Philanthropist, Financier. He is remembered for being a financial genius and in his old age, the "father of modern philanthropy." Since he never married or had children, he mentored Junius Spencer Morgan, to step into his shoes upon his retirement. His business career began at the age of eleven with on-the-job training in his brother's grocery store; he had very little formal education. His father's death in 1811 impacted his life greatly as his family had to sell their home to resolve debt and to provide for his widowed mother and younger siblings. When his brother's store burnt to the ground, he relocated to Washington, D.C and Georgetown, Maryland to work in his uncle's store. He served in the War of 1812 where he met Elisha Riggs. By the age of nineteen, he was a partner in Peabody, Riggs and Company, a successful dry goods store with locations not only in Baltimore, Maryland, but in New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In three years, he made $40,000, thus resolving his father's debts. He traveled frequently to England to purchase dry goods for his stores. On one trip, he negotiated an $8,000,000 loan for the nearly bankrupted State of Maryland, accepting no commission on the transaction but learning the ways and means of world finance. He relocated permanently to England in 1837 expanding his business as George Peabody and Company, a financial service and banking company; he stayed in England the rest of his life except for three visits to the United States. He sold U.S. Government bonds to European buyers, enabling several state governments to maintain financial health after the Depression of the late 1830's. As he earned his fortune, he watched his pennies and for a dozen years, had long workdays without a day off. He partnered with Morgan, the father of famed financier J.P. Morgan. Ten years later, he retired and his business was changed to J.S. Morgan and Company, relocating the main office to New York City from London; then J.P. Morgan inherited the firm changing the name to J. P. Morgan and Company; and today, his original business is the financial giant, JPMorgan Chase. During the American Civil War, he played a key role in selling securities to finance the Union Army. After amassing a fortune of nearly $20 million, he decided to begin philanthropy activities. He established several charities in the United States and England: After the Civil War, he visited the war-torn Southeastern United States, resulting in the Peabody Education Fund, which was endowed with $3,500,000 to promote education for nearly 50 years for children of all races in the eleven Confederate States and West Virginia. This educational fund enabled many southern colleges, such as Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, to rebuild after the Civil War. In some cases, state funds were required to match his donations. In Baltimore, he founded the Peabody Library in 1857, which is now a research center for John Hopkins University. Also in Baltimore, another part of the Peabody Institute was a conservatory for music education and an art gallery, which with the library, became the first cultural center in the United States. In his hometown, the Peabody Essex Museum, which ranks among the top 20 art museums in the nation, and the Peabody Library are two of his endowments. The Natural History Museum at Yale University and the Museum of Archaeology at Harvard University also made his list. To get rid of the London's rat-infested slums, in 1862 he donated $2,500,000 for the construction of apartments for working poor of high moral character. Naming only a few here, Peabody's endowments go on and on. He has received many honors: On July 10, 1862, the prestigious award, The Honorary Freeman of the City of London, was presented to him for his charitable works, as well as the recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal in 1867. In 1868 his birthplace of Danvers was changed to Peabody, Massachusetts. On July 23, 1869 a bronze statue to honor him was unveiled by the Prince of Wales in London, followed with a replica erected in Baltimore in 1890. In 1900, he became one of the first 28 members of the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in the State of New York. He was offered the title of a Baronet or Knighthood by Queen Victoria of England, but he refused. The house of his death was marked with a British Historical Blue Plaque. The British had arranged for his body to be the first American to be buried in Westminster Abbey in London, but following the request in his will, his body was transported to the United States making his final resting place near his birthplace. Both the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes were a half-mast in a sorrowful respect for George Peabody. According to some sources, he donated half of his wealth.
