1 of 14: George Peabody (1795-1869): A-Z Handbook of the Massachusetts-Born Merchant in the South, London-Based Banker, and Philanthropist's Life, Influence, and Related People, Places, Events, and Institutions. ©2007, By Franklin Parker & Betty J. Parker, bfparker@frontiernet.net
This work updates and expands Franklin Parker, George Peabody, A Biography (Nashville, Tenn.: Vanderbilt Univ. Press, ©1971, revised with illustrations ©1995), and authors’ related George Peabody publications listed in the Authors' Preface below. Note: To read on your computer Franklin Parker’s out-of-print George Peabody, A Biography, 1995, as a free Google E-book copy and paste on your browser: http://books.google.com/books?id=OPIbk-ZPnF4C&pg=PP1&lpg=PR4&dq=Franklin+Parker,+George+Peabody,+a+Biography&output=html&sig=6R8ZoKwN1B36wtCSePijnLaYJS8
Background: Why these 1 to 14 blogs on George Peabody? The authors attended George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville (renamed Peabody College of Vanderbilt Univ. July 1, 1979). Franklin Parker’s doctoral dissertation, “George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy,” 1956, has been an ongoing research and writing interest for over 50 years. The authors’ intent is to perpetuate public memory of him.
George Peabody, now largely forgotten by scholars and the public, was significant as: 1-a Massachusetts-born merchant in the U.S. South, beginning as junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29); then head of Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-43), importing dry goods and other commodities worldwide for sale to U.S. wholesalers. He transformed himself from merchant into: 2-a London-based merchant-banker, George Peabody & Co. (1838-64), which helped finance the B&O RR, the 2nd Mexican War Loan, the Atlantic Cable, and by choosing Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) as partner Oct. 1, 1854, was a root of the JP Morgan international banking firm.
Merchant-turned-banker George Peabody finally became: 3-the best known U.S. philanthropist of the 1850s-60s, founding the Peabody Homes of London for the working poor; founder in the U.S. of 7 Peabody Libraries and Lecture Halls; the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore; three Peabody Museums at Harvard (Anthropology), Yale (Paleontology), and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA (maritime history); and founder of the Peabody Education Fund for the South (1867-1914), a model for all later larger U.S. funds and foundations.
Two tributes to George Peabody:
Historian John Steele Gordon called George Peabody the "Most Underrated Philanthropist.... Peabody is unjustly forgotten today, but his unprecedented generosity was greatly appreciated in his time." Ref.: American Heritage. Vol. 50, No. 3 (May-June 1999), pp. 68-69.
"The Peabody Fund, established in 1867 by George Peabody to assist southern education, is often credited with being the first foundation…." Ref.: Reader's Companion to American History, ed. by Eric Foner and John A. Garraty (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991). Internet: http://HistoryChannel.com
End of Background. HTML symbols are intended for blogging (ignore). This 1 of 14 blogs covers: 1-"Preface," 2-authors’ published writings on GP, 3-overview of GP's Life and Career, and 4- alphabetical entries from Abbott (Alfred Amos) to Brush (M.P.) 2.
Preface
Abbreviations used are easily recognizable and include U.S. state names (Tenn. for Tennessee, Md. for Maryland, etc.); city (NYC for New York City); titles (Pres. for President, Sen. for Senator, Rep. for Representative, Secty. for Secretary, Gov. for Governor, PM for Prime Minister, Adm. for Admiral, etc.); months of the year (Jan. for January); terms (Intro. for Introduction); and organizations (Univ. for University, Co. for Company, Dept. for Department, B&O RR for Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; n.d. for no date; n.p. for no page; etc.). The following five abbreviations are used throughout this work:
1-GP for George Peabody (1795-1869
2-GPCFT for George Peabody College for Teachers (1914-79).
3-PCofVU for Peabody College of Vanderbilt Univ. (since July 1, 1979).
4-PEF for the Peabody Education Fund (Feb. 7, 1867-1914).
5-PIB for the Peabody Institute of Baltimore (since Oct. 24, 1857).
6-Peabody Papers, PEM for George Peabody Papers, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.
7-USS for United States Ship, as in USS Plymouth: CSS for Confederate States Ship, as in CSS Alabama; and (for Britain) HMS for Her Majesty's Ship, as in HMS Monarch.
8-VU for Vanderbilt University.
References (Ref.)
References are briefly identified at the end of most articles as Ref.:, followed by author's last name and page or pages (or first significant words of title and page or pages if no author), with annotated reference easily found alphabetically in the back of this work.
See:
Names of persons after See: are listed by Last, First, and Middle names or initials.
Internet website URL and e-mail addresses of GP-related institutions, persons, and topics are listed in appropriate places (Ref.:, See:, other places) with date seen by the authors since URL's often appear, disappear, and change.
Summary repetitions about people, events, and circumstances are used in the many entries that follow when their use further illuminates GP's life and influence.
Birth and death years of persons, when known, are listed (after their names) when first mentioned in an entry.
English pound £ during GP's years in England (1837-69) was roughly equivalent to U.S. $5.00.
Authors' Preface: On the Trail of George Peabody (1795-1869)
(This Preface interweaves the origin of the authors' research "On the Trail of GP," with findings on his career and influence; lists the authors' GP publications; and continues alphabeticlly with entries 1-14 that touch on every uncovered aspect of GP's life, career, and influence).
1-Sept. 1946-52: We met as students at Berea College near Lexington, Ky. (Sept. 1946), Betty entering from Decatur, Ala.; Franklin from Asheville, N.C. Berea brought us together, led to our marriage (1950), and its Alumni Office got us our first teaching jobs at Ferrum Jr. College near Roanoke, Va., 1950-52.
2-To improve our teaching skills we attended George Peabody College for Teachers (GPCFT), sited next to Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, Tenn., the summers of 1951 and 1952. Attendance at Berea College, a work-study tuition-free college, enabled Franklin to extend his GI Bill entitlement (he served in the U.S. Army Air Forces, 1942-46) to help cover graduate study costs at the Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, 1949-50, and GPCFT, 1952-56, plus travel to and housing near U.S. and British libraries to read GP-related papers.
3-1952-56: A part-time job and small GPCFT scholarship for Franklin, together with Betty's job teaching English in a Nashville business college, enabled us to be graduate students at GPCFT during 1952-56. Franklin took courses from and attached himself as doctoral candidate to Canadian-born Prof Clifton Landon Hall (1898-1987), graduate of Bishop Univ. (Quebec), McGill Univ. (Montreal), a Univ. of N.C., Chapel Hill, Ph.D. in the history of education, and widely respected on the Peabody and Vanderbilt campuses.
4-1953: Searching for a dissertation topic and finding an unexplored area in the history of higher education in Tenn., Franklin went for approval to GPCFT Dean (and later president) Felix Compton Robb (1914-97). Perhaps out of respect for Prof. Hall's reputation, Dean Robb told Franklin of his own earlier experience at Harvard University. In a history course he had at Harvard under historian Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. (1888-1965), Schlesinger, knowing that Robb was a Peabody College administrator, urged Robb to write on GP as a founder of modern educational philanthropy. Schlesinger knew of this achievement and lamented that it had not yet been fully explored and documented.
5-Determined on a career in higher education administration, Robb chose a dissertation in that area. Perhaps regretting a good topic not pursued, Robb spoke with enthusiasm of GP’s little known role as the founder of U.S. educational philanthropy and urged Franklin to consider it as a dissertation topic.
Basic Facts
6-GP in brief: Increasingly intrigued by what we found in libraries and encouraged by small scholarships, we read GP’s original letters and papers intensively in widely scattered U.S. and British depositories during 1953-55. He was born Feb. 18, 1795, into a poor branch of the Peabodys of Mass., third of eight children in Danvers, Mass., 19 miles northeast of Boston. He lived long enough to see his birthplace (renamed South Danvers in 1855 when Danvers was divided into North Danvers and South Danvers) renamed Peabody, Mass., in his honor on April 13, 1868.
7-He attended a district school 4 years, ages 8-12 (1803-07), all his parents could afford; was apprenticed in a general store 4 years, ages 12-15 (1807-10); and worked for a year in his oldest brother's dry goods store in Newburyport, Mass. (1810-11). His father died May 13, 1811, leaving the family in debt, the Danvers home mortgaged, with GP's mother and the five younger children forced to live with nearby relatives. Eighteen days later, May 31, 1811, the Great Fire of Newburyport ruined all business prospects, leading to an exodus of family breadwinners.
8-Paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-1827), whose Newburyport store and stock were burned, urged his 17-year old nephew GP to join him in opening a dry goods store in Georgetown, D.C. Because his uncle could not obtain credit, GP asked a Newburyport merchant to stand surety for him for a consignment of goods on credit from a Boston merchant. With $2,000 in goods secured, uncle and nephew sailed from Newburyport (May 5, 1812) and opened the Georgetown, D.C., store (May 15, 1812).
9-His uncle soon entered other enterprises. On his own GP tended the store and was also a pack peddler selling goods to nearby homes and stores. With nearby Washington, D.C., under threat of British attack, he volunteered in the War of 1812. There he met and impressed 35-year-old fellow soldier and experienced Md. merchant Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853). Riggs took the 19-year-old GP as junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29), which imported European fabric, clothing, and other goods for sale to U.S. wholesalers. The firm moved to Baltimore in 1815 and had warehouses in Philadelphia and New York City (NYC) by 1822. See: Riggs, Elisha, Sr.
Young Merchant in the South
10-Taking early responsibility as family breadwinner, GP sent his mother and siblings flour, sugar, clothes, other necessities, and money. By 1816, age 21, he had paid the family debts and restored his mother and siblings to their home. Newburyport lawyer Ebon Mosely wrote GP on Dec. 16, 1816: "I cannot but be pleased with the filial affection which seems to evince you to preserve the estate for a Parent." Ref.: Ebon Mosely, Newburyport, Mass., to GP, Baltimore, Dec. 16, 1816, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
11-GP paid for the education at Bradford Academy, Bradford, Mass., of five younger relatives: brother Jeremiah, from 1819; sister Judith Dodge during 1821-27, sister Mary Gaines during 1822-27, cousin Adolphus W. Peabody (paternal uncle John's son) during 1827, and a nephew named for him (oldest brother David's son George), also during 1827. He bought a house in West Bradford for his relatives who were enrolled in the academy and where his mother also lived for several years.
12-He later paid for the education of other relatives: nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99), at Yale Univ., later the first U.S. paleontologist at Yale; nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909), Harvard-trained lawyer; niece Julia Adelaide Peabody (b. April 25, 1835), Philadelphia finishing school; and others.
13-GP traveled in the U.S. and abroad for Riggs, Peabody & Co. He made five European buying trips during 1827-37. When Elisha Riggs, Sr., withdrew to become a NYC banker, the firm became Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-48), with GP as senior partner and Riggs's nephew, Samuel Riggs (d. 1853), as junior partner.
GP as Md.'s Fiscal Agent Abroad
14-In 1836, as part of large scale internal improvements in many states (building roads, canals, and railroads), the Md. legislature voted to finance the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the B&O RR with interest-bearing state bonds to be sold abroad. Md. appointed three agents to sell its $8 million bond issue abroad. When one agent withdrew, GP sought and secured his place. He left for London Feb. 1837, just before the Panic of 1837.
15-A depression following the financial Panic of 1837 led the two other agents to return to the U.S. without success. GP remained in London the rest of his life (1837-69), 32 years, except for three U.S. visits (Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857; May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867; and June 8 to Sept. 29, 1869).
16-Depressed conditions after 1837 led nine states, including Md., to stop interest payments on their bonds sold abroad. GP had to sell the bonds in this depressed market and amid the angers of British and other European investors at the stoppage of interest payments. He publicly assured investors that repudiation was temporary, that payments would be retroactive. By letters, printed in newspapers, he urged officials in Md. and other defaulting states to retroactively resume interest payments.
17-GP was finally relieved to sell his part of the Md. bonds cheaply for exclusive resale by London's Baring Brothers banking firm. In 1847-48 Md. officials acknowledged publicly that GP had upheld Md.'s credit abroad during a difficult financial panic and that, rather than burden the state treasury, had declined his own $60,000 commission. Md. Gov. Philip Francis Thomas (1810-90) transmitted Md. legislature's resolutions of praise to him and wrote, "To you, sir...the thanks of the State were eminently due." See: Md.'s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.
From Merchant to London-based Banker
18-Gradually curtailing business activities for Peabody, Riggs & Co., he withdrew his capital in 1843 and severed his connection in 1845 (the firm's business ended in 1848). Coincidentally, he founded George Peabody & Co., London (Dec. 1, 1838-Oct. 1, 1864) and increasingly sold U.S. state bonds to finance roads, canals, and railroads. He succeeded in transition from merchant to investment banker.
19-With others he helped finance the second Mexican War loan; bought, sold, and shipped European iron and later steel rails for U.S. western railroads; and was a director and part- financier of the Atlantic Cable Co. He had learned to marshal capital to finance and expand U.S. business and industrial growth. In the 1850s he became the most eminent U.S. banker in London dealing in U.S. trade and securities.
20-George Peabody & Co. prospered. Asked in an interview on Aug. 22, 1869, how and when he made his money, GP said, "I made pretty much of it in 20 years from 1844 to 1864. Everything I touched within that time seemed to turn to gold. I bought largely of United States securities when their value was low and they advanced greatly." Ref.: (Aug. 22, 1869, interview): Moorman-b, pp. 15-17.
Morgan Partnership
21-Often ill and urged by business friends to take a partner, GP on Oct. 1, 1854, at age 59 took as partner Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90). J.S. Morgan's son John Pierpont Morgan (later Sr., 1837-1913), at age 19, began his banking career as NYC agent for George Peabody & Co. Increasing illness hastened GP's retirement on Oct. 1, 1864. Unmarried, without a son, and knowing he would no longer control the firm, he asked that his name be withdrawn. See: Morgan, Junius Spencer.
22-GP's was thus the root of the international banking house of J.P. Morgan, a fact amply recorded but not now generally known. His firm continued in London as J.S. Morgan & Co. (Oct. 1, 1864-Dec. 31, 1909), Morgan Grenfell & Co. (Jan. 1, 1910-Nov. 1918), Morgan Grenfell & Co., Ltd. (Nov. 1918-90), and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990), a German-owned international banking firm. Relieved of business burdens GP spent the last five years of his life (1864-69) looking after his philanthropic institutions, first begun in 1852.
Philanthropist
23-More intriguing than how GP made his money was why and how he gave it away. In 1820 he was worth between $40,000 and $50,000. His 1827 will left $4,000 for charity. His 1832 will left $27,000 (out of a $135,000 estate) for educational philanthropy. He early told intimates and said publicly in 1850 that he would found an educational or other useful institution in every town and city where he had lived and worked. He earned about $20 million during his lifetime and at his death (Nov. 4, 1869) he gave about half to philanthropy, half to his relatives. (Note: $20 million in 1869 is equivalent to $258.3 million In 2001 purchasing power: See: Philanthropy, GP's, worth of, in Ref.: g. Internet. URL: http://www.eh.net/ehresources/howmuch/dollarq.php).
24-His philanthropic gifts (26 gifts or resulting institutes are numbered below), totaled about $10 million. His seven U.S. Peabody institute libraries, with lecture halls and lecture funds were, like the Lyceums (from 1826) and later Chautauquas (from 1872), part of the adult education centers of the time.
25-His seven Peabody Institute libraries are in: 1-Peabody, 2-Danvers, 3-Newburyport, and 4-Georgetown (all in Mass.). The four-part 5-Peabody Institute of Baltimore (PIB) contained a reference library, initially so extensive that the Library of Congress early borrowed from it, plus an art gallery, a lecture hall a lecture fund, and a conservatory of music.
26-The PIB, to which he gave a total of $1.4 million, presaged such later cultural centers as the Lincoln Center, NYC; and the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. (the PIB reference library and the PIB conservatory of music became part of the Johns Hopkins Univ., from 1982). Other Peabody libraries are in 6-Thetford, Vt. and in 7-Georgetown, D.C. (now the Peabody Room of the Washington, D.C., public library.
27-Influenced by his nephew O.C. Marsh's scientific interests and attainments, GP founded three Peabody museums of science: 8-the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard Univ. (anthropology); 9-the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Univ. (paleontology), $150,000 each; and 10-what is now the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass. (maritime history plus Essex County historical documents), $140,000.
28-GP earlier gave the 11-Md. Institute for the Promotion of Mechanic Arts $1,000 for a chemistry laboratory and school, Oct. 31, 1851; 12-Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., $25,000 for a professorship of mathematics, Oct. 30, 1866; 13-Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, $25,000 for a professorship of mathematics and civil engineering, Nov. 6, 1866; and 14-and to former Gen. Robert E. Lee's (1807-70) Washington College (renamed Washington and Lee Univ., 1871), Lexington, Va., $60,000 for a professorship of mathematics, Sept. 1869.
29-He gave $20,000 publication funds each to the 15-Md. Historical Society, Baltimore, Nov. 5, 1866; and the 16-Mass. Historical Society, Boston, Jan. 1, 1867. He gave 17-the U.S. Sanitary Commission to aid Civil War orphans, widows, and disabled veterans $10,000, 1864; and the 18-Vatican charitable San Spirito Hospital, Rome, Italy, $19,300, April 5, 1867.
30-He had a 19-Memorial Congregational Church built in his mother's memory in her hometown, Georgetown, Mass., $70,000, 1866. For patriotic causes he donated to the 20-Lexington Monument, now Peabody, Mass., $300, 1835; the 21-Bunker Hill Memorial, Boston, Mass., $500, June 3, 1845; and the 22-Washington Monument, Washington, D.C., $1,000, July 4, 1854.
Peabody Homes of London
31-His largest gift, $2.5 million total, was for model low rent apartments for London's working poor. Begun on March 12, 1862, what is now 23-the Peabody Trust Group, London, GP's most successful philanthropy, on March 31, 2006 owned or managed over 20,000 affordable homes housing over 50,000 low income Londoners (about 59% white, 32% black, and 9% others in 2002). These include, besides Peabody Trust Group-built estates, other London public housing units whose authorities deliberately chose to come under the Peabody Trust Group because of its efficient management, facilities, playgrounds for the young, recreation for the elderly, computer centers, job training, and job placement for its working adults. Ref.: Peabody Trust Group, London-c, annual report, 2002 (and later reports). Ref.: g. Internet. "Peabody Buildings," URL: http://www.vauxhallsociety.org.uk/Peabody.html
32-The Peabody Homes of London, GP's most successful philanthropy, was first suggested by social reformer Lord Shaftesbury (1801-85). GP first (1859) considered and discarded the idea of building a network of drinking fountains in London. He then considered a large gift to enlarge the Ragged Schools Union, a charitable trust managing schools for poor children in England, administered by Lord Shaftesbury (before the establishment of tax supported schools). GP asked his friend, Ohio's Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), who knew Shaftesbury, to consult with him. McIlvaine reported Shaftesbury's advice that housing was the London poor's greatest need. This advice determined GP's gift of low cost model apartments. The Peabody Homes of London inspired imitators elsewhere in England and in the U.S. and brought GP many honors in England.
PEF
33-GP's most in19,fluential U.S. gift was the $2 million 23-PEF (1867-1914) to promote public education in the eleven former Confederate states plus W.Va., added because of its poverty. He actually gave the PEF $3,484,000, but $1.1 million in Miss. state bonds and $384,000 in Fla. bonds were never redeemed by those states.
34-For 47 years the PEF helped promote public schools in the devastated post Civil War South, focusing first on aiding existing public elementary and secondary schools in larger towns to serve as models, then aiding teacher training institutes and normal colleges, and finally aiding rural public school growth.
35-The PEF was without precedent, the first multimillion dollar educational foundation in the U.S., cited by historians as the model forerunner of all subsequent significant U.S. educational funds and foundations. See: PEF.
36-High offices held by the over 50 PEF trustees during 1867-1914 included: thirteen state legislators, two U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justices, six U.S. ambassadors, eight U.S. Senators, seven in the U.S. House of Representatives, two Civil War generals, one U.S. naval admiral, one U.S. Army Surgeon-Gen., three Confederate generals, three who served in the Confederate Congress, two bishops, and six U.S. cabinet officers. For names, See: Governors, U.S. States, and GP. PCofVU. PEF. Presidents, U.S., and GP.
37-Other high offices held by PEF trustees: three were U.S. presidents (U.S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, and Grover Cleveland; or eight U.S. presidents if Peabody Normal College and its predecessor institutions are included), six were U.S. state governors, and three were financiers: J.P. Morgan; Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826-93), inspired by GP's example to found Drexel Univ., Phila., and Paul Tulane (1801-87), inspired to found Tulane Univ., New Orleans, La. Ref.: Ibid.
Peabody Normal College
38-PEF first administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80) wanted a model teachers college for the South in Nashville. When the Tenn. legislature declined to pass funding legislation for several state normal school proposals, Sears through the PEF helped establish the PEF-supported 24-Peabody Normal College (1875-1911) on the Univ. of Nashville campus in place of its moribund Literary Dept. In its 36 years of existence, Peabody Normal College achieved regional and national leadership in the professional preparation of teachers.
39-GP's PEF founding letter (Feb. 7, 1867) permitted ending the fund when its work in promoting public schools in the South was done. In 1914 the trustees distributed the fund's total assets ($2,324,000) as follows: $474,000 went to the education departments of 14 southern universities ($40,000 each to the universities of Va., N.C., Ga., Ala., Fla., Miss., Ark., Ky., and La. [State]; $6,000 each to Johns Hopkins Univ. and to the universities of S.C., Mo., and Tex.; $90,000 to Winthrop Normal College, S.C. (now Winthrop College), founded by PEF trustees Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94); and $350,000 to the John F. Slater Fund for Negro Education (a sum given later to the Southern Education Fund, Atlanta, where it still serves African-American education). See: PCofVU. PEF. Southern Education Fund, Atlanta.
GPCFT
40-Most of the PEF principal, $1.5 million plus required matching funds, went to endow 25-GPCFT (1914-79), with a new campus built next to Vanderbilt Univ. for academic strength. For 65 years GPCFT maintained its independence, cooperating with neighboring Vanderbilt Univ. in courses, programs, and library facilities. GPCFT was in fact a unique mini-university, focused on teacher education in a variety of fields, with departments of library science, physical education, science education, and music education. It retained and enhanced its predecessor's reputation as a leading institution in the South, with national recognition and an international student body.
41-GPCFT's best graduates became state university presidents, deans, leading professors, researchers, and textbook writers. Its success thereby strengthened competing lower cost state university colleges of education and ironically contributed to its own demise. National recession in the 1970s combined with higher energy and other costs adversely affected higher education and particularly private colleges of education.
PCofVU
42-Wise Peabodians knew that the time was past for the survival of a private single purpose teachers college like GPCFT, despite its proud history, high regional reputation, and national and international influence. Merger took place on July 1, 1979, when GPCFT became 26-PCofVU, Vanderbilt Univ.'s. ninth school.
43-PCofVU soon increased the status of its predecessor institutions as a leading private southern university's college of education. It quickly led the nation in preparing teachers to apply computers to student learning. Since the 1990s it has consistently ranked among the top U.S. graduate schools of education, highly esteemed in preparing special education teachers, guidance counselors, and educational researchers. Ref.: "Best Graduate Schools," pp. 109, 111.
44-PCofVU's history thus goes back to Davidson Academy (1785-1806), chartered by N.C. eleven years before Tenn. statehood; rechartered as Cumberland College (1806-26); rechartered as the Univ. of Nashville (1826-75); whose moribund literary dept. was rechartered as Peabody Normal College (1875-1911; rechartered as GPCFT (1914-79); renamed PCofVU (since July 1, 1979). PCofVU's lineage of over 210 years makes it the 15th U.S. collegiate institution after the founding of Harvard College in 1636.
45-Faced with greater class and race divisions and with greater financial difficulties than counterpart colleges in other sections of the U.S., it rose phoenix-like again and again to produce educational leaders for the South, the nation, and the world. As part of Vanderbilt Univ., PCofVU carried into the 21st century GP's motto accompanying his check for his first hometown Peabody Institute Library (1852): "Education, a debt due from present to future generations."
Philanthropic Influence
46-GP's philanthropic example, mainly through the PIB and the PEF, directly and personally influenced Enoch Pratt (1808-96) to found the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore's public library; influenced Johns Hopkins (1795-1873) to found the Johns Hopkins Univ., hospital, and medical school in Baltimore; influenced Anthony Joseph Drexel to found Drexel Univ., Philadelphia; influenced Paul Tulane to found Tulane Univ., New Orleans; and influenced others who gave to institutions, funds, and foundations.
47-At his death, Nov. 4, 1869, age 74, GP was the best known philanthropist in the U.S. and Britain, a founder of U.S. educational philanthropy. But time, larger fortunes, wealthier funds and foundations have dimmed his memory, except at his institutes and among interested scholars.
Manuscript Sources
48-We did research on GP concentratedly in 1953-56, sporadically since, and again concentratedly in retirement since 1994, always impressed with his achievements and wondering why he is so neglected. We read GP- papers of the following individuals at the Library of Congress (LC), Washington, D.C.: a-William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888), business associate with whom GP helped finance the Second Mexican War loan (Corcoran is also known for donating the Corcoran Art Gallery in Washington, D.C.). b-Hamilton Fish (1809-93), PEF trustee, N.Y. governor, and U.S. Secty. of State involved in GP's unusual 96-day transatlantic funeral.
49-We read the LC papers of c-John Work Garrett (1820-84), B&O RR president, who brought GP and Johns Hopkins together in his home near Baltimore, leading to the founding of Johns Hopkins Univ., Hospital, and Medical School. d-We read the LC papers of U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson (1808-75) who went to GP's rooms at the Willard's Hotel, Washington, D.C., Feb. 9, 1867, to thank him for the PEF as a national gift. To forestall impeachment by radical Republicans bent on punishing the defeated South, Pres. Johnson's political advisor recommended a complete cabinet reshuffle with GP as Treasury Secty. But loyalty to his old cabinet kept Pres. Johnson from this course.
50-We read the LC papers of e-Benjamin Moran (1820-86), U.S. Legation in London Secty. (later called the U.S. Embassy), who during 1857-69 was often critical of GP in his private journal. f-We read the LC papers of the Riggs family, including Elisha Riggs, Sr., GP's first senior partner; Samuel Riggs (Elisha Riggs, Sr.'s, nephew), GP's second partner; and George Washington Riggs (1813-81, Elisha Riggs, Sr.'s son) who started the Riggs National Bank of Washington, D.C.
51-At the National Archives, Washington, D.C., we read a-"Veterans Records of the War of 1812" documenting GP's 14 days as a soldier, b-"Admirals and Commodores' Letters," c-"Dispatches from United States Ministers, Great Britain," and d-"Log of USS Plymouth," each documenting GP's unusual 96-day transatlantic funeral (from his Nov. 4, 1869, death in London, to his final burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870, with much attendant press coverage.
52-In NYC's Pierpont Morgan Library we read the papers of J.S. Morgan, his son J.P. Morgan, Sr., and grandson J.P. Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943). These helped explain how GP, the founding root of the House of Morgan, along with a handful of other merchant-bankers, early learned to marshal foreign capital to help finance U.S. industrial growth.
53-In Mass. we read the bulk of GP's personal papers and business records (then not indexed or calendared) in what is now the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem. We also read his papers in depositories in Peabody, Salem, Danvers, and Boston, Mass.; at Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology; and in Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History (which has his nephew Othniel Charles Marsh’s papers).
54-In Baltimore, where GP spent 22 of his most formative commercial years, 1815-37, we read his papers at the PIB, and the papers and journals of PIB trustee John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870) who, at GP's request for a cultural center for Baltimore, originally conceived of the idea of the PIB. In Baltimore we also read appropriate material in the Johns Hopkins Univ. Library and the Enoch Pratt Free Library, whose founders, as mentioned, GP directly influenced. See: John Pendleton Kennedy and institutions mentioned.
55-Two travel difficulties were solved in Baltimore. We needed inexpensive passage to London. Ben Welsh, under whom Betty worked in the Berea College Labor Office (he was a part time travel agent), got us a low cost berth on a transatlantic ship. To safely store our old car, the Ruckdeshells, in whose Baltimore house we roomed (secured through the Johns Hopkins Univ. student housing), phoned a friend with an empty garage who helped us raise our car on blocks for four months' storage.
In England
56-London: Sept.-Dec. 1954: We registered as student researchers at the Univ. of London and rented an inexpensive "bed-sitter through student housing. Our daily pattern was an early breakfast of bread, peanut butter, fruit, and milk (with the outside window ledge our "fridge"), which preceded morning research in libraries. Lunch at a nearby bustling pub was followed by afternoon library research until closing time. An occasional restaurant supper treat preceded nighttime arranging of notes. We managed some Sunday and holiday visits to cultural sights and events. We survived the cold London winter nights of 1954 by huddling close to a space heater, feeding it shilling coins to keep it going,
57-At London's British Museum Manuscript Division we read PM William E. Gladstone's (1809-98) cabinet minutes, Nov. 10, 1869, showing the decision, first suggested by Queen Victoria, to use Britain's newest and largest warship, HMS Monarch, to return GP's remains from England for burial in the U.S.
Alabama Claims
58-HMS Monarch was deliberately chosen as funeral ship partly because of the public attention it would draw and partly to honor his philanthropy in the U.S. and especially in London. His gift that most warmed English hearts and brought him many British honors was his 1862 $2.5 million gift for low-cost apartments for London's working poor. There was also a political motive for the choice of HMS Monarch, as there was for unusual British (and later U.S.) pomp and ceremony surrounding his unprecedented 96-day transatlantic funeral. See: Peabody Homes of London. Death and Funeral, GP's.
59-GP died at the height of unresolved U.S.-British angers over serious incidents during the U.S. Civil War. One lingering anger was over the Sept. 1861 Trent Affair. Four Confederate agents seeking arms and aid in England and France slipped through a Union blockade of Charleston, S.C., sailed to Havana, Cuba, and then boarded the British mail ship Trent for England when a Union warship stopped, boarded, removed, and jailed the Confederates.
60-Britain furiously protested this illegal seizure and sent troops to Canada should war erupt between the U.S. and Britain. Calmer heads prevailed; Pres. Lincoln had the Confederates released. Also, Confederate agents secretly bought British-built ships, armed them as Confederate raiders, like the CSS Alabama, which wrecked or sank Union ships and cost U.S. lives and vast treasure. The U.S. offered proof that Britain knowingly turned a blind eye to the sale of these raiders and angrily sought indemnity.
61-Choice of HMS Monarch was thus a political decision to soften near-war British-U.S. angers over these and other Civil War incidents. Politically astute PM Gladstone at the Nov. 9, 1869, Lord Mayor's Day banquet, five days after GP's death, said publicly: "With the country of Mr. Peabody we [will] not quarrel." Three years later (1872), a Geneva international court required Britain to pay the U.S. $15.5 million indemnity to settle the Alabama Claims controversy.
62-At London's Guildhall Record Office we read a-"Journals of the Court of Common Council" recording the Freedom of the City of London honor given to GP, July 10, 1862. We also read b-"Minutes of the Committee for Erecting a Statue to Mr. George Peabody, 1866-1870," documenting contributors to GP's seated statue in Threadneedle St., near London's Royal Exchange, created by U.S.-born Rome-based sculptor William Wetmore Story (1815-95), unveiled before crowds by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII, 1841-1910), July 23, 1869.
63-A replica of GP's seated statue in London was erected in front of the PIB, April 7, 1890, by Baltimorean Robert Garrett (1847-96). GP's seated statue in London, 1869, was the first of four statues of Americans in London, the others being of Abraham Lincoln, 1920; George Washington, 1921; and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1948.
64-At London's Public Record Office we read a-"Alien Entry Lists" recording every time GP entered a British port, b-"Foreign Affairs Papers," and c-"Admiralty Papers," the last two documenting Britain's part in GP's unusual 96-day transatlantic funeral.
65-In London's Westminster Abbey we read a-"Recollections by Dean [Arthur P.] Stanley of Funerals in Westminster Abbey 1865-1881." Visiting in Naples, Italy, when he read of GP's death in London on Nov. 4, 1869, Dean Stanley (1815-81) recalled GP's March 12, 1862, gift for housing London's working poor and telegraphed associates to offer Westminster Abbey for a funeral service for this generous American.
66-We read the Westminster Abbey's b-"Funeral Fee Book 1811-1899," which listed GP's Abbey funeral costs. c-We stood at the permanent GP marker on the stone floor of Westminster Abbey near Britain's unknown soldier where GP's remains rested for 30 days (Nov. 12-Dec. 11, 1869). That marker was refurbished for the 200th GP birthday ceremony at Westminster Abbey on Feb. 18, 1995.
67-To honor his housing gift to London's working poor, GP was made an honorary member of two ancient guilds, the Clothmakers' Co., July 2, 1862, and the Fishmongers' Co., April 19, 1866, whose records we read in the respective guild libraries.
68-At the Royal Archives, Windsor Castle, we read letters from Queen Victoria and her advisors to, from, and about GP. The Queen offered him a knighthood. He declined, since this honor required him to become a British subject. Unwilling to give up his U.S. citizenship he accepted instead her letters of thanks and an enameled miniature portrait she commissioned to be made especially for him. That portrait, along with his other honors, are on display at the Peabody Institute Library, Peabody, Mass.
69-We read the three brass signs on the front door of Morgan, Grenfell & Co., Ltd., 23 Great Winchester St., London, which read from bottom to top: George Peabody & Co., 1838-64; J.S. Morgan & Co., 1864-1909); and Morgan Grenfell & Co. (1909-90). The firm's current descendant, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990), has records of George Peabody & Co. and some business papers of GP, J.S. Morgan, and J.P. Morgan, Sr. We secured a copy of GP's death certificate from London's General Register Office, Somerset House.
70-Turning pages of heavy dusty bound newspaper volumes at the British Library at Colindale, we found many contemporary articles about GP, especially of his elaborate U.S.-British friendship dinners in or near London from 1850 onward, most often on July 4th, U.S. Independence Day.
71-We wrote letters to British newspaper editors asking readers for any privately held GP letters or memorabilia. Two families had "George Peabody" embossed glass plates made by a souvenir glassware manufacturer in Sunderland, England, in the aftermath of his widely publicized death and 96-day transatlantic funeral. We donated GP glassware given us to U.S. Peabody institutions.
72-When first proposed for membership in exclusive British clubs, GP was denied membership (blackballed). This occurred during repudiation of interest on U.S. state bonds sold to British investors, many held by widowed families. Americans were then especially disdained. When it became known that GP had publicly protested repudiation, and particularly after his gift for housing London's working poor, he was unanimously elected to London's best clubs.
73-We read of GP's admission to the most prestigious of these clubs, The Athenaeum, whose librarian Eileen Stiff (d. 1985) befriended us. We met her housemate, writer Margaret Leland Goldsmith (1895-1970), whose invaluable editorial help is mentioned later. We also visited a Peabody apartment complex where some 34,500 low income Londoners still live.
Back in the U.S.: Founders Day Address, Feb. 18, 1955
74-We returned to the U.S., loaded our old car in Baltimore with voluminous notes and microfilm, and headed for Nashville. There, David E. Short (1891-1957), president of the Nashville business school where Betty had taught English in exchange for a near-free apartment, generously let us live there again (paying whatever rent we could afford). His generosity plus part time jobs enabled us, on evenings, weekends, and holidays, to organize our voluminous GP materials. This task was suddenly hastened when GPCFT Pres. Henry H. Hill (1894-1987) asked Franklin to give the GPCFT's Founders Day Address on Feb. 18, 1955, the first such address by a student.
75-Pressed now to succinctly tell the GP story, Franklin's speech to a Peabody College audience highlighted GP's career, U.S.-British friendship dinners, philanthropic influence, death in London, and unprecedented 96-day transatlantic funeral. This speech opportunity would not have happened if Dean Felix Robb had not first suggested the GP research; or if GPCFT Prof. Clifton Hall as major professor had not been widely respected on the Peabody and Vanderbilt campuses (such backing was needed by a little known untried doctoral researcher); or if Franklin not kept his five doctoral committee members abreast of findings by regular research progress reports. Doors of opportunity swung on such hinges.
76-Franklin highlighted GP’s last illness, death, and funeral: A sick 74-year-old GP joined business friend W.W. Corcoran at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., a popular mineral springs health spa (July 23-Aug. 30, 1869). Present there by chance were southern and northern political, educational and former Civil War leaders, including Robert E. Lee (1807-70), then president of Washington College, Lexington Va., renamed Washington and Lee Univ. in 1871.
77-Though confined to his cabin, GP yet heard some of the gayety of younger visitors who flocked to a Peabody Ball spontaneously held in his honor. On his few well days he and Lee walked, talked, and dined together, often applauded by visitors. GP and Lee were photographed together and with others, including visiting Civil War generals from South and North. Informal talks that last summer of GP’s life were on southern public education needs. These set a precedent for later more formal Conferences on Education in the South, 1898-1902, which in turn led to vast foundation aid which helped raise southern public schools and higher education toward national levels.
78-Distressed by the Civil War, GP in Nov. 1861 had helped two of Pres. Abraham Lincoln's emissaries contact leaders in London to keep Britain neutral: Ohio's Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (mentioned earlier as GP's emissary to Lord Shaftesbury) and N.Y. state journalist and political leader Thurlow Weed (1797-1882), both GP's long-time friends.
79-After GP's death, when he was attacked as a Confederate sympathizer, Thurlow Weed publicly vindicated GP's Union loyalty (which McIlvaine also affirmed). Some northern extremists, determined to punish the South, faulted GP for founding the PIB in Md. (1857) and the PEF (1867), both seen as aiding the South. Weed reported that the $2 million that went into the PEF GP originally intended (in 1859) to give to the NYC poor. But NYC public schools had prospered and the Civil War had intervened. Moved by Civil War devastation, GP determined to aid public education in the South.
80-Congress and Pres. U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson recognized GP's PEF as a national gift. as did, Forty seven years later, GPCFT Pres. Bruce R. Payne's (1874-1937) Feb. 18, 1916 Founders Day speech thus imaginatively interpreted GP's PEF founding letter, Feb. 7, 1867, to ten of his 16 trustees gathered at Willard's Hotel, Washington, D.C.: "There stand several governors of states both North and South; senators of the United States; Ulysses S. Grant and Admiral Farragut. [Chief trustee Robert C.] Winthrop is called to take the chair. Mr. Peabody rises to read his deed of gift. They kneel in a circle of prayer, the Puritan of New England, the pioneer of the West, the financier of the metropolis, and the defeated veteran of the Confederacy. [On] bended knee they dedicate this great gift. They consecrate themselves to its wise expenditure. In that act, not quite two years after Appomattox, is the first guarantee of a reunited country." See: PEF.
81-GP gave Lee's college Va. bonds ultimately worth $60,000 for a mathematics professorship, left for Salem, Mass., made his funeral plans, recorded his last will in NYC, and arrived in London gravely ill. Through aides, Queen Victoria invited GP to recuperate at Windsor Castle. But it was too late. He died Nov. 4, 1869, at the 80 Eaton Square (London) home of business associate Sir Curtis Lampson (1806-85). See: Death and Funeral, GP's.
82-Knowing that GP's will required burial in Mass., Lampson telegraphed GP's nephew George Peabody Russell, who left for England to accompany GP's body home. Letters poured in to London newspapers asking for public honors for GP. The Queen's advisor, Sir Arthur Helps, informed her: "There are many persons who wish to pay public respect to the memory of that good man." See persons mentioned.
83-When PM Gladstone, at Queen Victoria’s suggestion, offered HMS Monarch as funeral ship to transport GP's remains to the U.S., Pres. U.S. Grant and U.S. Navy officials, not to be outdone, ordered the USS Plymouth from Marseilles, France, to act as escort vessel. Boston and NYC officials, believing that their cities would be the receiving port, were chagrined when Portland, Maine, was chosen because of its deeper harbor. The U.S. Navy placed Adm. David G. Farragut in charge of a flotilla of U.S. receiving vessels in Portland harbor. GP's funeral took on unprecedented proportions.
84-U.S. London Legation Secretary Benjamin Moran's private journal entries reflected the consternation at mounting funeral plans. He wrote on Nov. 6, 1869: "Peabody haunts the Legation from all parts of the world like a ghost." Again on Dec. 6, 1869: "Old Peabody has given us much trouble," and, "Will that old man ever be buried?" See: Moran, Benjamin.
85-Although critical of GP in his private journal through the years, at the last, Benjamin Moran, witnessing GP's Nov. 12, 1869, Westminster Abbey funeral service, was wondrously touched. He wrote with rare eloquence: "I reflected on the marvelous career of the man, his early life, his penurious habits, his vast fortune, his magnificent charity; and the honor then being paid to his memory by the Queen of England in the place of sepulchre of twenty English kings. An anthem was sung and the service end[ed]--George Peabody having received burial in Westminster Abbey, an honor coveted by nobles and not always granted kings." Ibid.
86-The Dec. 12, 1869, transfer of the coffin from London's Westminster Abbey to Portsmouth, England, harbor took place in pouring rain and a blowing storm. British Marines formed an honor guard. Scarlet-robed Portsmouth council members under black umbrellas mingled oddly with lines, spars, and beams of assembled ships. Guns were fired. Bugles sounded.
87-U.S. Minister to Britain John Lothrop Motley (1814-77) said to the Monarch’s Capt. John E. Commerell (1829-1901): "Into your hands I deliver Mr. Peabody's remains." The Monarch at Spithead Harbor, Portsmouth, awaited the end of the gale then blowing for the long voyage home.
88-British honors evoked some dissent in the U.S. One Union extremist said that returning "Peabody's remains on a British ship of war [is an] insult. Peabody was a secessionist." The charge, often made, was as often denied. In 1866 GP told a Baltimore audience: "My sympathies were with the Union. Three-fourths of my property was invested in United States Government and State securities. I saw no hope except in Union victory. But I could not turn my back on Southern friends." A few radical anti-southern Congressional extremists, erroneously believing GP to have favored the Confederacy, argued against a U.S. Navy reception for his remains at Portland. They were outvoted. Both houses of Congress finally approved unanimously.
89-HMS Monarch and the USS Plymouth were met in Portland harbor, Jan. 25, 1870, by Adm. Farragut and a flotilla of U.S. ships. At Queen Victoria's request and as a final measure of British respect, GP's remains lay in state on the Monarch for two days. Thousands of visitors who flocked to Portland went by small boats to view his coffin aboard the Monarch. On Jan. 29, 1870, a cold New England winter's day, Monarch seamen carried the coffin ashore. Drums sounded a muted roll. The band played the somber Death March.
90-Hushed crowds filed by his coffin lying in state in Portland's City Hall where, on Feb. 1, 1870, The Messiah was sung, Mozart's Requiem was played. In the bitter cold, thousands watched black plumed horses pull the hearse through Portland streets to the railway station. Many others watched en route and as the funeral train reached GP's hometown.
91-His coffin was taken to the Peabody Institute, Peabody, Mass., where it lay in state for viewing in the Peabody library. On display there were Queen Victoria's enameled miniature portrait made especially for him, the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal and resolutions of praise for the PEF, scrolls of the Freedom of the City of London, scrolls of honorary memberships in the Fishmongers' and Clothworkers' Companies, and other honors.
92-The coffin was taken to the Congregational Church for the last funeral service and the eulogy. Special trains from Boston brought solemn crowds to his hometown. The Congregational Church was filled to capacity. All eyes were on Queen Victoria's son Prince Arthur (Duke of Connaught, 1850-1942) and his entourage, captains of the Monarch and the Plymouth, Massachusetts and Maine governors, Harvard Univ. Pres. Charles W. Eliot, mayors of six nearby cities, and trustees of GP's institutes.
93-Eulogist Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94), GP’s philanthropic advisor, said of him in part: "What a career this has been whose final scene lies before us! The trusts he established, the institutes he founded, the buildings he raised stand before all eyes. He planned these for many years. When I expressed amazement at his purpose, he said to me, 'Why Mr. Winthrop, this is no new idea for me. From the earliest of my manhood, I have contemplated some such disposition of my property; and I have prayed my heavenly Father day by day, that I might be enabled, before I died, to show my gratitude for the blessings which He has bestowed upon me by doing some great good for my fellow-men.'"
94-GP's underlined words above are carved on the Westminster Abbey floor marker where his remains had rested for 30 days (Nov. 12-Dec. 11, 1869). He was buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870, near where he played as a boy and where he built the family tomb. The 96-day funeral was over. Two nations had given his funeral a rare touch of grandeur.
GP the Founder of Modern Philanthropy
95-Franklin Parker's dissertation, "George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy," documented these PEF firsts: 1-The PEF was the first US foundation to require the stimulating effect of matching local grants for schools it aided or founded; 2-the first to require state legislation to perpetuate state financial support of its aided schools; 3-the first multimillion dollar foundation recognized as national rather than local; and 4-the first to provide operational flexibility as conditions changed.
96-Other PEF firsts included: 5-the first U.S. foundation to elect trustees from professional and financial circles; 6-the first deliberately to use public relations to foster public acceptance and good will; 7-the first whose executives were former university officials (Barnas Sears of Brown Univ; JLM Curry of Howard College, Ala.); 8-the first to allow its trustees to disband after its job was done and distribute its assets as they saw fit (when dissolved in 1914, PEF assets endowed George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, next to Vanderbilt Univ.; funded education departments of 14 southern universities and colleges; and gave its residue to the Slater Fund for Negro colleges).
97-Historians have written the following on the PEF's influence: 1-Charles William Dabney: [The Aug. 1869 GP-Lee meeting] inspired the Four Conferences on Education in the South from which emerged the Southern Education Board and [John D. Rockefeller's] General Education Board. 2-Abraham Flexner: There was the closest cooperation among, and interlocking officers and trustees of, the PEF, the Southern Education Board, the General Education Board, the Samuel F. Slater Fund, the Anna T. Jeanes Foundation, and the Rosenwald Fund.
98-Historians on the PEF's influence (cont'd): 3-Paul H. Buck: [the PEF was]: a fruitful experiment in harmony and understanding between the sections. 4-Thomas D. Clark: [the PEF] worked as an education leaven. 5-Harvey Wish: no kindness touched the hearts of the Southerners quite so much as Peabody's educational bequest. 6-Jesse Brundage Sears: [the PEF was] the first successful precedent-setting educational foundation. 7-Daniel Coit Gilman: all subsequent foundations adopted the principles Peabody formulated.
99-Franklin's GPCFT's Founders Day Address, Feb. 18, 1955, documented that in their 47-years existence PEF executives and trustees pioneered the heartbeat of American educational philanthropy—using private wealth judiciously and experimentally as a lever to tackle key educational and socio-economic problems, the results if good serving as models for other agencies and governments to emulate. GP's hope and money made this influence possible. In appreciation and to attest to his influence, southern communities have given his name to a score of streets, avenues, elementary and secondary schools, university education buildings, hotels, and at least one park. GP built better than he knew. See: Peabody, George (1795-1869), Named Institutions, Firms, Buildings, Ships, Other Facilities; Music and/or Poems Named for GP.
100-With Franklin's speech given and handsomely printed, with the GP dissertation accepted, graduation followed in Aug. 1956. Through the years we went to teaching posts at the Univ. of Texas, Austin (1957-64); Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman (1964-68); W.Va. Univ. (1968-86), and (after retirement), Northern Arizona Univ., Flagstaff (1986-89), and Western Carolina Univ., Cullowhee (1989-94).
101-Over the years we did other research, wrote other books, and wrote and published GP articles (listed fully below). We submitted to several publishers "George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy," (Nashville: George Peabody College for Teachers, 1956), 3 vols, 1,209 pp. These were returned as needing pruning and focus.
George Peabody, a Biography
102-In May 1970, GPCFT Public Relations Director John E. Windrow (1899-1984) brought together prominent New England Peabodys for a Nashville dinner conference at which Franklin spoke. The new Vanderbilt Univ. Press director, in attendance, asked to see a revised GP manuscript. This welcome request threw us into a frenzy of revision. Unexpected but welcome help came from London Athenaeum Club librarian Eileen Stiff's friend, Margaret Leland Goldsmith, a professional writer. She and Eileen had befriended us through the years. Margaret's editorial suggestions helped turn the dissertation into a readable 233 page book.
103-Thus, 14 years after completing the GP dissertation, Franklin Parker's George Peabody, a Biography (Nashville: Vanderbilt Univ. Press, 1971), was published. Twenty-four years later, for GP's 200th birthday, Feb. 18, 1795-1995, a revised and updated version was republished with 12 illustrations added. Earlier, also for GP's 200th birthday, our 22 previously published GP articles were reprinted in a special bicentennial issue, "The Legacy of George Peabody," Peabody Journal of Education, Fall 1994, 210 pp.
GP's Motives
104-We long pondered GP's philanthropic motives, strengths, weaknesses, and especially why he is he so little known today. His chief motive may have been his 1852 motto: "Education, a debt due from present to future generations." His motive may also have been to compensate for his own lack of formal education.
105-In 1831 he replied to a nephew who asked his financial help to attend Yale College (GP's underlining): "Deprived, as I was, of the opportunity of obtaining anything more than the most common education, I am well qualified to estimate its value by the disadvantages I labour under in the society [in] which my business and situation in life frequently throws me, and willingly would I now give twenty times the expense attending a good education could I now possess it, but it is now too late for me to learn and I can only do to those who come under my care, as I could have wished circumstances had permitted others to have done by me."
106-His motive may been simply to succeed. He said in an 1856 speech: "Heaven has been pleased to reward my efforts with success, and has permitted me to establish a house in the great metropolis of England. I have endeavored to make it an American house, to give it an American atmosphere, to furnish it with American journals; to make it a center for American news, and an agreeable place for my friends visiting London."
107-His motive may have been to gain honors, so abundant in his last years. After death he was elected to the New York Univ. Hall of Fame in 1900, where a bust of him was unveiled in 1926. His likeness was put on a large bronze door intended for the U.S. Capitol Building. Bicentennial programs were held on the 200th anniversary of his birth (1795-1995) at Harvard, Yale, in Nashville; in Danvers and in Peabody, Mass.; at the PIB; and at Westminster Abbey, England, where the marker at his temporary grave was refurbished.
108-Disappointment in love may have driven him. Late in life a business friend congratulated him on being the greatest philanthropist of his time. GP reportedly replied, "After my disappointment long ago, I determined to devote myself to my fellow-beings, and am carrying out that decision to my best ability."
109-This "disappointment" may have been an early failed romance with Elizabeth Knox of Baltimore to whom he is said to have proposed twice. There is also a documented broken engagement to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905) of Providence, R.I. She visited London for young Queen Victoria's coronation (June 28, 1838). As a school girl she had earlier been infatuated with Alexander Lardner in Philadelphia. GP met her in London, fell in love, and proposed marriage. Returning to the U.S. she again met Lardner, realized her engagement to GP was a mistake, broke their engagement, married Lardner, had two children, and outlived GP by 35 years. Her portrait painted in Philadelphia by artist Thomas Sully shows her in all her beauty.
GP's Strengths
110-We long pondered GP's strengths. On this point his first partner Elisha Riggs, Sr. wrote in his last letter to GP (April 17, 1852): "You always had the faculty of an extraordinary memory and strong mind which enabled you to carry out your plans better than almost any other man I ever knew.... [To] these happy faculties I attribute much of your prosperity. [Unusual] perseverance enabled you to rise to an extraordinary position..." See: Riggs, Elisha, Sr.
111-Economic historian Muriel E. Hidy's wrote thus of GP's strengths: "He [GP] had a vigorous personality, and, in spite of a humble origin, apparently found little difficulty in moving in prominent circles. An ability to attract firm friends among his business contemporaries gave him many useful connections....He benefited by the confidence which as a young man he had awakened in Elisha Riggs [Sr.]. Later his amiability brought him close association with "[leading U.S. business men: William Shepard Wetmore, John Cryder, and Curtis Miranda Lampson, and William Wilson Corcoran….]." See: persons named.
112-John Bright, British statesman, wrote in his diary (June 4, 1867): "Mr. Peabody is a remarkable man. He is 74 years old, large and has been powerful of frame. He has made an enormous fortune, which he is giving for good objects--chiefly for education in America and for useful purposes in London. He has had almost no schooling and has not read books, but has had much experience, and is deeply versed in questions of commerce and banking. He is a man of strong will, and can decide questions for himself." See: John Bright.
Old Age Irritations
113-We also pondered his faults. Gout, rheumatism, and other ailments in old age sometimes made him irritable, crotchety, and abrupt. On July 14, 1869, four months before his death, he complained irritably to the trustees of his first Peabody Institute, Peabody, Mass.: "You spend too much. You spend too much." Soon brightening he said smilingly, "Well, well, I must give you $50,000 more to get you out of trouble. And I must say that none of my foundations have given me so much satisfaction as this one at my native place."
114-In his last decade he was incredible busy looking after his philanthropies and seeing friends and relatives. He was also set in his ways. The daughter of a business friend wrote of his autocracy in old age during his 1866-67 U.S. visit.: 'The precision of business habits and a long old bachelor hood, combined with constitutional shyness, caused Mr. Peabody, at times, to appear to disadvantage…. He had himself accomplished so much that he felt [his] wishes…should become instantaneous facts--his small due from those around him….. [T]he ruthless serenity with which [he] countermanded luncheon and advanced the dinner hour to meet business exigencies…dismay[ed]…the hearts of the most devoted hostesses. I do not suppose Mr. Peabody ever thought of giving trouble, and certainly no one ever thought of remonstrating."
Fleeting Fame
115-Mostly we pondered why GP, so lauded in his last years, has been largely forgotten. This may be due to the fleeting nature of fame. Each generation chooses its heroes who rise, flourish, are replaced, and often forgotten. This view is suggested by historian John Steele Gordon whose article, "Most Underrated Philanthropist," American Heritage, Vol. 50, No. 3 (May-June 1999), pp. 68-69 reads in part: "Peabody is unjustly forgotten today, but his unprecedented generosity was greatly appreciated in his time."
Grand Adventure
116-As researchers, looking back, we marvel at the good fortune, helpful people, and unusual turning points that enabled us to find and pursue a neglected American hero. We were 1930s depression children, the first in our families enabled to attend college in the booming aftermath of World War II that ended and altered so many lives.
117-Newly married, without children, seeking challenges--when the GP research opportunity fell our way, we saw he was worth pursuing. We were uncertain innocents, willing to take risks. We made mistakes and were often rescued by friends and fate. In retrospect being "On the Trail of GP" intermittently over the last 50 years has been a grand adventure.
Authors' Publications on GP
Dissertation
Franklin Parker, Ed. D. Dissertation, "George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy," (Nashville: George Peabody College for Teachers, 1956), 3 vols., 1219 pp. Sold as Doctoral Dissertation No. 19,758, microfilm or hard copy, University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 (Phone 1-800-521-0600 or 313-761-4700, FAX 313-973-1540). See: Dissertation Abstracts, XVII, No. 8 (Aug. 1957), pp. 1701-1702.
Books
1-Franklin Parker, George Peabody, A Biography. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1971, 233 pp. Although out of print 1-there is a microform reprint in CORE [Collected Original Resources in Education], IX, 3 [Nov. 1985], Fiche 7 D10 (CORE is a British miroform journal) and 2-microfilm & print versions were also sold by Books on Demand, University Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 [ask for LC79-15,7741, O-8357-3261-4,2039482]). The 1971 version was recorded on 2 audio cassettes, read by narrator Bruce Bortz at the Maryland State Library, held by the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Book Number Md-PH (MDC334), less Chap. 25 "GP’s Legacy"; "An Essay on Sources"; "Sources of Extant Portraits, Photographs, and Illustrations;" and without the Index.
2-Franklin Parker, George Peabody, A Biography. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, Feb. 1995, 278 pp., revised & updated (out of print since Jan. 2002 but still avilable amazon.com and other major booksellers).
Encyclopedias
1-(With Betty J. Parker), "Peabody Education Fund in Tennessee (1867-1914)." Tennessee Encyclopedia of History & Culture (Nashville: Tennessee Historical Society, 1998), pp. 725-726.
2-Franklin Parker, "George Peabody (1795-1869), Merchant, Banker, Creator of the Peabody Education Fund, and a Founder of Modern Philanthropy," Encyclopedia of Notable American Philanthropists, ed. by Robert T. Grimm, Jr. (Greenwood Press & Oryx Press for Indiana Univ. Center for Philanthropy in the U.S., 2003), pp. 242-246.
3-Franklin Parker, "George Peabody (1795-1869)," Encyclopedia of Philanthropy in the United States. Edited by Dwight Burlingame (Greenwood Press and Oryx Press, for Indiana Univ. Center on Philanthropy, 2003), pp. ?-?.
Journal Issue
Franklin Parker, "Legacy of George Peabody: Special Bicentenary Issue" [reprint of 21 articles], Peabody Journal of Education, LXX, No. l (Fall 1994), 210 pp., published as ISBN: 0805898956, by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, sold by Peabody Journal of Education, Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, 113 Payne Hall, Post Office Box 41, Nashville, Tenn. 37203, Phone: (615) 322-8963. $15 for individuals, $8 each for 40+ copies. Also sold at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ Price: £14, paperback , 216 pages (1996).
Pamphlet
Franklin Parker, George Peabody (1795-1869), Founder of Modern Philanthropy. Nashville, Tenn.: George Peabody College for Teachers of Vanderbilt University, 1956.
Chapter in Book
Franklin Parker, "George Peabody (1795-1869), Founder of Modern Educational Philanthropy: His Contributions to Higher Education," pp. 71-99 in Academic Profiles in Higher Education. Edited by James J. Van Patten. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1992.
Articles in Journals, Since 1955
1-"Founder Paid Debt to Education," Peabody Post, VIII, No. 8 (Feb. 10, 1955), p. 1.
2-"The Girl George Peabody Almost Married," Peabody Reflector, XXVII, No. 8 (Oct. 1955), pp. 215, 224-225.
3-"George Peabody and the Spirit of America," Peabody Reflector, XXIX, No. 2 (Feb. 1956), pp. 26-27.
4-"On the Trail of George Peabody," Berea Alumnus, XXVI, No. 8 (May 1956), p. 4.
5-(With Walter Merrill), "William Lloyd Garrison and George Peabody," Essex Institute Historical Collections, XCV, No. 1 (Jan. 1959), pp. 1-20.
6-"George Peabody and Maryland," Peabody of Journal of Education, XXXVII, No. 3 (Nov. 1959), pp. 150-157.
7-"An Approach to Peabody's Gifts and Legacies," Essex Institute Historical Collections, XCVI, No. 4 (Oct. 1960), pp. 291-296.
8-"Robert E. Lee, George Peabody, and Sectional Reunion," Peabody Journal of Education, XXXVII, No. 4 (Jan. 1960), pp. 195-202.
9-"George Peabody and the Search for Sir John Franklin, 1852-1854," American Neptune, XX, No. 2 (April 1960), pp. 104-111.
10-"Influences on the Founder of the Johns Hopkins University and the Johns Hopkins Hospital," Bulletin of the History of MedicineXXXIV, No. 2 (March-April 1960), pp. 148-153.
11-"George Peabody's Influence on Southern Educational Philanthropy," Tennessee Historical Quarterly, XX, No. 2 (March 1961), pp. 65-74.
12-"Maryland's Yankee Friend--George Peabody, Esq.," Maryland Teacher, XX, No. 5 (Jan. 1963), pp. 6-7, 24. Reprinted in Peabody Notes (Spring 1963), pp. 4-7, 10.
13-"The Funeral of George Peabody," Essex Institute Historical Collection, XCIX, No. 2 (April 1963), pp. 67-87. Reprinted: Peabody Journal of Education, XLIV, No. 1 (July 1966), pp. 21-36.
14-"The Girl George Peabody Almost Married," Peabody Notes, XVII, No. 3 (Spring 1964), pp. 10-14.
15-"George Peabody, 1795-1869, Founder of Modern Philanthropy," Peabody Reflector, XXXVIII, No. I (Jan.-Feb. 1965), pp. 9-16.
16-"George Peabody and the Peabody Museum of Salem," Curator, X, No. 2 (June 1967), pp. 137-153.
17-"To Live Fulfilled: George Peabody, 1795-1869, Founder of George Peabody College for Teachers," Peabody Reflector, XLIII, No. 2 (Spring 1970), pp. 50-53.
18-"On the Trail of George Peabody," mn, XLIV, No. 4 (Fall 1971), pp. 100-103.
19-"George Peabody, 1795-1869: His Influence on Educational Philanthropy," Peabody Journal of Education, XLIX, No. 2 (Jan. 1972), pp. 138-145.
20-"Pantheon of Philanthropy: George Peabody," National Society of Fund Raisers Journal, I, No. 1 (Dec. 1976), pp. 16-20.
21-"In Praise of George Peabody, 1795-1869," CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XV, No. 2 (June 1991), Fiche 5 AO2.
22-"George Peabody (1795-1869), Founder of Modern Educational Philanthropy: His Contributions to Higher Education," CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XVI, No. 1 (March 1992), Fiche 11 D06.
23-"Education Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869), Founder of George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, and the Peabody Library and Conservatory of Music, Baltimore (Brief History)." CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XVIII, No. 1 (March 1994), Fiche ?. Abstract in Resources in Education.
24-(With Betty J. Parker), "George Peabody's (1795-1869) Educational Legacy," CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XVIII, No. 1 (March 1994), Fiche 1 C05. Abstract in Resources in Education, XXIX, No. 9 (Sept. 1994), p. 147 (ERIC ED 369 720). (Note: Resources in Education abstracts documents published in ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) since 1966 by the U.S. Department of Education, sold in microform in hard copy).
25-(With Betty J. Parker), "Educational Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869), George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, and the Peabody Library and Conservatory of Music, Baltimore (Brief History)," CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XVIII, No. 1 (March 1994), Fiche 3 A10. Abstract in Resources in Education, XXX, No. 5 (May 1995), pp. 133-134 (ERIC ED 378 070). Same in Journal of Educational Philosophy & History, XLIV (1994), pp. 69-93.
26-"Educational Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869): Photos and Related Illustrations in Printed Sources and Depositories," CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XVIII, No. 2 (June 1994), Fiche 1 D1Z; abstract in Resources in Education, XXX, No. 6 (June 1995), p. 149 (ERIC ED 397 179).
27-"The Legacy of George Peabody: Special Bicentenary Issue" [reprints 22 article on George Peabody], Peabody Journal of Education, LXX, No. 1 (Fall 1994), 210 pp.
28-"Educational Philanthropist George Peabody and Peabody College of Vanderbilt University: Dialogue with Bibliography," CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XVIII, No. 3 (Dec. 1994), Fiche 2 E06.
29-(With Betty J. Parker). "A Forgotten Hero's Birthday [George Peabody]: Lion and the Lamb," Crossville Chronicle, (Tenn.) Feb. 22, 1995, p. 4A.
30-(With Betty J. Parker). "America's Forgotten Educational Philanthropist: A Bicentennial View," CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XIX, No. 1 (March 1995), Fiche 7 A11. Abstract in Resources in Education, XXXI, No. 12 (Dec. 1996), p. 161 (ERIC ED 398 126).
31-(With Betty J. Parker). "Educational Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869) and the Peabody Institute Library, Danvers, Massachusetts: Dialogue and Chronology," CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XIX, No. 1 (March 1995), Fiche 7 B01.
