empire7 of 14: George Peabody (1795-1869): A-Z Handbook...., by Franklin and Betty J. Parker, bfparker@frontiernet.net
Following Background "Preface" below 7 of 14 blogs covers alphabetically: Morgan Grenfell & Co. (1910-18) to Peabody, George, Illus.: "Prophetic Eye."
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.
J. P. Morgan Family
Morgan Grenfell & Co. (1910-18). George Peabody & Co., London (Dec. 1, 1838-Oct. 1, 1864), became J.S. Morgan & Co. (Oct. 1, 1864-Dec. 31, 1909). On J.S. Morgan's death (1890) the firm was controlled by J.P. Morgan, Sr. 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: Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. George Peabody & Co. Morgan, Junius Spencer.
Morgan, John Pierpont, Sr. (1837-1913). 1-International Banker. John Pierpont Morgan, Sr., was the son of Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-1890), Boston merchant and GP's partner in George Peabody & Co., London, for ten years during Oct. 1,1854 to Oct. 1, 1864. J.P. Morgan, Sr., was born in Hartford, Conn., educated at the English High School in Boston, and soon after his father's partnership with GP attended the Univ. of Göttingen, Germany (1856-57). J.P. Morgan, Sr., at age 16 visited London with his father and mother when he first met GP in London in May 1853. His father was then considering becoming GP's partner. On May 18, 1853, J.P. Morgan, Sr., wrote his 14-year-old cousin James Junius Goodwin (1835-1915), : "Father and Mother went to a dinner given by George Peabody at Richmond." Ref.: "Goodwin," p. 469.
Morgan, J.P., Sr. 2-J.P. Morgan [Sr.], at age 20. In 1857 J.P. Morgan, Sr., at age 20 shared an apartment at 45 West 17 St. NYC, with GP's relative (distant cousin?) Joseph Peabody (d. April 7, 1905) and was the NYC agent for George Peabody & Co. His father soon placed him in the NYC banking firm of Duncan, Sherman & Co. (1860), which chiefly represented George Peabody & Co. J.P. Morgan, Sr., then became junior partner in Dabney, Morgan & Co., NYC (1864), helped form Drexel, Morgan & Co., NYC (1871), of which his father was also a partner. Drexel, Morgan & Co. became J.P. Morgan & Co. (1895). Ref.: "Goodwin," p. 469. See: Peabody, Joseph.
Morgan, J.P., Sr. 3-Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, London. GP retired on Oct. 1, 1864. Knowing that he would no longer exert control, he asked that his name be withdrawn from the firm. George Peabody & Co., London (Dec. 1, 1838-Oct. 1, 1864), then became J.S. Morgan & Co. (Oct. 1, 1864-Dec. 31, 1909). On J.S. Morgan's death (1890) the firm was controlled by J.P. Morgan, Sr. 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. J.P. Morgan, Sr., was also a partner of Drexel & Co., Philadelphia, when he gained control of leading railroads (1901), organized United States Steel Co. (1901), and controlled both steel and coal interests. He was the leading financier of his time, a yachtsman, art collector, and philanthropist. For details and sources of J.P. Morgan, Sr., as a PEF trustee, see PEF.
Morgan, J.P., Sr. 4-GP, Root of Morgan Banking. George Peabody & Co. was the root of the J.P. Morgan, Sr., financial empire which, in later more complex times, was on an international scale that far surpassed its GP beginnings. GP and a few other merchant-bankers of his time began, and the Morgans and other international bankers greatly advanced, the use of investment capital that developed and industrialized the U.S. to world leadership. Ref.: Allen, F.L. See: Junius Spencer Morgan. Morgan Grenfell & Co. Ltd. Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990). For details and sources of how GPCFT Pres. Bruce R. Payne secured a $250,000 gift from the estate of John Pierpont Morgan, Sr., see PCofVU, history. Conkin, Peabody College, index.
Morgan, John Pierpont, Jr. (1867-1943). 1-Of the House of Morgan. John Pierpont Morgan, Jr., was the son of John Pierpont Morgan, Sr. (1837-1913). He was born in Irvington, N.Y., graduated from Harvard Univ. (1889), and soon after worked in J.S. Morgan & Co., London (Oct. 1, 1864-Dec. 31, 1909). The firm, begun by GP as George Peabody & Co., London (Dec. 1, 1838-Oct. 1, 1864); continued as J.S. Morgan & Co., London (Oct. 1, 1864-Dec. 31, 1909); continued as Morgan, Grenfell & Co. (Jan. 1, 1910-18), continued as Morgan Grenfell & Co., Ltd. (1918-90); and continues as Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990), a German owned banking firm. See: Morgan, Junius Spencer. Morgan Grenfell & Co. Ltd. Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990).
Morgan, John Pierpont, Jr. 2-Career. J.P. Morgan, Jr., succeeded his father as head of J.P. Morgan & Co. (from 1913) and head of United States Steel. In 1920 he gave his Grosvenor Square, London, residence in to the U.S. government as its London embassy. In 1924 he endowed as a public institution the Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC, originally his father's private library, which has family papers and some GP papers. J.P. Morgan, Jr., contributed to charitable institutions and was a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, Cooper Union, and several hospitals. Ref.: Ibid.
GP’s Partner, J.S. Morgan
Morgan, Junius Spencer (1813-90). 1-Am. Merchant in London. GP went to England in Feb. 1837 as one of three Md. agents to sell the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal part of Md.'s $8 million bonds to finance internal improvements. It was his fifth commercial trip abroad during 1827-37. The other two agents returned without success to the U.S. He remained in London from Feb. 1837 to his death (Nov. 4, 1869), 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-Sept. 29, 1869). In 1837 GP was age 42 and had been in the mercantile trade for 23 years. The Panic of 1837, followed by a depression into the 1840s, adversely affected all business including GP's sale of Md. bonds and the mercantile business of Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-48). See: Riggs, Peabody & Co.
Morgan, J.S. 2-End of Peabody, Riggs & Co. GP was Peabody, Riggs & Co.'s senior partner and London resident financier. Junior partner Samuel Riggs (d.1853) managed the main Baltimore office and then the NYC office. Two other younger partners, Henry T. Jenkins (b.1815) and Adolphus William Peabody (b. 1814), GP's cousin, son of his paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-1827), traveled and collected debts for the firm in the U.S. In London GP also traded on his own, first in various goods and services, then increasingly in U.S. state and federal securities. Peabody, Riggs & Co.'s mercantile trade declined. GP withdrew his capital in 1843, although the firm continued to 1848 when the other partners entered other firms. Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 3-Beginning of George Peabody & Co. (1838). 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. He installed desks, chairs, a mahogany counter, a safe, and bookkeeping materials. This was the informal beginning of George Peabody & Co., London, merchant banker (1838-64). He still traded in goods and commodities and was in transition from merchant to securities broker and banker. He lived simply and worked concentratedly. In 1848, tired and often ill, he complained to intimate NYC business friend William Shepard Wetmore (1802-62): "I am almost tired of making money without having time to spend and enjoy it--and I feel this particularly at this time when I am not very well & should be out of this City [London] where the cholera is raging with terrible effect." Ref.: GP to William Shepard Wetmore, Sept. 24 and 28, 1848, quoted in Hidy, M.E.-c, p. 261.
