s desire for the Society to assume charge of the Institute, that its trustees had been appointed only in the event that the Society should cease to exist, that the Trustees had visitorial power while the administration of the Institute lay with the Society.” Ref. Ibid.

Eaton, C.J.M. 28-PIB-MHS Clash Cont’d. The Society’s review then mentioned the PIB’s March 4, 1857 trust deed: “In his trust deed Mr. Peabody stated that should there be a failure of the Maryland Historical Society to undertake the supervision of the Institute, he empowered the Institute Trustees to make other arrangements. This clause simply provided for an emergency. This Society never contrived or intended to place difficulties in the execution of the original founding letter.” Ref. Ibid.

Eaton, C.J.M. 29-PIB-MHS Clash Cont’d. (Md. Hist. Soc.’s review): “The Institute was incorporated by the Maryland Legislature. The trustees purchased land and erected a building after consultation with the Society as to the rooms it would occupy. In January, 1860, a plan of organization was drawn up by the trustees verifying that the Society would be invited to enter the building when completed. The Society also adopted this plan.” Ref.: Ibid.

Eaton, C.J.M. 30-PIB-MHS Clash Cont’d. (Md. Hist. Soc.’s review): “The building was completed four years ago but the Society was never asked to enter it. After patient waiting the Society appointed a committee to confer with the trustees. This committee reviewed the subject in January, 1866, and asked by letter the right to occupy the portion previously assigned to it.” Ref. Ibid.

Eaton, C.J.M. 31-PIB-MHS Clash Cont’d. The Md. Historical Society’s review then quoted the PIB trustees’ Feb. 12, 1866, letter asking the Society not to enter the PIB: “We [the PIB trustees] have come to the conclusion for reasons which we think deeply founded in the welfare of the Institute, that the management of its several departments by your body, which was instituted for an entirely different end, will not be productive of the objects which the munificent founder of the Institute had in view.” Ref.: Ibid.

Eaton, C.J.M. 32-PIB-MHS Clash Cont’d. Having been asked to withdraw, the Md. Historical Society calmly considered the rebuff: “The chief reason [given for the PIB trustees’ withdrawal request] was that the administration of the Institute should be limited to fewer individuals than this Society had, that membership in the Society was easy of access, that the result might be conflict, hasty and unconsidered change. This reason we consider an inaccurate one. The trustees virtually tell us they cannot trust this Society of which many of them and Mr. Peabody are members, of which their President is our Vice-President.” Ref.: Ibid.

Eaton, C.J.M. 33-PIB-MHS Clash Cont’d. The Society’s review rejected the PIB trustees’ chief reason for the Society’s withdrawal as illegal: “This committee does not take heed of the chief reason ascribed for our rejection. Nor do we think it honorable to infer that the trustees or Mr. Peabody’s private opinion suggesting our withdrawal makes that withdrawal obligatory. The Institute is not private but legally incorporated. By illegal and indirect means the trustees desire our withdrawal. We need not defend this Society. Our history needs no vindication. We are the same Society of 1866 as we were in 1857, save for the normal entry of new and younger members in recent years.” Ref.: Ibid.

Eaton, C.J.M. 34-PIB-MHS Clash Cont’d. (Md. Hist. Soc.’s review): “The last reason brought forth for our withdrawal is that the library of the Institute requires the rooms formerly allotted to the Society. After nine years’ planning the trustees now discover they need more room for the library and give this as a reason for our withdrawal. It must occur to Mr. Peabody that if his trustees took nine years to develop the architectural plan and then found they were in error in the amount of space required for the library, they might never understand and carry out the educational ideas he envisaged.” Ref.: Ibid.

Eaton, C.J.M. 35-PIB-MHS Clash Cont’d. (Md. Hist. Soc.’s review): “We have been denounced to Mr. Peabody by the trustees. In nine years they have built a hollow, inadequate house, with a vacant lecture room to which the public has not been admitted, a library dark and gloomy with cases three-fourths empty to which no reader had been allowed. For four years this building has stood as a marble tomb of broken promises.” Ref.: Ibid.

Eaton, C.J.M. 36-PIB-MHS Clash Cont’d. (Md. Hist. Soc.’s review): The Society’s review concluded: “The [PIB] trustees hint that they might suggest to Mr. Peabody that he grant our Society a donation contingent on our withdrawal. This is a crass suggestion. In conclusion, this committee recommends that the Society institute legal proceedings. We recommend that this and previous reports be sent to Mr. Peabody to apprise him of these facts.” Ref.: Ibid.

PIB-MHS Reconciliation

Eaton, C.J.M. 37-PIB-MHS Clash Cont’d. GP saw that the Md. Historical Society was in the right, that it would win a legal decision, and that he had to act to soften this dispute. Anticipating that the Md. Historical Society would be asked to withdraw, John Pendleton Kennedy wrote in his journal: “I am myself responsible for Mr. Peabody’s committing the Institute to the Society but this was done at a time when the Society nobly showed some appreciation of its object….” Ref.: Kennedy’s journal, VIIo (Nov. 29, 1864-Sept. 21, 1869), pp. 185f., entry Friday, June 16, 1865, Kennedy Papers, PIB.

Eaton, C.J.M. 38-GP’s Appeal. Kennedy helped draft GP’s May 8, 1866, letter to the Md. Historical Society. GP acknowledged the moral and legal right of the Society. He admitted the wrong done the Society by the PIB trustees. GP said that one purpose of his U.S. visit was to see the PIB safely opened and that its opening depended on the Society’s forbearance and good will. Noting the insurmountable difference, he humbly asked Society members as a personal favor to him to withdraw from the original agreement. Ref.: Peabody Institute of Baltimore, Founder’s Letters, pp. 40-41.

MHS-PIB Animosity Softened

Eaton, C.J.M. 39-GP’s Character Softened Animosity. GP’s character cut through painful animosity built up over nine years. Md. Historical Society members decided at a May 24, 1866, meeting to relinquish the PIB role GP had originally assigned them. GP waited until Nov. 5, 1866, to thank Md. Historical Society members personally and asked to be allowed the privilege of contributing $20,000 to their publications fund. Ref.: (GP’s $20,000 Md. Historical Society publication fund): Harris, p. 18.

Eaton, C.J.M. 40-GP’s Gifts, Sept.-Oct. 1866. GP’s philanthropy during Sept.-Oct., 1866, included 1-added $100,000 to the Peabody Institute Library of South Danvers (renamed Peabody, Mass., April 13, 1868, total $217,000), 2-added $40,000 to the Peabody Institute Library, North Danvers, Mass. (total $l00,000, both gifts on Sept. 22, 1866), 3-Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard Univ., Oct. 8, 1866, and 4-Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale Univ., Oct. 22, 1866, $150,000 each. GP then traveled to Baltimore to dedicate and open the PIB (Oct. 25 and 26, 1866).

PIB Dedication & Opening

Eaton, C.J.M. 41-En Route to Baltimore. GP left NYC Oct. 22, 1866, for Baltimore. He stopped in Philadelphia where, on Oct. 23, some PIB trustees met him and described PIB dedication arrangements. On Wednesday morning, Oct. 24, in a special railway car arranged by B&O RR Pres. John Work Garrett (1820-84), GP and guests left Philadelphia on the Philadelphia & Wilmington RR, with a brief stop at Havre-de-Grace near the Susquehanna River. There George Nathaniel Eaton (1811-74), Enoch Pratt (1808-96), George Washington Dobbin (1809-91), and other trustees boarded to escort GP and guests. Ref.: (Train arrangements): GP, Philadelphia, to John Work Garrett, Oct. 23, 1866, Garrett Papers, Library of Congress Ms. See: persons named.

Eaton, C.J.M. 42-Arrival in Baltimore. With GP, met in Baltimore by Mayor John Lee Chapman (1812-80) and city council members, were Charles Macalester (1798-1873) of Philadelphia, Capt. Charles H.E. Judkins of the Scotia, GP’s nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909) and wife, nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99), and George Peabody Wetmore (1846-1921) of Newport, R.I. (later R.I. governor); and some PIB trustees. They went by carriage to Barnum’s City Hotel where the visitors were guests of the city. GP had lived at Barnum’s from its opening until his departure for London in Feb. 1837. Ref.: Baltimore Sun, Oct. 23, 1866, p. 4, c. 2; Oct. 24, 1866; Oct. 26, 1866, p. 5, c. 1-2. See persons named.

Eaton, C.J.M. 43-GP Attacked as Anti-Union. The Oct. 25, 1866, PIB dedication and opening were marred by press attacks alleging GP as pro-Confederate and anti-Union in the Civil War. GP defenders vigorously answered each attack. His PIB dedication speech was largely taken up answering these charges. See: Civil War and GP.

Eaton, C.J.M. 44-PIB Academy of Music’s First Director. C.J.M. Eaton helped secure Copenhagen-born Asger Hamerik (1843-1923) as PIB Academy of Music’s first director. Eaton wrote to ask the help of U.S. Consul Dietrich Fehrman in Vienna, Austria. Consul Fehrman’s advertisement in a European music journal brought letters of interest from Hamerik and others. Born into a musical family on his mother’s side, Hamerik studied and performed under various music masters in London and Berlin (1862-64); in Paris (1864), where he was the only pupil of famed French composer Hector Berlioz (1803-69); in Stockholm; and in Milan and Vienna. See PIB Conservatory of Music.

Eaton, C.J.M. 45-Asger Hamerik. Despite unease about Hamerik’s limited English and shyness, he was appointed and became a long-tenured director of the PIB Academy (Conservatory after 1874) of Music, during July 11, 1871-1898, or for 27 years. Hamerik enhanced the PIB Academy of Music’s reputation. He raised admission standards, emphasized American composers’ works in concerts, improved the music curriculum, and raised graduate requirements. Ref. Ibid.

Eaton, C.J.M. 46-Eaton’s Art Collection. In 1893, the year C.J.M. Eaton died, he gave his considerable art collection to the PIB Gallery of Art. This collection consisted of 81 paintings, 62 watercolors, drawings, miniature portraits, porcelain, and bronzes by French-born artist-sculptor Christophe Fratin (1800-64). Thus ended C.J.M. Eaton’s long connection with the PIB, over 36 years. He was present at the creation, he was responsible for its location on Mt. Vernon Place, and helped nurture its development during its early great years. Eaton’s nieces also presented to the PIB Gallery of Art the considerable art collection of Baltimore merchant Robert Gilmore, Jr. (1774-1848), which their uncle had purchased to prevent its sale to buyers outside of Baltimore. See: PIB. PIB Gallery of Art. Persons named.

Eaton, C.J.M. 47-GP’s Portrait by Chester Harding. Artist Chester Harding’s (1792-1866) portrait of GP was donated to the Md. Historical Society, Baltimore, by Mrs. Charles R. Weld (née Frances Eaton, died March 13, 1947), niece of C.J.M Eaton (daughter of his brother George Nathaniel Eaton, one of 16 original PEF trustees, see immediately below). This GP portrait is reproduced in “Baltimore’s 150th Birthday,” Maryland History Notes, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Nov. 1947), pp. 1-2. Under GP’s portrait on p. 1 is printed, “Painted during the early years of his maturity,” probably in GP’s early thirties. It is an oil painting on canvas, 30″ x 25,” in an oval frame. Ref. Ibid.

Eaton, George Nathaniel (1811-74), brother of Charles James Madison Eaton (see immediately above), was one of the 16 original PEF trustees.