Philanthropist, Financier. He is remembered for being a financial genius and in his old age, the "father of modern philanthropy." Since he never married or had children, he mentored Junius Spencer Morgan, to step into his shoes upon his retirement. His business career began at the age of eleven with on-the-job training in his brother's grocery store; he had very little formal education. His father's death in 1811 impacted his life greatly as his family had to sell their home to resolve debt and to provide for his widowed mother and younger siblings. When his brother's store burnt to the ground, he relocated to Washington, D.C and Georgetown, Maryland to work in his uncle's store. He served in the War of 1812 where he met Elisha Riggs. By the age of nineteen, he was a partner in Peabody, Riggs and Company, a successful dry goods store with locations not only in Baltimore, Maryland, but in New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In three years, he made $40,000, thus resolving his father's debts. He traveled frequently to England to purchase dry goods for his stores. On one trip, he negotiated an $8,000,000 loan for the nearly bankrupted State of Maryland, accepting no commission on the transaction but learning the ways and means of world finance. He relocated permanently to England in 1837 expanding his business as George Peabody and Company, a financial service and banking company; he stayed in England the rest of his life except for three visits to the United States. He sold U.S. Government bonds to European buyers, enabling several state governments to maintain financial health after the Depression of the late 1830's. As he earned his fortune, he watched his pennies and for a dozen years, had long workdays without a day off. He partnered with Morgan, the father of famed financier J.P. Morgan. Ten years later, he retired and his business was changed to J.S. Morgan and Company, relocating the main office to New York City from London; then J.P. Morgan inherited the firm changing the name to J. P. Morgan and Company; and today, his original business is the financial giant, JPMorgan Chase. During the American Civil War, he played a key role in selling securities to finance the Union Army. After amassing a fortune of nearly $20 million, he decided to begin philanthropy activities. He established several charities in the United States and England: After the Civil War, he visited the war-torn Southeastern United States, resulting in the Peabody Education Fund, which was endowed with $3,500,000 to promote education for nearly 50 years for children of all races in the eleven Confederate States and West Virginia. This educational fund enabled many southern colleges, such as Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, to rebuild after the Civil War. In some cases, state funds were required to match his donations. In Baltimore, he founded the Peabody Library in 1857, which is now a research center for John Hopkins University. Also in Baltimore, another part of the Peabody Institute was a conservatory for music education and an art gallery, which with the library, became the first cultural center in the United States. In his hometown, the Peabody Essex Museum, which ranks among the top 20 art museums in the nation, and the Peabody Library are two of his endowments. The Natural History Museum at Yale University and the Museum of Archaeology at Harvard University also made his list. To get rid of the London's rat-infested slums, in 1862 he donated $2,500,000 for the construction of apartments for working poor of high moral character. Naming only a few here, Peabody's endowments go on and on. He has received many honors: On July 10, 1862, the prestigious award, The Honorary Freeman of the City of London, was presented to him for his charitable works, as well as the recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal in 1867. In 1868 his birthplace of Danvers was changed to Peabody, Massachusetts. On July 23, 1869 a bronze statue to honor him was unveiled by the Prince of Wales in London, followed with a replica erected in Baltimore in 1890. In 1900, he became one of the first 28 members of the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in the State of New York. He was offered the title of a Baronet or Knighthood by Queen Victoria of England, but he refused. The house of his death was marked with a British Historical Blue Plaque. The British had arranged for his body to be the first American to be buried in Westminster Abbey in London, but following the request in his will, his body was transported to the United States making his final resting place near his birthplace. Both the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes were a half-mast in a sorrowful respect for George Peabody. According to some sources, he donated half of his wealth.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/797/george-peabody: accessed
), memorial page for George Peabody (18 Feb 1795–4 Nov 1869), Find a Grave Memorial ID 797, citing Harmony Grove Cemetery, Salem,
Essex County,
Massachusetts,
USA;
Maintained by Find a Grave.
Add Photos for George Peabody
Fulfill Photo Request for George Peabody
Photo Request Fulfilled
Thank you for fulfilling this photo request. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request
There is an open photo request for this memorial
Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request?
Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s).
Oops, something didn't work. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again.
Make sure that the file is a photo. Photos larger than 8Mb will be reduced.