Morgan, J.S 4-Seeking a Partner. GP complained to business friends that by 1851 he had worked 10 hours a day, had not been away from his office two consecutive days, had not been 100 miles from London for six years. Sometimes in poor health, he had severe attacks of rheumatism, suffered from gout and intestinal ailments, and was occasionally absent from his office. Business friends and clients were concerned because he ran a one-man business. They urged him to take an American partner to give his firm continuity. In 1843 he hired 32-year-old British-born Charles Cubitt Gooch (1811-89) as salaried clerk at £150 ($750) a year. Gooch had seven years' experience as bookkeeper with Thomas Wilson & Co., a London firm headed by an American, and then worked in another firm specializing in U.S. trade. Ref.: (Gooch partnership): Articles of partnership between GP and Charles Cubitt Gooch, Jan. 1852, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Morgan, J.S 5-Seeking a Partner Cont'd. Although Gooch was an efficient bookkeeper and an able office manager, friends and clients still urged GP to find an experienced younger American partner. In 1852 GP made Gooch a salaried junior partner. GP cautiously let it be known that he was looking for an American merchant of probity as partner, one with dry goods importing experience, knowledgeable about U.S. government and U.S. state securities, and one adaptable to the fast-changing world of securities banking. Business friends and clients whose advice he valued recommended as an ideal choice Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan. Ref. Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 6-Morgan's Commercial Career. J.S. Morgan, 18 years younger than GP, was from an old Mass. family. His ancestor Miles Morgan (1616-99) arrived in America from England in 1636, a year after GP's ancestor Francis Peboddy (1612 or 14-1697) arrived in America in 1635. J.S. Morgan was born in West Springfield (later Holyoke), Mass. He grew up in Hartford, Conn., where his father Joseph Morgan (1771-1847) moved the family in 1817. This Joseph Morgan began as a farmer, was a realtor, made money in stage coach lines, then hotels, and finally in insurance companies. Biographer Andrew Sinclair of grandson John Pierpont Morgan, Sr. (1837-1913), wrote that Joseph Morgan's "fortune was...based on the great Wall Street fire of December, 1835, when he had made his Aetna Fire Insurance Company pay up promptly in order to attract more business at triple rates." Ref.: Sinclair, p. 5.
Morgan, J.S. 7-Morgan's Commercial Career Cont'd. J.S. Morgan was educated in private schools. He learned the wholesale dry goods business as apprentice to merchant-banker Alfred Wells (1814-67) of Boston and was briefly Wells's partner. He then was a partner in Morris Ketchum's private bank on Wall St., NYC; and then became a partner in the dry goods house of Howe Mather & Co., Hartford, Conn. (which became Mather Morgan & Co.). He was a partner in J.M. Beebe, Morgan & Co. of Boston during 1851-54, dealing in dry goods and commodities, when he came to GP's attention. GP had dealings with this firm and particularly valued James Madison Beebe's (1800-75) high regard for his partner. Ref.: "Goodwin," p. 469.
Morgan, J.S. 8-Considering a GP-Morgan Partnership. J.S. Morgan had first visited England in 1850, but had no known connection with GP then. Now in 1853 GP let J.S. Morgan know of his interest in having him as his partner. J.S. Morgan was interested enough to go with his wife to London in May 1853. They were joined there by their 16-year-old son John Pierpont Morgan (Sr., 1837-1913). GP and J.S. Morgan first met at George Peabody & Co., 6 Warnford Court, Throgmorton St., London, May 15, 1853. GP at 58 and J.S. Morgan at 40 liked each other. On May 18, 1853, young John Pierpont in London wrote to his cousin James Junius Goodwin (1835-1915), "Father and Mother went to a dinner given by George Peabody at Richmond." Ref.: Ibid. Satterlee, p. 207.
Morgan, J.S. 9-At GP's May 18, 1853, Dinner. GP and J.S. Morgan took each other's social measure at this dinner GP gave to honor the new U.S. Minister to England Joseph Reed Ingersoll (1786-1868) and his niece, Miss Charlotte Manigault Wilcocks (1821-75). The dinner was held at the Star and Garter, Richmond, about eight miles from London, overlooking the Thames. Among the 150 guests (65 English, 85 Americans) was 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" on May 18, 1853, given by GP and attended by former U.S. Pres. Martin Van Buren (1782-62, eighth U.S. Pres. during 1837-41), and "many very distinguished persons." See: Dinners, GP's, London (May 18, 1853).
Morgan, J.S. 10-N.Y Times on May 18, 1853, Dinner. The New York Daily Times prefaced its four-column account of the dinner with the following about GP: "No American who has visited England within the past ten or fifteen years, needs to be told who Mr. Peabody is, or how much he is constantly doing to make his countrymen feel at home upon British soil, or how largely he has contributed, in an unostentatious but most effective way to strengthen the feeling of friendship between the people of the two great nations on which so much of their peace and prosperity must always depend." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 11-N.Y Times on May 18, 1853, Dinner Cont'd.: "Possessed of princely wealth, the fruit solely of his own industry and business talent, and gifted with more than princely beneficence, he seems to know no greater pleasure than to extend to Americans in London the warmest and most profuse[d] hospitality--taking occasion, at the same time, to bring them into direct social intimacy with some of the worthiest and the best of the English people, and thus substantially serving great ends, while promoting the personal enjoyment of his countrymen." Ref. Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 12-May 18, 1853, Dinner Speeches. After the sumptuous meal and appropriate band music GP rose to express pleasure at bringing together U.S. and English friends. The new U.S. Minister Ingersoll then toasted the Queen, the U.S. President, and the peoples of the U.S. and the U.K., which he called: "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." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 13-May 18, 1853, Dinner Speeches Cont'd. In his speech referring to GP's British-U.S. friendship dinners Episcopal Bishop of Ohio Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873) said: "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...here represented." The dinner and speeches were widely and favorably reported in the transatlantic press. What the dinner cost GP is not known. One bill, only part of the total, was about $940. Ref.: Ibid.