John Eaton With GP, W. Va., 1869

Eaton, John (1829-1906). 1-Career. U.S. Educator John Eaton was born in Sutton, N.H., attended Thetford Academy, Vt.; graduated from Dartmouth College (1854); was school principal, Ward School, Cleveland, Ohio (1854-56); was superintendent of schools, Toledo, Ohio (1856-59); attended Andover Theological Seminary (1859); was ordained a minister (Sept. 1861); was a Civil War chaplain with the 27th Ohio Regiment (from Aug. 15, 1861); was chosen Nov. 1862 by Gen. U.S. Grant to administer runaway slaves; was promoted to Col. in charge of the 63rd U.S. Colored Regiment; was superintendent of freedmen in Miss., northern La., Ark., and west Tenn.(to May 1865); and was brevetted Brig. Gen. (March 1865). Ref.: Boatner, p. 259 (who stated, “The Freedmen’s Bureau was later modeled on his plan”). See: Freedmen’s Bureau. PEF. Sears, Barnas.

Eaton, John. 2-Described GP, W.Va., July 23-Aug. 30, 1869. He was later editor of the Memphis Post (Tenn., 1866-67); and won election as Tenn.’s superintendent of public instruction (1867-69). In this last role he was with GP and Robert E. Lee at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., July 23-Aug. 30, 1869, and wrote of GP’s visit in his annual report. He was a Board of Visitors member, U.S. Military Academy, West Point (1869); was the second Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Education (1870-86); was president of Marietta College, Ohio (1886-91); president of Sheldon Jackson College, Salt Lake City, Utah (1895-99); and that year was commissioned to establish the Puerto Rico public school system (1898). For John Eaton’s description of GP at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., July 23-Aug. 30, 1869, names of participating prominent leaders, and sources, including historic W.Va. photos taken Aug. 12, 1869, see Corcoran, William Wilson. Confederate Generals. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Persons named. Visits to the U.S. by GP. White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

GP Gravely ill at Lampson’s London Home

Eaton Square, No. 80, London. 1-C.M. Lampson’s London Home. It was to Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson’s (1806-85) London home, 80 Eaton Square, that a gravely ill GP went on arrival in London (Oct. 9, 1869) from his last U.S. visit. Lampson was born in Vt., became wealthy in the fur trade, settled in Britain in 1830, accepted a British title, and lived the life of a British gentleman. He was, along with GP, a director of the Atlantic Cable Co. and a trustee of the Peabody Donation Fund to build and manage apartments for London’s working poor. See: Lampson, Curtis Miranda.

Eaton Square, No. 80, London. 2-Last Illness and Death. GP died there Nov. 4, 1869. Lampson helped coordinate GP’s funeral service and temporary burial in Westminster Abbey, transfer of GP’s remains from the Abbey to Portsmouth, England, and transatlantic transfer on HMS Monarch, accompanied by USS Plymouth, to Portland, Maine, for burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870. See: Death and funeral, GP’s.

GP’s 1852 Education Motto

“Education: a debt due from present to future generations.” 1-First Use: First Peabody Institute Library (1852), now in Peabody, Mass. On June 16, 1852, Danvers, Mass., celebrated the centennial of its separation from Salem, Mass. Letters extolling the importance of that day were read aloud were from prominent Mass. figures: Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94), Daniel Webster (1782-1852), Edward Everett (1794-1865), Rufus Choate (1799-1859), and others, including GP. Invited to participate but unable to leave London, GP sent a letter from London dated May 26, 1852, read aloud to those assembled by his boyhood classmate John Waters Proctor (1791-1874). See: persons named.

“Education: a debt due… 2-GP’s Philanthropic Motto. GP’s letter announced his gift of $20,000 (first of a total of $217,600) for his first Peabody Institute Library in South Danvers (renamed Peabody on April 13, 1868). With GP’s letter and first gift was a slip of paper containing his motto: “By George Peabody, of London: Education–a debt due from present to future generations.” No earlier source for this motto has been found. How GP first came to use it is not known. Ibid.. See: Proctor, Sylvester.

“Education: a debt due… 3-Where GP’s Motto is Used. Besides all of GP’s institutes which have prominently used his 1852 “Education” motto in their publications, it has most recently appeared in an 1-internet entry for the museums of Western Australia; 2-is cited in an “Endowments” web page from the Director of Development, College of Natural Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo.; and 3-is used by a fund-raising group (The Order of Golden Shillelagh), Univ. of Missouri-Rolla. … Ref.: 1-(Australia): Internet: “Education: a debt due from present to future generations.” (seen 4-12-01): http://www.cultureandarts.wa.gov.au/cainwa/museums.asp 2-(Colorado): http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/NatSci/html/Endowment.html (seen 8-23-01). 3-(Univ. of Missouri-Rollo): http://www.umr.edu/%7Edevelop/ogs/ (seen 10-22-01) See: end of Ref.: g. Internet (World Wide Webb).

Henry Adams on Benjamin Moran

Education of Henry Adams, by Henry [Brooks] Adams (1838-1918). 1-Secty. to his Father. Henry [Brooks] Adam was private secretary to his father, U.S. Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams (1807-86, minister during 1861-68). In this book Henry Adams described his contacts in London in the 1860s. These included important Britons and visiting and resident Americans, such as GP, Joshua Bates (1788-1864), Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), and others. See: Adams, Henry Brooks.

Education of Henry Adams. 2-On U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran. Henry [Brooks] Adams’ book, Henry Adams and His Friends, A Collection of His Unpublished Letters, comp. by Harold Dean Cater (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1947), p. xxxiv, has a description of U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86), often critical of GP in his private journal. Adams wrote: “On the staff of the American Legation in London was Benjamin Moran, an assistant secretary. He was a man of long experience at the Legation and one who became a sort of dependable workhorse to fill in for any duty that might come up from the changing personnel. He had an exaggerated notion of his importance; he was sensitive to flattery, and easily offended. He kept an extensive diary and while it must be read from the point of view of his character, it throws an interesting light on the Legation scene.” Ref. Ibid.

Education, U.S. southern. See: PEF. Sears, Barnas. Winthrop, Robert Charles.

Edward VII (1841-1910), eldest son of Queen Victoria (1819-1901), was king of England during 1901-10. It was as Prince of Wales that he unveiled GP’s seated statue by U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story (1819-95), on Threadneedle St., near London’s Royal Exchange, July 23, 1869. He eulogized GP, praised W.W. Story, and referred to U.S. Minister to Britain John Lothrop Motley (1814-77) in terms of U.S.-British friendship. Story and Motley, both present, also spoke. GP’s statue in London was the first of four statues of Americans in that city: GP, 1869; Abraham Lincoln, 1920; George Washington, 1921; and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1948. A copy of GP’s seated statue in London was placed in front of the PIB, April 7, 1890, by Robert Garrett (1847-96). See: Statues of GP.

Egyptian Room, Guildhall, London, was the large room where the Lord Mayor of London’s dinner was given to honor GP following the conferral ceremony of the Freedom of the City of London, July 10, 1862. See: London, Freedom of the City of London.

Eisenhower, Dwight David (1890-1969). For details and source of the six Americans offered and the five who received the Freedom of the City of London (Andrew Stevenson [declined], GP, U.S Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Gen. J.J. Pershing, and Dwight David Eisenhower), see London, Freedom of the City of London, and GP. Persons named.

Electric light bulb and GP See: Starr, John Wellington.

Eliot, Charles William (1834-1926), graduated from Harvard Univ. (1853), where he taught mathematics (1854-58), taught mathematics and chemistry (1858-63), and was president (1868-1909) when he attended GP’s final funeral service and burial, Peabody, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870. See: Death and funeral, GP’s.

Elizabeth, Queen Mother (1900-). On July 11, 1962, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, unveiled a plaque at the then new Peabody Estate in Blackfriars, London, celebrating the centenary of the GP Donation Fund, founded March 12, 1862 (total gift $2.5 million), which built and managed low-rent apartments for London’s working poor. For details and sources, including speech by the then Joint Parliamentary Secty., Ministry of Housing, Earl Jellicoe (George Patrick John Rushworth Jellicoe [1918-], second Earl of Jellicoe), see Peabody Homes of London.

Queen Victoria’s Son Prince Arthur at GP’s Funeral Service

Elphinestone, Howard Cawfurd (1829-90) 1-Prince Arthur’s Military Aide. Lt. Col. Howard Cawfurd Elphinestone was a military aide to Queen Victoria’s son Prince Arthur (William Patrick Albert Arthur, 1850-1942, Duke of Connaught). Prince Arthur was on a Canadian tour in mid-Nov. 1869, when British Ambassador to the U.S. Sir Edward Thornton (1817-1906) received Queen Victoria’s approval for Prince Arthur to visit in the U.S. Prince Arthur left Montreal, Canada, on Jan. 20, 1870, went to Washington, D.C., where he met Pres. U.S. Grant, and was in NYC on Jan. 29, 1870. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s. Victoria, Queen.

Elphinestone, H.C. 2-Attend GP’s Funeral. A Jan. 27 letter from his attendant, Lt. Col. H.C. Elphinestone, to Queen Victoria’s advisor in England, contained the first mention of Prince Arthur’s possible attendance at GP’s funeral: “Should Mr. Peabody’s funeral take place soon after that, Col. Elphinestone thought it would be a gracious act on the part of the Prince to attend.” Prince Arthur left NYC on Feb. 5, 1870, for Boston and left Boston on Feb. 8 for Peabody, Mass., where his attendance at GP’s funeral attracted wide favorable press coverage. Ref. Ibid. (Elphinestone): [Elphinestone, Howard Cawfurd].

GP and Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803-82). 1-GP Contact Via Delia Salter Bacon. U.S. essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson had three indirect contacts with GP. One involved eccentric Delia Salter Bacon (1811-59), whose theory was that William Shakespeare’s plays were written by Francis Bacon (1561-1626), Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618), and Edmund Spenser (1552-99). She appealed for support from Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Carlyle (1795-81), and Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64). They gave her courteous aid but no endorsement. In London she presented a letter of introduction to GP from NYC banker Charles Butler (1802-97). GP may have done some banking services for her. See: Bacon, Delia Salter.

Emerson, R.W. 2-Four Lectures at the PIB, 1872. On April 19, 1871, PIB Provost Nathaniel Holmes Morison (1815-90) invited R.W. Emerson to lecture at the PIB. His four topics and dates in 1872 were: 1-”Imagination and Poetry,” Jan. 2; 2-”Resources and Inspiration,” Jan. 4; 3-”Homes and Hospitality,” Jan. 9; and 4-”Art and Nature,” Jan. 11. Emerson had previously visited Baltimore in April 1827 on his return from St. Augustine, Fla. He gave two lectures at Baltimore’s Mercantile Library Association in Jan. 1843 and again under the same auspices in Jan. 1859. Ref.: Peabody Institute Library, Baltimore. Mr. Emerson….

Emerson, R.W. 3-Four Lectures at the PIB, 1872, Cont’d. In 1872 Emerson was age 68 and was described as having long white hair and being dressed in “a meticulous old fashioned black suit of an earlier day.” He left Boston for the 17 hour train trip to Baltimore but forgot the name of the hotel his daughter Edith had given him. After questioning the conductor, he decided to stay at Barnum’s near the Battle Monument (GP had also stayed at Barnum when he worked in and later visited Baltimore, 1856-57, 1866-67, and 1869). Ref.: Ibid.

Emerson, R.W. 4-Four Lectures at the PIB, 1872 Cont’d. Of Emerson’s first lecture, “Imagination and Poetry,” Jan. 2, 1872, Baltimore American reporter wrote condescendingly: “The profoundest thinker in America read a lecture [at the PIB] last evening to an audience…in part…who faintly comprehended the argument and in part…who only saw the beauty of the words.” On Emerson’s second talk, “Resources and Inspiration,” Jan. 4, a Baltimore Gazette reporter concluded: “The lecture in general was highly interesting, and listened to with the closest attention.” Ref.: Ibid.

