ERIC ED445998: The Forgotten George Peabody (1795-1869), A Handbook A-Z of the Massachusetts-Born Merchant, London-Based Banker, & Philanthropist: His Life, Influence, and Related People, Places, Events, & Institutions.

1243 Pages·1995·30.5 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
SO 032 146
ED 445 998
Parker, Franklin; Parker, Betty J.
AUTHOR
The Forgotten George Peabody (1795-1869), A Handbook A-Z of
TITLE
the Massachusetts-Born Merchant, London-Based Banker, &
Philanthropist: His Life, Influence, and Related People,
Places, Events, & Institutions.
PUB DATE 1995-00-00
1243p.; Corrected and updated version of SO 031 170.
NOTE
Historical Materials (060) -- Reference Materials
PUB TYPE
Bibliographies (131)
MF09/PC50 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Biographies; *Educational History; Endowment Funds; Higher
DESCRIPTORS
Education; *Philanthropic Foundations; Private Financial
Support; United States History
*Peabody (George)
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
This volume provides an extensive and detailed inter-linking
account of George Peabody's life. Annotated topic headings, which include
people, places, events and institutions, are organized alphabetically and
comprise the bulk of the document. Each entry describes the salient points of
contact between George Peabody and the given topic, as well as noting
pertinent resources and related topic headings. The first twenty pages offer
a synopsis of Peabody along with ideas for approaching the manuscript. A
thorough bibliography includes "Doctoral dissertations and master's theses";
"U.S. library unpublished letters and documents"; British library unpublished
letters and documents"; "Canadian newspapers"; "U.S. newspapers"; "British
newspapers"; and "Internet".
(BB)
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The Forgotten George Peabody (1795-1869), A Handbook A-Z of the
Massachusetts-Born Merchant, London-Based Banker, and Philanthropist:
His Life, Influence, and Related People, Places, Events, and Institutions.
Parker, Franklin; Parker, Betty J.
.
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Forgotten Hero: George Peabody
1
©1971, 1995.
"The Forgotten George Peabody (1795-1869), A Handbook A-Z of the MassachusettsBorn
Merchant, London-Based Banker, & Philanthropist: His Life, Influence, and Related People, Places, Events, and
Institutions." By Franklin and Betty J. Parker, P.O. Box 100, Pleasant Hill, TN 38578, phone [phone]. For
end of
abbreviations,
see
beginning.
Refs.
are manuscript.
Full
corrections to
at
Send
(e-mail):
[email protected]
The Forgotten George Peabody (1795-1869), A Handbook A-Z of the
Massachusetts-Born Merchant, London-Based Banker, & Philanthropist:
His Life, Influence, and Related People, Places, Events, & Institutions.
By
Franklin Parker & Betty J. Parker
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.
Abbreviations
Abbreviations 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:
1-GP for George Peabody (1795-1869).
2-GPCFT for George Peabody College for Teachers (191479).
3-PCofVU for Peabody College of Vanderbilt Univ. (since July 1, 1979).
4PEF 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.
References
References are briefly identified at the end of most articles as B&f., followed by author's
last name and page or pages (or first significant word of title and page or pages if
no
3
Forgotten Hero: George Peabody
2
the full reference easily found and annotated in alphabetical order in the
author), with
back of this work.
Bu llet symbol is used to show a new paragraph or a change of thought and appears
before Ref.(erence), and am followed by an entry or entries.
Repetition about people, events, and circumstances, kept to a minimum in the many
entries that follow, is occasionally kept in abbreviated form where additional insights
result into GP's life and influence.
Birth and death years of persons, when locatable, are listed (after their names) when first
mentioned in an entry.
English pound f during GP's years in England (1837-69) was equivalent to about U.S. $5.00.
Authors' Preface, Sources, Overview
1 -The authors met as students Sept. 1946 at Berea College, near Lexington, Ky., were married
June 12, 1950, taught at Ferrum College near Roanoke, Va. (1950-52), and attended GPCFT,
Nashville, Tenn., the summers of 1951 and 1952 and from fall 1952 through Aug. 1956 (four
years and three summers).