32-(With Betty J. Parker). "George Peabody (1795-1869); Merchant, Banker, Philanthropist," CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XX, No. 1 (March 1996), Fiche 9 B01. Abstract in Resources in Education, XXXI, No. 3 (March 1996), p. 169 (ERIC ED 388 571).
33-(With Betty J. Parker). "On the Trail of Educational Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869): A Dialogue." CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XX, No. 3 (Oct. 1996), Fiche 13 B07.
34-(With Betty J. Parker). "Educational Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869) and First U.S. Paleontology Prof. Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-1899) at Yale University." CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XXII, No. 1 (March 1998), Fiche 7 A04.
35-(With Betty J. Parker). "Educational Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869) and U.S.-British Relations, 1850s-60s." CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), XXII, No. 1 (March 1999), Fiche 1 A05. Also abstract in Resources in Education, XXXV, No. 6 (May 2000), p. ? (ERIC ED 436 444).
36-(With Betty J. Parker). "Educational Philanthropist George Peabody's (1795-1869) Death and Funeral." CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education) and Abstract in Resources in Education (ERIC ED). Accepted and to appear soon.
37-(With Betty J. Parker). "George Peabody A-Z," CORE (Collected Original Resources in Education), Vol. 23, No. 3 (Oct. 1999), Fiche 11 C10.
38-(With Betty J. Parker). "U.S. Medical Education Reformers Abraham Flexner (1866-1959) and Simon Flexner (1863-1946) ." Abstract in Resources in Education, XXXVI, No. 1 (Jan. 2001), p. 160 (ERIC ED 443 765).
39-(With Betty J. Parker). "General Robert E. Lee (1807-70) and Philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869) at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, July 23-Aug. 30, 1869." Abstract in Resources in Education, XXXVI, No. 2 (Feb. 2001), p. 184 (ERIC ED 449 17).
40-(With Betty J. Parker). "Forgotten George Peabody (1795-1869); Massachusetts-born Merchant, London-based Banker, Philanthropist. His Life, Influence, and Related People, Places, Events: A Handbook," 1243 pp. Abstract in Resources in Education, Vol. XXXVI, No. 3 (March 2001), p. 122 (ERIC ED 445 998).
Overview of GP's Life and Career
(While this A to Z handbook arrangement focuses on specific persons, events, and influences--some readers might like to first read the following selected entries which collectively offer an overview of GP's life and career):
1-Proctor, Sylvester (1769-1852) describes GP's youth and apprenticeship in Proctor's general store in Danvers (later South Danvers, later Peabody), Mass.
2-Riggs, Elisha, Sr. (1779-1853), Md. merchant, and GP's first senior partner, describes GP's early career as a dry goods importer and wholesaler merchant in the U.S. South, with 5 buying trips to Europe.
3-Bradford Academy, Mass., where GP paid for the education of his siblings, nephews, nieces, and cousins, including his same-named nephew (George Peabody, 1815-32), to whom GP's expressed profound regret at his own lack of schooling is a key to his later philanthropy.
4-Daniels, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell (1799-1879), GP's sister who knew him intimately and disbursed his family funds for him.
5-Corcoran, William Wilson (1798-1888), business associate and close personal friend through whom is told GP's rise as a London-based American banker.
6-Hidy, Muriel Emmie (1906-), who chronicled his business career as a 19th century merchant in international trade.
7-Morgan, Junius Spencer (1813-90), Conn.-born merchant who GP took as partner, through whom GP's banking career can be read.
8-Morgan, John Pierpont, Sr. (1837-1913), J.S. Morgan's son, who at age 19 began as NYC agent for George Peabody & Co., London, and became a banking colossus (GP laid the foundation of the House of Morgan).
9-Dinners, GP's, London (1850s), showing his social emergence and his U.S.-British friendship efforts.
10-PIB (1857), an early multicultural center which presaged such later institutes as Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center and NYC's Lincoln Center, and whose early conflicts amid Civil War dislocations so worried GP.
11-Peabody Homes of London (1862), his largest and most financially successful gift to affordably house London's poor.
12-PEF (1867), the philanthropic gift he said was closest to his heart, through which he hoped through public education to help elevate the defeated South and make the nation whole.
13-Kenin, Richard (1947-), who wrote perceptively of GP's London years, hopes, dreams, and accomplishments.
14-Moran, Benjamin (1820-86), overworked, underpaid, and envious U.S. Legation in London secty. who, in his secret journal castigated GP (and others) until, attending GP's Dec. 11, 1869, Westminster Abbey funeral service, he wrote an eloquent tribute to GP.
15-Civil War and GP describes his misunderstood role in that conflict.
16-Quotations by and about GP contains insights into his life, career, faults, and virtues.
17-Death and Funeral, GP's, has a full account of his unprecedented 96-day transatlantic funeral and why it was used to ease near-war U.S.-British angers over the Trent Affair and the Alabama Claims.
Entries (in alphabetical order)
(Entries are in alphabetical order with Mac and Mc treated as if both are spelled Mac. Peabody-named persons are listed before Peabody-named institutions).
A
GP Celebration, S. Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856)
Abbott, Alfred Amos (1820-84). 1-Gave Welcoming Address. Alfred Amos Abbott was the Mass. dignitary who gave the welcoming address at the Oct. 9, 1856, reception and dinner for GP in South Danvers (renamed Peabody in 1868), Mass. This GP U.S. visit (during Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19, 1857) was his first return to the U.S. in nearly 20 years since leaving for London in early Feb. 1837 on his fifth European commercial trip. He went on this fifth trip abroad as head of Peabody, Riggs & Co. and also as one of three Md. agents commissioned to sell the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. portion of Md.'s $8 million bond sale abroad to raise funds for internal improvements.
Abbott, A.A. 2-South Danvers First. After having been warmly greeted on arrival in NYC, GP declined a public reception there and elsewhere on the advice of his sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell (1799-1879). She had written him while still in London that South Danvers people had voted $3,000 for a public welcome for him and "will be extremely disappointed if they do not do much more than anybody else and do it first. They are tenacious of their right to you." Ref.: Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell, to GP, Sept. 10 and 22, 1856, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Abbott, A.A. 3-Career. Alfred A. Abbott was born in Andover, Mass., studied at Phillips Academy, Andover, entered Yale College (1837), graduated from Union College (1841), received the LL.B. degree from the Dane Law School, Harvard Univ. (1843), was admitted to the Essex County bar (1844), practiced law in South Danvers, served in the Mass. legislature's lower house (1850-52), served in the Mass. Senate (1853), was district attorney for Essex County (1853-68), and was first appointed and twice elected Clerk of the Courts (1870-84). Ref.: Abbott, pp. 795-796.
Abbott, A.A. 4-GP's Longtime Friend. A.A. Abbott was also GP's intimate friend, a trustee of the Peabody Institute Library of South Danvers (founded 1852, to which GP gave a total of $217,600), chairman of its lyceum and library committee (1854-58), and president of its board of trustees (1859-84). Ref.: Ibid.
Abbott, A.A. 5-Remarks. In his Oct. 9, 1856, welcoming address, Alfred A. Abbott said of GP, in part: "... When local pride needed aid to erect the Lexington Monument he remembered us. When this town established two high schools he remembered them with prize medals. When Danvers celebrated its centennial he sent us a noble sentiment--education is a debt due from present to future generations. He paid his share and doubled the endowment of the institution before us...." Ref.: (Abbott's speech): Proceedings...Oct. 9, 1856, pp. 39-44.
Abbott, A.A. 6-Other Speeches. Other speeches followed by Robert Shillaber Daniels (b.1791), Edward Everett (1794-1865), Mass. Gov. Henry J. Gardner (1818-92), and John Chandler Bancroft Davis (1822-1907). Ref.: New York Times, Oct. 10, 1856, p. 1, c.3; and Oct. 11. 1856, p. 2, c. 1-5. Tapley, pp. 166-167. "Public Reception," pp. 642, 653. See: persons mentioned. Visits to the U.S. by GP.
Abbott, A.A. 7-GP's Reply. Visibly affected, GP replied, in part: "Thank you from my heart. This welcome...almost unmans me.... My old friends are largely gone. You are a new generation." Turning to the school children, GP said: "There is not a youth within the sound of my voice whose advantages are not greater than were mine. I have achieved nothing that is not possible to the most humble among you." Ref.: Ibid., pp. 44-46.
Abbott, A.A. 8-GP's Reply Cont'd. "To be truly great it is not necessary to gain wealth or importance. Every boy may become a great man in whatever sphere Providence places him. Truth and integrity unsullied by unworthy acts, constitute greatness." GP concluded: "This is my advice to you, from one who always regretted his lack of early education, now freely offered to you. We meet for the first and perhaps last time. While I live I will be interested in your welfare. God bless you all!" Ref.: Ibid.
Abbott, A.A. 9-Salem School Girl's Letter. Not knowing that her letter would be saved and someday printed, 17-year-old Salem school girl Alice L. Putnam recorded: "A celebration was held in Danvers on Thursday, October 9th, in honor of the return of George Peabody, a native of the place who has been residing for many years in London where he has amassed an enormous fortune. He had done a great deal for Danvers during his absence, and they wished to greet his return with some public demonstration...." Ref.: Putnam, pp. 63-64.
Abbott, A.A. 10-Salem School Girl's Letter Cont'd.: "Almost all Salem went up to the good old town, either to see the decorations, the procession, or Mr. Peabody himself...." She continued: "Mr. Peabody is a fine looking man, quite tall and stout; he looked warm and dusty from his long ride, but had a fine open countenance.... Mr. Peabody appeared very much affected and his hand trembled very much." Ref.: Ibid.
Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, GP Critic
Abolitionist. 1-GP Critic. Abolitionist W.L. Garrison (1805-79), was born in Newburyport, Mass., not far from Danvers, where GP was born 10 years earlier. Garrison published the Liberator (1831-65), an anti-slavery journal. He was considered extreme in his views, intemperate as a polemicist writer, and hostile to the wealthy unless they supported his abolitionist cause. See: Garrison, William Lloyd. Civil War and GP.
Abolitionist. 2-Attacked GP. Garrison publicly attacked GP's 1857 $1.4 million PIB gift as "made to a Maryland institution, at a time when that state was rotten with treason." Garrison also attacked GP's $2 million 1867 PEF to advance public education in 11 former Confederate states with W.Va., added because of its poverty. Ref.: Ibid.
Abolitionist. 3-Garrison Mistaken. Confusing GP the philanthropist (1795-1869) from Danvers, Mass., with the same-named George Peabody (1804-92) from Salem, Mass. (who was president of the Eastern Railroad), Garrison erroneously charged GP (in London since 1837) with favoring the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law in Mass. Ref.: Ibid.
Abolitionist. 4-Pres. Lincoln's Death. Garrison also faulted GP for not publicly expressing sorrow at Pres. Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Garrison wrote, "Surely, Mr. Peabody owed it to his native land, and to himself as an opulent and influential American, in some way to bear an emphatic testimony at such a critical period in our national struggle; but no such testimony is on record...." Ref.: Ibid.
Abolitionist. 5-GP in W.Va. Of GP's Aug. 1869 visit to the White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., mineral health spa (GP was then 74, sick, and three months from death), Garrison wrote angrily, "Mr. Peabody is now laboring under increasing bodily infirmities.... [Instead of going to a Northern mineral spring], true to his Southern sympathies, he hastens to the White Sulphur Springs in Virginia,... the favorite resort of the elite of rebeldom, who...collectively welcomed his presence by adopting a series of congratulatory resolutions.... [Peabody replied with his] 'own cordial esteem and regard for the high honor, integrity, and heroism of the Southern people!'" Ref.: Ibid.
U.S. Minister to Britain During the Civil War
Adams, Charles Francis (1807-86). 1-U.S. Minister to Britain. Charles Francis Adams was the Boston-born grandson of second U.S. Pres. John Adams (1735-1826) and the son of sixth U.S. Pres. John Quincy Adams (1767-1848). He was a Harvard College graduate, a law student under Daniel Webster (1782-1852), and U.S. Minister to Britain (1861-68) during GP's residence in London. C.F. Adams and GP had friendly contact during strained U.S.-British relations over the Civil War. Ref.: Boatner, p. 3.
Adams, C.F. 2-U.S.-British Angers. British aristocrats favored the South for socio-cultural and economic reasons (Lancashire mills needed southern cotton, purchases of which were cut off by U.S. naval blockade of Confederate ports). As U.S. Minister to Britain during 1861-68, C.F. Adams played a key role in helping prevent British recognition of the Confederacy. He also helped ease British-U.S. tensions over the Trent Affair, Nov. 8, 1861, when a Union warship illegally seized Confederate emissaries James Murray Mason (1798-1871), John Slidell (1793-1871), and their male secretaries from the British mail ship Trent. See: Alabama Claims. Trent Affair.
Adams, C.F. 3-U.S.-British Angers Cont'd. C.F. Adams also helped ease British-U.S. tension when the British-built Confederate raider CSS Alabama sank 64 Union ships with the loss of Union lives and treasure. He represented the U.S. in the Alabama Claims controversy of 1871-72, settled by international arbitration in Geneva, in which Britain paid the U.S. $15.5 million reparations for damage caused to northern ships and ports. Ref.: Ibid.
Adams, C.F. 4-Sharing Union Victory News. Early in the Civil War, through commercial contacts, GP in London had news a few hours before it was generally known of Union victories in Tenn. when Gen. U.S. Grant took Fort Henry on Feb. 6, 1862, and Fort Donelson on Feb. 15, 1862. GP shared this good news with U.S. Minister C.F. Adams and discussed the implications with a small group of U.S. and British Union sympathizers at the U.S. Legation. While U.S. Minister to Britain, C.F. Adams was a trustee of the $2.5 million Peabody Donation Fund for low rent housing for London working poor families. Ref.: Ibid.
Adams, C.F. 5-Alabama Claims. Charles Francis Adams represented the U.S. in settling the Alabama Claims controversy, 1871-72, by international tribunal in Geneva, Switzerland (earlier, about 1868 GP had been suggested as an arbiter but was not chosen). British jurist Alexander James Edmund Cockburn (1802-80) represented England. Three others from neutral countries formed the tribunal. GP's unprecedented 96-day transatlantic funeral (he died in London, Nov. 4, 1869, during U.S.-British friction over the Alabama Claims) came about in part as officials in both countries sought to ease British-U.S. near-war angers over the Alabama Claims. Ref.: Ibid.
Adams, C.F. 6-CSS Alabama. CSS Alabama was a notorious British-built Confederate raider which sank 64 Union cargo ships (1862-64). Without a navy and with its southern ports blockaded by the North, Confederate agents evaded the blockade, went to England, secretly bought British-built ships, armed them as Confederate raiders, renamed them Alabama, Florida, Shenandoah, and others. These British-built Confederate raiders sank northern ships, wrecked northern ports, and cost Union lives and treasure. U.S. demand for reparations caused by these British-built raiders was not resolved until the 1871-72 international tribunal in Geneva determined that Britain pay the U.S. $15.5 million indemnity.
Adams, C.F. 7-Alabama Claims Cont'd. This Alabama Claims controversy was unresolved when GP died in London on Nov. 4, 1869. The U.S. was angry. Britain was resentful. Officially Britain was neutral in the U.S. Civil War. But the British upper class sympathized with the U.S. southern aristocracy. The Union blockade of southern ports cut off raw cotton needed by British cotton mills. Over half of the 534,000 British cotton mill workers lost their jobs. Fewer than one fourth worked full time. Historian Shelby Foote found that two million British workers lost their jobs in cotton mills and related industries. Ref.: Ibid.
Adams, C.F. 8-Trent Affair Angers. British-U.S. irritation also persisted over the Trent Affair. On the stormy night of Oct. 11, 1861, four Confederate emissaries evaded the Union blockade at Charleston, S.C., went by ship to Havana, Cuba, and there boarded the British mail ship Trent en route to England and France to seek aid and arms for the Confederacy. On Nov. 8, 1861, the British Trent was illegally stopped in the Bahaman Channel, West Indies, by the USS San Jacinto. Confederates James Murray Mason (from Va.), John Slidell (from La.), and their male secretaries, were forcibly removed, taken to Boston harbor, and jailed. Ref.: Ibid.
Adams, C.F. 9-Trent Affair Angers Cont'd. Anticipating war with the U.S., Britain sent 8,000 troops to Canada. But U.S. jingoism subsided. On Dec. 26, 1861, Pres. Lincoln told his cabinet, "One war at a time," got them to state that the seizure was unauthorized, and ordered release of the Confederate prisoners on Jan. 1, 1862. Ref.: Ibid.
Adams, C.F. 10-GP's Death and Funeral. GP's Nov. 4, 1869, death in London and the fact that his will stipulated burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., played a part in calculated funeral honors for GP by PM William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98), Pres. U.S. Grant (1822-85), and other officials wanting to ease U.S.-British tensions over the Trent and the Alabama. Funeral honors also reflected Britain's appreciation for the $2.5 million Peabody homes for London's working poor. GP's two decades of efforts to improve U.S.-British relations were also valued. Ref.: Ibid.
Adams, C.F. 11-GP's Death and Funeral Cont'd. First Britain and then the U.S. outdid each other in these unprecedented transatlantic funeral honors: 1-a funeral service and temporary burial in Westminster Abbey (Nov. 12-Dec. 11, 1869, 30 days); 2-British cabinet decision (Nov. 10, 1869) to return his remains on HMS Monarch, Britain's newest and largest warship, for burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass.; and 3-U.S. government decision to send USS Plymouth from Marseilles, France, to accompany HMS /i>Monarch to the U.S. Ref.: Ibid.
Adams, C.F. 12-GP's Death and Funeral Cont'd. 4-There were impressive ceremonies in transferring GP's remains from Westminster Abbey to Portsmouth dock to the Monarch, specially outfitted as a funeral vessel (Dec. 11, 1869); 5-hectic 35-day transatlantic voyage (Dec. 21, 1869-Jan. 25, 1870); 6-the U.S. Navy's decision (Jan. 14, 1870) to place Adm. David G. Farragut in command of a U.S. naval flotilla to meet the Monarch in Portland harbor, Maine (Jan. 25-29, 1870); and 7-lying in state in Portland City Hall (Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 1870). Ref.: Ibid.
Adams, C.F. 13-GP's Death and Funeral Cont'd.: 8-There was a special funeral train to Peabody, Mass. (Feb. 1, 1870), and lying in state at Peabody Institute Library (Feb. 1-8, 1870); 9-Robert Charles Winthrop's funeral eulogy at the Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., attended by several governors, mayors, Queen Victoria's son Prince Arthur, and other notables; 10-burial ceremony at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. (Feb. 8, 1870). Ref.: Ibid.
Adams, F.C. 1-Critical N.Y. Herald. F.C. Adams was a newspaper friend of GP who called on New York Herald editor James Gordon Bennett (1795-1872) and took him to task for his newspaper's scurrilous articles covering GP's 1856-57 U.S. visit. Bennett stopped his criticism of GP for a time. See: Corcoran, William Wilson. Visits to U.S. by GP.
Adams, F.C. 2-Joseph Peabody on Bennett. GP's cousin, Joseph Peabody, in NYC, irate over the Herald's slurs, sent GP this explanation: "I exceedingly regret that your pleasure in this country should be marred by the wretched leaders in the 'Herald.' You certainly have given no occasion for their remarks which disgust everybody with their wanton unreasonableness. I fear that any attempt to influence Bennett would make the matter ten times worse." Ref.: Ibid.
Adams, F.C. 3-Joseph Peabody on Bennett Cont'd.: "He knows better than anybody that you never invited him to the [U.S. Pres. Millard] Fillmore dinner, he also knows that he was not in England at the time, so he published this falsehood expressly to provoke a reply....It seems to be well known in this community that he makes it a system to attack some prominent person, it matters little who that person may be!...as regards the 'Herald,' it is even better to be abused than be praised by such a rascal as Bennett." The Herald continued to ridicule GP long after his return to London (end of Aug. 1857). Ref.: Ibid.
Adams, Henry Brooks (1838-1918). 1-Father was U.S. Minister to Britain. Henry Brooks Adams was private secretary to his father, Charles Francis Adams (1807-86, above), when the latter was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1861-68. In his book, The Education of Henry Adams (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1918), Henry Brooks Adams wrote of his contacts in London in the 1860s with important Britons and visiting and resident Americans, such as GP, Joshua Bates (1788-1864), Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), and others. Henry Brooks Adams taught history at Harvard Univ. (1870-77) and wrote important histories and biographies. Ref.: Adams-a.
Adams, Henry Brooks. 2-On Benjamin Moran. H.B. Adams' book, Henry Adams and His Friends, A Collection of His Unpublished Letters, comp. by Harold Dean Cater (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1947), p. xxxiv, has a description of U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86), often critical of GP in his private journal. Ref.: Adams-a. See: Moran, Benjamin.
Adams, H.B. 3-On Benjamin Moran Cont'd. Adams wrote: "On the staff of the American Legation in London was Benjamin Moran, an assistant secretary. He was a man of long experience at the Legation and one who became a sort of dependable workhorse to fill in for any duty that might come up from the changing personnel. He had an exaggerated notion of his importance; he was sensitive to flattery, and easily offended. He kept an extensive diary and while it must be read from the point of view of his character, it throws an interesting light on the Legation scene." Ref.: Adams-b, p. xxxiv. See: Moran, Benjamin.
Adams, Herbert Baxter (1850-1901). 1-Johns Hopkins Univ. Historian. Johns Hopkins Univ. historian Herbert Baxter Adams and his students used the special reference collection of the PIB Library, whose holdings were, for some years and in some fields, greater and richer than the Johns Hopkins libraries and even the Library of Congress. H.B. Adams was born in Shutesbury, near Amherst, Mass., was a graduate of Amherst College (1872) and Heidelberg Univ., Germany (Ph.D., 1876), and was one of the original faculty of the Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, founded in 1876. See: PIB. Hopkins, Johns.
Adams, H.B. 2-GP Influenced Johns Hopkins. GP had influenced fellow Baltimore merchant Johns Hopkins (1795-1873) to found that university, hospital, and medical school. In 1880 Adams began his famous seminars in history which produced many of the next generation of historians. He founded the "Johns Hopkins Studies in Historical and Political Science" publications series, helped found the American Historical Association (1884), and was its secretary to 1900. See: Johns Hopkins Univ.
Arctic Search
Advance (ship). 1-Lost British Arctic Explorer Sir John Franklin. The 144-ton Advance and the 91-ton Rescue were two vessels donated by NYC merchant Henry Grinnell (1799-1874) to the First U.S. Grinnell Expedition, 1850-52, and the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition, 1852-54, in the search for lost British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847). These expeditions, two of some 40 British and U.S. expeditions to seek the lost explorer, did not find Sir John Franklin but were the first instances of U.S. Arctic exploration. See: Franklin, Sir John. Persons named.
Advance (ship). 2-GP Aided Arctic Search. GP gave $10,000 for scientific equipment for the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition. His motivation was to promote better British-U.S. relations. He was moved by Lady Jane Franklin's (1792-1875) public appeal to U.S. Pres. Zachary Taylor (1784-1850, 12th U.S. president during 1849-50), and to the U.S. Congress to help find her missing husband. GP, U.S. resident merchant-banker in London since 1837, had in 1851 made a $15,000 loan to help the U.S. exhibitors display the best U.S. products and arts at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (the first world's fair). He was also becoming known for his British-U.S. friendship dinners in London, usually held on American Independence Day (July 4th). Ref.: Ibid.
Advance (ship). 3-GP Aided Arctic Search Cont'd. The U.S. Navy authorized ten U.S. naval volunteers for the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition, put the Advance and the Rescue under command of U.S. Navy Capt. Elisha Kent Kane, M.D. (1820-57). Kane, who had been U.S. naval surgeon on the First U.S. Grinnell Expedition, made the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition's purpose a scientific one. Ref.: Ibid.
Advance (ship). 4-Elisha Kent Kane. The Advance became frozen in the Arctic. Kane and his men were forced to abandon it on May 24, 1855. They trekked 1,300 miles in 84 days, during which a third of the crew perished. Kane and the remaining crew were saved by a passing Danish vessel. Two later explorers found proof that Sir John Franklin died on June 11, 1847. Kane spent his last years writing books on the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition. Kane confirmed that he had named Peabody Bay off Greenland in recognition of GP's $10,000 gift for scientific equipment. Ref.: Ibid.
Advance (ship). 5-HMS Resolute. Of incidental interest is an occurrence that connected the U.S. White House with the U.S. Grinnell expeditions in the search for Sir John Franklin. HMS Resolute was a British ship abandoned in the Arctic ice in the decade-long search for Sir John Franklin. Capt. Samuel Buddington of the U.S. whaler George Henry found and extricated the Resolute. The U.S. government purchased the damaged Resolute, repaired it, and returned it to Britain as a gift. Ref.: Ibid.
Advance (ship). 6-White House Desk When the Resolute was broken up, Queen Victoria had a massive desk made from its timbers and gave it to the U.S. President. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (1929-94, later Mrs. Onassis) found the desk in a White House storeroom in 1961 and had it refurbished for Pres. John F. Kennedy's (1917-63) use. Famous photos show President Kennedy's young son John F. Kennedy, Jr. (1960-99), playing under that desk. Pres. Bill Clinton returned the desk to the Oval Office in 1993. Ref.: Ibid.
GP’s First Dry Goods Advertisement
Advertisement of goods for sale (Sept.-Dec. 1812). 1-First advertisement. GP, then age 17, left economically depressed Newburyport, Mass., with paternal uncle (1768-1827), May 4, 1812, for Georgetown, D.C. They opened a dry goods store in Georgetown on May 15, 1812, whose management soon devolved on GP. Some three months later, beginning Sept. 28, 1812, the following advertisements appeared in a Georgetown, D.C., newspaper:
JUST RECEIVED
AND FOR SALE BY
GEORGE PEABODY
Bridge-Street
4 pieces extra superfine Black and Blue Broadcloths
20 do. [dozen] fine assorted colors do.
10 do. coarse do. do.
A few pieces Flannels and Baizes
30 do. British Shirting Cottons
50 do. White Cotton Cambricks
15 do. Coloured do. do.
25 dozen Cambrick Pocket Handkerchiefs
20 do. Gentlemen's Leather Gloves
20 do. Cotton and Worsted Hose
30 pieces Flag and Bandanna Handk'fs
100 do. Imitation Madras do.
200 pieces India Cottons
20 lbs. Black and Blue Silk Twist
10 do. assorted Colours do.
30 do. do. Sewing Silk
50 groce Black Bindings and Gallons
Plane, Shear and Leno Muslins
An assortment of Gold Lace and Prussian Binding
A handsome assortment of Woolen and Cotton Vestings
1 case Nuns Thread
50 do. Cotton Sewings
A handsome assortment of Coat & Vest Buttons
Canvas Floor Carpets
100 Ladies Indispensables
1000 Yards Domestic Linen
500 do. Whitened Cotton Linen
1000 pair Ladies Morocco Shoes, assorted colours
100 do. do. White Satin do.
2 cases Men's Fine Hats
3 do. do. coarse do.
Also
Gunpowder, Hyson and
Hyson Skin Teas.
Ref.: Federal Republican, and Commercial Gazette (Georgetown, D.C.), IV, Nos. 872 ff., Sept. 28, 30, Oct. 2, 7, 9, 1812.
Advertisement of goods for sale (Nov.-Dec. 1812). 2-A second series of advertisements appeared 18 times in the same newspaper:
George Peabody
Bridge Street
Has Received an Additional Supply of
SEASONABLE GOODS
viz.
Broadcloths, superfine, middlings and low priced
Thin, common and milled Kersymers
Pellico Cloths and Coatings
Kersey and Planes
A handsome assortment of Vestings
Velvets and Cords
Cotton & Worsted Hosiery
Ladies Silk do.
Ladies Elegant Silk Mantles
Black, White and Colored Cambrics
An assortment of 3-4 an yard wide Calicoes
Gurrah and Baftah Cottons
Ladies Comforts and indispensables
LADIES
Ladies habit & long Kid Gloves
Gentlemen's Beaver Gloves
Cotton and silk shawls and Handkerchiefs
Dressed and Undressed British Shirting Cottons
Spider-Net, Plain and Spotted Muslins
Linens and Dimities
Braces, Pins & Needles
Galloons, Hat-Bindings and Ribbons
Silk-twist & Sewing Silk, assorted colours
A variety of Morocco Shoes, cheap
Silver Epaulets and Gold Lace
Prussian Binding
Military, Navy and Common Gilt Buttons
Domestic Linen
Diaper
1 Trunk White Satin Shoes
Also, Imperial HYSON, & YOUNG HYSON TEAS
2 Cases FRENCH PERFUMERY Lately Imported
Georgetown, Nov. 9.
Ref.: Federal Republican, and Commercial Gazette (Georgetown, D.C.), VII, Nov. 9, 11, 13, 18, 20, 23, 25, 27, 30, 1812; Dec. 2, 4, 7, 11, 16, 18, 21, 23, 28, 1812.
Agassiz, Louis (Jean Louis Rudolphe Agassiz, 1807-73), was a Harvard College zoologist and a leading 19th century U.S. scientist. He was asked by Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94), GP's philanthropic advisor, to help plan the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Univ. and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard Univ., both founded in 1866, and the Peabody Academy of Science at Salem, Mass., 1867-1915 (renamed the Peabody Museum of Salem, 1915-91, and renamed the Peabody Essex Museum, since 1992). See: Peabody Essex Museum. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard Univ. Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Univ. Science, GP's Gifts to Science and Science Education Winthrop, Robert Charles.
PEF Trustee Wm. Aiken
Aiken, William (1806-87). 1-PEF Trustee. William Aiken was one of the original 16 PEF trustees. He was born in Charleston, S.C., was a graduate of S.C. College at Columbia (1825), served in the S.C. state legislature (1838-42), was S.C. state senator (1842-44), S.C. governor (1844-46), and served in the U.S. House from S.C. (1851-57). He opposed S.C.'s secession. After the Civil War his Jan. 25, 1867, letter to GP, sent via William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888) of Washington, D.C., told of the post-war destruction of the South and confirmed GP's intent to found the $2 million PEF for the 11 former Confederate states plus W.Va., added because of its poverty. See: PEF.
Aiken, William. 2-Pres. Johnson Called on GP. William Aiken was present when PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) read aloud GP's Feb. 7, 1867, letter founding the PEF in an upper room at Willard's Hotel, Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 1867, to ten of the 16 original trustees at their first meeting. Widespread favorable reports of the PEF followed. On Feb. 9, 1867, Pres. Andrew Johnson (1808-75), his secty., Col. William George Moore (1829-93), and three others, called on GP at his Willard's Hotel rooms. With GP at the time were PEF trustees Robert Charles Winthrop, Episcopal Bishop of Ohio Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), and William Aiken; along with GP's business friend Samuel Wetmore (1813?-85), his wife, and their son; GP's nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909), George Washington Riggs (1813-81), and three others. Ref.: Curry-b, pp. 19, 51, 97, 98-10l. Easterby, I, pp. 128-129. See Corcoran, William Wilson. Persons named.
Aiken, William. 3-Pres. Johnson Called on GP Cont'd. Pres. Johnson took GP by the hand (GP was 72 and ill) and said he had thought to find GP alone, that he called simply as a private citizen to thank GP for his PEF gift to aid public education in the South, that he thought the gift would help unite the country, that he was glad to have a man like GP representing the U.S. in England, and invited GP to visit him in the White House. With emotion, GP thanked Pres. Johnson, said that this meeting was one of the greatest honors of his life, that he knew the president's political course would be in the country's best interest, that England from the Queen downward felt only goodwill toward the U.S., that he thought in a few years the U.S. would rise above its divisions to become happier and more powerful. Ref.: Ibid.
Aiken, William. 4-Pres. Johnson Called on GP Cont'd. Pres. Johnson faced impeachment by hostile radical Republicans in Congress angered at his conciliatory policy toward the former Confederate states. To avoid impeachment, Pres. Johnson's political advisor, Francis Preston Blair, Sr. (1791-1876), advised a complete change of cabinet, with Mass. Gov. John Albion Andrew (1818-67) as Secty. of State, GP as Treasury Secty., Ohio Gov. Jacob Dolson Cox (1828-1900) as Interior Secty., Penn. Sen. Edgar Cowan (1815-85) as Atty.-Gen., Adm. D.G. Farragut (1801-70) as Navy Secty., and Gen. U.S. Grant (1822-85) as Secty. of War. But loyalty to his cabinet kept Johnson from this course. Ref.: Ibid. See: persons named.
Aiken, William. 5-GP at the White House. On April 25, 1867, before his May 1, 1867, return to London, GP called on Pres. Johnson in the Blue Room of the White House and they spoke of the work of the PEF. With GP at the White House were B&O RR Pres. John Work Garrett (1820-84) and Samuel Wetmore's (1813?-85) 16-year-old son. GP told Pres. Johnson of young Wetmore's interest in being admitted to West Point and Pres. Johnson said he would do what he could for the young man. Ref.: Ibid.
Ainslie, Robert, Rev. (fl. 1853-69), was minister, Christ Church, Brighton, England, whose Sunday sermon, Nov. 22, 1868, compared GP to British reformer John Howard (1726-90), and praised Baltimorean Reverdy Johnson (1796-1876) for promoting peace. GP and Reverdy were both present at Rev. Ainslie's sermon. Johnson Reverdy Johnson, who spoke at a Brighton dinner the previous day, was then U.S. Minister to Britain with special responsibility to negotiate the Johnson-Clarendon Treaty to ease U.S.-British angers over the Alabama Claims (U.S. indemnity demands for British-built ships, including the Alabama, sold to Confederate emissaries, which sunk federal ships and cost Union lives and treasure). Ref.: [Ainslie, Robert]. See: Johnson, Reverdy.
Aix-la-Chapelle or Aachen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, near the Belgian and Dutch borders, known for its mineral spring baths. GP occasionally went there for his health and relaxation, especially after taking Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) as partner in 1854 in George Peabody & Co., London. See Morgan ,Junius Spencer.
Effect on GP Funeral
Alabama Claims (1862-1872). 1-British Built-Confederate Raider. The Confederate steamship (CSS) Alabama was the most notorious of the several British-built raider ships bought by the Confederate Navy which sunk or crippled Union ships and cost Union lives and treasure during the Civil War. Britain declared its neutrality in the U.S. Civil War (May 13, 1861) but recognized the Confederate states as a belligerent. This recognition encouraged Confederate Navy Secty. Stephen Russell Mallory (1813-73) to send Confederate Commander James Dunwody Bulloch (1823-1901) to England in May 1861 to purchase ships for the Confederacy. Bulloch purchased from Britain's Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, England, the newly built "Hull No. 290," soon named the SS Enrica, which was subsequently outfitted for war and renamed the CSS Alabama at the end of July 1862. For other British-built Confederate raiders, see CSS Florida (CSS, ship) CSS Shenandoah (CSS, ship) See: persons named.
Alabama Claims. 2-U.S. Minister C.F. Adams Protested. U.S. Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams (1807-86) first informed the British Foreign Office, June 23, 1862, showing affidavits from involved seamen that by building the Alabama as a Confederate warship, Britain was breaking its neutrality. But British Customs law officials ruled the evidence insufficient.
Alabama Claims. 3-Alabama Sunk 64 Union Ships. CSS Alabama was commanded by Confederate Capt. Raphael Harwood Semmes (1809-77), whose first ship, the Sumter, had earlier severely damaged northern commerce before it was trapped in Gibraltar in Jan. 1862. In CSS Alabama’s rampaging two-year cruise (June 1862 to June 1864) covering 67,000 nautical miles, she hijacked or sank 64 Union ships. Her crew members were largely pirate-adventurers from many nations, including Britain. Needing repairs, the Alabama entered the French harbor of Cherbourg on June 11, 1864.
Alabama Claims. 4-CSS Alabama Sunk by USS Kearsarge. The USS Kearsarge, under Union Capt. John Ancrum Winslow (1811-73), rushed to intercept the Alabama in Cherbourg. The Alabama came out to do battle. Observed by thousands, they fired on each other on June 19, 1864, one of the last romanticized gunnery duels in the era of wooden ships. The Alabama was sunk that day. Capt. Semmes and some of his officers and crew were rescued by a British yacht, Deerhound, and taken to an English port. The Alabama's remains were not found until Oct. 1984, when some artifacts were raised from Cherbourg harbor. Ref.: (under g. Internet): Alabama, CSS (Confederate ship). See: persons, ships, and harbor named.
Alabama Claims. 5-Alabama Claims Commission. A special international Alabama Claims Commission which met in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 187l-Sept. 1872, awarded the U.S. $15.5 million paid by Britain for damage to Union shipping by British-built Confederate ships. The Alabama and several other British-built Confederate raiders destroyed a total of 257 Union ships, compelled Union ship owners to transfer ownership of over 700 vessels to foreign registries, and hindered U.S. merchant marine activity for half a century. (Note: Before his Nov. 4, 1869, death GP was mentioned to serve on the Alabama Claims Commission but was dropped because of age and illness).
Alabama Claims. 6-GP's Funeral Involved. GP died in London Nov. 4, 1869, at the height of U.S. grievances against Britain over the loss of life and treasure caused by the CSS Alabama and other British-built ships. When it became known that GP's will stipulated burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., a funeral service was offered and held at Westminster Abbey Nov. 12, 1869. His remained rested in the Abbey Nov. 12 to Dec. 11, 1869 (30 days). See: Death and Funeral, GP's (especially 189-Final Thought). Westminster Abbey, London.
Alabama Claims. 7-GP's Funeral Involved Cont'd. On learning of GP's death and intended burial in the U.S., Queen Victoria is said to have suggested to her advisors the return of his remains on a royal vessel. This may have led PM William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98) to praise GP in his Lord Mayor's Day banquet speech (Nov. 9) and say: "With Mr. Peabody's nation we will not quarrel." PM Gladstone's cabinet met on Nov. 10 and offered HMS Monarch, Britain's newest and largest warship, as a funeral vessel, to carry GP's remains from England for burial in the U.S. This decision was made partly in admiration for GP's philanthropy, partly for his two decades of effort in promoting friendly British-U.S. relations, and partly calculated to ease U.S.-British tensions over the Alabama Claims and other U.S. Civil War irritations. See: Gladstone, William Ewart.
Alabama Claims. 8-GP's Funeral Involved Cont'd. The Monarch, with GP's remains aboard, escorted by USS Plymouth, a U.S. warship from Marseilles, France, crossed the Atlantic, to be met in U.S. waters on Pres. U.S. Grant's orders by a flotilla of U.S. ships commanded by Adm. David G. Farragut (1801-70). GP's unusual 96-day British-U.S. transatlantic funeral ended with final burial on Feb. 8, 1870, in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Ref.: Bowman. Callahan, II, pp. 257-258. Davis, W.C., p. 116. Ellicott. Foote, p. 157. Guerout, pp. 67-83. Hearn, C.G. Hoehling. Marvel. Porter, pp. 621-658. Stern, P.V.D., pp. 82, 297. Trevelyan, pp. 288-289. See: Death & Funeral. 189-Final Thought (below).Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Plymouth (USS, ship). Winslow, John Ancrum.
Alabama, CSS (British built Confederate raider ship). See: Alabama Claims (above). Adams, Charles Francis.
Albany, N.Y. Evening Journal. Thurlow Weed (1797-1882), founder and editor of the Albany, N.Y., Evening Journal during 1830-65, was an influential political leader in the Whig Party and after 1855 its successor Republican Party. GP first met Thurlow Weed in 1852. They met again in Nov. 1861 when Weed was U.S. Pres. Abraham Lincoln's emissary to keep Britain neutral in the U.S. Civil War. GP helped Weed meet British leaders. Weed, one of GP's early philanthropic advisors, suggested Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) of Mass. as best qualified to advise GP on his U.S. philanthropies after 1860. Weed is also the source for describing the origin of the PEF as it developed in GP's mind. He defended GP's pro-Union sentiment and actions in the Civil War. See: persons named.
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (1841-1910), was the eldest son of Queen Victoria (1819-1901), who became King Edward VII of Britain during 1901-10. As Prince of Wales he unveiled GP's seated statue by U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story (1819-95), on Threadneedle St., near London's Royal Exchange, July 23, 1869. In his speech he eulogized GP, praised W.W. Story, and referred to U.S. Minister to Britain John Lothrop Motley (1814-77) in terms of U.S.-British friendship. Story and Motley, both present, also spoke. GP's statue in London was the first of four statues of Americans in that city: GP, 1869; Abraham Lincoln, 1920; George Washington, 1921; and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1948. A copy of GP's seated statue in London was placed in front of the PIB, April 7, 1890, by Robert Garrett (1847-96). See: Statues of GP. Powers, Hiram.
Albert Hall, South Kensington, London. See: Royal Albert Hall, South Kensington, London. Peabody Homes of London.
Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Prince Albert, 1819-61), was Queen Victoria's husband, who lent his royal prestige to the idea of the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, the first world's fair. GP lent $15,000 to the U.S. exhibitors when they had no funds from the U.S. Congress to adorn their space in the Crystal Palace exhibit hall. Congress repaid this loan three years later. Prince Albert also tempered British government response to the Nov. 8, 1861, forcible removal from the British mail packet Trent of four Confederate emissaries bound to secure arms and aid abroad by Capt. Charles Wilkes (1798-1877) of the Union warship San Jacinto in the Bahamas. See: Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world's fair). San Jacinto (USS ship).
"a home to us all"
Albert, William S. 1-Lodged with GP, London, 1838. William S. Albert was a Baltimorean who in 1870, just after GP's death, recalled GP's generosity to Americans visiting London. He wrote: "In 1838 when on a visit to London, I lodged in the same house with him for several weeks. Under the same roof were assembled mutual friends from the city of his adoption [Baltimore], upon whom he took pleasure in bestowing those marks of attention so grateful in a foreign land, making the house a home to us all." Ref.: (Albert, W.S.): Md. Historical Society-b, p. 29.
Albert, W.S. 2-GP As Md. Bond Agent Abroad. The circumstance of William S. Albert's London visit is not known. GP left NYC on his fifth trip to London in early Feb. 1837, arriving at Portsmouth Feb. 19. He remained as the London resident of Peabody, Riggs, & Co. (1829-45), importer of wholesale dry goods and other commodities, and also as one of three agents commissioned by the Md. legislature to sell the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal part of Md.'s $8 million bond issue abroad to finance internal improvements. See: Md.'s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.
Albert, W.S. 3-Panic and Repudiation. The financial Panic of 1837 was then on and GP had to sell the bonds during depressed economic conditions that lasted through most of the 1840s. The situation was aggravated when Md. and eight other states could not pay interest on their bonds sold abroad. In this fiscal difficulty, GP traveled much in late 1837 and early 1838 in England, France, and Holland, sometimes with the other two Md. commissioners--John Buchanan (1772-1844) and Thomas Emory. Unsuccessful in selling the Md. bonds, the other two commissioners gave up and returned to the U.S. GP remained in London for the rest of his life except for three U.S. visits: Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857; May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867; and June 8 to Sept. 29, 1869. See: persons named.
Albert, W.S. 4-George Peabody & Co., from 1838. In 1838, when Baltimorean William S. Albert later wrote: "I lodged in the same house with him for several weeks," GP lived in bachelor's quarters on Bread St. with Irish-born fellow U.S. merchant Richard Bell. On Dec. 1, 1838, GP leased an office at 31 Moorgate St., in London's inner city not far from St. Paul's Cathedral where business houses occupy odd nooks and crannies. Here, with desks, chairs, a mahogany counter, a safe, and employing a clerk (Charles Cubitt Gooch, 1811-89, later a partner), GP began, informally and until his retirement, George Peabody & Co. (1838-64), renamed J.S. Morgan & Co. from 1864. GP took as partner Oct. 1, 1854, Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), whose 19-year-old son John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) began as the NYC agent for George Peabody & Co. (Note: Bread St. in the City of London is listed in a London street directory [1869] and in A-Z of Georgian London (London Topographical Society Publication number 126, 1982). See: persons named.
Albion (NYC newspaper), (May 19, 1866) p. 25, c. 3, reported that GP had to pay a huge U.S. tax soon after his arrival in NYC, for his May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867, U.S. visit.
Alger, William Rounseville (1822-1905), Rev. In his sermon at the close of the Boston Peace Jubilee, Sunday, June 20, 1869, Rev. William Rounseville Alger mentioned that GP had done more to keep the peace between Britain and America than a hundred demagogues to destroy it. Ref.: "Alger, William Rounseville," p. 15.
Allen, Frederick Lewis (1890-1954), author of The Great Pierpont Morgan (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1949), pp. 192-212, which has many references to GP. On Oct. 1, 1854, GP took as partner Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), whose young son John Pierpont Morgan (Sr., 1837-1913) began as NYC agent for George Peabody & Co. See: persons named.
Allen, Jack (1914-2004), was GPCFT Emeritus Professor of History, author of "The Peabody Saga: A Short History of the College," Peabody Reflector, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Summer 1980), pp. 4-13, and other articles, tracing the history of Peabody Normal College through the 1979 merger of GPCFT with Vanderbilt Univ. Jack Allen was one of three GPCFT faculty authors of a 1974 report, Design for the Future, with 107 recommendations on administration and curriculum matters intended to strengthen the institution's future. See: PCofVU, Brief History.
Almack's Assembly Rooms, King St., St. James's, London, was a suite of fashionable meeting rooms designed by Robert Mylne (1765) and named after its first proprietor, William Almack (an anagram of a Mr. Macall or McCaul). At his death (1781), Almack's was left to his niece, Mrs. Willis. As "Willis's Rooms" the restaurant with its meeting rooms was popular in GP's 32 years in London (1837-69) and lasted to 1890. In 1904 a new London social club adopted the name of Almack's. GP's July 4, 1851, dinner and dance, held in connection with the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, was at Willis's Rooms with the Duke of Wellington as guest of honor. Ref.: "Almack's," Vol. I, p. 711. "Almack's Assembly Rooms," p. 20. See: Dinners, GP's, London. Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world's fair). Willis's Rooms.
Almy, John Jay (1815-95). John Jay Almy, U.S. Navy Commodore, was chief of staff to U.S. Navy Adm. David Glasgow Farragut (1801-70) when Farragut was placed in charge of the U.S. Navy flotilla of ships assembled to receive GP's remains aboard HMS Monarch, accompanied by USS Plymouth, at Portland harbor, Me., Jan. 25-Feb. 1, 1870. Author Allen Howard Welch's article on GP's funeral attributed the near-faultless Portland, Me., GP funeral reception to Commodore John Jay Almy as follows: "Observers on the local level felt that such an affair had never passed off so completely without a mar. They attributed this to the fact that the U.S. Navy had entrusted its supervision to Commodore John J. Almy, chief of Farragut's staff, who carried out the Portland ceremonies with the precision characterizing the regular naval service." Ref.: (J.J. Almy's career): Shephard, Vol. 1, pp. 226-227. See: Death & funeral, GP's. Persons named.
Alps. GP first crossed the Alps in Europe on his second commercial buying trip abroad during 1831-Aug. 10?, 1832 (15 months). With an American friend (name not known) and by frequent changes of coach horses, GP covered 10,000 miles in England, France, Italy, and Switzerland. He wrote to his sister Judith Dodge Peabody (1799-1879, who married Jeremiah Russell and after his death married Robert Shillaber Daniels), Aug. 25, 1831: "My time has been passed in England, Ireland, & Scotland but in February last [1831] in company with an American gentleman [identity not known] I left England on a tour of business & amusement & visited Paris where we passed a few days--from thence through the South of France to Savoy crossing Mount ?? (the Alps) to Turin in Italy..." See: Dodge, Judith (née Peabody) Daniels (GP's sister).
"Apotheosis of America"
Amateis, Louis (1855-1913). 1-Artist. Artist Louis Amateis was born in Turin, Italy. He came to the U.S. in 1855, became a naturalized citizen, and was art and architecture professor and head of the fine arts department, Columbian Univ. (now George Washington Univ.), Washington, D.C. He was first known for his busts of famous Americans and memorials in Texas. Ref.: Nash, I, pp. 239-240. Amateis. Parker, F.-d., pp. 26-27, reprinted Parker, F.-zd, pp. 38-40.
Amateis, Louis. 2-"Apotheosis of America." During 1904-08 he was commissioned for his best known design of a transom atop two bronze doors intended for the west entrance of the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. His transom design is a tableau called the "The Apotheosis of America." A figure representing America is drawn in a chariot by lions (force) and led by a child (intellect). The figure of America stretches its arms toward the arts and sciences, symbolized by the profiles of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Peabody, Johns Hopkins, and Horace Mann. Ref.: Ibid.
Amateis, Louis. 3-Bronze Doors. Amateis finished his model in 1908. The bronze doors were cast during 1909-10 by two NYC firms, Johns Williams, Inc., and the Roman Bronze Co. Because structural changes would be needed to install the doors and transom in the U.S. Capitol Building, they are on view at the north entrance of the National Museum Building, Washington, D.C. Ref.: Ibid. See: Honors, GP's.
Am. Assn. in London
American Association in London (1858-early 1860s). 1-GP's July 4 Dinners. GP's July 4th U.S.-British friendship dinners since 1851 were taken from him under somewhat strained conditions in 1858 and 1860. An American Association in London was organized March 1, 1858, as a social and charitable club. Its members proposed to sponsor a July 4, 1858, dinner. The new group's organizers were more assertive Americans in London, more critical of the British, and less acceptable to British political and social leaders than were older commercial Americans in London, such as Joshua Bates (1788-1864), Weymouth, Mass.-born head of Baring Brothers (Bates became a British subject), and GP, head of George Peabody & Co. since Dec. 1838. See: Bates, Joshua. Moran, Benjamin.
Am. Assn. in London. 2-New Group Members. The new group's organizers included 1-U.S.-born physician Dr. Jesse Weldon Fell (active 1850s) who experimented with a cancer cure at Middlesex Hospital, London, and wrote A Treatise on Cancer and its Treatment (London, 1857); 2-Benjamin Moran (1820-86), U.S. Legation in London clerk, 1853-57, asst. secty., 1857, and Secty. of Legation, 1857-75 (Dr. Fell had treated Mrs. Moran before her death); and 3-Gen. Robert Blair Campbell (d.1862), the last elected president of the American Association in London during its few years of existence. Ref.: Ibid. See: persons named.
Am. Assn. in London. 3-Secty. Benjamin Moran. U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran, often critical of GP in his private journal, wrote on March 20, 1858: "...about the Club. Old Peabody goes, with Bates, and others of their stamp, against it, as I expected. They are a mean souled set, who dislike all of decided character who will not follow them, and consequently oppose this, as they know it will put them in the background. Both Bates and Peabody are selfish and heartless men. They have led people heretofore & hate this scheme because it will destroy their rule." Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Assn. in London. 4-Attempt to Appease GP. Announcing their intent to sponsor the July 4, 1858, London dinner and wanting to reconcile with old line Americans in London, an American Association in London committee of three wrote to GP on June 30, 1858: "The members of the American Association in London realized you might not understand the purpose of the Association. They passed a resolution that this letter be written to explain the purpose of the club, to invite your participation, and to urge you to take the chair at the coming Fourth of July celebration." Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Assn. in London. 5-Attempt to Appease GP Cont'd.: "The purpose of the Association is to give relief to Americans in distress. Its by-laws were composed by some of your warmest friends.... To you above all others, the Association wished to show its appreciation by offering you the office of President. The members intended to consult your wishes regarding the dinner. We feel that you naturally, but erroneously, misapprehended our intentions." Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Assn. in London. 6-Attempt to Appease GP Cont'd.: "The Association, even at this late date, invites you to take the chair at the dinner and promises you their support. Such a course on your part would show new proof of your attachment to your country and friends. "If you can accept the invitation your wishes for the dinner will be consulted and any number of tickets you desire for your friends shall be forwarded to you." Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Assn. in London. 7-GP Declined. GP wrote to decline: "I received your communication and your resolution inviting me to take the chair on the approaching celebration of American Independence. I'm gratified to learn that no hostility to me personally or the course of my previous Fourth of July dinners prompted the measure you adopted. "Taking into consideration the circumstances of your arrangements and the late period of your explanation, I respectfully decline." Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Assn. in London. 8-"We shall kill him with kindness." Moran recorded that "Gen'l Campbell [Robert Blair Campbell, d.1862] would preside" and that "Peabody...is sore about the dinner and refuses to come, pretending to think that the Association was gotten up to prevent him giving dinners. He is a weak feeble minded & mean spirited man. We shall kill him with kindness however, & toast him in spite of himself. If not there to respond it will look bad in print." Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Assn. in London. 9-Moran on July 4, 1858, Dinner Without GP. The July 4, 1858, dinner without GP went well and was favorably reported in U.S. and London newspapers. Moran recorded seeing "Gen'l Campbell and learned from him that Peabody's chagrin grew out of the fact that he considers that nobody but him has a right to give the Fourth of July Dinner in London. He asked the General if official influence had been employed to get the Queen's picture, and when assured that it had not been exercised, was much chagrined. He told the General that it was his intention to have given a Fourth of July dinner at a cost of £500 [$2,500), and that he had considered since 1851 that to him, and him alone, belonged the right to giving such entertainments in London." Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Assn. in London. 10-Moran on July 4, 1858, Dinner Without GP Cont'd.: "The Association had taken this out of his hands, and altho' he did not say it in so many words, he conveyed to the General's mind the fact that it was solely on that ground that he did not accept the invitation to preside at our dinner. At best, Mr. Peabody is a selfish, vindictive, and narrow minded man." GP gave U.S.-British friendship dinners on July 9 and 28, 1858, both well reported. The American Association in London also sponsored the July 4, 1860 dinner. There was dissension among its members and, with the coming of the Civil War and other concerns, the Association disappeared. Ref.: Ibid.
American Legation, London. The U.S. Embassy, London, was in GP's time in that city called the American Legation, London. See: U.S. Embassy, London.
American Neptune, a journal published by the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., is the oldest U.S. journal of maritime history. See: Dudley, Robert. GP Bicentennial Celebration (Feb. 12, 1795-1995). Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Science: GP's Gifts to Science and Science Education. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.
Arctic Exploration & GP
American Philosophical Society. 1-Arctic Search for Lost Sir John Franklin. The Smithsonian Institution, Geographical Society of New York, and the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia all gave some aid to the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition, 1853-54, in search of missing British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847). NYC merchant Henry Grinnell (1799-1874) gave two ships, the 144-ton Advance and the 91-ton Rescue. See: Kane, Elisha Kent. Other persons mentioned.
Am. Philosophical Soc. 2-GP Aided Search Led by U.S. Navy. U.S. Navy Secty. John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870) authorized 10 U.S. Navy volunteers and placed Grinnell's two ships under the command of U.S. Navy Capt. Elisha Kent Kane, M.D. (1820-57), who had been the U.S. Navy medical officer during the First U.S. Grinnell Expedition, 1850-52. U.S. Navy backing also made the expedition one of scientific exploration. GP gave $10,000 for scientific equipment. He was motivated by a desire to promote British-U.S. friendship and by Lady Jane Franklin's (1792-1875) appeal to U.S. Pres. Zachary Taylor (1784-1850, 12th U.S. president during 1849-50) and the U.S. Congress to find her husband. Ref.: Ibid.
U.S. Residents in London
American Residents in London. 1-Charles Francis Adams. During GP's 32 years (1837-69) as a U.S. merchant-banker living in London, he had contact with most of the following American residents in London (listed alphabetically with a brief description): 1-Charles Francis Adams (1807-86) was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1861-68 when frictional U.S.-British events over the Civil War occurred (1861 Trent Affair and others). Adams carefully observed and reported on Confederate agents in Britain who bought British-built ships and armed them as Confederate raiders (CSS Alabama and others). GP shared Civil War and other news with Adams. See: persons named in this entry.
Am. Residents in London. 2-Henry [Brooks] Adams. Henry Adams (1838-1918) was his father's (Charles Francis Adams) private secretary while his father was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1861-68. In his book, The Education of Henry Adams (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1918), he wrote of important Britons and well known visiting and resident Americans he knew, including GP. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 3-George Bancroft. George Bancroft (1800-91), later a famed U.S. historian, was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1846-49. His contact with GP is not known except through his nephew, who was U.S. Legation in London Secty. during those same years (See: John Chandler Bancroft Davis below). Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 4-Joshua Bates. Joshua Bates (1788-1864) was a Weymouth, Mass.-born merchant-banker who was in turn agent, partner, and director of the Baring Brothers, Britain's long established banking firm prominent in U.S. finance from colonial times. Bates and GP had important business contacts. GP also attended at least one dinner in Bates's home near London on Nov. 24, 1849, when the guest of honor was visiting U.S. novelist Herman Melville, mentioned in John Chandler Bancroft Davis below. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 5-James Buchanan. Born in Mercersberg, Penn., James Buchanan (1791-1868) was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1853-56 and 15th U.S. president during 1857-61. Buchanan's super patriotic U.S. Legation in London Secty. Daniel Edgar Sickles (described below) created an incident. He refused to stand and then walked out in red-gorged anger from GP's July 4, 1854, British-U.S. friendship dinner to protest GP's toast to the Queen before one to the U.S. president. Sickles accused GP in letters to the press of toadying to the British. While most witnesses defended GP, Buchanan remained silent. GP had no contact with then Pres. James Buchanan when GP was in Washington, D.C., Feb. 14-23, 1857, during his 1856-57 U.S. visit. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 6-Robert Blair Campbell. Robert Blair Campbell (d.1862) from S.C. was U.S. Consul in London during 1854-61. GP had some contact with him in connection with the newly formed and short lived American Association in London (about 1858-62), a fraternal club to aid needy U.S. visitors in London. This association of newer Americans somewhat hostile to old line Americans like GP took over under strained relations July 4 dinners in 1858 and 1860, which GP had hitherto sponsored. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 7-George Mifflin Dallas. George Mifflin Dallas (1792-1864), born in Penn., was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1856-61. He attended and spoke at GP's U.S.-British friendships dinners June 13 and July 4, 1856. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 8-John Chandler Bancroft Davis. Born in Worcester, Mass., John Chandler Bancroft Davis (1822-1907) was U.S. Legation Secty., London, under his uncle George Bancroft, U.S. Minister to Britain during 1846-49. J.C.B. Davis sometimes dined with his Harvard College classmate Henry Stevens (1819-86), born in Barnet, Vt., a London resident rare book dealer, and GP. J.C.B. Davis and GP dined on Nov. 24, 1849, at the London home of Joshua Bates (1788-1864), head of London's Baring Brothers, with visiting U.S. novelist Herman Melville (1819-91) as guest of honor. J.C.B. Davis was a speaker at the Oct. 9, 1856, South Danvers, Mass., GP Celebration (GP's first visit to the U.S. after nearly 20 years' residence in London). Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 9-Edward Everett. Edward Everett (1794-1865), born in Dorchester, Mass., was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1841-45; a Harvard graduate, professor, and its president (1846-49); Mass. governor (1836-39); and held other high offices. He was the most notable orator of his time (his two-hour Nov. 9, 1863, Gettysburg Cemetery dedication address was followed by Pres. Abraham Lincoln's two-minute 272-word speech). Edward Everett was the key speaker at the Oct. 9, 1856, GP reception in South Danvers, Mass., marking GP's first U.S. visit after nearly 20 years' absence abroad. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 10-Jesse Weldon Fell. Dr. Jesse Weldon Fell, M.D. (active, 1850s), was a U.S.-born physician resident in London who experimented with a cancer cure at London's Middlesex Hospital, wrote A Treatise on Cancer, and its Treatment (London, 1857), was a friend of U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran (see name below), had treated Moran's wife before her death, and was a member and officer of the short-lived American Association of London (1858-62), a club for social and charitable purposes. GP most likely knew of him, although their precise contact is not known. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 11-Joseph Reed Ingersoll. Joseph Reed Ingersoll (1786-1868), born in Penn., was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1852-53. GP gave U.S.-British friendship dinners in London to introduce Minister Ingersoll and his niece Miss Charlotte Manigault Wilcocks (1821-75) to London society, to resident Americans, and to visiting Americans on Oct. 12, 1852, and May 18, 1853. There was at least one press report of GP's attending the opera and other social functions with Miss Wilcocks, with hints of a possible romance leading to marriage. GP wrote to a friend: "I have now arrived at an age that throws aside all thoughts of marriage [although] I think her [Miss Wilcocks] a very fine woman." Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 12-Reverdy Johnson. Reverdy Johnson (1796-1876) was a Baltimore lawyer, U.S. Sen., U.S. Atty. General, and longtime GP friend. During Reverdy Johnson's 1845 London visit, GP urged him to plan with other Baltimore friends what became the PIB gift in from 1857. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 13-Curtis Miranda Lampson. Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85) was a Vt.-born merchant who achieved wealth in the fur trade, became a London resident after 1830, was a longtime GP friend and business associate. Lampson became a naturalized British subject and was created a baronet (Sir Curtis) for his work as Atlantic Cable Co. director (GP was also a director). When a gravely ill GP returned to London from his third U.S. visit (Oct. 8, 1869) he rested at Lampson's 80 Eaton Sq. London home where he died (Nov. 4, 1869). Lampson, involved in arranging GP's funeral, was one of two executors of GP's British estate. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 14-Abbott Lawrence. Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855) was born in Groton, Mass., was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1849-52, at the time of the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (the first world's fair). When U.S. exhibitors lacked congressional funds to display U.S. industrial and art products, GP's timely $15,000 loan saved Minister Lawrence and the U.S. from embarrassment. Minister Lawrence was also happily surprised when GP, despite British anti-American prejudice, held two successful U.S.-British friendship dinners in London on July 4 and Oct. 27, 1851. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 15-Gansvoort Melville. Gansvoort Melville (1815-46) was U.S. Legation in London Secty. before his death. GP knew Gansvoort Melville and shared his remembrance of Gansvoort with younger brother, U.S. novelist Herman Melville (1819-91), when they dined together at the London home of Joshua Bates on Nov. 24, 1849. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 16-Benjamin Moran. Benjamin Moran (1820-86), born in Penn., was an apprentice printer who went to England as a freelance writer and worked at the U.S. Legation in London as clerk (1853-57), asst. secty. (1857), and secty. (1857-75). U.S. Minister to Britain C.F. Adams' son and private secretary Henry Adams described Moran as a "dependable workhorse" with "an exaggerated notion of his importance" who kept a journal which "must be read from the point of view of his character." Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 17-Benjamin Moran Cont'd. Often bitter and self-important Moran wrote critically of GP in his secret journal for over a dozen years. Yet, after attending GP's Nov. 12, 1869, Westminster Abbey funeral service, he wrote with some eloquence: "...I could now forget that I had ever warred with the dust before me.... And then I reflected on the marvelous career of the man, his early life, his penurious habits, his vast fortune, his magnificent charity; and the honor that was then being paid to his memory by the Queen of England in the place of sepulcher of twenty English kings." Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 18-Junius Spencer Morgan. Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), born in what is now Holyoke, Mass., grew up in Hartford, Conn., and was a partner in J.M. Beebe, Morgan & Co., a Boston dry goods firm with which GP did much business. On the recommendation of James Madison Beebe (1809-75) and others GP invited and J.S. Morgan accepted partnership in George Peabody & Co., London (Oct. 1, 1854, to Oct. 1, 1864). J.S. Morgan's then 19-year-old son John Pierpont Morgan, Sr. (1837-1913), began his famed banking career as NYC agent for George Peabody & Co. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 19-John Lothrop Motley. John Lothrop Motley (1814-77), born in Dorchester, Mass., was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1869-70. As U.S. Minister he spoke at the July 23, 1869, unveiling of GP's seated statue by U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story (1819-95) on Threadneedle St., near London's Royal Exchange. He visited gravely ill GP several times before his death at business friend Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson's 80 Eaton Sq., London, home. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 20-John Lothrop Motley Cont'd. Minister Motley officially described GP's death in a dispatch to U.S. Secty. of State Hamilton Fish (1809-93); attended GP's funeral service, Westminster Abbey (Nov. 12, 1869); and was liaison between the U.S. State Dept., the U.S. Navy, the U.S. President, the British PM, and the British Admiralty regarding the return of GP's remains to the U.S. aboard the British warship HMS Monarch, accompanied by the USS Plymouth which was ordered from Marseilles, France, as American escort vessel. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 21-Daniel Edgar Sickles. Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914), mentioned in connection with James Buchanan above, was Buchanan's jingoistic super patriotic U.S. Legation in London Secty. in 1854. In protest to GP's toast to the Queen before one to the U.S. president, Sickles refused to stand and then walked out in red-gorged anger from GP's July 4, 1854, British-U.S. friendship dinner. Sickles accused GP in letters to the press of toadying to the British. Most witnesses defended GP. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 22-Horatio Gates Somerby. Horatio Gates Somerby (1805-72), born in Newburyport, Mass., was a London resident genealogist, GP's longtime friend, and sometime GP agent. He did a genealogical study of the Peabody family for GP, occasionally helped arrange GP's U.S.-British friendship dinners, and at GP's request and expense he abstracted Md.'s colonial history records from British sources. GP gave this record as a gift to the Md. Historical Society. On Oct. 27, 1869, on behalf of GP, then on his deathbed, H.G. Somerby called on U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran to say that GP wished to see him. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 23-Henry Stevens. Henry Stevens, mentioned in connection with John Chandler Bancroft Davis above, also attended some GP-sponsored U.S.-British friendship dinners, including the Oct. 27, 1851, farewell dinner to the departing U.S. exhibitors at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (the first world's fair). GP commissioned Stevens to compile, publish, and distribute the speeches and proceedings of that dinner in book form. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 24-Andrew Stevenson. Andrew Stevenson (1784-1857), born in Va., was Minister to Britain during 1836-41. His only known GP connection was that he was offered the Freedom of the City of London on Feb. 22, 1838, but declined the honor as being inconsistent with his official duties. GP was the second U.S. citizen offered the Freedom of the City of London and its first recipient on July 10, 1862. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 25-Russell Sturgis. Russell Sturgis (1805-87) was a U.S. born London resident merchant-banker with whom GP had many contacts. Ref.: Ibid.