Negotiating a Partnership
Morgan, J.S. 14-Negotiating a Partnership. GP valued J.S. Morgan's commercial credentials, stable family, and social qualities. J.S. Morgan and GP were favorably impressed with each other. Morgan returned to Boston. GP wrote him details about his firm's business. Morgan visited U.S. firms with whom George Peabody & Co. did business. They exchanged letters. Concerned commercial acquaintances eyed the match favorably. Samuel G. Ward, U.S. agent for the Baring Brothers, GP's chief competitor in London for U.S. trade in goods and securities, wrote to his superior, April 11, 1854: "Mr. Morgan is highly thought of here as a man of talent, energy, & labor. If Mr. Peabody was safe before, he will be much safer now with Mr. Morgan at his side." Ref.: (S.G. Ward): Burk, p. 18. Carosso, p. 36. Mirabile, ed., pp. 427-429.
Morgan, J.S. 15-Negotiating a Partnership Cont'd. George B. Blake of Boston's Blake, Howe & Co., which did much business with George Peabody & Co., wrote GP: "I am more convinced than ever that he is the man of all others for you." J.S. Morgan's partner, J.M. Beebe, wrote GP: "the situation you have offered him presents so many advantages and is so congenial to his taste--that I cannot but approve of his acceptance." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 16-Negotiating a Partnership Cont'd. GP began serious negotiations with Morgan in Nov. 1853. In early Feb. 1854, J.S. Morgan returned to London to examine George Peabody & Co.'s accounts books. These showed that in 1851 GP was worth £1.2 million ($6 million) From Aug. 1848 to Sept. 30, 1854, George Peabody & Co. had earned £311,546 ($1,557,730). Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 17-Partnership Agreement. A ten-year partnership agreement was drawn up on Sept. 30, 1854. Of George Peabody & Co.'s capital of £450,000 ($2.25 million), GP provided £400,000 ($2 million) and was to get 65 percent of the profits. Morgan provided £40,000 ($200,000) and was to get 28 percent of the profits plus £2,500 ($12,500) per year entertainment allowance. Longtime clerk Charles Cubitt Gooch, made a partner, put in £10,000 ($50,000) and was to earn 7 percent of profits. Ref.: George Peabody & Co. circular announcing entrance of Junius Spencer Morgan as a partner, Aug. 10, 1854, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.; copy in Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC; and copy in Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990), London, England.
Morgan, J.S. 18-Partnership Agreement Cont'd. A circular dated Aug. 10, 1854, announced: "On the first of October Mr. J.S. Morgan, who recently retired from the house of Messer[s]. J.M. Beebe, Morgan & Company, of Boston, will become a Partner of our Firm, but its title will remain unaltered.... "Our arrangements with Mr. Morgan have been made, with a view to establish our House permanently; and that if our Prior [GP] is removed by death before the expiration of the time contemplated by this arrangement, a large portion of his capital [will be used for the firm].... "The business of the House will consist of sales and purchases of Stocks, Foreign Exchange, banking and Credits; the execution of orders for railroad iron, purchase and sale of Produce together with general mercantile transactions. Signed by George Peabody. C.C. Gooch." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 19-GP to Blake on Partner Morgan. On Oct. 6, 1854, GP wrote to George B. Blake of Boston: "Mr. Morgan has taken his place in a room adjoining me, and I trust he will make an able help-mate." To another business friend, Charles Macalester (1798-1873) GP wrote at the end of Oct. 1854: "Mr. Morgan my new partner has been with us about a month and I begin to find him useful and I trust when we get into our new counting house in [22] Broad Street (which will be one of the best in London), and get proper assistance around us that I shall begin to experience the good results of my late arrangements, and before 1857 if my life and health is spared, find leisure to visit my native land...." Ref.: (GP to Blake): GP to George B. Blake, Boston, Oct. 6, 1854, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC. Ref.: (GP to Macalester): GP to Charles Macalester, Oct. 31, 1854, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.
Morgan, J.S. 20-GP to Blake on Partner Morgan Cont'd.: "It has been, and is now, a favorite object with me to so arrange all my business, that my house will be purely American, that its continuance for many years will not depend on my life, and that my American friends will feel that, in every respect the house is worthy of their entire confidence." Ref. Ibid. (History of the company): [Morgan Grenfell & Co. Ltd.]. New York Times, Nov. 28, 1989, p. 29, contd. p. 42 (Steven Prokesch, "Germans to Buy Morgan Grenfell," continued as "Deutsche Bank to Acquire Morgan Grenfell"). (1854 partnership): Burk, pp. 18-19. (S.G. Ward and G.B. Blake): Burk, p. 19. Carosso, pp. 35-36. Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990). Mirabile, ed., pp. 427-429.
GP’s 1856-57 U.S. Visit
Morgan, J.S. 21-J.P. Morgan on GP's 1856-57 U.S. Visit. Freed from daily routine by the Morgan partnership, GP prepared for a year's U.S. visit (Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug 19, 1857), his first return after nearly 20 years' absence in London. John Pierpont Morgan, age 19, attending the Univ. of Göttingen, Germany, spent his summer 1856 vacation putting GP's papers in order. He wrote his cousin James Junius Goodwin: "Since my return from Göttingen I have been pretty busily occupied arranging Mr. Peabody's letters, etc., which had accumulated for over twenty years. Those operations were brought to a close last Tuesday when Mr. P. left us for Liverpool. He sailed in the Atlantic last Tuesday." Ref.: John Pierpont Morgan, London, to cousin, James Junius Goodwin, Hartford, Conn., Sept. 5, 1856, quoted in Satterlee, pp. 283-284.
Morgan, J.S. 22-J.P. Morgan on GP's 1856-57 U.S. Visit Cont'd.: "Wednesday we received a letter from him which he had given to the pilot off Point Lynas which was written in very good spirits. Before this letter reaches you I trust he will have arrived at New York, where I have no doubt he will be welcomed by a large circle of friends. He said before he left that he would make it a point to visit Hartford, so I suppose you may see him there." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 23-J.P. Morgan on GP's 1856-57 U.S. Visit Cont'd.: "He is a very agreeable gentleman and very full of wit, but a regular old bachelor. If you could have seen the quantity of nic-nacs which he carried with him to America, and which were stored away in his trunk with the greatest precision, you would most certainly have thought he was going to Central Africa to some unexplored regions, rather than to America." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 24-GP's 1856-57 U.S. Visit. During GP's hectic 1856-57 U.S. visit he added funds to his institute library in South Danvers (renamed Peabody, April 13, 1868, total gift $217,600), Mass.; created a branch institute library in North Danvers (now Danvers), Mass., total gift $100,000; founded in Baltimore the PIB (total gift $1.4 million), and was féted in his home town (Oct. 9, 1856) and honored elsewhere. See: Visits to the U.S. by GP.