Emerson, R.W. 5-Four Lectures at the PIB, 1872 Cont’d. At this second Jan. 4 lecture Emerson saw in the audience and later talked to poet Walt Whitman (1819-92) and naturalist John Burroughs (1837-1921). Emerson’s third lecture, Jan. 9, was again well attended. Of his last “Art and Nature” lecture, Jan. 11, a Baltimore Sun reporter concluded: [The audience listened] “attentively to Mr. Emerson as one who has attained to so great a degree of celebrity, and to be able to say that they have heard him.” Ref. Ibid.

GP & Selling Md.’s Bonds Abroad

Emory, Thomas (active 1810-37). 1-Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad. Thomas Emory (believed to have lived in Poplar Grove, Md.) was one of three commissioners appointed by Md. Act of 1835 to sell its $8 million bond issue abroad for internal improvements. When commissioner Samuel Jones, Jr. (1800-74), resigned early to become a state senator, he backed GP to replace him. Despite opposition in the Md. legislature, GP was appointed commissioner. GP and the other two commissioners, John Buchanan (1772-1844) and Thomas Emory, amid the Panic of 1837, failed to sell the bonds in London, Paris, and Amsterdam. The other two agents returned to the U.S. by Oct. 8, 1837. GP remained in London for the rest of his life (1837-69), 32 years, except for three U.S. visits (Sept. 15, 1856-Aug. 19, 1857, May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867, and June 8-Sept. 29, 1869). See: Md.’s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad, and GP.

Emory, Thomas. 2-GP Sold Md. Bonds Against all Odds. The Panic of 1837 and an economic depression that followed for a few years hindered GP’s sale of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. portion of Md.’s $8 million in bonds. Worse still, the depression induced Md. and eight other states to stop their bond interest payments in part or whole. GP finally approached his major competitor, Baring Brothers, Britain’s largest banking firm, and sold them the bonds cheaply for exclusive resale. Not wanting to burden economically depressed Md., GP never applied for and ultimately declined the $60,000 commission due him. Ref.: Ibid.

Emory, Thomas. 3-Md.’s Resolution of Praise for GP. When Md. recovered economically and resumed its bond interest payments (1847), GP was in transition from London-based dry goods and other merchandise dealer to broker-banker in U.S. securities. The Md. governor’s 1847 annual report to the legislative Assembly singled out GP “who never claimed or received one dollar of the $60,000 commission due him…whilst the State was struggling with her pecuniary difficulties.” Ref.: Ibid.

Emory, Thomas. 4-Md.’s Resolution of Praise for GP Cont’d. On March 7, 1848, both houses of Md.’s Assembly passed a unanimous resolution of praise to GP, sent to him in London, with Gov. Philip Francis Thomas’ (1810-90) accompanying comment: “To you, Sir,…the thanks of the State were eminently due.” GP’s earlier letters assuring European purchasers that Md. would resume interest payments, and retroactively, along with Md.’s resolution of praise, were widely printed. It took ten years for GP’s efforts to sell Md. bonds to be fully appreciated. Ref.: Ibid.

Emory, Thomas. 5-Career. The only Thomas Emory listed in Md. State Archives, Annapolis, Md., records was a member of the Governor’s Council, 1822, 1823, and 1824; member of the House of Delegates, Queen Anne’s County, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814; member of the House of Delegates, Special Session, Queen Anne’s County, 1812 and 1813; member of Senate, Eastern Shore, 1825, 1831, 1832, 1833, 1834, and 1835; and member of the Senate, Special Session, Eastern Shore, 1836. Ref.: Md. State Archives, Annapolis, Md., biographical file for Thomas Emory MSA SC 3520-13051.

Endicott, William Crowninshield (1826-1900), was a Mass. judge; president of the Peabody Academy of Science, Salem, Mass.; and a PEF trustee. He was succeeded as PEF trustee by Richard Olney (1835-1917), also a prominent lawyer and statesman from Mass. Ref.: Curry-b, p. 103.

Engraver-Artists. See: Peabody, George, Engraver-artists. Peabody, George, Illustrations of.

Enniskillen, Ireland. For GP’s visits to Belfast, Ireland, near British statesman James Emerson Tennent’s (1791-1869) home at Tempo Manor, Enniskillen, Ireland, see James Emerson Tennent.

Enoch Pratt Free Public Library, Baltimore. For GP’s connection , see PIB. Enoch Pratt.

Erebus (ship). In May 1845 British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) sailed on his second Arctic exploration and was never seen alive again. Some 40 international searches were made for the missing explorer (1845-50s), his two ships the Erebus and the Terror, and their crew of 137 seamen. GP contributed $10,000 for scientific equipment to the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition, 1853-55, in its unsuccessful search for Sir John Franklin. U.S. Navy Capt. Elisha Kent Kane (1820-57), commanding the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition, named Peabody Bay off Greenland for GP’s monetary contribution to this first U.S. effort in Arctic exploration. See: Henry, Henry. Kennedy, Jacqueline. Kennedy, John Fitzgerald. Persons named. White House.

Essex County, Mass.

Essex County, Mass. 1-”Essex Junto.” GP was born in what was then the South Parish of Danvers, Essex County, Mass., some 19 miles from Boston. Essex County originally housed the “Essex Junto,” a politically intertwined group of the most famous and wealthiest families of eastern Mass. who moved to Boston after the American Revolution: the Lowell, Cabot, Lodge, Lee, Higginson, and Jackson families. They were a compact social group, often intermarrying and helping one another in business. Ref.: Heymann, p. 17. See Peabody, Joseph.

Essex County, Mass. 2-Peabody Institute Libraries, Peabody & Danvers, Mass. GP’s branch of the Peabody family was of humble origin and circumstances, unlike distant relative Joseph Peabody (1757-1844) of Salem, Mass., who owned 73 clipper ships and employed some 7,000 seamen in Far East trade. GP’s hometown of Danvers was renamed South Danvers when the town was divided (1855) into North Danvers and South Danvers, and was named Peabody by town vote on April 13, 1868. GP founded Peabody Institute libraries in South Danvers, June 16, 1852 (total gift $217,600) and North Danvers, later Danvers, Dec. 22, 1856 (total gift $100,000). See: town names.

Essex Institute Library (now the Peabody Essex Museum), Salem, Mass. See Peabody Essex Museum, Peabody Mass.

Ethnology. See: Archaeology. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard Univ.

GP in Italy and France, 1868

Eugénie, Empress (1826-1920). 1-GP in Italy and France, 1868. About March 16, 1868, GP and his philanthropic advisor Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) were received by Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, 1808-73) and Empress Eugénie in Paris, France. The month before, Feb. 19-28, 1868, GP and Winthrop were in Rome, Italy, mainly for GP to sit in U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story’s (1819-95) studio for the GP seated statue Story was preparing for placement on Threadneedle St., near London’s Royal Exchange (unveiled July 23, 1869, by the Prince of Wales). See: Corcoran, William Wilson. Persons named.

Eugénie, Empress. 2-GP in Italy and France, 1868. About Feb. 24-25, 1868, GP and Winthrop had an audience with Pope Pius IX (Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, 1792-1878, Pope during 1846-78), GP’s only audience with the Pope and Winthrop’s second audience (Winthrop’s first audience with the Pope, 1860). GP gave $19,300 to San Spirito Hospital, a Vatican charitable hospital, Rome, Italy, probably Feb. 24-25, 1868. See: San Spirito Hospital, Rome, Italy. Persons named.

Eugénie, Empress. 3-GP in Italy and France, 1868 Cont’d. GP left Rome Feb. 27, 1868, for Genoa, then went by boat to Nice, France, arriving March 3, 1868, where Baltimore friend John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870) briefly visited him (Kennedy was on his way to Rome). GP went to Cannes, France, March 16, 1868, where he visited George Eustis (1828-72), son-in-law of GP’s Washington, D.C., business friend William Wilson Corcoran’s (1798-1888). Corcoran’s only daughter Louise Morris [née Corcoran] Eustis died Dec. 4, 1867, leaving George Eustis and their three children. See: Visits to Europe by GP.

Eugénie, Empress. 4-False Report of GP Statue in Rome. GP’s visit to Rome, audience with the Pope, and gift to the San Spirito Hospital may have been the basis for a short news item from Rome amid the vast publicity on GP’s death (Nov. 4, 1869) and transatlantic funeral: “A statue of Mr. Peabody is to be erected at Rome by order of the Pope.” No GP statue in Rome ever materialized. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Trent Affair & George Eustis

Eustis, George (1828-72). 1-Confederate Emissary. George Eustis was secretary to Confederate emissary John Slidell (1793-1871). Slidell, his male secretary George Eustis, along with Confederate emissary James Murray Mason (1798-1871) and his male secretary, J.E. McFarland, were on their way to seek aid and arms from Britain and France respectively. On the dark night of Oct. 11, 1861, they and some of their family evaded the Union blockade of Charleston, S.C., got to Havana, Cuba, and there boarded the British mail packet Trent bound for Liverpool, England. On Nov. 8, 1861, in the Bahama Channel, West Indies, the Trent was illegally stopped by the Union warship San Jacinto under Capt. Charles Wilkes (1798-1877). See: Trent Affair.

Eustis, George. 2-Furor Over the Trent. The illegal seizure of Mason, Slidell, and their male secretaries, and their being imprisoned at Boston Harbor’s Fort Warren, provoked near-war hysteria between Britain and the U.S. Furor over the Trent affair lasted well into 1862, affecting GP in London. With his advisors and trustees, he was preparing to announce (March 12, 1862) the Peabody Donation Fund, a $2.5 million (total) gift for model housing for London’s working poor. Ref.: Ibid. See: Peabody Homes of London.

Eustis, George. 3-Furor Over the Trent Cont’d. The seriousness of the Trent affair and other British-U.S. provocations worried GP and his advisors. Would the British government, press, and public accept his London housing gift? Would they reject it? Britain demanded release of the four prisoners and an explanation. U.S. jingoism calmed. Pres. Lincoln’s cabinet met Dec. 26, 1861, disavowed Capt. Wilkes’s action as unauthorized, and the four Confederates were released on Jan. 1, 1862. Ref.: Ibid.

Eustis, George. 4-Married Louise Morris Corcoran. Another GP-Trent connection was that Confederate emissary John Slidell’s secretary, George Eustice, was married to Louise Morris Corcoran (1838-67), the only daughter of GP’s longtime Washington, D.C., business friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888). She was a favorite of GP, who had entertained Corcoran and his daughter, sometimes the daughter alone, on European trips. When Louise Morris (née Corcoran) Eustice reached England, GP’s partner Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) went to see about her welfare. See: Trent Affair. For GP’s 1868 visit to the George Eustis family in France, with sources, see Corcoran, William Wilson.

Eustis, Louise Morris (née Corcoran, 1838-1867), was the only daughter of GP’s longtime Washington, D.C., business friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888). She was a favorite of GP, who had entertained Corcoran and his daughter, sometimes the daughter alone, on European trips. She married George Eustis (1828-72) from Louisiana and lived with him in France. For GP’s 1868 visit to the George Eustis family in France, a year after her death, with sources, see Corcoran, William Wilson.

PIB Prep School

Evans, May Garrettson (1866-1947). 1-Founder of PIB Prep School. May Garrettson Evans founded the PIB Conservatory of Music Preparatory School in 1898. Born in Baltimore, she spent her childhood in Georgetown, D.C., returned to Baltimore at age 13 to attend the Misses Hall’s School, and then attended the PIB Conservatory of Music. Her brother, a Sun reporter, occasionally asked her to review PIB Conservatory of Music programs for the Sun. This experience led her to become the Sun’s first woman reporter (between ages 20-27), covering dramatic, musical, and general events. See: PIB Conservatory of Music.