Am. Residents in London. 26-Horatio G. Ward. Horatio G. Ward (d. May 1868) was a U.S.-born merchant in London and a longtime business associate of GP. Ref.: Ibid.
GP's Father & the Am. Revolution
American Revolution. 1-GP's Father Thomas Peabody (1762-1811), born in Andover, Mass., was age 14 when the Declaration of Independence was signed (1776). At age 17 he enlisted and served as a private in Col. Gerrish's regiment (1779) and two years later (1781) served in Col. Rufus Putnam's (1738-1824) regiment. Thomas Peabody was stationed at West Point, N.Y., at the time of American Gen. Benedict Arnold's (1741-1801) treason, and was there when British spy Major John André (1751-80) was executed. He was one of 54 Peabodys who fought in the American Revolution. GP, who served 14 days as a soldier in the War of 1812, gave $500 as a patriotic gift in 1845 (from London where he had moved in Feb. 1837) to help complete the Bunker Hill Memorial Monument near Boston. See: Peabody, Thomas (GP's father).
American Revolution. 2-Most GP Dinners Marked Patriotic Occasions. On June 17, 1852, the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill (Boston, July 17, 1775), GP gave a dinner in London attended by British and U.S. guests. For GP's $500 gift in 1845 for the Bunker Hill Memorial Monument, see Bunker Hill Memorial Monument (Boston). For GP's June 1, 1852, London dinner marking the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, see Dinners, GP's, London.
Am. Revolution. 3-"My father fought in the American Revolution." On Oct. 25, 1866, on the dedication and opening of the PIB and after having been accused of being pro-Confederate and anti-Union in the Civil War, GP said publicly with passion: "I have been accused of anti-Union sentiment. Let me say this: my father fought in the American Revolution and I have loved my country since childhood. Born and educated in the North, I have lived twenty years in the South. In a long residence abroad I dealt with Americans from every section. I loved our country as a whole with no preference for East, West, North, or South. I wish publicly to avow that during the war my sympathies were with the Union--that my uniform course tended to assist but never to injure the credit of the Union." For GP's father's service in the American Revolution, see Peabody. Sixth generation. Thomas Peabody.
Am. Revolution. 4-"My father fought in the American Revolution" Cont'd.: "At the close of the war three-fourths of my property was invested in United States Government and State securities, and remain so at this time." For GP's Oct. 25, 1866, speech, see Civil War and GP. For GP's forebears who fought in the French and Indian War and 54 Peabodys who fought in the American Revolution. See: Peabody, Thomas (father).
American visits, GP's. During GP's 32 years abroad (1837-69) as a U.S. resident in London as head of George Peabody & Co., he made three U.S. visits during 1-Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857; 2-May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867; and 3-June 8, 1869 to Sept. 29, 1869. See: Visits to the U.S. by GP.
"Heaven has...permitted me…"
Americans visiting England, and GP. 1-See: to Europe passing through London (1840s-60s) received special help from GP. He offered credit and other banking needs which earned him little profit. But he benefited enormously in goodwill, particularly when faster steamships in the 1850s brought many more U.S. visitors to London. His helpfulness and kindness surprised many who brought him letters of credit from U.S. banks or letters of introduction from influential friends. Besides extending credit when needed, he often obtained for them opera and theater tickets, gave visitors his own opera box, charmed wives and daughters with corsages, dined with and entertained them, and did other favors.
Americans visiting England & GP. 2-GP's London Firm. The resulting goodwill helped his business. It also accounted in part for his warm receptions in U.S. cities during his three U.S. visits: 1-Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857; 2-May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867; and 3-June 8, 1869 to Sept. 29, 1869. GP's pride in his firm, George Peabody & Co., London, and its service to visiting Americans was expressed to an audience at the GP celebration in his hometown, Oct. 9, 1856, after nearly 20 years' absence abroad.
Americans visiting England & GP. 3-GP's London Firm Cont'd. GP said: "Heaven has...permitted me to establish...a house in the great metropolis of England.... I have endeavored...to make it an American house, ...to give it an American atmosphere--to furnish it with American journals, to make it a center for American news, and an agreeable place for my American friends visiting London." Ref.: Proceedings...1856, pp. 47-50. New York Herald, Oct. 10, 1856, p. 1, c. 4-6; p. 8; quoted in Hidy, M.E.-c, p. 319. See: Morgan, Sr., John Pierpont. Morgan, Junius Spencer.
America's Cup Race, England, 1851. During the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (the first world's fair), GP won favorable press notices with his $15,000 loan to the U.S. exhibitors who lacked Congressional funds to display U.S. industry and art products. He also emerged socially that year through two much publicized U.S.-British friendship dinners in London. Americans were elated that year when the U.S. yacht America won the international yacht race in British waters, defeating the English yacht Baltic. The first prize, a silver tankard, was afterward known as America's Cup. Ref.: Rodgers, C.T. Ffrench, p. 242. See: Dinners, GP's (July 4 and Oct. 27, 1851).Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world's fair).
Anderton, James (1785-1868), a solicitor (lawyer) was a member of the City of London Court of Common Council when on May 22, 1862 Council member Charles Reed (1819-81) moved a resolution to grant GP the Freedom of the City of London. Charles Reed described at length GP's career, his March 12, 1862, gift establishing the Peabody Donation Fund for model apartments for London's working poor (total gift $2.5 million), and other philanthropies. Alderman Benjamin Phillips seconded the motion with a short speech. Member Anderton proposed, alternately, that a bust of GP be placed in the Council Chamber. His suggestion was overruled. By a unanimous show of hands the motion was carried to grant GP the Freedom of the City of London (July 10, 1862). Charles Reed was later an MP (1868-74), president of the London school board (1873-81), an executor of GP's estate in England after GP's death (Nov. 4, 1869), and was knighted in 1876. See London, Freedom of the City, to GP. See persons named.
GP Papers
Andover, Mass. 1-Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. GP paid for the education of his nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99) at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., at Yale College, and in German universities. Nephew O.C. Marsh, first professor of paleontology in the U.S. at Yale Univ. and the world's second such professor in the world, influenced his uncle GP's founding of three science museums: the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard Univ. (Oct. 8, 1866), the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Univ. (Oct. 22, 1866), $150,000 each, and the Peabody Essex Museum (Peabody Academy of Science, 1867-1915, renamed Peabody Museum of Salem, 1915-92, renamed Peabody Essex Museum since 1992), $140,000. See: Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass. Science: GP's Gifts to Science and Science Education.
Andover, Mass. 2-GP's Papers at Phillips Academy. GP donated $25,000 to Phillips Academy on Oct. 30, 1866, for a professorship of mathematics and natural science. In the early 1870s, the bulk of GP's business and personal papers were taken from his London firm (J.S. Morgan Co.; previously George Peabody and Co., 1838-64) by nephew Robert Singleton Peabody (1837-1904) and stored at Phillips Academy. In the early 1930s the GP papers were sorted by date and subject into 140 boxes and 250 account and ledger books, newspaper albums, and memorabilia and deposited in 1935 at the Essex Institute, now the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., where they are organized and indexed. See: Paradise, Scott Hurtt. Persons named.
Andrew, John Albion (1818-67). 1-Pres. Johnson's Suggested Cabinet Reshuffle. John Albion Andrew was governor of Mass. (1860-66). When GP established the PEF, Feb. 7, 1867, Pres. Andrew Johnson (1808-75) faced impeachment by hostile radical Republicans in Congress angered by his conciliatory policy toward the former Confederate states. To avoid impeachment, Pres. Johnson's political advisor, Francis Preston Blair, Sr. (1791-1876), advised a complete change of cabinet, with Mass. Gov. John Albion Andrew as Secty. of State, GP as Treasury Secty., Ohio Gov. Jacob Dolson Cox (1828-1900) as Interior Secty., U.S. Sen. from Penn. Edgar Cowan (1815-85, senator during 1861-67) as Atty. Gen., Adm. D.G. Farragut (1801-70) as Navy Secty., Gen. U.S. Grant (1822-85) as Secty. of War, and Horace Greeley (1811-72) as Postmaster Gen. But loyalty to his cabinet kept Johnson from this course. See: PEF. Persons named.
Andrew, J.A.. 2-Career. John Albion Andrew was born in Windham, Me., a graduate of Bowdoin College (1837), a lawyer in Boston who defended fugitive slaves (1840-61), member of the Mass. legislature (1858), and Mass. governor (1860-66).
Anglo-American relations. For GP's efforts to promote U.S.-British relations, with sources, see Death and funeral, GP's. Dinners, GP's, London. Sir John Franklin. Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world's fair). Kane, Elisha Kent. Peabody Homes of London. Weed, Thurlow.
Anthropology. See: Othniel Charles Marsh. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard Univ.
Antonelli, Giacomo (1806-76), was a Roman Catholic Cardinal. For GP's Feb. 19-28, 1868, visit to Rome, Italy, with Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94), their audience with Pope Pius IX, and GP's $19,300 gift to Rome's San Spirito Hospital via Cardinal Giacomo Antonelli, and sources, see San Spirito Hospital, Rome, Italy. Statues of GP.
"Apotheosis of America" is the title given a transom panel tableau on two bronze doors created by Louis Amateis (1855-1913), Italian-born artist and head of the fine arts department, Columbian Univ. (now George Washington Univ.), for the U.S. Capitol Building, featuring GP and five others symbolizing U.S. intellectual development. See: Amateis, Louis.
Appearance, GP's. See: Peabody, George, Illustrations. Wills, GP's (1827).
Appleton, Francis Henry (1847-1939), was the main speaker at the George Peabody Centennial Celebration held Monday, Feb. 18, 1895, at the Town Hall, Peabody, Mass. He was an agriculturist and member of the Mass. House of Representatives (1891). Ref.: "Appleton, Francis Henry," p. 29. See:GP Centennial Celebration (Feb. 18, 1795-1895).
Archaeology, the study of material remains (fossils, relics, artifacts, and monuments), which was advanced through the influence of GP's nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1813-99). In 1866 GP donated $150,000 each to found the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard Univ. and the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale Univ. At Yale Univ. nephew O.C. Marsh was the first U.S. professor of paleontology and the second such professor in the world. Archaeology, ethnology, and natural history were further aided by GP's donation, Feb. 26, 1867, of $140,000 to found the Peabody Academy of Science, Salem, Mass. (1867-1915), renamed Peabody Museum of Science (1915-91), when it was combined with the adjacent Essex Institute and renamed the Peabody Essex Museum in 1992. See: Anthropology. Institutions named. Marsh, Othniel Charles. Science: GP's Gifts to Science and Science Education (Harvard and Yale).
GP's Lost Va. Bonds
Arctic (ship). 1-Collins Line. The Arctic was one of five steamships of the Collins Line carrying passengers, freight, and mail between NYC and Liverpool. The Collins Line, financed in part by GP's former senior partner, Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853), was started in 1849 by Edward Knight Collins (1802-78), born of Cape Cod, Mass., seafaring stock. The Collins Line competed successfully with the British mail-subsidized Cunard Lines, founded by Canadian Samuel Cunard (1787-1865), knighted in 1859. When Collins secured a U.S. Congressional mail subsidy, U.S. maritime supremacy seemed assured. Ref.: Gordon, "The Atlantic Stakes," pp. 18, 20. Ketchum, ed., pp. 244-255.
Arctic (ship). 2-Sunk off Newfoundland. But on Sept. 27, 1854, the Collins Line steamship Arctic, moving at full speed in the fog, collided with the small French vessel Vesta 20 miles off Cape Race, Newfoundland. The Vesta limped to shore but the Arctic went down with the deaths of 322 of the 408 aboard, including Collins' wife and child. Ref.: Ibid.
Arctic (ship). 3-GP's Va. Bonds Lost on Arctic. Also lost on the Arctic were Va. bonds then worth $35,000 belonging to GP. After waiting for years for Virginia to redeem the lost bonds, GP presented their value with accrued interest in Aug. 1869 as a gift for a mathematics professorship to Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-70), then Washington College president (renamed Washington and Lee Univ., 1871), Lexington, Va. In 1883, the state of Va. honored the value of these bonds with accrued interest in the amount of $60,000. Refs. below.
Arctic (ship). 4-GP's Va. Bonds Lost on Arctic. Ref.: (GP's Aug. 1869 gift to R.E. Lee's Washington College): Richmond (Va.) Daily Whig, Aug. 17, 1869, p. 2, c. 5 New York Herald, Aug 17, 1869, p. 7, c. 5. Albion (New York), Aug. 21, 1869, p. 495, c. 1. Ref.: (Washington College committee prosecuted GP's claim): New York Herald, Aug. 27, 1869, p. 5, c. 4. Va., Journal...House, 1870, p. 112. Va., Journal...Senate, 1870, pp. 453-454. Freeman-b, IV, p. 438. Ref.: (Va. pays GP's lost bonds gift): Baltimore American, May 14, 1883, and Jan. 24, 1943.
Arctic (ship). 5-GP's Lost Va. Bonds as Gift to R.E. Lee's College. R.E. Lee's biographer C.B. Flood thus wryly described GP's gift of these lost Va. bonds: "It was generosity with a touch of Yankee shrewdness: you Southerners go fight it out among yourselves. If General Lee can't get [this lost bond money] out of the Virginia legislature, nobody can." Ref.: Flood, pp. 215-216. See: Riggs, Sr., Elisha. Science: GP's Gifts to Science and Science Education. Washington and Lee Univ.
Arctic exploration. See: Franklin, Sir John. Grinnell, Henry. Kane, Elisha Kent.
Army, British. See: Crampton, John Fiennes Twistleton. Crimean War.
Arnault, Aed. See: Arnoult, Aed (immediately below).
Arnoult, Aed (fl. 1860s), was a French-born artist, birth and death years unknown (an alternate spelling of his name is Aed Arnault), who may have worked in London and is mentioned in one account as Queen Victoria's portrait painter. He painted over a life-size photograph of GP to make it resemble an oil painting. The photograph of GP was taken by Philadelphia-born London-based photographer John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1810-1901). The original copy, first exhibited at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, 1867, is in the PIB art collection. Copies that have appeared in print were signed by GP in 1868, with his handwritten quotation from his Feb. 7, 1867, PEF founding letter. Ref.: (John Mayall): Browne, Turner, and Partnow, p. 401. (Aed Arnoult): Schaaf, Larry J., pp. 279-288. See: Engraver-artists. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Peabody, George, Portraits.
Arthur, Prince, William Patrick Albert (1850-1942), was the Duke of Connaught, Queen Victoria's son. He was on a state visit to Canada and the U.S. when he and his retinue attended GP's funeral at the South Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., where Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) gave the eulogy followed by burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870. See: Death and funeral, GP's. Corcoran, William Wilson. Persons named. Preface.
Artists-engravers. See: Engraver-artists. Peabody, George, Illustrations.
Astor, William Backhouse (1792-1875), was a NYC financier who attended the March 22, 1867, banquet GP gave after the PEF trustees' second meeting at NYC's Fifth Avenue Hotel, March 19-21, 1867. Other guests besides the trustees and their wives included NYC store owner and philanthropist Alexander Turney Stewart (1803-76) whose planned community, Garden City, Long Island, N.Y., was based on the Peabody Homes of London; historian George Bancroft (1800-91), who had been U.S. Minister to Britain (1846-49); and others. Ref.: Forney, pp. 19-31, 62-69. Harlow, pp. 3-5. See: Farragut, David Glasgow. Forney, John Wien. Grant, Ulysses Simpson. Persons named.
Athenaeum Club, 107 Pall Mall, London, SW1, the most intellectual of all London Clubs, admitted GP to membership on Feb. 3, 1863. Under its Rule Two, the Athenaeum (founded 1824) annually admitted nine members who were eminent in science, literature, the arts, or public service. GP was admitted after establishing on March 12, 1862, the Peabody Donation Fund which built and managed low-rent apartments for London's working families (total gift, $2.5 million). Other honors followed from this gift, including GP's being given the Freedom of the City of London (July 10, 1862, being the first U.S. citizen to receive this honor); made a member of the Clothworkers' Company (July 10, 1862), and other honors. Ref.: "Athenaeum Club," p. 29, Ward, pp. 195-198. See: City of London Club. Clubs, London, GP's. Reform Club, London. Parthenon Club, London.
Atlantic (a transatlantic Collins Line steamship). On GP's Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years' absence in London (since Feb 1837), he sailed on the Atlantic from England, arriving in NYC Sept. 15, 1856, where he was greeted by delegations from NYC, Boston, and South and North Danvers, Mass. He left NYC on the Persia, Aug. 19, 1857, to return to England. See: Collins Line. Morgan, Junius Spencer. Visits to the U.S. by GP.
Atlantic Cable. See: Atlantic Telegraph and Cable Co. (below). Field, Cyrus West. Morgan, Junius Spencer.
Atlantic Telegraph and Cable Co. On Oct. 10, 1856, Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) in London wrote to GP, senior partner in George Peabody & Co., London, then on a visit to the U.S. (Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19, 1857), that Cyrus West Field (1819-92) was organizing the Atlantic Telegraph and Cable Co. to lay a cable across the Atlantic (U.S.-England connection) and wanted GP as a director. The next month (Nov. 14, 1856) J.S. Morgan again wrote GP that his name as director was being publicly used. There were cable snaps and other delays until 1866 when the Atlantic Cable was successfully laid. See: persons named.
GP's March-April 1857 U.S. Itinerary
Augusta, Ga. 1-GP's March-April 1857 Itinerary. GP visited Augusta, Ga., during his Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years' absence in London (since Feb. 1837). Besides visiting relatives and friends, his purpose was to found the PIB, Feb. 12, 1857, and to observe as an investment banker recent growth in the U.S. South and West. Refs. below.
Augusta, Ga. 2-Itinerary Cont'd. GP's March-April 1857 itinerary included a visit to Charleston, S.C. (March 7); he then went by water on the steamer Le Grande to Augusta, Ga.; and Mobile, Ala. (March 15), where he stayed at the Battle House for a few days to recover from illness; then on to New Orleans, La., where he stayed at the St. Charles Hotel, declined a public dinner but attended a private dinner, and was made a Chamber of Commerce member (March 19-23). Refs. below.
Augusta, Ga. 3-Itinerary Cont'd. He went to Cairo, Ill., where he owned city bonds; then to St. Louis, Mo. (April 3); Terre Haute, Ind., and Indianapolis, Ind., where he stayed with Ind. Gov. Ashbel P. Willard (1820-60) (April 7); then to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he again declined a public dinner, met citizens at the Merchants' Exchange, and received and acknowledged resolutions of praise (April 10); then to Pittsburgh, Penn. (April 14-16); and on to Oswego, N.Y. (April 25). Refs. below.
Augusta, Ga. 4-Itinerary Cont'd. Ref.: Richmond Dispatch (Va.), March 13, 1857, p. 1, c. 4. Mobile Daily Tribune (Ala), March 15, 1857. Daily Picayune (New Orleans), March 20, 1857, p. 3, c. 1; March 24, 1857, p. 1, c. 7; and March 25, 1857, p. 3, c. 1. Daily Delta (New Orleans), March 20, 1857, p. 2, c. 4; March 21, 1857, p. 2, c. 1. Sun (Baltimore), March 31, 1857, p. 1, c. 3. Daily Missouri Republican (St. Louis), April 4, 1857, p. 2, c. 3. St. Louis Daily Evening News, April 3, 1857, p. 2, c. 2. Illinois State Journal (Springfield, Ill.), April 6, 1857, p. 3. c. 1. Indianapolis Daily Journal, April 8, 1857, p. 3, c. 3. Cincinnati Daily Gazette, April 11, 1857, p. 2, c. 1. Pittsburgh Evening Chronicle, April 14, 1857, p. 1, c. 1-3. Oswego Daily Times (Oswego, N.Y.), April 25, 1857, p. 3, c. 1.
B
Shakespeare Theorist
Bacon, Delia Salter (1811-59). 1-Shakespeare Theorist. Delia Salter Bacon was a U.S. writer who believed that William Shakespeare's (1554-1616) plays were written by a group consisting of mainly English philosopher-statesman Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English courtier Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618), and English poet Edmund Spenser (1552-99). Early orphaned by the death of her clergy father, a missionary to the Indians, she studied in the Hartford, Conn., school managed during 1822-32 by the Beecher sisters (Catharine Esther Beecher, 1800-78; Mary Foote Beecher, 1805-1900; and Harriet Beecher, 1811-96). Delia Bacon started a school herself which failed, was an unsuccessful playwright in NYC, and at age 40 wrote a manuscript stating her theory about Shakespeare.
Bacon, Delia S. 2-Friendly Aid but No Endorsements. Delia S. Bacon had friendly aid but no endorsements from Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82), Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64), and NYC banker Charles Butler (1802-97). With a letter of introduction from Butler, she went to London and called on GP in May 1853. Ref.: Charles Butler, NYC, to GP, May 14, 1853, Peabody Papers, PEM. Ref.: Muzzey, II, Part l, pp. 359-360. Ref.: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Concord, Mass., to person unknown, March 26, 1853, Peabody Papers, PEM. See: persons named.
Bacon, Delia S. 3-Eccentric Researcher. GP's contacts with Delia S. Bacon are not known, probably limited to converting bank drafts from Butler and others. She haunted Shakespeare's grave in Sept. 1856 but never succeeded in getting it opened to prove her theory. Nathaniel Hawthorne helped to get her book published, Philosophy of the Plays of Shakespeare Unfolded, 1857, which critics derided and which failed to sell. She was in mental institutions in England in Nov. 1857, N.Y. State in 1859, and in Hartford, Conn., where she died in 1859. She is buried in Grove St. Cemetery, New Haven, Conn., where, by coincidence, GP's nephew Othniel Charles March (1831-99) was later buried. In an 1888 book, another U.S. eccentric believer in the Bacon-Shakespeare theory, Minneapolis Congressman Ignatius Donnelly, revived Delia Bacon's notoriety. Ref.: (R.W. Emerson): Ralph Waldo Emerson, Concord, Mass., to person unknown, March 26, 1853, Peabody Papers, PEM. Ref.: (Delia Salter Bacon to GP): seven letters from Delia Salter Bacon to GP, 1853-54, GP Papers, PEM. Ref.: (On Delia Salter Bacon): Bacon, p. 65. Brandes, p. 89. Ref.: (Burial place): http://www.askmytutor.co.uk/d/de/delia_bacon.html
Bacon, Francis (1561-1626), English philosopher and statesman. See: Bacon, Delia Salter. Butler, Charles.
GP Critic
Baldwin, Leland DeWitt (1897-1981). 1-Historian. Leland DeWitt Baldwin was a historian whose The Stream of American History, 1952, repeated earlier-made unsubstantiated charges that GP was pro-Confederate in sympathy and anti-Union in bond sales during the Civil War. These charges were first made without substantiating evidence by John Bigelow (1817-1911), U.S. Consul Gen. in Paris (1861-64) when he wrote confidentially to Secty. of State William Henry Seward (1801-72), accusing GP of exaggerating Federal reversals in the Civil War to cause financial panic and so reap a personal fortune. Bigelow's unsubstantiated charges were repeated by newspaper owner-editor Samuel Bowles (1826-78), by poet Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), by authors Gustavus Myers (1872-1942) and Matthew Josephson (1899-1978). (Note: For doubt cast about Bigelow's criticism about GP's loyalty, See: Bigelow, John below and "Bigelow, John…" in References end of book).
Baldwin, L.D. 2-Volatile Time. The onset of the Civil War was politically and financially tempestuous. European investors, initially uncertain which side would win, sold their U.S. securities. Resumption did not occur until Union victory was assured in 1864. See: Civil War and GP.
GP Honored in Baltimore, 1857
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 1-GP as Md. Bond Agent Abroad. Md. and other states in the 1820s-30s, wanting internal improvements for trade and wealth, needed foreign investment capital. The Md. legislature authorized an $8 Million bond sale abroad to finance the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the B&O RR. When one of the three commissioners for that sale dropped out, GP took his place. He left for London Feb. 1837 on his fifth commercial trip. The financial Panic of 1837 forced suspension of bond interest payments by Md. and eight other states. See: Md.'s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.
B&O RR. 2-Success Despite Panic and Repudiation. GP publicly urged Md. leaders to resume interest payments and also assured British and European investors that repudiation was temporary, that interest payment would resume and be retroactive. GP at last sold his portion of Md. bonds to London's Baring Brothers. Aware of Md.'s financial difficulties and not wishing to burden it further, he never claimed the $60,000 commission due him. Md. recovered financially and resumed its bond interest payments retroactively, as GP predicted. Ref.: Ibid.
B&O RR. 3-GP Praised. Md. Gov. Thomas G. Pratt's (1804-69) 1847 annual report to the legislature praised GP: "...two [commissioners] received the compensation to which they were entitled: but Mr. George Peabody...has never claimed or received one dollar of compensation.... Whilst the State was struggling with her pecuniary difficulties, he felt unwilling...to add to her burdens; and I am now officially informed that he relinquishes his claim to compensation, feeling himself sufficiently remunerated for his services by the restored credit of his State." Ref.: Ibid.
B&O RR. 4-GP Praised Cont'd. On March 7, 1848, both houses of the Md. Assembly passed unanimously a resolution of praise for GP. Gov. Pratt's successor, Gov. Philip Francis Thomas (1799-1876), sent this resolution to GP, adding in his cover letter: "To you, sir, ...the thanks of the State were eminently due." Md.'s resolution of praise and the governor's thanks, widely printed in the press, brought this warm comment from the London correspondent of NYC's Courier & Enquirer: "...the energetic influence of the Anti-Repudiators would never have been heard in England had not Mr. George Peabody...made it a part of his duty to give to the holders of the Bonds every information in his power, and to point out...the certainty of Maryland resuming [payment].... He...had the moral courage to tell his countrymen the contempt [because of repudiation] with which all Americans were viewed.... [He is] a merchant of high standing...but also an uncompromising denouncer of chicanery in every shape." Ref.: Ibid.
Md. Historical Society, Jan. 30, 1857)
B&O RR. 5-Md. Historical Society Dinner for GP: Jan. 30, 1857. GP's Sept. 15, 1856 to Sept. 19, 1857, U.S. visit after nearly 20 years' absence in London brought more praise for his Md. service, particularly from Baltimore Mayor Thomas Swann (c1806-83), long acquainted with GP. Mayor Swann was a Va.-born lawyer who moved to Baltimore about 1834 and had been a director and then president of the B&O RR (1848). Swann officiated at a Jan. 30, 1857, Md. Historical Society dinner for GP. GP spoke pleasurably to the dinner guests of his 22 years in Baltimore, during 1815-37, aged 20-42. Ref.: Ibid.
B&O RR. 6-Baltimore's Mayor Swan on GP. Mayor Swann, responding, said: "I, too, am one of thousands of American citizens who partook of Mr. Peabody's hospitality in London. When repudiation of our bonds was the unfortunate order of the day, he believed and caused others to believe in the ultimate redemption of Maryland's obligation. He is a Marylander at heart and an American all over. I give you a sentiment: To George Peabody--the best representative we ever had in a foreign court." Ref.: Ibid.
Md. Institute, Feb. 2, 1857
B&O RR. 7-Md. Institute Dinner for GP: Feb. 2, 1857. Three nights later, Feb. 2, 1857, the Md. Institute for the Promotion of Mechanic Arts held a reception and dinner for GP. Md. Institute Pres. Joshua Vansant (1803-84) referred to the Institute's new Chemistry Dept. (to which GP gave $1,000 in 1851) and to the Great Exhibition of 1851. He told how U.S. exhibitors were embarrassed without funds to display U.S. industry and art at the 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition Hall, London. See: Md. Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, Baltimore.
B&O RR. 8-Md. Institute's Pres. Vansant on GP. Md. Institute Pres. Vansant reported that GP's timely loan of $15,000 allowed over six million visitors to the fair (May 1-Oct. 19, 1851) to see to best advantage at the U.S. pavilion Albert Hobbs' (1812-91) unpickable lock, Samuel Colt's (1814-62) revolvers, Hiram Powers' (1805-73) statue, the Greek Slave, Cyrus Hall McCormick's (1809-84) reapers, Richard Hoe's (1812-86) printing press, and William Cranch Bond's (1789-1859) spring governor. Ref.: Ibid.
B&O RR. 9-Md. Institute's Pres. Vansant on GP Cont'd. Turning to GP Pres. Vansant said: "By this act national disgrace was averted. Congress should have promptly repaid this loan but did not. I know you did not present a claim on the government for the sum expended. The U.S. Senate at the first Session of the thirty-third Congress voted to reimburse Edward Riddle to whom your loan was made but the House of Representatives struck it out because of some constitutional obstruction. I was a member of that congress, but voted for reimbursement, otherwise I could not now honorably address you. How glad I was when the next Congress (thirty-fourth) finally approved reimbursement to Mr. Riddle, thus enabling him to repay you." Ref.: Ibid.
B&O RR. 10-Md. Institute's Pres. Vansant on GP Cont'd.: "Sir, the mechanics and artisans of the United States owe you thanks for enabling their productive skill to be proudly shown to the world. In their name and in the name of the Maryland Institute I bid you cordial welcome." Ref.: Ibid.
B&O RR. 11-GP's Reply to Md. Institute's Pres. Vansant. GP replied to Pres. Vansant: "I am myself a working man--my success in life is due to work, and my sympathies are with labor.... When I first went to England, thirty years ago, a Mechanics Institute was generally regarded with indifference....now in that old aristocratic country...members of the most distinguished families annually lecture at these institutes." GP's remarks brought cheers, remarked a Baltimore Sun writer. Here was a banker who appreciated labor, identified with it, clothed it with dignity. He had struck a chord that pleased. Ref.: Ibid.
B&O RR. 12-Mayor Swann on GP. Baltimore Mayor Thomas Swann was moved to say from the platform: "It is a compliment to you, Mr. Peabody, to witness the spontaneous expression of 5,000 of the mechanics and workingmen of Baltimore. In addition to Baltimore workingmen, both branches of our city council present join me in saying that the city owes you special welcome. In the commanding position you have occupied abroad you have done much for our State and City. By supporting the character of Maryland you maintained its fame." Ref.: Ibid.
B&O RR. 13-GP's Reply to Mayor Swann. GP answered Mayor Swann: "You confer on me so much honor.... While it is true I said Maryland's bonds were good, her means ample, and her citizens honorable, Marylanders themselves justified all I said and to their conduct all credit is due." Ref.: Ibid.
B&O RR. 14-J.B. Seidenstricker on GP. After the Md. Institute dinner Baltimorean John Barnhart Seidenstricker (b. 1809) described GP's part in selling Md.'s bonds abroad: "I was then a member of the state legislature and knew well the difficulties connected with levying a tax to uphold our bond sale abroad. George Peabody in Europe and [Baltimore lawyer] John J. Speed [1797-1852] in Maryland upheld public confidence in Maryland's credit." He concluded with: "The name of Peabody in Europe, and the writings of Speed in Maryland had accomplished the great work of freeing our State from repudiation." Ref.: Ibid.
B&O RR. 15-Mayor Swann Again on GP. Mayor Swann, himself a former B&O RR director and president, then told of GP's connection with the railroad's expansion west to Wheeling, [W.] Va. Mayor Swann said: "I tell you that the first man who gave an impetus to the mammoth undertaking was George Peabody. We held the bonds of the State, but they could not be negotiated, and the first man I wrote to was our guest of this evening; he came promptly to our assistance, and I tell you, gentlemen, that without his aid, we could not have laid our tracks ten miles beyond Cumberland or pushed forward through the Alleghenies to the threshold of the great West." Ref.: Ibid. See: Md.'s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.
J.W. Garrett, GP, & Johns Hopkins, 1866-67
B&O RR. 16-John Work Garrett, GP, and Johns Hopkins. B&O RR Pres. John Work Garrett (1820-84) was intimate with both GP and Johns Hopkins (1795-1873), wealthy Baltimore merchant . Garrett knew that Johns Hopkins, unmarried and a Quaker, was concerned about what kind of philanthropic gift he should leave in his will, that he earnestly sought advice. Knowing this, Garrett deliberately brought GP and Johns Hopkins together at dinner in his Baltimore home during GP's 1866-67 U.S. visit. Sources state that within 24 hours of that meeting Hopkins drew up his will, leaving some $8 million to found the Johns Hopkins Univ., hospital, and medical school in Baltimore. See: Garrett, John Work. Hopkins, Johns.
B&O RR. 17-Other J.W. Garrett-GP Connections. J.W. Garrett accompanied GP on GP's April 25, 1867, visit to Pres. Andrew Johnson in the Blue Room of the White House. Two years later J.W. Garrett provided a special railroad car for GP's July 23-Aug. 30, 1869, visit to the Greenbrier Hotel, White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., where he met and talked on educational needs in the South with Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-70) and other political and education leaders of North and South. See: Johnson, Andrew. White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
B&O RR. 18-GP and Robert Garrett. It was John Work Garrett's son, Robert Garrett (1847-96), who had a replica erected in front of the PIB, April 7, 1890, of U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story's (1819-95) seated statue of GP, unveiled on Threadneedle St. near London's Royal Exchange by the Prince of Wales, July 23, 1869. See: GP Statues. Garrett, Robert.
Baltimore Athenaeum was started in 1832. Its library was one of the few relatively restricted libraries in Baltimore before the availability of the reference library of GP's PIB, founded Feb. 12, 1857, opened Oct. 25, 1866. See: PIB.
Baltimore General Dispensary, to which in his 1827 will GP left $2,000. See: Wills, GP's.
Baltimore Library Company. See: Charles James Madison Eaton. PIB.
Baltimore, Md. Baltimore, Md. persons and organizations GP had contact with include the following (which See:): Albert, William S. B&O RR. Buchanan, John. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. Emory, Thomas. Hopkins, Johns. Johnson, Reverdy. Jones, Jr., Samuel Kennedy, John Pendleton. Md. Historical Society. Md. Institute for the Promotion of Mechanical Arts. Md.'s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP. Mayhew, William Edwards. PIB. Pratt, Enoch. Pratt, Thomas G. Riggs, Sr., Elisha. Riggs, Samuel. Speed, John Joseph. Swann, Thomas. Tiffany, Osmond Capron. Vansant, Joshua.
Minister to Britain George Bancroft
Bancroft, George (1800-91). 1-See: George Bancroft was U.S. Minister to Britain during 1846-49 and later a distinguished U.S. historian and author of the History of the United States, 10 volumes, published during 1834-74. GP had friendly relations with George Bancroft's nephew, John Chandler Bancroft Davis (1822-1907), U.S. legation in London Secty. during 1849-54. See: Davis, John Chandler Bancroft.
Bancroft, George. 2-J.C.B. Davis Connection. GP sometimes dined in London with J.C.B. Davis and Davis' Harvard College classmate, Vt.-born Henry Stevens (1819-86), rare book dealer in London, who later acted as GP's agent in book shipments to Peabody Institute libraries. Davis and Stevens lived for some years in the same Morley's Hotel, London. For details and sources of the Nov. 24, 1849, dinner at Joshua Bates's (1788-1854) home near London, attended by Davis, Stevens, and GP, with dinner guest of honor U.S. author Herman Melville (1819-91), see Joshua Bates. Morley's Hotel, London. Persons named. For a description of Morley's Hotel, London, see Richard Kenin. For George Bancroft as guest at GP's banquet for the PEF trustees, March 22, 1867, NYC's Fifth Ave. Hotel, see Farragut, David Glasgow.
Panic of 1857
Bank of England. 1-Panic of 1857. In the Panic of 1857 GP had given large credit to Lawrence, Stone & Co. of Boston which could not repay him. Meanwhile Baring Brothers, London, were pressing GP for ƒ150,000 ($750,000) he owed them. Gathering his assets, GP applied for a $4 million loan from the Bank of England but took only ƒ300,000 ($1.5 million) of the $4 million requested. See: Morgan, Junius Spencer.
Bank of England. 2-GP Explained his Bank Loan. When an erroneous press account of his bank loan appeared, GP wrote to the editor of the New York Times as follows: "About November 20th [1857], my house considered it prudent to borrow funds to protect our own credit and save many of our American correspondents unable to meet engagements. The bills my house was liable for at the time of the loan were ƒ2,300,000 [$11,500,000] not ƒ6,000,000 [$30,000,000]. I applied for a loan of ƒ800,000 ($4 million) from the Bank of England on good securities but have only taken ƒ300,000 to this date. Of the ƒ2,300,000 [$11,500,000] bills liable, my house paid more than ƒ1,500,000 [$7,500,000] at the time of the loan. The strength of our correspondents is such that our losses will be but trifling." Ref.: Ibid.
Bank of the U.S. Alexander Lardner (1808-48) worked for the Bank of the U.S. in Philadelphia. On Oct. 2, 1840 he married Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905), who had a broken marriage engagement with GP during 1838-39. See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth. Lardner, Alexander. Romance and GP.
Baring Brothers, London. 1-Influential Banking Firm. Britain's influential banking firm, founded in 1770 by Francis Baring (1740-1810, created a baronet, 1793), dominated trade, investments, and securities from colonial to early U.S. national times. Francis Baring was succeeded by his second son, Alexander Baring-Ashburton (1774-1848), who had an American wife and represented Britain in the Webster-Ashburton Treaty (1842, Daniel Webster represented the U.S.) which settled the U.S.-Canadian Northeast Boundary Dispute. See: Hidy, Ralph Willard.
Baring Brothers, London. 2-GP Growing Rival. George Peabody & Co. (1838-64) began as a small but ultimately successful rival. GP had business contacts and friendly relations with Joshua Bates (1788-1864), born in Weymouth, Mass., who was in turn a Baring Brothers agent, partner, and director. It was to the Baring Brothers banking firm that GP sold his Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. portion of Md.'s $8 Million Bonds. Ref.: Wallace and Gillespie, eds., I, p. 17, footnote 11. See: Bates, Joshua. Md.'s $8 Million Bond Sale and GP.
Baring, Thomas (1799-1873). GP was also friendly with Thomas Baring of the Baring Brothers banking firm. Muriel Emmie Hidy in George Peabody, Merchant and Financier, 1829-1854, listed Thomas Baring and J.P. Horsley Palmer (d. 1858) as among the British notables (of some 800 guests) who attended GP's July 4, 1851, dinner at Willis's Rooms, London, with the Duke of Wellington as guest of honor, in connection with the Great Exhibition of 1851, London (the first world's fair). See: Hidy, Muriel Emmie. Dinners, GP's, London. Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world's fair).
Sickles Affair
Barnard, Henry (1811-1900). 1-Prominent U.S. Educator. Henry Barnard attended GP's July 4, 1854, dinner in London honoring incoming U.S. Minister to Britain James Buchanan (1791-1868). Barnard replied to a toast and gave a speech on public education in New England. The dinner was marred when jingoistic U.S. Legation Secty. Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914) objected to GP's toast to Queen Victoria before one to the U.S. President. Sickles sat while others stood, and then in red-gorged anger walked out in protest. See: Dinners, GP's, London.
Barnard, Henry. 2-Career. Henry Barnard was born in Hartford, Conn., was a Yale graduate (1830), a lawyer, and a member of the Conn. legislature who helped found the Conn. public school system. He was Conn. School Board secty. (1838-42), edited its Conn. Common School Journal, and did the same thing in R.I. during 1843-49. He was chancellor, Univ. of Wisconsin (1858-60); president, St. John's College, Annapolis, Md. (1866-67); the first U.S. Commissioner of Education (1867-70); and editor of the American Journal of Education (31 vols., 1855-81). Ref.: Brubacher, p. 12.
Barnard, Henry. 3-In London Summer 1854. Henry Barnard was in London the summer of 1854 as a delegate to the International Exposition of Educational Methods. Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) earlier wrote GP on May 12, 1854, introducing Barnard: "I have great pleasure in introducing Hon. Henry Barnard of Hartford, Connecticut." "Mr. Barnard is deeply interested in the subject of education and has for many years held the office of Superintendent of the Common Schools of Conn." "I beg to commend him to your most kind attention...." Ref.: J.S. Morgan, Boston, to GP, London, May 12, 1854, Pierpont Morgan Library, NYC.
Barnard, Henry. 4-Barnard Defended GP. Jingoist U.S. Legation Secty. Sickles fanned press notoriety about his walkout from GP's July 4, 1854, dinner by attacking GP's patriotism in a letter to the Boston Post, July 21, 1854, p. 2, c. 1. He charged GP with "toadying" to the English. GP recorded the facts of the incident in a letter to the Boston Post. Henry Barnard added his name to those of 25 other Americans present at the dinner who wrote the Boston Post editor: "The undersigned have read Mr. Peabody's letter to the Boston Post of Aug. 16, 1854, and without hesitation affirm as true the events described by Mr. Peabody." There the matter ended. Ref.: London Morning Advertiser, July 7, 1854, p. 6, c. 3-4. See: Sickles, Daniel Edgar.
Barnes, Joseph K. (1817-83), was a PEF trustee, succeeding Ohio Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873). J.K. Barnes was educated at Harvard, received a Univ. of Penn. medical degree, became assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army Medical Dept. (1840), served during the Mexican War, was Surgeon-Gen. of the U.S. Army (1864-82), and attended Presidents Lincoln and Garfield on their deathbeds. He founded the Army Medical Museum and the library of the surgeon-general's office. His PEF trustee vacancy was filled by James Davis Porter (1828-1912). See: PEF. Porter, James Davis.
Barnstead, N.H. In late winter 1810, GP, then age 15, first visited his maternal grandparents, Judith Spofford Dodge (1749-1828) and Jeremiah Dodge (1744-1824), and their son, his uncle Eliphalet Dodge, in Post Mills Village, Thetford, Vt. Young GP then stopped to visit his maternal aunt Temperance Dodge Jewett (1772-c.1872), whose husband, Jeremiah Jewett (1757-1836), was a physician in Barnstead, N.H. In memory of his visit to Thetford, Vt., GP gave, $5,000 for a public library, Aug. 1866, which opened Oct. 9, 1867, as the Peabody Library, Thetford, Vt. Ref.: Internet site (seen) March 18, 2000): http://www.valley.net~conriver/V13-7.htm Baldwin, J. A. pp. 12-15. See: Concord, N.H. Persons named. Thetford, Vt.
Joshua Bates
Bates, Joshua (1788-1864). 1-Leading U.S.-Born Banker in London: 1840s. Joshua Bates was born in Weymouth, Mass. In 1803 at age 15 he entered the business firm of William Gray & Son of Boston. From 1809 at age 21 he was a partner of a Mr. Beckford but the War of 1812 intervened. He returned to William Gray & Son, became that firm's agent in London, where he formed a friendship with Peter Labouchére, who was connected by marriage to an official of Britain's leading financial firm, Baring Brothers. In 1826 when Samuel Williams, U.S. banker and merchant in London, went bankrupt, Joshua Bates was able to take his place, after borrowing ƒ20,000 from Peter Labouchére. Bates became in turn agent for, partner in (at age 38), and finally director of the Baring Brothers banking firm. Ref.: "Bates, Joshua," Vol. 1, p. 194.
Bates, Joshua . 2-GP was Bates's Friendly Rival. This firm was organized by the sons of Sir Francis Baring (1740-1810), a director of the East India Co., who was created a baronet in 1793 and became the most powerful merchant in Europe. Bates, who became a naturalized British subject, was the most prominent U.S.-born financier in London, 1830s-40s. His daughter, Betts Bates, frequently at Court, was a favorite of Queen Victoria. GP had business and friendly relations with Joshua Bates. Ref.: Ibid.
Bates, Joshua . 3-GP in London, From Feb. 1837. GP, in England from Feb. 1837 on his fifth buying trip abroad, was Md.'s agent to sell the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal part of Md.'s $8 million bond issue. He was also head of Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-48). In the depression following the Panic of 1837, when Md.'s bonds were at a low price, GP sold his part of the Md. bonds to Joshua Bates of Baring Brothers for that firm's exclusive resale rights. GP remained in London the rest of his life (1837-69), except for three U.S. visits in 1-Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857, 2-May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867, and 3-June 8 to Sept. 29, 1869. GP founded George Peabody & Co., London (Dec. 1838-Oct. 1, 1864), continued by his Mass.-born partner Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90, father of John Pierpont Morgan, Sr. 1837-1913) as J.S. Morgan & Co. (1864-1909), continued as Morgan Grenfell & Co. (1910-18), Morgan Grenfell & Co., Ltd. (1918-90), and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990). See: Morgan, Junius Spencer.
Bates, Joshua. 4-GP Met Herman Melville at Bates's Home. In Nov. 1849 U.S. novelist Herman Melville (1819-91) was in London, on his only trip abroad, to market his manuscript, White Jacket. On Nov. 24, Melville was a dinner guest at Joshua Bates's home, East Sheen, near London. Also present were GP and Vt.-born rare book dealer and bibliographer Henry Stevens (1819-86). In his journal Melville mentioned meeting GP: "On my right was Mr. Peabody, an American for many years resident in London, a merchant, & a very fine old fellow of fifty or thereabouts." Ref.: Melville, p. 47. Leyda, p. 338. Parker, W.W., pp. 83, 126.
Bates, Joshua. 5-Herman Melville's Journal Cont'd.: "I had intended to remain over night...but Peabody invited me to accompany him to town in his carriage. I went with him, along with [John Chandler Bancroft] Davis [1822-1907], the Secty. of Legation.... Mr. Peabody was well acquainted with Gansevoort when he was here. He saw him not long before his end. He told me that Gansevoort rather shunned society when here. He spoke of him with such feeling." Gansevoort Melville (1815-46), Herman's older brother, had been U.S. legation secretary in London and had helped get his brother Herman Melville's book, Typee, published in England. GP and Henry Stevens, who both knew Gansevoort before he died in May 1846, were able to share with Herman Melville their remembrances of his late brother. Ref.: Ibid.
Bates, Joshua. 6-Bates Founded the Boston Public Library, 1852. Learning that Boston was raising funds for a public library, Joshua Bates gave $50,000 in 1852 to found the Boston Public Library. He soon after also gave the Boston Public Library 30,000 volumes, whose worth probably doubled his original gift. At his death the large hall of the Boston Public Library was named Bates Hall in his honor. Ref.: "Bates, Joshua," Vol. 1, p. 194.
Bates, Joshua. 7-GP's First Peabody Institute Library, 1852 That same year, in June 1852, GP gave $20,000, his first gift, to found his first Peabody Institute Library in South Danvers (renamed Peabody in 1868), to which he ultimately gave a total of $217,000. With his 1852 gift, GP enclosed a motto: "Education: a debt due from present to future generations." See: Danvers, Mass., Centennial Celebration, June 16, 1852.
Bates, Joshua. 8-Bates-GP Compared. Joshua Bates's 1852 gift to the Boston Public Library is said to have initiated the public library system in the U.S., although GP's library institute gift to the small town of South Danvers, 19 miles from Boston, was also made in 1852. There is no evidence that Bates's example influenced GP, who had earlier told intimates that he intended to give gifts of enlightenment to each town and city where he had lived. In the 1850s GP stood in Bates's place as the most prominent U.S. merchant-banker in London. Before his death in 1869 GP was the best known philanthropist of his time, having founded seven U.S. library institutes (the PIB, $1.4 million total, included the Peabody Conservatory of Music), the 1862 model Peabody Homes for London's working poor ($2.5 million total), and the 1867 PEF for public schools in the South ($2 million total). See: Peabody, George, Philanthropy.
Bath, England. GP occasionally went to rest in Bath, England, as in late March and early April 1862, where he received warm press accounts following his March 12, 1862, founding of the Peabody Donation Fund to build model housing for London's working poor ($2.5 million total gift). See: Peabody Homes of London.
Beals, William (d. 1916), also known as Colonel William Beals, was the Boston decorator who furbished Car No. 77, Eastern RR, carrying GP's remains from Portland, Me., to Peabody, Mass., Feb. 1, 1870. Ref.: (Obituary): New York Times, June 27, 916, p. 11, c. 4. See: Death and Funeral, GP's.
W.Va., Summer 1869
Beauregard, Pierre Gustave Toutant (1818-93). 1-Met GP, W.Va., Summer 1869. P.G.T. Beauregard was a former Confederate general from La. who by chance met, talked to, and was photographed with GP (Aug. 12, 1869), then visiting the mineral springs health spa at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Gathered there by chance were key southern and northern political, military, and educational leaders. GP, ill and three months from death, was there to rest and recuperate. He and Robert E. Lee talked, dined, walked arm in arm, were publicly applauded, and photographed with other prominent guests. Informal talks of later educational consequence took place on southern public education needs. See: Visits to the U.S. by GP. White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
Beauregard, P.G.T. 2-Career. P.G.T. Beauregard was born in St. Bernard, La., was a West Point graduate (1838), served in the Mexican War, and was supt. of West Point (Jan. 23-28, 1861), when he resigned to serve as a Confederate general. After the Civil War he was a railroad president and wrote on military subjects. Ref.: Boatner, p. 55. For details, names of prominent participants, and sources, including historic W.Va. photos taken between Aug. 15-19, 1869, see Corcoran, William Wilson. Confederate generals. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Persons named.
Beebe, James Madison (1800-75). 1- J.M. Beebe, Morgan & Co., Boston. In 1852-53, GP, often ill, was urged by business friends to take a partner in his George Peabody & Co., London, firm. Highly recommended was Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), then a partner in J.M. Beebe, Morgan & Co. of Boston. GP valued James Madison Beebe's good opinion of J.S. Morgan as a most likely partner. J.S. Morgan became GP's partner during Oct. 1, 1854, to Oct. 1, 1864. His son John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), at about age 19, began his banking career as NYC agent for George Peabody & Co., London. George Peabody & Co. was thus the root of the J.P. Morgan banking empire. See: Morgan, Junius Spencer. Morgan, Sr., John Pierpont.
Beebe, J.M. 2-Other Famous J.M. Beebe Partners. J.M. Beebe, born in Pittsfield, Mass., worked in a Boston retail dry goods store at age 16 and became the largest U.S. dry goods importer. Others besides J.S. Morgan who began with Beebe and achieved distinction included Cornelius Newton Bliss (1833-1911), who served as U.S. Secty. of the Interior in Pres. McKinley's Cabinet; and Levi Parsons Morton (1824-1920), NYC banker, U.S. Congressman, U.S. Minister to France, U.S. Vice President, and N.Y. State governor. Ref.: (J.M. Beebe): Boston Globe, Feb. 16, 1905.
Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass.
Beecher, The Rev. Charles (1815-1900). 1-Georgetown, Mass. Rev. Charles Beecher was pastor of the Congregational Church, Georgetown, Mass. (1857-70), from which 85 dissenters, including GP's sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell Daniels (1799-1879), formed a separate congregation over doctrinal differences on Jan. 17, 1864. GP's mother was born in Georgetown when it was called Rowley, Mass. At his sister's suggestion, GP built a Memorial Church for the dissenters in his mother's memory which was dedicated on Jan. 8, 1868. The $70,000 Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass., is among GP's least known gifts. See: Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass. (1867-68). Whittier, John Greenleaf.
Beecher, Charles. 2-Career. The Rev. Charles Beecher was born in Litchfield, Conn., educated at Boston Latin School, Lawrence Academy (Groton, Conn.), and at Bowdoin College (1834). He studied theology under his father, Lyman Beecher (1775-1863) at Lane Theological Seminary, Ohio; was the brother of clergyman Henry Ward Beecher (1813-87) and of author Harriet Elizabeth (née Beecher) Stowe (1811-96). The Rev. Charles Beecher was pastor of several other churches before serving the one in Georgetown, Mass. He lived in Florida (1870-77) and was state superintendent of public instruction there for two years. Ref.: Ibid.
Begging letters
Begging letters to GP. 1-1866-67. GP was deluged with begging letters toward the end of his May 1, 1866, to May 1, 1867, U.S. visit. This was his second U.S visit since his Feb. 1837 permanent move to London. The begging letters were prompted by newspaper accounts of his 17 philanthropic gifts made during 1866-67, totaling $2,310,450. He received hundreds of letters each day which his sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Daniels opened. She sent him only those of a business or personal nature. He sent a March 7, 1867, circular letter to newspaper editors stating that in strict confidence and sworn secrecy he had delegated the opening of his mail to others and had about 4,000 begging letters burned in his presence that day. Ref.: (Begging letters): New York Tribune, March 11, 1867, p. 2, c. 3. London Times, March 30, 1867, p. 5, c. 5.
Begging letters to GP. 2-GP's Gifts, 1866-67. GP's 1866-67 philanthropic gifts totaled $2,305,450: 1-$100,000 added, Peabody Institute Library, South Danvers, Sept. 22, 1866 (renamed Peabody, Mass., April 13, 1868, founded June 16, 1852, total $217,000). 2-$40,000 added, Peabody Institute Library, North Danvers (now Danvers), Mass., Sept. 22, 1866, founded Dec. 22, 1856 (total $l00,000). 3-$150,000, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard Univ., Oct. 8, 1866. 4-$150,000, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale Univ., Oct. 22, 1866. 5-$500,000 added, PIB, Oct. 19, 1866, founded Feb. 12, 1857 (total $1.4 million). 6-$25,000, Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., for math professorship, Oct. 30, 1866. 7-$20,000, Md. Historical Society publication fund, Nov. 5, 1866. 8-$25,000, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, for math and civil engineering professorships, Nov. 6, 1866.
Begging letters to GP. 3-GP's Gifts, 1866-67 (Cont'd.). 9-$5,000, Peabody Library, Thetford, Vt. 1866 (where his grandparents had lived and where he had visited at age 15 in 1810). 10-$20,000, Mass. Historical Society publication fund, Jan. 1, 1867. 11-$1 million to PEF, Feb. 7, 1867. 12-$140,000, Peabody Museum, now the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., Feb. 26, 1867. 13-$15,000, Peabody Library Association of Georgetown, D.C., April 7, 1867 (now the GP Room of the Georgetown, D.C., branch of the Public Library of Washington, D.C.). 14-$70,000, Memorial Church, Georgetown, Mass. (in his mother's memory in her hometown), 1866. 15-$30,000, Peabody Institute Library, Georgetown, Mass., 1866 (his mother's birthplace, when it was named Rowley). 16-$15,000, Peabody Library Book Fund, Newburyport, Mass., Feb. 20, 1867 (where he had worked as clerk in his oldest brother David Peabody's [1790-1841] dry goods store in 1811). 17-$450, autumn 1866, church repair, Barnstead, N.H., in the name of a resident relative. See: Eaton, Charles James Madison. Peabody's, George, Philanthropy.
Begging letters to GP. 4-June 8-Sept. 29, 1869. A greatly weakened GP made his third and last U.S. visit, June 8 to Sept. 29, 1869, to see his relatives and look after and add to his philanthropic gifts. His intimates sensed that this might well be his last visit (he died Nov. 4, 1869, five weeks after his return to London). His NYC arrival was reported in a long article in the New York Times, which evaluated the Peabody Homes of London and closed with remarks about begging letters. "Wherever he goes," the article read, "he is worried by begging letters from individuals expecting him to get them out of some scrape. When these letters go unanswered, abuse is heaped on Mr. Peabody. He was much persecuted in this way in England. Now that he is in America he should be left to the quiet and repose he so greatly needs." Ref.: New York Times, June 9, 1869, p. 5, c. 1-2.
Bell, John (1797-1869), was a graduate of Cumberland College, Nashville (1814), which was the successor to Davidson College (1785-1806), Nashville, and the predecessor of the Univ. of Nashville (1827-75), Peabody Normal College (1875-1911), GPCFT (1911-79), and PCofVU (since 1979). John Bell was born near Nashville, practiced law to 1827, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1827-41 and Speaker in 1834), U.S. Secty. of War in Pres. William Henry Harrison's (1773-1841) cabinet (1841), and U.S. Sen. (1847-59). He ran unsuccessfully as U.S. presidential candidate of the Constitutional Union Party in 1860, when Abraham Lincoln won election.
Bell, Montgomery (1769-1855), was a Tenn. ironmaster who left $20,000 in his will for a boys' school. This legacy, wisely invested, resulted in Montgomery Bell Academy, founded in 1867 as the Univ. of Nashville's preparatory school. It still exists in Nashville. Ref.: Corlew-a, pp. 58-59. Wills, p. 638.
Bell, Richard, was an Irish-born U.S. merchant friend of GP. In 1838 they lived in bachelor's quarters on Bread St., London. See: Bread St. Albert, William S.
Bell, Robert (1821-73). On GP's 1866-67 U.S. visit, he was in Montreal, Canada, July 7-8, 1866, where he attended Christ Church Cathedral; Church of the Messiah, Unitarian; and at a public levee (open house) spoke longest with Canadian MP from Russell, Ontario, Robert Bell about public affairs, Anglo-American relations, and Queen Victoria's gift to him of her portrait, being specially prepared, which he received in Washington, D.C., in March 1867. Robert Bell, believed to have been born in Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland, the son of Robert Bell and Catherine Wallace, married Margaret Waugh Buckham, had two daughters, and died in Hull, Quebec. Ref.: [Bell, Robert], Vol. X, pp. 45-46. See: Visits to Canada by GP.
U.S. Sanitary Commission
Bellows, Henry Whitney (1814-82). 1-U.S. Sanitary Commission. Henry Whitney Bellows was a Unitarian minister who helped organize and was president during 1861-65 of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Modeled in part on the British Sanitary Commission in the Crimean War (Oct. 1853-Feb. 1855), the U.S. Sanitary Commission aided sick and wounded Civil War soldiers, sailors, and their dependents. It became a federal agency, June 12, 1861. Ref.: (U.S. Sanitary Commission): Boatner, p. 720.
Bellows, H.W. 2-GP Gave $10,000 to U.S. Sanitary Commission. In the winter of 1863-64, U.S. residents in London met at Westminster Palace Hotel to collect funds for the U.S. Sanitary Commission. Among those donating funds or helping collect funds were GP; Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), GP's partner in George Peabody & Co., 1854-64; Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85), GP's Vt.-born business friend who became a naturalized British subject; and other U.S. residents in London. In May 1864, GP sent $8,000 to the U.S. Sanitary Commission, having previously sent $500 each to the U.S. Sanitary Commission fairs in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. GP's total donation was $10,000. Ref.: GP, London, to John Pendleton Kennedy, May 7, 1864, Kennedy Papers, PIB. NYC Albion, May 7, 1864, p. 224, c. 2. Anglo-American Times (London), Dec. 23, 1865, p. 8, c. 1-2.
Bellows, H.W. 3-Career. Henry Whitney Bellows was born in Boston, graduated from Harvard College (1831) and Cambridge Divinity School (1837), and was pastor of NYC's First Congregational Society, Unitarian (later All Soul's Church), during 1838-82. He helped industrialist-philanthropist Peter Cooper (1791-1883) found Cooper Union in NYC (1859). At the outbreak of the Civil War Rev. H.W. Bellows and others met at the Cooper Union to discuss Civil War military relief needs, the embryo of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. As its president during 1861-65, Rev. Bellows supervised expenditures of over $5 million in U.S. Sanitary Commission war relief and over $15 million in relief supplies. See: Civil War. U.S. Sanitary Commission. Cooper, Peter.
Belmont, August (1816-1890), was a former representative of the Rothschild banking firm of Frankfurt, Germany, and a NYC banker. He was one of over 100 prominent New Yorkers who invited GP to a public dinner by letter of Sept. 16, 1856, the day after GP's arrival in NYC during his Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit. This was GP's first return to the U.S. in nearly 20 years since leaving for London in Feb. 1837. He declined the NYC and other public dinners, explaining that he had promised to attend first the public dinner to be held for him in his hometown of South Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856. See: South Danvers, Mass., GP Celebration, Oct.. 9, 1856. Visits to the U.S. by GP.
Benbow, Camilla Persson (1956-), became PCofVU's third dean, from Aug. l998, succeeding second dean James William Pellegrino (1947-) during Jan. 1992-July. 1998; first dean Willis D. Hawley (1938-) during Oct. 15, 1980-89; and acting Dean Hardy C. Wilcoxon (1921-96) during July 1, 1979-80. Third PCofVU Dean Camilla Persson Benbow was born in Lund, Sweden, became a U.S. naturalized citizen in 1985, was educated at Johns Hopkins Univ. (B.A., Psychology, 1977; M.A., Psychology, 1978; M.S., Education, 1980; Ed.D., Gifted, l981). At Johns Hopkins Univ. she was Assoc. Research Scientist, Psychology (1981-86) and Asst. Prof., Psychology (1983-86). At Iowa State Univ. she was Psychology Prof. (1990-95), Distinguished Prof. (1995-98), Psychology Dept. Chair (1992-98), and Interim Dean, College of Education (1996-98). She has published two books and written over 100 professional articles in the field of Talented and Gifted Youths. Under Dean Benbow, April 30, 2000, PCofVU's Social-Religious Building was renamed the Faye and Joe Wyatt Center for Education, after the retiring VU chancellor and his wife, under whom the historic building's renovation took place, 1993-96 Ref.: "Iowa State's Benbow," p. 2. Vita, Dean Camilla Persson Benbow's PCofVU office. "VU honors Wyatt in concrete way," Tennessean (Nashville), April 30, 2000, p. 1B. "Faye and Joe Wyatt Center," Tennessean (Nashville), May 2, 2000, p. 8A. See: PCofVU, history of, for its six predecessor colleges and their nineteen chief administrators. Conkin, Peabody College, index.
