|
Dromo's Den
|
|
[Up] [Dromo's Den] George Peabody Biography PEABODY, George (1795–1869). An American merchant and philanthropist, born Feb. 18, 1795, in that part of Danvers, Mass., now known as Peabody. When about 16 years old he went to Georgetown, D. C., where within two years he entered the employ of Elisha Riggs, a wholesale dry goods merchant. Twice during the War of 1812 he had been a volunteer. The firm removed to Baltimore in 1815 and afterward established branches in New York and Philadelphia. Peabody, who, after a rapid rise, became head of the firm in 1829, continued to reside in Baltimore during the next few years. In 1835, as one of three commissioners of the State of Maryland, he negotiated in London a loan of $8,000,000 and declined to receive the large commission to which he was entitled. Later (retaining a branch in Baltimore) he founded the house of George Peabody & Co. in London and there he remained until his death. During his long absence from the United States he maintained the liveliest interest in his native land. This was shown by a liberal gift to promote the American exhibit in the World's Fair of 1851, by a contribution for the second Kane expedition to the Arctic seas, and by a series of banquets on Independence Day, which were attended not only by his countrymen but by Englishmen of official rank and otherwise distinguished. During the later years of his life his gifts increased in amount and were devoted to a great variety of purposes. To his native village he gave about $200,000 to found the Peabody Institute and Library and to the northern part of the town of Danvers $100,000 for a like institution; to the publication funds of the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Maryland Historical Society $20,000 each; to the Peabody Academy of Science in Salem, Mass., $140,000; to Harvard and Yale $150,000 each, for the establishment, respectively, of a museum of archæology and a museum of natural history. Phillips Academy at Andover and Kenyon College in Ohio received $25,000 each. During the Civil War Peabody gave $10,000 to the United States Sanitary Commission. Three other gifts transcended those already named. As a token of affection for the city of Baltimore, where he laid the foundation of his fortune, he devoted more than $1,250,000 to the establishment of the Peabody Institute, which comprises a library, an art gallery, a conservatory of music, and arrangements for the delivery of public lectures and for the bestowal of prizes in the public schools. To the city of London he gave $2,500,000 for the construction of lodging houses—a fund which has since increased enormously. A separate board, known as the Trustees of the Peabody Education Fund (q.v.; see also Peabody College for Teachers), received more than $3,000,000 to promote education in the Southern States. This was perhaps the most influential of all his gifts. Such munificence as he had displayed, then without parallel, brought him gratitude and honor from England and the United States. The Queen offered to make him Baronet or to give him the Grand Cross of the Bath, but he declined both honors and expressed a preference for a token to send to his native town. The Queen had a miniature portrait of herself painted and framed in gold. This; together with a gold box containing evidence that Mr. Peabody had been given the freedom of London, was placed in the Institute at South Danvers (now Peabody). Congress caused a gold medal to be struck in acknowledgment of his gifts for education, which had aggregated about $7,000,000. Oxford made him a D.C.L. in 1867. George Peabody was never married. His death occurred in London, Nov. 4, 1869. His body was brought to the United States by H.M.S. Monarch, convoyed by a French and an American vessel and received by an American squadron. Many eulogies were delivered, of which the most important were those of Robert C. Winthrop (Boston, 1870), S. T. Wallis (Baltimore, 1870), Edward Everett (Orations, vol. iii, Boston, 1869), and H. W. Foote (ib., 1869). The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XVIII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 216-217. |