2 -GPCFT Dean of Instruction and later Pres. Felix Compton Robb (1914-97) suggested doctoral
research on GP's educational philanthropy, a topic earlier suggested to him at Harvard Univ.
Graduate School of Education by historian Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. (1888-1965). Robb chose
instead an educational administration topic and perhaps regretting a good topic not pursued,
suggested it to the authors.
3- Searching the literature we found considerable documentation about GP as an educational
philanthropist, much documentation on his role in U.S. business and banking history, not
enough recorded about his role in promoting U.S.-British relations, and no definitive study of
him as a founder of modern philanthropy.
We read GP's original letters and papers
intensively during 1954-56 in U.S. and British depositories.
Basic Facts
4-Basic GP facts, easily found, included his Feb. 18, 1795, birth as third-born of eight children
in a poor family in Danvers, Mass., 19 miles northeast of Boston. Danvers was divided into
North Danvers and South Danvers (1855), with South Danvers, where GP was born, renamed
Peabody, Mass., on April 13, 1868.
5 -Fie aikudsyi a district school four years, ages 8-12 (1803-07), all his parents could afford; and
was then apprenticed in a general store four years, ages 12-15 (1807-10). He then worked for
a year (1810-11) in his oldest brother's dry goods store in Newburyport, Mass.
4
Forgotten Hero: George Peabody
3
6-Two tragedies then occurred, 18 days apart, amid a New England depression. His father died
May 13, 1811, leaving the family in debt and the South Danvers home mortgaged.
GP's
mother and the five younger children had to live with nearby relatives. Then, the Great Fire of
Newburyport, May 31, 1811, ruined all business prospects. GP, age 17, joined the exodus,
leaving Newburyport on May 4, 1812, with paternal uncle John Peabody (1768-before 1826)
to open a dry goods store in Georgetown, D.C.
7 -His lack had no credit. On the basis of a Newburyport merchant's letter of recommendation
GP got a $2,000 consignment of goods on credit from a Boston merchant. The Georgetown,
D.C., store opened May 15, 1812.
His improvident uncle soon entered other enterprises,
leaving the operation of the store to GP. He was also for a time a pack peddler selling goods
to homes and stores in the D.C. area.
Young Merchant in the South
8-GP served briefly in the War of 1812, where he met and impressed fellow soldier Elisha
Riggs, Sr. (1779-1853), 35-year-old Marylander and experienced merchant. Riggs took the
19-year-old GP as junior partner in Riggs, Peabody & Co. (1814-29), Georgetown, D.C., with
a move to Baltimore, 1815, and with Philadelphia and NYC warehouses by 1822. The firm
.agg
imported European fabric, clothing, and other merchandise for sale to U.S. wholesalers.
Elisha Riggs, Sr.
9-GP early took on his family's support. He 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 Mose ly 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." Lef. Ebon Mose ly, Newburyport, Mass., to GP, Baltimore, Dec. 16,
1816, Peabody Papers, PEM, Salem, Mass.
10-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.
11-He later paid for the education of other relatives: nephew Othniel Charles Marsh (1831-99),
first U.S. paleontologist at Yale Univ.; nephew George Peabody Russell (1835-1909),
Harvard-trained lawyer; niece Julia Adelaide Peabody (b. April 25, 1835), Philadelphia
finishing school; and others.
5
Forgotten Hero: George Peabody
4
12-GP traveled in the U.S. and abroad for Riggs, Peabody & Co., making five European buying
trips, 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.
Md.'s Fiscal Agent Abroad
13-In the mid-1830s many states began large scale internal improvement of roads, canals, and
Needing large investment capital, they issued state bonds for sale abroad, with
railroads.
interest paid to foreign investors. In 1836 the Md. legislature voted to finance the Chesapeake
and Ohio Canal and the B&O RR. Three agents were appointed (1836) to sell abroad Md.'s
$8 million bond issue. When one agent withdrew, GP sought and secured his place as agent,
commissioned to sell the bonds to finance the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co.