Broken Engagement
Bend, William B. 1-GP's Engagement. William B. Bend, GP's longtime merchant friend, heard in late 1838 that GP in London was engaged to be married. He wrote teasingly from NYC, Oct. 4, 1838, to GP: "I am very busy or I would write a gossipy letter to you. There is a report in circulation here that you are going to be married. Is the story true, and if it is, who is to be the happy fair? Mr. Stell [merchant friend] I understand professes to know all about the affair. I hope it is really to take place. You will be too old if you put it off much longer." See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth.
Bend, Wm. B. 2-GP Engaged to be Married. GP was engaged to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905) in late 1838. She was said to be the most beautiful girl in Providence, R.I., from a prominent family; and a pupil of John Kingsbury (1801-74), who conducted the first R.I. high school for young women. She visited Philadelphia about 1835 where at 16 she met and was infatuated with Alexander Lardner (1808-48). They parted; he to establish himself, she to finish school and to visit London for young Queen Victoria's coronation (June 28, 1838). GP, 42, met, fell in love with, and became engaged to Esther Hoppin, 19. A 24-year difference would ordinarily loom large. But he was in his prime, a successful merchant turned banker, with fine future prospects. Men with money often married younger wives. Friends considered them a good match and encouraged the romance. Ref.: Ibid.
Bend, Wm. B. 3-Engagement Broken. Back in the U.S., Esther again met Alexander Lardner. Their past romance rekindled. She broke her engagement to GP and returned his gifts through an intermediary. William B. Bend, following his Oct. 4, 1838, teasing letter, congratulated GP again on Feb. 10, 1839. Eight days later he received GP's delayed Jan. 26, 1839, letter telling of the broken engagement. Chagrined and touched, Bend apologized for his teasing letters, stating that he had not known of the disappointment, and wrote sympathetically to GP (Feb. 18, 1839):
Bend, Wm. B. 4-Bend Sympathized: "My dear Peabody, I have this morning received your favour of the 26th ulto. and with my wife, grieve sincerely and deeply over its melancholy intelligence. Having myself experienced a misfortune, somewhat similar to that which has fallen you, and remember most distinctly now, though twenty years have since elapsed, the agony which I endured, I feel the more called on and the more adequate to sympathize with you, than I otherwise should do. Then in the true spirit of friendship do I offer to you my heartfelt condolence. I share in the anguish of your feelings, at the blighting of hopes so fondly cherished, at the crushing of expectations, so warmly, so sanguinely indulged in.... The pangs of despised love, though poignant must be resisted. The balmy effects of time, and the natural elasticity and recuperative energy of the human character, will afford you great relief, and I hope to see you here in the Summer quite yourself again." Ref.: Ibid.
Bend, Wm. B. 5-Hoppin Married Lardner. Esther Elizabeth Hoppin married Alexander Lardner, Oct. 2, 1840. They moved to Philadelphia where he was a cashier in the Bank of the U.S. They had two children. When Lardner died in 1848, age 40, GP's NYC business friend John Cryder, who knew of the broken engagement, learned of Lardner's death, and wrote to GP (Jan. 27, 1848): "Poor Lardner died in Phila. a few days since leaving his young & interesting widow with two children & about $20,000. He was an excellent man & his death is much lamented." Esther Elizabeth (Hoppin) Lardner died in 1905, outliving GP by 35 years and her husband by 57 years. Ref.: Ibid.
Bend, Wm. B. 6-1849. In early 1849 Bend, wanting to establish an insurance company, asked GP to join him by investing some capital. GP apparently declined by letter of Jan. 12, 1849. Bend was piqued and wrote GP on Feb. 6, 1849: "Your favor of the 12th ulto. is so disappointing...I am afraid you are too busy to serve me effectually.... You do not appear to have made any applications in my behalf, nor even to have thought of my suggestion in regard to Life, Annuity, Legacy, purchasing Companies. If the days of poetry are not past with you, these lines may meet your acceptance...." Bend continued, "You late lake [lack] rest, and eat the bread of watchfulness, work till nine o'clock at night! Do not leave your business five days in five years!... To what purpose, for whose good? If like me you had, instead of wanting a family, wanted an independent fortune, I could understand the case. But I suppose you will imitate the noble example of Mr. Smithson, and benefit posterity by the endowment of some charitable benevolent or literary institution, from your industry, skill and character...." Ref.: William B. Bend, NYC, to GP, Feb. 6, 1849, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Bennett, James Gordon (l795-l872), was born in Keith, Scotland; came to the U.S. in 1819; was Washington, D.C., correspondent of the NYC Enquirer, assistant editor of the NYC Courier and Enquirer (1829-32); and founder, editor, and reporter of the New York Herald (1835), landmark U.S. newspaper in publishing sensational news. Bennett's New York Herald coverage of GP during his Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit was often critical and sarcastic. See: Corcoran, William Wilson. Morgan, Junius Spencer. Visits to the U.S. by GP.
Benyon, William, Sir, was the Peabody Trust chairman who participated in the "Bicentenary Service of Thanksgiving for the Life and Work of George Peabody, 1795-1869," in London's Westminster Abbey, Nov. 16, 1995. See: GP Bicentennial Celebrations (Feb. 18, 1795-1995).
Berlin, Univ. of. Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99) attended the German universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, and Breslau in 1863-65, preparing at his uncle GP's expense for a career as the first U.S. paleontology professor at Yale Univ. and the second such professor in the world. See: Marsh, Othniel Charles.
Berlioz, Hector (1803-69), was a famed French music composer whose only pupil, Copenhagen-born Asger Hamerik (1843-1923), became the long-tenured director of the PIB Academy (later Conservatory) of Music, from July 11, 1871, to 1898, for 27 years. See: Hamerik, Asger. PIB.
Bermuda. The route of the British warship HMS Monarch, accompanied by the American USS Plymouth, returning GP's remains to the U.S., was from Portsmouth harbor, England, on Dec. 11, 1869, to nearby Spithead Harbor to await the end of a storm. The ships left Spithead on Dec. 21, 1869, went to Funchall Bay off Madeira, Spain, to take on coal, sailed west on Jan. 2, 1870, to Bermuda where the ships took on provisions and dispatches, then headed north to reach Portland, Maine, on Jan. 25, 1870. See: Death and funeral, GP's.
Bicentennial Celebrations of GP's (1795-1869) birth (Feb. 18, 1795-Feb. 18, 1995). For details of programs at 1-Yale Univ., 2-London's Westminster Abbey, 3-Peabody Institute Library in Danvers, Mass., and elsewhere, with sources, See: GP Bicentennial Celebrations.
Loyalty Attacked
Bigelow, John (1817-1911). 1-Attacked GP's Union Loyalty. Wallace and Gillespie, eds., Journal of Benjamin Moran, II, p. 933, note 16, stated: "A confidential letter from John Bigelow, Consul-General in Paris, to Secretary Seward [Secty. of State William Henry Seward (1801-72)] of July 17, 1862, stated that Peabody and Company were exaggerating Federal reverses to augment a panic over the safety of European investments in United States securities in order to accelerate their liquidation, in which transactions the bank was making a fortune." (Note: Wallace and Gillespie have this note on John Bigelow because he was frequently mentioned in U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran's [1820-86] journal). Ref.: Wallace and Gillespie, eds., II, p. 933, note 16.
Bigelow, John. 2-Attacked GP's Union Loyalty Cont'd. "Bigelow said he had, in person, heard George Peabody doing this…. Motley [John Lothrop Motley (1814-77), then U.S. Minister to Austria during 1861-67] wrote Bigelow that the Barings were all secessionists except Joshua Bates…. Henry [Brooks] Adams [1838-1918], however, in the Education [of Henry Adams] speaks of the loyalty of Peabody and the Barings." Ref.: Ibid.
Bigelow, John. 3-Was Bigelow Reliable? A biographical sketch of John Bigelow stated: "his charge, later elaborated in Lest We Forget (1905) and the Retrospections, that Gladstone subscribed to the Confederate cotton loan appears to have been unfounded (E.D. Adams, Great Britain and the American Civil War, 1925, II, 163)." (Note: John Bigelow wrote Lest We Forget in 1905 and Retrospections of an Active Life, 5 vols., 1903-13. Civil War passions were inflamed, July 17, 1862, when Bigelow charged GP as a Confederate sympathizer. Fearing British and French aid to the Confederate states, some minor diplomats, as Consul in Paris Bigelow was then, in error or to curry favor, sometimes magnified rumors in dispatches to Washington, D.C.). Ref.: "Bigelow, John…," pp. 258-259.
Bigelow, John. 4-Career. Born in Malden, N.Y., Bigelow graduated from Union College (1835), was a lawyer, afterwards a journalist, an inspector of Sing Sing prison (1845-46), an editor of the NYC Evening Post (1849-61), U.S. Consul Gen. in Paris (1861-64), U.S. Minister to France (1864-67), Secty. of N.Y. State (1875-77), a leading NYC Public Library trustee, an author and editor of the Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin, 1888. Bigelow offered no evidence or proof of his charge against GP. The onset of the Civil War was politically and financially tempestuous. European investors, initially uncertain which side would win, sold their U.S. securities. Resumption did not occur until Union victory was assured in 1864. See: Civil War and GP.
Bigelow, John. 5-Unsubstantiated Charges Repeated. Bigelow's unsubstantiated charge was repeated (without evidence or proof) by newspaper owner-editor Samuel Bowles (1826-78) in his Springfield [Mass.] Daily Republican, Oct. 27, 1866. Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), poet and Abraham Lincoln biographer, quoted Samuel Bowles's criticism of GP and GP's partner Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) as follows: "Of the international bankers Peabody & Morgan, sturdy Samuel Bowles said in the Springfield [Mass.] that their agencies in New York and London had induced during the war a flight of capital from America." Sandburg quoted Bowles: '"They [GP and Morgan] gave us no faith and no help in our struggle for national existence.... No individuals contributed so much to flooding the money markets with evidence of our debts to Europe, and breaking down their prices and weakening financial confidence in our nationality, and none made more money by the operation.'" Bigelow's 1861 charge and Bowles's 1866 charge were repeated in Gustavus Myers' History of Great American Fortunes, 1910, 1936; Matthew Josephson's The Robber Barons, 1934, and in Leland DeWitt Baldwin's The Stream of American History, 1952. Refs. below.
Bigelow, John. 6-Ref.: (Civil War halt of sale of U.S. securities abroad, 1861-64): Corey, pp. 74-76; and Schuchert and LeVene, p. 75. Ref.: (Bowles's charges against GP): Springfield [Mass.] Daily Republican, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 4, c. 2; repeated in Springfield [Mass.] Semi-Weekly Republican. Oct. 27, 1866, p. 4, c. 2; and in Springfield [Mass.] Weekly Republican, Nov. 3, 1866, p. 2, c.5; quoted in New York Times, Oct. 31, 1866, p. 4, c. 7; repeated in Sandburg-a, Abraham Lincoln, 1939, III, pp. 124-125; in Josephson, p. 60; in Myers, Vol. 1, p. 59; and Vol. 3, pp. 149-152; and in Baldwin, II, p. 121. For other GP critics with sources, see Civil War and GP. Felt, Charles Wilson. Garrison, William Lloyd. McIlvaine, Charles Pettit. Moran, Benjamin. Weed, Thurlow. Other persons named above.
Biographies of GP. See: Peabody, George, Biographies of. In References at end of book, see Chapple, William Dismore. Hanaford, Phebe Ann. Parker, Franklin. Wilson, Philip Whitwell.
Bishop, Bernice Pauahi Paki, Mrs. (1831-1883). See: Bishop, Charles Reed (1822-1915), immediately below.
GP’s influence on Charles Reed Bishop, Philanthropist in Hawaii
Bishop, Charles Reed (1822-1915). 1-Hawaiian Marriage. Charles Reed Bishop, born in Glenn Falls, N.Y., was an orphan living with his grandparents. He worked in a country store, was a farm hand, and sailed from Newburyport, Mass., around Cape Horn toward Oregon but rested en route in Honolulu, Hawaii, for months. He returned there, remaining from 1846 as clerk in the U.S. Consulate and as Collector General of Customs (1849). He met, fell in love with, and married Hawaiian Princess Bernice Pauahi Paki (1831-1883), great-granddaughter of warrior chief Kamehameha I (c1758-1819), who united the Hawaiian Islands, 1810. She had been a student in the Cooke mission school (which Bishop often visited), founded in 1837 by Mass.-born Protestant missionary teacher Amos Starr Cooke (1810-71) and his wife Juliette Montague Cooke (1812-86), soon named the Chief’s Children’s School and later the Royal School. Ref.: g. Internet under "Bishop Estate's first trustees played key role in overthrow," URL: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/2000/Mar/12/opinion6.html
Bishop, C.R.. 2-Bishops as Philanthropists. From her inherited landed wealth, Mrs. Bishop created in her will the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, a perpetual trust (current assets $6 billion) that funded the Kamehameha Schools (since 1887), which has since graduated 19,000 young Hawaiians. From his banking, real estate, and other incomes her husband Charles Reed Bishop founded the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu, as a memorial to his wife. It remains Hawaii's most important museum. He also founded other charitable endeavors. Ref.: Ibid.
Bishop, C.R.. 3-Why C.R. Bishop Gave. Bishop's biographer Harold W. Kent explained the C.R. Bishop's philanthropic motive as follows: "William R. Castle [a friend] was walking home from a meeting with Bishop one night , and the subject of philanthropy came up. He [Castle] relates that 'Bishop stated, he never liked to give, and that it was only with reluctance that he made donations. However, he had recently read something of the life of George Peabody and had come to the conclusion that it was wiser and better to dispose of wealth while alive than to leave it by will.'" Ref.: Kent, p. 297-298.
Bishop, C.R.. 4-GP's Quotations which Influenced Bishop-1. Biographer Kent listed these two GP quotations which influenced Bishop: "When aches and pains came upon me, I realized I was not immortal. I became anxious to use my millions for the greatest good of humanity. I found that there were men in life just as anxious to help the poor and destitute as I was to make money. I called in friends in whom I had confidence and asked them to be trustees for my first gift. They accepted. For the first time I felt a higher pleasure and greater happiness than making money--that of giving it away for good purposes." (Note: GP's words to Johns Hopkins, 1867, as reported by Garrett, John Work [1820-84]. Also See: Hopkins, Johns). Ref.: Ibid.
Bishop C.R.. 5-GP's Quotations which Influenced Bishop-2. "I have prayed my Heavenly Father day by day that I might be enabled before I died, to show my gratitude by doing some great good to my fellowmen." [Inscribed on a tablet in the floor of Westminster Abbey]. (Note: from Robert Charles Winthrop's Feb. 8, 1870, Eulogy at GP's final funeral. See Winthrop, Robert Charles. Westminster Abbey. Death and funeral, GP's [entry 174]). Ref.: Ibid.
Bishop C.R.. 6-Similar Experiences. Biographer Kent added the following on why Bishop was influenced by GP: "It was not only the quotations that moved Bishop; the life of George Peabody which was very familiar to him, was a remarkable parallel to his own. Both were born poor. School was over for both of them at the end of eighth grade. Both worked as clerk-bookkeepers in the general store of a relative. Both organized companies for trade." Biographer Kent concluded with: "Bishop's philanthropy, the greatest that the islands have ever seen, was induced from the biographical sketch of a distinguished American mercantilist…" Ref.: Ibid.
Bishop of London preached the sermon at Westminster Abbey, London, Sunday, Nov. 14, 1869, following the Westminster Abbey funeral service for GP on Nov. 12, 1869. See: Death and Funeral, GP's.
Description of GP's Death
Bismarck, Otto von (1815-98). 1-German Chancellor. Otto von Bismarck was the German chancellor to whom U.S. Minister to Britain John Lothrop Motley (1814-77) wrote describing GP's death. Motley wrote Bismarck on Nov. 7, 1869: "Our great philanthropist George Peabody is just dead. I knew him well and saw him several times during his last illness. It made him happy, he said, as he lay on his bed, to think that he had done some good to his fellow-creatures." (Note: Motley earlier officially informed U.S. Secty of State Hamilton Fish of GP's death: Ref.: John Lothrop Motley to U.S. Secty of State Hamilton Fish, Nov. 6, 1869, Dispatch No. 142, "Dispatches from United States Minister, Great Britain," National Archives, Washington, D.C.)
Bismarck, Otto von. 2-Motley to Bismarck Cont'd.: "I suppose no man in human history ever gave away so much money. "At least two millions of pounds sterling, and in cash, he bestowed on great and well-regulated charities, founding institutions in England and America which will do good so long as either nation exists. He has never married, has no children, but he has made a large number of nephews and nieces rich. He leaves behind him (after giving away so much), I dare say, about half a million sterling." Ref.: (Motley to Bismarck): Nov. 7, 1869, quoted in Motley, III, p. 233. For other details and sources, see Death and Funeral, GP's.
GP at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., July 23-Aug. 30, 1869
Blacque Bey, Edouard (1824-95). 1-With GP, W.Va., Summer 1869. Edouard Blacque Bey was the Turkish Minister to the U.S. who met, spoke to, and was photographed with GP (Aug. 12), then visiting the mineral springs health spa at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., July 23-Aug. 30, 1869. Gathered there by chance were key southern and northern political, military, and educational leaders. These included 1-Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-70, then president, Washington College, Lexington, Va., renamed Washington and Lee Univ., 1871); 2-GP's Washington, D.C., business friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888); 3-Turkish Minister to the U.S. Edouard Blacque Bey; 4-Tenn. Supt. of Public Instruction and later U.S. Commissioner of Education John Eaton (1829-1906); 5-PEF first administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80); 6-Howard College, Ala., Pres. Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (1825-1903, and later second PEF administrator); 7-seven other former Civil War generals; and others. See: Corcoran, William Wilson. Confederate Generals. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Persons named. Visits to the U.S. by GP.
Blacque Bey, Edouard. 2-GP and Lee Arm in Arm. GP, ill and three months from death, was there to rest and recuperate. But he and Robert E. Lee talked, dined, walked arm in arm, and were publicly applauded. Spurning lucrative offers after Appomattox, Lee became president of a struggling Va. college. GP's June 29, 1869, gift doubling to $2 million his PEF to aid public education in the 11 former Confederate states plus W.Va. was hailed in the press. Historic photos were taken (Aug. 12) and informal talks of later educational consequence took place on southern public education needs. Ref.: Ibid.
Blacque Bey, Edouard. 3-Journalist and Diplomat. Born of French parents in Istanbul, Blacque Bey was the grandson of a lawyer and the son of a journalist. At age eight or nine he was sent to study at Saint-Barbe College, Paris. He returned to Istanbul in 1842 at age 18, was appointed a government translator, was editor of the semi-official newspaper in French, Courrier de Constantinople, 1846. Fluent in Turkish, French, Italian, and English, his diplomatic posts included Attaché and then First Secretary in Turkey's Paris Embassy, 1853; Turkish Consul in Naples, Italy, 1860; Chargé d' Affairs at the newly opened Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., 1866; and Turkish Minister to the U.S., 1866-73. He was Director, Press Dept., Istanbul, 1876; Member of the State Council, 1878; Director, Sixth Municipal Dept., Istanbul, 1878-90; Ambassador to Bucharest, 1890; and again Director, Sixth Municipal Dept., Istanbul, 1891-95. He was honored with diplomatic medals from several countries. Ref.: Koçu, Vol. 5, n. pp. 2834-2835.
Blackfriars, London, was one of several dining facilities where GP held his July 4th and other U.S.-British friendship dinners. It may have been the Black Friar, 174 Queen St., EC4, on the site of the Blackfriar Monastery of the Dominican Order (founded 1221). See: Dinners, GP's, London. Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond. Willis's Rooms.
Blackwall, London, or Blackwall's, was another dining facility where GP held U.S.-British friendship dinners on June 17 and July 4, 1852, and perhaps other times. See: Dinners, GP's, London.
Pres. Johnson's Proposed Cabinet Change
Blair, Francis Preston, Sr. (1791-1876). 1-Proposed Pres. Johnson Cabinet Change. Francis Preston Blair, Sr., was U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson's (1808-75) political advisor when both had contact with GP in early 1867. Pres. Johnson faced impeachment by hostile radical Republicans in Congress angered by his conciliatory policy toward the former Confederate states. To avoid impeachment, Pres. Johnson's political advisor, Francis Preston Blair, Sr., advised a complete change of cabinet, with GP as Treasury Secty. But loyalty to his cabinet kept Johnson from this course. For the eight names proposed in the Cabinet reshuffle, See: Andrew, John Albion. Congressional Gold Medal and Resolutions of Praise to GP.
Blair, F. P., Sr. 2-Pres. Johnson Called on GP. A GP-Pres. Johnson meeting followed announcement of GP's Feb. 7, 1867, letter founding the PEF ($2 million total, 1867-69). PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) read that letter aloud in an upper room at Willard's Hotel, Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 1867, to 10 of the 16 original trustees at their first meeting. Wide, favorable press reports followed. The next day, Feb. 9, 1867, Pres. Johnson, his secretary, Col. William George Moore (1829-93), and three others, called on GP at his Willard's Hotel rooms. Ref.: Ibid.
Blair, F.P. 3-With GP at Willard's Hotel. With GP at the time were PEF trustees Robert Charles Winthrop, Episcopal Bishop of Ohio Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), and former S.C. Gov. William Aiken (1806-87); along with GP's business friend Samuel Wetmore (1812-85), his wife, and their son; GP's nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909), George Washington Riggs (1813-81), and three others. Ref.: Ibid. See: persons named.
Blair, F.P. 4-GP-Pres. Johnson Exchanges. Pres. Johnson took GP by the hand (GP was 72 and ill) and said he had thought he would find GP alone, that he called simply as a private citizen to thank GP for his PEF gift to aid public education in the South, that he thought the gift would help unite the country, that he was glad to have a man like GP representing the U.S. in England, and invited GP to visit him in the White House. With emotion, GP thanked Pres. Johnson, said that this meeting was one of the greatest honors of his life, that he knew the president's political course would be in the country's best interest, that England from the Queen downward felt only goodwill toward the U.S., that he thought in a few years the country would rise above its divisions to become happier and more powerful. Ref.: Ibid.
Blair, F.P. 5-GP at the White House. GP called on Pres. Johnson in the Blue Room, White House, April 25, 1867, before his May 1, 1867, return to London. They spoke of the work of the PEF. With GP at the White House were B&O RR Pres. John Work Garrett (1820-84) and Samuel Wetmore's 16-year-old son. GP told Pres. Johnson of young Wetmore's interest in being admitted to West Point and Pres. Johnson said he would do what he could for the young man. Francis Preston Blair, Sr., was born in Abingdon, Va.; was a journalist and politician who established the Congressional Globe (later the Congressional Record), which published the daily proceedings in the U.S. Congress; and political supporter of Presidents Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson. Blair's Washington, D.C., home is owned by the Federal government, called the Blair House, near the White House. Ref.: Ibid.
Eulogy from France
Blanc, Louis (1811-82). 1-GP Eulogy. French Socialist politician and journalist who, prompted by an invitation from the GP funeral arrangements committee, Peabody, Mass., sent the following eulogy on GP's death: "The death of...George Peabody...is a public calamity, in which the whole civilized world ought to share. I feel...bound...to mourn, for the illustrious American whose life was of such value to the most needy of his fellow-men. "It is but natural...that his mortal remains should be committed to...Westminster Abbey, to be sent...in a ship of war to his native land.... There should be for men of [his] stamp...homage better calculated to show how little, compared to them, are most kings, princes, noblemen, renowned diplomats, world-famed conquerors." Ref.: London Times, Dec. 13, 1869, p. 6, c. 2. Hanaford, pp. 241-242.
Blanc, Louis. 2-GP Eulogy Cont'd.: "The number of mourners...[at the Abbey], their silent sorrow, the tears shed by so many...of London, the readiness of the shopkeepers [in] closing their shops and lowering their blinds,--these were the homages...due one whose title in history will be...--the friend of the poor." Louis Blanc. French writer and novelist Victor-Marie Hugo, also invited to send a statement, sent a eulogy. Ref.: Ibid. See: Death and funeral, GP's. Hugo, Victor-Marie.
Bloodgood, J.H., was a NYC banker at 22 William St. who attempted to collect funds for a GP statue in NYC's Central Park on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 1869 (after GP's Nov. 4, 1869, death in London). An association for this purpose was formed, funds were raised, a subscription list was published. But this effort failed; the main reason later given was that the mounting international GP funeral honors offended believers in republican simplicity. No GP statue materialized in NYC. See: Death and Funeral, GP's.
Peabody Genealogy
Boadie. 1-Interest in Peabody Family Origin. Engaged to be married in late 1838 to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905), GP wanted to know his family history. He asked younger cousin Adolphus W. Peabody to learn about their forebears through family patriarch Joseph Peabody (1757-1844) of Salem, Mass., who had once owned 83 clipper ships engaged in Far Eastern trade. Not dreaming that Esther Hoppin would break off the engagement about Jan. 1839, Adolphus dutifully sent GP what was known about the family origins. See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth.
Boadie. 2-Heraldry Office, London. Family history notes from the Heraldry Office, London, indicated that their family name originated in 61 A.D. from Queen Boadicia, whose husband reigned in Icena, Britain, and was vassal to Roman Emperor Nero. Queen Boadicia's husband died and left half his wealth to Nero. Nero seized all of it. When Queen Boadicia objected, Nero had her whipped. Queen Boadicia and a kinsman named Boadie led an unsuccessful revolt against Rome. She took her life with poison. Boadie fled to Wales. Ref.: Ibid.
Boadie. 3-Boadicia Origin of Peabody. Boadie in the Cambrian tongue meant "man" or "great man," while Pea meant 'hill" or 'mountain." By this account Peabodie meant "mountain man" or "great man of the mountain." The coat of arms for the Peabodys, Adolphus related, was given by King Arthur shortly after the battle on the River Douglas. Relating all this to GP by letter on Jan. 14, 1838 [note: possibly 1839], Adolphus W. Peabody added: "So with all these numbers and folios, if you are curious thereabout the next time you go over, you can see if it be a recorded derivation of our patronymic or not.... You have the garb, crest, and scroll etc. (enclosed). [Joseph] says, I have heard my mother say a great many things in this way. She mostly had her information from our paternal grandmother. Sophronia [Adolphus' sister] can tell you as much as you can well listen of a long day." Ref.: Ibid.
Boadie. 4-Boadicia Origin of Peabody Disputed. C.M. Endicott's A Genealogy of the Peabody Family, 1867, repeated the Queen Boadicia origin of the Peabody family name. Charles Henry Pope's Peabody Genealogy, 1909, disagreed. Pope held that when English surnames were crystallized in the 14th century, "Paybody" referred to trustworthy men who paid servants, creditors, and employees of barons, manufacturers, or public officials. They were selected by character and ability as paymasters or paying-tellers. Pope stated that the Latin motto of the Peabody coat of arms, Murus aereus conscientia sana, meant "A sound conscience is a wall of bronze," or since the Romans thought of bronze as a hard metal, "A sound conscience is a solid wall of defense." Ref.: Ibid.
Bologna, Italy. GP's second European buying trip of some 15 months was made April 1830-Aug. 15, 1831, with an unknown American friend. They went by carriage and with frequent change of horses covered some 10,000 miles in England, France, Italy (including Bologna), and Switzerland. For details and source, see Daniel, Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell (GP's sister).
Bonaparte, Jerome Napoleon (1805-1870), was a member of the famed Bonaparte family. He was born in England, came to the U.S., graduated from Harvard College, studied law but did not practice law while he lived on inherited wealth in Baltimore, where he died. GP is said to have sold a carriage for this Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte. Ref.: "Bonaparte, Jerome Napoleon," p. 311.
Bonaparte, Napoleon I (1769-1821). A celebration in Washington, D.C., on June 5, 1813, marked the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in his Russian campaign. Somervell S. Mackall, Early Days of Washington, 1899, p. 270, published 30 years after GP's death, stated that "the principal dinner-room was decorated by the taste of George Peabody of this town." GP was then age 18 and had for one year managed a dry goods store in Georgetown, D.C., and was an itinerant pack peddler in the area. He and his paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-1827) had left Newburyport, Mass., May 4, 1812, had opened the store in Georgetown, D.C., on May 15, 1812. GP was in charge of the store, as his uncle developed other business interests. He may have sold goods used in the decorations, assisted in the decoration, and possibly been in charge of decorating this affair. Ref.: Mackall, p. 270.
Bonaparte, Napoleon III (1808-73). GP and PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) were received in Paris at the court of King Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte) and Empress Eugénie (1826-1920) on or about March 16, 1868. See: Corcoran, William Wilson. Other persons named. Pope Pius. San Spirito Hospital, Rome, Italy.
Boston Courier. In early March 1861 an anonymous letter writer in Boston and NYC newspapers stated that in his opinion Civil War would be good for business. When some news editors inferred that the unknown letter writer might be GP, he wrote to the Boston Courier editor, March 8, 1861: "I do not know who wrote this letter. My remarks would be the opposite. The threat of war has already lost the European market for United States securities. Concession and compromise alone would reinstate our credit abroad. I hope conciliation will prove successful. If not and war comes it will destroy the credit of North and South alike in Europe. Worse, our prestige and pride will disappear. Second rate powers may insult our flag with impunity and first rate powers wipe away the Monroe Doctrine. May Providence prevent this." See: Civil War and GP.
Boston Harbor Warren Prison. Confederate emissaries James Murray Mason of Va. (1798-1871), John Slidell (1793-1871) of La., and their male secretaries, on their way to raise funds and arms in England and France, were forcibly removed from the British mail ship Trent on Nov. 8, 1861, and taken to Warren Prison, Boston Harbor. Pres. Abraham Lincoln's cabinet met Dec. 26, 1861, disavowed the action, and the four Confederates were released on Jan. 1, 1862. U.S.-British friction over the Trent Affair delayed announcement until March 12, 1862, of GP's gift of model apartments for London's working poor ($2.5 million total gift). See: Peabody Homes of London. TrentAffair.
Boston Musical Festival, June 1869. GP, then age 74, was weak and ill on his last U.S. visit, June 8 to Sept. 29, 1869. He first stayed with his sister's family in Salem, Mass. (Mrs. Judith Dodge née Peabody Russell Daniel, 1799-1879). Learning that Boston was holding a Peace Jubilee and Music Festival, GP in mid June quietly attended the music festival and listened to the choral music. He was recognized. At intermission Boston Mayor Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff (1810-74) announced GP's presence which brought "a perfect storm of applause." See: Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet.
Boston Post, July-Aug. 1854. GP's July 4, 1854, dinner in London honoring incoming U.S. Minister to Britain James Buchanan (1791-1868) was marred when Buchanan's jingoistic U.S. London Legation Secty. Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914) objected to GP's toast to Queen Victoria before one to the U.S. President. Sickles sat red-gorged in anger while others stood, and then walked out in protest. Sickles fanned the controversy by attacking GP's patriotism in a letter to the Boston Post, July 21, 1854, p. 2, c. 1. He charged GP with "toadying" to the English. GP recorded the facts in a letter to the Boston Post, verified by 25 Americans present at the dinner who wrote the Boston Post editor: "The undersigned have read Mr. Peabody's letter to the Boston Post of Aug. 16, 1854, and without hesitation affirm as true the events described by Mr. Peabody." See: Barnard, Henry. Sickles, Daniel Edgar.
Boston Public Library was founded in 1852 by donations from Joshua Bates (1788-1864), born in Weymouth, Mass., and London resident director of the Baring Brothers banking firm with whom GP had dealings. That same year, GP's May 26, 1852, letter from London, read at the June 16, 1852, Danvers, Mass., Centennial Celebration, founded the first Peabody Institute Library, Danvers (renamed South Danvers and then Peabody, Mass. on April 13, 1868). See: Bates, Joshua.
Bowie, Oden (1826-94), was Md. governor (during Jan. 13, 1869 to Jan. 10, 1872) who on Feb. 19, 1870, after the delivery of GP's remains to Portland, Me. (Jan. 25-Feb. 1, 1870), entertained HMS Monarch's Capt. John E. Commerell (1829-1901) and U.S. Navy Secty. George Maxwell Robeson (1829-97). Ref.: Sobel and Raimo, eds., II, p. 670. See: Death and Funeral, GP's.
Bowlby, Rt. Rev. Ronald Oliver (1926-), a leader in British low-income housing improvement, gave the main address at the "Bicentenary Service of Thanksgiving for the Life and Work of George Peabody, 1795-1869," in London's Westminster Abbey, Nov. 16, 1995. A graduate of Eton College and Trinity College, Oxford Univ., the Rt. Rev. R.O. Bowlby was curate and vicar of several churches before becoming Asst. Bishop, Diocese of Lichfield (since 1991). Ref.: New York Times, July 16, 1995, section XIII-CN, p. 17, c. 1. (Career): Seen Dec. 9, 1999: Internet http://www.knowuk.co.uk See: GP Bicentennial Celebrations (Feb. 18, 1795-1995).
Loyalty Attacked Again
Bowles, Samuel (1826-78). 1-GP Charged as Confederate Sympathizer. Samuel Bowles was the owner and editor of the Springfield Republican (Mass.), started by his father, Samuel Bowles (1797-1851), which the son made into one of the best known newspapers in the U.S. By urging the union of all antislavery groups into one party, Bowles helped establish the Republican Party. He supported Pres. Lincoln and opposed Radical Republicans bent on punishing the South after Pres. Lincoln's assassination. Bowles's attacks on Civil War financial corruption approached muckraking intensity. His unsubstantiated charge against GP and his partner Junius S. Morgan (1813-90) on Oct. 27, 1866 as pro-Confederate Civil War profiteers echoed an earlier unsubstantiated charge made in 1862 by U.S. Consul General in Paris John Bigelow (1817-1911). See: Bigelow, John (above). Civil War and GP.
Bowles, Samuel. 2-"S.P.Q.," Oct. 25, 1866. Samuel Bowles's editorial attack agreed with an anti-GP charge made by an anonymous "S.P.Q." the night GP spoke at the PIB dedication and opening on Oct. 25, 1866. In the NYC Evening Post that same date "S.P.Q." wrote: "Mr. Peabody goes about from place to place inhaling the incense so many are willing to offer him. While Americans at home gave and did their utmost for their country in wartime, what was Mr. Peabody doing? He was making money, piling up profits, adding to his fortune. And what did he do with his gain? Did he use money made in war against those seeking to destroy this country? Did he raise and clothe a single recruit? Did he give anything to the Sanitary Commission? Did he lend the government any part of his millions? While making up his mind he did something he thought worthier--gave several hundred thousands to the poor of London and got a letter of thanks from the Queen. Many a poor fellow from simple patriotism gave all he had, his life. That man gave more than George Peabody and all his money...." Ref.: NYC Albion, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 511, c. 1. NYC Evening Post, Oct. 25, 1866, p. 2, c. 2. New York Times, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 5, c. 1-2.
Bowles, Samuel. 3-Bowles Agreed with "S.P.Q." Bowles's editorial, Springfield [Mass.] Daily Republican, stated (Oct. 27, 1866): "For all who knew anything on the subject knew very well that he [GP] and his partners in London gave us no faith and no help in our struggle for our national existence. They participated in the full to the common English distrust of our cause, and our success, and talked and acted for the South rather than for the Nation. Ref.: (Bowles's charges against GP): Springfield [Mass.] Daily Republican, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 4, c. 2; repeated in Springfield [Mass.] Semi-Weekly Republican, same date, same p. and c.; repeated in Springfield [Mass.] Weekly Republican, Nov. 3, 1866, p. 2, c. 5.; and quoted in New York Times, Oct. 31, 1866, p. 4, c. 7.
Bowles, Samuel. 4-Bowles Agreed with "S.P.Q." Cont'd.: "American-born and American-bred, the financial representatives of America in England, they [GP and partner Junius S. Morgan] were thus guilty of a grievous error in judgment, and a grievous weakness of the heart. They swelled the popular feeling of doubt abroad, and speculated upon it. Through no house were so many American securities--railroad, State and national--sent home for sale as by them. No individuals contributed so much to flooding our money markets with the evidences of our debt in Europe, and breaking down their prices and weakening financial confidence in our nationality as George Peabody and Co.; and none made more money by the operation." Ref.: Ibid.
Bowles, Samuel. 5-Bowles's Criticism Repeated. Bowles's anti-GP editorial was damaging. It appeared in a prestigious newspaper from GP's home state (Mass.). It was also repeated uncritically and without substantiating evidence by 1-poet and Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) in his Abraham Lincoln; in 2-writer Gustavus Myers's History of Great American Fortunes, 1910, 1936; in 3-writer Matthew Josephson's The Robber Barons, 1934; and 4-in historian Leland DeWitt Baldwin's The Stream of American History, 1952. See: Civil War and GP. Felt, Charles Wilson. Garrison, William Lloyd. McIlvaine, Charles Pettit. Moran, Benjamin. Persons named. Weed, Thurlow.
Boyhood, GP's. For GP's apprenticeship, 1807-11, ages 12-16, with sources, see Sylvester Proctor. For GP's winter 1810 (age 15) visit to relatives in N.H. and Vt., with sources, see Concord, N.H.
Bradford, Edward Anthony (1814-72), one of the 16 original PEF trustees, was born in Conn. Of the Mayflower Bradfords, graduated from Yale with distinction, studied law at Harvard (Charles Sumner, 1811-74, was one of his classmates), went to La. in 1836 to practice law, joined a New Orleans law firm (1854), and was a stockholder of the La. National Bank. U.S. Pres. Millard Fillmore nominated him as U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice but believing him pro-north, U.S. senate southerners organized a vote against his confirmation. For health reasons he went to Paris, France, where he died. At a Dec. 21, 1872, New Orleans Bar Association meeting, held in his memory, Judge J.N. Lea, who had been a partner in Bradford's law firm, said: "Perhaps no person who has ever practiced at this bar had higher conceptions of his professional obligations and duties than Mr Bradford." E.A. Bradford was succeeded as PEF trustee by Richard Taylor (1826-79), son of Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), 12th U.S. President during 1848-50. Richard Taylor was born near Louisville, Ky., was a Yale graduate (1845), a La. planter, and a Confederate brigadier general (from Oct. 1861). Ref.: Curry-b, pp. 19, 73. (Bradford's career): Landry.
Educating Relatives
Bradford Academy, Bradford, Mass. 1-Intro. During 1819-20s GP paid for the education at Bradford Academy (now Bradford College), Bradford, Mass., of six of his younger family members. He later paid for the education of two nephews: Othniel Charles Marsh (1832-99) at Phillips Academy, Mass., Yale, Conn., and German universities, who became a famous scientist; and George Peabody Russell (1835-1909) at Phillips Academy and Harvard Univ., who became a lawyer; and at least one niece, Julia Adelaide Peabody (b. April 25, 1835).
Bradford Academy. 2-Brief History. Bradford College, Bradford, Mass., south of Haverhill, north of what is now Peabody, originated at an early March 1803 gathering of neighbors. Fundraising began March 7, 1803, led to coeducational Bradford Academy, a secondary school, 1803-32; a junior college for women, 1932-71; and a bachelor's degree granting college from 1971 (coeducational) until its closing in 2000. Ref.: Bradford Academy, Mass., pp. iii-xv, 27, 65, 72. Internet URL: http://www.bhe.mass.edu/p_p/includes/academic/closed/bradford.html
Bradford Academy. 3-GP's Own Small Schooling. A bare subsistence family income limited GP's own schooling to four years, 1802-06, ages 7-11, in a Danvers, Mass., district school; followed by four years, 1806-10, ages 11-15, apprenticeship in Sylvester Proctor's general store in Danvers. His father was in debt and their home (205 Washington St., Danvers) heavily mortgaged when he died on May 13, 1811. The mother and six children at home had to live with relatives. GP, aged 16, worked in his older brother David Peabody's (1790-1841) dry goods shop in Newburyport. The Great Fire of Newburyport, May 31, 1811, ruined business prospects. The fire and a New England depression induced GP to migrate with paternal Uncle John Peabody (1768-1827), to open a store in Georgetown, D.C. Uncle John could not get credit but young GP got a Newburyport merchant's recommendation on the basis of which a Boston merchant advanced them a consignment of goods on credit worth $2,000. The Georgetown, D.C. store opened May 15, 1812. See: Newburyport, Mass.
Bradford Academy. 4-Riggs, Peabody & Co. Responsibility for the store on Bridge St., Georgetown, D.C., from May 15, 1812, soon fell on 17-year-old GP, his uncle having gone into another enterprise. GP went out from the store as a pack peddler, selling goods in the Va. and Md. area. For some 12 days in the War of 1812 he drilled in a military unit in defense of Washington, D.C. Older fellow soldier and experienced merchant Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853), then age 35, made 19-year-old GP first office helper, then traveling junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29), Georgetown, importers of dry goods and other products from abroad, sold mainly to wholesalers. The firm prospered, moved to Baltimore in 1815, and soon had NYC and Philadelphia warehouses. For details of GP leaving Newburyport, Mass., for Georgetown, D.C., and connection with Elisha Riggs, Sr., with sources, see Riggs, Sr., Elisha.
Bradford Academy. 5-GP Regained Family Home. In Nov. 1816, his older brother David, working for GP in Alexandria, Va., released the Danvers home to GP who by Jan. 1817 paid off its mortgage. Newburyport lawyer Ebon Mosely wrote GP Dec. 16, 1816, "I cannot but be pleased with the filial affection which seems to evince you to preserve the estate for a Parent." Ref.: Ebon Mosely, Newburyport, Mass., to GP, Baltimore, Dec. 16, 1816, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Bradford Academy. 6-GP Worth $50,000, 1820. His mother and the family were back in their Danvers home. From wherever he traveled collecting debts owed Riggs, Peabody & Co., GP sent to the family funds, flour, sugar, clothes, other necessities, and local newspapers from towns where he was working. In July 1820, on a short visit home, he drove his mother by horse and buggy to visit her sister Temperance née Dodge Jewett (b.1772) and her physician husband (Dr. Jeremiah Jewett, 1757-1836) in Barnstead, Vt., where he had visited as a 15-year-old in the winter of 1810. Asked how he was doing in 1820, GP replied that he was then worth between $40,000-$50,000. Ref.: Independent Democrat (Concord, N.H.), Feb. 10, 1870, p. 2, c. 8.
Bradford Academy. 7-GP's Relatives at Bradford Academy. To help his younger relatives attend school, GP bought a house for the family in West Bradford, Mass. His mother also lived there for a time in the 1820s. Bradford Academy catalogs list these six GP relatives who attended the academy: 1-Jeremiah Peabody (1805-77), sixth born of eight siblings and third of four brothers, who attended Bradford Academy in 1819; 2-Judith Dodge Peabody (1799-1879), fourth born and younger sister, who attended 1821-27; 3-Mary Gaines Peabody (1807-34), seventh born and third of four sisters, who attended in 1822-23; 4-Sophronia Phelps Peabody (b.1809), eighth born and fourth sister, who attended in 1827; 5-Adolphus William Peabody (b. 1814), GP's young cousin, GP's paternal uncle John Peabody's son, who attended 1827-29; and 6-George Peabody (1815-32), GP's nephew, GP's oldest brother David Peabody's son, who attended in 1827. Ref.: Bradford Academy, Mass., pp. iii-xv, 27, 65, 72.
Bradford Academy. 8-Educated Nephew O.C. Marsh. GP's younger sister Judith Dodge Peabody, who attended Bradford Academy during 1821-27, also taught for a time in Chester, N.H. She later handled family concerns and distributed GP's funds to the family during his U.S. travels, five trips abroad, and 32 years' residence as a London banker. GP's youngest sister Mary Gaines Peabody, who attended Bradford Academy during 1822-23, married Caleb Marsh (b.1800) on April 12, 1827. Caleb Marsh was a former Danvers neighbor who taught school near Bradford. GP paid for the education of their son, Othniel Charles Marsh (1832-99), through Phillips Academy, Yale College, Yale's graduate Sheffield Scientific School, through the German universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, and Breslau, and paid for Marsh's science library and fossil collection, enabling Marsh to become the first U.S. paleontology professor at Yale Univ. and the second such professor in the world. See: Marsh, Othniel Charles.
Bradford Academy. 9-Nephew O.C. Marsh's Science Career. Influenced by this nephew's science career, GP endowed three Peabody museums of science: at Harvard and Yale universities, Oct. 8 and 22, 1866, and what is now the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., Feb. 26, 1867. British scientist Charles Darwin later acknowledged O.C. Marsh's fossil finds as the best proof of the theory of evolution. Marsh's fossil finds are the basis of most of what is now known about dinosaurs and about the North American origin of the horse. Ref.: Ibid.
Bradford Academy. 10-Peabodys at Bradford. Sister Judith was teaching in Chester, N.H., when GP wrote from Baltimore to sister Mary Gaines at Bradford, May 31, 1822: "This letter will be handed to you by Mr. Greenleaf to whom I have enclosed a check on Boston for $50 for...paying your board, etc., at Bradford and have requested him to let you or Judith have money for other purposes when required.... I thought it likely you would be in need of some clothes.... I do not, by any means, wish you to dress extravagantly but at all times to appear as decent as those with whom you associate." Benjamin Greenleaf (1786-1864), born in West Haverhill and a Dartmouth College graduate (1813), was the most successful of the early Bradford Academy preceptors (Dec. 1814 to March 1836). He wrote popular arithmetic and algebra textbooks. Ref.: (GP to sister Mary Gaines): GP, Baltimore, to Mary Gaines Peabody, Bradford, May 31, 1822, Peabody Papers, Yale Univ. Ref.: Bradford Academy, Mass., pp. iii-xv, 27, 65, 72.
Bradford Academy. 11-Other Peabodys at Bradford Cont'd. Judith left her teaching post in Chester, N.H., for another teaching post near Bradford. In a burst of gratitude she wrote GP in Baltimore, May 8, 1823: "Were my brother like other brothers, were it a common favor, which I have received from him, and could I do justice to the feelings of my own heart, I would now formally express my gratitude, but I forebear;...and, even then the happiness, that I have enjoyed while acquiring it, would lay me under obligation, which I could never cancel...." Ref.: (Sister Judith Dodge Peabody to GP): Judith Dodge Peabody, Bradford, Mass., to GP, Baltimore, May 8, 1823, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Bradford Academy. 12-Cousin Adolphus W. Peabody at Bradford. GP's paternal uncle John Peabody died before 1826 and his wife died that year. Left without support were older daughter Sophronia Peabody and young son Adolphus W. Peabody, whom GP offered to educate. Sophronia wrote her cousin GP (March 9, 1827?): "I have decided I shall accept of your proposal for the education of Adolphus; his education is my first wish. If his life be spared, he may compensate you at some future time." Ref.: (Cousin Sophronia Peabody): Cousin Sophronia Peabody, Washington, D.C., to GP, NYC, March 9, [believed] 1827, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Bradford Academy. 13-Cousin Adolphus W. Peabody at Bradford Cont'd. Adolphus W. Peabody enrolled at Bradford Academy during 1827-29. He lived with his cousin Judith Dodge Peabody in a house in West Bradford which GP had bought for family members attending Bradford Academy. Sister Judith Dodge Peabody, who taught nearby, cared for GP's youngest sister Mary Gaines Peabody, attending Bradford Academy before her marriage to Caleb Marsh, cared for young cousin Adolphus W. Peabody, for GP's sister Sophronia Phelps Peabody (b.1809), who attended Bradford Academy in 1827, and for GP's mother who came from Danvers to live at West Bradford. They were together at Bradford through most of the 1820s. Sister Judith wrote GP that they liked their home in West Bradford, although their mother missed Danvers.
Bradford Academy. 14-Nephew Named for GP. GP also sent to Bradford Academy older brother David Peabody's son, named George Peabody (1815-32) for his uncle. This nephew enrolled in 1827 and lived with his aunt Judith in West Bradford. This nephew wrote Aug. 28, 1827, to his father working for Riggs, Peabody & Co. in NYC about going hunting with his uncle: "Uncle George went gunning with me when he was here and did not miss once." Ref.: Nephew George Peabody, Bradford, Mass., to his father David Peabody, NYC, Aug. 28, 1827, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Bradford Academy. 15-GP on Nephew's Progress. GP, fond of his namesake nephew, wrote of young George's progress to his (GP's) mother, Feb. 6, 1830, then living with Mary Gaines and Caleb Marsh in Lockport, N.Y. GP wrote his mother: "George was well a few day ago & I have a letter from Mr. Dwight [Sereno Edwards Dwight, 1786-1850] which speaks of him in the most flattering manner & I shall probably let him take college in about two years.--Mr. Dwight says George is in a class of 18 or 19 in the languages and is decidedly the best scholar in it and discovers most promising & most assiduous application, & if he should go to college he would be one of the best scholars in his class.--He further states that George's whole deportment is perfectly commendable & such as I should wholly approve of.--The expense including clothes, board, tuition, etc. will be nearly 500$ a year but if he continues to make as good use of his time as he now promises it will be money well laid out...." Ref.: (On nephew George Peabody): GP to his mother Mrs. Judith Peabody, c/o Caleb Marsh, Lockport, N.Y., Feb. 6, 1830, Peabody Papers, Yale Univ. Ms. See: Dwight, Sereno Edwards.
Bradford Academy. 16-On Nephew George Attending College. GP's second European buying trip took 15 months during 1831-32. He covered 10,000 miles by carriage with frequent change of horses, buying and shipping goods to his U.S. warehouses from Ireland, Scotland, England, France, Italy, and Switzerland. Knowing that his nephew had set his heart on attending college, GP wrote his nephew from London May 18, 1831. This letter, reflective and poignant, throws light on GP's later philanthropies. He may have written it while recalling the cultural aspects of his European trip and his own small schooling.
Bradford Academy. 17-"Deprived as I Was." GP wrote his nephew (his underlining): "Deprived, as I was, of the opportunity of obtaining anything more than the most common education, I am well qualified to estimate its value by the disadvantages I labour under in the society [in] which my business and situation in life frequently throws me, and willingly would I now give twenty times the expense attending a good education could I now possess it, but it is now too late for me to learn and I can only do to those who come under my care, as I could have wished circumstances had permitted others to have done by me." Ref.: GP, London, to nephew George Peabody, brother David Peabody's son, May 18, 1831, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.; also quoted in Schuchert and LeVene, p. 21.
MP Wm. Brown & GP
Brown, William (1784-1864). 1-Merchant, MP, GP's Friend. William Brown was a Liverpool, England, merchant and later an MP from Liverpool. He was the son of Alexander Brown (1764-1834) of Alexander Brown & Sons of Baltimore, and a business friend of GP. While in NYC in 1839 William Brown learned that GP in London was engaged to be married. He added his congratulations in a Jan. 2, 1839, business letter to GP, not knowing then that Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905) from Providence, R.I., had broken the engagement. William Brown was a philanthropic benefactor to the city of Liverpool, England. He was also honored with a knighthood. Ref.: (Sketch of William Brown): Boase-a, Vol. 3, p. 37. See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth. (For the father, Alexander Brown and his banker-merchant sons William, Liverpool; James [1791-1877], NYC; and John, Philadelphia, see Md.'s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.
Brown, Wm. 2-Spoke at GP's July 4, 1856, Dinner. William Brown, who spoke at GP's July 4, 1856, U.S.-British friendship dinner, said: "The day we celebrate will ever be remembered in the history of the world. For we English derive as much satisfaction from it as you do. None of us are answerable for the sins of statesmanship or the errors of our forefathers. George Washington, remembered with respect by England and the world, would rejoice to see the enterprising spirit of the country he brought into existence, a country which seeks to bridge the Atlantic and Pacific via canal and now explores the Arctic seas (cheers)." See: Dallas, George Mifflin. Dinners, GP's, London.
Brown, Wm. 3-Spoke at GP's July 4, 1856, Dinner Cont'd.: "I deny that England is jealous of the United States. We rejoice in your prosperity and know that when you prosper we share in it. It is not true that the fortunes of one country arise from the misfortune of another. While we have differences they can be amicably adjusted (cheers). I toast the American Minister, Mr. George M. Dallas (cheers)." Ref.: Ibid. (For more on Alexander Brown and his sons) see Md.'s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad (1837-47) and GP.
Brown, William and James, Liverpool. See: Brown, William (above) and Md.'s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad (1837-47) and GP.
Brown Univ., Providence, R.I. See: Barnas Sears.
Westminster Abbey Funeral Service
Browne, Charles Farrar (1834-67). 1-Precedent for GP's Westminster Abbey Funeral Service. Charles Farrar Browne was a U.S. humorist who wrote under the name of Artemus Ward. GP died Nov. 4, 1869, in the 80 Eaton Sq., London, home of longtime business friend Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85). The Dean of Westminster Abbey, Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815-81), then visiting Naples, Italy, read a news account of GP's death. Recalling GP's March 12, 1862, gift of model housing for London's working poor (total gift $2.5 million), Stanley telegraphed his colleagues to offer Westminster Abbey for a funeral service. See: Death and Funeral, GP's.
Browne, C.F. 2-U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran. Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson called on U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86), who recorded in his journal (Nov. 6, 1869): "Sir Curtis Lampson...asked me if it were possible to have a funeral service performed here over Mr. Peabody's remains in view of the fact that they are to be conveyed to the United States and I said yes, instancing...particulars in the case of Horatio Ward and Mr. Brown[e], better known as Artemus Ward.... "These cases seemed to satisfy him and no doubt some funeral service will be performed here, probably in Westminster Abbey." See: Moran, Benjamin.
Browne, C.F. 3-GP's Funeral Service. A funeral service for GP was held at Westminster Abbey on Nov. 12, 1869. His remains rested in the Abbey for 30 days (Nov. 12 to Dec. 11, 1869) when the coffin was sent to Portsmouth harbor, England, and put aboard HMS Monarch for a transatlantic crossing to Portland, Maine, and final burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Horatio G. Ward (c.1810-died May 1868) was a U.S.-born merchant, a London resident, and GP's longtime business friend. Charles Farrar Browne was born in Waterford, Maine, was a printer, a humorous lecturer and writer for newspapers, for Vanity Fair, and an author of successful humorous Artemus Ward books. He died in London.
Bruce, Sir Frederick William Adolphus (1814-67), was British ambassador to the U.S. who, in Washington, D.C., March 1867, presented to GP, then on a 1866-67 U.S. visit, the miniature portrait Queen Victoria had specially made for GP. The miniature portrait was made in 1867 by British artist F.A.C. Tilt (fl. 1866-68), baked on enamel, put in a frame of solid gold, and given to GP in appreciation for his $2.5 million Peabody Donation Fund (from 1862) for model housing for London's working poor. This miniature portrait is in the Peabody Institute Library, Peabody, Mass. For photos of Queen Victoria's miniature portrait, see Peabody, George, Illustrations. Victoria, Queen.
Brunswick Hotel, Blackwall, overlooking the Thames, opposite the Greenwich Hospital, is some six miles from St. Paul's Cathedral, London. GP gave some of his U.S.-British friendship dinners there in the 1850s, including his June 17, 1852, dinner, celebrating the 77th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Mass. (June 17, 1775), with over 100 guests, three-fourths of them Americans. See: Dinners, GP's, London.
GP's Grand Nephew
Brush, Murray Peabody (1872-Nov. 14, 1954). 1-GP's Grand Nephew. Murray Peabody Brush was an educator and grand nephew of GP. In June 1925 Director Robert Underwood Johnson (1853-1937) of the N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame during 1919-37 urged George Russell Peabody (1883-May 1, 1946), another grand nephew of GP, to help raise funds for a bust of GP, who was elected in 1900 to the N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame as one of 29 of the most famous Americans. In 1901 a bronze tablet was unveiled in GP's allotted space containing this selection from his Feb. 7, 1867, letter founding the $2 million (total) PEF: "Looking forward beyond my stay on earth I see our country becoming richer and more powerful. But to make her prosperity more than superficial, her moral and intellectual development should keep pace with her material growth." See: Hall of Fame of N.Y.U.
Brush, M.P. 2-GP Bust, 1926. The help of GP's grand nephew, Murray Peabody Brush, was then enlisted to raise funds for the GP bust. Trustees of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard Univ., helped raise $300. Enough funds were raised and a bust of GP by sculptor Hans Schuler (1874-1951) was unveiled May 12, 1926, at the University Heights N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame colonnade. Murray Peabody Brush was born April 17, 1872, in Zanesville, Ohio; was educated at Princeton Univ. (B.A., 1894), Johns Hopkins Univ. (Ph.D., 1898), and at the Sorbonne and College de France (1895-96); was an instructor in French at Ohio State Univ. (1898-99); was professor and dean at Johns Hopkins Univ. (1899-1919); director of Tome School, Port Deposit, Md. (1919-32); and headmaster of Calif. Prep. School, Ojai, Calif. (1932-49). He died Nov. 14, 1954, from car crash injuries. Ref.: Brush, p. 95. See: MacCracken, Henry Mitchell.
End of 1 of 14. Continued on 2 of 14.
2 of 14: George Peabody (1795-1869): A-Z Handbook of the Massachusetts-Born Merchant in the South, London-Based Banker, and Philanthropist's Life, Influence, and Related People, Places, Events, and Institutions. ©2007, By Franklin Parker & Betty J. Parker, bfparker@frontiernet.net
This work updates and expands Franklin Parker, George Peabody, A Biography (Nashville, Tenn.: Vanderbilt Univ. Press, ©1971, revised with illustrations ©1995), and the authors’ related George Peabody publications. Note: To read on your computer Franklin Parker’s out-of-print George Peabody, A Biography, 1995, as a free Google E-book copy and paste on your browser: http://books.google.com/books?id=OPIbk-ZPnF4C&pg=PP1&lpg=PR4&dq=Franklin+Parker,+George+Peabody,+a+Biography&output=html&sig=6R8ZoKwN1B36wtCSePijnLaYJS8
Background: Why these 1 to 14 blogs on George Peabody? The authors attended George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville (renamed Peabody College of Vanderbilt Univ. July 1, 1979). Franklin Parker’s doctoral dissertation, “George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy,” 1956, has been an ongoing research and writing interest for over 50 years. The authors’ intent is to perpetuate public memory of him.
George Peabody, now largely forgotten by scholars and the public, was significant as: 1-a Massachusetts-born merchant in the U.S. South, beginning as junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29); then head of Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-43), importing dry goods and other commodities worldwide for sale to U.S. wholesalers. He transformed himself from merchant into: 2-a London-based merchant-banker, George Peabody & Co. (1838-64), which helped finance the B&O RR, the 2nd Mexican War Loan, the Atlantic Cable, and by choosing Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) as partner Oct. 1, 1854, was a root of the JP Morgan international banking firm.
Merchant-turned-banker George Peabody finally became: 3-the best known U.S. philanthropist of the 1850s-60s, founding the Peabody Homes of London for the working poor; founder in the U.S. of 7 Peabody Libraries and Lecture Halls; the Peabody Conservatory of Music, Baltimore; three Peabody Museums at Harvard (Anthropology), Yale (Paleontology), and the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA (maritime history); and founder of the Peabody Education Fund for the South (1867-1914), a model for all later larger U.S. funds and foundations.
Two tributes to George Peabody:
Historian John Steele Gordon called George Peabody the "Most Underrated Philanthropist.... Peabody is unjustly forgotten today, but his unprecedented generosity was greatly appreciated in his time." Ref.: American Heritage. Vol. 50, No. 3 (May-June 1999), pp. 68-69.
"The Peabody Fund, established in 1867 by George Peabody to assist southern education, is often credited with being the first foundation…." Ref.: Reader's Companion to American History, ed. by Eric Foner and John A. Garraty (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991). Internet: http://HistoryChannel.com
End of Background. HTML symbols are intended for blogging (ignore). This 2 of 14 blogs covers alphabetically entries from Buchanan, James 1 to Curry, J.L.M. 10.
Buchanan, James (1791-1868). 1-Was U.S. Minister to Britain. James Buchanan was the 15th U.S. president during 1857-61. He was born near Mercersberg, Penn., was a lawyer, served in the Penn. legislature for two terms (from 1814), was U.S. Congressman (1821-31), Minister to Russia (1832-33), U.S. Sen. (1834-45), U.S. Secty. of State (1845-49), and U.S. Minister to Britain (1853-56), when his legation secretary Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914) created an incident. See: Presidents, U.S., and GP. Sickles, Daniel Edgar.
Buchanan, James. 2-Sickles Affair. At a GP-sponsored July 4, 1854, U.S.-British friendship dinner super patriot Sickles remained seated and then walked out while others stood when GP toasted Queen Victoria before toasting the U.S. President. Buchanan, who thought Sickles was slack in his work as secretary, was embarrassed because, like GP, he wanted to improve British-U.S. relations. The incident was aggravated when Sickles charged GP in the press as toadying to the Queen. When GP visited Washington, D.C., Jan. 1857, there was a coolness between then-Pres. Buchanan and GP. Ref.: Ibid.
Buchanan, John (1772-1844). 1-Md. Bond Agents Abroad. John Buchanan was one of three commissioners appointed by the Md. Assembly to sell abroad its bonds to raise $8 million for internal improvements. When commissioner Samuel Jones, Jr. (1800-74), resigned to become a state senator, he backed GP to replace him. Despite some opposition, GP was appointed commissioner. Amid the financial Panic of 1837 GP and the other two commissioners, John Buchanan and Thomas Emory, tried unsuccessfully to sell the bonds in London, Paris, and Amsterdam. The other two agents returned to the U.S. by Oct. 8, 1837. On this, GP's fifth business trip to Europe, he remained in London for the rest of his life (1837-69), 32 years, except for three U.S. visits: 1-Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857, 2-May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867, and 3-June 8 to Sept. 29, 1869. See: Md.'s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.
Buchanan, John. 2-GP's Delayed Reward. The economic depression hindered GP's sale of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. portion of Md.'s $8 million bonds. Md. and eight other states felt they had to stop their bond interest payments. GP publicly urged Md. officials to resume interest payments and assured British investors that resumed payments would be retroactive. GP finally sold the bonds cheaply for exclusive resale by the Baring Brothers, Britain's largest and oldest banking firm. Not wanting to burden economically depressed Md., GP declined the $60,000 commission due him. Ref.: Ibid.
Buchanan, John. 3-Md. Legislature's Resolution of Praise. By the time Md. had recovered economically and resumed its bond interest payments (1847), GP had withdrawn his capital from Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-48) and was in transition from merchant to London-based broker-banker in U.S. securities. The Md. governor's 1847 annual report to the legislative Assembly singled out GP as one, "who never claimed or received one dollar of the $60,000 commission due him...whilst the State was struggling with her pecuniary difficulties." On March 7, 1848, both houses of Md.'s Assembly passed a unanimous resolution of praise to GP. Md. Gov. Philip Francis Thomas (1810-90) sent these resolutions to GP in London, adding: "To you, Sir,...the thanks of the State were eminently due." It took ten years for GP's efforts in selling Md. bonds to be publicly appreciated. Ref.: Ibid.