Morgan, J.S. 25-J.S. Morgan Kept GP Informed. J.S. Morgan, relating business and other news, wrote GP on Sept. 30, 1856: "Glad to hear of your safe arrival and that you had so little sea-sickness. Your friends have certainly been very kind in their reception. I hope their kindness won't go so far as to injure your health which we fear might be the case if you yield to all the temptations that surround you." Ref.: J.S. Morgan, London, to GP, U.S., Sept. 30, 1856, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.
Morgan, J.S. 26-Morgan to GP on Atlantic Cable. Morgan wrote GP on Oct. 10 that Cyrus W. Field (1819-92) was organizing the Atlantic Telegraph and Cable Co. and wanted GP as one of the directors: "Field is getting up his company on the ocean Telegraph. He wishes your name as one of the directors. Lampson 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, U.S., Oct. 10, 1856, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.
Morgan, J.S. 27-Morgan to GP on Bessemer Steel. On Oct. 14 Morgan reported that Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85) wanted GP to use his influence in Washington, D.C., to get U.S. government support for British engineer Henry Bessemer's (1813-98) new steel process. Ref.: J.S. Morgan, London, to GP, U.S., Oct. 14, 1856, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.
Morgan, J.S. 28-On Oct. 9, 1856, GP Reception. In late Oct. 1856, 19-year-old John Pierpont Morgan returned to his studies at the Univ. of Göttingen, wrote to his cousin James Junius Goodwin on hearing of the Oct. 9, 1856, Danvers reception for GP: "Mr. Peabody's reception at Danvers must indeed have been a glorious affair. I should have liked immensely to have been present to have seen it. The report has been copied into several of the European journals, and very well spoken of. I trust Mr. P. did not have an attack of gout after the sumptuous dinner." Ref.: Satterlee, p. 288.
Morgan, J.S. 29-Morgan on Atlantic Cable. On Nov. 14, 1856, J.S. Morgan wrote Peabody that the Atlantic Telegraph was going well, that GP's name as director was being publicly used, and that Curtis M. Lampson would also consent to be a director. J.S. Morgan wrote in Dec.: "The Bessemer Patent...I fear...is likely to bring us in for a great loss, for I believe we should lose every shilling we agreed to pay. This is Lampson's opinion." Ref. J.S. Morgan, London, to GP, U.S., Nov. 14, 1856, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.
Morgan, J.S. 30-Morgan on Atlantic Cable Cont'd. Morgan to GP, Dec. 16: "Many inquire for you every day. The election for directors for the Atlantic Telegraph Company came off very satisfactorily." Morgan to GP, Dec. 22: "I am glad you are able to spend Thanksgiving in Georgetown [Mass., with sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell, 1799-1879, and her family] and that the rest and quiet there has been beneficial." Ref.: J.S. Morgan, London, to GP, U.S., Dec. 16 and 22, 1856, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.
Morgan, J.S. 31-Avoidance of Pres. Buchanan. GP was in Washington, D.C., in Jan. and during Feb. 13-24, 1857. His relations with Pres.-elect James Buchanan (1791-1868) were strained. This strain went back to GP's July 4, 1854, British-U.S. friendship dinner in London. James Buchanan was then U.S. Minister to Britain. His Legation Secty. Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914), a super patriot, had created an incident when GP toasted Queen Victoria before toasting the U.S. president. Sickles refused to stand with the other 149 guests and walked out in anger. In a lengthy exchange of letters to the press Sickles accused GP of toadying to the British. GP and others at the dinner wrote defending GP. Buchanan quickly replaced Sickles but did not publicly censure him. See: Sickles Affair. Persons named.
Morgan, J.S. 32-Avoidance of Pres. Buchanan Cont'd. GP explained to his Mass.-born friend, sometimes agent, and London resident genealogist Horatio Gates Somerby (1805-72) why he would not call on Pres. Buchanan: "Buchanan's friends are particularly attentive to me, but I refuse any interferences to bring us together without a direct explanation from him. I met Miss Lane [Harriet Lane, 1830-1903, bachelor James Buchanan's niece and White House hostess] who treated me with great cordiality." Ref.: GP, Philadelphia, to Horatio Gates Somerby, Jan. 18, 1857, Somerby Papers, Mass. Historical Society, Boston. See: Lane, Harriet.
Morgan, J.S. 33-Avoidance of Pres. Buchanan Cont'd. Of Buchanan's aloofness, J.S. Morgan wrote from London to GP in Washington, D.C., March 13, 1857: "Your course respecting Mr. Buchanan strikes us as just the thing. It is for you to receive him if either is to be received, but any reconciliations now would look like truckling to a man because he happens to be in power." Ref.: J.S. Morgan, London, to GP, U.S., March 3, 1857, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.
GP & the Panic of 1857
Morgan, J.S. 34-Panic of 1857. J.S. Morgan in London alerted GP in the U.S. of the first rumblings of the Panic of 1857. Morgan noted the heavy demand for debt payments on George Peabody & Co. and wrote GP on Jan. 30, 1857: "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 wrote 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." Ref. (J.S. Morgan to GP): J.S. Morgan to GP, Jan. 30, Feb. 27, and April 9, 1857, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.
Morgan, J.S. 35-Panic of 1857 Cont'd. GP's cousin Joseph Peabody wrote from NYC (GP was then in Philadelphia), April 11: "There is a report by telegraph from Halifax that Greene & Co. of Paris have been obliged to suspend: I know nothing of particulars." 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." Ref.: Joseph Peabody, NYC, to GP, care of Capt. Edward Schenley, Pittsburgh, Penn., April 12, 1857, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Morgan, J.S. 36-Panic of 1857 Cont'd. GP hurried back to England. Back in London the end of Aug. 1857 GP found his firm severely threatened by the Panic of 1857. The financial crisis came from overspeculation in western U.S. lands, poorly managed railroads needing large capital, and overbuying of goods in eastern U.S. cities. The collapse of hundreds of business firms in the U.S. and Britain was hastened by poor U.S. wheat sales abroad, the sinking of a packet ship with $1.6 billion in California gold bullion aboard (Sept. 1857), and the failure of some railroads, banks, and insurance companies. Ref.: Hidy, R.W.-c, pp. 456-465.