Evans, M.G.. 2-Founder of PIB Prep School Cont’d. May Garrettson Evans was the first to see the need for a preparatory music school for talented children that would be a feeder to the PIB Conservatory of Music and also serve as a general music school for adults. She suggested such a school to then PIB Conservatory of Music director Asger Hamerik (1843-1923), who recommended it to the trustees, but no action was taken. Ref.: Ibid.

Evans, M.G. 3-Founder of PIB Prep School Cont’d. In Oct. 1894 at age 28 she started a preparatory school herself, helped by her sister Marion and taught mostly by PIB Conservatory of Music students and staff. The school flourished, was first called the Peabody Graduates Preparatory and High School of Music, and four years later (1898) renamed the PIB Conservatory’s Preparatory Dept. (called familiarly “the Prep”). Ref.: Ibid.

Evans, M.G. 4-Founder of PIB Prep School Cont’d. Evans was superintendent of the Preparatory Dept. for over 30 years. She saw its enrollment grow from some 300 students to over 3,200 students with several branches in and near Baltimore. Besides being a music school for talented children, the Preparatory Dept. also served the public schools and adults interested in music, dance, and dramatic speech. It was also a laboratory school for PIB Conservatory students pursuing a teacher’s certificate. Before Evans retired in 1930, a gift from Baltimore lawyer and philanthropist James Wilson Leakin (1857-1922) enabled the Preparatory Dept. to move into its own modern music building, Leakin Hall (1927). Ref.: Ibid.

Evarts, William Maxwell (1818-1901), was one of the 16 original PEF trustees. He was born in Boston, was a Yale graduate (1837), studied law at Harvard Univ.; was admitted to the New York bar (1841); was NYC assistant district attorney (1849-53); was prominent in the Republican Party; represented the U.S. government in Britain to keep Britain from building ships for the Confederate Navy (April-July 1863 and Dec. 1863-June 1864); represented Pres. Andrew Johnson in the Feb. 24-May 16, 1868, Johnson impeachment trial before the U.S. Senate; was U.S. Atty. Gen. in Pres. Johnson’s cabinet; was U.S. Counsel in the Alabama Claims arbitration in Geneva (1871-72); was U.S. Secty. of State in Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes’s cabinet; and U.S. Sen. from N.Y. (1885-91). Ref.: Hicks, III, pp. 215-218. Curry-b, pp. 19, 33, 35, 64, 106, 137.

GP & Edward Everett

Everett, Edward (1794-1865). 1-Statesman, Educator, Orator. Edward Everett, U.S. statesman, educator, and orator, spoke at the reception for GP in Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856. This all-day gala affair celebrated GP’s first return visit to the U.S. in nearly 20 years since leaving for London, Feb. 1837. Edward Everett was born in Dorchester, Mass., was a Harvard graduate (B.A., 1811, M.A., 1814), Harvard professor of Greek literature (1819-26), member, U.S. House of Rep. (1825-34), Mass. governor (1836-39), and U.S. Minister to Britain (1841-45, where GP had contact with him), Harvard Univ. president (1846-49), U.S. Secty. of State under Pres. Millard Fillmore (1852-53), and U.S. Sen. (1853-54). The most notable orator of his time, his two hour address at the Gettysburg cemetery dedication, Nov. 19, 1863, is largely forgotten while Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s three-minute 272-word speech that followed won lasting fame.

Everett, Edward. 2-Oct. 9, 1856, Speech, Danvers, Mass. At the Oct. 9, 1856, GP reception in Danvers, Mass., Edward Everett said in part (after Mass. Gov. Henry J. Gardner’s [1818-92] short speech): “While in England I had the opportunity to witness Mr. Peabody’s honorable position in commerce and social circles. The pursuit of commerce has done much to promote civilization. From earliest times caravans of trade have bound the human family together and kept the arts and refinements of life from extinction. Medieval guilds were the bulwark of liberty and the germ of representative government. From trade came law, order, and progress….” Ref.: Proceedings…Reception…George Peabody,…Danvers, October 9, 1856, pp. 55-56. Everett-a. Everett-b, II, pp. 466-476. Full speech on internet (seen Dec. 24, 20004): http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=AEM7072.0001.001

Everett, Edward. 3-Oct. 9, 1856, Speech, Danvers, Mass. Cont’d. “We honor today one preeminent in commerce. When American credit stood low and the individual states defaulted their trust, our friend stood firm and was the cause of firmness in others. When few would be listened to on the subject of American securities in the parlor of the Bank of England, his judgment commanded respect; his integrity won back trust in America. He performed the miracle by which the word of an honest man turns paper into gold.” Ref.: Ibid.

Everett, Edward. 4-Oct. 9, 1856, Speech, Danvers, Mass. Cont’d. “He promoted the enjoyment of traveling Americans as so many here can attest. The United States Minister in England, with little funds, could not bring together Americans and Englishmen and women in convivial friendship. Our honored guest, with ample means, corrected this defect. At the first world’s fair in London, 1851, the exhibitors of other nations went officially supplied with funds to display their nation’s wares. The American exhibitors found a large place to fill naked and unadorned. At the critical moment when the English press ridiculed the sorry appearance we presented, our friend stepped forward and did what Congress should have done. Our products were shown at their best. Leading British journalists admitted that England derived more benefit from the contributions of the United States than from any other country.” Ref.: Ibid.

Everett, Edward. 5-Oct. 9, 1856, Speech, Danvers, Mass. Cont’d.: “Time and again he brought together men of two nations to drink from loving cups of goodwill. These are some reasons we welcome to old Danvers one of her greatest sons. (Great cheering.) “When on the 16th of June, 1852, Danvers celebrated its one hundredth year of separate existence our friend sent a slip of paper containing a noble sentiment. Now a slip of paper can easily be blown away. So, as a paperweight, to keep the toast safe on the table to repay his debt, Mr. Peabody laid down $20,000 and has since doubled it.” Ref.: Ibid. For other Oct. 9, 1856, celebration details and speeches by Alfred Amos Abbott (1820-84), GP, Robert Shillaber Daniels (b.1791), Mass. Gov. Henry J. Gardner (1818-92), and John Chandler Bancroft Davis (1822-1907), with sources, see persons named. Visits to the U.S. by GP.

Creating the Peabody Normal College

Ewing, Edwin H. (1809-1902). 1-Univ. of Nashville Trustee. Before his 1911 retirement as Peabody Normal College president, former Tenn. Gov. James Davis Porter (1828-1912) told how he helped first PEF administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80) establish the Peabody Normal College on the campus of the Univ. of Nashville: “…I was with Dr. Sears, the first General Agent of [the] Peabody Board in 1875 [PEF], and he said to me, ‘If you will furnish the house I will establish a normal college in Nashville. I am satisfied it is the best place in the South.’ This was within twenty minutes of my inauguration as Governor of the State.”

Ewing, E.H. 2-Tenn. Gov. J.D. Porter Cont’d. “I said to him, ‘Meet me here tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock and I will inform you whether I can secure the building for you. I am very anxious to see the school established. Before that hour I interviewed Judge William F. Cooper [1820-1909]. Edwin H. Ewing, Edward D. Hicks, III [1831-94] and other members of the Board of Trustees of the University of Nashville and obtained from them consent to establish the college in buildings of the University, and when Dr. Sears called I was able to offer him the most eligible building and the best location of any point in the City of Nashville. He accepted the offer, and in the winter following, the school was organized and
entered upon a career of the very greatest success.” See: PCofVU. PEF. Persons Named.

Excellent, HMS (ship), was a British warship which participated in the transfer ceremonies of placing GP’s remains aboard HMS Monarch, Portsmouth harbor, England, Dec. 11, 1869, for transatlantic voyage to Portland, Me., with final funeral service in Peabody, Mass. (Feb. 8, 1870), and burial that day in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s. HMS Monarch.

Exhibit, U.S., at 1851 Great Exhibition. See: Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair).

Exhibition of 1851. See: Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world’s fair).

F

Trent Affair & Lt. Fairfax

Fairfax, Donald McNeill (1821-94). 1-Trent Affair, 1861. Navy Lt. Donald McNeill Fairfax served under Capt. Charles Wilkes (1798-1877) on the Union warship San Jacinto which stopped the British mail steamer Trent, Nov. 8, 1861, in the Bahama Channel, West Indies. Capt. Wilkes ordered Lt. Fairfax to remove Confederate agents James Murray Mason (1798-1871) of Va. and his male secretary and John Slidell (1793-1871) from La. and his male secretary. The Confederates were bound for France and England to win support and aid. On Oct. 11, 1861, the four Confederates and some of their family evaded a Union blockade of Charleston, S.C., got to Havana, Cuba, and there boarded the British mail steamer Trent bound for Southampton, England. One day out of Havana the British Trent was illegally stopped by the Union San Jacinto. Lt. Fairfax is said to have carried out his unpleasant arrest and removal duty with courtesy. He bore reproaches from the Trent’s captain and passengers with equanimity. See:Trent Affair.

Fairfax, D.M. 2-Trent Affair, 1861 Cont’d. The seizing and holding of Mason, Slidell, and their secretaries in Boston Harbor’s Fort Warren prison evoked anger in Britain and France and exultation in the U.S. North. Passions were aroused. Angry recriminations over the Trent affair held up until March 12, 1862, GP’s announcement of his Peabody Donation Fund, a $2.5 million (total) gift for model housing for London’s working poor. British upper and middle classes favored the Confederacy, whose Southern cotton was needed for British textile manufacture. Ref.: Ibid.

Fairfax, D. M. 3-Trent Affair, 1861 Cont’d. While a U.S.-British war seemed imminent, GP and his trustees feared that the British government, press, and public might reject his gift. Britain demanded release of the four prisoners and an explanation. U.S. jingoism calmed. Pres. Lincoln’s cabinet met Dec. 26, 1861, disavowed the seizure of the Trent, and released the four Confederates Jan. 1, 1862. Lt. Fairfax later took part in the naval operations in Charleston harbor, was promoted to rear admiral, and retired in 1881. Ref.: Ibid.

Fame (ship) was the name of the brig commanded by a Capt. Davis on which GP, then age 17, and his paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-before 1826) left Newburyport, Mass., May 4, 1812, to open a merchandise store on Bridge St., Georgetown, D.C., May 15, 1812. See: Newburyport, Mass.

Family, GP’s (ancestors, brothers, and sisters). See: Peabody Genealogy.

Family support, GP’s. For GP’s support of his mother, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and others, including their schooling, see Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell (GP’s sister). Bradford Academy, Bradford, Mass.

Faneuil Hall, Boston. Horatio Gates Somerby (1805-72), Newburyport, Mass.-born London resident genealogist, GP’s friend and sometime agent, wrote GP of hearing anti-Confederate speeches in Boston’s Faneuil Hall on Oct. 6, 1862. One speaker, George Francis Train (1829-1904), Boston-born financier of city railway lines, rabidly anti-southern and anti-British, had earlier publicly attacked GP for his March 12, 1862, housing gift for London’s working poor ($2.5 million total). See: Somerby, Horatio Gates. Civil War and GP.

Faraday, Michael (1791-1867), English scientist. See: Starr, John W.

Adm. D.G. Farragut

Farragut, David Glasgow (1801-70). 1-Farragut and GP. GP and U.S. Navy Adm. David Glasgow Farragut, one of the 16 original PEF trustees (during 1867-70), met several times in the last two years of their lives. In early 1867, to forestall U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson’s (1808-75) impeachment by Radical Republicans in Congress, Pres. Johnson’s political advisor, Francis Preston Blair, Sr. (1791-1876), suggested a complete cabinet change, with GP as Treasury Secty., Adm. D.G. Farragut as Navy Secty., and six others. But loyalty to his old cabinet kept Pres. Johnson from making that change. For F.P. Blair, Sr.’s Cabinet reshuffle plan and the eight names proposed, see Andrew, John Albion. Congressional Gold Medal and Resolutions of Praise to GP.