Buck, Paul Herman (1899-1978), was a U.S. historian who wrote of the PEF: "As in his [GP's] gifts to England he had hoped to link two nations in friendly bonds, now after the Civil War it seemed to him most imperative to use his bounty in the restoration of good will between North and South.... The Peabody Education Fund...was an experiment in harmony and understanding between the sections.... Not only was the gift of Peabody one of the earliest manifestations of a spirit of reconciliation, but it was also a most effective means of stimulating that spirit in others." Ref.: Buck, pp. 164, 166. See: PEF.
Buddington, Samuel, Capt. 1-GP gave $10,000 for science equipment for the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition of 1853-55, led by U.S. Navy Capt. Dr. Elisha Kent Kane (1820-57, a naval surgeon), searching for lost British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847). HMS Resolute was a British ship abandoned in the Arctic ice in the decade-long search for Sir John Franklin. Capt. Samuel Buddington of the U.S. whaler George Henry found and extricated the Resolute. The U.S. government purchased the damaged Resolute, repaired it, and returned it to Britain as a gift. See: Franklin, Sir John.
Buddington, Samuel. 2-White House Desk. When the Resolute was broken up, Queen Victoria had a massive desk made from its timbers and gave it to the U.S. President. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (1929-94) found the desk in a storeroom in 1961 and had it refurbished for Pres. John F. Kennedy's (1917-63) use. Famous photos show President Kennedy's young son John F. Kennedy, Jr. (1960-99), playing under that desk. Pres. Clinton returned the desk to the Oval Office in 1993. Ref.: Ibid. See: persons named.
Buffalo, NY. For GP's visit to U.S. Pres. Millard Fillmore (1800-74) at Fillmore's home in Buffalo, NY, Nov. 4, 1856, and connections with Fillmore, with sources, see Fillmore, Millard. Presidents, U.S., and GP.
CSS Alabama
Bulloch, James Dunwody (1823-1901). 1-Purchased Confederate Ships from England. Confederate Navy Secty. Stephen Russell Mallory (1813-73) sent Commander James Dunwody Bulloch (Bullock, in some sources) to England in May 1861 to purchase ships for the nonexistent Confederate Navy. Bulloch purchased from Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, England, the newly built "Hull No. 290," soon named the SS Enrica, which was subsequently outfitted for war and renamed the CSS Alabama at the end of July 1862. See: Adams, Charles Francis. Alabama Claims.
Bulloch, J.D. 2-U.S. Minister C.F. Adams Protested. On June 23, 1862, U.S. Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams (1807-86) warned the British Foreign Office that by building the Alabama as a Confederate warship, Britain was breaking its neutrality. Minister Adams attached affidavits from involved seamen as proof of his charge. But British Customs law officials ruled the evidence insufficient. Ref.: Ibid.
Bulloch, J.D. 3-Alabama Sunk Union Ships. CSS Alabama was put under the command of Capt. Raphael Harwood Semmes (1809-77), whose first ship, the Sumter, had already severely damaged Union commerce before it was bottled up in Gibraltar in Jan. 1862. In its rampaging two-year cruise (June 1862 to June 1864) covering 67,000 nautical miles, CSS Alabama hijacked or sank 64 Union ships. Her crew were largely pirate-adventurers from many nations, including Britain. Ref.: Ibid.
Bulloch, J.D. 4-C.S.S. Alabama Sunk by USS Kearsarge. Needing repairs, the Alabama entered Cherbourg, France, June 11, 1864, where it was intercepted by the USS Kearsarge, under Capt. John Ancrum Winslow (1811-73), June 14, 1864. The Alabama came out to do battle and was sunk, June 19, 1864, in one of the last romanticized gunnery duels in the era of wooden ships, seen by thousands of observers offshore. Capt. Semmes and some of his officers and crew were rescued by the British yacht Deerhound and taken to an English port. Remains of the Alabama were found Oct. 1984 and artifacts were raised from Cherbourg harbor. Ref.: Ibid.
Bulloch, J.D. 5-International Alabama Claims Commission. An international Alabama Claims Commission that met in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 187l to Sept. 1872, awarded the U.S. $15.5 million to be paid by Britain for British-built raiders (Alabama and others), which destroyed 257 Union ships. Confederate raider successes compelled Union ship owners to transfer ownership of over 700 vessels to foreign registries. U.S. merchant marine activity was set back for half a century. Ref.: Ibid.
Bulloch, J.D. 6-GP's Death. Two years before GP's death, his name was mentioned as a possible arbitrator on the Alabama Claims Commission but was dropped because of age and illness. GP died in London Nov. 4, 1869, at the height of U.S.-British angers over U.S. loss of lives and treasure caused by the CSS Alabama and other British-built ships. When it became known that GP's will stipulated burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., British officials, for political reasons, to ease U.S.-British near-war hysteria, decided to return GP's remains to the U.S. on a royal vessel. Ref.: Ibid.
Bulloch, J.D. 7-Remains Returned on HMS Monarch. In a Lord Mayor's Day banquet speech, British PM William Ewart Gladstone (1809-98) said (Nov. 9, 1869): "With Mr. Peabody's nation we will not quarrel." The next day (Nov. 10, 1869) his cabinet offered HMS Monarch, Britain's newest and largest warship, as funeral vessel. A GP funeral service was held at Westminster Abbey and his remains lay in state in the Abbey for 30 days (Nov. 12 to Dec. 11, 1869). Ref.: Ibid.
Bulloch, J.D. 8-Unprecedented Transatlantic Funeral. HMS Monarch, with GP's remains aboard, escorted by USS Plymouth, a U.S. warship from Marseilles, France, crossed the Atlantic, to be met in Portland harbor, Me., on Pres. U.S. Grant's orders by a flotilla of U.S. ships commanded by Adm. David G. Farragut (1801-70). GP's unusual 96-day British-U.S. transatlantic funeral ended with final burial on Feb. 8, 1870, in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Besides the political motive to ease U.S.-British angers over the Alabama Claims, there was genuine appreciation for GP's philanthropy, largely in the U.S. but also by Britain for his $2.5 million Peabody model apartments for London's working poor (from March 12, 1862). Ref.: Ibid.
Bulloch, J.D. 9-Bulloch's Sister Married Theodore Roosevelt. An interesting sidelight is that Confederate Navy Commander James Dunwody Bulloch's sister, Martha Bulloch (d. Feb. 12, 1884), married NYC's Theodore Roosevelt (1831-77). Their same-named son, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), the 26th U.S. Pres. during 1901-09, was a trustee during 1901-14 of Peabody Normal College (1875-1911), Nashville, Tenn., which became GPCFT (1914-79) and continues as PCofVU (since July 1, 1979). Ref.: (Bulloch-Roosevelt connection): Hendrick, p. 370. Thayer, p. 4. See: persons named.
Bullock, James Dunwody (1823-1901). See: Bulloch, James Dunwody.
Bülow, Hans Guido Freiherr von (1830-94), was a German conductor and pianist, studied with Richard Wagner (1813-83) and Franz Liszt (1811-86), was court musician to Ludwig, King of Bavaria (1786-1868), and teacher of Asger Hamerik (1843-1923), PIB's Academy (Conservatory after 1874) of Music's first director. Director Hamerik enhanced the prestige of the PIB Academy of Music by attracting eminent world musicians, including Hans von Bülow, who performed during Dec.-Jan. 1875-1876. Other famous performers Director Hamerik brought to perform and lecture at the PIB were Russian-born composer Anton Rubinstein (1829-94); British popular composer Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) of Gilbert and Sullivan fame in late Dec. 1879; and Russian composer Peter Illytch Tschaikowsky (1840-93) in spring, 1891. Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow wrote in a London paper that "Baltimore was the only place in America where I had proper support." See: PIB.
Bulwer-Lytton, Sir Henry (1801-72). Sir Henry Bulwer-Lytton (William Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer) was an English author, MP (1830-36, 1868-71), and Minister to the U.S. (1849-52) when he attended GP's Oct. 27, 1851, London dinner honoring the departing U.S. exhibitors at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (first world's fair). He was praised at the dinner by the main speaker, U.S. Minister to Britain Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855). See: William Wilson Corcoran. Dinners, GP's, London. Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world's fair). Lawrence, Abbott.
Bunker Hill, anniversary of battle of. GP gave a dinner in London attended by British and U.S. guests on June 17, 1852, the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill (Boston, July 17, 1775). See: Dinners, GP's, London.
Bunker Hill Memorial Monument (Boston). 1-GP's Donation. GP gave $500 as a patriotic gift in 1845 to help build the Bunker Hill Memorial Monument. Early in the American Revolution, with British ships in command of Boston Harbor, British troops determined to defeat the rebels by taking two high points, Bunker Hill (110 feet high) and Breed's Hill (75 feet high) in Boston's Charlestown district. Under night cover, the Americans seized the heights first, holding off the British until the Americans ran out of gunpowder. Despite having lost the battle (July 17, 1775), the Americans were heartened that their 1,600 ill-trained volunteers had held off 2,400 trained British troops and had caused the enemy 1,054 casualties to their own 100 dead, 267 wounded, and 30 taken prisoners. The Bunker Hill Memorial Monument cornerstone was laid by the Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) July 17, 1825. GP, permanently in London since Feb. 1837, helped pay for the monument's completion. See: GP, Philanthropy. Peabody, Thomas (GP's father).
Bunker Hill Memorial Monument (Boston). 2-Post-Civil War attacks on GP's Loyalty. It is interesting to note, in view of post-Civil War attacks on GP's loyalty to the Union, that his father Thomas Peabody, some of whose forebears had fought in the French and Indian Wars, was one of 54 Peabodys who fought in the American Revolution, and that GP briefly served in the War of 1812. Ref.: Ibid. See: Civil War and GP.
Burdett-Coutts, Baroness Angela Georgina (1814-1906). 1-Lady Philanthropist. Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts was a prominent 19th century British philanthropist. England's famous journal of satire, Punch, on July 27, 1867, had a cartoon and long poem praising GP and Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts as the most prominent 19th century philanthropists. British-born Baroness Burdett-Coutts (she was created a peeress in 1871) inherited much land from her banker-grandfather, Thomas Coutts (1735-1822?). She built and endowed churches and schools; endowed three colonial bishoprics in Capetown, South Africa; Adelaide, Australia; and British Columbia, Canada. She aided Australian aborigines and Turkish peasants, built several water fountains in London, and built low-rent model homes for some 300 families at Columbia Square, London. Ref.: Punch (London), July 27, 1867, p. 33.
Burdett-Coutts, Baroness Angela Georgina. 2-Attended GP's July 4, 1851, Dinner. Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts attended GP's July 4, 1851, dinner and ball at Willis's Rooms, London, during the Great Exhibition in London of 1851 (first world's fair), with the Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley Wellington, 1769-1852) as guest of honor. For her attendance and details of the July 4, 1851, dinner, see Corcoran, William Wilson. Dinners in London, GP's. Great Exhibition in London of 1851 (first world's fair). Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Prince Albert).
Burk, Kathleen, author of Morgan Grenfell 1838-1988: The Biography of a Merchant Bank (London: Oxford University Press, 1989). See: Deutsche Morgan Grenfell (since June 29, 1990).
Burton, Asa (1752-1836), was a well known minister at the church five miles from Post Mills village, near Thetford, Vt., which GP attended in the winter of 1810. GP, then age 15, was visiting his maternal grandmother Judith Spofford Dodge (1749-1828) and grandfather Jeremiah Dodge (1744-1824). Ref.: Baldwin, J. A. pp. 12-15. See: Concord, N.H. Internet site (seen) March 18, 2000): http://www.valley.net~conriver/V13-7.htm Persons named. Thetford, Vt.
Bushby, Asa (1834-89), a photographer. Peabody Institute Librarian, Peabody, Mass., Fitch Poole's (1803-73) diary listed under date of Feb. 6, 1870, after GP's funeral service: "Bushby & Hart [photographers] taking views in library room." See: Death and Funeral, GP's.
Business career, GP's. See: Peabody, George. George Peabody & Co. Morgan, Junius Spencer. Peabody, Riggs & Co. Elisha Riggs, Sr. Riggs, Peabody & Co.
Butler, Benjamin Franklin (1818-93), was a U.S. Representative from Mass. (Republican) who spoke at the Dec. 21, 1869, debate on U.S. House Resolution No. 96, which asked Pres. U.S. Grant (1822-85) to order a U.S. Navy reception to receive GP's remains at the U.S. receiving port. The resolution, with some objection, was passed in the House that day, passed in the Senate on Dec. 23, 1869, and was signed into law by Pres. Grant on Jan. 10, 1870. B.F. Butler was born in Deerfield, N.H., graduated from what is now Colby College, Me. (1838), was a criminal lawyer and politician in Lowell and then Boston, Mass., served in the Mass. Legislature (1852 and 1858) and the Mass. Senate (1859-60), was a harsh and controversial Civil War Union general, a radical Republican in the U.S. House (1866-75) who led in the unsuccessful impeachment of Pres. Andrew Johnson; Mass. Gov. (1882), and nearly always in controversy. See: Death and funeral, GP's.
Butler, Charles (1802-97), is believed to be the NYC banker who gave Delia Salter Bacon (1811-59) a letter of introduction to GP in London. Charles Butler was born in Kinderhook Landing (now Stuyvesant), Columbia County, N.Y., was a lawyer (1824), helped establish Hobart College, Geneva, N.Y., was associated with a railroad link to Chicago, helped found and was active in the affairs of Union Theological Seminary, NYC (1836), and was a frequent visitor abroad. Delia S. Bacon, U.S. writer, was an early believer in the theory that William Shakespeare's plays were written by a group consisting of mainly Francis Bacon (1561-1626), Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618), and Edmund Spenser (1551-99). Ref.: Muzzey, Vol. 2, Part l, pp. 359-360. See Bacon, Delia Salter.
Buttre, John Chester (1821-93), engraver-artist who made an engraving of a GP photo, half-length facing right, taken by photographer Mathew B. Brady (1823-96), perhaps in Brady's NYC studio when the PEF trustees met in NYC on or about March 23, 1867. Copy of the engraving is in the Library of Congress BIOG FILE (b&w film copy neg.). Ref.: Library of Congress BIOG FILE. See: Brady, Mathew. Peabody, George, Illustrations.
C
Cairo, Ill. During GP's Sept. 15, 1856-Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years' absence in London (since Feb. 1837), he visited Cairo, Ill. (March 24-April 2, 1857), where he owned city bonds. See: Augusta, Ga.
Caldwell, Sally. On Jan. 20, 1814, in Newburyport, Mass., GP's oldest brother David Peabody (1790-1841) married Sally Caldwell, who died soon after 1815, leaving a son named George Peabody (1815-32) after his uncle. See: Chandler, Julia Adelaide (née Peabody). Peabody, David.
Cambridge, Mass. See: Harvard Univ. honorary degree to GP. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
Am. Association in London
Campbell, Robert Blair (d.1862). 1-Americans in London. Robert Blair Campbell was U.S. Consul, London, England (1854-61). He presided over a July 4, 1858, dinner for Americans in London organized by a then newly formed American Association in London, a fraternal club to aid needy U.S. visitors. The club was led by newer American residents in London like Robert Blair Campbell, U.S. Legation Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86), and others. They feigned respect for but were privately jealous and critical of older American residents in London like GP. Moran, Blair, and a few others sponsored for a few years July 4th Independence Day dinners in London, which GP had initiated from 1850. See: Fell, Jesse Weldon. Persons named.
Campbell, R.B. 2-Career. Robert Blair Campbell was born in S.C., graduated from S.C. College (1809, later the Univ. of S.C.), was a farmer, a commander in the S.C. militia (from 1814), a general of S.C. troops (1833; in his journal Benjamin Moran referred to R.B. Campbell as "Gen. Campbell), a member of the S.C. Senate (1821-23, 1830), and a U.S. House of Rep. member from S.C. (1823-25, 1834-35, 1835-37). He moved to Ala. where he was in the Ala. House of Rep. (1840), was U.S. Consul in Havana, Cuba (1842-50); then moved to Texas where he was appointed a commissioner in determining the U.S.-Mexico border (1853); was U.S. Consul, London, England (1854-61); died in 1862 and was buried in London, July 12, 1862. Ref.: Campbell, p. 94. Wallace and Gillespie, I, p. 9, footnote 12 (many entries in index).
Canada. GP visited Toronto and Montreal, Canada, on Oct. 15 to Nov. 1, 1856 (he suffered gout attacks on this visit). He visited Montreal on July 7-22, 1866, when he traveled on the Saguenay River and fished for salmon on the Marguerite River. See: Visits to the U.S. by GP. Montreal, Canada. Quebec, Canada. Toronto, Canada.
Cannes, France. GP went to Cannes, France, March 16, 1868, where he visited George Eustis (1828-72), who was Washington, D.C., business friend William Wilson Corcoran's (1798-1888) son-in-law. W.W. Corcoran's only daughter Louise Morris (née Corcoran) Eustis died Dec. 4, 1867, leaving three children. From Cannes on March 16 or 17, 1868, GP and his philanthropic advisor Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) went to Paris, France, where they were received by Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, 1808-73) and Empress Eugénie (1826-1920). For details of GP's visits to Rome, Italy, and Paris, France, during Feb.-Mar. 1868, with sources, see: persons named. San Spirito Hospital, Rome, Italy.
Carlyle, Thomas (1795-1881), was a Scottish-born author who, with a few others, gave friendly aid but no encouragement to eccentric U.S. writer Delia Salter Bacon's (1811-59) theory that William Shakespeare's (1554-1616) plays were written by Francis Bacon (1561-1626) and others. For Bacon's inconsequential connection with GP, see: Bacon, Delia Salter. Butler, Charles.
HMS Monarch as Funeral Ship
Carnegie, Andrew (1835-1919). 1-Industrialist-Philanthropist. Andrew Carnegie was the Scottish-born immigrant to Pittsburgh, Penn., who rose from cotton mill bobbin boy, to telegrapher, to Penn. Railroad superintendent, to iron manufacturer, to steel magnate of what became the U.S. Steel Corporation. His various funds and foundations totaled over $350 million, including his well known Carnegie library buildings. His 1889 essay, "The Gospel of Wealth," urged the rich to use their wealth for public good.
Carnegie, Andrew. 2-1869 Connection with GP. In his Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie, 1933, he recalled reading of the launching of Britain's largest warship HMS Monarch, publicized in some jingoistic British newspapers as able to level a U.S. port city. Soon after, reading that GP had died in London (Nov. 4, 1869) and that GP's will required burial in Mass., he telegraphed British cabinet member John Bright (1811-99): "First and best service for Monarch, bringing home the body of Peabody." "Strange to say," he wrote, "this was done, and thus the Monarch became the messenger of peace, not of destruction." Ref.: Carnegie, p. 270. See: Bright, John. Death and Funeral, GP's.
Carnegie, Andrew. 3-1913 Connection with GPCFT. PCofVU historian Sherman Dorn described how former U.S. Pres. William Howard Taft (1857-1930, 27th U.S. Pres. during 1909-13) wrote to Andrew Carnegie for funds for GPCFT. Historian Dorn wrote: "In a letter of 15 May 1913, former president William Taft wrote to industrialist philanthropist [Andrew] Carnegie that he should support Peabody College to help supply competent teachers for Southern schools: 'I doubt if you could do anything that would so help the white people of the south in an educational way as to contribute this last $200,000' of the campaign." Carnegie did not respond but others contributed`. Ref.: Dorn, p. 17. See: persons named. PCofVU.
Oxford Honorary Degree
Carroll, Lewis (1832-98). 1-GP's Oxford Honorary Degree, 1867. Lewis Carroll was the pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1864. He was born in Daresbury near Warrington, England; graduated from Christ Church College, Oxford (1854); took Anglican Church orders (1861); and taught mathematics at Oxford (1861-81). He was on duty as an Oxford don on Founders' and Benefactors' Day, June 26, 1867, when Oxford Univ. granted GP an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. Ref.: Dodgson, I, p. 261.
Carroll, Lewis. 2-Journal Entry. In his journal entry that day (June 26) Dodgson recorded: "I was introduced to the hero of the day, Mr. Peabody." Background: Dr. Henry Longueville Mansel (1820-71) of Oxford's Christ Church College wrote asking GP if he would accept an Oxford honorary degree. GP accepted by letter on June 5, 1867. The ceremony was held during Oxford's Encaenia, combining commencement with the celebration of spring, occasioned by readings, poetry, music, lectures, and a full-dress university parade, reflecting centuries of British tradition. Ref.: Ibid.
Carroll, Lewis. 3-Sheldonian Theatre. The honorary degree ceremony was held in the Sheldonian Theatre. Undergraduates, exerting their traditional right of banter, called aloud the names of dignitaries whom they either cheered or hissed. They cheered Lord Derby, groaned at MP John Bright (1811-99), both cheered and hissed PM William E. Gladstone (1809-98), and acclaimed PM Benjamin Disraeli (1804-81). Ref.: Ibid.
Carroll, Lewis. 4-"The lion of the day." GP was one of six individuals granted an honorary degree that day. When GP's name was called and he stood up, undergraduates applauded him, waved their caps, and beat the arms of their chairs with the flat of their hands. Jackson's Oxford Journal, June 29, 1867, recorded: "The lion of the day was beyond a doubt, Mr. Peabody." The Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford's famous assembly hall, was designed in 1669 by Christopher Wren, who was then astronomy professor at Oxford Univ. It was Wren's first major architectural commission and was named after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Gilbert Sheldon, who commissioned the theater while he was Oxford Univ.'s chancellor. Ref.: Ibid. Jackson's Oxford Journal, June 29, 1867, p. 5, c. 4-6. See: persons named. Oxford Univ., England. Honors, GP's.
Baltimore Lady to Whom GP Twice Proposed Marriage
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox) (1799-1880). 1-Alleged Romance. PIB Librarian Frank N. Jones's (b. 1906) pamphlet, George Peabody and the Peabody Institute, 1965, reported that in 1958 Mrs. Charles Rieman (formerly Elizabeth Taylor Goodwin who married Charles Rieman in 1899) gave the PIB Library an undated manuscript by Baltimore lawyer and philanthropist James Wilson Leakin (1857-1922) entitled "Family Tree of the Knoxes and Their Connections." In that manuscript an Oct. 17 1902, letter from James Wilson Leakin to Henrietta Cowman on their Knox ancestry told of a romance between GP and Elizabeth (née Knox) Carson, daughter of Samuel and Grace (née Gilmore) Knox of Baltimore. The relevant part of that letter is given below. Ref.: Jones, p. 7. See: Md. Historical Society Reference Librarian Francis P. O'Neill's Aug. 30, 2001, letter to the authors in which he shared the content of J.W. Leakin's Oct. 17 1902, letter (Librarian O'Neill's letter in the authors' possession).
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 2-GP's First Proposal (c. 1815-17). Of GP's first meeting with Elizabeth Carson, his marriage proposal, and her father's disapproval J.W. Leakin wrote: "…Of the younger daughter [of Rev. Samuel Knox] there is a very romantic story told by the daughter of a lady who was very intimate with her: 'When she [Elizabeth Carson] was quite a young girl, a clerk in a banking-house addressed her on a walk across the Long Bridge; that clerk's name was George Peabody. On the return he spoke to her father and he [her father] declined to give his [GP's] suit any encouragement because he had no means to support her and she afterwards married Mr. Carson, who was a man in a comfortable business, but who failed, leaving her with four or five children.'" Ref.: Ibid.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 3-GP's Second Proposal (probably Jan. 26 to Feb. 14, 1857). J.W. Leakin's letter then described GP's second unsuccessful proposal: "When Mr. Peabody heard that she was a widow, after the lapse of years and the attendant incumbrances which it had brought to her, he came back and again addressed her while she was obliged to work for a living, keeping a boarding house. At that time Mr. Peabody was one of the leading bankers of the world, having a house in New York, London and Washington. Mrs. Carson had the old world idea, of those who are strictly brought up, that there was a great deal of deceitfulness in riches, and the story goes that she spent all night in prayer to know whether or not she ought to accept Mr. Peabody and on the next morning she told him that she felt she could not accept him." Ref.: Ibid.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 4-Last Meeting (probably Oct. 24-25, 1866). J.W. Leakin's letter described their third and last meeting: "I remember hearing when I was a very small boy, living with my grandmother who was then a very old lady, that this great-aunt, Mrs. Carson, came to Baltimore and went with my grandmother to a reception which was given Mr. Peabody on the occasion of the opening of the Peabody Institute, which was donated by him to this city, and when Mrs. Carson came onto the stage where he was receiving the people, he left everyone else and advanced to where she was, then an old woman of seventy, and took her in his arms in that public place and said 'Well, Eliza, is this you?'. Afterwards, he dined with Mr. John W. Garrett, and someone said to him, 'Mr. Peabody, I hear that you met your old sweetheart today.' And he said 'Yes', but that it was a subject on which he did not care to talk; that he had had a great many successes in his life, but that that was his greatest disappointment." Ref.: Ibid.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 5-Review: GP's Circumstances, 1815-17. GP's father's death, May 13, 1811, followed by the Newburyport, Mass., fire, May 31, 1811, led GP at 16 (he clerked in his older brother's store, ruined by the Newburyport fire) to migrate with paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-before 1826) to Georgetown, D.C., where they opened a dry good store on May 15, 1812. As a War of 1812 volunteer, GP at 19 met older (age 35) fellow soldier and experienced Georgetown, D.C., merchant Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853). Riggs in 1814 took GP as junior partner in Riggs & Peabody, which imported dry goods from abroad for sale to U.S. wholesalers. The firm moved to Baltimore in 1815. See: Great Fire of Newburyport, Mass.(May 31, 1811). Georgetown, D.C. Newburyport, Mass. Riggs, Sr., Elisha.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 6- Review: GP's Circumstances, 1815-17 (Cont'd). Early in GP's 22 years in Baltimore (1815-37), after which he moved permanently to London, he supported his mother and younger siblings, paid his deceased father's debts, paid the mortgage on the family home (Danvers, Mass.) to restore it to his mother and siblings, and paid for his younger siblings' schooling at Bradford Academy, Bradford, Mass. See: Bradford Academy, Bradford, Mass. Riggs, Peabody & Co.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 7- Review: GP's Circumstances, 1815-17 (Cont'd). GP most likely first met Elizabeth Knox during 1815-17. When he asked her father, Samuel Knox, for his daughter's hand in marriage, Samuel Knox thought GP unsuitable economically. In 1817, Elizabeth Knox at age 18 (GP was then age 22) married George Carson, a Baltimore bank teller. George Carson is believed to have died about 1841, after the birth of the couple's fourth child. Elizabeth Carson, in reduced circumstances, managed a boarding house, probably with distant relatives as boarders, at 206 West Lombard St., Baltimore Ref.: Jones. Md. Historical Society's Ref.: Libn. Francis P. O'Neill to authors, Aug. 30, 2001. See: Persons named.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 8-GP's Circumstances, 1857. GP in London from 1837 as head of George Peabody & Co., was a rising broker-banker dealing with American securities In 1838, when he was age 42, he met, fell in love with, and was engaged to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905). Strikingly beautiful and unusually mature at age 19, she was in London for Queen Victoria's coronation (June 28, 1838). In 1839, having returned to the U.S., she rekindled an earlier love with Alexander Lardner (1808-48) and broke her engagement to GP. She married Alexander Lardner on Oct. 2, 1840. Her portrait by artist Thomas Sully (1783-1872) in NYC's Frick Art Reference Library shows her in all her beauty. See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth. Sully, Thomas. Lardner, Alexander.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 9- Review: GP's Circumstances, 1857 (Cont'd). GP was intensely busy during his first U.S. visit (Sept. 15, 1856, to Aug. 19,1857) after nearly 20 years abroad. He added funds to his Peabody Institute Libraries in North and South Danvers, Mass., and was mainly concerned to establish the PIB. He was in Baltimore Jan. 26 to Feb. 14, 1857, during which receptions were held for him by the Md. Historical Society (Jan. 30) and the Md. Institute for the Promotion of Mechanic Arts (Feb. 2).ccccccccc He met with key PIB trustees to plan his Feb. 12, 1857, PIB founding letter. Sometime during Jan. 26 to Feb. 14, 1857, GP, then age 62, made his alleged second marriage proposal to Elizabeth Carson, then 58, when she was a widow in poor circumstances managing a boarding house in Baltimore. The Jones account is that she declined, saying that people would believe she had married GP solely for his money. Ref.: Ibid.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 10-GP's Sister on his Baltimore Receptions. GP's sister, Mrs. Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell Daniels (1799-1879), through whom he dispensed family funds, wrote him from Mass. (on Feb. 19, 1857) that the Md. Institute reception (Feb. 2) must have touched him deeply. Among the young ladies he had saluted so "heartily" in Baltimore that night, she teased, "may have been the daughter of...the beautiful [girl] whom as you remarked one day you would have married, if you had been 'silly enough!'" It was a teasing remark with more than a touch of pity. Ref.: Mrs. Judith (née Peabody) Russell, Georgetown, Mass., to GP, Feb. 19, 1857, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 11-GP's Sister on His Baltimore Receptions (Cont'd). Judith added, referring indirectly to his 1852 philanthropic motto: "Education: a debt due from present to future generations" (her underlining): "What...results of good, not only to your contemporaries but to 'future generations,' were pending on that one act of self-denial, practiced by you in the days of youthful romance. Even at this late day, I have given a tear of sympathy for what may be presumed to have been your feelings, when you made the 'wise' decision, and resolved to submit to what you certainly have a right to think a hard lot: and, did I believe that through life you had been less happy, I should most sincerely regret your 'wisdom' spite of generations, present and future--myself and posterity included...." "But my dear brother is not desolate although alone. One affection, at least, deeper, stronger, steadier than that of a wife, clinging to him with a firmer tenacity as age creeps on, and which no circumstances can change, follows him through all his wanderings. And for the children...all the children are his children." See: Daniels, Judith (née Peabody) Russell. Danvers, Mass., Centennial, June 16, 1852.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 12-Comment on Sister Judith's Letter. Judith's letter does not identify Elizabeth (née Knox) Carson or Esther Elizabeth Hoppin or another as "...the beautiful [girl] whom as you remarked one day you would have married, if you had been 'silly enough!" Two other ladies were publicly romantically linked to GP in London during 1852-53: Charlotte Manigault Wilcocks (18921-75), niece of U.S. Minister to Britain Joseph Reed Ingersoll (1786-1868), and Elise Tiffany, daughter of Baltimore friend Osmond Capron Tiffany (1794-1851). GP, then age 58, wrote to an intimate friend: "I have now arrived at an age that throws aside all thoughts of marriage [although] I think her [Miss Wilcocks] a very fine woman." See: Romance and GP. Persons named.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 13-GP's Circumstances, 1866. On GP's second busy U.S. visit during May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867, his main concern was to speak at the dedication of the PIB and to found the Peabody Education Fund. In Baltimore he spoke and greeted visitors at the Oct. 25, 1866, PIB dedication, the likely date he allegedly last saw Elizabeth Carson. In Leakin's words: "…he left everyone else…took her in his arms in that public place and said 'Well, Eliza, is this you?'" Leakin's letter stated that Elizabeth Carson, accompanied by his grandmother "came to Baltimore…" Md. Historical Society Ref.: Libn. O'Neill, who found Elizabeth Carson's death notice in York, Pa. (which was connected by rail with Baltimore), conjectured that she lived there with her daughter and son-in-law D.O. Prince from about the mid 1850s to her death. Ref.: O'Neill See: Visits to the U.S. by GP.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 11-Conclusion. It is doubtful that GP contemplated marriage after 1850. Publicity which accompanied his fame as a philanthropist in the 1860s mounted enormously at his last illness, Nov. 4, 1869, death in London, and unusual transatlantic funeral honors. Some obituary accounts attributed his philanthropic motive as compensation for a lost love. Such stories persisted long after his death. See: Death and Funeral, GP's. Romance and GP.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 12-Conclusion (Cont'd.). Second PEF administrator J.L.M. Curry's (1825-1903) 1898 book, A Brief Sketch of George Peabody, printed an undated letter from the daughter of a business friend of GP. She wrote that when her father congratulated GP on his amazing philanthropy (probably on GP's arrival in NYC, May 1, 1866), GP reportedly replied: "Humphreys, after my disappointment long ago, I determined to devote myself to my fellow-beings, and am carrying out that dedication to my best ability." See: Curry, Jabez Lamar Monroe.
Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox). 13-Conclusion (Cont'd.). There is documentation in GP's papers about Esther Elizabeth Hoppin, Miss Willcocks, and Elise Tiffany but no direct mention of Elizabeth (née Knox) Carson. That alleged romance, which rests on the evidence of J.W. Leakin's letter, is possible and even likely. A PIB Art Gallery catalog listing of an 1840 portrait of Elizabeth (née Knox) Carson contains the legend: "Lady to whom G. Peabody twice offered his hand." Ref.: Jones, p. 7. See: persons named. Romance and GP. For location of her portrait, see Ref.: g. Internet, under Peabody Art Collection, Md. State Archives.
Carson, George (d.? 1841). See: Carson, Elizabeth (née Knox), (above).
Broken Engagement
Cass, Lewis (1782-1866). 1-GP's Engagement "thoroughly discussed." Lewis Cass was U.S. Minister to France during 1836-42. Amid the vast publicity on GP's Nov. 4, 1869, death in London and his unprecedented 96-day transatlantic funeral, the story of GP's broken engagement to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905) appeared in some newspapers. The Providence Journal (R.I., Dec. 22, 1869) printed the following from an anonymous letter writer about the broken engagement: "I well remember, when in London, twenty-eight years ago, hearing all this talked over in a chosen circle of American friends; and also, at a brilliant dinner-party given by General Cass in Versailles, it was thoroughly discussed in all its length and breadth." See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth.
Cass, Lewis. 2-Career. Lewis Cass was born in Exeter, N.H.; was a lawyer in Zanesville, Ohio; was U.S. marshal for Ohio (1807-12); fought in the War of 1812; was Mich. Territory governor (1813-31); U.S. Secty. of War (1831-36); U.S. Minister to France (1836-42); U.S. Sen. from Mich. (1845-48); and U.S. Secty. of State (1857-60). Ref.: Ibid.
Castle Connell, Limerick, lreland. In June 1867 and in July 1868 GP rented the Castle Connell, Limerick, Ireland, on the Shannon River, where he liked to fish. MP John Bright (1811-89) was his guest on both occasions. GP's little known unusual gift (amount and date of gift not known) of a stone-based metal railing in front of the Catholic Church, Limerick, Ireland, has carved on it: "THIS RAILING IS THE GIFT OF GEORGE PEABODY ESQ." See: Bright, John. Ireland.
GP Bicentennial Celebrations (Feb. 18, 1795-1995)
Catto, Rt. Hon. Lord (Sir Stephen Gordon, 1923-), is the former head of the Morgan Grenfell Group banking firm, lineal descendant of George Peabody & Co. (1838-64), who participated in the "Bicentenary Service of Thanksgiving for the Life and Work of George Peabody, 1795-1869," in London's Westminster Abbey, Nov. 16, 1995. Lord Catto was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge Univ.; he succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Catto (1936); served with the RAF in WW II; and headed Morgan Grenfell & Co. Ltd. (from 1948) and its successor Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group (1980-87). Ref.: New York Times, July 16, 1995, section XIII-CN, p. 17, c. 1. (Career): Seen Dec. 9, 1999: Internet http://www.knowuk.co.uk See: GP Bicentennial Celebrations (Feb. 18, 1795-1995).
Cazenove, Philip (1798-1880), who paid for British artist Henry William Pickersgill's (1782-1875) portrait of GP in the Corporation of London's Guildhall, is listed in Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 18th edn. (1965j), Vol. 1, p. 128, as "of Clapham, Founder of the Girls School at Green Lane and of Bolingbrooke Hospital." Ref.: London Times, April 10, 1866, p. 5, c. 3; and April 11, 1866, p. 5, c. 5. [Cazenove, Philip]. See: Pickersgill, Henry William.
Centennial Celebration, GP's, 1895. For speeches, messages received, and Queen Victoria's cablegram, with sources, see: George Peabody Centennial Celebration (Feb. 18, 1795-1895). Victoria, Queen.
Governor of Maine
Chamberlain, Joshua Lawrence (1828-1914), governor of Maine, participated in the Jan. 25-Feb. 1, 1870, reception of GP's remains aboard HMS Monarch, accompanied by the USS Plymouth, in Portland harbor, Maine. Gov. Chamberlain was born in Brewer, Maine; graduated from Bowdoin College (1852) and attended Bangor Theological Seminary; taught at Bowdoin College (1855-62); was a Lt. Col. in the 20th Maine Infantry; won the Congressional Medal of Honor for his defense of Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg (1863); was promoted to brig. gen. in the field by commanding Gen. U.S. Grant (1822-85) in June 1864; was Maine governor (1867-71); president of Bowdoin College (1871-83); and active in railroads and industry. Ref.: Boatner, p. 135. See: Death and funeral, GP's.
Chamier, Frederick (1796-1870). In his journal U.S. novelist Herman Melville (1819-91) recorded those present, including GP, when in Nov. 1849 he dined at the London home of Weymouth, Mass.-born head of the Baring Brothers banking firm Joshua Bates (1788-1864): "There was a Baron opposite me and a most lovely young girl, a daughter of Captain Chamier, the sea novelist...." See: Melville, Herman.
Chandler, Charles W. (d. Feb. 9, 1882). 1-Married GP's Niece Julia Adelaide Peabody. Charles W. Chandler was principal of the high school in Zanesville, Muskingum County, Ohio (April 1855-June 1865) and interim school superintendent (Jan. 7, 1862-63). He married GP's niece Julia Adelaide (née Peabody, b. April 25, 1835) Chandler (see immediately below) on Oct. 16, `1861, recorded in the Court of Common Pleas Probate Division, 401 Main St., Zanesville, Oh. 43701-3567. She was the daughter of GP's oldest brother David Peabody (1790-1841). Ref.: (High school principal): Everhart, pp. 221-222. (Marriage): Tunis.
Chandler, C.W. 2-Named Executor of GP's U.S. Estate. In his last will of Sept. 9, 1869, GP named two executors of his U.S. estates: nephew-in-law Charles W. Chandler and nephew Robert Singleton Peabody (1837-1904), son of GP's sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Daniels (1799-1879). GP left each U.S. executor $5,000 (ƒ1,000). Ref.: Death and Funeral, GP's, 4. See: Chandler, Julia Adelaide (née Peabody) below. Wills, GP's.
Favorite Niece
Chandler, Julia Adelaide (née Peabody) (b. April 25, 1835). 1-GP's Niece. During his first U.S. visit (Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug 19, 1857) after nearly 20 years' absence as a merchant-banker in London, GP became acquainted with his niece, Julia Adelaide Peabody, then age 21. This daughter of oldest brother David Peabody (1790-1841) became GP's favorite niece. She lived in Zanesville, Ohio, with her mother, David Peabody's second wife, Mrs. Phebe (née Reynolds) Peabody, went to finishing school in Philadelphia at uncle GP's expense, and married Zanesville, Ohio, lawyer Charles W. Chandler (d. 1882), who was an executor of GP's U.S. estate at GP's death.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 2-Background. In April 1811 David Peabody, oldest in the family of 8, employed GP, then age 16, as clerk in a dry goods shop David and partner Samuel Swett managed on State St., Newburyport, Mass. GP's father's death, May 13, 1811, in debt in Danvers, Mass., plus a devastating fire in Newburyport, May 31, 1811, led GP and paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-before 1826), whose store was burned, to sail from Newburyport, May 4, 1812, to Georgetown, D.C., where they opened a dry goods store, May 15, 1812. See: Riggs, Sr., Elisha.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 3-Brothers Worked for Riggs, Peabody & Co. GP managed the store, his uncle having gone into other enterprises. GP also served briefly in the War of 1812. He met older fellow soldier and experienced merchant Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853), who took GP, then age 19, as junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29), importers of dry goods from abroad for sale to U.S. wholesalers. The firm prospered. When Elisha Riggs, Sr., left the firm in 1829 to become a NYC banker, his place was taken by his nephew, Samuel Riggs (d.1853), in the renamed Peabody, Riggs & Co. (1829-48). See: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 4-Brothers Worked for Riggs, Peabody & Co. Cont'd. GP's three brothers occasionally worked for the firm: David Peabody, younger brothers Thomas Peabody (1801-35), and Jeremiah Dodge Peabody (1805-77, who early left the firm to become a farmer in Zanesville, Ohio). Correspondence from family and the firms detailed below indicated that Thomas and to a lesser extent David were improvident, gambled, drank, and were often in debt. Correspondence also indicated that oldest brother David may have been remiss in dealings with GP, but that GP aided financially David's son by his first wife (mentioned below) and daughter Julia Adelaide by his second wife. See: persons named.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 5-GP Paid for Relatives' Schooling. On Jan. 20, 1814, in Newburyport, Mass., David Peabody married Sally Caldwell. She died soon after 1815, leaving a son named after his uncle, George Peabody (1815-32). In Nov. 1816 David transferred to GP, now the main family supporter, title to their late father's mortgaged Danvers, Mass., home. Newburyport lawyer Ebon Mosely wrote to GP Dec. 16, 1816, "I cannot but be pleased with the filial affection which seems to evince you to preserve the estate for a Parent." By Jan. 1817 GP had paid off his late father's debts and restored his mother and younger siblings to their Danvers home (they had been forced to live separately with Spofford relatives in Salem, Mass.). Ref.: Ebon Mosley, Newburyport, Mass., to GP, Baltimore, Dec. 16, 1816, Peabody Papers, PEM.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 6-GP Paid for Relatives' Schooling Cont'd. GP paid for six of his relatives' schooling at Bradford Academy, Mass., during most of the 1820s, and bought a house for the family in West Bradford. Those who attended Bradford Academy were: 1-youngest born brother Jeremiah Peabody in 1819; 2-fourth born child Judith Dodge Peabody (1799-1879) during 1821-27; 3-seventh born and third of four sisters Mary Gaines Peabody (1807-34) in 1822-23; 4-eighth born and fourth sister Sophronia Phelps Peabody (b.1809) in 1827; 5-young cousin Adolphus William Peabody (b. 1814, paternal uncle John Peabody's son) during 1827-29; and 6-nephew George Peabody (1815-32, oldest brother David's son who sadly died of scarlet fever at age 17) in 1827. Ref.: (David Peabody married Sally Caldwell): Vital Records...Newburyport, Mass. ...to...1849, Vol. II, p. 360. See: Bradford Academy. Persons named.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 7-Nephew Asked for Aid for College. David's son named after GP wrote to ask if his uncle would help him financially to attend Yale College. GP, back in London after a 15-month commercial buying trip in Europe, replied positively on May 18, 1831. Perhaps the cultural scenes he briefly glimpsed on his commercial travels induced the following poignant letter that helps explain GP's later philanthropy.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 8-"Deprived, as I was." GP wrote his nephew (his underlining): "Deprived, as I was, of the opportunity of obtaining anything more than the most common education, I am well qualified to estimate its value by the disadvantages I labour under in the society [in] which my business and situation in life frequently throws me, and willingly would I now give twenty times the expense attending a good education could I now possess it, but it is now too late for me to learn and I can only do to those who come under my care, as I could have wished circumstances had permitted others to have done by me." Sadly this nephew died Sept. 24, 1832, in Boston of scarlet fever, his potential unfulfilled. Ref.: GP, London, to nephew George Peabody, May 18, 1831, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 9-Elisha Riggs, Sr. on GP's Difficult Brothers. In Jan. and Feb. 1827 Elisha Riggs, Sr., then GP's senior partner, wrote in confidence to GP, then working out of Baltimore for the firm, of serious difficulties with younger brother Thomas Peabody and some irritations from oldest brother David Peabody. "My whole time," Elisha Riggs, Sr., wrote to GP, "was employed late & early in attending to various business, While I was also much trouble[d] in Mind, as to what course to take with Thomas P[eabody] who I had nearly lost confidence in, and had to be attentive to every thing in the way of business myself, as but little appeared to be done as it should be without my personal attention." See: Riggs, Sr., Elisha.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 10-Elisha Riggs, Sr. on GP's Difficult Brothers Cont'd.: "I have caused Thomas to remove from his old boarding place to Mr. Devens where I board. [H]e has been here about three days. [H]e promises to be regular in his habits for the future and is generally in the house of nights in good time--As I often have writing for him to do in my room. I have paid all his debts of borrowed money, taylors, shoe bills, etc., with the exception of about 150$ which he borrowed he says of Brokers & Lotter [lottery, i.e. gambling] men, of which David Peabody was also bound. This I told him I would not pay at present. I keep a strick eye over him as well as my business will allow me to do--And have assured him, that if he ever acted again as he has done, that I would certainly get another Clerk--I have taken great pains and talked with him very carefully as to the consequences of his conduct--he appears penitent and I hope will keep his promise hereafter." Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 11-Elisha Riggs, Sr. on GP's Difficult Brothers Cont'd.: "I have acted the part of a good friend toward him in every respect, which he appears to feel and acknowledge. A short time will enable him to see and determine--I understand from Thomas that David is now employed in a lottery office. He is occasionally in the Store...." Riggs ended with: "This letter is written in haste for yourself only, as I have never mentioned to any person except yourself anything about T.P. [Thomas Peabody]. You will therefore destroy this letter...." Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 12-GP's Mother Ill. Often in financial trouble, David in NYC wrote brother Thomas in Baltimore that he needed money. Thomas replied, Nov. 18, 1828, that he was without a job and could do nothing. Four days later GP sent Thomas $15 which Thomas sent to David. Thomas sought better prospects in South America. He wrote older brother David from Lima, Peru, April 30, 1830, that he was working there as bookkeeper for Alsop, Wetmore & Co.'s agent, that their brother GP was about to sail for England on his second European commercial buying trip (1831-32, 15 months), and that their mother, in poor health, was living with recently married daughter Mary Gaines (née Peabody) Marsh in Lockport, N.Y. On April 30, 1830, Mary wrote David in NYC that their mother was still in poor health, that she had the ague followed by a high intermittent fever. Caleb Marsh (b.1800) also wrote David that mother Peabody was seriously ill and that he did not think she would recover. Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 13-GP's Mother Died, June 22, 1830. On June 25, 1830, Mary wrote David that their mother had died on June 22, 1830, a month short of her sixtieth year. David forwarded Mary's letter about their mother's death to GP by the next ship bound for England. He added to GP, in a postscript to Mary's letter: "The above I just recd in time to forward by the Canada [ship]--which sails in an hour. I should have gone to Lockport a month since if it had been in my power to have paid the expense of the journey. Yrs. truly, D. Peabody." Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 14-Thomas Peabody Ill and Unemployed. Thomas Peabody was ill in Lima, Peru; gave up his job there; worked his way back to the U.S. as a ship's clerk, and lost that job when a new crew was hired. GP was out of the country on a European buying trip when Thomas landed in Baltimore without work. He wrote David in NYC: "George being out of the country my necessity for employment is very great & for the present I would be willing to take up with almost any situation." Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 15-Thomas Peabody's Death, 1835. Peabody family letters hint at rather than detail Thomas Peabody's misdemeanors. He had evidently wronged brother David and begged to be forgiven. Thomas Peabody died April 16, 1835, the day before his thirty-fourth birthday. He had been operating a school and had gone to pay some debts in Buffalo, N.Y. Not having enough money to meet his obligations and overcome with remorse and shame, he died in circumstances not specified in family letters. Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 16-Thomas Peabody's Death, 1835 Cont'd. GP, then in Europe, had the sad news in an April 20, 1835, letter, from his brother-in-law, Dr. Eldridge Gerry Little, a physician, married to GP's youngest sister Sophronia Phelps (née Peabody) Little (b.1809). Dr. Little wrote to GP: "It becomes my painful duty to inform you of the death of Thomas. He died in Buffalo on the 16th inst. a victim of his own vices." Four months later sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell in her Aug. 23, 1835, letter to GP, referred to Thomas as their "poor misguided brother." She also relayed news that oldest brother David had married again. He met his second wife when he boarded at her home in Brookline, near Boston, Mass. David and his new family moved to Zanesville, Ohio, where youngest brother Jeremiah had settled on a farm. Maybe, Judith added about David, having a wife again might teach him economy. Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 17-GP and Niece Julia, 1856-57. During his 1856-57 U.S. visit GP was busy visiting friends, being honored, fêted, seeing after his institute library in what is now Peabody, Mass., founding a branch library in what is now Danvers, Mass., founding the PIB (Feb. 12, 1857), traveling to see vast changes in the U.S. since his 20-year absence abroad. He was in Zanesville, Ohio, Nov. 1856 with brother Jeremiah's family and became acquainted with niece Julia Adelaide, age 21. He overcame her mother's initial doubts about sending Julia to a finishing school in Philadelphia at his expense. Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 18-With Julia in Philadelphia, 1857. GP was in Philadelphia Jan. 10-18, 1857, partly to sit for a portrait in artist James Read Lambdin's (1807-89) Philadelphia studio, partly to be with niece Julia Adelaide, then attending finishing school in Philadelphia. With GP in Philadelphia was Baltimorean and PIB trustee Charles James Madison Eaton (1808-93). Eaton, an art collector, was keen to visit the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Artist James Read Lambdin, its director, took the group to visit the art gallery. GP preferred to sit and wait while the others toured the gallery. See: Eaton, Charles James Madison.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 19-"Julia will be a solace to your declining years." On May 20, 1857, sister Judith wrote GP from her home in Georgetown, Mass. She was glad he had taken Julia under his wing, sent her to school in Philadelphia, and had someone to lavish his affections on. She recalled how often Julia's father David, their deceased brother, had been jobless and in debt, how GP had time and again aided David and all the family. "I trust," she wrote, "that Julia will be a solace to your declining years, and by her affection, wipe away the remembrance of the wrongs you have received from her father." Ref.: Mrs. Judith (née Peabody) Russell, Georgetown, Mass., to GP, May 20, 1857, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 20-Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, April 1857, published an extensive, laudatory account of GP's life, rise in business, saving Md.'s credit abroad, and philanthropic gifts. The article, reprinted in pamphlet form, was widely circulated. Niece Julia Adelaide had a copy, wrote to tell GP that all her friends said he was quite handsome and that she was making a miniature painting of the GP frontispiece picture. She asked in her letter, "Will 'somebody' please send me a lock of his hair." Ref.: Julia Adelaide Peabody, Zanesville, Ohio, to GP, April 30, 1857, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 21-GP & Niece Julia Visit Yale College. In July 1857 GP took Julia with him to New Haven, Conn., to visit Yale College, where nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99), son of GP's deceased younger sister Mary Gaines (née Peabody) Marsh, was studying science. While there he had a visit from science Prof. Benjamin Silliman, Sr. (1779-1864). Neither man could foresee that nine years later GP would endow Peabody museums at Harvard and Yale Universities. Ref.: "George Peabody-a."
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 22-Panic of 1857. Having Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) as partner in George Peabody & Co., London, from Oct. 1, 1854, freed GP for his 1856-57 U.S. visit. J.S. Morgan wrote GP frequently about business affairs. On Jan. 30, 1857, Morgan alerted GP to a brewing financial panic: "The drawing upon us for the last two or three mails have been very heavy and the look of our financial business is anything but encouraging for it." Morgan warned GP again on Feb. 27 and Apr. 9: "These are times when we must keep a sharp lookout. We are in a good position and must keep so." See: Morgan, Junius Spencer.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 23-Panic of 1857 Cont'd. On April 11 GP's cousin Joseph Peabody wrote from NYC of a Paris firm (Greene & Co.) "obliged to suspend...." Alarmed, J.S. Morgan wrote GP, April 17, that money was stringent, and the specie of the Bank of England were down to nine million, "the lowest point in ten years." GP hurriedly left NYC for London on Aug. 19, 1857. He found that hundreds of U.S. and British firms had collapsed, that Lawrence, Stone and Co. of Boston, which owed him a large sum, could not repay him, that Baring Brothers of London were pressing George Peabody & Co. for £150,000 ($750,000) owed them. George Peabody & Co. was in trouble. Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 24-GP to Julia about the Panic. On Nov. 13, 1857, GP wrote of his distress to niece Julia Adelaide Peabody: "This letter I promised to write you has been postponed because of my constant engagements and the unparalleled gloom of the Panic. What will happen, Heaven only knows. Lack of confidence and distrust is universal here and in the United States. I hope my house will weather the storm. I think it will do so even though so many in debt to me cannot pay. If I fail I will bear it like a man. In my conscience I know I never deceived or injured any other human being." Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 25-GP to Julia about the Panic Cont'd : "It is less than three months since I left you in the United States, prosperous and happy. Now all is gloom and affliction. Nearly all the American houses in Europe have suspended operations and nothing but great strength can save them. It is the loss of credit of my house I fear. In any circumstances, only a small part of my private fortune will be lost. I will have enough for all my required purposes." GP held this letter for some weeks, determined not to worry his niece and to secure a Bank of England loan. Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 26-Bank of England Loan. Gathering his assets, GP anxiously applied for a $4 million loan from the Bank of England. While the Bank of England considered the loan request, some financiers, seeing an opportunity to force GP out of business, approached GP's partner J.S. Morgan and said that they would guarantee the loan if George Peabody & Co. ceased business in London. Second PEF administrator Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (1825-1903) later wrote that GP raged like a wounded lion "and told Mr. Morgan to reply that he dared them to cause his failure." The Bank of England made the loan, enabling GP to satisfy his creditors, and by March 30, 1858, GP was able to repay the Bank of England. On April 16, 1858, GP wrote Washington, D.C., business friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888), "My business is again quite snug. ....Our credit...stands as high as ever before." Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 27-GP Explained to Julia . GP held the letter to Julia for three weeks and then added: "My very dear Niece,--The three pages enclosed, as you will see from the date were written three weeks ago when I felt...that the credit of my house was in danger.... I thought to myself, Why should I make my good niece unhappy, however so my miserable self? and consequently declined to send the letter, and I am glad that I did not. "A few days after I felt it to be my duty to apply to the banks for a loan of money sufficient to carry my house through the crisis, proposing security for the full amount required, which was four million dollars. It was a severe test to my pride, but after a week spent with the Committees and Directors of the Banks I finally succeeded, and I doubt not that my house is now free from all danger.... Don't you hold your head less high or your heart worth less than you did before, for your Uncle George had done nothing but what among sensible persons will raise him higher than before." Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 28-J.S. Morgan Visited Julia, 1858. J.S. Morgan was in the U.S. in late 1858 and went to see GP's niece Julia in Oct. He wrote to GP on Nov. 2, 1858, that he had seen Julia and "found her all that I had expected from your description.... I am not surprised at your feelings toward her as she seemed a person uncommonly attractive both in mind and person." GP also wrote his niece Julia in late 1858 that, following attacks of gout in his feet and right hand, he had been to and returned from Vichy, France, where he had taken the mineral water cure under the care of a physician. His illness led him to confide to Julia that when his partnership with J.S. Morgan expired in 1864, or before, he hoped to return to the U.S. and lead a quiet life. Of the Panic of 1857 he wrote: "I am happy also to tell you that although my firm lost some money the business of the year more than made it good, and individually I am now worth much more than I supposed myself when I left the United States and I sincerely feel that what we supposed misfortunes and calamities last year were, so far as regards myself, really 'blessings in disguise.'" Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 29-Julia in Philadelphia School. Julia, in school in Philadelphia, wrote her mother of parties she had attended at Christmas 1857, of lovely clothes her uncle had approved her buying, that she was going to NYC and then to visit GP's business friends the Wetmores in R.I., and that she promised her uncle to write regularly to aunt Judith, who was always in touch with GP. Ref.: Ibid.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 30-Julia Married Charles W. Chandler. Julia Adelaide Peabody married Charles W. Chandler (d. Feb. 9, 1882) in Zanesville, Ohio, on Oct. 16, 1861. He was the principal of the high school in Zanesville during April 1855-June 1865, was acting school superintendent, 1862), and was named by GP before his death as one of the U.S. executives of his U.S. estate (the other U.S. executor was GP's nephew Robert Singleton Peabody [1837-1904]). Ref.: (Julia's marriage) Tunis. (Chandler as high school principal): Everhart, pp. 221-222.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 31-GP's 1866-67 Visit. On May 18, 1866, soon after GP's arrival for his second U.S. visit (May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867), Mrs. George Peabody Russell, wife of GP's nephew (sister Judith Dodge née Peabody Russell's son) wrote Julia Adelaide news of their uncle: "He is a very handsome old gentleman looking as they all say much better than when he left here. He seems perfectly happy and never tires of planning for the good of those who are dear to him, as you will know before long." Ref.: Mrs. George Peabody Russell to Mrs. Julia Adelaide (née Peabody) Chandler, May 18, 1866, Peabody Papers, PEM.
Chandler, J.A. (née Peabody). 32-Last Visits. On Nov. 2-10, 1866, GP was in Zanesville for a family visit and saw Julia and her family (she then had two children). There were later family gatherings during GP's third and last U.S. visit, June 8-Sept. 29, 1869. His weakened condition was evident. Saddest of all was the family gathering at his final funeral service in Peabody, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870. Court of Common Pleas Probate Division, 401 Main St., Zanesville, Oh. 43701-3567, has the marriage record of Julia Adelaide Peabody to Charles W. Chandler in 1862 and of Charles W. Chandler's death on Feb. 9, 1882. See: Chandler, Charles W. (above). Death and Funeral, GP's. Wills, GP's.
Chapman, John Lee (1812-80), was the mayor of Baltimore who, with city council members, greeted GP and guests on arrival, Oct. 24, 1866, to attend PIB dedication and opening ceremonies, Oct. 25-26, 1866. GP's guests included Charles Macalester (1798-1873) of Philadelphia, Capt. Charles H.E. Judkins of the Scotia, GP's nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909) and wife, nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99), and George Peabody Wetmore (1846-1921) of Newport, R.I. (later R.I. governor, 1885-87, and U.S. senator. 1895-1913); and some PIB trustees. They were taken by carriage to Barnum's City Hotel as guests of the city (GP had lived at Barnum's from its opening [about 1836] until his departure for London in Feb. 1837). Ref.: Coyle, pp. 106-115. See: U.S. Visits, 1866-67. Persons named.
Chapple, William Dismore. Author of George Peabody (Salem, Mass.: Peabody Museum, 1948). See: Peabody, George, Biographies.
Charity Commissioners, London. On March 27, 1862, following GP's letter of March 12, 1862, founding the Peabody Donation Fund (to build and manage model apartments for London's working poor, $2.5 million total gift), trustee James Emerson Tennent (1791-1869) wrote to GP: "I have returned after spending a very long time with the Commissioners of Charities who enter with the most lively interest into the arrangements for our trust. They tell me that in the whole range of charities of England there is nothing to compare with the disinterestedness and magnitude of your gift." See: Peabody Homes of London.
Charles St., and Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore. Site chosen for the PIB. For other sites proposed and discussed, see: PIB.
Charleston, S.C. During GP's Sept. 15, 1856-Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years' absence in London (since Feb. 1837), he visited Charleston, S.C., March 7, 1857. For details and sources of GP's March-April 1857 travel itinerary, see: Augusta, Ga.
Chase, Salmon Portland (1808-73), was N.H.-born, a Dartmouth College graduate (1826), U.S. Senator (1849-55), Ohio governor (1855-59), Pres. Abraham Lincoln's Treasury Secty. (1861-64), and U.S. Chief Justice (from 1864). GP sent S.P. Chase a copy of his Oct. 27, 1851, dinner book (U.S.-British friendship dinner, London, to departing U.S. exhibitors, Great Exhibition of 1851, London, first world's fair). Chase sent GP a report by Socialist David Dale Owen (1807-60) and a letter introducing the editor of the Washington, D.C., weekly journal National Era. Ref.: Salmon P. Chase to GP, March 17, and April 27, 1853, Peabody Papers, PEM. See: Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world's fair).
Cherbourg, France, is the French seaport on the English Channel where the Confederate CSS Alabama was intercepted (June 14, 1864) and sunk (June 19, 1864) by the Union warship, USS Kearsarge, under Capt. John Ancrum Winslow (1811-73). For details and sources on how the Alabama affected GP's funeral, see: Alabama Claims.
Chicago Bank One. See: Peabody, George (1795-1869), Critics-18-32.
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. For GP's part in selling abroad the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. part of Md.'s $8 million bond sale abroad, from 1837, see: Md.'s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.
Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, Ill., has New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley's (1811-72) Aug. 24, 1854, letter asking GP to aid his wife if needed on her trip to Sweden. See: Greeley, Horace.
Childers, Hugh Culling Eardley (1827-96). On Dec. 8, 1869, First Lord of the Admiralty Hugh Culling Eardley Childers boarded HMS Monarch, Portsmouth, England, to inspect preparations in progress to receive GP's remains. Born and died in London, Childers was educated at Wadham College, Oxford, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He emigrated to Australia (1850), rose rapidly in the civil service, became a member of the Australian cabinet (1856), and was founder and first vice chancellor, Univ. of Melbourne. He returned to London (1857) as Queen Victoria's agent general; was elected Liberal MP for Pontefract (1860); was financial secretary, Treasury Dept. (1865-66); was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty in PM W.E. Gladstone's cabinet (1868-71); was chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster (1872-73); was Gladstone's Secretary for War (1880-82), Chancellor of the Exchequer (1882), and Home Secretary (retired 1892). Ref.: "Hugh Culling Eardley Childers," Vol. 5, pp. 502-503. See: Death and Funeral, GP's.
PEF Trustee
Childs, George William (1829-94), was elected a PEF trustee to succeed trustee Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826-93) but died before he could take his seat on the board. Childs's place was taken by George Peabody Wetmore (1846-1921) of Rhode Island. George W. Childs was born in Baltimore, was publisher of the Philadelphia Public Ledger during 1864-94, and as a philanthropist educated over 800 children, gave a Shakespearean memorial fountain to Stratford-on-Avon, a memorial window in Westminster Abbey, and helped establish a home for printers in Colorado Springs. Ref.: Curry-b, p. 105.
Choate, Joseph Hodges (1832-1917), nephew of Rufus Choate (below) was a PEF trustee elected to succeed trustee Hamilton Fish (1809-93). Joseph H. Choate was born in Salem, Mass., was a Harvard Law School graduate (1854), a NYC lawyer who helped expose the Tweed Ring in 1871 and 1894, was U.S. Ambassador to Britain (1899-1905), and the U.S. delegate to the Second Hague Conference (1907). Ref.: Curry-b, p. 107.
Choate, Rufus (1799-1859), uncle of Joseph Hodges Choate (above), was a prominent Mass. lawyer and statesman. He was unable to attend but sent a letter instead extolling the importance on June 16, 1852, of the 100th anniversary of the separation of Danvers from Salem, Mass. This was the occasion when GP, also invited to attend but unable to leave London, had his letter dated London, May 26, 1852, read aloud by boyhood playmate John Waters Proctor (1791-1874). This letter contained GP's first gift founding his first Peabody Institute Library to which he ultimately gave $217,000. His letter also contained his motto: Education--a debt due from present to future generations. Rufus Choate was born in Ipswich, Mass., graduated from Dartmouth College (1819), began his law practice in Danvers, served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1830-35), had a large Boston law practice, succeeded Daniel Webster (1782-1852) in the U.S. Senate (1841-45), and was a leading orator of the time. See: Danvers, Mass., Centennial Celebration, June. 16, 1852.