14-GP left for London in Feb. 1837, just before the financial Panic of 1837. The two other
agents returned 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).
15-A depression following the financial Panic of 1837 compelled nine states, including Md., to
stop interest payments on their bonds sold abroad. GP faced a depressed market. British and
other European investors were angry at the stoppage of interest on state bonds they held. GP's
letters to Md. officials, printed in newspapers, urged that interest payments be resumed
retroactively.
16-He also publicly assured British and European investors that repudiation was temporary and
that payments would be retroactive. He was finally relieved to sell his part of the Md. bonds
cheaply for exclusive resale by the Baring Brothers London banking firm.
In 1847-48 Md.
officials acknowledged publicly that he had upheld Md.'s credit abroad during a difficult
financial panic and, rather than burden the state treasury, had declined his own $60,000
Md. Gov. Philip Francis Thomas (1810-90) transmitted Md. legislature's
commission.
resolutions of praise to him and wrote, "To you, sir...the thanks of the State were eminently
due." Ss_e Md.'s $8 Million Bond Sale Abroad and GP.
From Merchant to London-based Banker
17-GP gradually curtailed business activities for Peabody, Riggs & Co. He withdrew his
capital in 1843, severed connections in 1845, although the firm continued to 1848.
He
founded George Peabody & Co., London (Dec. 1, 1838-Oct. 1, 1864); increasingly sold U.S.
state bonds to finance roads, canals, and railroads; and was in transition from merchant to
investment banker.
6
Forgotten Hero: George Peabody
5
18-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 helped finance the Atlantic
Cable Co. He made the transition from merchant to London-based securities broker and
international banker, having learned to marshal capital to finance and expand U.S. business
and industrial growth.
19-George Peabody & Co. prospered. Asked in an interview on Aug. 22, 1869, how and when
he made most of his money, GP said, "I made pretty much of it in 20 years from 1844 to
I bought largely of
Everything I touched within that time seemed to turn to gold.
1864.
United States securities when their value was low and they advanced greatly." Ref. (Aug. 22,
1869, interview): Moorman-b, pp. 15-17.
Morgan Partnership
20 -Often ill and urged by business friends to take a partner, GP on Oct. 1, 1854, at age 59 took
J.S. Morgan's son John
as partner Boston merchant Junius Spencer Morgan (1813-90).
Pierpont Morgan, Sr. (1837-1913), at age 19, began his banking career as NYC agent for
George Peabody & Co. GP retired on Oct. 1, 1864. Unmarried, without a son, and knowing
he would no longer control the firm, he deliberately withdrew his name. 5.= Junius Spencer
Morgan.
21 -The 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.
22-George Peabody & Co. was thus historically the root of the J.P. Morgan international
banking firm. GP retired and 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. His philanthropic
He early told intimates and
gifts (numbered 1-25 below) ultimately approached $10 million.
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.
24-His seven U.S. Peabody institute libraries, with lecture halls and lecture funds were, like the
Lyceums (from 1826) and later Chautauquas (from 1872), the adult education centers of the
7
Forgotten Hero: George Peabody
6
time. His seven Peabody Institute libraries are in: 1-Peabody, 2-Danvers, 3-Newburyport, and
4-Georgetown (all in Mass.); in Baltimore the S-PIB (reference library, art gallery, lecture hall
and fund, and Conservatory of Music)-7the Library and the Conservatory, of Music became
part of the Johns Hopkins Univ., from 1982; and Peabody libraries in 6-Thetford, Vt. and in 7-
Georgetown, D.C.
25-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); and 10-the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass. (maritime
history plus Essex County historical documents).
26-GP's first 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 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.
27-GP gave $20,000 publication funds each to the 15-Md. Historical Society, Baltimore, Nov. 5,
He gave 17-the U.S.
1866; and the 16-Mass. Historical Society, Boston, Jan. 1, 1867.