Farragut, D.G. 2-PEF Trustees’ Second Meeting. GP and Farragut were together at the PEF trustees’ second meeting, at NYC’s Fifth Avenue Hotel, March 19-22, 1867. GP invited Adm. Farragut and Gen. U.S. Grant (both trustees) and their wives to attend an opera. In his invitation to Farragut, GP enclosed photos of himself and asked for photos of the admiral and his wife. Ref.: (Farragut and Grant at opera with GP): Lewis, p. 335. See: Presidents, U.S., and GP.

Farragut, D.G. 3-PEF Trustees’ March 22, 1867, Banquet. GP gave a banquet for the trustees and their wives on March 22, 1867. Among the 73 guests were: 1-NYC store owner Alexander Turney Stewart (1803-76), whose store was later bought by and named Wanamaker’s. A.T. Stewart built a model community in Garden City, N.Y., based on the plan of GP’s model apartments for London’s working poor (from 1862). 2-NYC financier William Backhouse Astor (1792-1875); 3-historian George Bancroft (1800-91), who had been U.S. Minister to Britain (1846-49), and others. Ref.: Winthrop-a, II, pp. 685-688. PEF, Proceedings, I. See: persons named.

Farragut, D.G. 4-PEF Trustees’ March 22, 1867, Banquet Cont’d. Adm. Farragut sat at GP’s left and Mrs. Grant on his right. The military men were in full dress uniform. PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop rose to speak: “The time is at hand,” he said, “for the departure of George Peabody. I have here resolutions [from] the trustees [who]…thank him for his hospitality to us in Washington and New York. We consider this trust a high honor. We wish him God’s blessing as he takes leave of this country.” Winthrop concluded with: “Since he arrived last May he has performed acts of charity without precedent in the annals of the world. It was my friend Daniel Webster who said that the character of Washington was our greatest contribution to the world. Now we can add the example of George Peabody. The greatest philanthropist of his age.” Ref.: Ibid.

Farragut, D.G. 5-GP’s Gifts, 1866-67. Winthrop’s speech referred to GP’s charitable gifts during his year’s U.S. visit (May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867) These gifts totaled $2,210,000, including: a-$70,000 for a Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass., in memory of his mother, who was born there, then named Rowley (ground broken June 19, 1866). b-$40,000 each added to the Peabody Institute Library, South Danvers (renamed Peabody, Mass., April 13, 1868), and the c-Peabody Institute Library, North Danvers (name reverted to Danvers, Mass., same date). d-$150,000 each to found the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard Univ. (Oct. 8, 1866) and the e-Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale Univ. (Oct. 22, 1866). Ref.: Ibid.

Farragut, D.G. 6-GP’s Gifts, 1866-67 Cont’d. f-$500,000 to the PIB. g-$25,000 each to Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., for a professorship of mathematics and natural science (Oct. 30, 1866), and to h-Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, for a professorship of mathematics and civil engineering (Nov. 6, 1866). i-$20,000 each for publication funds to the Md. Historical Society, Baltimore (Nov. 5, 1866), and to the j-Mass. Historical Society, Boston (Jan. 1, 1867). k-$15,000 each for a public library fund in Newburyport, Mass. (Feb. 20, 1867), and 12-Georgetown, D.C. (April 20, 1867). l-$140,000 for what is now the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass. (Feb. 26, 1867); and m-$1 million to create the PEF (Feb. 7, 1867; doubled to $2 million, June 29, 1869). Ref.: Ibid.

Farragut, D.G. 7-GP’s Response to Winthrop. GP responded to Winthrop’s speech: “Never,” GP said, “have I been more honored than at this time by the presence of the highest officers of our Army and Navy, by the most distinguished men of the North and the South. May this gathering of friends be an omen of brighter days to come to our beloved country (applause). Let me close with two toasts. I give you our country, our whole country” (enthusiastic applause and the playing of the national anthem). GP concluded: “Finally, the country where I have lived and prospered, and to its Queen.” (Great applause). Ref.: Ibid.

Farragut, D.G. 8-Mathew Brady Photo of PEF Trustees. Press reports complimented the banquet, the speeches, and noted the public’s approval of the PEF’s intent to advance public education in the devastated South. Before dispersing, the trustees and GP on March 23, 1867, went to famed Civil War photographer Mathew Brady’s (1823-96) NYC studio for their only group photo. Ref.: (Brady’s photo of PEF trustees with GP): Harper’s Weekly, Vol. 11, No. 537 (April 13, 1867), pp. 227-228, 238. See: Brady, Mathew. For later woodcuts and other reprints of the Brady photo of the PEF trustees with GP, see Peabody, George, Illustrations.

Farragut, D.G. 9-Trustee Lawrence on GP’s Public Relations. Years later, former PEF trustee William Lawrence (1850-1941) described the PEF trustees’ banquets and GP’s penchant for favorable publicity in his memoirs: “There was in Mr. Peabody a touch of egotism and a satisfaction in publicity which worked to the advantage of this fund; by the selection of men of national fame as trustees he called the attention of the whole country to the educational needs of the South and the common interests of North and South in building up a united Nation.” Ref. Lawrence, pp. 268-269, quoted in Taylor, p. 25.

Farragut, D.G. 10-Trustee Lawrence on GP’s Public Relations Cont’d.: “The trustees brought their wives to the annual meeting in New York, and in the evening met at the most sumptuous [banquet] that the hostelry of those days, the Fifth Avenue Hotel, could provide; the report of which and of what they had to eat and drink was headlined in the press of the South and the North. This annual event took place upon the suggestion of Mr. Peabody and at the expense of the fund; and in its social influence and publicity was well worth the cost.” Ref. Ibid.

Farragut, D.G. 11-GP’s funeral. GP died Nov. 4, 1869, in London and was buried temporarily at Westminster Abbey (Nov. 12-Dec. 11, 1869). When his will requiring burial in Mass. became known, British PM William E. Gladstone’s (1809-89) cabinet on Nov. 10, 1869, decided to offer HMS Monarch as the funeral vessel to transport GP’s remains to the U.S. Pres. U.S. Grant, through U.S. Navy Secty. George Maxwell Robeson (1829-97), ordered the naval corvette, USS Plymouth, from Marseilles, France, to accompany HMS Monarch south to Madeira, across the Atlantic, and north to Portland, Me. Pres. Grant, again through Navy Secty. Robeson, ordered Adm. Farragut to command a flotilla of U.S. Navy ships to receive GP’s remains at Portland harbor (Jan. 25-Feb. 1, 1870). This was Adm. Farragut’s last naval assignment before his death, Aug. 14, 1870. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Farragut, D.G. 12-Farragut’s Career. D.G. Farragut was born at Campbell’s Station near Knoxville, Tenn., of a Scottish mother and noble Spanish-born father. His father came to America in 1776, served in the Colonial army, is said to have saved Gen. George Washington’s life at the Battle of Cowpens, S.C. (Jan. 17, 1781), and became a sailing master in the U.S. Navy. When young Farragut’s mother died, he was cared for by his father’s shipmate, later Commander David Porter (1780-1843). D.G. Farragut became a midshipman (Dec. 17, 1810) at the early age of 9 and-a-half years, was sent to school for two years in Chester, Pa., and sailed on Commander David Porter’s ship Essex in the War of 1812. Ref.: Lewis, pp. 334-335, 373. Boatner, pp. 275-276.

Farragut, D.G. 13-Farragut’s Career Cont’d. Remaining in the Navy, Farragut was made acting Lt. (1819), when he was 18. He cruised the West Indies against Cuban pirates, was commissioned commander (Sept. 9, 1841), participated in the Mexican War and the Civil War, where he was the hero of the battles of New Orleans (April 24, 1862) and Mobile Bay (Aug. 5, 1864). He is remembered for saying, “Damn the torpedoes! Go ahead!” at Mobile Bay. Farragut, the greatest naval commander of the Civil War, was made rear admiral, July 16, 1862; vice admiral, Dec. 23, 1864; and admiral, July 26, 1866. He died on Aug. 14, 1870, nine months after GP’s death. Ref.: Ibid. See: Almy, John Jay. Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Faye and Joe Wyatt Center, PCofVU, since 1993-96, formerly the Social Religious Building, PCofVU. See: PCofVU. Conkin, Peabody College, index.

February was an important month in GP’s life and career. He was born Feb. 18, 1795. He left the U.S. for England to stay for some 30 years on Feb. 1, 1837, to his death on Nov. 4, 1869 (except for three U.S. visits). His Feb. 12, 1857, letter founded the PIB ($1.4 million total gift). His Feb. 7, 1867, letter founded the PEF ($2 million total gift). His remains were taken by train from Portland, Me., to Peabody, Mass., on Feb. 1, 1870. He was buried on Feb. 8, 1870, Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., after a 96-day transatlantic funeral. Ref.: Evans, p. 6.

Federal Republican, and Commercial Gazette (Georgetown, D.C.). For GP’s 1812 advertisements of goods for sale in the Federal Republican, and Commercial Gazette (Georgetown, D.C.), with sources, see Riggs, Sr., Elisha.

Federalist Party. GP’s fine penmanship at age 15-16 in 1811 in Newburyport, Mass., working as clerk in older brother David Peabody’s (1790-1841) drapery shop, earned him extra money writing ballots for the Federalist Party.

Fehrman, Dietrich, was U.S. Consul in Vienna, Austria, when PIB trustee Charles J. M. Eaton (1808-93) wrote to ask his help in finding a director of the PIB Academy (later Conservatory) of Music. Consul Fehrman’s advertisement in a European music journal brought letters of interest, including one from Asger Hamerik (1843-1923), Copenhagen, Denmark-born musician, leading to his appointment as first PIB Conservatory of Music director. See: Persons named. PIB Conservatory of Music.

GP & the Am. Assn. of London

Fell, Jesse Weldon, M.D. (active, 1850s). 1-U.S.-Born Physician Resident in London. Jesse Weldon Fell, M.D., was a U.S.-born physician resident in London who experimented with a cancer cure in London’s Middlesex Hospital. He wrote A Treatise on Cancer, and its Treatment (London, 1857). He was a friend of U.S. Legation Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86), attended Mrs. Moran’s illness until her death, and was active with Moran and others in the American Association of London (1858), a short-lived club for social and charitable purposes. Ref.: “Fell, Jesse Weldon”-b, Vol. 1, p. 584.

Fell, J.W., M.D. 2-Am. Assn. of London. The Association’s newer U.S. resident organizers in London were generally hostile to older longtime residents like GP, who had spent years promoting U.S.-British friendship. The newer U.S. residents took over for a few years under strained relations the July 4th dinners GP had started in 1850 and made into widely and favorably reported U.S.-British friendship dinners. Ref.: Ibid. See: Campbell, Robert Blair. Moran, Benjamin.

GP Critic C.W. Felt

Felt, Charles Wilson (b. Nov. 18, 1834). 1-Critics Garrison and Felt. Charles Wilson Felt, born in Salem, Mass., the son of Ephaim Felt and Eliza (née Ropes), was an inventor (believed to have been a promoter of railroads in cities and towns, i.e., trolley cars). Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison (1805-79), himself critical of GP, quoted Felt’s charge that GP was a Confederate sympathize in the Civil War, Garrison’s editorial, “Honored Beyond His Deserts,” NYC Independent, Feb. 10, 1870, wrote after GP’s death: “His [GP’s] sympathies in his own country were much more strongly with a pro-slavery South than with an anti-slavery North; and he carried his feelings in that direction almost to the verge of the Rebellion.” Ref.: NYC Independent (Feb. 8, 1870), p. 1, c. 2-3. “Felt, Charles Frederick Wilson,” (C.W. Felt’s son).