Morgan, J.S. 37-Panic of 1857 Cont'd. U.S. Legation Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86) described the crisis in his journal entry for Nov. 6, 1857: "The news from the United States indicates a commercial panic of the most disastrous nature. Each arrival brings us worse news than the last, and now starvation seems to threaten unemployed workmen, fifty thousand of which are in New York alone." Business firms failed in Glasgow, Liverpool, and London. George Peabody & Co. was in trouble. Ref.: (Moran entry Nov. 6, 1857): Wallace and Gillespie, eds., p. 176.
Bank of England Loan to GP
Morgan, J.S. 38-Bank of England Loan. GP had given large credit to Lawrence, Stone and Co. of Boston, which could not repay him. Meanwhile, the House of Baring pressed GP for £150,000 ($750,000) he owed them. Gathering his assets, GP on Nov. 17, 1857, applied for a $4 million loan from the Bank of England (which seldom made such loans). Moran's Nov. 6, 1857, journal entry stated that he had heard that the stability of George Peabody & Co was in grave danger. Moran's Nov. 21, 1857, entry: "My friend, Phil [Philip N. Dallas, 1825-66, U.S. Minister George Mifflin Dallas' son under whom Moran then worked] went over to George Peabody & Co. the other day to withdraw all his father's deposits, having heard that house would fail unless relief in the form of a tremendous loan arrived." Breaking precedent, the Bank of England lent GP more than was needed. Ref.: Burk, p. 21. Ref. (Moran's entries Nov. 6 and 21, 1857): Wallace and Gillespie, eds., Vol. I, pp. 176, 181.
Morgan, J.S. 39-Bank of England Loan Cont'd. During negotiations for the Bank of England loan, some unscrupulous financiers, seeing opportunity to force GP out of business, approached GP's partner J.S. Morgan. Morgan was told that certain individuals would guarantee a loan to George Peabody & Co. if the firm ceased business in London at the end of 1858. PEF's second administrator Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (1825-1903) reported GP's reaction as follows: "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." [Italics added]. Ref.: Curry-b, p. 7.
Morgan, J.S. 40-Bank of England Loan Cont'd. GP repaid the Bank of England loan on March 30, 1858. He 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. (GP to Corcoran): GP, London, to William Wilson Corcoran, Washington, D.C., April 16, 1858, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms.; also quoted in Corcoran, pp. 168-169. (GP's financial difficulties in the Panic of 1857 briefly told): Strouse, pp. 70-71.
Morgan, J.S. 41-GP to Niece Julia Adelaide. On Nov. 13, 1857, GP wrote in gloom to his niece Julia Adelaide Peabody (b. April 25, 1835, daughter of deceased older brother David Peabody, 1790-1841): "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.: (GP to niece Julia): Curry-b, pp. 8-9.
Morgan, J.S. 42-GP to Niece Julia Adelaide 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 waited before sending this letter. Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 43-GP to Niece Julia Adelaide Cont'd. GP held the letter to niece Julia for three weeks. He 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." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 44-GP to Niece Julia Adelaide Cont'd. "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.
Morgan, J.S. 45-Panic of 1857's Effect . The financial panic, his illness, age (63), and wanting to put his philanthropies in order made GP write as follows to a young man who applied for a position with him: "The influence of the panic year upon my feelings have been such as to greatly modify my ambitious views and I have fully determined not only to keep snug during the terms of my present copartnership but if my life is spared to its end to then leave business entirely and shall most likely pass any remaining years that may be allotted me by Providence in my native land." Ref.: (On retirement): GP to William Heath, Boston, Dec. 9, 1858, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Morgan, J.S. 46-GP Corrected N.Y. Times Report. The New York Times published incorrectly, late Dec. 1857, that George Peabody & Co. owed others £6 million ($30 million) at the time of the Bank of England loan. GP sent a correction to the editor on Feb. 9, 1858: "With a few exceptions the American press has extended me more sympathy than blame for my course in the panic. Your respectable journal's account in late December, 1857, of my house's acceptances of six million sterling is inaccurate." Ref.: New York Times, Feb. 9, 1858, p. 4, c. 6.
Morgan, J.S. 47-GP Corrected N.Y. Times Report Cont'd.: "Here are the facts: About November 20th, 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 were liable for at the time of the loan were £2,300,000, not £6,000,000. I applied for a loan of £800,000 from the Bank of England on good securities but have only taken £300,000 to this date. Of the £2,300,000 bills liable, my house paid more than £l,500,000 at the time of the loan. The strength of our correspondents is such that our losses will be but trifling. In justice to American credit and to my house these facts are at your disposal." Ref. Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 48-Correcting Another N.Y. Times Report. Again on Feb. 18, 1858, GP corrected another New York Times error that he had secured the Bank of England loan, not on the basis of securities but on the personal guarantees of friends. He wrote: "The Charter of the Bank of England forbids...lending money on any but British securities. Since my house held large securities from the states and cities of the United States, the Bank of England required guarantees from Englishmen. Some personal friends and interested parties guaranteed £90,000 of the £300,000 which my house received from the Bank. The error in the press arose from the circumstance in the Panic of 1837 when three American houses obtained assistance from the Bank of England by giving guarantees without other securities." Ref.: New York Times, Feb. 18, 1858, p. 4, c. 6.
Morgan, J.S. 49-J.S. Morgan to GP on Atlantic Cable. GP was ill with gout and went for relief to a health spa in Vichy, France. J.S. Morgan wrote him from London Aug. 12, 1858, about Atlantic Telegraph Co. stock. The Atlantic cable had been laid in 1858 but broke. "Our position," Morgan wrote GP, "is an unpleasant one. The moment we sell it is known and down goes the market." Ref.: (Morgan on Atlantic cable): J.S. Morgan, London, to GP, Vichy, France, Aug. 1858, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.
Morgan, J.S. 50-Morgan Visited Niece Julia Adelaide. In Oct. 1858 Morgan was in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and had heard reports of GP's improved health. He planned to go to Zanesville, Ohio, to see GP's niece Julia Adelaide Peabody. On Nov. 2 he wrote to GP 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." Ref.: J.S. Morgan, NYC, to GP, Nov. 2, 1858, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.
Morgan, J.S. 51-GP Reassured Niece Julia. GP also wrote his niece Julia in late 1858 that he had returned from Vichy, France, where he had been under the care of a physician for gout in his feet and right hand: "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.: GP to Julia Adelaide Peabody, n.d., probably late 1858, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Morgan, J.S. 52-GP Ill, March 1859. Resting away from London GP wrote Washington, D.C., business friend William Wilson Corcoran of his rest cures at health spas for gout attacks: "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 William Wilson Corcoran, March 22, 1859, Corcoran Papers, VII, Accession Nos. 8279-8280, Library of Congress Ms., quoted in Corcoran, p. 178.