Christ Church College, Oxford Univ. Dr. Henry Longueville Mansel (1820-71) of Oxford Univ.'s Christ Church College wrote asking GP if he would accept an honorary degree. GP agreed on June 5, 1867, to accept. For details on the awarding of the honorary Doctor of Laws degree to GP on June 26, 1867, with sources, see: Oxford Univ., England.
Cincinnati, Ohio. During GP's Sept. 15, 1856-Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years' absence in London (since Feb. 1837), he visited Cincinnati, Ohio, where he declined a public dinner, met citizens at the Merchants' Exchange, and received and acknowledged resolutions of praise (April 10, 1857). For details and sources of GP's March-April 1857 itinerary, see: Augusta, Ga.
Exclusive Clubs
City of London Club. 1-Basis for Anti-Americanism. In 1844 GP was denied membership (blackballed) at London's Reform Club, although proposed for membership by two members of Parliament. The economic reason for the then anti-U.S. feeling in Britain was that the Panic of 1837 and the severe depression that followed led nine states, including Md., to stop interest payments on their bonds sold abroad. GP had gone to Europe in Feb. 1837, on his fifth business trip abroad, as Md.'s agent to sell the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. part of Md.'s $8 million bond issue. He remained in London the rest of his life (1837-69) moving from dry goods merchant to securities broker to international banker. See: Md.'s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.
City of London Club. 2-Basis for Anti-Americanism Cont'd. British and European investors, many retired, their widows and children, were economically hurt and angry at the repudiating states. In this anti-U.S. context, GP was blackballed when proposed for membership in the Reform Club in 1844. Years later when his leadership role in championing resumption of interest payment on U.S. bonds became known, he was accepted without opposition into membership at the Parthenon Club (1848), the City of London Club (1850), and others. Ref.: Ibid. City of London Club, p. 51.
City of London Club. 3-GP's Leadership Role. GP urged Md. state officials to resume interest payments quickly and retroactively. He also publicly assured British and other European investors that repudiation was temporary, that interest payments would resume, and that they would be retroactive. By 1847 news that Md. and other defaulting states had recovered, had resumed interest payments retroactively, and that GP was partly responsible echoed in financial circles on both sides of the Atlantic. The London correspondent of the New York Courier & Enquirer wrote: "...the energetic influence of the Anti-Repudiators would never have been heard in England had not Mr. George Peabody...made it a part of his duty to give to the holders of the Bonds every information in his power, and to point out...the certainty of Maryland resuming [payment].... He...had the moral courage to tell his countrymen the [truth].... [He is] a merchant of high standing...but also an uncompromising denouncer of chicanery in every shape." Ref.: Ibid.
City of London Club. 4-Taken into Clubs. It was in this glow of publicity that GP was taken into the Parthenon Club (1848) four years after being blackballed at the Reform Club (1844). He proudly wrote to a friend, "This Club [Parthenon] ranks much higher than the Reform." Election to the City of London Club (1850) was followed by membership in the prestigious Athenaeum Club (Feb. 3, 1863). Under its Rule Two, the Athenaeum annually admitted nine members who were eminent in science, literature, the arts, or public service. GP's admission came after he established the Peabody Donation Fund (March 12, 1862) which built and managed model apartments for low income London working people (total gift, $2.5 million). Ref.: (Parthenon Club): GP to John Glenn, April 20, 1848, quoted in Hidy, M.E.-c, p. 301. Ref.: (Athenaeum Club): Ward, pp. 195-198.
City of London Club. 5-Other Honors. Other honors that followed from GP's housing gift included the Freedom of the City of London (July 10, 1862; the first U.S. citizen to accept this honor); membership in two ancient guilds, the Clothworkers' Company (July 2, 1862) and the Fishmongers' Company (April 18,1866); and other honors. See: clubs named.
City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest. GP gave $165 to this hospital during 1850-55 (perhaps more but not recorded). Ref.: Parker dissertation, p. 1085.
Civil War (1861-65). See: Civil War and GP (below).
GPAttacked as Confederate Sympathizer
Civil War and GP. 1-Confederate Sympathizer? GP was attacked for alleged Civil War pro-Confederate anti-Union bond sale profiteering. He was also defended as an active Union supporter. This controversy raged from 1861 until well after his Nov. 4, 1869, death. Many European investors, initially uncertain which side would win the Civil War, sold their U.S. securities. European investors did not start buying again until Union victory was assured in 1864.
GP Critic John Bigelow
Civil War and GP. 2-Earliest Charge by John Bigelow. U.S. Consul Gen. in Paris John Bigelow (1817-1911) wrote confidentially to Secty. of State William Henry Seward (1801-72), July 17, 1862, accusing GP of exaggerating Federal reversals in the Civil War in order to cause financial panic and so reap a personal fortune. But John Bigelow did not submit proof. Wallace and Gillespie, editors of U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran's (1820-86) journal, who mention John Bigelow's charge against GP, add: "Henry [Brooks] Adams [1838-1918], however in the Education [of Henry Adams] speaks of the loyalty of Peabody and Barings [Baring Brothers banking firm, London]." Ref.: (Bigelow's charge against GP): Wallace and Gillespie, eds., p. 933, note 16.
Civil War and GP. 3-Career. Born in Malden, N.Y., Bigelow graduated from Union College (1835), was a lawyer, then a journalist, an inspector at Sing Sing, N.Y., prison (1845-46), an editor of the NYC Evening Post (1849-61), U.S. Consul Gen. in Paris (1861-64), U.S. Minister to France (1864-67), Secty. of N.Y. State (1875-77), a leading NYC Public Library trustee, an author and editor of the Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin, 1888. Bigelow's unsubstantiated charge was repeated through the years. (Note: For doubt cast about Bigelow's criticism of GP's loyalty, see: Bigelow, John. "Bigelow, John…" in Ref.:, end of book).
Defense of GP
Civil War and GP. 4-New York Times Defense. Other sources just as adamantly declared GP a Unionist. A writer for the New York Times, May 23, 1861, for example, reported: "Dispatches by the Persia state that the agents of the Rebel Government have explored Europe in vain for money, to be had in exchange for their bonds. Mr. Dudley Mann [Ambrose Dudley Mann, 1801-89, Confederate emissary] had sought an interview with Mr. George Peabody in the hope of negotiating a loan, and had been politely, but firmly repulsed. In no case, had they found their securities marketable at the largest discount they could offer as a temptation." Ref.: New York Times, May 23, 1861, p. 1, c. 1; quoted in Moore, ed., I, p. 76.
Civil War and GP. 5-New York Times Defense Cont'd. Reports of GP's alleged southern sympathies surfaced occasionally in the vast publicity at his death and protracted 96-day transatlantic funeral. A writer in the New York Times again sprang to GP's defense, quoting GP's explanation made to a group of NYC friends during his May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867 U.S. visit. One of this group said to GP: "I read in a newspaper today an article about you. It said that you sympathized with the South during the war, that you made money by speculating in Confederate bonds. What is the truth of this?" New York Times, Jan 27, 1870, p. 1, c. 5-7.
Civil War and GP. 6-New York Times Defense Cont'd. GP sprang to his feet and said with some emotion: "I have read paragraphs like that too and am utterly at a loss to know how such an impression got about. Nothing I ever said or did during the war justifies this charge. Let me deny the insinuation in the strongest terms. From the beginning throughout I condemned the cause of the South in taking up arms against the government. In adhering to the cause of the North I injured my reputation with some of my friends who advocated the cause of the South." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 7-New York Times Defense Cont'd.: "As for speculating in Confederate bonds, the only money that I made out of the South during the War was made in this way: Agents of the Confederate government called on me and importuned me to use my influence in negotiating a loan for the Confederacy in England. I immediately and peremptorily refused to have anything to do with it, and told them that in my opinion any American ought to be ashamed to have anything to do with an attempt to break up and destroy such Government as they enjoyed. Finding that I would have nothing to do with their bonds, they sought aid elsewhere." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 8-New York Times Defense Cont'd.: "The sympathies of many English capitalists were with them, and they finally succeeded in enlisting four or five men of large means in their scheme, and a meeting was held, at which time they were to close the negotiations for a loan of $75,000,000 to the Confederacy, receiving its bonds therefor at fifty cents on the dollar. Just before the final papers were to be signed one of the capitalists remarked to the company that, before he affixed his signature, he thought he would go down and consult his friend Peabody, and see what he thought of it. Another of the party said he would do the same thing, and they both came to me, told me what had been done, and asked my advice. Said I, 'Gentlemen, why will you pay 50 cents on the dollar for these bonds, when, by waiting a year, you can get them for 25 or 30 cents on the dollar?'" Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 9-New York Times Defense Cont'd.: "'You do not believe, do you, Mr. Peabody,' replied one of the gentlemen, 'That these bonds can be bought a year hence for that price?' 'I certainly do,' I replied; 'and to prove that I am sincere, I will stipulate to sell you a million dollars worth in one year from today at 25 cents on the dollar.' "They both then agreed that they would have nothing more to do with the loan, but to show that they had no faith in what I said about the future value of the [Confederate] bonds, they were both anxious to accept my offer, and required me to reduce my stipulation to writing. I did so. The year came round, and Confederate bonds were worth less than even I anticipated. But, gentlemen, I held them to their bargain and received $60,000 from them in fulfillment of it, which was all the money I ever made by speculating on the bonds of the Confederacy." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 10-GP's Defense in the Boston Courier. In early March 1861 an anonymous letter writer in Boston and NYC newspapers stated that in his opinion Civil War would be good for business. He wrote that if the North compromised with the South it would ruin the national credit. Because some newspapers inferred that the unknown letter writer might be GP, he wrote to the Boston Courier editor, March 8, 1861: "I do not know who wrote this letter. My remarks would be the opposite. The threat of war has already lost the European market for United States securities. Concession and compromise alone would reinstate our credit abroad. I hope conciliation will prove successful. If not and war comes it will destroy the credit of North and South alike in Europe. Worse, our prestige and pride will disappear. Second rate powers may insult our flag with impunity and first rate powers wipe away the Monroe Doctrine. May Providence prevent this." Ref.: Boston Courier, March 8, 1861; also quoted in New York Herald, March 27, 1861, p. 1, c. 4. For pro-Confederate charge by anonymous writer "S.P.Q." and defense by Thurlow Weed and others, see: "S.P.Q." Weed, Thurlow (both below).
GP Critic Benjamin Moran
Civil War and GP. 11-Benjamin Moran. U.S. Legation Secty. Benjamin Moran criticized GP as pro-Confederate in his private journal. This Philadelphia-born printer went to London as a freelance writer, published a travel book (1854), married an English woman in ill health, and worked at the U.S. Legation in London during 1853-75. Moran was aptly described by historian Henry [Brooks] Adams (1838-1918), private secretary to his father, U.S. Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams (1807-86): "On the staff of the American Legation in London was Benjamin Moran, ...a man of long experience at the Legation and one who became a sort of dependable workhorse to fill in for any duty that might come up from the changing personnel. He had an exaggerated notion of his importance; he was sensitive to flattery, and easily offended. He kept an extensive diary and while it must be read from the point of view of his character, it throws an interesting light on the Legation scene." Ref.: Wallace and Gillespie, I, p. 123.
Civil War and GP. 12-Moran's First GP Entry. Moran's first entry on GP's return to London after a Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857, U.S. visit: "Monday, 31 Aug ('57)...George Peabody, the puffing American note shaver has returned to London from a tour of self-glorification in the United States. This is the fellow who gives private dinners on the Fourth of July at public taverns to which he invites everyone in a good suit of clothes who will applaud him and then publishes the proceedings, toasts, and all, in the public journals. It is worth noting that he pays his clerks less and works them harder than any other person in London in the same business, and never gave a man a dinner that wanted it. His parties are advertisements, and his course far from benevolent. He never gave away a cent that he didn't know what its return would be. He has no social position in London and cannot get into good Society. He generally bags the new American Minister for his own purposes and shows him up around the town, if he can, as his puppet to a set of fourth-rate English aristocrats and American tuft-hunters who eat his dinners and laugh at him for his pains." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 13-Moran on Saltpeter Purchase. Moran believed GP had interfered in the purchase for the Union of saltpeter, a gunpowder ingredient. He recorded: "Lammont [Lammot] DuPont [1831-84] came here lately to purchase saltpeter, and had a heavy credit on Barings for the purpose. For prudent reasons he transferred his account to another house, & old Peabody hearing this, & finding it did not come to him, induced Samson [Marmaduke Blake Sampson, d.1876, London Times editor] the Traducer of the U.S., who writes the money articles of The Times to get up a cry against the export of the articles & stop it. This has succeeded, as Gov't has issued an order in Council on the subject. The saltpeter was a private speculation, but to make powder for our Govt. and this avaricious old rogue Peabody has prevented it leaving the country through spite." Ref.: (Saltpeter): Ibid., II, p. 918.
Civil War and GP. 14-Moran on Trent Affair. Of the Nov. 8, 1861 Trent Affair (U.S. illegal removal of four Confederates from a British ship), Moran wrote: "George Peabody came in soon after me [with news].... He had met Dudley Mann [Ambrose Dudley Mann, 1801-89, Confederate emissary to get arms and aid from England] in the street.... Peabody either had been to see Mrs. Slidell [wife of one of the seized Confederates], or was going to see her, and was certain there would be no war [with Britain over the Trent]. His whole manner is that of a hypocrite, and he is carrying water on both shoulders, being determined to stand well on both sides, in any event." Ref.: (Trent): Ibid., pp. 932-933. See: Moran, Benjamin. Trent Affair.
Civil War and GP. 15-Moran on J.R. Potter and GP. Moran recorded on Dec. 2, 1863: "We have had a visit this morning from John R. Potter [b. 1815], Esq. of Manchester [merchant and former mayor, 1848-50], a warm friend of ours during this great struggle.... He stated he had been in Scotland during the summer and there he met the inflated Mr. George Peabody. Supposing him to be loyal, as a matter of course, he spoke to him freely in favor of the Government; but was astonished to find him luke-warm and faithless to his country. In fact, his sentiments were of that class that are always indulged in by hypocrites in trying times. His tone was denunciatory of the Government and its policy, and had a greater effect in favor of the rebels than a speech of Slidell or Mason would have had." Ref.: (John Potter): Wallace and Gillespie, eds., II, p. 1241.
Civil War and GP. 16-Moran on GP's Housing Gift.: "His [GP's] late hollow gift to the poor of London has made him an authority with English people, and as they know him to be a New England man, his opinions in favor of secession are regarded as just and adopted by many as conclusive. He did much damage to us in Scotland this summer. But he has been a disguised rebel all the way through.... Mr. Potter says he as an Englishman, was placed in the strange position when in Scotland, of being obliged to defend a loyal president of the U.S. and this great war of freedom, against the attacks and misrepresentations of an American from Massachusetts, who while pretending to be a lover of his country, and a patriot, was by his language a confessed traitor and defender of falsehood, treason, slavery, and piracy.…" Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 17-Benjamin Moran Cont'd. Moran recorded on Feb. 1864: "Wm. Evans has been up to know whether the U.S. Five-twenty bonds are or are not payable in coin. A great fight has been created by Peabody & Morgan putting into circulation a story in the city that they are not. This is part of the conduct of these hypocrites. Peabody is a rebel and does all in his power to destroy the credit of his country, while Morgan practices treason covertly while openly professing loyalty.... So strong is the hold on American belief, that this man Peabody is loyal that no refutation will shake it, and he therefore goes on and does us ten times more injury than a flat rebel; because his intercourse with loyal men is a strong endorsement in the minds of Englishmen of the truth of his opinions on our affairs." Moran's entry for April 1865 recorded: "The famous Geo. Peabody came in and sat an hour talking to me. He is a rebel and don't conceal it." Ref.: Ibid., p. 1411.
Change of Name: South Danvers to Peabody, Mass.
Civil War and GP. 18-Name Change, South Danvers to Peabody, March 13, 1868. Pro-Confederate charge and denial arose in a March 1868 petition sent to the South Danvers, Mass., town council to change the town's name from South Danvers to Peabody, Mass. South Danvers citizens voted their approval which then went to the Mass. legislature in Boston, where the proposal met opposition. The charge was made again in the Mass. legislature--that GP had been pro-Confederate, anti-Union, and a rebel sympathizer in the Civil War. A petition signed by 100 citizens opposed to the change of name was presented at a late March 1868 hearing at the State House, Boston. At the hearing a Mr. H.W. Poole explained that GP was unpopular with some in South Danvers because of his alleged southern sympathies during the rebellion. See: Peabody, Mass.
Civil War and GP. 19-Name Change, South Danvers to Peabody Cont'd. GP was stoutly defended at the hearing, especially by Gen. William Sutton, who said that relatively few in South Danvers objected to the proposed name change. Two years before, the business community particularly wanted a name change. "South Danvers" implied a section of Danvers, when South Danvers was in fact a separate town. Even the U.S. post office had difficulty separating Danvers and South Danvers mail. In fact, "Peabody" was chosen over other suggested names: "Bowditch," after the locally born famed navigator and mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch (1773-1838); "Antwerp," because the French spelling of that city in Belgium, "D'Anvers," was believed to be the original source for "Danvers"; "Brooksby," the name of the village when first settled in 1626 as part of Salem; "Osborne," after many of that family in South Danvers; and "Sutton" after a prominent citizen, Gen. William Sutton. Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 20-Second Vote, April 30, 1868. To overcome the impasse in the change of name, the hearings committee proposed a compromise: the State of Mass. would recognize the name change to "Peabody" if there was a second favorable vote by South Danvers citizens. In April 1868, before the town's second vote, friends of GP issued a handbill which explained: "At a...town meeting, duly called and legally conducted, we voted to change the town's name to Peabody.... Opponents who failed to defeat it at the ballot box protested.... Rather than have the name change take effect under imputation of 'trickery, wire pulling, and underhand work,' we agreed to a second town vote." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 21-Second Vote, April 30, 1868, Cont'd. The pro-GP handbill then explained his financial record in the Civil War: "The charges against Mr. Peabody are unfounded. He never held a dollar of rebel debt nor dealt in rebel bonds. On the contrary over three million dollars of his own money was in United States bonds on which he drew no interest until the war was over. He used his influence to help sell our bonds when we were hard pressed for money and when other bankers in England invested in the Confederate Loan. The success of the rebellion would have shattered his fortune." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 22-2nd Vote, April 30, 1868 Cont'd. Opposition declined. On the second vote, April 30, 1868, of the 625 votes cast, there were 379 yeas, 246 nays, with change of name advocates winning by 133 votes. Thus, the town first called Brooksby (1626), later known as Salem Village, then Danvers (1752-1852), then South Danvers (1852-68), became Peabody, Mass. (from April 13, 1868, by official Mass. records). Ref.: Ibid.
Critic W.L. Garrison
Civil War and GP. 23-W.L. Garrison. Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison's (1805-79) article, "Mr. Peabody and the South," NYC's Independent, Aug. 19, 1869, attacked GP's patriotism: "During the protracted moral and political struggle for the abolition of slavery in this country...Mr. Peabody was with the South in feeling and sentiment... His leanings were toward the South; not indeed to the extent of disunion, but rather for reunion on terms that would be satisfactory to herself." Garrison criticized GP on these six points (Garrison's quotes): 1-GP's PIB gift (total $1.4 million, 1857-69) was "made to a Maryland institution, at a time when that state was rotten with treason." 2-GP's $2 million PEF for aiding public education in the 11 former Confederate states plus W.Va. Garrison criticized the PEF for giving more to white than to black schools, for going along with racially segregated schools, and for not insisting on aiding mixed white and black schools. Ref.: Independent (NYC), Aug. 19, 1869, p. 1, c. 5-7; and Nov. 11, 1869, p. 4, c. 1. Parker, F.-f, pp. 1-20; reprinted Parker, F.-zd, pp. 49-68.
Civil War and GP. 24-W.L. Garrison Cont'd. Garrison's criticism of GP on six points continued with: 3-GP's not showing public sorrow at Pres. Lincoln's assassination: "When the news of the tragical death of President Lincoln reached England...surely Mr. Peabody owed...in some way to bear an emphatic testimony at such a critical period...but no such testimony is on record." 4-GP, then ill and two months from death, went not to a northern health resort but to a southern mineral spa, White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., "the favorite resort of the elite of rebeldom." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 25-W.L. Garrison Cont'd. 5-GP's accepting at the Old White Hotel, White Sulphur Springs, resolutions of praise for his PEF. 6-GP's thanks for these resolutions of praise (Garrison quoted GP as saying: "I shall be glad, if my strength would permit, to speak of my own cordial esteem and regard for the high honor, integrity and heroism of the Southern people!!") [Garrison's underlining]. Garrison commented as follows on GP's response to the resolutions of praise given him in W.Va.: "The record of 'the Southern people' is one of lust and blood, of treachery and cruelty, of robbery and oppression, of rebellion and war; and to panegyrize their 'high honor, integrity, and heroism' is an insult to the civilized world." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 26-W.L. Garrison Cont'd. Garrison's last critical article, "Honored Beyond His Deserts," Independent, Feb. 10, 1870, followed the vast publicity accompanying GP's Nov. 4, 1869, death in London, 96-day transatlantic funeral, and Feb. 8, 1870, burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Garrison wrote: "The 'pomp and circumstance' attending the burial...of the late George Peabody have been...extraordinary.... Mr. Peabody was simply a quiet, plodding, shrewd, and eminently successful man of business, with the strongest conservative tendencies, and ever careful to avoid whatever might interfere with his worldly interests, or subject him...to popular disesteem.... His sympathies ...were...with a pro-slavery South [more] than with an anti-slavery North; and he carried his feelings in that direction almost to the verge of the Rebellion*." Ref.: Ibid. Independent (NYC), Feb. 10, 1870, p. 1, c. 2-3.
GP Critic Charles Wilson Felt
Civil War and GP. 27-Charles Wilson Felt. The asterisk after "Rebellion*" footnoted for corroboration a GP critic, Charles Wilson Felt (1834-?). The footnote* quoting Felt at the bottom of the page read: "Corroborative of this charge, take the testimony of Charles W. Felt, Esq., as given in a letter to the Evening Post, dated Manchester (Eng.), Jan. 8th last [1870]:" (Note: Born Nov. 18, 1834, in Salem, Mass., the son of Ephaim Felt and Eliza [née Ropes], C.W. Felt was an inventor (believed to have been a promoter of railroads in cities and towns [i.e., trolley cars]). Ref.: Ibid. See: Felt, Charles Wilson. Garrison, William Lloyd.
Civil War and GP. 28-Charles Wilson Felt Cont'd. [Felt wrote]: 'I was in London in October and November, 1861, having a letter of introduction from Edward Everett to Mr. Peabody. I was astonished and mortified to hear Mr. Peabody, in the course of a short conversation, indulge in such expressions as these: [Felt quoted GP as saying to him]: 'I do not see how it can be settled, unless Mr. [Confederate Pres. Jefferson] Davis gives up what Mr. Lincoln says he is fighting for--the forts the South has taken--and then separate.' 'You can't carry on the war without coming over here for money; and you won't get a shilling.' 'Harriet Beecher Stowe [1811-96, in London, 1852] was over here, but I would not go to see her, though I was invited: and now she writes that this is our war! Such things don't go down over here.'...[Felt continued]: I made one other call upon him; but I could only regard him as recreant to his country in the time of her greatest need." [Garrison's italics]. Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 29-Charles Wilson Felt Cont'd. Felt's Jan. 8, 1870, letter from Manchester, England, printed in the NYC Evening Post, Jan. 21, 1870, was written to refute Thurlow Weed's (1797-1882) vindication of GP as a staunch Unionist during the Civil War. Weed's vindication, printed in the New York Times, Dec. 23, 1869, was confirmed publicly by Ohio Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873) and others. Felt wrote: "I have seen Mr. Weed's vindication of George Peabody's course in the Civil War. He acknowledges finding Peabody undecided as late as December, 1861. No loyal American could be doubtful after Fort Sumter, Bull Run, and Front Royal. I don't doubt that Peabody ran to Minister Adams with news of Federal success at Fort Donelson for he then saw which would be the winning side. He became a friend of the North when he saw it would win." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 30-Garrison and Felt. The title of Garrison's editorial clearly implied and agreed with what Felt more directly stated: that GP was honored beyond his true merit, that it would have been better if he had remained in the U.S. instead of going to England to die, that GP's return to England was a bid for notoriety. Ref.: (Charles Wilson Felt refuted Weed's vindication): C.W. Felt, Manchester, England, to NYC Evening Post editor, Jan. 8, 1870, published in the NYC Evening Post, Jan. 31, 1870. Felt's letter also in Parker, F.-f, pp. 1-20; reprinted in Parker, F.-zd, pp. 50-68. Ref.: (Weed's vindication): New York Times, Dec. 23, 1869, p. 2, c. 3-4; reprinted in Weed-a.
Thurlow Weed's Vindication of GP as Union Supporter
Civil War and GP. 31-Weed's Vindication. Thurlow Weed's vindication of GP carried weight because of Weed's political importance. He was the politically influential owner and editor of the Albany, N.Y. Evening Journal, leading news organ of the old Whig Party and its successor Republican Party. He was a political king maker, having masterminded the election of William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) as ninth U.S. president in 1841, helped get the presidential nomination for Henry Clay (1777-1852) in 1844, and backed Zachary Taylor (1784-1850) as 12th U.S. president during 1849-50. Weed managed William Henry Seward's (1801-72) political career as N.Y. state legislator, governor, and senator; worked for Seward's nomination for the presidency in 1860 but backed Abraham Lincoln after Lincoln won the nomination. Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 32-Weed's Vindication Cont'd. Weed was intimate with GP from 1851, was GP's early philanthropic advisor, and spoke at length to GP about the Civil War in Dec. 1861 when he and Ohio Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873) were two of Pres. Lincoln's unofficial emissaries to keep Britain and France neutral in the Civil War. Weed stated that in London in Dec. 1861 he found Britain in a rage over the Trent Affair, the illegal U.S. removal of Confederate emissaries Mason, Slidell, and their male secretaries from the British Trent bound for Liverpool. Britain moved to a war footing and sent 8,000 troops to Canada in case of a U.S.-British war. After leaving U.S. Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams, Weed called on GP and recorded their talk about the Civil War. Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 33-Weed's Vindication Cont'd. The Weed-GP conversation (condensed from Weed's "Vindication"): GP: I am surprised and I regret that the United States has become unnecessarily involved in Civil War. Weed: Yes, it is a great calamity but it was forced upon the North. GP: Could not the Federal Government have avoided it? Weed: I would like to explain why the rebellion was both premeditated and inevitable. GP: I would like to hear your views. It will require strong evidence to satisfy me that wise and good men could not have prevented this unnatural war." Weed described to GP the historical incidents leading to South Carolina's secession. Weed said (his underlining): "The avowed purpose of prominent statesmen of the Southern states has been to preserve slavery in the Union or to establish a slave confederacy outside of it. South Carolina has held this attitude for forty years. The Missouri Compromise of 1850 attempted to adjust the extension of slavery in the new territories and the South immediately brought into the union three slave states. You will remember the resistance of the slave states to the admission of California with a constitution prohibiting slavery." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 34-Weed's Vindication Cont'd.: "This was followed by a visit of distinguished Whigs in Congress from Georgia and North Carolina--Stevens [full name not known], [Robert A.] Toombs [1810-85, Ga.], and [Thomas Lanier] Clingman [1812-97, N.C.]--to President [Zachary] Taylor threatening the dissolution of the Union if the rights of the slave states were violated. Mr. Peabody, I passed these gentlemen as they left the White House. I found General Taylor greatly excited by that interview. He told me, Vice-President [Hannibal] Hamlin [1809-91], and a senator from Maine what had occurred ten minutes after the Southern congressmen left him. Nothing, in my opinion, but the fact that General Taylor was himself a Southern gentleman, prevented Civil War then and there." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 35-Weed's Vindication Cont'd.: "You also recall the Kansas conflict which upset the balance between slave and free states. In 1860 a census of Congress showed conclusively that the Congress favored freedom over slavery. I maintain, Mr. Peabody, that this fact precipitated the rebellion. The evidence for my opinion is that the Democratic party was thwarted in electing a Democratic President by the persistent actions of the slave delegates to the Democratic National Convention of 1860. The Southern Democrats refused to nominate a Union Democrat. By their support of [John Calvin] Breckinridge [1821-75] they intended to gain the election of Lincoln. This was a pretext for rebellion sufficient to draw the Southern people into line with their leaders." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 36-Weed's Vindication Cont'd.: "Let me say also that a disloyal Secretary of the Navy [?Isaac Toucey, 1796-1869, of Conn.?] sent nearly all our warships to foreign countries in order to leave the North unprepared for the war forced on the government. Let me add, Mr. Peabody, that in 1859-60 a secessionist Secretary of War [John Buchanan Floyd, 1807-63, from Va. and later a Confederate general] transferred large quantities of arms and ammunition from Northern to Southern arsenals. With all this, I admit and still believe, that but for radical men in Washington the rebellion might have been limited. North Carolina and Tennessee, loyal in the beginning, might have been held in the Union." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 37-Weed's Vindication Cont'd. GP listened; he then spoke with deliberation: "I think now that the Northern side is more in the right than I had thought it was. For several months my talks have been with Americans who presented the question differently. The business years of my life, as you know, were spent in Georgetown, District of Columbia, and in Baltimore. My private sympathies while in England have been against the institution of slavery. But during these many years of excitement on that subject I regarded the extremists of both sides as equally mischievous. This view made me think that extreme men were alike enemies of the Union." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 38-Weed's Vindication Cont'd. In his "Vindication" Weed explained that London had news, March 5, 1862, of Union victory in Tennessee. Gen. U.S. Grant had taken Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. GP had the news a few hours earlier from his NYC agents and rushed to share it with U.S. Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams and others. Recalling the event, Weed wrote: "I know of no more unerring test of men's real sentiment and sympathy in a season of war, than their manner of receiving good news.... Tried by this test, Mr. Peabody's sympathies were loyal, for he voluntarily came out of his way to bring news of an important Union victory; though he never ceased as often as he had occasion to speak on the subject, to deplore the war." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 39-Weed's Vindication Cont'd. During Nov. 1861, when the above GP-Weed conversation occurred, GP helped Weed meet such British government leaders as 1-Lord Clarence Edward Paget (1811-95), 2-Foreign Secty. John Russell (1792-1878), 3-MP William W. Torrens McCullagh (1813-94) and 4-MP Sir James Emerson Tennent (1791-1869) representing Belfast, Ireland. Weed's vindication cited above was confirmed by Ohio Episcopal Bishop McIlvaine. Ref.: Charles Pettit McIlvaine to Thurlow Weed, Dec. 24, 1869, quoted in New Haven Daily Palladium (Conn.), Jan. 6, 1870, p. 2, c. 2-3. See: McCullagh, William Torrens.
GP Critic George Francis Train
Civil War and GP. 40-George Francis Train. George Francis Train (1829-1904) was a Boston-born financier of city railway lines who had disappointing experiences introducing street railways in English cities. Pro-Irish, anti-British, and anti-Confederate during the Civil War, he publicly attacked GP after GP's March 12, 1862, founding of model apartments for London's working poor (total gift $2.5 million). GP learned of this attack from British friend and Peabody homes trustee James Emerson Tennent's June 20, 1862, letter. Four months later, GP heard more of Train from his friend and sometime agent Horatio Gates Somerby (1805-72), a Newburyport, Mass-born and London resident genealogist. Somerby, visiting in Boston, wrote GP (Oct. 7, 1862) that the day before at Faneuil Hall, he had listened to anti-Confederate speeches by U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner (1811-74) from Mass. and George Francis Train. Somerby reported that Train, an activist demonstrator, had fought with Boston police and been led handcuffed along State St. and jailed. See: Train, George Francis.
Civil War and GP. 41-George Francis Train Cont'd. After GP's Nov. 4, 1869, death and during the publicity attending GP's transatlantic funeral, George Francis Train gave another speech in Boston, generally regarded as ranting and incoherent. He again railed against GP as follows: "I regard the fact of George Peabody's remains being brought over on a British ship of war [HMS Monarch, accompanied by the USS corvette Plymouth] the greatest insult ever offered to America. George Peabody was a secessionist. The Alabama Claims is still unsettled and American citizens are dying in British prisons." Train was seen as an eccentric, even by abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, who described G.F. Train as "a notorious charlatan who was exciting the mirth of the country by posing as a self-constituted candidate for President." Ref.: Ibid.
GP's Defense as Union Supporter
Civil War and GP. 42-GP's Defense, PIB, 1866. GP carefully explained his Civil War views at the dedication and opening of the PIB, Oct. 25, 1866. In the nine years and eight months since its Feb. 12, 1857, founding, Civil War differences had aggravated disputes over PIB jurisdiction between the PIB trustees and the Md. Historical Society trustees (PIB planner John Pendleton Kennedy originally wanted the Society to be housed in the PIB and to help guide PIB programs). Civil War differences had also aggravated disputes over the building site at Mount Vernon Place and building costs. Split loyalties over the war, southern resentment over radical Republican military rule, and his own misunderstood position on the Civil War were much on GP's mind when he spoke at the dedication. Ref.: PIB, Founder's Letters and Papers, 1868, pp. 90-97. New York Times, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 5, c. 1-2.
Civil War and GP. 43-GP's Defense, PIB, 1866, Cont'd. He said (Oct. 25, 1866): "I have been accused of anti-Union sentiment. Let me say this: my father fought in the American Revolution and I have loved my country since childhood. Born and educated in the North, I have lived twenty years in the South. In a long residence abroad I dealt with Americans from every section. I loved our country as a whole with no preference for East, West, North, or South. I wish publicly to avow that during the war my sympathies were with the Union--that my uniform course tended to assist but never to injure the credit of the Union. At the close of the war three-fourths of my property was invested in United States Government and State securities, and remain so at this time." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 44-GP's Defense, PIB, 1866, Cont'd.: "When war came I saw no hope for America except in Union victory but I could not, in the passion of war, turn my back on Southern friends. I believed extremists of both sides guilty of fomenting the conflict. Now I am convinced more than ever of the necessity for mutual forbearance and conciliation, of Christian charity and forgiveness, of united effort to bind up the wounds of our nation." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 45-GP's Defense, PIB, 1866, Cont'd.: He humbly concluded: "To you, therefore, I make probably the last appeal I shall ever make. May not this Institute be a common ground where all may meet, burying former differences and animosities, forgetting past separations and estrangements. May not Baltimore, the birthplace of religious toleration in America, become the star of political tolerance and charity. Will not Maryland, in place of a battleground of opposing parties, become the field where good men may meet to make the future of our country prosperous and glorious, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from our northern to our southern boundary." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 46-GP's Defense, PIB, 1866, Cont'd.: Blaming himself for jurisdictional disputes between PIB and Md. Historical Society trustees, GP humbly asked the Md. Historical Society as a favor to him to withdraw from PIB management. They acquiesced, harmony returned, and he soon gave a gift of $20,000 for the Md. Historical Society publication fund. Ref.: Ibid.
GP Critic "S.P.Q."
Civil War and GP. 47-"S.P.Q.," 1866. The day GP spoke at the PIB dedication and opening (Oct. 25, 1866), an anti-GP letter appeared in several newspapers. The anti-GP writer, who called himself "S.P.Q.," wrote: "Mr. Peabody goes about from place to place inhaling the incense so many are willing to offer him. While Americans at home gave and did their utmost for their country in wartime, what was Mr. Peabody doing? He was making money, piling up profits, adding to his fortune. And what did he do with his gain?" Ref.: NYC Albion, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 511, c. 1. NYC Evening Post, Oct. 25, 1866, p. 2, c. 2. New York Times, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 5, c. 1-2.
Civil War and GP. 48-"S.P.Q.," 1866 Cont'd.: "Did he use money made in war against those seeking to destroy this country? Did he raise and clothe a single recruit? Did he give anything to the Sanitary Commission? Did he lend the government any part of his millions? While making up his mind he did something he thought worthier--gave several hundred thousands to the poor of London and got a letter of thanks from the Queen. Many a poor fellow from simple patriotism gave all he had, his life. That man gave more than George Peabody and all his money. He can yet redeem himself by aiding the disabled veterans who deserve his beneficence as much as the poor of London." Ref.: Ibid.
Defender GP Defender "R.D.P."
Civil War and GP. 49-"R.D.P." Defender. A GP defender against "S.P.Q.'s" attack, who signed his letter "R.D.P.," wrote in the NYC Evening Post, Oct. 26, 1866: "I read with surprise the attack of 'S.P.Q.' on George Peabody. Now, in regard to the Sanitary Commission I remember reading in your newspaper of Mr. Peabody's gifts to that organization [GP gave a total of $10,000 to the U.S. Sanitary Commission to aid the war-wounded]. How could Mr. Peabody send his son to the war when unmarried he had none, or a nephew when no man has that power over his relatives? The intimation that Mr. Peabody made money by speculating on bonds may also be applied to the most patriotic of our bankers. He is not a politician but all who know him know that his patriotism is large and that he loves the whole country. He gives his wealth to public institutions as a permanent source of benefit to all. I am not a personal friend of Mr. Peabody's but come forward in the name of thousands who recognize the noble disposition of his wealth and say he may well enjoy the applause of those who love such deeds." Ref.: NYC Evening Post, Oct. 26, 1866, p. 2, c. 4.
New York Times’s GP Defender
Civil War and GP. 50-New York Times Defender. A more detailed defense came from an unknown letter writer in the New York Times, Oct. 27, 1866: "When Lafayette revisited this country in 1825 amid honors and acclaim one voice was raised against him. Now Mr. Peabody returns to bestow his gifts amid heartfelt thanks and one hoarse voice attacks his patriotism. What charges are made? First, that Mr. Peabody seeks the limelight of universal praise. What is the truth of this? Since his return Mr. Peabody has passed his time quietly with relatives in his hometown. He declined, persistently, tenders for public demonstrations. In New York he declined private dinners. The man who refused a title from the Queen of England has avoided what he could of popular demonstration in this country." Ref.: New York Times, Oct. 27, 1866, p. 5, c. 1-2.
Civil War and GP. 51-New York Times Defender Cont'd.: "The next charge made is that Mr. Peabody deliberately made money at his country's expense. What is the truth of that? He upheld the credit and character of his country. When Englishmen and Secessionists said our people would not pay taxes, our securities would be repudiated, Mr. Peabody not only repelled the imputations, but proved his confidence in and devotion to the Union by purchasing what they were anxious to sell. If he had bought Confederate bonds, he would not now be rich. If he profited by defending our credit by purchasing Government stock, is that cause for reproach? Did we not all do just that?" Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 52-New York Times Defender Cont'd. The same New York Times letter writer then quoted GP's defense of his position given at the Oct. 25, 1866, PIB dedication and opening, followed by the writer's answer to "S.P.Q.'s" third charge against GP: "You ask, thirdly, what does Mr. Peabody do with his money? Implying that as a salve to his conscience he gives to charity that which was dishonorably earned. What is the truth of this? His personal expenses have always been frugal. His manner of life and habits have always been commonplace. Since his return to this country Mr. Peabody has given two-and-a-half million dollars to educational philanthropy. This subjects him to half a column of abuse in the Evening Post," Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 53-New York Times Defender Cont'd. The New York Times letter writer concluded with his answer to "S.P.Q.'s" last attack: "Lastly, you say Mr. Peabody can yet retrieve himself by doing for the disabled soldiers and sailors of this country what he has done for the poor of London. How Mr. Peabody will dispose of the rest of his estate will become known later. When he shall have crowned all his former acts of charity for his countrymen will some other 'S.P.Q.' impugn his motives and traduce his character?" Ref.: Ibid.
BP Critic Samuel Bowles
Civil War and GP. 54-Samuel Bowles. Owner-editor Samuel Bowles's (1826-78) editorial in his Springfield [Mass.] Daily Republican, Oct. 27, 1866, agreed with "S.P.Q.'s" attack on GP. Bowles's anti-GP editorial was damaging because 1-Bowles had made his newspaper (inherited from his father) one of the best in the U.S.; 2-his attack came from GP's home state of Mass.; and 3-Bowles had a favorable reputation for disclosing Civil War financial corruption. GP's gifts, Bowles's editorial began, came from a sense of justice, a feeling of generosity, and a desire to be remembered. Bowles continued: But GP's business heart was also moved to make amends for the injustice he had done to his country. Bowles wrote: "For all who knew anything on the subject knew very well that he and his partners in London gave us no faith and no help in our struggle for our national existence. They participated in the full to the common English distrust of our cause, and our success, and talked and acted for the South rather than for the Nation." For origin, details, and sources of Bowles's charges against GP, see: Bigelow, John.
Civil War and GP. 55-Samuel Bowles Cont'd.: "American-born and American-bred, the financial representatives of America in England, they were thus guilty of a grievous error in judgment, and a grievous weakness of the heart. They swelled the popular feeling of doubt abroad, and speculated upon it. Through no house were so many American securities--railroad, State and national--sent home for sale as by them. No individuals contributed so much to flooding our money markets with the evidences of our debt in Europe, and breaking down their prices and weakening financial confidence in our nationality as George Peabody and Co. and none made more money by the operation." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 56-Samuel Bowles's Longtime Effect. Although an unknown friend sprang to GP's defense (New York Times, Oct. 31, 1866, below) in answer to Bowles's attack, Bowles's criticism had a harmful long-term effect. Bowles was quoted in Carl Sandburg's (1878-1967) Pulitzer prize biography, Abraham Lincoln, 1939: "Of the international bankers Peabody & Morgan, sturdy Samuel Bowles said in the Springfield [Mass.] Republican that their agencies in New York and London had induced during the war a flight of capital from America." Sandburg then quoted Bowles: '"They gave us no faith and no help in our struggle for national existence.... No individuals contributed so much to flooding the money markets with evidence of our debts to Europe, and breaking down their prices and weakening financial confidence in our nationality, and none made more money by the operation.'" See: Bowles, Samuel. Sandburg, Carl.
Civil War and GP. 57-Unsubstantiated Charges Repeated. Thus, John Bigelow made the first unsubstantiated charge in 1862 that GP profited financially by pro-Confederate anti-Union bond sales, a charge repeated by Samuel Bowles in 1866; by Gustavus Myers' History of the Great American Fortunes, 1910, rev. 1936; by Matthew Josephson's The Robber Barons, 1934; and by Leland DeWitt Baldwin's The Stream of American History, 1952--none with proof. See: persons named.
25 Years' Acquaintance Defends GP
Civil War and GP. 58-Reply to Critic Samuel Bowles. The unknown friend who sprang to GP's defense against Samuel Bowles's attack signed his letter in the New York Times, Oct. 31, 1866, "A Twenty-Five Years' Acquaintance." This GP "Acquaintance" wrote that Bowles's accusations in the Springfield Republican were more unjust and injurious than "S.P.Q.'s" lose charges. The allegations were untrue and Bowles was misinformed. GP's "Acquaintance" wrote: "During six of the gloomiest months of the rebellion I was almost a daily visitor at the Peabody Bank in Old Broad-street, London. It was there the friends of our cause--and only its friends--were to be met with. There we waited and watched for telegraphic intelligence, Mr. Peabody and Mr. Morgan deploring any disaster and rejoicing in every success. I remember particularly how warmly they joined in the celebration of our victory at Fort Donelson. Both Mr. Peabody and Mr. Morgan promoted and facilitated every suggestion of our friends in London, for the promotion of our cause." Ref.: New York Times, Oct. 31, 1866, p. 4, c. 7.
Civil War and GP. 59-25 Years' Acquaintance Cont'd: "Messrs. Peabody and Morgan, instead of depreciating American securities and American credit, did all they could to uphold both. The sentiment of England and France was unmistakably against us. Financial 'distrust' pervaded the continent. Messrs. Peabody & Co. could not refuse to 'send home' the securities of their correspondents. Such, indeed, was the 'distrust' at home that many of our capitalists sent their money abroad for safekeeping." The writer continued: "If the charges of the Springfield Republican were true, Peabody & Co. would have taken the 'Confederate loan,' and have been losers thereby. How, if 'they shared in the English feeling of distrust,' could they have 'made millions' by speculating in Federal securities? If they believed in the success of the rebellion would they have invested their millions in Northern securities?" Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 60-25 Years' Acquaintance Cont'd.: "Men are known by the company they keep," stated GP's "Acquaintance," pointing to Sir James Emerson Tennent [1791-1869] Member of Parliament from Belfast and a British government official] and Sir Henry Holland [1788-1873, British government official], both Unionists. Loyal Americans constantly came to George Peabody & Co. while secessionists went elsewhere, he wrote. "So far, the only individual whom the almoner of millions have wronged, is George Peabody, who has not had his fair share of the vast wealth he is distributing. Indeed, but for the happiness he derived while making his money, in conferring happiness upon others, he would have been without compensation, for he lived frugally, in plain lodgings, without a carriage or a servant." Ref.: Ibid.
Civil War and GP. 61-25 Years' Acquaintance Cont'd.: "While, for forty years, Mr. Peabody was habitually liberal with his relatives and his friends, he actually stinted himself. I remember an occasion when Mr. Peabody, quite ill at his lodgings in Cork-street, without an attendant and without the ordinary comforts of a sick room, was maturing his plan for giving away millions. But if Mr. Peabody has been habitually and even severely economical in his personal expenditures, he has been just to his relatives, liberal with his friends, prodigal in his hospitalities, munificent in his charities, and more than princely in his gifts." (The anonymous "acquaintance of 25 years" may have been N.Y. state political leader and newspaper editor Thurlow Weed [1797-1882]). Ref.: Ibid.
Charge and Counter Charge
Civil War and GP. 62-Charge and Counter Charge. Before Thurlow Weed's vindication appeared on Dec. 23, 1869, and Charles Wilson Felt's counter charge appeared on Jan. 21, 1870, a NYC Post journalist who had interviewed GP during the Civil War wrote: "Mr. Peabody was a genuine American. His long residence in London wrought no change in his feelings toward his country. 'The war might have been, should have been prevented,' said he to me one day; 'but the Union is cheap even at this great sacrifice of blood and treasure. Mr. Lincoln erred, at times, in the first part of his administration, and I have spoken against some of his measures:--my so doing has gained for me the reputation of being Southern in feeling. True, I want justice done the South. I want to see the whole country prosperous and happy.'" Thus has charge and counter charge swirled around GP's course in the Civil War. Ref.: (NYC Post): NYC Post correspondent, quoted in Daily Signal (Zanesville, Ohio), Nov. 24, 1869, p. 2, c.5. See: persons named throughout Civil War and GP (above).
Civil War and GP. 63-Historian William Weisberger's Conclusion. Historian William Weisberger concluded: "Peabody became involved in the Civil War in several ways. Despite disruptions caused by the war, he encouraged Morgan [Junius Spencer Morgan] to engage in the financing of exports to and imports from both Northern and Southern firms; Robert Garrett & Sons of Baltimore, one of Peabody's leading accounts for many years, continued during the early 1860s to utilize the services of Peabody & Company to collect bond coupon payments and to purchase and sell British and European currencies. Another aspect of Peabody's life, which was spent in London during the war, concerned Union and Confederate leaders who looked to the elderly financier for political support.
Civil War and GP. 64- Historian William Weisberger's Conclusion (Con'td.). "Peabody, who was privately an abolitionist, adopted a stance of nonalignment, for he believed that the war was destroying American political and economic institutions. On the one hand, Peabody continued to provide personal assistance to his friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888) who was a Confederate supporter. One the other hand, Peabody developed cordial relations with Charles Francis, Thurlow Weed, and other Union leaders." Ref.: Weiberger, pp. 1468-1469.
Civil War and U.S.-British Relations. See: Alabama Claims. Dinners, GP's, London. Trent Affair.
Mass. Governor William Claflin & GP
Claflin, William (1818-1905), was Mass. governor during 1869-71 when he and his staff attended GP's funeral service in Peabody, Mass., on Feb. 8, 1870. He was born in Milford, Mass., educated in the public schools and at Brown Univ. He was a merchant in the shoe and leather business in St. Louis, Mo., for many years; settled in Boston, Mass.; served in the Mass. House of Representatives (1849-53); in the Mass. Senate (1860-61); was a member of the Republican National Committee (1864-72); Mass. Lt. Gov. (1866-68); Mass. Gov. (1869-71); Republican member, U.S. House of Representatives (1877-81); Vice Pres. of Boston Univ. (1869-72); and Pres. of Boston Univ. (from 1872). Ref.: Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds., pp. 709-711. See: Death and Funeral, GP's.
Clarendon, Lord (George William Frederick Villers Clarendon, 1800-70), was British Foreign Secty., mentioned in Benjamin Moran's journal entry (Nov. 12, 1869) as attending GP's funeral ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Ref.: Ibid. See: Moran, Benjamin.
Clark, Thomas D. (1903-2005), U.S. historian, wrote of the influence of the PEF: "Since 1867 the Peabody Fund has worked as an educational leaven, and by the beginning of the twentieth century such matters as consolidation, compulsory attendance, teacher training, vocational education and general lifting of Southern standards received ardent editorial support. Especially was this true in the first decade of this century when the famous education publicity crusades were under way." Ref.: Clark, p. 30. See: PEF.
GPCFT's Fifth President John M. Claunch
Claunch, John M. (1906-d. Nov. 21, 1990). 1-GPCFT's Fifth President. John M. Claunch was GPCFT's fifth president from Aug. 1, 1967 to 1974. Previous presidents: 1-Bruce Ryburn Payne (1874-1937) during 1911-37; 2- Sidney Clarence Garrison (1887-1945) during 1937-44; 3-Henry Harrington Hill (1894-1987) during 1945-60 and interim pres. during 1962-63; and 4-Felix Compton Robb (1914-97) during 1961-66. See persons named.
Claunch, John. 2-Career. Born in Kelly, La., John Claunch graduated from Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College, Nacogdoches, Texas (B.A., 1928), and the Univ. of Texas at Austin (M.A., 1937; Ph.D., 1956). He was a one-term state representative from Scury, Texas; school supt., Wright City, for several years; a WWII Capt., U.S. Army Air Forces, 1942-46, and helped establish an airmen training program, Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio. At Southern Methodist Univ., Dallas, Texas, he was an Instructor in Government, 1938-1942; Asst. Prof. of Government, 1946-54; Director of Dallas College (SMU's Downtown continuing education branch), 1948-1957; and Prof. of Government, 1956-67. Ref.: Internet Information from SMU Archivist Elizabeth Hinton, Oct. 4, 2000: ehinton@mail.smu.edu. Obit., Dallas, Texas Morning News, Nov. 23, 1990
Claunch, John. 3- GPCFT Retirement. His retirement as GPCFT's president, announced Aug. 20, 1973, became official June 1, 1974, when he was succeeded by John Dunworth (1924-), GPCFT's sixth and last president during 1974-79, before amalgamation as PCofVU, Vanderbilt Univ.'s ninth school, since July 1, 1978. Pres. Claunch lived in Nashville for several years before returning to Dallas, where he died Nov. 21, 1990, age 84. Ref.: "Claunch, John."
Claunch, John. 4-Difficulties at GPCFT. Pres. John Claunch clashed with Director Nicholas Hobbs (1915-83) and other Kennedy Center (created 1965) personnel over research faculty salaries, administrative position support, budgets, research space allocation, and Peabody jobs for Kennedy Center faculty spouses. Peabody-Kennedy Center difficulties remained after Hobbs became Vanderbilt Univ. Provost. Two Center directors asked federal officials to threaten suspension of federal grants unless Peabody's president cooperated with the Kennedy Center. See: persons named.
Claunch, John. 5- Difficulties at GPCFT Cont'd. PCofVU historian Sherman Dorn wrote that .budget deficits during Claunch's presidency limited his ability to raise faculty salaries, that he never had the same faculty rapport achieved by Pres. Henry H. Hill, that he "never established himself as a respected administrator of the college, that he several times rebuked faculty initiatives. Ref.: Dorn, p. 73. See: PCofVU, history of, for GPCFT difficulties before merger with Vanderbilt Univ. (July 1, 1978 ) and for PCofVU's six predecessor colleges and their nineteen chief administrators.
Clay, Henry (1777-1852), was U.S. Secty. of State during 1825-29 when he issued GP's first passport dated Oct. 22, 1827. See: Wills, GP's.
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty (1850) dispute, 1853-54. U.S.-British differences over a possible intercontinental canal across Nicaragua or Costa Rica or other part of Central America where both countries had expansionist designs were partially resolved in the 1850 Clayton-Bulwer Treaty. But differences and incidents continued. GP was suggested as U.S. arbiter in the dispute but was rejected by the British, with Baltimorean Reverdy Johnson (1796-1876) chosen. See: Upham, Nathan Gookin.
Cleveland, Grover (1837-1908), 22nd and 24th U.S. Pres., during 1885-89, 1893-97, was PEF trustee during 1885-99, for fourteen years. See: Conkin, Peabody College, index. Presidents, U.S., and GP.
Cleveland, Ohio. On his U.S. visit during Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857, GP was in Zanesville, Ohio, with his youngest brother Jeremiah Peabody's (1805-77) family, Nov. 1-3, 1856, and then went to Cleveland, Ohio, to visit Episcopal Bishop of Ohio Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873). See: Visits to the U.S. by GP.
Clifford, John Henry (1809-76), was one of the 16 original PEF trustees. He was born in Providence, R.I., was a lawyer in Bedford, Mass., served in the Mass. legislature (1835), was Mass. Atty. General (1849-53 and 1854-58), was Mass. Governor (1853-54); and president of the Mass. Senate (1862). After retirement (1867), he was president of the Boston and Providence Railroad Company and president of the Board of Overseers of Harvard Univ. He was replaced as PEF trustee by Theodore Lyman (1833-97). Ref.: Curry-b, pp. 19, 46, 64, 75. Fuess, II, pp. 215-216.
GP’s First British Honor
Clothworkers' Co., London. 1-GP's First British Honor, July 2, 1862. Britons were surprised and grateful for GP's March 12, 1862, letter founding the Peabody Donation Fund to build model apartments for London's working poor (total gift $2.5 million, 1862-69). The first honor to GP from his gift came from The Clothworkers' Co., an esteemed medieval guild, which granted him honorary membership in a ceremony on July 2, 1862. Ref.: Peabody Donation, p. 28. London Times, July 4, 1862, p. 5, c. 5.
Clothworkers' Co., London. 2-July 2, 1862, Ceremony. That day GP, accompanied by longtime business friend Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85), heard Alderman Sir John Musgrove (1793-1881) of the City of London, move "that the Freedom and Livery of the Company be presented to George Peabody, Esq." Alderman John Humphery (d. 1863) seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Josiah Wilson (c.1793-1862), The Master of the Company, referred to eminent men on whom the same honor had been earlier bestowed: Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850) and Queen Victoria's husband Albert of Saxe-Co-burg-Gotha (Prince Albert, 1819-61). Ref.: "Court Orders of The Clothworkers' Co., London," July 2, 1862, with confirmation generously sent by Archivist D.E. Wickham, Oct. 12, 1999.
Clothworkers' Co., London. 3-GP's First British Honor, July 2, 1862 Cont'd. The Master of the Company then introduced GP and presented him with the Freedom of the ancient guild. After the oath of a Freeman was administered, GP said: "I thank the honorable Company of Clothworkers'. This ancient company is well known in my country. My own countryman and friend, Robert C. Winthrop, is a descendant of a past Master of this Company." GP then spoke about the progress his trustees were making on building model homes for London's working poor. GP was escorted through the Great Hall and the building and sat down with many guests for a large banquet. Ref.: Ibid.
Clothworkers' Co., London. 4-Ancient Guild. The Clothworkers' Co., an ancient guild, is twelfth in rank among London's some 80 livery companies. These guilds, first chartered in King Edward III's (1312-77) reign, originally regulated work conditions, apprenticeship, trade, and membership. Each guild chose their officers who elected the Common Council of the City of London, which in turn elected the mayor, other officials, and members of Parliament for London. Each company chose a "livery" (costume) and distinctive badges. Thus, colorfully attired members have been part of pageants and royal coronations to the present. For details and sources of GP's even greater honor eight days later, July 10, 1862, being granted the Freedom of the City of London, see: London, Freedom of the City of London to GP. Fishmongers' Co. Honors, GP's.
Clubs, London, GP's . See: City of London Club (above).
Coates, Ezra Jenks, was described by economic historian Muriel Emmie Hidy (b.1906) as a former Bostonian merchant, a close friend of GP, with whom he had business relations going back before 1837. They shared a bachelor's apartment at 11 Devonshire St., Portland Place, London. Coates headed a London commission firm; had a Liverpool firm involved in trade in corn; and was a partner in Coates, Hillard & Co., a dry goods firm in Manchester, Nottingham, and NYC. Coates, nearly insolvent in 1837 when GP aided him, hid his continued insolvency from GP who aided him again in 1847. Coates's bankruptcy in 1848 estranged him from GP (and others), who realized that Coates had compromised their friendship by hiding his financial difficulties. Ref.: Hidy, M.E.-c, p. 255.
Cobden, Richard (I804-65), called the "Apostle of Free Trade," was, along with fellow MP John Bright (1811-99), a friend of GP who favored the North in the U.S. Civil War. He is believed to be the liberal MP who raised funds in 1850 to liberate Hungarian patriot Lajos (Louis) Kossuth (1802-94), imprisoned in Turkey in 1850 by the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. GP, when asked for funds, asked for further information, and then gave £50. Kossuth was freed and was enthusiastically received on a tour of the U.S. in 1851-52. See: Kossuth, Lajos (Louis).
Civil War Irritants Affecting GP
Cockburn, Alexander James Edmund (1802-80). 1-U.S.-British Angers Over Alabama Claims. A.J.E. Cockburn was a British jurist who represented England in settling the Alabama Claims controversy (1871-72) by international tribunal in Geneva, Switzerland. Former Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams (1807-86) represented the U.S. There were three other members from neutral countries. This Geneva tribunal determined that Britain pay the U.S. $15.5 million indemnity for Union losses in ships, lives, and treasure by British-built Confederate ships. Without a navy and with its southern ports blockaded by the North, Confederate agents evaded the blockade, went to England secretly, bought British-built ships, armed them as Confederate raiders, and renamed them Alabama, Florida, Shenandoah, and others. CSS Alabama, the most notorious Confederate raider ship, alone sank 64 Union cargo ships (1862-64). See: Alabama Claims.
Cockburn, A.J.E. 2-Trent Affair. An earlier U.S.-British irritant during the Civil War, the 1861 Trent Affair, was coupled in angers over the Alabama Claims. On the stormy night of Oct. 11, 1861, four Confederates seeking aid and arms in England and France evaded the Union blockade at Charleston, S.C., went by ship to Havana, Cuba, and there boarded the British mail ship Trent for England. On Nov. 8, 1861, the Trent was illegally stopped in the Bahama Channel, West Indies, by the Union USS San Jacinto’s crew. Confederates James Murray Mason (1798-1871, from Va.), John Slidell (1793-1871, from La.), and their male secretaries were forcibly removed, taken to Boston harbor, and jailed. Anticipating war with the U.S., Britain sent 8,000 troops to Canada. But Pres. Lincoln diffused U.S. jingoism, allegedly told his Cabinet, "one war at a time" on Dec. 26, 1861, got them to disavow the unauthorized seizure, and released the Confederate prisoners on Jan. 1, 1862. See: Trent Affair.
Cockburn, A.J.E. 3-British Losses from Cutoff of Southern Cotton. Officially neutral in the U.S. Civil War, British aristocrats sympathized with the U.S. southern aristocracy. British cotton mill owners and their workers were economically hurt by the Union blockade of southern ports which cut off raw cotton needed by British cotton mills. Over half of the 534,000 British cotton mill workers lost their jobs. Fewer than one fourth worked full time. Historian Shelby Foote found that two million British workers lost their jobs in cotton-related industries. Ref.: Ibid.
Cockburn, A.J.E. 4-GP Connection with Alabama Claims. A minor GP connection was that about 1868 he was suggested as an Alabama Claims arbiter but being old and infirm was not chosen. A more important GP connection was his Nov. 4, 1869, death in London while U.S.-British angers flared over the Alabama Claims. When GP's will became known, requiring burial in Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., British officials, seeking to diffuse U.S. angers and also in sincere appreciation for GP's philanthropy (particularly his $2.5 million model apartments for London's working poor), made his 96-day transatlantic funeral unprecedented for a plain American citizen. U.S. officials were hard put to match British funeral honors. See: Death and Funeral, GP's.
Cockburn, A.J.E. 5-GP Funeral Overview. GP's unusual funeral in brief: 1-Westminster Abbey funeral service and temporary burial (Nov. 12-Dec. 11, 1869). 2-British cabinet decision (Nov. 10, 1869) to return his remains on HMS Monarch, Britain's newest and largest warship, for transatlantic funeral voyage. 3-U.S. government decision to send USS Plymouth from Marseilles, France, to accompany HMS Monarch to the U.S. 4-impressive ceremony transferring GP's remains from Portsmouth dock to the Monarch, specially outfitted as a funeral vessel (Dec. 11, 1869). 5-transatlantic voyage (Dec. 21, 1869-Jan. 25, 1870). See: Alabama Claims. Death and Funeral, GP's.
Cockburn, A.J.E. 6-GP Funeral Overview Cont'd.: 6-the U.S. Navy's decision (Jan. 14, 1870) to place Adm. David G. Farragut in command of a U.S. Navy flotilla to meet the Monarch in Portland harbor, Me. (Jan. 25-29, 1870). 7-lying in state in Portland City Hall (Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 1870); special funeral train to Peabody, Mass (Feb. 1, 1870), and lying in state at Peabody Institute Library (Feb. 1-8, 1870). 8-Robert Charles Winthrop's funeral eulogy at the Congregational Church, Peabody, Mass., attended by several governors, mayors, Queen Victoria's son Prince Arthur, and other notables. 9-final burial at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. (Feb. 8, 1870). Ref.: Ibid.
Cockburn, A.J.E. 7-Motives for GP's Unusual Funeral. Thus in part did GP's death and funeral play a part in softening U.S.-British angers over the Alabama Claims and other Civil War differences. Mixed with this motive were admiration for his commercial career, high regard for his philanthropies, and appreciation for his twenty years' effort to promote U.S.-British friendship. Alexander James Edmund Cockburn studied at Cambridge Univ., was called to the bar (1829), was an MP and a distinguished Parliamentary committee leader, was knighted (1850), became solicitor-general (1851-56), was chief justice of common pleas (1856), and lord chief justice (1859). See: Alabama Claims. Adams, Charles Francis. Death and Funeral, GP's. Trent Affair.
Collins, Edgar Knight (1802-78). See: Collins Line.
GP’s Lost Va. Bonds
Collins Line. 1-Atlantic Steamship Line. The Collins Line was a transatlantic steamship line financed in part by GP's former senior partner, Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853), when he was a NYC banker. The line was organized by Edward Knight Collins (1802-78), inaugurated in 1849, and had five steamships (Atlantic, Arctic, Baltic, Pacific, and Adriatic) carrying passengers, freight, and mail between NYC and Liverpool. The Collins Line wrested transatlantic voyage leadership from England's mail-subsidized Cunard Line, started in 1840 by Canadian Samuel Cunard (1787-1865), knighted in 1859. When Collins secured a U.S. Congressional mail subsidy, U.S. maritime supremacy seemed assured. Ref.: Gordon, "The Atlantic Stakes," pp. 18, 20. See: Arctic (ship).