All photos uploaded successfully, click on the <b>Done button</b> to see the photos in the gallery.
General photo guidelines:
Photos larger than 8.0 MB will be optimized and reduced.
Each contributor can upload a maximum of 5 photos for a memorial.
A memorial can have a maximum of 20 photos from all contributors.
The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional 10 photos (for a total of 30 on the memorial).
Include gps location with grave photos where possible.
No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments.)
You are only allowed to leave one flower per day for any given memorial.
Memorial Photos
This is a carousel with slides. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel.
Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried.
Show Map
If the memorial includes GPS coordinates, simply click 'Show Map' to view the gravesite location within the cemetery. If no GPS coordinates are available, you can contribute by adding them if you know the precise location.
Photos
For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab.
Photos Tab
All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer.
Flowers
Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button.
Family Members
Family members linked to this person will appear here.
Related searches
Use the links under See more… to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc.
Sponsor This Memorial
Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option.
Share
Share this memorial using social media sites or email.
Save to
Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print.
Edit or Suggest Edit
Edit a memorial you manage or suggest changes to the memorial manager.
Have Feedback
Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you.
You may not upload any more photos to this memorial
"Unsupported file type"
Uploading...
Waiting...
Success
Failed
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has photos
This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded photos to this memorial
Invalid File Type
Uploading 1 Photo
Uploading 2 Photos
1 Photo Uploaded
2 Photos Uploaded
Added by
GREAT NEWS! There is 1 volunteer for this cemetery.
Sorry! There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request.
Enter numeric value
Enter memorial Id
Year should not be greater than current year
Invalid memorial
Duplicate entry for memorial
You have chosen this person to be their own family member.
Reported!
This relationship is not possible based on lifespan dates.
0% Complete
Saved
Sign in or Register
Sign in to Find a Grave
Sign-in to link to existing account
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
There is a problem with your email/password.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
We’ve updated the security on the site. Please reset your password.
Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Please contact Find a Grave at [email protected] if you need help resetting your password.
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
This account has been disabled. If you have questions, please contact [email protected]
Email not found
Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person.
Sign in to your existing Find a Grave account. You’ll only have to do this once—after your accounts are connected, you can sign in using your Ancestry sign in or your Find a Grave sign in.
We found an existing Find a Grave account associated with your email address. Sign in below with your Find a Grave credentials to link your Ancestry account. After your accounts are connected you can sign in using either account.
Please enter your email to sign in.
Please enter your password to sign in.
Please enter your email and password to sign in.
There is a problem with your email/password.
A system error has occurred. Please try again later.
A password reset email has been sent to EmailID. If you don't see an email, please check your spam folder.
We encountered an unknown problem. Please wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists contact Find a Grave.
Password Reset
Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code.
Registration Options
Welcome to Find a Grave
Create your free account by choosing an option below.
or
Ancestry account link
To create your account, Ancestry will share your name and email address with Find a Grave. To continue choose an option below.
or
If you already have a Find a Grave account, please sign in to link to Ancestry®.
New Member Registration
Email is mandatory
Email and Password are mandatory
This account already exists, but the email address still needs to be confirmed. Resend Activation Email
Your password is not strong enough
Invalid Email
You must agree to Terms and Conditions
Account already exists
Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox
Internal Server error occurred
If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map
You must select an email preference
We have sent you an activation email
Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters.
We just emailed an activation code to
Please check your email and click on the link to activate your account.
cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list.
Within 5 miles of your location.
Within 5 kilometers of your location.
0 cemeteries found in .
0 cemeteries found.
Add a cemetery to fulfill photo requests
You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below.
Search above to list available cemeteries.
Getting location…
Loading...
Loading...
No cemeteries found
Find a Grave Video Tutorials
Default Language
Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. If you notice a problem with the translation, please send a message to [email protected] and include a link to the page and details about the problem. Thanks for your help!
Preferred Language
We have set your language to based on information from your browser.