Felt, C.W. 2-Felt on GP. Garrison then referred to Felt as follows: “Corroborative of this charge, take the testimony of Charles W. Felt, Esq., as given in a letter to the Evening Post, dated Manchester (Eng.), Jan. 8th last [1870]: [Felt wrote]: ‘I was in London in October and November, 1861, having a letter of introduction from Edward Everett [1794-1865] to Mr. Peabody.” Ref.: Ibid.

Felt, C.W. 3-Felt on GP Cont’d.: “I was astonished and mortified to hear Mr. Peabody, in the course of a short conversation, indulge in such expressions as these: [Felt quoting GP]: ‘I do not see how it can be settled, unless Mr. Davis gives up what Mr. Lincoln says he is fighting for–the forts the South has taken–and then separate.’ ‘You can’t carry on the war without coming over here for money; and you won’t get a shilling.’ ‘Harriet Beecher Stowe was over here, but I would not go to see her, though I was invited: and now she writes that this is our war! [Felt’s italics] Such things don’t go down over here.’” Ref.: Ibid.

Felt, C.W. 4-Felt on GP Cont’d.: “I made one other call upon him; but I could only regard him as recreant to his country in the time of her greatest need.” [Garrison’s italics]. Ref.: Ibid. Ref.: (Felt, Jan. 8, 1870, from Manchester, England): NYC Evening Post, Jan. 21, 1870. Felt’s letter also in Parker, F.-f, pp. 1-20; reprinted in Parker, F.-zd, pp. 50-68.

Felt, C.W. 5-Felt Refuted Weed’s Vindication. Felt’s Jan. 8, 1870, letter from Manchester, England, printed in the NYC Post, Jan. 21, 1870, was written to refute Thurlow Weed’s (1797-1882) vindication of GP as a staunch Unionist during the Civil War, printed in the New York Times, Dec. 23, 1869, p. 2, c. 3-4. Weed’s vindication was confirmed publicly by Ohio Episcopal Bishop McIlvaine (1799-1873) and others. Felt wrote: “I have seen Mr. Weed’s vindication of George Peabody’s course in the Civil War. He acknowledges finding Peabody undecided as late as December, 1861. No loyal American could be doubtful after Fort Sumter, Bull Run, and Front Royal. I don’t doubt that Peabody ran to Minister [to Britain, Charles Francis] Adams [1807-86] with news of Federal success at Fort Donelson for he then saw which would be the winning side. He became a friend of the North when he saw it would win.” Ref.: Ibid.

Felt, C.W. 6-Garrison: “a bid for notoriety”. The title of Garrison’s editorial clearly implied and agreed with what Felt more directly stated: that GP was “honored beyond his true merit,” that it would have been better if he had remained in the U.S. instead of going to England to die, that his return to England to die was a bid for notoriety. Ref.: (Weed’s vindication): New York Times, Dec. 23, 1869, p. 2, c. 3-4; reprinted in Weed-a, pp. 9-15. See: Baldwin, Leland DeWitt. Bigelow, John. Bowles, Samuel. Civil War and GP. Josephson, Matthew. Moran, Benjamin. Myers, Gustavus. Sandburg, Carl.

At GP’s May 18, 1853, London Dinner

Felton, Cornelius Conway (1807-62). 1-Harvard Univ. President. Cornelius Conway Felton was Harvard Univ. president (1860). In his book, Familiar Letters from Europe (Boston: Tichnor and Field, 1865), p. 28, Felton refers to being a guest “at a splendid and costly entertainment” given in 1853 by GP at which Martin Van Buren (1782-62, eighth U.S. Pres., 1837-41) and “many very distinguished persons” were present. This May 18, 1853, dinner, for 150 persons (65 English, 85 Americans), was at the Star and Garter, Richmond, about eight miles from London overlooking the Thames. The dinner, complete with a band and vocalists, began and ended with the British and U.S. national anthems. The dinner introduced to London society the new U.S Minister to Britain, Joseph Reed Ingersoll (1786-1868), and his niece, Charlotte Manigault Wilcocks (1821-75), who were guests of honor. See: Dinners, GP’s, London. Persons named.

Felton, C.C. 2-J.S. Morgan Present. Also present were Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) and Mrs. Morgan. GP was considering J.S. Morgan as his partner, an arrangement completed the next year (Oct. 1, 1854). In his speech the Episcopal Bishop of Ohio, Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), said about GP and his U.S.-British friendship dinners: “When history should come to be written, and…weight…given to all…influences,…it would assign…a very high place to…one who had done very much to promote…goodwill between…two great nations…there represented.” Ref.: Ibid.

Felton, C.C. 3-May 18, 1853, Dinner Cost. The dinner and speeches received wide press coverage. The dinner cost is not known, but one bill, only part of the total, was about $940. Ref.: New York Daily Times, June 1, 1853, p. 8, c. 2-5. Baltimore American and Commercial Daily Advertiser, June 3, 1853, p. 2, c. 3-4. Daily National Intelligencer (Washington, D.C.), June 7, 1853, p. 3, c. 1-3. Curry-b, p. ix.

Fenner, Charles Erasmus (1834-1911), was a PEF trustee. Born in Tenn. of a physician father, C.E. Fenner was a lawyer, moved to La. in 1840, and was elected to the La. legislature. Ref.: Knott, Vol. III, pp. 323-324.

GP & the Atlantic Cable

Field, Cyrus West (1819-92). 1-Atlantic Cable. Cyrus West Field created the Atlantic Cable Co., in which GP was an investor and a director. C.W. Field was born in Stockbridge, Mass., became wealthy as head of a paper mill, and conceived the transatlantic cable idea in 1853. He organized English and U.S. cable companies, used two naval ships, the British Agamemnon and the U.S. Niagara, in five failed cable-laying attempts (1857-58), and succeeded on Aug. 16, 1858. But the cable broke. Field had to raise new funds. His Great Eastern cable-laying ship finally succeeded in 1866. Praised for his persistence, Field laid other oceanic cables and in 1877 helped revive the NYC elevated system.

Field, C.W. 2-Atlantic Cable Cont’d. George Peabody & Co. partner Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) wrote on Oct. 10, 1856, to GP then on a U.S. visit, that Cyrus W. Field was organizing the Atlantic Telegraph and Cable Co. and wanted GP as one of the directors. Morgan wrote GP: “Field is getting up his company on the ocean Telegraph. He wishes your name as one of the directors. Lampson [GP’s business friend Curtis Miranda Lampson, 1806-85] and ourselves agree that it is best you should accept, and I have taken responsibility of saying to Field it might be put through subject to your confirmation. It will be a go and the new [organization] with you will be of the right stamp…. We have many inquiries for you every day.” Ref. J.S. Morgan, London, to GP, Oct. 10, 1856, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.

Field, C.W. 3-Atlantic Cable Cont’d. On Nov. 14, 1856, J.S. Morgan wrote Peabody that the Atlantic Telegraph was going well, that GP’s name as director was being used publicly, and that Curtis M. Lampson would also consent to be a director. Ref.: J.S. Morgan, London, to GP, Nov. 14, 1856, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.

Field, C.W. 4-Cable Break. Author Ron Chernow’s House of Morgan (1990), recorded GP’s connection with the Atlantic cable as follows: “But its [George Peabody & Co.] most farsighted bet was £100,000 investment in Cyrus Field’s transatlantic cable, which would unite Wall Street [NYC] with the City [London]. The scheme looked inspired on August 16, 1858, when Queen Victoria made the first cable call, to President James Buchanan. In a burst of national pride, New York City engaged in two weeks of fireworks and euphoric celebration. Peabody dizzily wrote to Field, ‘Your reflections must be like those of Columbus after the discovery of America.’ He spoke too soon, however: in September, the cable snapped, the venture’s share prices plummeted, and Peabody and Junius Morgan absorbed steep losses. Eight years would pass before full service was restored.” Ref.: Chernow, p. 12 (Chernow quoted Carter, III, p. 162).

Field, C.W. 5-Morgan on Cable Break. In regard to the cable break, J.S. Morgan in London wrote GP (Aug. 12, 1858), ill with gout and visiting a health spa in Vichy, France, about Atlantic Telegraph Co. stock. “Our position,” Morgan wrote GP, “is an unpleasant one. The moment we sell it is known and down goes the market.” Ref.: (J.S. Morgan to GP): J.S. Morgan, London, to GP, Oct. 10, 1856, and Aug. 12, 1858, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC. See: Moran, Benjamin. Morgan, Junius Spencer. Panic of 1857.

Fields, Emmett B. (1923-d. Sept. 19, 2005), was Vanderbilt Univ.’s first (and only) president (1977-82) when he and Vanderbilt Univ. Chancellor Alexander Heard (1917-) held talks during Sept.-Dec. 1978 with GPCFT’s sixth and last Pres. John Dunworth (1924-), leading to PCofVU merger as Vanderbilt Univ ’s ninth school, July 1, 1979. E.B. Fields retired as Pres. from VU in 1983 to Annapolis, Md. See: PCofVU, History of. Persons named. Conkin, Peabody College, index.

Fifth Avenue Hotel, NYC. The 16 PEF trustees’ second meeting was at NYC’s Fifth Ave. Hotel, March 19-22, 1867. On March 22, 1867, GP held an evening banquet for the trustees, their wives, and guests. The next day, May 23, 1867, the only historic photograph taken of the 16 original PEF trustees plus GP was taken at famed Civil War photographer Mathew Brady’s (1823-96) NYC studio. See: Farragut, David Glasgow.

U.S. Pres. Millard Fillmore & GP

Fillmore, Millard (1800-74). 1-Received GP’s Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner Book. U.S. Pres. Millard Fillmore, 13th U.S. Pres. during 1850-53, received through U.S. Minister to Britain Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855) a handsome book printed on vellum entitled An Account of the Proceedings at the Dinner Given by Mr. George Peabody to the Americans Connected with the Great Exhibition…On the 27th October, 1851. The dinner was held at London Coffee House, Ludgate Hill. The elaborate book was compiled by GP’s friend and sometime agent, Vt.-born London resident book dealer Henry Stevens (1819-86). The book contained the menu, toasts, proceedings, and speech by U.S. Minister to Britain Abbott Lawrence. Most of the 150 U.S.-British dinner guests were connected with the Great Exhibition of 1851, London. See: Corcoran, William Wilson. Presidents, U.S., and GP.

Fillmore, Millard. 2-Pres. Fillmore Acknowledged Book. In acknowledging receipt to Abbott Lawrence, Pres. Fillmore wrote about GP: “From all I have heard of Mr. Peabody, he is one of those ‘Merchant Princes’ who does equal honor to the land of his birth and the country of his adoption. This dinner must have been a most grateful treat to our American citizens and will long be remembered by the numerous guests which he entertained as one of the happiest days of their lives. Wealth can be envied when it sheds its blessings with such a profuse and generous hand on all around.” Ref.: Millard Fillmore, Washington City, to Hon. Abbott Lawrence, Feb. 9, 1852, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.

Fillmore, Millard. 3-Pres. Fillmore Acknowledged Book Cont’d.: “The banquet shows that he still recollects his native land with fond affection, and it may well be proud of him. “Hoping that such cordial greetings may never be interrupted by any unfriendly feeling between the two nations, and that Mr. Peabody may live long enough to enjoy them, I remain your obt. svt. Millard Fillmore.” Ref.: Ibid.

Fillmore, Millard. 4-Speech at GP’s July 4, 1855, Dinner. Millard Fillmore was in Europe during 1855-56. Mutual friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888) wrote to alert GP of Fillmore’s visit. Fillmore wrote to Corcoran of reaching London “where we found an invitation to dinner from the prince of good fellows, your hospitable friend, Peabody, awaiting our arrival.” An English source recorded Fillmore’s part in the dinner as follows: “The festivities closed with Mr. Fillmore…rising [to toast] ‘the health of our generous host….’ [Fillmore] described Mr. Peabody as a noble specimen of American enterprise…of whom his countrymen were justly proud.” Ref.: [Fillmore], I, pp. 444-445.