Collins Line. 2-Arctic Sunk. On Sept. 27, 1854, the Collins Line steamship Arctic at full speed in the fog collided with the small French vessel Vesta 20 miles off Cape Race, Newfoundland. The Vesta limped to shore but the Arctic sank. Of the 408 aboard, 322 drowned, including Collins' wife and child. Also lost on the Arctic were Va. bonds then worth $35,000 belonging to GP. After waiting for years for the state of Va. to redeem the lost bonds, GP presented their value with accrued interest in Aug. 1869 as a gift for a mathematics professorship to Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-70), then Washington College president (renamed Washington and Lee Univ., 1871), Lexington, Va. In 1883, the state of Virginia honored the value of these bonds with accrued interest in the amount of $60,000. R.E. Lee's biographer C.B. Flood thus wryly described GP's gift of these lost Va. bonds: "It was generosity with a touch of Yankee shrewdness: you Southerners go fight it out among yourselves. If General Lee can't get [this lost bond money] out of the Virginia legislature, nobody can." Ref.: Ibid.
Colt, Samuel (1814-1862). Colt's revolvers were shown at the U.S. pavilion, Great Exhibition of 1851. GP lent U.S. exhibitors $15,000 when the U.S. Congress neglected to appropriate funds to display U.S. industry and art products to advantage. See: Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world's fair).
Commemorative stamp, U.S. A GP U.S. commemorative stamp was unsuccessful in Tenn., 1941, and in Mass., 1993, for his birth bicentennial (Feb. 12, 1795-1995). A GP cancellation stamp was achieved in 1999. See: Honors, GP's. U.S. Postage Stamp Honoring GP.
Commerell, John Edmund (1829-1901), was captain of HMS Monarch, the British warship which transported GP's remains from Portsmouth harbor, England, to Portland, Me, Dec. 21, 1869, to Jan. 25, 1870. Capt. John Edmund Commerell was age 40 when he commanded the Monarch's transatlantic transfer of GP's remains. He first distinguished himself at age 16 as a midshipman aboard HMS Firebrand. He was one of the first to receive the Victoria Cross, June 26, 1857, during the Crimean War, and attained the rank of captain in 1859 after leading a division of seamen in a landing force in North China. See: Death and funeral, GP's.
Common Lodging House Act, 1851, was England's first legislative step to improve workingmen's housing. See: Peabody Homes of London.
GP at Age 15
Concord, N.H., where GP, then age 15 in the winter of 1810, stopped at Stickney's Tavern on his return by horseback from visiting his maternal grandparents at Post Mills village near Thetford, Vt. (grandmother Judith Spofford Dodge [1749-1828] and grandfather Jeremiah Dodge [1744-1824]). Among the many news accounts at GP's death (Nov. 4, 1869) and transatlantic funeral, were several about his 1810 visit to Stickney's Tavern, Concord, N.H. The landlord had some boys who helped do chores. The story is told that GP played with the boys and helped them saw and split wood. The next day, ready to pay for his lodging and depart, Mr. Stickney declined payment saying that GP had earned his night's stay. Ref.: Boston Journal, Nov. 5, 1869, p. 4, c. 3-5. Republican and Statesman (Concord, H.H.), Nov. 12, 1869, p. 1, c. 2. Newport Mercury (Newport, R.I.), Nov. 13, 1869, p. 3, c. 1. Independent Democrat (Concord, N.H.), Feb. 10, 1870, p. 2, c. 8. Peabody Press (Peabody, Mass.), Feb. 23, 1870. See: persons and towns named.
Confederate bonds. For GP, Confederate bonds, and the Civil War, with sources, see: Civil War and GP. "S.P.Q."
GP with R.E. Lee in W.Va., Aug. 15-19, 1869
Confederate Generals. 1-White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Aug. 15-19, 1869. Some former Civil War generals, Union and Confederate, were among those who met, spoke to, and were photographed with GP (Aug. 12), then visiting the mineral springs health spa at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., July 23-Aug. 30, 1869. Gathered there by chance were southern and northern political, military, and educational leaders. These included 1-Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-70, then president, Washington College, Lexington, Va., renamed Washington and Lee Univ., 1871); 2-GP's Washington, D.C., business friend William Wilson Corcoran (1798-1888); 3-Turkish Minister to the U.S. Edouard Blacque Bey (1824-95); 4-Tenn. Supt. of Public Instruction and later U.S. Commissioner of Education John Eaton (1829-1906); 5-PEF first administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80); 6-Howard College, Ala., Pres. Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (1825-1903), later the second PEF administrator; 7-seven former Civil War generals; and others. See: Peabody, George, Illustrations. Persons named. Visits to the U.S. by GP.
Confederate Generals. 2-White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Aug. 15-19, 1869 Cont'd. GP, ill and three months from death, was there to rest and recuperate. But he and Robert E. Lee talked, dined, walked arm in arm, and were publicly applauded. Spurning lucrative offers, Lee became president of a struggling Va. college. GP had just doubled to $2 million his PEF to aid public education in the 11 former Confederate states plus W.Va. Historic photos were taken and informal talks of later educational consequence took place on southern public education needs. Ref.: Ibid.
Confederate Generals. 3-White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Aug. 15-19, 1869 Cont'd. In the main photograph, taken Aug. 12, 1869, the five individuals seated on cane-bottomed chairs were: GP front middle, Robert E. Lee to GP's right; William Wilson Corcoran to GP's left; at the right end Ambassador Edouard Blacque Bey; at the left end Richmond, Va., judge and public education advocate James Lyons (1801-82). Standing behind the five seated figures were seven former Civil War generals, their names in dispute until correctly identified in 1935 by Leonard T. Mackall of Savannah, Ga., as follows: from left to right: James Conner (1829-83) of S.C., Martin Witherspoon Gary (1819-73) of S. C., Robert Doak Lilley (1836-86) of Va., P.G.T. Beauregard (1818-93) of La., Alexander Robert Lawton (1818-96) of Ga., Henry Alexander Wise (1806-76) of Va., and Joseph Lancaster Brent (b.1826) of Md. There is also a photo of GP sitting alone and a photo of Lee, GP, and Corcoran sitting together. Ref.: Ibid. See: Persons named.
Confederate Memorial Hall, PCofVU. To make its campus more welcome to people of all races and ethnicity Vanderbilt Univ. (VU) officials announced plans in Sept. 2002 to remove the word “Confederate” carved in stone on a PCofVU dormitory named Confederate Memorial Hall. The cost of the dormitory, built in 1935, included $50,000 donated by the Tenn. branch, United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) so that the dorm would house students descended from Confederate veterans. To stop removal of “Confederate” from the building the UDC in Oct. 2002 sued VU in Davidson County Chancery Court for breach of contract. The county court dismissed the UDC lawsuit. But on appeal, the Tenn. Court of Appeals on May 3, 2005, viewing the case as a breach of contract, said that if “Confederate” was removed UDC would be entitled to the return of its original donation plus interest, amounting to over a million dollars. To put the dispute to rest, VU officials, who for years had referred to the dorm as simply Memorial Hall, said, “It was time to move on,” allowed the stone-carved word “Confederate” to remain. See: PC of VU. Ref.: Tennessean (Nashville), Jan. 6, 2005, pp. 1Ai-2A; Jan. 9, 2005, pp. 18A-19A; Jan. 10, 2005, p. 6A; Jan. 21, 2005, p. 5A; May 17, 2005, p. 11A; http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/04/12/63719571.shtml?Element_ID=63719571
Congress, U.S. On Dec. 21, 1869, the U.S. House of Representatives debated a joint Congressional resolution calling for an official U.S. Navy reception for GP's remains at the Portland, Me., receiving port. See: Death and Funeral, GP's. Congressional Gold Medal and Resolutions of Praise to GP (below).
PEF: Praise & Gold Congressional Medal
Congressional Gold Medal and Resolutions of Praise to GP. 1-PEF. GP's Feb. 7, 1867, letter founding the PEF ($2 million total, 1867-69) was read aloud by PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) in an upper room at Willard's Hotel, Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 1867, to 10 of the 16 original trustees at their first meeting. This letter received wide favorable press coverage.
Congressional Gold Medal. 2-On Feb. 9, 1867, Pres. Andrew Johnson (1808-75, 17th U.S. president during 1865-69), his secretary, Col. William George Moore (1829-93), and three others, called on GP at his Willard's Hotel rooms. With GP at the time were PEF trustees Robert Charles Winthrop, Episcopal Bishop of Ohio Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), and former S.C. Gov. William Aiken (1806-87); along with GP's business friend Samuel Wetmore (1812-85), his wife, and their son; GP's nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909), George Washington Riggs (1813-81), and three others. Ref.: New York Herald, Feb. l0, 1867, p. 8, c. 1; April 29, 1867, p. 8, c. 2; London Times, Feb. 28, 1867, p. 5, c. 3. Bergeron, ed., p. 23.
Congressional Gold Medal. 3-Pres. Johnson Called on GP. With emotion Pres. Johnson took GP by the hand (GP was age 72 and ill) and said he thought he would find GP alone, that he called simply as a private citizen to thank GP for his PEF gift to aid public education in the South, that he thought the gift would do much to unite the country, that he was glad to have a man like GP representing the U.S. in England. He invited GP to visit him in the White House. Also with emotion, GP thanked Pres. Johnson, said that this meeting was one of the greatest honors of his life, that he knew the president's political course would be in the country's best interest, that England from the Queen downward felt goodwill toward the U.S., that he thought in a few years the country would rise above its divisions to become happier and more powerful. Ref.: Ibid.
Congressional Gold Medal. 4-Pres. Johnson Called on GP Cont'd. Pres. Johnson faced hostile radical Republicans in Congress bent on impeaching him for his conciliatory policy toward the former Confederate states. To avoid impeachment, Pres. Johnson's political advisor, Francis Preston Blair, Sr. (1791-1876), suggested a complete cabinet change with GP as Treasury Secty. and seven others. But loyalty to his cabinet kept Johnson from this course. Ref.: (Proposed reconstituted Johnson cabinet): Francis Preston Blair, Sr., to Pres. Andrew Johnson, Feb. 12 and 24, 1867, Andrew Johnson Papers, Library of Congress Ms.; quoted in part in Bergeron, ed., pp. 22-23. Oberholtzer, I, pp. 469-470. Sioussat, p. 105. Milton, p. 385. Smith, W.E.-a, II, pp. 332-334. Smith, W.E.-b, II, p. 332. For the eight names proposed in the Cabinet reshuffle, see Andrew, John Albion.
Congressional Gold Medal. 5-GP Visited Pres. Johnson at the White House. On April 25, 1867, before his May 1, 1867, return to London, GP called on Pres. Johnson in the Blue Room of the White House and they spoke of the work of the PEF. With GP were John Work Garrett (1820-84, B&O RR president), and the 16-year-old son of Samuel Wetmore. GP told Pres. Johnson of young Wetmore's interest in being admitted to West Point and Pres. Johnson said he would do what he could for the young man. See: persons named.
Congressional Gold Medal. 6-U.S. Senate, March 5, 1867. U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner (1811-74, R-Mass.) introduced his joint Congressional resolutions on March 5, 1867: "Resolved: that both Houses of Congress present thanks to George Peabody of Massachusetts, for his gift for education for the South and Southeastern states.... Resolved: that the President of the United States have a gold medal struck to be given, along with these resolutions, to Mr. Peabody in the name of the people of the United States." Ref.: Sumner, Vol. 14, pp. 317-320.
Congressional Gold Medal. 7-Debate. On March 8, 1867, Sen. Sumner spoke for his resolutions: "...Mr. Peabody deserves the thanks of Congress for an act great in itself and great as an example. I recall no instance in history where a private person during his life has bestowed so large a sum in charity.... Mr. Peabody contributes to education in the most distressed part of our country.... It will serve as an example.... This charity is historic. It stands apart. It commands attention." Raising objections Senators James Wilson Grimes (1816-72, R-Iowa) and Thomas Warren Tipton (1817-99, R-Neb.) asked why the resolutions could not first be looked into by an investigating committee. Ref.: Ibid.
Congressional Gold Medal. 8-GP Defended. Sen. Reverdy Johnson (1796-1876, D-Md.) endorsed the resolutions and defended GP against Senators Grimes and Tipton's implications that GP was less than loyal to the Union: "I rise because of my intimacy with the subject of the resolution. He [GP] was born in Massachusetts but came to Baltimore early. I found him there in 1817 and was connected with him as attorney to client. I watched his progress and met him in London in 1845 and 1854. He always exerted his influence for the United States; sustained the credit of the states, particularly Maryland. On our national Independence day he brought together Americans and leading Englishmen, preserving good relations between our countries before and through the Civil War.... During the rebellion he was a friend of the Union. He has taken an unprecedented course of educational help to bring back among us the Southern states...." The Senate voted 36 yeas, 2 nays (Senators Grimes and Tipton), with 15 senators absent. Ref.: U.S. Govt.-d, Journal of the U.S. Senate, 1867, pp. 6, 19, 20, 40, 45, 47, 63, and Index 228.
Congressional Gold Medal. 9-U.S. House of Representatives, Mar. 9, 1867. The resolutions were debated in the U.S. House of Representatives on Mar. 9, 1867. Rep. Abner Clark Harding (1807-74, R-Ill.) moved: "To amend the resolution to strike out the gold medal.... I am informed Mr. Peabody made profit from the rebellion which he aided and abetted." Harding's amendment failed. The resolutions passed in the U.S. House March 14, 1867, were announced and enrolled in the U.S. Senate March 15, and signed by Pres. Johnson on March 16, 1867. Ref.: U.S. Govt.-c, Congressional Globe...March 4-December 2, 1867, Vol. 89, pp. 28-30, 38-75, 83, 94, 108. New York Times, March 9, 1867, p. 1, c. 5.
Congressional Gold Medal. 10-PEF as a National Gift. Thus in open debate the U.S. Congress recognized GP's PEF as a national gift. GP and Robert Charles Winthrop both thanked Sen. Charles Sumner for introducing the resolutions. Before returning to London at the end of his 1866-67 U.S. visit, GP was invited for a talk with Pres. Johnson in the White House. Ref.: PEF, Proceedings...Trustees, Vol. 1, p. vi. Ref.: (GP visit to the White House): New York Herald, April 29 and May 1, 1867. Baltimore Sun, April 27, 1867.
Congressional Gold Medal. 11-U.S. Sen. Charles Sumner. Boston-born Charles Sumner graduated from Harvard Law School (1830), lectured there, and spent 1837-40 in Europe. As U.S. Sen. (1851-74) he was an aggressive abolitionist, a radical Republican favoring a harsh Reconstruction program for the former 11 Confederate states, and wanted Pres. Andrew Johnson impeached. On May 22, 1856, Sumner's antislavery speech in the Senate, "Crime against Kansas," criticized S.C. Sen. Andrew Pickens Butler (1796-1857) and provoked a near-lethal caning from Butler's nephew Preston Smith Brooks (1819-1857). Sumner favored the release of Confederate emissaries James Murray Mason (1798-1871), John Slidell (1793-1871), and their male secretaries, seeking European arms and aid, illegally removed by officers of a Union warship from the British mail packet Trent, Nov. 8, 1861, in the West Indies Bahama Channel. Ref.: U.S. Govt. Biographical Directory...Am. Congress. Pierce, IV, p. 323, note 4.
Congressional Gold Medal. 12-Congressional Gold Medal Described. NYC silversmiths and jewelers Starr and Marcus finished the Congressional gold medal for GP in May 1868. It was said to be the most unusual gold medal made in the U.S. to that time. The central piece was a round design three inches in diameter and a half inch thick, on which GP's left profile, head and shoulders, was carved in relief. The reverse bore the inscription: "The People of the United States to George Peabody, in Acknowledgment of his Beneficent Promotion of Universal Education." Ref.: Laubat, I, pp. 421-426. New York Times, May 26, 1868, p. 2, c. 2-3; and Jan. 29, 1869, p. 5, c. 5.
Congressional Gold Medal. 13-Congressional Gold Medal Cont'd. The central profile piece was mounted on a base six inches long, three-fourths of an inch thick, and one and one-fourth inches high. Above the base on the left end as GP's profile faced it were palmetto trees under which were carved the figures of two children, one white, the other black, arms outstretched toward a counterpart carved figure of Benevolence to the right of the center piece. The figure of Benevolence held her left hand pointing to GP while her right hand held a spray of laurel. Ref.: New York Herald, May 29, 1868, p. 3, c. 6; and Jan. 31, 1869. London Times, Aug. 25, 1868, p. 8, c. 4; and Feb. 12, 1869.
Congressional Gold Medal. 14-Congressional Gold Medal Cont'd. On the reverse of the base beneath the center medallion was a globe which revolved. Around the globe were etched books, a map of the U.S., a square, compass, and other instruments representing education and the progress of art and science. On the front of the base beneath the two children was the carved work, "Education." Beneath the figure of Benevolence was the word "Knowledge." In the center of the base beneath Peabody's profile was the American national shield in enamel with a laurel and oak branch on either side coming from the bottom center in a V-shape. The medal was made of gold; the whole was eight inches high, six inches wide, one and one-half inches deep. The Congressional medal was enclosed in a handsome open cabinet of ebony and Birdseye maple lined with purple velvet, and placed on its pedestal so it could be revolved and seen from any position. It had not been struck from dies but had been handmade by tools, was more a piece of artistic statuary than a medal, and was reported to have cost $5,000. Ref.: Ibid.
Congressional Gold Medal. 15-Gold Medal Seen, Washington, D.C. When finished, the gold medal was sent to the Department of State, was seen by Pres. Johnson's cabinet on May 26,1868, and was exhibited in the U.S. Capitol Building. GP had designated the Peabody Institute Library in Peabody, Mass., as final depository for the gold medal. Ref.: New York Times, May 26, 1868, p.2, c. 2-3.
Congressional Gold Medal. 16-Seen in London, Christmas Day, 1868. Wanting to see it himself in London, GP wrote to Secty. of State William Henry Seward (1801-72) on Sept. 18, 1868: "Knowing the uncertainty of life, particularly at my advanced age, and feeling a great desire of seeing this most valued token my countrymen have been pleased to bestow upon me, I beg...that the medal, with its accompanying documents, may be sent to me here, through our Legation." Seward replied on Oct. 7 that the gold medal was being sent to GP via U.S. dispatch agent in London, Benjamin Franklin Stevens (1833-1902). The gold medal arrived in London in Nov. 1868. GP, away from London then, saw it for the first time on Christmas Day, 1868. He opened the package before gathered friends who admired the delicate workmanship. See: Stevens, Benjamin Franklin.
Congressional Gold Medal. 17-GP Thanked Secty. of State W.H. Seward. In acknowledging receipt, GP wrote to Seward on Jan. 6, 1869: "...It is not possible for me to feel more grateful than I do for this precious memorial...coming as it does from 30 millions of American citizens through their representatives in Congress, with the full accord and cooperation of the President. This medal, together with the rich illuminated transcript of the Congressional resolution, I shall shortly deposit in the Peabody Institution at the place of my birth." GP, with a few months to live, made his last trip to the U.S., June 8-Sept. 29, 1869, returned to London gravely ill, and died there Nov. 4, 1869. Ref.: GP, London, to Secty. of State William Henry Seward, Washington, D.C., Sept. 18, 1868, quoted in New York Times, Jan. 29, 1869, p. 5, c. 5; also quoted in Laubat, p. 426. New York Herald, Jan. 31, 1869, p. 4, c. 3. London Times, Feb. 12, 1869, p. 4, c. 6.
W.Va., 1869
Conner, James (1829-83). 1-Met GP, W.Va., 1869. James Conner was a former Confederate general from S.C. who by chance met, talked to, and was photographed with GP, then visiting the mineral springs health spa at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., July 23 to Aug. 30, 1869. Gathered there by chance were key southern and northern political, military, and educational leaders. GP, ill and three months from death, was there to rest and recuperate. He and Robert E. Lee talked, dined, walked arm in arm, were publicly applauded, and photographed with other prominent guests. Informal talks of later educational consequence took place on southern public education needs. For GP in W. Va., leaders he met, and photos taken between Aug. 15-19, 1869, See: Corcoran, William Wilson. Confederate generals. Eaton, John. Lee, Robert E. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Visits to the U.S. by GP.
Conner, James. 2-Career. James Conner was born in S.C., graduated from S.C. College (1849), became a lawyer and an active secessionist, served in the Civil War in which he lost a leg, became a Brig. Gen., June 1, 1864, and was Attorney Gen. of S.C. in 187. Ref.: Boatner, p. 171.
Cook, George Smith (1819-1902), was a Conn.-born photographer who learned daguerreotype photography in New Orleans (1843-45), went on a five-year photographing trip through the South, settled in Charleston, S.C. (1849), operated Mathew Brady's (1823-96) photo studio in NYC (1851-52), and had a photo studio in Richmond, Va. (1880-1902). The photos of GP reproduced in the following book may have been taken by George Smith Cook or an associate on or about Aug. 12, 1869, at, W.Va.: Alfred Lawrence Kocher and Howard Dearstyne, Shadows in Silver, a Record of Virginia, 1850-1900, in Contemporary Photographs Taken by George and Huestis Cook with Additions from the Cook Collection (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1954), pp. 189-190. Ref.: Wilson and Ferris, I, pp. 158-159. See: Peabody, George, Illustrations (under Kocher).
Coolidge, (John) Calvin (1872-1933), 30th U.S. president, during 1923-29. See: Presidents, U.S., and GP.
GP-Peter Cooper Connections
Cooper, Peter (1791-1883). 1-GP-Peter Cooper Contact. GP had minor contact with the industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper. Born in NYC and with little formal schooling (like GP), Cooper had a remarkable career. He invented a cloth-shearing machine, manufactured glue, was an iron maker, was the first to roll wrought iron beams for fireproof buildings, was interested in canals, was president of several telegraph companies, and was connected with the laying of the first Atlantic cable (GP was a director of Cyrus West Field's [1819-92] Atlantic Cable Co.). Peter Cooper founded a free higher education institution in NYC, Cooper Union (1859), and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. presidency in 1876. A minor GP-Peter Cooper connection was at the Oct. 9, 1856, GP celebration in South Danvers, Mass. (renamed Peabody on April 13, 1868). This visit was GP's first return to the U.S. in nearly 20 years since leaving for London in Feb. 1837. Peter Cooper was among those unable to attend who sent a letter praising GP as an eminent U.S. merchant-banker in London and a promoter of U.S.-British friendship. See: South Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856, GP Celebration.
U.S. Sanitary Commission
Cooper, Peter. 2-Minor GP-Peter Cooper Contact Cont'd. Another GP-Peter Cooper connection had to do with Cooper Union and the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. NYC Unitarian minister Henry Whitney Bellows (1814-82), who helped Peter Cooper found Cooper Union, met with others at that institution to plan how to aid sick and wounded Civil War soldiers, sailors, and their dependents. This meeting led to the founding of the U.S. Sanitary Commission (1861-65), organized by the federal government on June 12, 1861. Donations were made to the U.S. Sanitary Commission at Westminster Palace Hotel, London, winter 1863-64 by GP, his George Peabody & Co. partner, Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90), GP's Vt.-born business friend Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85, who became a naturalized British subject), and others. In May 1864, GP sent $8,000 to the U.S. Sanitary Commission, having previously sent $500 each to U.S. Sanitary Commission fairs in Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. GP's total donation was $10,000. The U.S. Sanitary Commission spent over $5 million in Civil War relief and over $15 million in relief supplies. See: Bellows, Henry Whitney. Civil War. U.S. Sanitary Commission.
N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame
Cooper, Peter. 3-N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame, 1900. GP and Peter Cooper were among the 29 most famous Americans elected to the New York Univ. Hall of Fame in 1900. N.Y.U. Chancellor Henry Mitchell MacCracken (1840-1918) originated the idea of the N.Y.U. Hall of Fame as an educational use for the beautiful 630-foot campus colonnade overlooking the Hudson River. Mrs. Finley J. Shepard's $100,000 gift made the project possible (she was financier Jay Gould's [1836-92] daughter, née Helen Gould). The 29 most famous Americans were elected by 97 well known scholar-judges from over 1,000 names submitted by the public. See: Hall of Fame of N.Y.U.
Cooper, Peter. 4-N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame, 1900 Cont'd. Of the 29 elected to the N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame, GP was 16th from the top of the list, or 15th if placed ahead of Henry Clay [1777-1852], with whom GP tied for 16th place. In the businessmen-philanthropists category, GP received 74 votes and Peter Cooper received 69 votes. Of the other 28 most famous names selected, GP had personal contact with Daniel Webster (1782-1852), U.S. Grant (1822-85), Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-82), Washington Irving (1783-1859), S.F.B. Morse (1791-1872), D.G. Farragut (1801-70), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64), Peter Cooper (1791-1883), Robert E. Lee (1807-70), and Asa Gray (1810-88). Ref.: Ibid. See: Persons named.
Cooper, Peter. 5-N.Y. Univ. Hall of Fame, 1900 Cont'd. In 1901 a bronze tablet was unveiled in the space allotted to GP with an inscription from his PEF founding letter, Feb. 7, 1867: "Looking forward beyond my stay on earth I see our country becoming richer and more powerful. But to make her prosperity more than superficial, her moral and intellectual development should keep pace with her material growth." On May 12, 1926, a bust of GP by sculptor Hans Schuler (1874-1952, born in Alsace Lorraine, Germany), was unveiled at his assigned place on University Heights overlooking the Hudson River. John Work Garrett (1872-1942) represented the PIB trustees, grandnephew Murray Peabody Brush (b.1872) unveiled the bust, and GPCFT Pres. Bruce Ryburn Payne (1874-1937) gave the address. Ref.:Ibid. See: MacCracken, Henry Mitchell. Payne, Bruce Ryburn. Schuler, Hans.
Peabody Normal College
Cooper, William F. (1820-1909). 1-Tenn. Judge & Trustee, Univ. of Nashville. Before his 1911 retirement as Peabody Normal College president, former Tenn. Gov. James Davis Porter (1828-1912) told how he helped first PEF administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80) establish the Peabody Normal College on the campus of the Univ. of Nashville: "...I was with Dr. Sears, the first General Agent of [the] Peabody Board in 1875 [PEF], and he said to me, 'If you will furnish the house I will establish a normal college in Nashville. I am satisfied it is the best place in the South.' This was within twenty minutes of my inauguration as Governor of the State."
Cooper, William F. 2-Tenn. Gov. J.D. Porter Cont'd. "I said to him, 'Meet me here tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock and I will inform you whether I can secure the building for you. I am very anxious to see the school established. Before that hour I interviewed Judge William F. Cooper, Edwin H. Ewing [1809-1902], Edward D. Hicks, III [1831-94] and other members of the Board of Trustees of the University of Nashville and obtained from them consent to establish the college in buildings of the University, and when Dr. Sears called I was able to offer him the most eligible building and the best location of any point in the City of Nashville. He accepted the offer, and in the winter following, the school was organized and entered upon a career of the very greatest success." See: PCofVU. PEF. Persons Named.
Corcoran, Louise Morris. See: Eustis, Louise Morris (née Corcoran).
Business Friend Wm. W. Corcoran
Corcoran, William Wilson (1798-1888). 1-GP's Business Friend. William Wilson Corcoran was GP's business associate and personal friend for over 30 years. Their personal contacts and correspondence are detailed because they cover important aspects of GP's life. W.W. Corcoran's Irish-born father migrated to the U.S. in 1783 and settled in Georgetown, D.C., in 1788. W.W. Corcoran was born in Washington, D.C., educated in private schools and attended Georgetown College (now Georgetown Univ.) for one year. In 1815 he went into the dry goods store owned by his two brothers. They established him in the same business in 1817. Although the firm of W.W. Corcoran & Co. failed in 1823, he later reimbursed his creditors. He married Louise Amory Morris, Dec. 23, 1835, daughter of U.S. Naval Commodore Charles Morris (1784-1856), active in the War of 1812. He entered banking in the District of Columbia from 1828 and was increasingly successful, retiring early to devote his remaining years to philanthropy.
Corcoran, W.W. 2-Connection with Riggs and GP. Corcoran formed an important banking firm, Corcoran & Riggs, Washington, D.C. (1840-48), with George Washington Riggs (1813-81), son of Elisha Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853). Elisha Riggs, Sr., was the established Md. merchant who saw promise in GP, a young fellow soldier in the War of 1812. GP, age 17, had newly arrived (May 15, 1812) from economically depressed Newburyport, Mass., with his paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-before 1826) to open a dry goods store in Georgetown, D.C. In Riggs's family sources, GP (then age 19) was Elisha Riggs, Sr.'s (then age 35) "office boy" for a short time, and then junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29). Later in London, in 1838-39, GP took Elisha Riggs, Sr.'s son, George Washington Riggs, under his wing and taught him the mercantile trade and broker-banker business. Elisha Riggs, Sr., who became a NYC banker after 1829, helped finance the banking firm of Corcoran & Riggs. Elisha Riggs, Sr., wrote of Corcoran's connections: "He [Corcoran] has the friendship of the government offices at Washington which is very desirable."
Corcoran, W.W. 3-Mexican War Loan. Needing funds to pay for the Mexican War, the U.S. government proposed a $16 million bond sale abroad. In 1848 Corcoran & Riggs bid successfully to sell abroad $14,065,550 of this Second Mexican War loan. This U.S. bond sale abroad enhanced U.S. government credit and was the basis of Corcoran's fortune. GP in London helped sell part of these bonds. Corcoran retired on April 1, 1854, to manage his properties and his philanthropies. Ref.: (Corcoran's career): Curry-b, p. 95. Hidy, M.E.-b, p. 8. King, Vol. II, Part 2, pp. 440-441. Riggs, E.F.
Corcoran, W.W. 4-Basis of the Riggs National Bank, Washington, D.C. George Washington Riggs (educated at Round Hill School, Mass., and at Yale College) left Corcoran & Riggs, headed the banking firm of Riggs & Co., Washington, D.C. (1854-81), and was succeeded by his son Elisha Francis Riggs (1851-1910). When Elisha Francis Riggs retired in 1896, Riggs & Co. became the Riggs National Bank on the original site of Corcoran & Riggs, the corner of 15th St. and N.Y. Ave., Washington, D.C. George Washington Riggs, named by GP as one of the 16 original PEF trustees (during 1867-81), was succeeded as PEF trustee by Philadelphia banker Anthony Joseph Drexel (1826-93). A.J. Drexel attributed his founding of Drexel Univ., Philadelphia, in 1891, to his PEF trustee experience. Ref.: Ibid. (For more on the Riggs Bank, said to have been founded in 1836, see under References: Ruane, Michael E., "Checks and Balance Sheets of a City's History," Washington Post National Weekly Edition, Vol. 23, No. 40 [July 24-30, 2006], p.34).
Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D.C.
Corcoran, W.W. 5-Philanthropies. Having amassed considerable wealth, Corcoran, retired since 1854, began constructing the Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D.C., 1859, whose opening was delayed by the Civil War. Sympathetic with the Confederacy but never actively opposed to the Union, Corcoran lived abroad during 1862-65. He founded the Louise Home in 1869 for "gentlewomen...reduced by misfortune" ($550,000) and saw the Corcoran Art Galley inaugurated Feb. 22, 1872, based on his own art collection (total gift, $1.6 million). Ref.: Ibid.
Corcoran, W.W. 6-Daughter. Corcoran's only child was a daughter, Louise Morris Corcoran (1838-67). GP, who helped the Corcorans on their European trips with banking needs, travel plans, and cultural entertainment in London, was fond of daughter Louise. She married George Eustice (1828-72), son of the chief justice of La.'s supreme court. Eustice was one of four Confederate envoys sent to seek funds and arms from Britain and France. Louise Morris (née Corcoran) Eustice was on the British ship Trent when her husband and the three other Confederate envoys were illegally removed on Nov. 8, 1861, held in Boston Harbor's Warren Prison, and released Jan. 1, 1862. Corcoran's many acquaintances included political and financial leaders of the time. The Trent Affair is described below as it affected GP and Corcoran's daughter. See: persons named. Trent Affair.
Great Exhibition of 1851, London
Corcoran, W.W. 7-Great Exhibition of 1851, London. GP, in frequent mail contact with Corcoran, wrote him of his loan to the U.S. exhibitors at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London (first world's fair) and of the two Exhibition-connected GP dinners. GP's social emergence in 1851, along with favorable publicity on his two Exhibition-connected U.S.-British friendship dinners, preceded and likely encouraged his subsequent philanthropic gifts. His first gift was made the next year, June 16, 1852. He founded his first Peabody Institute in his hometown, Danvers, Mass. (renamed South Danvers, 1855, renamed Peabody on April 13, 1868).
Corcoran, W.W. 8-Great Exhibition of 1851, London Cont'd. The first world's fair, London, 1851 (official name: "The Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, held in London, 1851") catapulted GP, in a small way, and others to fame. The idea occurred to Henry Cole (1808-82), Society of Art (later Royal Society of Art) member, successful children’s book author, editor of several journals, assistant keeper of the Records Office, and British Post Office reorganizer. He attended the Paris Exposition, 1849, which showed only French industrial products. In London, in talks (June 29, 1849) with Albert of Saxe-Co-burg-Gotha (Prince Albert, 1819-61), Queen Victoria’s husband, and president (1848) of the Society of Art, Henry Cole found royal support for a first world's fair. Cole later founded the 1-South Kensington Museum, London, and 2-the National Training School, from which came the Royal College of Music, London. Ref.: Gibbs-Smith. Johnson, B.P.
Corcoran, W.W. 9-Early Plans. Backed by Prince Albert, a Royal Commission was appointed (Jan. 3, 1850), approval sought from manufacturers in Britain and other countries, funds were raised, Hyde Park was chosen as the site, and 245 building designs were received. Rejecting these designs and about to choose their own, the Building Committee received from Joseph Paxton (1801-65), the Duke of Devonshire's superintendent of gardens at Chatsworth, a hastily submitted sketch. Paxton's sketch of a large, strikingly handsome crystal-like glass structure supported by barrel-like iron transepts appeared in the Illustrated London News, July 6, 1850, winning public favor and Royal Commission approval. Nine months later the majestic Crystal Palace arose on 20 acres of Hyde Park. Ref.: Dalzell.
Corcoran, W.W. 10-Some Critics. A London Times critic wrote: "The whole of Hyde Park and, we will venture to predict, the whole of Kensington Gardens, will be turned into the bivouac of all the vagabonds of London so long as the Exhibition shall continue." A House of Commons member said: "It is the greatest trash, the greatest fraud, and the greatest imposition ever attempted to be palmed upon the people of this country. The object...is to introduce amongst us foreign stuff of every description.... It is meant to bring down prices in this country, and to pave the way for the establishment of cheap and nasty trash.… All the bad characters at present scattered over the country will be attracted to Hyde Park.... I advise persons residing near the Park to keep a sharp lookout for their silver forks and spoons and servant maids." Many tree lovers complained about cutting down three giant elms on the site. Paxton roofed them in, giving the building one of its distinguishing features. Later knighted, Paxton was later an MP from Coventry, 1854-65. Ref.: Gibbs-Smith, p. 9.
U.S. Exhibitors & GP
Corcoran, W.W. 11-Early Plans. Invited to participate, U.S. Secty. of State John Middleton Clayton (1796-1856) accepted, delegating authority (March 7, 1850) to the National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the Arts, Washington, D.C. State governors were asked to appoint committees to select exhibits and make needed arrangements. U.S. Pres. Millard Fillmore (1800-74) authorized a U.S. Navy ship (U.S. frigate St. Lawrence) to transport U.S. exhibits. Commissioner Charles F. Stansbury (d. 1882) of Washington, D.C., was appointed (without salary) to assemble the exhibits in NYC and place them aboard the St. Lawrence. Commissioner Edward W. Riddle of Boston was appointed (also without salary) to accompany the exhibits, shipped at exhibitors' expense. The St. Lawrence under Capt. Joshua R. Sands left NYC Feb. 8, 1851, for Southampton. On arrival in Southampton, March 1851, a lack of money brought on a crisis. Ref.: (U.S. exhibitors): Griffis, p. 86.
Lack of Funds
Corcoran, W.W. 12-Crisis: Lack of Funds. Federally sanctioned and largely state managed by hundreds of committee members, U.S. exhibitors' need for funds in Southampton and London had been neglected. It was a chaotic laissez faire muddle. No one had thought of funds to pay for shipping the crated exhibits from Southampton to London or to pay to decorate the large (40,000-square foot) U.S. exhibit space in the Crystal Palace. The crated U.S. exhibits lay scattered like rubble. Ref.: Ibid.
Corcoran, W.W. 13-Lack of Funds Crisis Cont'd. The U.S. Legation, without funds, the U.S. exhibitors, and the U.S. residents in London were all embarrassed. British ridicule appeared in the satirical Punch: "We could not help...being struck by the glaring contrast between large pretension and little performance...of the large space claimed by...America....What was our astonishment...to find that their contributions to the world's industry consists...of a few wine-glasses, a square or two of soap, and a pair of salt-cellars! For a calculating people our friends the Americans are thus far terribly out in their calculations." Ref.: (U.S. exhibitors without funds): Griffis, p. 86. London Times, Jan. 29, 1851, p. 4, c. 4; Feb. 24, 1851, p. 8, c. 6. Punch, quoted in Ffrench, pp. 237-238; also quoted in London Times, May 22, 1851, p. 8, c. 1. NYC Evening Post, July 15, 1851, p. 1, c. 5-6.
Corcoran, W.W. 14-U.S. Exhibitors Ridiculed. The New York Evening Post's London correspondent criticized U.S. Commissioner Edward W. Riddle: "It is a national disgrace that American wares, which are good, are so barely displayed, so vulgarly and ambitiously spread out over so large a space." British disdain for brash Americans was reinforced when U.S. locksmith Alfred C. Hobbs (1812-91) walked into a Piccadilly locksmith shop, pointed to a sign offering a reward to anyone opening the firm's famous lock, picked the lock, claimed the reward, and repeated the performance at another locksmith firm. Without funds, U.S. Minister to Britain Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855) was at a loss. He knew it would take months to get Congress to appropriate funds, if at all. Ref.: (Alfred C. Hobbs): Ffrench, op. cit., pp. 240-241.
GP's Loan
Corcoran, W.W. 15-GP's Loan. "The whole affair looked like a disgraceful failure," a New York Times writer later recorded. "At this juncture Mr. Geo. Peabody, of whom not one exhibitor in twenty had ever heard, and who was personally unknown to every member of the Commission, offered through a polite note addressed to Mr. Lawrence, to advance £3,000 [$15,000] on the personal responsibility of Mr. [Edward W.] Riddle and his secretary, Mr. [Nathaniel Shattwell] Dodge [1810-74]. This loan, afterward [three years later re]paid by Congress, relieved the Commission of its difficulties, and enabled our countrymen to achieve their first success in industrial competition with the artisans and manufacturers of Europe." Ref.: (GP's loan): New York Times, Aug. 4, 1869, p. 2, c. 1. "Proceedings of Thirty-third Congress, First Session, House of Representatives, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 1854," quoted in Washington, D.C., Daily Globe, Aug. 24, 1854, p. 1, c. 6-7. See persons named.
Corcoran, W.W. 16-GP Described, 1851. The New York Times article described GP's little known status in 1851: "Mr. Peabody was then 57 years old. A large-framed man, six feet in height, slightly stooping at the shoulders, of easy address, retiring in manner, rather reticent of speech, neat in apparel and dignified in bearing--he appeared rather the English gentleman of leisure than an American merchant.... He had realized a considerable fortune even for London." "Still," the article explained, "he was not widely known. Mr. [Joshua] Bates [1788-1864], Mr. Sturgis [1805-87], Mr. (later Sir) Curtis M. Lampson [1806-85] and twenty other Americans [in London] had a larger commercial reputation." Ref.: Ibid.
Corcoran, W.W. 17-Over Six Million Visitors. Partly through GP's loan over six million visitors to the first world's fair saw to best advantage U.S. manufactured products and arts. The most talked about were Albert C. Hobbs's (1812-91) unpickable lock, Samuel Colt's (1814-62) revolvers, Hiram Powers' (1805-73) statue, the Greek Slave, Cyrus Hall McCormick's (1809-84) reapers, Richard Hoe's (1812-86) printing press, and William Cranch Bond's (1789-1859) spring governor. The 599 U.S. exhibits won 159 awards, or one award for every four exhibits, a record somewhat better than awards won by British exhibits. Ref.: (GP's loan to U.S. Exhibitors): Griffis, p. 86. New York Times, Aug. 4, 1869, p. 2, c. 1. U.S. Govt. "Proceedings...33rd Cong., 1st Sess., House of Rep., Tues., Aug. 1, 1854," quoted in Daily Globe (Washington, D.C., Aug. 24, 1854), p. 1, c. 6-7. See: persons named.
Corcoran, W.W. 18-GP as Genial Host. Despite business affairs, GP hosted many U.S. visitors. He helped get for them tickets to the House of Lords, the opera, and the Botanical Gardens. He urged his Washington, D.C., business friend W.W. Corcoran to come for the exhibit: "I...regret that your business will not permit you to come to London.... I hope you will yet come.... The exhibition is worth coming for... I only regret...I have passed but one hour in it since the first day it opened, although I have a season ticket." To his former senior partner Elisha Riggs, Sr., GP wrote: "To see the buildings alone is worth a voyage across the Atlantic." Ref.: GP, London, to W.W. Corcoran, Washington, D.C., May 23, 1851, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress; also quoted in Corcoran, p. 95.
U.S.-British Friendship Dinner, July 4, 1851
Corcoran, W.W. 19-July 4, 1851, Dinner. GP had hosted smaller scale U.S.-British friendship dinners before 1851. His motive in the dinners, as in making the loan to the U.S. exhibitors, was to ease U.S.-British animosities which still rankled over the American Revolution, War of 1812, and the U.S. Maine-New Brunswick, Canada, boundary dispute of 1842. With so many prominent U.S. visitors present, and in the international spirit of the Great Exhibition, GP first thought in June 1851 to host a U.S.-British friendship dinner on July 4, 1851. U.S. visitors would like celebrating Independence Day. Britons might resent it. Would British society attend?
Corcoran, W.W. 20-Minister Lawrence Wary. GP sounded out U.S. Minister Abbott Lawrence, who discreetly asked the opinion of London social leaders. On June 26, 1851, Minister Lawrence found a wary reaction to the idea. In a private and confidential letter he warned GP: "Lady Palmerston was here. She has seen the leading ladies of the town and quoted one as saying the fashionables are tired of balls. I am quite satisfied that the fashionables and aristocracy of London do not wish to attend this Ball. Lady Palmerston says she will attend. I do not under those circumstances desire to tax my friends to meet Mrs. Lawrence and myself--Your party then I think must be confined to the Americans--and those connected with America, and such of the British people as happen to be so situated as to enjoy uniting with us." (Note: Lady Emily Lamb Palmerston, 1787-1869, wife of British PM Henry John Temple Palmerston, 1784-1865). Ref.: Abbott Lawrence to GP, June 26, 1851, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Corcoran, W.W. 21-Duke of Wellington as Guest of Honor. Prospects looked dim. GP persisted, wanting to build on the Great Exhibition spirit of goodwill. An Independence Day dinner might succeed, he thought, if he had a truly distinguished British guest of honor. Through mutual friends, GP approached the Duke of Wellington (Arthur Wellesley Wellington, 1769-1852), England's greatest living hero. The man who beat Napoleon at Waterloo reportedly huffed, "Good idea." With the 84-year-old Duke of Wellington as guest of honor, British society eagerly attended. The Friday night, July 4, 1851, dinner was an enormous success. Ref.: Chapple, p. 8. Wilson, P.W., p. 45. See: persons named.
Corcoran, W.W. 22-800 at Dinner. The July 4, 1851, dinner was held at the exclusive Willis's Rooms, sometimes called Almack's, conducted by a professional Bond St. master of ceremonies. The spacious ballroom was decorated with portraits of Queen Victoria and George Washington, tastefully arranged flowers, and skillfully blended British and U.S. flags. Over a thousand guests came and went, with eight hundred at dinner, including members of Parliament, former Tenn. Gov. Neill Smith Brown (1810-86, then U.S. Minister to Russia); London's Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress; the Bank of England's junior governor Thomson Hankey (1805-93); the 19th century's greatest woman philanthropist Baroness Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906); Crystal Palace architect Joseph Paxton; and others. See Persons named.
Corcoran, W.W. 23-800 at Dinner Cont'd. An orchestra played and a ball followed in a spacious ballroom decorated with medallions and mirrors, lit by 500 candles set in cut-glass chandeliers. When the Duke of Wellington entered the band played, "See the Conquering Hero Comes." GP rose, approached the "iron duke," shook his hand, escorted him through the hall amid applause, and introduced him to U.S. Minister Abbott Lawrence. (By coincidence there is an equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington in front of the Royal Exchange, London, by British sculptor Francis Legatt Chantry [1781-1841]; and nearby on Threadneedle St. is GP's seated statue by U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story [1819-95]). Ref.: New York Times, Aug. 4, 1868, p. 2, c. 2. (Statues mentioned): New York Times, Feb. 28, 1988, Sec. 2, p. 39, c.1. See: Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world's fair). Willis's Rooms.
Corcoran, W.W. 24-Praised in the Press. The London Times, reporting that His Grace had a good time and left at a late hour, also referred to GP as "an eminent American merchant." The Ladies Newspaper had a large woodcut illustration of GP introducing the Duke to Abbott Lawrence. The aristocratic London Morning Post took favorable note of the affair. Ref.: London Times, July 9, 1851, p. 5, c. 3. Ladies Newspaper and Pictorial Times (London), July 26, 1851, p. 43. Sun (London), July 11, 1851, p. 1, c. 5-6. North American and United States Gazette (Philadelphia), July 23, 1851, p. 1, c. 4. NYC Spirit of the Times, July 26, 1851, p. 1, c. 2; and Aug. 2, 1851, p. 279.
Corcoran, W.W. 25-Minister Lawrence Congratulated GP. Totally pleased, U.S. Minister Lawrence wrote to GP: "I should be unjust...if I were not to offer my acknowledgments and heartfelt thanks for myself and our country for the more than regal entertainment you gave to me and mine, and to our countrymen generally here in London.... "Your idea of bringing together the inhabitants of two of the greatest nations upon earth...was a most felicitous conception.... I congratulate you upon the distinguished success that has crowned your efforts.... [You have] done that which was never before attempted." Ref.: Abbott Lawrence to GP, July 5, 1851, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
Corcoran, W.W. 26-N.Y. State Agent Praised GP. Reporting on the U.S. Exhibition to his superiors, N.Y. State agent Benjamin Pierce Johnson (1793-1869) praised GP's loan and his July 4, 1851, dinner (in part): "…every American connected with the Exhibition owes a debt of gratitude [to Mr. George Peabody of London]…." Ref. Johnson, B.P.
Departing U.S. Exhibitors Dinner, Oct. 27, 1851
Corcoran, W.W. 27-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner to Departing U.S. Exhibitors. On Oct. 6, 1851, Charles F. Stansbury of Washington, D.C., a departing U.S. commissioner to the Great Exhibition, proposed a dinner to honor GP for his loan. Graciously declining, GP instead gave his own Oct. 27, 1851, dinner to the departing exhibitors, grander and even better received than was his July 4, 1851, dinner. The menu, proceedings, and speeches were printed in beautifully bound books. Copies were sent to distinguished attendees and others. Ref. Baltimore Patriot & Gazette, Oct. 28, 1851, p. 2, c. 1. (Proceedings): Stevens.
Corcoran, W.W. 28-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner to Departing U.S. Exhibitors Cont'd. The Oct. 27, 1851, dinner was held at the London Coffee House, Ludgate Hill, where Benjamin Franklin as U.S. emissary had met friends to discuss colonial affairs over food and drinks. British and U.S. flags draped life-size paintings of Queen Victoria, George Washington, and Prince Albert. Pennants and laurel wreaths decorated the long hall. At 7:00 P.M. GP took the chair, grace was said, and dinner was served to 150 U.S. and British guests, many of them connected with the just-closed Great Exhibition of 1851. Ref. Ibid.
Corcoran, W.W. 29-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner to Departing U.S. Exhibitors Cont'd. The toastmaster, a Mr. Harker, began: "Mr. Peabody drinks to you in a loving cup and bids you all a hearty welcome." A U.S.-made loving cup of English oak, inlaid with silver, inscribed "Francis Peabody of Salem to George Peabody, of London, 1851" was passed around until each guest tasted from it. After dessert, GP rose and first toasted, "The Queen, God bless her." All stood. The band played God Save the Queen. His second toast was to "The President of the United States, God bless him." All rose. Hail Columbia was played. His third toast to "The health of His Royal Highness Prince Albert" brought more flourishes of music. Ref. Ibid.
Corcoran, W.W. 30-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner to Departing U.S. Exhibitors Cont'd. U.S. Minister Abbott Lawrence was toasted. The band played Yankee Doodle. U.S.-British friendship speeches were given by U.S. Minister Abbott Lawrence and former British Minister to the U.S. Sir Henry Bulwer-Lytton (1801-72). GP said: "I have lived a great many years in this country without weakening my attachment to my own land.... I have been extremely fortunate in bringing together...a number of our countrymen...and...English gentlemen [of] social and official rank.... May these unions still continue, and gather strength with the gathering years." The proceedings lasted more than four hours. Good reports of its effect reverberated in the press. Ref. Ibid. See: persons named.
Corcoran, W.W. 31-Aftermath of GP's Generosity. Corcoran, who read in the press of GP's loan to the U.S. exhibitors and of the praise for his U.S.-British friendship dinners, wrote to GP, "You will make us proud to call you friend and countryman." GP answered (Oct. 3, 1851): "However liberal I may be here, I cannot keep pace with your noble acts of charity at home; but one of these days I mean to come out, and then if my feelings regarding money don't change and I have plenty, I shall become a strong competitor of yours in benevolence." Ref. (W.W. Corcoran): GP to Corcoran, Oct. 3, 1851, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms, and quoted in Corcoran, p. 101.
Corcoran, W.W. 32-Oct. 27, 1851, Dinner Book. GP had his friend and sometime agent Henry Stevens (1819-86), who attended the Oct. 27, 1851, dinner, collect, publish, and distribute in a handsome book the Oct. 27, 1851, dinner menu, proceedings, and speeches. Henry Stevens, born in Barnet, Vt., was a successful London-based rare book dealer and bibliographer. Ref. Stevens (comp.). Parker, W.W., pp. 83, 126. Kenin, pp. 87-94. Lydenberg, VII, pp. 611-612. (Letters about sending and receiving Oct. 27, 1851, dinner proceedings book, compiled by Stevens, are in Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.)
Corcoran, W.W. 33-GP's 1851 Successes Springboard to Philanthropy. GP had early told intimates he intended to found an educational or other useful institute in each town and city where he had lived and worked. A year after the Great Exhibition of London of 1851, GP established his first Peabody Institute Library in his hometown of Danvers, Mass. (renamed South Danvers, 1855, renamed Peabody on April 13, 1868). GP was invited but was unable to leave London to attend the June 16, 1852, centennial celebration of Danvers' separation from Salem, Mass. He sent instead a letter, sentiment, and check establishing his first Peabody Institute Library.
Corcoran, W.W. 34-"Education--a debt due from present to future generations." GP's letter from London, May 26, 1852, read aloud by schoolmate John Waters Proctor (1791-1874), said in part: "By George Peabody, of London: 'Education--a debt due from present to future generations.' In acknowledgment of the payment of that debt by the generation which preceded me in my native town of Danvers...I give...the sum of $20,000....'" Like the lyceums and chautauquas that followed, his first Peabody Institute had a library, lecture hall, lecture fund, and annual prizes for best pupils. Ultimately, GP gave his hometown Peabody Institute a total of $217,600 (1852-69). For GP's first (1852) Peabody Institute gift, Danvers, now Peabody, Mass., see South Danvers, Mass., Centennial Celebration. John Waters Proctor. Sylvester Proctor. For GP's earlier (Oct. 31, 1851) $1,000 gift for a chemistry laboratory and school for Baltimore's Md. Institute, see Md. Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, Baltimore. William H. Keighler. Ref. (Md. Institute): GP to Md. Institute Pres. William H. Keighler, Oct. 31, 1851, Garrett Papers, Library of Congress Ms. Quoted in American and Commercial Daily Advertiser (Baltimore), Nov. 27, 1851, p. 2, c. 1.
Corcoran, W.W. 35-Oct. 12, 1852, Dinner. GP honored departing U.S. Minister to Britain Abbott Lawrence (1792-1855) at an Oct. 12, 1852, London dinner. That dinner also introduced incoming U.S. Minister Joseph Reed Ingersoll (1786-1868, minister during 1852-53) and his niece Miss Charlotte Manigault Wilcocks (1821-75). Although sometimes ill in the summer of 1853, GP's social entertainment included Charlotte Wilcocks and Elise Tiffany, daughter of Baltimore friend Osmond Capron Tiffany (1794-1851).
Whiff of Romance
Corcoran, W.W. 36-Miss Wilcox and Elise Tiffany. From Paris in June 1853 Elise Tiffany's brother George Tiffany asked GP by letter to help get an apartment for them in London. He added, "I just asked Elise if she had any message for you. She says, 'No, I have nothing to say to him whilst Miss Wilcocks is there.'" The Tiffanys had been invited to the May 18, 1853, dinner for the Ingersolls but Elise would not go. Her brother George Tiffany explained in a letter to GP: "Elise knows the entertainment is to the American Minister and Miss Wilcocks. The thing is impossible. Her trunks will not pack, nor her Bills pay.... As to the Scotch trip of a couple of weeks, Elise counts upon your making that sacrifice as a balm to her wounded feelings, caused by the various reports all through the winter." Ref. (George Tiffany to GP): George Tiffany, Paris, to GP, London, June 7, 1853, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass
Corcoran, W.W. 37-No Thoughts of Marriage. GP had gone to the opera with Miss Wilcocks and they appeared together at social functions. A London reporter for a NYC newspaper wrote about a possible romance: "Mr. Ingersoll gave his second soiree recently. Miss Wilcocks does the honors with much grace, and is greatly admired here. The world gives out that she and Mr. Peabody are to form an alliance, but time will show..." GP, then age 58, had no matrimonial intentions, as he explained in a letter to Washington, D.C., business friend W.W. Corcoran: "I have now arrived at an age that throws aside all thoughts of marriage [although] I think her [Miss Wilcocks] a very fine woman." Ref. GP, London, to William Wilson Corcoran, Washington, D.C., May 3, 1853, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms. Also quoted in Corcoran, pp. 110-111.
Arctic Exploration
Corcoran, W.W. 38-Lost British Arctic Explorer Sir John Franklin. Corcoran, GP's contact in Washington, helped in GP's $10,000 gift for scientific equipment for the Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition. British Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) and 137 seamen left on May 18, 1845, to search for the legendary Northwest Passage. They were never seen alive again. Lady Jane Franklin's (1792-1874) appeal to Pres. Zachary Taylor and the U.S. Congress led NYC merchant Henry Grinnell (1799-1874) to offer two search ships. This First U.S. Grinnell Expedition, 1850-52, failed to find Sir John Franklin. See: Franklin, Sir John.
Corcoran, W.W. 39-Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition for Sir John Franklin, 1853-55. GP learned through W.W. Corcoran that Grinnell had petitioned Congress through U. S. Sen. Hamilton Fish from N.Y. (1808-93) for U.S. Navy help in a Second U.S. Grinnell Expedition. U.S. Navy Secty. John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870) coordinated the second U.S. expedition, with Grinnell's two ships and GP's $10,000 gift for scientific equipment. The second U.S. search expedition was led by U.S. Navy Commander Elisha Kent Kane, M.D. (1820-57), medical officer on the first U.S. search expedition. Navy Secty. Kennedy, a Baltimorean, first knew GP as a fellow solder in the War of 1812. Later, in 1857, Kennedy was the chief planner and trustee of GP's $1.4 million PIB. See: Franklin, Sir John. Kennedy, John Pendleton.
Corcoran, W.W. 40-Initiated U.S. Arctic Exploration. To attract additional aid, Kane publicized GP's $10,000 gift for scientific equipment. As he hoped, funds and equipment came from the Smithsonian Institution, the Geographical Society of N.Y., and the American Philosophical Society. It fell to later explorers to find conclusive proof that Sir John Franklin died on June 11, 1847. The two U.S. Grinnell Expeditions initiated U.S. Arctic exploration; led Kane to name Peabody Bay, off Greenland, for GP; and enabled GP to help promote an early instance of U.S.-British international technical cooperation. Ref. Ibid.
Corcoran, W.W. 41-White House Desk Connection. There was also an interesting later development. The British ship HMS Resolute, abandoned in the Arctic ice in the search for Sir John Franklin, was found and extricated by a Capt. Buddington of the U.S. whaler George Henry. The U.S. government purchased, repaired, and returned Resolute to Britain as a gift. In turn, when the Resolute was broken up, Queen Victoria had a massive desk made of its timbers as a gift to the U.S. President. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (1929-94) found that desk in a storeroom in 1961 and put it in Pres. John F. Kennedy's (1917-63) oval office. Famous photos show their small son John playing under that desk. Ref. Ibid. See: persons named. White House, Washington, D.C.
Washington Monument
Corcoran, W.W. 42-Washington Monument, July 4, 1854. W.W. Corcoran wrote to GP in London, June 19, 1854: "Would you like to donate to the Washington Monument now being organized? Donors of $1,000 have their names inscribed on a tablet in the monument." GP replied that he had just returned from a July 4, 1854, British-U.S. friendship dinner he gave at London's Star and Garter Hotel for 150 guests: "While seated beneath the portrait of [George] Washington...it recalled to my mind the magnificent Monument now being erected in your city to the Father of his Country.... That I might have a hand in its construction...I...authorize you to place my name on the subscription list for one thousand dollars." Ref. (GP's gift to Washington Monument): Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. National Archives. Washington National Monument, Board of Managers, "Journal" entry, July 25, 1854. Washington Weekly Reporter (Washington, Penn.), Aug. 9, 1854, p. 2, c. 5.
Corcoran, W.W. 43-Washington Monument, July 4, 1854, Cont'd. The Washington Monument originated in a Congressional resolution (1783) to honor the first U.S. president with an equestrian statue. George Washington demurred about any expense to the national treasury. After Washington's death (1799) U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall (1755-1835) suggested some kind of a George Washington memorial. In 1832 a Washington National Monument Society began to raise funds. The obelisk-style Washington Monument was designed by U.S. Architect of Public Buildings Robert Mills (1781-1855). The cornerstone was laid July 4, 1848. Construction was halted for lack of funds. In 1852 Corcoran, GP, and others responded to appeals. Congress did not appropriate funds until 1876. With donors' names inscribed inside (including GP), the 555 foot and 5/8th inch tall Washington Monument, completed in 1880, opened to the public in 1888. See: Washington Monument, Washington, D.C. Persons named.
GP & the Sickles Affair
Corcoran, W.W. 44-July 4, 1854, Dinner and the Sickles Affair. Corcoran's and GP's donation to the Washington Monument came at the time of GP's frictionable July 4, 1854, Independence Day dinner. He gave the dinner at the Star and Garter Hotel, London, to honor incoming U.S. Minister to Britain James Buchanan (1772-1868, later 15th U.S. President, 1857-61). Controversial new U.S. Legation Secty. Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914) was a super-patriot at a time of U.S. jingoism over winning the Mexican War and acquiring parts of Texas and California. When GP toasted as usual first the Queen, then the U.S. President, Sickles objected, sat while the other 149 guests rose, then stalked out of the banquet room "stiff and red-gorged." U.S.-British press reports of Sickles' walkout fanned the furor. In a letter to the Boston Post, July 21, 1854 Sickles charged GP as unpatriotic and "toadying" to the British. Letters appeared in the press for a month, mostly anti-Sickles and pro-GP. See: Sickles, Daniel Edgar.
Corcoran, W.W. 45-Sickles Affair Aftermath. Sickles' later difficulties included his shooting to death the son of Francis Scott Key (Philip Barton Key), Feb. 27, 1859, for alleged inappropriate attention to Sickles' wife. Sickles was acquitted as of unsound mind. On the Sickles affair, Corcoran wrote GP that: "Buchanan had not the slightest respect" for Sickles but for political reasons could not reprove him. Buchanan, with a less controversial new legation secretary, wrote to Sickles: "Your refusal to rise when the Queen's health was proposed is still mentioned in society, but I have always explained and defended you." Two years later, while GP was in Washington, D.C., during his 1856-57 U.S. visit, and when James Buchanan was the 15th U.S. president, the two men did not meet. Ref. Ibid. Persons named.
GP Celebration, South Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856
Corcoran, W.W. 46-Oct. 9, 1856, S. Danvers, Mass., GP Celebration. W.W. Corcoran could not attend but sent a congratulatory letter when GP's hometown friends (Danvers, renamed South Danvers, 1855, renamed Peabody, Mass. on April 13, 1868) held a GP Celebration Day on Oct. 9, 1856. The occasion marked GP's first U.S. return visit (Sept. 15, 1856 to Aug. 19, 1857) in nearly 20 years since settling in London in Feb. 1837. Delegations from Boston, NYC, and elsewhere who met him at NYC dockside offered him public dinners. He declined, explaining that his sister Judith Dodge (née Peabody) Russell (1799-1879) had written him that South Danvers people had voted $3,000 for a public welcome for him and that they "will be extremely disappointed if they do not do much more than anybody else and do it first. They are tenacious of their right to you." See: South Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856, GP Celebration.
Corcoran, W.W. 47-Oct. 9, 1856, S. Danvers, Mass., GP Celebration Cont'd. Some 20,000 people descended on tiny S. Danvers. There were marching bands, marching schoolchildren, dinner for 1,500, and speeches by Alfred Amos Abbott (1820-84), Edward Everett (1794-1865) and others, with responses by GP. Letters from distinguished persons invited but, like Corcoran, unable to attend, included Abbott Lawrence (who died shortly before the Oct. 9, 1856 celebration), jurist Rufus Choate (1799-1859), Edmund Grattan of the British Consulate in Boston, writer Washington Irving (1783-1859), Arctic explorer Elisha Kent Kane, manufacturer and philanthropist Peter Cooper (1791-1883), Mass. statesman and later GP's philanthropic advisor Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94), statesman and college president Josiah Quincy, Jr. (1772-1864), historian George Bancroft (1800-91), educator Henry Barnard (1811-90), and others. The gala day's events, dinner menu, speeches, and letters received were published in a handsome book, copies of which were sent to dignitaries. Ref. Ibid. Proceedings...Reception and Dinner...GP...Danvers, Oct. 9, 1856, pp. 55-109. See: persons named.
