3 of 14: George Peabody (1795-1869): A-Z Handbook...., by Franklin and Betty J. Parker, bfparker@frontiernet.net
Following Background "Preface" below 3 of 14 blogs covers alphabetically: Curry, J.L.M. 3 to Dwight, Sereno Edwards (1786-1850) 3.
Background: "Preface" 1 of 14 tells the why-when-where-how-findings-and-motives of the authors’ research on Franklin Parker’s doctoral dissertation, “George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy,” completed 1956 at George Peabody College for Teachers, adjoining Vanderbilt University, which on July 1, 1979, became Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, Nashville.
George Peabody, so well known in the 1850s-60s but since sadly neglected, was a significant 19th century figure as: 1-a Massachusetts-born merchant in the U.S. South: Riggs & Peabody, later Peabody & Riggs (1814-38), who imported dry goods and other commodities (worldwide) for sale to U.S. wholesalers. George Peabody then became: 2-a London-based merchant-banker, George Peabody & Co. (1838-64), who financed in part the B&O RR, the 2nd Mexican War Loan, the Atlantic Cable, and with J.S. Morgan as partner, was the root of the JP Morgan international banking firm. Finally, this merchant-turned-banker became: 3-the best known philanthropist of his time (1850s-60s), who founded the Peabody Homes of London for the working poor; in the U.S. 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), basis for all later larger U.S. funds and foundations. End of Background.
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 doubtles
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3 of 14: George Peabody (1795-1869): A-Z Handbook...., by Franklin and Betty J. Parke
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