Morgan, J.S. 53-GP and N.Y. Gov. W.H. Seward. In May 1859 N.Y. Gov. William Henry Seward (1801-72) visited London. Seward was the political protégé of GP's friend Thurlow Weed (1797-1882), Albany, N.Y. Evening News editor. GP arranged for Seward to meet such prominent people as Irish-born MP Sir James Emerson Tennent (1791-1869). These meetings were of special importance a few years later when Seward became Pres. Lincoln's Secty. of State during the Civil War.
Morgan, J.S. 54-GP and N.Y. Gov. W.H. Seward Cont'd. Too ill to attend himself, GP explained to Seward: "As the time approaches to join you at Lady Tennent's I find myself too unwell to go out being quite lame and in considerable pain in my feet arising from my late severe attack of gout.--Having accomplished the object I had in view of bringing together yourself and Sir James, I do not so much regret my inability to join you but feel forced to make this explanation." Ref. GP to William Henry Seward, May 26, 1859, Seward Collection, Univ. of Rochester.
N.Y. Herald Attacks on GP
Morgan, J.S. 55-N.Y. Herald Criticism. GP ignored hostile articles about him in editor James Gordon Bennett's New York Herald ' during his 1856-57 U.S. visit. A false report of a rift between GP and J.S. Morgan forced him to reply in 1859. This Sept. 20, 1859, Herald article read: "There is a rumor that the firm of George Peabody & Co. is to be dissolved or remodelled. 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." Ref.: New York Herald , Sept. 20, 1859, p. 2, c. 2.
Morgan, J.S. 56-N.Y. Herald Criticism Cont'd.: "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.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 57-N.Y. Herald Criticism Cont'd. Before GP could reply the Herald again directed sarcasm at GP personally and stated that he used undue influence on the Times financial writer to attack business rivals. The N.Y. Herald for Oct. 12, 1859, read: "The London Timeshas been declining in influence because Mr. Sampson who writes the money articles has an American wife and is intimate to the point of control with George Peabody. They attack the Bank of England, certain corporations, speculations, public works, and loans from which they expect to make nothing. It has gotten so that an individual wanting to enter something in the London Times financial column must go to--not the owner or manager or editor--but to a man who is to London financial circles what a podunk newspaper is to political newspapers of the world." Ref.: New York Herald , Oct. 12, 1859, p. 2, c. 2.
Morgan, J.S. 58-N.Y. Herald Criticism Cont'd.: "Money articles in the Times follow what George Peabody favors or opposes, reflecting his personal enmities, piques, quarrels. Articles telling of a large loan received during the 1857 crisis are laughed at by the Bank of England. Here is a striking example of his influence: A year or more ago an English merchant ship owner about to start steamers from England to New York unfortunately asked George Peabody's advice as to which New York house to consign it. Peabody advised a house with one of his relatives in it. The Englishman later chose the American Express Co. as New York agent. He and his steamship company were attacked in the London Times. Thus the quarrels and enmities of an insignificant individual are echoed, trumpeted and heralded forth year after year in the Times." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 59-W.W. Corcoran on Herald Attacks. GP's Washington, D.C. business friend William Wilson Corcoran joked about 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, particularly wanting to reassure his Baltimore friends, felt he had to answer the Herald's erroneous charges. Ref.: William Wilson Corcoran, Washington, D.C., to George Peabody, Dec. 20, 1859, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Morgan, J.S. 60-GP's Reply to Herald Attacks. GP wrote on Dec. 23, 1859, to the Baltimore American (reprinted in the New York Times): "For some motive, which I have never been able to understand, the managers of the New York Herald have, from the time I landed in New York in 1856, frequently introduced into its columns paragraphs and articles reflecting upon me personally, or on the position and business of my house, without the least regard to facts. Their London correspondence (or letters bearing the date of London) has been characterized by the same feeling of untruthfulness throughout; although I have not thought advisable to publicly contradict them, I will now notice three of these letters, and thereby put you and my Baltimore friends right on matters to which they refer." Ref.: (GP's Dec. 23, 1859, letter to the Baltimore American) reprinted in New York Times, Jan. 12, 1860, p. 1, c. 6.
Morgan, J.S. 61-GP's Reply to Herald Attacks Cont'd.: "The most important...stating that I had never been satisfied with the management of my firm's business since certain events during and previous to the crisis of 1857; and that I had to put my veto on a transaction with Lawrence, Stone & Co.,...about being entered into for an advance of $400,000 to that house. As this reflects upon my partner, Mr. J. S. Morgan, I beg to state that it has not the least foundation in truth. Mr. Morgan joined my firm on the 1st of October, 1854, and since that period our business has been most satisfactory to all parties interested, and a difference of opinion on the subject of its management has never occurred between Mr. Morgan and myself." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 62-GP's Reply to Herald Attacks Cont'd.: "Another letter appearing in the New York Herald infers erroneously that I interposed an objection to the Bank of England's financial dealing with the Gallway (Lever) steamers. No act or expression of mine has ever been made in an unfriendly spirit to this Company, although I think it has been unfortunately managed. "The last letter I wish to comment on was dated December 7, 1858, stating that if my house had not opposed the sale of Florida Railroad bonds, Mr. [Edward M.C.] Cabell would have effected their negotiation in London. This is untrue, as my wishes were favorable to his success, and I offered him every assistance my position would justify, short of recommending the bonds to the British public. This I could not do, nor do I connect my name in any way with schemes or companies got up for the European market, however unquestionable may be the character of the gentlemen who have charge of them." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 63-GP's Reply to Herald Attacks Cont'd. GP knew from his NYC cousin Joseph Peabody that New York Herald editor James Gordon Bennett deliberately provoked controversy in order to sell newspapers. Joseph Peabody had earlier written to GP that: [Herald editor Bennett] "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!...as regards the 'Herald,' it is even better to be abused than be praised by such a rascal as Bennett." Ref.: Joseph Peabody, NYC, to GP, Montreal, Canada, Oct. 18, 1856, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. For criticism of GP in the New York Herald during GP's 1856-57 U.S. visit, reasons for Bennett's criticism, and sources, See: Visits to the U.S. by GP.
Trent Affair & GP
Morgan, J.S. 64-Trent Affair, 1861. GP's hope for early retirement was pushed back by the Civil War. Officially neutral, the British upper class had a natural sympathy for the Confederacy. Also, British cotton factory jobs and profit were dependent on southern cotton, cut off by the Union blockade of southern ports. The Nov. 8, 1861 Trent Affair was one of several frictionable events during the Civil War that provoked near war hysteria between Britain and the U.S. GP and J.S. Morgan were named in a side incident of the Trent Affair. See: Trent Affair.