Fillmore, Millard. 5-Speech at GP’s July 4, 1855, Dinner Cont’d. “Transplanted to British soil, he [GP] still maintained the characteristics of his country, and cherished for her the fond recollection which he had so generously illustrated on this day of our national independence….[Fillmore] pointed to the eagle at the end of the hall, and…described his gratification at the opportunity afforded him of meeting so many of his fellow-countrymen on foreign soil. He [Fillmore] should always be proud to join in celebrating the day of our national independence, whether at home or abroad.” Mr. Fillmore sat down amidst the most enthusiastic cheering, the band playing “Auld lang syne.” The next year, during GP’s Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit, he spent election night, Nov. 4, 1856, with former U.S. Pres. Millard Fillmore in Buffalo, NY. Ref.: (Fillmore to Corcoran) quoted in Corcoran, p. 137. See: Dinners, GP’s, London.

Finsbury (borough), London. Sir Sidney Henley Waterloo (1822-1906) first proved that low cost housing could be a philanthropic and commercial success in his block of model housing in Mark St., Finsbury, London, about the time of GP’s March 12, 1862, letter funding low-rent apartments for London’s working poor ($2.5 million total gift). Peabody apartment buildings in Roscoe St., Finsbury, bombed in World War II, were rebuilt after 1951. See: Peabody Homes of London.

Hamilton Fish & GP

Fish, Hamilton (1808-93). 1-GP Connection. Hamilton Fish had three important connections with GP: 1-as U.S. Sen. from N.Y., he helped coordinate GP’s $10,000 gift for scientific equipment to the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition (1853-55). This expedition, led by U.S. Navy Commander Elisha Kent Kane (1820-57), searched for lost British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847). 2-Hamilton Fish was one of the 16 original PEF trustees during 1867-91. 3-As U.S. Secty. of State at GP’s death in London on Nov. 4, 1869, Hamilton Fish, along with U.S. Pres. Grant and the U.S. Navy, made vital decisions regarding GP’s unusual 96-day transatlantic funeral.

Fish, Hamilton. 2-Career. Hamilton Fish was born in NYC. A Columbia College graduate (1827), he was a lawyer (1830), member of the Whig Party, U.S. Rep. from N.Y. (1843-45), N.Y. State Lt. Gov. (1847), N.Y. Gov. (1848-50), chairman of Columbia Univ. Board of Trustees, U.S. Sen. from N.Y. (1851-57), and U.S. Secty. of State (1869-77), during which time he helped settle the Alabama Claims controversy.

Fish, Hamilton. 3-Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition (1853-55). International searches were made May 1847-50s for lost British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) and his 137 seamen. One such search was the First U.S. Grinnell Expedition, 1850-52. Lady Jane Franklin’s (1792-1875) touching appeal to U.S. Pres. Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) and the U.S. Congress to “snatch her husband from an icy grave” led NYC merchant Henry Grinnell (1799-1874, head of Grinnell, Minter & Co.) to again offer two ships under U.S. Navy command for another search.

Fish, Hamilton. 4-GP’s $10,000 for Scientific Equipment. GP in London learned that U.S. Sen. Hamilton Fish of N.Y., acting for Henry Grinnell, was coordinating a Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition under U.S. Navy Capt. Elisha Kent Kane but needed funds for scientific equipment. GP’s March 4, 1852, gift of $10,000 encouraged additional gifts for equipment. The Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition did not find Sir John Franklin. But it initiated U.S. Arctic exploration. GP’s motivation, as with his U.S.-British friendship dinners, was to improve U.S.-British relations. In appreciation for GP’s financial help, Navy Commander Elisha Kent Kane named Peabody Bay, off Greenland, for him. See: persons named.

Fish, Hamilton. 5-Alabama Claims & Trent Affair. GP died amid serious post-Civil War U.S.-British tensions over the Alabama Claims. CSS Alabama was one of several British-built Confederate raider ships that cost Union lives and treasure. Later, in 1871-72, by international arbitration in Geneva, Britain paid the U.S. $15.5 million dollars indemnity. Britain, in turn, was still angry over the Nov. 8, 1861, Trent Affair. Union warship Capt. Charles Wilkes (1798-1877) illegally removed and imprisoned four Confederate agents from the British mail ship Trent in the Bahama Channel, West Indies. The Confederates had slipped through the Union blockade of southern ports to seek arms and aid from Britain and France. The illegal seizure led Britain to send 8,000 troops to Canada, anticipating a U.S.-British war. Pres. Lincoln eased the near-war incident, allegedly telling his cabinet, “One war at a time, gentlemen,” declared the seizure as unauthorized, and released the Confederates on Jan. 1, 1862. See: Trent Affair.

Fish, Hamilton. 6-GP’s Funeral. Amid these tensions, GP, gravely ill, returned to London Oct. 8, 1869, from his last four-month June 8-Sept. 29, 1869 U.S. visit. He lay dying at the 80 Eaton Sq., London home of longtime business friend Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85). Daily press announcements of his sinking condition were a veritable death watch. Britons from the Queen downward were touched by this U.S. banker in London who on March 12, 1862, gave a small fortune to build model apartments for London’s working poor (total gift $2.5 million). See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Fish, Hamilton. 7-GP’s Funeral Cont’d. Queen Victoria, too late, had invited him to rest at Windsor Castle. After his death on Nov. 4, 1869, the London Daily News printed on Nov. 8: “We have received a large number of letters, urging that the honours of a public funeral are due to the late Mr. Peabody’s memory.” When the Dean of Westminster Abbey, Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815-81), in Naples, Italy, Nov. 5, 1869, read of GP’s death, he telegraphed his colleagues to offer a Westminster Abbey funeral. When GP’s will became known, requiring burial in Mass., Queen Victoria and others suggested returning his remains on a royal vessel. Ref.: Ibid.

Fish, Hamilton. 8-GP’s Funeral Cont’d. U.S. Minister to Britain John Lothrop Motley (1814-77) sent an official dispatch about GP’s death in London on Nov. 4, 1869, to U.S. Secty. of State Hamilton Fish on Nov. 6, 1869. Motley also sent Fish the London Times (Nov. 10, 1869, p. 5, c. 5) transcript of PM William E. Gladstone’s (1809-98) conciliatory Nov. 9, 1869, speech at the Lord Mayor’s Day banquet (Gladstone spoke of U.S.-British differences over the Alabama Claims, then spoke warmly and appreciatively of GP, and ended: “…with the country of Mr. Peabody we are not likely to quarrel.” Ref.: Ibid.

Fish, Hamilton. 9-GP’s Funeral Cont’d. Besides sincere appreciation for the Peabody model apartments for London’s working poor, many valued GP’s two decades of efforts to improve U.S.-British relations. Softening near war U.S.-British tensions also motivated Britain’s unusual funeral honors for GP’s remains. Not to be outdone, U.S. officials also mounted lavish funeral honors. Ref.: Ibid.

Fish, Hamilton. 10-GP’s Funeral Cont’d. GP’s unprecedented transatlantic funeral, begun by British officials and followed by U.S. officials, included (in brief): 1-a Westminster Abbey funeral service (Nov. 12, 1869) and temporary burial there for 30 days (Nov. 12-Dec. 11, 1869). 2-British cabinet decision (Nov. 10, 1869) to return GP’s remains for burial in the U.S. on HMS Monarch, Britain’s newest and largest warship, outfitted as a funeral vessel. 3-The U.S. government initially wanted to transport GP’s remains home, but deferred to Britain’s initiative, and decided (Nov. 12-15, 1869) to send the corvette USS Plymouth from Marseilles, France, to accompany HMS Monarch to the U.S. Ref.: Ibid.

Fish, Hamilton. 11-GP’s Funeral Cont’d. 4-Transfer (Dec. 11, 1869) of GP’s remains from Westminster Abbey, London, on a special funeral train to Portsmouth dock, impressive ceremonies at the transfer of remains from Portsmouth dock to the Monarch. 5-The transatlantic crossing of HMS Monarch and the USS Plymouth (Dec. 21, 1869-Jan. 25, 1870) from Spithead near Portsmouth, past Ushant, France, to Madeira island off Portugal, to Bermuda, and north to Portland, Me. Ref.: Ibid.

Fish, Hamilton. 12-GP’s Funeral Cont’d. 6-The U.S. Navy’s decision (Jan. 14, 1870) to place Adm. David Glasgow Farragut (1801-70) in command of a U.S. Navy flotilla to meet the Monarch in Portland harbor, Me. (Jan. 25, 1870). 7-The Monarch captain’s request, on behalf of Queen Victoria, that the coffin remain aboard for two additional days as a final mark of respect, while Portlanders viewed the coffin in the Monarch’s mortuary chapel (Jan. 27-28, 1870). 8-Lying in state of GP’s remains in Portland City Hall (Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 1870). Ref.: Ibid.

Fish, Hamilton. 13-GP’s Funeral Cont’d. 9-A special funeral train from Portland, Me., to Peabody, Mass. (Feb. 1, 1870). 10-Lying in state of GP’s remains at the Peabody Institute Library (Feb. 1-8, 1870). 11-Robert Charles Winthrop’s funeral eulogy at the South Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., attended by several governors, mayors, Queen Victoria’s son Prince Arthur, and other notables (Feb. 8, 1870). 12-Final burial ceremony at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. (Feb. 8, 1870). Ref.: Ibid.

Fish, Hamilton. 14-GP’s Funeral Cont’d. Now largely forgotten, GP’s 96-day transatlantic funeral was unprecedented for an American without office or title. It commanded international attention and wide press coverage. Britain led throughout and had far more official representation than did the U.S. government. In fact, before the final Feb. 8 funeral and burial, Robert C. Winthrop and Ohio Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873) expressed their embarrassment to Secty. of State Hamilton Fish that there was a lack of U.S. government representation. GP funeral researcher Allen Howard Welch expressed this lack as follows: “The coldness at the White House remained substantially unthawed by Queen Victoria’s efforts to send a private American citizen back to his homeland in ‘an almost royal state.’” Ref.: Ibid. Welch, p. 137.

Fish, Hamilton. 15-GP’s Funeral Cont’d. Behind the elaborate funeral was respect for GP as philanthropist and promoter of U.S.-British friendship. Reconciliation of U.S.-British differences over the Civil War also played a part. If U.S. officials were less enthusiastic than British officials, it likely came from anti-South northern extremists who viewed GP’s $1.4 million PIB (1857) and his $2 million PEF (1867) as aid to former rebels. Most saw nobility in what GP tried to do, saw his life and works as heroic, viewed his funeral honors with wonder and awe, and were touched by its somber grandeur. See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

GP & the Fishmongers’ Co. Membership

Fishmongers’ Co. 1-GP, Honorary Member. On April 18, 1866, a deputation of four members from the Fishmongers’ Co., London, called on GP to offer him honorary membership. This deputation consisted of the Prime Warden, 1-Walter Charles Venning (d. 1897); 2-George Moore (1806-76); 3-William Flexman Vowler (d. Feb. 7, 1877); and 4-William Lawrence (1818-97). GP gratefully accepted, explaining that he was leaving April 21, 1866, for a visit to the U.S. (May 1, 1866, to May 1, 1867). It was decided to admit him to honorary membership as of April 19, 1866, and to send to him in the U.S. the membership scroll in a gold box worth 100 guineas (about $525). GP thus became the 41st honorary member and the first U.S. citizen to be admitted to the Fishmongers’ Co., whose ancient charter had been endorsed by 23 British monarchs. See: Persons named. Ref.: Towse, pp. 4, 7.