Panic of 1857
Corcoran, W.W. 48-Panic of 1857. Hundreds of U.S. and British business firms failed during the financial Panic of 1857. George Peabody & Co. was severely threatened. The crisis was brought on by over speculation in western U.S. lands, poorly managed railroads needing large capital, and overbuying of goods in eastern U.S. cities. The crisis was furthered by poor U.S. wheat sales abroad, the sinking of a packet ship with $1.6 billion in California gold bullion aboard, and the failure of some railroads, banks, and insurance companies. GP had given large credit to Lawrence, Stone and Co. of Boston, which could not repay him. Meanwhile, Baring Brothers pressed GP for $750,000 (£150,000) he owed them. Gathering all his assets, GP applied for a $4 million loan. The Bank of England, which seldom made such loans, did so for GP. See: Morgan, Junius Spencer. Panic of 857.
Corcoran, W.W. 49-Panic of 1857 Cont'd. Second PEF administrator J.L.M. Curry (1825-1903) is the source for reporting that during the loan negotiations some unscrupulous financiers tried to force GP out of business. GP's partner Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) was told that a loan would be guaranteed to George Peabody & Co. if it ceased business in London at the end of 1858. J.L.M. Curry reported that, "When Mr. Morgan brought this message to Mr. Peabody, he was in a rage like a wounded lion, and told Mr. Morgan to reply that he dared them to cause his failure." After repaying the Bank of England loan on March 30, 1858, GP wrote W.W. Corcoran: "My business is again quite snug.... Our credit...stands as high as ever before." Ref. (J.L.M. Curry): Curry-b, p. 7 (Italics added). Ref. (GP to Corcoran): GP, London, to W.W. Corcoran, Washington, D.C., April 16, 1858, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms, also quoted in Corcoran, pp. 168-169. For U.S. Legation in London's Secty. Benjamin Moran's (1820-86) Nov. 6 and 21, 1857, comments on GP's Panic of 1857 difficulties, See: Moran, Benjamin (Ref. Wallace and Gillespie, pp. 162, 175, 181).
N.Y. Herald's False Reports
Corcoran, W.W. 50-N.Y. Herald's False Reports. Editor James Gordon Bennett's N.Y. Herald article, Sept. 20, 1859, stated: "There is a rumor that the firm of George Peabody & Co. is to be dissolved or remodeled. The cause I have not heard, but I know that the head of the house has never been pleased nor satisfied since certain events during and previous to the great crisis of 1857. Before that disgraceful failure in Boston, connected with Lawrence, of Lawrence, Stone & Co., a draft was actually drawn amounting to some £80,000 [then equivalent to $400,000] and some real or fanciful security offered. This draft was accepted, and the negotiation had been about completed when the senior partner, Mr. Peabody, came in and put a veto on the whole transaction. As matters turned out the securities were not worth a straw. Lawrence failed and but for the timely appearance of Mr. Peabody, his firm would have been seriously damaged by the stroke of the pen." Ref.: New York Herald, Sept. 20, 1859, p. 2, c. 2.
Corcoran, W.W. 51-N.Y. Herald's False Reports Cont'd. Another N.Y. Herald article, Oct. 12, 1859, accused GP of using his influence with the London Times financial writer to attack business rivals. The article read: "...Money articles in the Times follow what George Peabody favors or opposes, reflecting his personal enmities, piques, quarrels...." Asked to comment on Editor James Gordon Bennett's New York Herald anti-GP articles, GP wrote the Baltimore American editor to say that they were false. Ref. New York Herald, Oct. 12, 1859, p. 2, c. 2. Ref. (GP's denial letter to Baltimore American, Dec. 23, 1859, reprinted): New York Times, Jan. 12, 1860, p. 1, c. 6.
Corcoran, W.W. 52-N.Y. Herald's False Reports Cont'd. W.W. Corcoran wrote GP and scoffed at the charge: "I read a letter in the Herald some time since alluding to your influence with the London Times which if true, makes you more potential than Lord Palmerston [Henry John Temple Palmerston (1784-1865), British Prime Minister during 1855-58]." GP's distant cousin in NYC Joseph Peabody wrote GP that N.Y. Herald Editor James Gordon Bennett deliberately provoked controversy to sell newspapers, that he published "falsehood[s] expressly to provoke a reply.... He makes it a system to attack some prominent person, it matters little who that person may be!..." Ref. W.W. Corcoran, Washington, D.C., to GP, Dec. 20, 1859, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. Ref. Joseph Peabody, NYC, to GP, Montreal, Canada, Oct. 18, 1856, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. For criticism of GP in the N.Y. Herald during GP's 1856-57 U.S. visit, reasons for Bennett's criticism, and sources, see Visits to the U.S. by GP.
Corcoran, W.W. 53-GP, Gout, March 1859. Often ill with gout in 1858-59, GP sought relief in health spas in southern France. He wrote to Corcoran: "I have been a great sufferer by rheumatic gout in my knees and arms, as also my right hand, for several months. I have been here for three weeks for the benefit of the waters, and may remain a fortnight longer. I am now quite well, except my right hand, which is painful when I write, and I fear you will hardly be able to make out what I have written." Ref. GP to W.W. Corcoran, March 22, 1859, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms., quoted in Corcoran, p. 178.
Trent Affair
Corcoran, W.W. 54-1861 Trent Affair. The Nov. 8, 1861, Trent Affair affected GP in two minor ways. Because it threatened near-war hysteria between the U.S. and Britain, it delayed to March 12, 1862, announcement of the Peabody Donation Fund for model homes for London's working poor (total gift $2.5 million). It also affected W.W. Corcoran's only child, daughter Louise Morris (Corcoran) Eustice, married to and accompanying her husband, George Eustice (1828-72), one of four Confederates illegally removed from the British ship Trent. Despite a Union blockade of southern ports, on the stormy night of Oct. 11, 1861, Confederate emissaries James Murray Mason (1798-1871), his secretary J.E. McFarland, both from Va., John Slidell (1793-1871), his secretary George Eustice, both from La., and some of their families, sailed from Charleston, S.C., to Havana, Cuba. In Havana they boarded the British mail ship Trent, bound for Liverpool, England, to seek arms and aid for the Confederacy in Britain and France. See: Trent Affair.
Corcoran, W.W. 55-1861 Trent Affair Cont'd. On Nov. 8, 1861, in the Bahamas, Union warship San Jacinto's Capt. Charles Wilkes (1798-1877) seized and forcibly removed the four envoys from the British ship Trent and took them to Boston Harbor's Fort Warren Prison. When Louise Morris (Corcoran) Eustice reached England, GP's partner Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90) went to see about her welfare. Britain, which sent troops to Canada in case of a U.S.-British war, demanded release of the four prisoners. U.S. jingoism calmed. At his cabinet meeting (Dec. 26, 1861) Pres. Lincoln allegedly cautioned in a jocular vein: "one war at a time, gentlemen," got the cabinet to disavow Capt. Wilkes's action as independent and unauthorized, and got the four Confederates released on Jan. 1, 1862. For details of GP and the Trent Affair, with sources, see: Trent Affair. Persons named.
Corcoran, W.W. 56-GP to Corcoran, Dec. 2, 1862. GP suffered painful attacks of gout in his left knee in late 1862, went to Brighton for the sea air, and wrote to W.W. Corcoran that the Queen's physician Sir Henry Holland (1788-1873) had advised him to try the warm sun of southern France. GP wanted Corcoran to be his traveling companion to Nice, Florence, and Rome. He wrote this to Corcoran and, with some gloom, asked about Civil War news. GP wrote (Dec. 10, 1862): "I left my bed on Friday, after a confinement of thirteen days with a very painful attack of gout in my left knee, and came here [Brighton] on Sunday to try the effect of sea air in restoring me again to health and strength. I have greatly improved in three days, and hope to return to town on Monday, quite well." Ref. GP, Brighton, to William Wilson Corcoran, Dec. 2, 1862, Corcoran Papers, VIII, Accession Nos. 8570 and 8571, Library of Congress Ms.; also quoted in Corcoran, p. 200.
Corcoran, W.W. 57-GP to Corcoran, Dec. 2, 1862, Cont'd.: "In reply to your note dated 2d, I have pretty much made up my mind (under advice of Sir Henry Holland) to pass about three months of the winter at Nice, making a short visit to Florence and Rome, and I need not say how happy I shall be if you will be my traveling companion for a part or all the time." Ref. Ibid.
Corcoran, W.W. 58-GP ill, late 1862-63 Cont'd.: "I expect to leave here about the 10th of January, and probably may be accompanied to Paris by some friends, in which case I shall remain till about the 20th, and then proceed South." "If you can see any indication of light through the clouds that now so badly darken our once happy country, don't fail to drop me a line, as I think your position at present much better than mine for that purpose." "Please give my warm regards to Loula [Corcoran's only child, a daughter] and Mr. Eustice [her husband, George Eustice, 1828-72]. Don't forget to kiss the baby--for yourself." Ref. Ibid.
Corcoran, W.W. 59-GP to Corcoran, Nice, France, 1863. GP described his trip from Marseilles to Nice to Corcoran (Feb. 11, 1863): "The last day from Marseilles is through a most interesting country, and for several hours after you take the diligence [stagecoach] you will see, on one side, the olives and mulberry trees in their summer costume--the fruit trees in blossom--and in the distance, on the other, the Alps covered with snow. I mention these particulars because I think you will 'tear yourself'' from the baby [Corcoran's grandchild] in the course of next week and join me here. It is full of English and Americans, and the climate is most beautiful; there has not been any rain for twenty-seven days, and ever since my arrival there has been hot, sunny, cloudless weather--so much so that no fire has been required, night or day." Ref.: GP, Nice, France, to William Wilson Corcoran, Feb. 11, 1863, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms.; also quoted in Corcoran, pp. 201-202.
Corcoran, W.W. 60-Corcoran Unable to Join GP, Nice, France. GP had a courier (messenger) whom he wrote Corcoran he would continue to pay and share with Corcoran. "If you join me," he wrote Corcoran, "you need bring no letter of credit." Corcoran wrote that he could not leave Washington, D.C. GP replied jokingly: "My dear Corcoran: I see by your letter of the 15th that you mean to cut me as a traveling companion; those Confederates of the right kind being better than one not exactly defined." Ref.: GP, Nice, France, to William Wilson Corcoran, Feb. 18, 1863, Corcoran Papers, IX, Accession No. 8705, Library of Congress Ms.; also quoted in Corcoran, pp. 202-203.
GP’s Dinner & Concert, Nice, France, March 1863
Corcoran, W.W. 61-GP's Dinner & Concert, Nice, France, March 1863. In Nice in March [17?], 1863, GP gave a lavish dinner and concert in honor of the marriage of the Prince of Wales (Albert Edward, 1841-1910, reigned as King Edward VII, 1901-l0). [Note: The Prince of Wales, Queen Victoria's eldest son, would on July 23, 1869, unveil GP's seated statue by U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story (1819-95) on Threadneedle St., near London's Royal Exchange]. Ref.: (GP's dinner and concert, Nice, France, March 1863): NYC Albion, April 11, 1863, p. 178, c. 2; Hare, pp. 191-192.
Corcoran, W.W. 62-GP's Dinner & Concert, Nice, France, March 1863 Cont'd. Attending this dinner in Nice were King Louis [Ludwig] of Bavaria (1786-1868), Lord Brougham [Henry Peter Brougham, 1778-1868], and William Slade (1817-1901), U.S. Consul in Nice. Always careful, GP conferred in advance with Consul Slade about toasts to avoid offending anyone. The affair was expensive, one bill being 12,000 francs. Ref.: William Slade, U.S. Consulate at Nice, to GP, March 10, 16, 17, 23; (also letter and bill): Adam Hay, Nice, to GP, March 18, 1863, all in Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass. For U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran's criticism of this dinner, See: Benjamin Moran. Slade, William.
GP In Ireland, 1865
Corcoran, W.W. 63-GP in Ireland, 1865. In the summer of 1865 (June to Aug.), seeking relief from gout attacks, GP fished for salmon on a lake he rented on the Standish O'Grady estate, County Limerick, Ireland, then believed to be managed by 4th Viscount, Paget Standish (1835-77). Ref.: (Standish O'Grady): NYC Albion, June 17, 1865, p. 271, c. 3. [Standish, Paget].
Corcoran, W.W. 64-GP Wrote to Corcoran. From Ireland on Aug. 5, 1865, GP wrote W.W. Corcoran, then in Paris, France: "I cannot remain in London a week without risk of gout, and when I left, 1st June, I did not expect to return for five months, and I shall probably carry out my intention. With the exception of ten days in London, I have been here since 1st of May, very hard at work fishing for salmon six or ten hours a day, and living on a plain diet, which has kept me free of gout and in excellent health. I feel assured that nothing but this hard exercise in the open air will do so, and I have leased a fine fishery on the Shannon to commence lst April, 1867, and end 1st April, 1872, and hope we may both live to meet there even to the last date." Ref.: GP, Ireland, to William Wilson Corcoran, Aug. 5, 1865, Corcoran Papers, XII, Accession Nos. 9704 and 9705, Library of Congress Ms., quoted in Corcoran, pp. 209-210.
Corcoran, W.W. 65-GP to Corcoran Cont'd. (GP did not know that these plans were not be, that in April 1872 he would be dead two years and three months, and that his last four years of life would see his greatest philanthropic gifts and bring his last great honors). GP's Aug. 5, 1865, letter to Corcoran concluded: "If I live till March, it is my intention to go to the United States for a year, and work hard to endeavor to place 'my house in order' there, and then to pass the time that may allotted me in quiet, and, in a measure retired from the world. "I am now on my way to Scotland, and shall reach Invergarry about the 12th. Shall you come to Scotland this season?" Ref.: Ibid.
GP Critic Abolitionist Wm. Lloyd Garrison
Corcoran, W.W. 66-GP Joined Corcoran, W.Va., summer 1869. During GP's last U.S. visit, June 8-Sept. 29, 1869, abolitionist extremists and radical Republicans, bent on punishing the Confederate South, mistakenly charged GP as a rebel sympathizer. Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison (1805-79) faulted GP's $1.4 million for the PIB (1857-69) as "made to a Maryland institution, at a time when that state was rotten with treason." Even more criticized was GP's $2 million (1867-69) PEF to promote public education in the 11 former Confederate states plus W.Va. because of its poverty. Ill and two months before his death (in Aug. 1869) GP went, at W.W. Corcoran's urging, to join Corcoran at the White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. health spa. See: Lee, Robert E. PEF. White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
Corcoran, W.W. 67-W.L. Garrison's Attack on GP, 1869-70. Of GP's July 23-Aug. 30, 1869, White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., visit, Garrison wrote: "Mr. Peabody is now laboring under increasing bodily infirmities... [Instead of going to a Northern mineral spring] true to his Southern sympathies, he hastens to the White Sulphur Springs in Virginia,...the favorite resort of the elite of rebeldom, who...collectively welcomed his presence by adopting a series of congratulatory resolutions.... [to which GP replied with his] 'own cordial esteem and regards for the high honor, integrity and heroism of the Southern people!'" Ref.: NYC Independent, Feb. 10, 1870, p. 1, c. 2-3. Parker, F.-f, pp. 1-20.
Corcoran, W.W. 68-W.L. Garrison's Attack on GP, 1869-70 Cont'd. Four months after GP's death, Garrison wrote: "During his [GP's] long years in England he never once aided popular liberty or spoke against slavery. His sympathies were with the pro-slave South right to the outbreak of the Rebellion. His patriotic record cannot be examined with any pride or pleasure.... He did not want the Union dissolved; neither did he want the South conquered. He wanted peace which would satisfy the South, leaving slavery intact." Ref.: Ibid. See: Civil War and GP. Garrison, William Lloyd.
Thurlow Weed's Defense of GP
Corcoran, W.W. 69-Weed Defended GP as Pro Union. Longtime friend and N.Y. state political leader Thurlow Weed (1797-1882), confirmed by Ohio Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1799-1873), defended GP as pro Union. Early in the Civil War Pres. Lincoln sent Weed and McIlvaine as emissaries to explain the Union cause to British leaders and to keep Britain from helping the Confederacy with arms and aid. Weed reported and McIlvaine confirmed that GP in London helped them contact British leaders and that GP turned away Confederate agents seeking through his firm to raise European loans for the Confederacy. Ref.: New York Times, Dec. 23, 1869, p. 2, c. 3-4; reprinted Weed, T., "The Late George Peabody....," pp. 9-15.
Corcoran, W.W. 70-Weed Defended GP as Pro Union Cont'd. Weed wrote: "Some of Mr. Peabody's accusers discern, or think they discern, evidence of rebel sympathies in his great educational gift for the poor of the formerly slave States; but even in this they err. That money, until some time after the conclusion of the war, was intended for the City of New York.... He [GP] had told me fifteen years earlier about his intention to do something for the industrious poor of New York.... But the [Civil] war and its consequences changed his views...." Ref.: Ibid.
Corcoran, W.W. 71-Weed Defended GP Cont'd.: "[GP] had not decided his action when he arrived [GP's U.S. visit, May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867], nor until he had conversed with several Northern friends, all of whom approved of the effort to educate and elevate the masses in ignorance and poverty, black and white, which pervades the whole South.... When he arrived here, in 1866, he communicated his then immature programme for the education and elevation of the Southern poor, and consulted with me in relation to suitable men for trustees. And it may be proper to say here, that the beneficent plan finally adopted, was the suggestion of the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, of Boston." Ref.: Ibid. See: PEF. Weed, Thurlow.
"…the South is ruined…”
Corcoran, W.W. 72-S.C. Gov. Aiken on a Devastated South. The ruined South GP saw personally early in his May 1, 1866 to May 1, 1867, U.S. visit convinced him to aid public education in the southern states. Intimate friends who confirmed to him the national value of the PEF idea included Thurlow Weed, R.C. Winthrop, others, and particularly former S.C. Gov. William Aiken (1806-87). Gov. Aiken had agreed to be one of the few prominent southerners on the 16-member PEF board of trustees. GP wrote Aiken to meet him in Washington, D.C., at the end of Jan. 1867.
Corcoran, W.W. 73-S.C. Gov. Aiken Cont'd. Aiken's reply, sent via W. W. Corcoran, underscored the plight of the South: "Mr. Peabody invites me to meet him in Washington the end of January. I wrote to him at Salem that I would but he may be with you now. "I am now so bound down here, trying to nurse what remains of my property, that I cannot command my time. I have been laboring hard the whole summer, and shall scarcely make both ends meet. I intended to persevere and see what can be done...." Ref.: Aiken, S.C., to Corcoran, Jan. 25, 1867, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms, quoted in Corcoran, pp. 224-225.
Corcoran, W.W. 74-S.C. Gov. Aiken Cont'd.: "I think the South is ruined…. Nothing...can save the South from absolute want; ...its destruction is certain. What a terrible change from plenty and happiness to poverty and ruin, and the question naturally occurs to my mind. Who has been benefited by it? Certainly not the white or black man of the South. It is the first step taken toward the destruction of this once great and glorious Republic." Ref.: Ibid.
Corcoran, W.W. 75-S.C. Gov. Aiken's Career. William Aiken was born in Charleston, S.C., was a graduate of South Carolina College at Columbia (1825), was a S.C. state representative (1838-42), S.C. state senator (1842-44), S.C. governor (1844-46), and S.C. member of the U.S. House of Rep. (1851-57). He opposed S.C.'s secession. Ref.: Curry-b, pp. 19, 51, 97, 98-10l. Easterby, I, pp. 128-129. See: Aiken, William. Eaton, John. PEF.
Corcoran, W.W. 76-Death of Corcoran's Daughter, 1867. Corcoran was with his only child, daughter Louise Morris (née Corcoran) Eustis (1838-67), when she died in Cannes, France, Dec. 4, 1867, after a long illness. She left three children. GP shared Corcoran's grief: "My Dear Corcoran, I received your note of the 4th, announcing the death of your angelic daughter on that day. Although anticipated (and you must have been prepared for the afflicting event), no power but that of God can assuage the grief and affliction of a father at the loss of such a child, and an only child, in which, for more than a quarter of a century, a large portion of your happiness has been centered. Be assured, my dear friend, that I sincerely sympathize and condole with you in this severe dispensation of Providence." Ref.: GP, London, to Corcoran, Dec. 14, 1867, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms., quoted in Corcoran, p. 249.
GP and Winthrop in Rome & Paris
Corcoran, W.W. 77-GP and Winthrop, Rome, Feb. 1868. GP lost 20 pounds during his year-long U.S. visit (May 1, 1866-May 1, 1867), which he never fully regained. He traveled in Europe in 1868, next to the last year of his life, with philanthropic advisor and PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop. During Feb. 19-27, 1868, GP wrote Corcoran about sitting in U.S. sculptor William Wetmore Story's (1819-95) Rome studio for a GP seated statue to be placed on Threadneedle St., near London's Royal Exchange (unveiled July 23, 1869, by the Prince of Wales). Ref.: (GP to Corcoran): GP, London, to Corcoran, Jan. 14, 1868, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms., and Motley, III, p. 204. Ref.: (GP's Feb. 1868 Rome visit): Parker, "George Peabody..." dissertation, 1956, pp. 776, 783-786. New York Herald, March 22, 1868, p. 4, c. 5. NYC Albion, March 21, 1868, p. 140, c. 2. PEF-c, II, p. 309. Mass. Historical Society Proceedings, Vol. 10 (1867-1869), p. 339.
Corcoran, W.W. 78-GP and Winthrop, Audience with Pope. About Feb. 24-25, 1868, GP and Winthrop had an interview in Rome with Pope Pius IX (Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, pope during 1846-78). It was GP's only audience with the Pope and Winthrop's second audience (his first audience with the Pope was in 1860). GP gave a gift of $19,300 to San Spirito Hospital, a Vatican charitable hospital in Rome, probably on Feb. 24-25, 1868. Ref.: (GP's audience with Pope Pius IX): South Danvers Wizard (South Danvers, Mass.), March 25, 1868, p. 2, c. 5. Ref.: (R.C. Winthrop's account): Winthrop-c, pp. 97, 100. Ref.: (A.D. White's account): White, A.D., II, p. 424. Ref.: (GP's gift via Cardinal Antonelli to San Spirito Hospital): New York Herald, March 21, 1868, p. 4, c. 4, listed GP's gift as 1,000 francs. New York Herald. April 22, 1868, p. 7, c. 4, listed GP's gift as 5 million francs to the pontifical treasury. Baltimore Times, Nov. 6, 1869, p. 4, c. 3-5, listed GP's gift as $1 million for pontifical charities.
Corcoran, W.W. 79-False Report of GP Statue in Rome. GP's audience with the Pope and gift to the San Spirito Hospital may have been the basis for a press item from Rome on GP's death (Nov. 4, 1869) and transatlantic funeral: "A statue of Mr. Peabody is to be erected at Rome by order of the Pope." But no GP statue in Rome ever materialized. Ref.: (False report of GP statue in Rome): Dundee Courier and Argus (Dundee, Scotland), Nov. 9, 1869, p. 3, c. 5. Catholic Opinion (London), Nov. 20, 1869, p. 462, c. 1.
Corcoran, W.W. 80-GP and Winthrop, in France. GP left Rome Feb. 27, 1868, for Genoa, then went by boat to Nice, France, arriving March 3, 1868, where Baltimorean friend John Pendleton Kennedy (1795-1870), on his way to Rome, briefly visited him. GP went to Cannes, France, March 16, 1868, where he visited George Eustis (1828-72), Corcoran's son-in-law, and W.W. Corcoran's grandchildren. From Cannes, about March 17, 1868, GP and Winthrop went to Paris, France, where they were received by Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, 1808-73) and Empress Eugénie (1826-1920). Ref.: (GP received by Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie): GP, Nice, to R.C. Winthrop, Rome, March 15, 1868, Winthrop Papers, Mass. Historical Society, Boston. Mass. Historical Society Proceedings, Vol. 10 (1867-69), p. 340. For other details of GP's visits to Rome, Italy, and Paris, France (Feb-Mar. 1868), See: Eustis, Louise Morris (née Corcoran). Eustis, George. Eugénie, Empress. San Spirito Hospital, Rome, Italy.
GP’s Last Illness
Corcoran, W.W. 81-Holmes on GP's Illness. GP was greatly weakened during his final four-month U.S. visit, June 8-Sept. 29, 1869. He saw family, friends, and made last visits to his Peabody Institutes in New England and Baltimore. Poet Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-94), who read a poem he composed about GP at the July 14-16, 1869, dedication of the Peabody Institute Library in Danvers, Mass., referred to GP's appearance in a letter to historian-statesman John Lothrop Motley (1814-77), as "...the Dives who is going to Abraham's bosom and I fear before a great while...." Ref.: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Boston, to John Lothrop Motley, Rome, July 18, 1869, quoted in Morse, pp. 180-181.
Corcoran, W.W. 82-Toward White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. (July 23-Aug. 30, 1869). W.W. Corcoran urged GP to join him at the White Sulphur Springs health spa in W.Va. GP's nephew, George Peabody Russell (1835-1909), wrote to Corcoran: "...Mr. Peabody...is weaker than when he arrived.... He has...decided to go to the White Sulphur Springs...[and asks you to] arrange accommodations for himself, and servant, for Mrs. Russell and myself." Ref.: George Peabody Russell, Salem, to W.W. Corcoran, July 6, 1869, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress, quoted in Corcoran, p. 299 (with date believed erroneously listed as June 6, 1869).
Corcoran, W.W. 83-McIlvaine on GP's Illness. Ohio Episcopal Bishop C.P. McIlvaine also remarked to R.C. Winthrop how ill GP looked: "The White Sulphur Springs will, I hope, be beneficial to our excellent friend; but it can be only a very superficial good. [His] cough is terrible, and I have no expectation of his living a year." Ref.: C.P. McIlvaine, Cincinnati, to R.C. Winthrop, July 22, 1969, quoted in Carus, ed., pp. 298-299.
GP’s Last Hurrah
Corcoran, W.W. 84-John Eaton on GP, W.Va. GP arrived at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., on July 23, 1869. Also at the springs was Tenn.'s superintendent of public instruction John Eaton (1829-1906). He wrote in his annual report: "Mr. Peabody shares with ex-Gov. Wise the uppermost cottage in Baltimore Row, and sits at the same table with General Lee, Mr. Corcoran, Mr. Taggart, and others....Being quite infirm, he has been seldom able to come to parlor or dining room, though he has received many ladies and gentlemen at the cottage.... His manners are singularly affable and pleasing, and his countenance one of the most benevolent we have ever seen." Ref.: (Eaton on GP): Eaton, Appendix T, pp. 1-liii, also quoted in Dabney, I, p. 107, footnote 10.
Corcoran, W.W. 85-W.Va. Resolutions, July 27-28, 1869. GP's presence, publicity on the doubling of his PEF to $2 million, his illness, and confinement to his cottage prompted a meeting on July 27 at which former Va. Gov. Henry Alexander Wise (1806-76) drew up resolutions read publicly in GP's presence amid a crowd on July 28 in the "Old White" hotel parlor: The resolutions stated in part: "On behalf of the southern people we tender thanks to Mr. Peabody for his aid to the cause of education...and hail him 'benefactor.'" GP, seated, replied, "If I had strength, I would speak more on the heroism of the Southern people. Your kind remarks about the Education Fund sound sweet to my ears. My heart is interwoven with its success." Ref.: New York Times, July 31, 1869, p. 4, c. 7.
Corcoran, W.W. 86-Peabody Ball, W.Va. Merrymakers at the "Old White" decided to hold a Peabody Ball on Aug. 11, 1869. GP, too ill to attend, from his cottage heard the gaiety. Historian Perceval Reniers wrote of this Peabody Ball: "The affair that did most to revive [the Southerners'] esteem was the Peabody Ball...given to honor...Mr. George Peabody.... Everything was right for the Peabody Ball. Everybody was ready for just such a climax, the background was a perfect build-up. Mr. Peabody appeared at just the right time and lived just long enough. A few months later it would not have been possible, for Mr. Peabody would be dead." Ref.: Richmond Daily Whig (Va.), Aug. 13, 1869, p. 2, c. 3-4. Ref.: Reniers, pp. 218-219.
Corcoran, W.W. 87-Sears on GP's Presence. With GP at the springs that July 23-Aug. 30, 1869, was first PEF administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80), who wrote: "Yesterday he [GP] went to the public dinner-table (about 1500 persons are here and dine in a long hall) and then sat an hour in the parlor, giving the ladies an opportunity to take him by the hand...." Sears also wrote why GP's presence at White Sulphur Springs was important: "...both on account of his [GP's] unparalleled goodness and of his illness among a loving and hospitable people [he received] tokens of love and respect from all, such as I have never before seen shown to any one. This visit...will, in my judgment, do more for us than a long tour in a state of good health...." Ref.: Undated letter from Barnas Sears, quoted in Curry-b, pp. 52-53.
GP’s Last Photos
Corcoran, W.W. 88-Famous Photos, W.Va. GP, Gen. Robert E. Lee (1807-70), and others were central figures in noteworthy photos taken at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., on Aug. 12, 1869. In the main photograph, the five individuals seated on cane-bottomed chairs are: GP front middle, Robert E. Lee to GP's right; W.W. Corcoran to GP's left; at the right end Edouard Blacque Bey (1824-95), Turkish Minister to the U.S.; at the left end Richmond lawyer James Lyons (1801-82). Standing behind the five seated figures were seven former Civil War generals, their names in dispute until correctly identified in 1935 by Leonard T. Mackall of Savannah, Ga., from left to right: James Conner (1829-83) of S.C., Martin Witherspoon Gary (1819-73) of Penn., Robert D. Lilley of Va., P.G.T. Beauregard (1818-93) of La., Alexander Robert Lawton (1818-96) of Ga., Henry Alexander Wise (1806-76) of Va., and Joseph Lancaster Brent (1826-1905) of Md. There is also a photo of GP sitting alone and a photo of Lee, GP, and Corcoran sitting together. See: persons named.
Corcoran, W.W. 89-Famous Photos, W.Va. Cont'd. Ref.: (W.Va. Photos): Conte, pp. 69-71. Dabney, Vol. 1, facing p. 83 (Lee, GP, and Corcoran seated in one group). Freeman-a, Pulitzer Prize Edition 1935, appendix (incorrectly listed John White Geary [1819-73] of Penn., John Bankhead Magruder [1810-71] of Va., and Lewis Wallace [1827-1905] of Ind., who were not in the photo; and omitted Martin Witherspoon Gary [1831-81] of S.C. and Alexander Robert Lawton [1818-96] of Ga., who were in the photo). Freeman-b, 1947, Vol. 4, p. 438 [correct identification]. Kocher and Dearstyne, pp. 189-190 (Title of this book attributed photos as "taken by George and Huestis Cook with Additions from the Cook Collection"). Lanier, R.S., ed., Vol. 5, p. 4. Meredith, pp. 84-85. Miller, ed., Vol. 10, p. 4. Murphy, p. 58. New York World, Sept. 14, 1869, p. 12, c. 2 (Recorded Gen. J. Bankhead Magruder as stating that the main photo was taken after GP consented to be its central figure). Richmond Daily Whig (Va.), Aug. 20, 1869, p. 3, c. 2 (Stated that the photos were taken by Anderson and Johnson of Anderson's Richmond photographic establishment). See: Peabody, George, Illustrations. Persons named. Visits to the U.S. by GP.
R.E. Lee & GP
Corcoran, W.W. 90-Gift to Lee's Washington College. GP made two gifts to Robert E. Lee at White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., that Aug. 1869: a small private gift of $100 to Lee's Episcopal church in Lexington, Va., in need of repairs (W.W. Corcoran also gave $100). GP also gave to Lee's college (Lee was president of Washington College, Lexington, Va., 1865-70, renamed Washington & Lee Univ., 1871) Va. bonds worth $35,000 when lost on the Arctic, a Collins Line steamer, sunk Sept. 27, 1854, off Cape Race, Newfoundland, with the deaths of 322 of the 408 persons aboard. GP had petitioned the Va. legislature to reimburse him for the lost bonds, but this had not been done in Aug. 1869 when he gave Lee's college the value of the bonds for a mathematics professorship. In 1872 the value of the bonds and in 1881 the interest accrued, $60,000 total, were paid by Va. to Washington and Lee Univ. See: Arctic (ship). Collins Line. Lee, Robert E. Riggs, Sr., Elisha. Science: GP's Gifts to Science and Science Education. Washington and Lee Univ.
Corcoran, W.W. 91-Gift to Lee's Washington College Cont'd. Lee's biographer C.B. Flood wryly described GP's gift: "It was generosity with a touch of Yankee shrewdness: you Southerners go fight it out among yourselves. If General Lee can't get [this lost bond money] out of the Virginia legislature, nobody can." Ref.: Flood, p. 287.
Corcoran, W.W. 92-Leaving W. Va. On Aug. 30, 1869, GP left White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., on a special railroad car provided by B&O Railroad Pres. John Work Garrett. Robert E. Lee rode a short distance with him. This was GP's last summer of life, his only contact with R.E. Lee, and his last contact with Corcoran. For Lee it was next to the last summer of life (R.E. Lee died Oct. 12, 1870).
Corcoran, W.W. 93-GP's Last Days, U.S. GP headed north from White Sulphur Springs, recorded his last will (Sept. 9, 1869), arranged for his burial at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass., and boarded the Scotia in NYC for London, Sept. 29, 1869. He landed at Queenstown, Ireland, Oct. 8, 1869, and hastened to rest at the London home of longtime business friend Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson (1806-85), where he died Nov. 4, 1869.
Corcoran, W.W. 94-Lee Sent Photos. On Sept. 25, 1869, at the request of Peabody Institute Librarian Fitch Poole (1803-73, Peabody, Mass.), Lee sent Poole a photo of himself, adding "and shall feel honoured in its being placed among the 'friends' of Mr. Peabody, who can be numbered by the millions, yet all can appreciate the man who has [illumined] his age by his munificent charities during his life, and by his wise provisions for promoting the happiness of his fellow creatures." Ref.: (R.E. Lee to Fitch Poole), Lee, p. 370.
Will Lee Attend GP's Funeral?
Corcoran, W.W. 95-R.E. Lee at GP's Funeral? The last GP-Corcoran connection was a controversy over Lee's attending GP's final funeral service in Peabody, Mass., Feb. 8, 1870. Lee was invited to attend but ill health forced him to decline. He explained in a Jan. 26, 1870, letter to Corcoran: "I am sorry I cannot attend the funeral obsequies of Mr. Peabody. It would be some relief to witness the respect paid to his remains, and to participate in commemorating his virtues; but I am unable to undertake the journey. I have been sick all the winter, and am still under medical treatment. I particularly regret that I shall not have the pleasure of seeing you. Two trustees of Washington College will attend the funeral. I hope you can join them." Ref.: Robert E. Lee to William Wilson Corcoran, Jan. 26, 1870, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms., quoted in Corcoran, p. 311.
Corcoran, W.W. 96-R.E. Lee at GP's Funeral? Cont'd. That same day (Jan. 26, 1870), one of the two trustees of Washington College who planned to attend wrote Corcoran: "I first thought that General Lee should not go, but have now changed my mind. Some of us believe that if you advise the General to attend he would do so. Use your own discretion in this matter." Ref.: Trustee Boliver Christian to W.W. Corcoran, Jan. 26, 1870, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms.
Corcoran, W.W. 97-R.E. Lee at GP's Funeral? Cont'd. Robert Charles Winthrop, who was to deliver GP's funeral eulogy Feb. 8, 1870, was also concerned that Lee might attend. Friends feared that a demonstration against Lee might mar the ceremony. On Feb. 2, 1870, Winthrop wrote two private and confidential letters, the first to Baltimorean John Pendleton Kennedy: "There is apprehension here, that if Lee should come to the funeral, something unpleasant might occur, which would be as painful to us as to him. Would you contact friends to impart this to the General? Please do not mention that the suggestion came from me." Ref.: R.C. Winthrop, Brookline, Mass., to W.W. Corcoran, Feb. 2, 1870, Kennedy Papers, PIB.
Corcoran, W.W. 98-R.E. Lee at GP's Funeral? Cont'd. Winthrop's second letter to Corcoran read: "I write to you in absolute confidence. Some friends of ours, whose motives cannot be mistaken, are very anxious that Gen'l. Lee should not come to the funeral next week. They have also asked me to suggest that. Still there is always apprehension that from an irresponsible crowd there might come some remarks which would be offensive to him and painful to us all. I am sure he would be the last person to involve himself or us, needlessly, in a doubtful position on such an occasion. The newspapers at first said that he was not coming. Now, there is an intimation that he is. I know of no one who could [more] effectively give the right direction to his views than yourself. Your relation to Mr. Peabody & to Mr. Lee would enable you to ascertain his purposes & shape his course wisely.... I know of no one else to rely on." Ref.: R.C. Winthrop to W.W. Corcoran, Feb. 2, 1870, Corcoran Papers, Library of Congress Ms.
Corcoran, W.W. 99-R.E. Lee at GP's Funeral? Cont'd. Lee wrote his daughter Mildred Lee the same day as Winthrop's letters (Feb. 2, 1870) that he was too ill to attend: "I am sorry that I could not attend Mr. Peabody's funeral, but I did not feel able to undertake the journey, especially at this season." Corcoran replied to Winthrop that Lee had no intention of coming. He could not imagine, he wrote, that so good and great a man as Lee would receive anything but a kind reception. Corcoran himself was ill and regretted that he could not attend to pay his respects to "my valued old friend." Corcoran missed GP's funeral but no doubt read of Winthrop's eulogy and GP's burial at Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Mass. Ref.: (R.E. Lee to Mildred Lee): R.E. Lee to daughter Mildred Lee, Feb. 2, 1870, quoted in Lee, p. 383.
Corné, Michele Felice (c1752-1845), marine artist. See: Science: GP's Gifts to Science and Science Education (Peabody Essex Museum). 64-Collections.
Cornell Univ. Library, Ithaca, N.Y. The Ezra Cornell (1807-74) Papers, Cornell Univ. Library, have letters pertaining to GP.
Cosmopolitan Club, London. U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran (1820-86) was at the Cosmopolitan Club, London, Nov. 15, 1869, and recorded in his journal: "Peabody was discussed and Mr. Hughes said he was the only foreigner ever buried in Westminster Abbey. Others were naturalized." For details of Moran's private journal entries on GP's Nov. 4, 1869, death and subsequent funeral events, with sources, See: Moran, Benjamin.
Court of Common Council, City of London, is the governing body of the Corporation of the City of London. It was Charles Reed (1819-81), a member of the Court of Common Council, who first introduced his resolution on May 22, 1862, proposing that GP be granted the Freedom of the City of London. This honor was bestowed on GP on July 10, 1862. See: London, Freedom of the City of London, to GP. Reed, Charles.
Covington, Edward J., engineer-research of Millfield, Ohio. See: Starr, John W.
GP & the PEF
Coulter, E. Merton (1890-1981), historian, wrote of the PEF: "The greatest act of help and friendship that came to the South during the Reconstruction originated with George Peabody, Massachusetts-born English banker and benefactor.... The South was deeply moved by this beam of light piercing their blackest darkness." Ref.: Coulter, p. 327. See: PEF.
Courtenay, William Ashmead (1831-1908), was a PEF trustee (from 1887). He was born in Charleston, S.C., was a manufacturer, bookseller, publisher, Confederate officer (1861-65), mayor of Charleston (1879-87), editor of the Charleston Year Books, and involved in proposing a GP statue in the U.S. Capitol Building. Ref.: "Courtenay-c," p. 265. See: PEF.
Covey, William H., was the medical attendant who, under attending physician William Withey Gull, M.D. (1816-99), cared for GP during his final illness (from Oct. 1869) and death (Nov. 4, 1869) at Curtis Miranda Lampson's (1806-85) home, 80 Eaton Sq., London. Dr. Covey supervised the embalming of GP's remains for the unusually long 96-day transatlantic funeral voyage. See: William Withey Gull. Curtis Miranda Lampson.
GP & Pres. Andrew Johnson
Cowan, Edgar (1815-85). 1-Suggested in a Pres. Andrew Johnson Cabinet Reshuffle. Edgar Cowan was a U.S. Sen. from Penn. during 1861-67. When GP established the PEF, Feb. 7, 1867, U.S. Pres. Andrew Johnson (1808-75) faced impeachment by hostile radical Republicans in Congress angered by his conciliatory policy toward the former Confederate states. To avoid impeachment, Pres. Andrew Johnson's (1808-75) political advisor, Francis Preston Blair, Sr. (1791-1876), advised a complete change of cabinet, with Mass. Gov. John Albion Andrew (1818-67) as Secty. of State, GP as Treasury Secty., and six others. But loyalty to his cabinet kept Johnson from this course. For GP's two visits with Pres. Johnson, Feb. 9 and April 25, 1867, with sources, see Congressional Gold Medal and Resolutions of Praise to GP. PEF. For the eight names proposed in the Cabinet reshuffle, see Andrew, John Albion.
Cowan, Edgar. 2-Career. Edgar Cowan was born in Westmoreland County, Penn.; graduated from Franklin College, Ohio (1839); practiced law in Greensburg, Penn.; was in the U.S. Senate (Penn., Republican, 1861-67); was appointed U.S. Minister to Austria by Pres. Johnson, but was not confirmed by the Senate; resumed law practice in Greensburg, Penn. Ref.: U.S. Govt.-f, p. 834.
Cox, Jacob Dolson (1828-1900), Ohio governor was, like U.S. Sen. from Penn. Edgar Cowan (1815-85) above, proposed as a cabinet officer (U.S. Interior Secty.) in a reconstituted Pres. Andrew Johnson cabinet. For GP's two visits with Pres. Johnson, Feb. 9 and April 25, 1867, with sources, see Congressional Gold Medal and Resolutions of Praise to GP. PEF. For the eight names proposed in the Cabinet reshuffle, see Andrew, John Albion.
GPCFT Novelist & Historian
Crabb, Alfred Leland (1884-1979). 1-GPCFT Historian. Alfred Leland Crabb was GPCFT English professor (1927-49) who taught English and writing courses. He was Peabody Journal of Education editor for 38 years (1932-70), was a GPCFT historian, a historian of Nashville, and a regional novelist of note. He frequently guided and lectured visitors about historic Nashville ante-bellum homes and Civil War scenes and incidents. He was born in Warren County near Bowling Green, Ky.; attended Bethel College, McKenzie, Tenn., Southern Normal School, and Western Kentucky State College, Bowling Green, Ky. He taught and was principal of several rural public schools in Ky. and La.; and taught and was dean at what is now Western Ky. Univ. Ref.: Bain, et al., eds., pp. 101-102. Harwell-a, p. 215. Harwell (on A.L. Crabb), p. 215. Windrow, ed. Conkin, Peabody College, index.
Crabb, A.L. 2-Novels A.L. Crabb entered GPCFT in 1914 when it opened adjacent to Vanderbilt Univ. following its rechartering from Peabody Normal College (1875-1911) to GPCFT. He earned the bachelor's degree from GPCFT in 1916; a master's degree from Teachers College, Columbia Univ.; and the doctorate degree from GPCFT in 1925. A.L. Crabb's first book with colleagues (Alsletter and Newton) was Genealogy of George Peabody College for Teachers, 1935. His doctoral student John Edwin Windrow (1899-1984), also a longtime GPCFT professor and administrator, edited Peabody and Alfred Leland Crabb: The Story of Peabody As Reflected in Selected Writings of Alfred Leland Crabb (Nashville: Williams Press, 1977) A.L. Crabb obituary, Nashville Tennessean, Oct. 3, 1979. (Note: A.L. Crabb was a doctoral committee member of co-author Franklin Parker and advised him on his GP dissertation). Ref.: Ibid. Parker, Franklin. "George Peabody, Founder of Modern Philanthropy" (Ed.D., GPCFT, 1956), three vols.
Crabb, A.L. 3-Novels and other Writings. A.L. Crabb's historical novels are set in Nashville, Chattanooga, and elsewhere in Tenn. and Ky., all published by Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, Ind. His Nashville trilogy covers 40 years of Nashville's history, from the eve of the Civil War to 1897, the year of the Tenn. Centennial Exposition, years of upheaval for that city, Tenn., and the U.S.: 1-Dinner at Belmont; A Novel of Captured Nashville (1942); 2-Supper at the Maxwell House: a Novel of Captured Nashville (1943); and 3-Breakfast at the Hermitage; A Novel of Nashville Rebuilding (1945). A.L. Crabb's Civil War trilogy that followed include: 3-Lodging at the St. Cloud: A Tale of Occupied Nashville (1946); 4-A Mockingbird Sang at Chickamauga: A Tale of Embattled Chattanooga (1949); and 5-Home to Tennessee: A Tale of Soldiers Returning (1952).
Crabb, A.L. 4-Novels and other Writings Cont'd.. A.L. Crabb's novel 6-Home to The Hermitage: A Novel of Andrew and Rachel Jackson (1948) was dramatized on the "Cavalcade of America" radio program in 1948. His book 7-Journey to Nashville (1957) described the adventures of the parties led by James Robertson and John Donelson as they trekked through Tenn. to establish Nashborough (present Nashville). He wrote 8-Reunion at Chattanooga: A Novel of Chattanooga Rebuilding (1950); 9-Home to Kentucky (1953); and 10-Peace at Bowling Green (1955). His Nashville: Personality of a City (1960) described the people, places, and subjects he depicted in his novels. He also wrote 11-Andrew Jackson's Nashville (1966), Acorns to Oak (1972), and many articles. For PCofVU's six predecessor colleges and their nineteen chief administrators, see PCofVU, history of.
Predecessors to PCofVU
Craighead, Thomas Brown (c.1750-1825). 1-First Principal, Davidson Academy. Thomas Brown Craighead was the founder and first principal of 1-Davidson Academy (1785-1806), chartered in Nashville by the N.C. legislature eleven years before Tenn. statehood. Davidson Academy was rechartered as 2-Cumberland College (1806-26); and rechartered again as the 3-Univ. of Nashville (1826-75). At PEF's first administrator Barnas Sears's (1802-80) urging, helped by newly inaugurated Tenn. Gov. James Davis Porter (1828-1912), and through PEF financial support, the Univ. of Nashville's moribund literary department became 4-State Normal School (1875-89), officially renamed 5-Peabody Normal College (1889-1911) and jointly financed by PEF and the Tenn. legislature. See PCofVU, history of. Conkin, Peabody College, index.
Craighead, T.B. 2-Transition to PCofVU. Peabody Normal College was moved from its south Nashville location next to Vanderbilt Univ. and rechartered as 6-GPCFT (1914-79); which was rechartered as PCofVU since July 1, 1979. Thomas Brown Craighead was thus the founder and first administrator of the first collegiate institution in Nashville, Tenn. (Davidson Academy), which through six name changes, nearly two centuries later, is currently PCofVU. Ref.: Ibid.
Craighead, T.B. 3-Nashville's Early Minister. Thomas Brown Craighead was a graduate of the College of New Jersey, chartered in 1746 by the "New Light " (evangelical) Presbyterians, and renamed Princeton Univ. after 1896. The College of New Jersey under Pres. John Witherspoon (1723-94) imbued many graduates with missionary zeal to preach and teach on the frontier. Two other graduates who started schools on the Tenn. frontier (statehood, 1796) were (besides Thomas Brown Craighead) Samuel Doak (1749-1830), founder of Martin Academy (incorporated 1783, renamed Washington College, 1795); and Hezekiah Balch (1741-1810), founder of Greeneville College (1794), later renamed Tusculum College. Rev. Craighead preached in S.C., N.C., and Va. He was then invited to become Nashville's first minister by Tenn. pioneer James Robertson (1742-1814). Rev. Craighead arrived in Nashville in 1785, mounted a stump, and preached to all who would listen.
Craighead, T.B. 4-Administrators, Davidson Academy and Successors. Chief administrators include: 1-Thomas Brown Craighead was Davidson Academy's principal during its 1785-1806 existence plus three years (to 1809) of its rechartered successor, Cumberland College (1806-26). Craighead was succeeded by 2-Pres. James Priestley (1760-1821) from Oct. 24, 1809, to Feb. 4, 1821. Pres. James Priestley was succeeded by 3-Pres. Philip Lindsley (1786-1850), at whose suggestion Cumberland College was rechartered as the Univ. of Nashville from Nov. 27, 1826, to 1875. Pres. Philip Lindsley resigned, 1850, and was succeeded by his physician son, 4-Dr. John Berrien Lindsley (1822-97), chancellor during 1850-72, succeeded in turn by 5-Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith (1824-95), Univ. of Nashville chancellor during 1872-75. Ref.: Connelly, p. 216. Corlew, pp. 119-120. Dykeman, pp. 161-162. Wooldridge, pp. 386, 615-619. For PCofVU's six predecessor colleges and their nineteen chief administrators, see PCofVU, history of.
Crampton, John Fiennes Twistleton (1805-86), was British Minister to the U.S. at the time of the Crimean War (1855-56). See: Crimean War (below).
Crimean War
Crimean War (1855-56). 1-Indiscreet Recruit of U.S. Volunteers for British Army. During the Crimean War, which pitted Russia against England, France, and other countries, British Minister to the U.S. John Fiennes Twistleton Crampton (1805-86) indiscreetly tried to recruit U.S. volunteers for the British army. U.S. Secty. of State William Learned Marcy (1786-1857) objected and demanded Crampton's recall. Ref.: (Crimean War): Bailey, pp. 298-299.
Crimean War. 2-GP's June 13, 1856, U.S.-British Friendship Dinner. Just after the Crimean War, with U.S.-British relations strained, GP sponsored a June 13, 1856, U.S.-British friendship dinner to introduce the new Minister to Britain, George Mifflin Dallas (1792-1864). The dinner was held at the Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond, eight miles from London on the Thames. Former British Minister to the U.S. Henry Bulwer-Lytton (1801-72) was to have proposed the health of U.S. Minister Dallas. But Bulwer-Lytton, being Crampton's colleague, explained to GP that to appear at this dinner and propose the health of U.S. Minister Dallas would be unfair to his colleague and predecessor John F.T. Crampton, whom the U.S. had asked to be replaced. Ref.: (June 13, 1856, dinner): New York Daily Times, July 4, 1856, p. 2, c. 4-5. Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper (London), June 22, 1856, p. 5, c. 3. John Pendleton Kennedy's journal, IX, "Travel in England, May 10-Oct. 20, 1856" entry dated Friday, June 13, 1856, Kennedy Papers, PIB, Baltimore.
Crimean War. 3-Effect on GP. It was a tribute to GP that he could succeed in sponsoring this U.S.-British friendship dinner at this particular time of tension and misunderstanding. Two years before, at GP's July 4, 1854, U.S. Independence Day dinner, at the same Star and Garter Hotel, an anti-British incident had marred the occasion. Objecting to a toast to Queen Victoria before one to the U.S. President, jingoistic U.S. Legation Secty. in London Daniel Edgar Sickles (1825-1914) refused to stand, walked out, and charged GP in letters to the press with toadying to the British. GP's role in trying to promote U.S.-British friendship was not easy, although he generally won approbation from all sides. See: Dinners, GPs, London. Persons named.
Critics. See: Peabody, George (1795-1869), Critics.
Croft, William (1678-1727) and Henry Purcell (1659-95) were English music composers whose works were sung at GP's funeral service at Westminster Abbey on Nov. 12, 1869. Participant U.S. Legation in London Secty. Benjamin Moran's (1820-86) journal entry thus recorded his impression of this music: "The grand music of Purcell and was sweetly sung by deep voiced men and silvery voiced boys, the heavy tones of the organ blending with the human music and all rising like incense over the benevolent man's grave." See: Death and Funeral, GP's. Persons named.
Crowe, William J., Jr. (1925-), U.S. Navy Admiral, was U.S. Ambassador to Britain (1994-97) who participated in the "Bicentenary Service of Thanksgiving for the Life and Work of George Peabody, 1795-1869," in London's Westminster Abbey, Nov. 16, 1995. Ky.-born and a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Adm. Wm. J. Crowe commanded the U.S. Naval Forces in Europe and the Pacific; and was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dept. of Defense, 1985-89. Ref.: New York Times, July 16, 1995, section XIII-CN, p. 17, c. 1. (Career): Seen Dec. 9, 1999: Internet http://www.knowuk.co.uk See: GP Bicentennial Celebrations (Feb. 18, 1795-1995).
Cryder, John, was GP's NYC business friend who, knowing of GP's broken engagement to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905) about Jan. 1839, wrote him nine years later of the death of her husband Alexander Lardner (1808-48). Cryder wrote to GP, Jan. 27, 1848: "Poor Lardner died in Phila. a few days since leaving his young & interesting widow with two children & about $20,000. He was an excellent man & his death is much lamented." Esther Elizabeth (Hoppin) Lardner outlived GP by 35 years and her husband by 57 years. See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth.
Crystal Palace Exhibition. See: Great Exhibition of 1851, London (first world's fair).
Cubitt, William (1791-1863), was the Right Hon. Mayor of the City of London who officiated when GP was granted the Freedom of the City of London, July 10, 1862. See:: London, Freedom of the City of London, to GP.
Predecessors of PCofVU
Cumberland College, Nashville, Tenn. (1806-26). 1-Predecessor, PCofVU. Cumberland College was rechartered from its predecessor, Davidson Academy (1785-1806). Cumberland College was later rechartered as the Univ. of Nashville (1826-75). It was from the Univ. of Nashville's moribund Literary Dept. that PEF administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80), helped by newly inaugurated Tenn. Gov. James Davis Porter (1828-1912), created Peabody Normal College (1875-1911), renamed GPCFT (1914-79), and renamed PCofVU, since 1979. Ref.: Folmsbee, et al., pp. 24-25. Corlew. See: Sears, Barnas. Conkin, Peabody College, index.
Cumberland College, Nashville, Tenn. 2-Fifteenth U.S. College. GPCFT historian Alfred Leland Crabb (1884-1980) wrote that its lineage (now, PCofVU's lineage), despite some closures for lack of funds, made it the 15th collegiate institution since the founding of Harvard College in 1636. Cumberland College was closed six years because of financial problems (1816-22). Philip Lindsley (1786-1855) was Cumberland College president two years after its reopening (1824). The Univ. of Nashville (1826-75) was closed temporarily in 1850; its medical department began operation in 1851. The Univ. of Nashville reopened in 1855, the year Pres. Philip Lindsley died, with Lindsley's physician son, John Berrien Lindsley, M.D. (1822-97), as chancellor. For PCofVU's six predecessor colleges and their nineteen chief administrators, see PCofVU, history of.
Cunard, Sir Edward (1816-69), was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; was for 30 years the NYC agent of the British-owned Cunard Lines; and succeeded to his father's title. Edward Cunard was one of the NYC delegation (including Washington Irving, 1783-1859; August Belmont, 1816-90; and others) which greeted GP on his arrival on the Atlantic, NYC, Sept. 15, 1856, his first return to the U.S. after nearly 20 years' absence in London (since Feb. 1837). The NYC delegation, along with delegations from Boston and other cities, offered a public reception dinner to GP, which he graciously declined, stating his obligation to first attend a public reception in his hometown of South Danvers, Mass., Oct. 9, 1856. See: South Danvers, Mass., GP Celebration, Oct. 9, 1856. Visits to the U.S. by GP.
Cunard Steamship Co. (British transatlantic line). See: Scotia.
2nd PEF Administrator J.L.M. Curry
Curry, Jabez Lamar Monroe (1825-1903). 1-Southern Educator. J.L.M. Curry, a leading statesman and educator of the South, was the second PEF administrator during 1881-85 and 1888-1903. He succeeded first PEF administrator Barnas Sears (1802-80). Sears daughter, Elizabeth Corey (née Sears) Fultz (b. Oct. 14, 1838; died 1900; she married John Hampden Fultz [1840 or 1845-1912?) on Oct. 12, 1874), assisted her father in his last illness. On his death, July 6, 1880, she was acting PEF administrator, prepared the 1880-81 PEF annual report, until the appointment of second PEF administrator Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (1825-1903) on Feb. 2, 1881. Curry was born in Lincoln County, Ga., attended an "old field" school near his home (unused barn or building on a fallow field used as a school), a Presbyterian parson's school, and an academy at Willington, S.C. In 1834 when he was age nine his father moved to Talladega, Ala., where he was a slave-owning planter. Young Curry graduated from the Univ. of Ga. (1839-43), at age 18; and graduated from Harvard Univ.'s Dale Law School (1845), where future U.S. Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-93, 19th U.S. Pres., 1877-81) was his classmate. Refs. (Elizabeth Corey [née Sears] Fultz): May. (Curry): Dabney, II, p. 124. Conkin, Peabody College, index.
Curry, J.L.M. 2-Dedicated Educator. While in Cambridge, Mass., he eagerly heard speeches by such luminaries of the time as former slave Frederick Douglass (c.1817-95), Wendell Phillips (1811-84), statesman-historian George Bancroft (1800-91), Rufus Choate (1799-1859), John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), statesman Daniel Webster (1782-1852), and educators Henry Barnard (1811-1900) and Horace Mann (1796-1859). Curry later wrote, "Mann's...earnest enthusiasm and democratic ideas fired my young mind and heart; and since that time I have been an enthusiastic and consistent advocate of Universal education." Ref.: Dabney, II, p. 124.
Curry, J.LM. 3-Statesman, Soldier, College President. In Ala. Curry read law, wrote for a newspaper, and when the Mexican War started in 1846 he joined a regiment in Texas and was made a second sergeant. Returning to Ala. he practiced law, was elected to the Ala. legislature (1847-56) and served on a committee that created the Ala. public schools. A firm believer in states rights, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1857-61). With Lincoln's election he resigned from the U.S. Congress, served in the Confederate Congress (1861-62), was a cavalry officer and aide to Confederate generals Joseph E. Johnston (1807-91) and Joseph Wheeler (1836-1906). Arrested on May 30, 1865, his property confiscated in Sept. 1865, he took the oath of allegiance to the U.S., Oct. 1865. Finding it difficult to make a living, he assisted his Baptist pastor in Talladega until he became president of Howard College, Ala., a Baptist college, during 1865-68. He was professor of English and public law, Richmond College, Va. (1868-81). Here he had friendly contact with first PEF administrator Barnas Sears, who lived in Staunton, Va. Ref.: Flexner, pp. 14-21, 29.
Curry, J.L.M. 4-Second PEF Administrator. Accepting the outcome of the Civil War, Curry put aside animosity and was among the first southerners to encourage black education. Learning early of GP's intended PEF gift, Curry wrote PEF trustee Pres. Robert Charles Winthrop (1809-94) in Jan. 1867 to praise the fund's intended aid to southern education. Barnas Sears developed a high regard for Curry, considered in 1873 that Curry should succeed him, and shared with Curry in 1877 in Sears's home at Staunton his thoughts on PEF policy. Ref.: Dabney, I, pp. 124-130.
Curry, J.L.M. 5-Second PEF Administrator Cont'd. Knowing that Sears wanted Curry to succeed him, Winthrop and the trustees after considering others, unanimously chose Curry on Feb. 2, 1881. Curry was welcomed by political leaders, both South and North. He interrupted his service as second PEF administrator (1881-85) to become U.S. Minister to Spain during 1885-88. The PEF trustees replaced Curry for these three years with Samuel Abbott Green (b.1830), a PEF trustee from 1883. Ref.: Ibid.
Curry, J.L.M. 6-Second PEF Administrator Cont'd. Curry returned as PEF administrator during 1885-1903. In the PEF's first phase Sears focused on public elementary schools and normal schools. In the PEF's second phase Curry focused on teacher education, using three-fifths of its expenditures for that purpose. During his last few years Curry did triple duty as PEF administrator, head of the John F. Slater Fund for Negro Education (1890-1903), and director of the Southern Education Board (1901-03). Ref.: Ibid.
"…halo of romance…"
Curry, J.L.M. 7-Mr. Humphreys' Daughter. In his GP biography and PEF history, J.L.M. Curry printed an undated letter he received from the daughter of a Mr. Humphreys. She wrote that when GP arrived during a U.S. visit (no date given but probably May 1, 1866, in NYC), her father, a commercial friend of GP of long standing, went to see GP and congratulated him on his amazing philanthropy. GP, then a very old man, said quietly, "Humphreys, after my disappointment long ago, I determined to devote myself to my fellow-beings, and am carrying out that dedication to my best ability." She added in her letter to J.L.M. Curry: "These expressions made to my father, and so far as I am aware, to him alone, referred to an incident which has had its day and among the circle of Mr. Peabody's friends, its halo of romance. Mr. Peabody's own touching reference to it can, after the lapse of so many years, be recorded without incrimination, as showing his own reading of an important page in his life history." Ref.: (Mr. Humphreys' daughter): Curry-b, p. 12. Ref.: Parker, F.-b, pp. 215, 224-225; reprinted in Parker, F.-o, pp. 10-14; reprinted in Parker, F.-zd, pp. 33-37. For Mr. Humphreys' daughter's complete letter, see Humphreys.
Curry, J.L.M. 8-Mr. Humphreys' Daughter Cont'd. GP's alleged remark to Humphreys, "my disappointment long ago," may or may not refer to his broken engagement about Jan. 1839 to Esther Elizabeth Hoppin (1819-1905). If so, this alleged remark is his only known indication that the loss of Esther Hoppin was a prime motive for his philanthropy. See: Hoppin, Esther Elizabeth. Humphreys. Lardner, Alexander. Sully, Thomas. Romance and GP.
Curry, J.L.M. 9-At White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. J.L.M. Curry, Barnas Sears, Robert E. Lee (1807-70, then president of Washington College, Va.), and John Eaton (1829-1906, then Tenn. Supt. of Public Instruction) were educators present during GP's visit to White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., July 23-Aug. 30, 1869. The informal talks which took place on the public education needs of the South set a significant precedent for later Conferences on Education in the South (1898-1903). J.L.M. Curry was heavily involved in these conferences which led to large and significant foundation aid for southern education. For names of prominent participants, and sources, including historic W.Va. photos taken between Aug. 15-19, 1869, see Corcoran, William Wilson. Confederate generals. Peabody, George, Illustrations. Persons named. Visits to the U.S. by GP.
No GP Statue in Statuary Hall
Curry, J.L.M. 10-No GP Statue in Statuary Hall. J.L.M. Curry tried unsuccessfully to get a statue of GP in Statuary Hall, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Capitol Bldg., Washington, D.C., where each state has two statues of its greatest citizens. The first such proposal was made in a conference of Va. Superintendents of Education and recorded in the 1885 annual report of Va.'s Superintendent of Public Instruction. This report came to PEF second administrator J.L.M. Curry's attention. In Curry's 1891 PEF annual report he wrote: "As 1892 will be a quarter of a century since the foundation of the Trust, would it not be a most fit and graceful recognition of Mr. Peabody's unparalleled bounty, if the states which have been the beneficiaries of the Fund should, by combined action, contribute a bronze or marble statue to be placed by consent of Congress, in the old Hall of the House of Representatives, where are collected the images of so many renowned Americans." •Ref.: Farr, II, p. 29. •Curry-b, p. 111. •PEF, Vol. V, pp. 131-132, 175, 293.
End 2 of 14. Continued on 3 of 14. Send corrections, questions to: bfparker@frontiernet.net
Franklin Parker's, George Peabody, A Biography. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, Feb. 1995, 278 pp., revised, 12 photos, is out of print, but can be read freely as an E-book by accessing:
http://books.google.com/ and typing in Source:
George Peabody, a Biography, by Franklin Parker.
[ Last edited 13/09/2007 08:21pm ]