Sanitary Commission to aid Civil War orphans, widows, and disabled veterans $10,000, 1864;
and the 18-Vatican charitable San Spirito Hospital, Rome, Italy, $19,300, April 5, 1867.
28-$e had a 19-Memorial Congregational Church built in his mother's memory in her
For patriotic causes he donated to the 20-
hometown, Georgetown, Mass., $70,000, 1866.
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
29-His
hest gift. $2.5 million total, was for model low rent apartments for London's working
Begun on March 12, 1862, what is now 20-the Peabody Trust, London, built and
poor.
managed apartments where 34,500 low income Londoners (59% white, 32% black, and 9%
others) live in 17,183 affordable apartments in 26 boroughs. These include, besides Peabody
Trust-built estates, public housing units whose authorities deliberately chose to come under
the Peabody Trust's management, with improved living facilities, playgrounds for the young,
recreation for the elderly, computer centers, job training, and job placement for working
adults. Egf. Peabody Trust, London-c, annual report, 1999.
Forgotten. Hero: George Peabody
7
30-The Peabody Homes of London, GP's most successful philanthropy, was suggested by social
reformer Lord Shaftesbury (1801-85) on advice deliberately sought by GP in 1859.
Shaftesbury said that housing was the London poor's greatest need. GP's housing gift inspired
imitators in England and the U.S., private and municipal, and brought GP many honors in
England.
PEF
31-GP's most influential U.S. gift was the $2 million 21-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).
For 47 years the PEF helped promote public
schools in the devastated post Civil War South, focusing first on public elementary and
secondary schools in larger towns, then teacher training institutes and normal colleges, and
finally rural public schools.
32-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. agt PEF.
33-Nigh offices held by the over 50 PEF trustees during 1867-1914 included: thirteen who were
state legislators, two were U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justices,
were U.S. ambassadors,
eight were U.S. Senators, seven served in the U.S. House of Representatives, Sap were Civil
War generals, one was a U.S. naval admiral, one was a U.S. Army Surgeon-Gen., Ihmt were
were bishops, and shi
Confederate generals, three served in the Confederate Congress,
were U.S. cabinet officers. For names, slge Governors, U.S. States, and GP. PCofVU.
PEF. Presidents, U.S., and GP.
34-Other high offices of the 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), §i2i were U.S. state governors, and three were financiers
(J.P. Morgan; Anthony Drexel, inspired by GP's example to found Drexel Univ., Phila., and
Paul Tulane, inspired to found Tulane Univ., New Orleans, La.). Rd, Ibid.
Peabody Normal College
35 -PEF Cost
Bamas Sears (1802-80) wanted a model teachers college for the
When the Tenn. legislature declined to pass funding legislation for
South in Nashville.
several state normal school proposals, Sears through the PEF helped establish the PEF-
supported 22-Peabody Normal College (1875-1911) on the Univ. of Nashville campus in
Forgotten Hero: George Peabody
8
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.
36-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., Ha., 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 (given later to the Southern Education Fund, Atlanta, where it still
serves African-American education). 50 PCofVU. PEF.
GPCFT
37-Most of the PEF principal, $1.5 million plus required matching funds, went to endow 24-
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, a unique mini-university focused
on teacher education in a variety of fields, was a leading institution in the South, with national
recognition and an international clientele.
GPCFT's 65 years of prestigious success in
training educational leaders
contributed to its own demise.
GPCFT's own best graduates became state university
presidents, deans, leading professors, researchers, and textbook writers who strengthened
competing lower cost state university colleges of education. Recession in the 1970s combined
with higher energy and other costs adversely affected higher education and particularly
colleges of education.
PCofVU
39-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 25-
PCofVU, Vanderbilt Univ.'s. ninth school. Its status rose as a leading college of education in
applying computers to teaching and learning, in special education teaching and research
programs, and in preparing guidance counselors. In the 1990s PCofVU consistently ranked
among the top U.S. graduate schools of education. Rti. "Best Graduate Schools," pp. 109,
111.