Morgan, J.S. 65-Trent Affair, 1861, Cont'd. On the stormy night of Oct. 11, 1861, four Confederate emissaries and some of their families evaded a Union blockade of Charleston, S.C., got to Havana, Cuba, and there boarded the British mail steamer Trent bound for Southampton, England. Their mission was to seek aid and arms from Britain and France. One day out of Havana, on Nov. 8, 1861, the Trent was illegally stopped by the captain of the Union warship San Jacinto. The four Confederate emissaries were forcibly removed and taken to Boston Harbor's Fort Warren prison. Their illegal seizure and detention produced exultation in the U.S. North but anger in Britain. Passions were aroused. Britain sent 8,000 troops to Canada in case of war between Britain and the U.S. Calmer heads prevailed at Pres. Lincoln's Dec. 26, 1861, cabinet meeting. The illegal seizure was disavowed. The four Confederates were released on Jan. 1, 1862. Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 66-Trent Affair, 1861, Cont'd. A Capt. Richard Williams in charge of the mail on the Trent was asked to tell of the illegal seizure at a dinner in Liverpool. His version, published in the Liverpool Daily Post (Jan. 8, 1862) was that when the San Jacinto's captain sent Lt. Donald McNeill Fairfax (1821-94) to remove the Confederate agents, John Slidell's (1793-1871) daughter clung to her father, and that when Lt. Fairfax tried to separate them, she slapped his face. The Daily Post article added that there was a contradiction to Capt. Williams' version from a Member of Parliament who "had the contradiction from George Peabody, the well known banker and merchant." The article added information from a Mr. Allen S. Kanckel (his last name, misspelled, was Hanckel), who claimed to have witnessed the Trent incident. He told the editor that Slidell's daughter did not slap Lt. Fairfax but "put her hand twice on his face to keep him back." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 67-Trent Affair, 1861, Cont'd. The article ended with: "Mr. Kanckel adds, that Mr. Peabody, uninvited, called on Mrs. Slidell, and behaved ungentlemanly." The editor sent GP the news article along with Allen S. Hanckel's calling card. Hanckel wrote GP that the Daily Post editor had made a mistake, that it had been GP's partner, Junius Spencer Morgan, who had burst uninvited into Mrs. Slidell's room. Hanckel added with an implied threat, "I shall certainly call upon you and hope to receive an explanation." Mr. Hanckel's visit never materialized. Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 68-Trent Affair, 1861, Cont'd. The GP-J.S. Morgan involvement had to do with John Slidell's secretary, George Eustice (1828-72, of La.). His wife was Louise Morris née Corcoran Eustice (1838-67), the only daughter of GP's Washington, D.C., business associate William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888). She was a favorite of GP, who had entertained Corcoran and his daughter, and sometimes the daughter alone, on European trips. When the wives of Slidell and Eustice reached England, it is understandable that someone from George Peabody & Co., probably Junius Spencer Morgan, went to see after the Eustices' welfare (GP may have been ill or busy at the time). Ref.: Ibid.
Peabody Homes of London
Morgan, J.S. 69-Peabody Homes of London. Angers over the Trent affair lasted well into 1862, affecting GP and J.S. Morgan in London. J.S. Morgan was one of the five trustees of the Peabody Donation Fund for building model apartments for London's working poor families (total gift $2.5 million). The Trent Affair and other frictionable U.S.-British events had caused worry and delay in public announcement of this gift. GP and his trustees feared that while U.S.-British feelings were so hostile, the British government, press, and public might reject his gift. Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 70-GP to Weed on U.S.-British Tension. GP explained the delay in a note to his friend Thurlow Weed (1797-1882): "Two days ago we thought it exactly the right time, but one cloud between this country and ours is no sooner disposed than another appears. Today the Times and Post are at us again...[as are] ugly extracts from the World and other New York papers.... The feeling [is] as bad as it was before the Trent affair closed. The Post I have takes up strongly the blocking up of Charlestown harbour. Lampson told me that he thought both Sir Emerson [Tennent] and Mr. Adams were in rather a gloomy mood on our affairs with England and France, and Sir Emerson told me that France was pushing England very hard to join and recognize the Southern Confederacy." Ref.: GP, London, to Thurlow Weed, Jan. 17, 1862, Weed Collection, Univ. of Rochester; also quoted in Barnes, p. 365.
Morgan, J.S. 71-GP to Weed on U.S.-British Tension Cont'd. GP sadly mentioned in his note to Weed the "Newcastle story," printed in the London Times and widely circulated as true. U.S. Secty. of State William Henry Seward (1801-72) allegedly told the Duke of Newcastle, then Colonial Secty., that one way to end the U.S. Civil War and get the South to rejoin the North would be to start a war with Britain. See: Peabody Homes of London.
Morgan, J.S. 72-GP to Weed on U.S.-British Tension Cont'd. GP's note to Weed explained the seriousness of the Newcastle story: "We talked over the mystery hanging over the Seward and the New Castle [sic] affair. Sir James E[merson] Tennent said that there can be no doubt that what the Duke reported of Seward's remarks had strongly influenced the government in this war preparation for several months past. The Bishop [McIlvaine] said that he had received the words from Sir H[enry]. Holland [medical advisor to Queen Victoria], and I think Lord Shaftesbury, both of whom had them from the Duke's own lips. You should at once write to Mr. Seward for a letter to the Duke and have the matter cleared up." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 73-Peabody Homes of London Gift Praised. GP's Peabody Donation Fund founding letter was at last published on March 12, 1862. Widely printed and praised it was addressed to and accepted by his five trustees: his partner J.S. Morgan, business friend Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85), U.S. Minister to England Charles Francis Adams (1806-86), longtime friend and MP Sir James Emerson Tennent (1791-1869), and Lord Stanley, trustee chairman (Edward George Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, 1799-1869, Member of Parliament and president of the Board of Control [trade]). Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 74-Peabody Homes of London Gift Praised. News of GP's gift swept London, captured England, echoed in the U.S., and made the world press. Sir James Emerson Tennent sent GP London press notices and added: "But the press is only a faint echo of the voice of Society which is so forcible in praise of an act so utterly beyond all precedent. It is the topic of conversation and laudation in every circle of London, from the Palace down...." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 75-Peabody Homes of London Gift Praised Cont'd. After spending March 27, 1862, with the Commissioners of Charities arranging for their legal acceptance of the gift, Tennent wrote GP: "I have returned after spending a very long time with the Commissioners of Charities.... 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." GP rested in Bath, England, late March and early April 1862. His friend and agent, Horatio Gates Somerby (1805-72), a Vt.-born London-resident genealogist, sent him London newspaper clippings. GP answered Somerby with: "I had not the least conception that it would cause so much excitement over the country." GP's mounting reputation had a positive spillover effect on J.S. Morgan, both as partner in George Peabody & Co. and as Peabody Donation Fund trustee. Ref.: Ibid.