Fishmongers’ Co. 2-Ancient Guild. The Fishmongers’ Co., chartered in the reign of Edward I (from 1272) and believed to have existed at least 100 years before that, ranked fourth of London’s 80 livery companies. These guilds originally regulated work conditions, apprenticeship, trade, and membership. Each guild chose their officers who elected the Common Council of the City of London, which in turn elected the mayor, other officials, and members of Parliament for London. Each company chose a “livery” (costume) and distinctive badges. Thus, colorfully attired members have been part of pageants and royal coronations to the present. Ref.: Ibid.

Fishmongers’ Co. 3-Peabody Homes of London. This honor came in part in appreciation for GP’s March 12, 1862, Peabody Donation Fund which built model apartments for London’s working poor (total gift $2.5 million). On July 2, 1862, GP was made an honorary member of The Clothworkers’ Co., which ranked twelfth of London’s esteemed 80 livery companies. On July 10, 1862, he was given an even greater honor, the Freedom of the City of London, the first U.S. citizen to be awarded this honor. Ref.: “Extracts from Court Minutes,” dated April 19, 1866, Fishmongers’ Co., Fishmongers’ Hall, London. Illustrated London News, Vol. 48, No. 1368 (April 28, 1866), p. 410. London Times, April 23, 1866, p. 9, c. 6. New York Herald, May 2, 1866, p. 5, c. 4. See: Honors, GP’s, in Life and after Death (in chronological order).

Fishmongers’ Co. 4-Careers of Deputation Members. Deputation member 1-Walter Charles Venning (Prime Warden) is listed in the Fishmongers’ Quarterage Book as “free on 11 November 1847 by Redemption (he paid). Joined the Livery on 9 December 1847 and joined the Court of Assistants on 14 October 1852.” Deputation member 2-William Flexman Vowler is listed as “free on 2 November 1809 by Patrimony. Joined the Livery on 5 December 1809, joined the Court of Assistants on 19 June 1826, and was Prime Warden in 1848. Deputation member 3-George Moore became the Prime Warden in 1868. Deputation member 4-William Lawrence was Alderman of Bread St. (1855-95) and of Bridge Without (1895-97); he was a Sheriff (1857-58); Lord Mayor of London (1863-64); MP for the City of London (1864-75 and 1880-85); and was knighted on Aug. 12, 1887. Refs. (Walter Charles Venning and William Flexman Vowler): E-mail information: Aug. 31, 2001 and July 22, 2002, respectively, from Fishmongers’ Co., London, Archivist/Librarian Raya McGeorge (raya@fishhall.co.uk). (George Moore): Smiles. (William Lawrence): Beaven, Vol. 2, p. 147.

Fleming, Samuel M. (1909-2000), was VU trustee board chairman when he and VU Chancellor Alexander Heard (1917-), March 17, 1979, offered terms for the amalgamation of GPCFT as Vanderbilt Univ. ’s ninth school, PCofVU (effective July 1, 1979). Fleming, born in Franklin, Tenn., a VU graduate (1928), worked with the New York Trust Co., returned to Tenn. (1931) as Third National Bank’s credit manager, president (1950-70) and chairman (1972) of its board of director. He was a founding director of Hillsboro Enterprises, a holding company with various investments. He headed VU Alumni Assn. (1951-52), was a VU Board of Trustee member (1975-81), headed its investment committee, led in fund-raising campaigns, and was involved when VU acquired the Owen Graduate School of Management (1969), PCofVU (1979), and the Blair School of Music (1981). Ref.: “Former VU Board Pres. Sam Fleming Mourned.” Conkin, Peabody College, index.

Flexner, Abraham (1866-1959), U.S. foundation executive and educational historian, wrote of the PEF: “The trustees of the Peabody Fund were a distinguished group of men. No body of trust has ever contained men of higher character, greater ability and eminence, or more varied experience.” Ref.: Flexner, p. 11. See: PEF.

Florence, Italy. See: Italy. Otley, Charles Bethell. Powers, Hiram.

Florida (ships). 1-1827. On his first commercial trip abroad, GP left NYC on the packet ship Florida Nov. 1, 1827, landed in Liverpool, England, Nov. 25, 1827, and returned to NYC, Aug. 1828 (nine months abroad). He had his worst seasickness of any of his five Atlantic crossings, 1827-37. See: Visits to Europe by GP.

Florida (ships). 2-1861-64. The CSS Florida, CSS Shenandoah, most notably the CSS Alabama, and others were British-built ships secretly bought for the Confederate navy and outfitted as Confederate raiders which sunk or wrecked Union ships and cost Union lives and treasure. The Florida was built in Liverpool during 1861-62 and from Jan. 1863 under Confederate commanders John Newland Maffitt (1819-86) and later Charles M. Morris sank or damaged many northern ships. She was captured by the USS Wachusett in Bahia harbor, Brazil, Oct. 1864. Besides the loss of northern lives and treasure, Confederate raiders’ success raised insurance rates, forced hundreds of northern vessels to survive by transferring ownership to foreign flags (mostly British), and led to a long decline in U.S. merchant marine activity. Ref.: Boatner, p. 285 (Florida), p. 738 (Shenandoah). For details and sources related to CSS Florida (1861-64), see Adams, Charles Francis Alabama Claims.

Florida State Bonds, GP’s. GP’s $2 million PEF gift was actually $3,884,000 but $384,000 in Fla. state bonds and $1.5 million in Miss. state bonds were repudiated by those states. The PEF trustees, having unsuccessfully requested payment, withheld grants to those two states for a few years but relented and included them. (Note: Although sources vary in the above amounts, the best account is Curry-b, pp. 141-146). Rosen. West-b. See: Mississippi. PEF. Sears, Barnas.

Thurlow Weed Explained Civil War Origins, Nov. 1861

Floyd, John Buchanan (1807-63). 1-Secty. of War. John Buchanan Floyd was alluded to, not by name but as a “secessionist” U.S. Secty. of War who in 1859-60 “transferred large quantities of arms and ammunition from Northern to Southern arsenals.” This charge was made by N.Y. state editor and Republican leader Thurlow Weed (1797-82) in his “The Late George Peabody; A Vindication of his Course During the Civil War,” New York Times, Dec. 23, 1869, p. 2, c. 3-4.

Floyd, J.B. 2-Thurlow Weed. Thurlow Weed was one of Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s private emissaries sent to London in Dec. 1861 to keep Britain and France neutral in the U.S. Civil War. In his “Vindication” Weed reported that in Dec. 1861 in London he had explained the origins and causes of the Civil War at length to GP, who then helped him contact British leaders. Weed had said to GP in part: “Let me say also that a disloyal Secretary of the Navy [?Isaac Toucey, 1796-1869, of Conn.?] sent nearly all our warships to foreign countries in order to leave the North unprepared for the war forced on the government. Let me add, Mr. Peabody, that in 1859-60 a secessionist Secretary of War [?John Buchanan Floyd?] transferred large quantities of arms and ammunition from Northern to Southern arsenals.” See: Corcoran, William Wilson.

Floyd, J.B. 3-Career. J.B. Floyd was born in Smithfield, Va., graduated from S.C. College (1829), failed as a lawyer and cotton planter in Ark., returned to practice law in Abingdon, Va., was in the Va. Assembly (1847-48, 1855), was Va. Gov. (1849-52), and was made U.S. Secty. of War as a reward for helping Pres. James Buchanan’s (1791-1868) election. A states righter, he first opposed and then accepted Va.’s secession. Pres. Buchanan requested his resignation (1860) because of inefficiency and irregularity in War Dept. losses of $870,000. Northern feeling was bitter against J.B. Floyd. Ref.: Boatner, p. 286.

Floyd, J.B. 4-Charge Discounted. But there was no proof (and historians have since discounted the charge) that Secty. of War J.B. Floyd transferred federal arms to southern arsenals. He was a Confederate brigadier general under Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-70), was defeated at Fort Donelson, Tenn., and was removed from command as incompetent by Confederate Pres. Jefferson Davis (1808-89), said to have nursed an old quarrel with him. See: Civil War and GP. Weed, Thurlow.

Fluento Hall, Portland, Me. The Admiralty chose Portland, Me., as receiving port for HMS Monarch, carrying GP’s remains, because of its deep harbor. Before and on Jan. 25, 1870, Portland, Me., was full of young military men and thousands of curious visitors. Not knowing when the Monarch would arrive, time hung heavy. Someone organized a ball for the military in Fluento Hall. Adm. Farragut, in charge of the U.S. Navy reception at Portland harbor, was headquartered at the Falmouth Hotel, Portland. At 10:30 P.M., Jan. 25, at the height of the merrymaking a messenger from Adm. David Glasgow Farragut (1801-70) at the Falmouth Hotel burst into Fluento Hall to announce, “The Monarch has arrived.” See: Death and Funeral, GP’s.

Footpath and Highway or Wanderings of an American in Great Britain in 1851 and 1852, is a novel written by Benjamin Moran (1820-86), later U.S. Legation in London clerk (1853-57), assistant secty. (1857), and secty. (1857-75). He kept a private journal, valuable for its frank, often prejudiced views on Legation affairs, the London scene, and London people, especially U.S. residents in London. His journal entries on GP expressed dislike, redeemed however in an eloquent tribute after GP’s Westminster Abbey funeral service, Nov. 11, 1869. The Benjamin Moran Papers and Journal are in the Library of Congress. Ref.: Ibid. Wallace and Gillespie, eds. See: Westminster Abbey.

GPCFT-Vanderbilt Merger: One View

Force, William Wilbur (1916-97). 1-GPCFT-Vanderbilt Merger (1979). William Wilbur Force was a Vanderbilt Univ. administrator (Vice Chancellor of Operations and Fiscal Management, 1966-70) and then a GPCFT administrator (Vice Pres., Director of Institutional Research, and higher education professor, 1970-81). Writing in 1986, Force contended that GPCFT could have survived without merging with Vanderbilt Univ., an opinion others challenged. Force believed that GPCFT’s “problem of identification” had led to many studies of GPCFT’s mission, strengths, and needs. A 1949 external study found that two-thirds of GPCFT’s income came from its combined liberal arts and teacher education undergraduate programs (enrolling over 1,200 from a 2,000 total enrollment). Its undergraduate school was GPCFT’s main financial support. Ref.: (Force’s view of merger): Force-b. For essential background, see PCofVU.

Force, W.W. 2-New Pres. John Dunworth. After three years of deficits, 1968-70, Force wrote, GPCFT Pres. John Claunch appointed two new vice presidents in May 1970 to balance the budget. A balanced budget was accomplished in 1972: income, $10,157,919; expenditure, $9,715,034. Knowing that Pres. Claunch was near retirement and wanting to limit speculation about selecting a new president, the GPCFT trustees in May 1972 used a “Long Range Planning Committee” as a smoke screen for a presidential search committee. On Aug. 8, 1973, came the announcement that retiring Pres. Claunch would be replaced by Pres. John Dunworth on Jan. 1, 1974. The faculty, although disappointed in not being involved in the president’s selection, cooperated and applauded Pres. Dunworth’s promise of substantial raises. Ref.: Ibid.

Force, W.W. 3-Design for the Future, 1974 Report. GPCFT-Vanderbilt merger began, wrote Force, when Pres. Dunworth replaced the two administrators who had carried out the 1970-74 financial belt tightening. Changing the Bylaws also limited trustee-faculty interaction; distanced the trustees from faculty, staff, and student opinion; narrowed trustees’ view of GPCFT affairs; and adversely affected campus morale. Ref.: (Design report by GPCFT Profs.): Allen, Jack-c, et al., Design, (GPCFT, Aug. 29, 1974).

Force, W.W. 4-Design for the Future, 1974 Report Cont’d. Force attributed GPCFT’s financial collapse to the loss of undergraduate enrollment fees. This fee loss came when the trustees implemented recommendations from a 1974 report, Design for the Future, written by three GPCFT faculty me