Freedom of the City of London to GP
Morgan, J.S. 76-Freedom of the City of London, July 10, 1862. J.S. Morgan attended London's ancient Guildhall, 3:00 P.M. on July 10, 1862, when GP was given the Freedom of the City of London. GP was the first of five Americans to accept this honor, the second, Ulysses Simpson Grant (1822-85, U.S. general and 18th U.S. president), awarded June 15, 1877; third, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919, 26th U.S. president), awarded May 31, 1910; fourth, John Joseph Pershing (1860-1948, U.S. general), awarded July 18, 1919; and fifth, Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969, U.S. general and the 34th U.S. president), awarded June 12, 1945. See: London, Freedom of the City of London.
Morgan, J.S. 77-Lord Mayor's Dinner, July 10, 1862. Mr. and Mrs. J.S. Morgan were among the 300 guests assembled that evening at the Egyptian Hall, Mansion House, for the Lord Mayor's dinner honoring GP. Guests included Peabody Donation Fund trustees and their wives, Sir James Emerson Tennent (1791-1869) and the Curtis Miranda Lampsons, U.S. Minister to England Charles Francis Adams (1807-86) and Mrs. Adams, author Charles Dickens' daughter, Sir Henry Holland (1788-1873, Queen Victoria's physician), and other British and U.S. notables. A loving cup was passed around until all 300 present had drunk from it. Ref.: Ibid. See: persons named.
Morgan, J.S. 78-Lord Mayor's Dinner, July 10, 1862 Cont'd. Several toasts were proposed, including one to GP from the Lord Mayor, who said (in part): "I now propose a toast to a distinguished gentleman who has won the esteem of the City of London and the approbation of the world. Mr. Peabody has performed the crowning act of an honorable career. How glad I am for Mr. Peabody to be here and I hope he may live long to see his noble deed prove a monument to his name and character." Amid loud cheering, GP rose to reply (in part): "Persons in every station hope for success and tremble at real or imagined calamities, but none more than a merchant. From a full and grateful heart I say that this day has repaid me for the care and anxiety of fifty years of commercial life. I will not take up time from other speakers. I am no orator but ask that you accept my deeds for my words." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 79-Lord Mayor's Dinner, July 10, 1862 Cont'd. The Lord Mayor then spoke of the Peabody Donation Fund for housing London's working poor and proposed a toast to its trustees. Trustee Charles Francis Adams, U.S. Minister, responded to the toast. He said (in part): "The City of London does honour to Mr. Peabody to-day. Why? The reason is that Mr. Peabody has done honour to human nature (loud cheers!). I honour Mr. Peabody because he has done honour to his country." Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 80-Lord Mayor's Dinner, July 10, 1862 Cont'd.: "Born in America he went out to build his fortune, became successful in his own land and eminently more so on this side of the ocean. In twenty years he achieved his ambition. How did this happen? The answer is simple. It was by making an honest use of the friendly relations between the two countries. He drew benefit from the trade of both countries. His career teaches the advantage of good will. His success shows how mutual interests advance with peace. Now, with this gift he forms a new bond between two nations." Long speeches followed by Lord Stanley and Sir James Emerson Tennent, who toasted the Lord Mayor. GP, as he enjoyed doing, gave the last toast to the Lady Mayoress. Ref.: Ibid.
Morgan, J.S. 81-Walked Home to Save Carriage Fare? The story persisted in news accounts at his death (Nov. 4, 1869), seven years later, that after the Lord Mayor's banquet, July 10, 1862, GP walked home to save carriage fare. The night being damp and foggy, he reportedly caught cold. He more likely walked home filled with wonder. Officials of the world's largest city had given him its greatest honor. Ref.: Ibid.
GP’s Retirement
Morgan, J.S. 82-Retirement, Oct. 1, 1864 . GP's business partnership with J.S. Morgan and C.C. Gooch expired on Oct. 1, 1864. He had set this as his retirement date. He was in the Scottish Highlands in Aug. 1864, resting and fishing, when J.S. Morgan wrote urging him to delay retirement beyond Oct. 1. The firm had many securities which would have to be sold in order to liquidate the partnership. To sell in Oct. would result in some loss. But GP was set on his course. In six months he would be age 70.
Morgan, J.S. 83-Retirement, Oct. 1, 1864 Cont'd. GP wrote to Morgan from Scotland: "It has been my fixed determination to retire from all commercial business if I should live till the lst of October 1864 and I can now make no change, for although the continuance of the firm for three or six months, which you suggest, may appear short to you, to me--feeling as I deeply do, the uncertainty of life at the age of seventy--months would appear as years, for I am most anxious before I die to place my worldly affairs in a much more satisfactory state than they are at present." Ref.: (1864): GP to J.S. Morgan, Aug. 13, 1864, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Morgan, J.S. 84-Retirement, Oct. 1, 1864 Cont'd. J.S. Morgan was also disappointed that GP, not wanting responsibility over a firm he would no longer control, asked that his name be removed from the firm. George Peabody & Co. (Dec. 1838 to Oct. 1, 1864) was succeeded by J.S. Morgan & Co. (Oct. 1, 1864 to Dec. 31, 1909); succeeded by Morgan Grenfell & Co. (Jan. 1, 1910 to 1918); Morgan Grenfell & Co. Ltd. (1918-90); and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990), a German owned bank. GP's remaining five years and one month were devoted to his philanthropies. He returned gravely ill from his last U.S. visit, June 8-Sept. 29, 1869, and died Nov. 4, 1869, at the London home of Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson. J.S. Morgan attended his Westminster Abbey funeral. See: Morgan Grenfell & Co. Ltd. Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990).
J. S. Morgan Attended GP’s Westminster Abbey Funeral
Morgan, J.S. 85-Westminster Abbey, Nov. 12, 1869. J.S. Morgan's presence at GP's Westminster Abbey funeral was recorded in U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran's journal (Nov. 12, 1869): "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 and his three sons, J.S. Morgan, Russell Sturgis, Mr. F.H. Morse, Mr. Nunn, Drs. Gull and Covey, Horatio G. Somerby, and several other gentlemen, who were to act as mourners...in Westminster Abbey...." Moran's journal entry described the ceremony in the Abbey: "The coffin was
bfparker
Profile
Calendar
