George Peabody

AKA:
The Father of Modern Philanthropy
Birth Name:
George Peabody
Birth Date:
February 18, 1795
Birth Place:
South Parish, Danvers, Massachusetts
Death Date:
November 4, 1869
Place of Death:
80 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, England
Age:
74
Cause of Death:
Pneumonia
Cemetery Name:
Harmony Grove Cemetery
Claim to Fame:
Business and Finance
George Peabody was an American financier and philanthropist and is widely regarded as the father of modern philanthropy. Born into a poor family in Massachusetts, Peabody went into business in dry goods and later into banking. In 1837 he moved to London (which was then the capital of world finance) where he became the most noted American banker and helped to establish the young country's international credit. Having no son of his own to whom he could pass on his business, Peabody took on Junius Spencer Morgan as a partner in 1854 and their joint business would go on to become J.P. Morgan & Co. after Peabody's 1864 retirement. In his old age, Peabody won worldwide acclaim for his philanthropy. He founded the Peabody Trust in Britain and the Peabody Institute and George Peabody Library in Baltimore, and was responsible for many other charitable initiatives. Peabody would have been the first American buried in Westminster Abbey in London had his will not stipulated that his final resting place would be near his boyhood home.

George Peabody provided benefactions of well over $8 million ($158,000,000 in 2017 dollars), most of them in his own lifetime. Among the list are:

1852 The Peabody Institute (now the Peabody Institute Library), Peabody, Mass: $217,000
1856 The Peabody Institute, Danvers, Mass (now the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers): $100,000
1857 The Peabody Institute (now the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University), Baltimore: $1,400,000. By including a complex involving a library, an academy of music, and an art gallery, his goal was to promote the moral, intellectual and artistic opportunities for the People of Baltimore.
1862 The Peabody Donation Fund, London: $2,500,000
1866 The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University: $150,000
1866 The Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University: $150,000 (at the suggestion of his nephew Othniel Charles Marsh, son of his younger sister Mary Peabody and America’s first professor of paleontology)
1867 The Peabody Academy of Science, Salem, Mass: $140,000 (now the Peabody Essex Museum)    1866 The Georgetown Peabody Library, the public library of Georgetown, Massachusetts
1866 The Thetford Public Library, the public library of Thetford, Vermont: $5,000
1901 The Peabody Memorial Library, Sam Houston State University, Texas
1913 George Peabody Building, University of Mississippi

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Harmony Grove Cemetery

30 Grove Street

Salem, Massachusetts, 01970

USA

North America

Map:

Grave Location:

Peabody Family Plot

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery turn left at the chapel and follow it around making the second right. His grave can be found up the step hill on your right 200 feet after making the right turn.

And despite numerous claims on other “grave-oriented” websites – this is not a cenotaph. George Peabody and some of his family members are really, truly buried here.

Grave Location GPS

42.5253488, -70.915622676

Visiting The Grave:

Photos:

[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]
[+]

FAQ's

George Peabody was born on February 18, 1795.

George Peabody was born in South Parish, Danvers, Massachusetts.

George Peabody died on November 4, 1869.

George Peabody died in 80 Eaton Square, Belgravia, London, England.

George Peabody was 74.

The cause of death was Pneumonia.

George Peabody's grave is in Harmony Grove Cemetery

Read More About George Peabody:

Videos Featuring George Peabody:

See More:

Colonel Sanders

popular name: Colonel Sanders

date_of_death: December 16, 1980

age: 90

cause_of_death: Pneumonia brought on by acute leukemia

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Colonel Harland Sanders was an American businessman and founder of fast food chicken restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (also known as KFC). When Sanders was only 6, his father died. So at a young age, he had to care for his siblings and did much of the family cooking. At 7 years old, Sanders already had mastered several regional dishes. When he was 40 years old, he began cooking for hungry travelers at a service station in Corbin, Kentucky. Sanders did not have a restaurant, but instead served guests at his own dining room table. As word spread and more people started coming for the food, he moved across the street to a motel and restaurant that seated 142 people. During the next nine years, he perfected his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices that is still used today. This special recipe remains a closely guarded secret. At age 65, Colonel Harland Sanders began franchising his chicken business using his $105 monthly Social Security check. Today, Kentucky Fried Chicken operates more than 5,200 restaurants in the United States and more than 15,000 units around the world. Upon his death he was laid to rest at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky.

Andrew Carnegie

popular name: Andrew Carnegie

date_of_death: August 11, 1919

age: 83

cause_of_death: Bronchial Pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist who played a pivotal role in the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. Born on November 25, 1835, in Dunfermline, Scotland, Carnegie emigrated to the United States with his family in 1848, settling in Pennsylvania. Starting as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory, he quickly rose through the ranks of the business world, eventually founding the Carnegie Steel Company, which became the largest and most profitable industrial enterprise of its time. After selling his company to J.P. Morgan in 1901 for $480 million (equivalent to billions today), Carnegie devoted the rest of his life to philanthropy. He believed in the "Gospel of Wealth," the idea that the rich have a moral obligation to use their wealth for the betterment of society. Carnegie donated over $350 million during his lifetime to causes such as libraries, education, and peace initiatives. He died on August 11, 1919, leaving behind a legacy as one of the richest men in history and one of its most generous philanthropists. Upon his death, Andrew Carnegie was laid to rest at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York.

J. P. Morgan

popular name: J. P. Morgan

date_of_death: March 31, 1913 (aged 75)

age: 75

cause_of_death: Acute attack of gastro enteritis

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: J.P. Morgan was a titan of American business. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries his position and connections put him squarely in the middle of the development of American industry. Of his generation John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) was the most powerful banker, industrialist and art collector in America. Born in Connecticut, he was the third generation of a banking dynasty that he would go on to dwarf with his financial acumen and bullish instinct. His father Junius Spencer Morgan was a partner in a London-based merchant bank. Another ancestor, James Pierpont, founded Yale University. At the height of his powers in the 1890s, Morgan was said to control one sixth of America’s railway lines. In 1895 he and a consortium of bankers rescued America’s Gold Standard loaning the federal government more than $60 million. In addition to the bank that bore his name, Morgan invested in and subsequently bought the Carnegie Steel Company, Edison General Electric and the United States Steel Corporation. He also acquired the New York Times newspaper and founded the Metropolitan Club in New York when the Union Club blackballed his friend John King. Deeply offended, he instructed the architects ‘build me a club fit for gentlemen. Forget the expense’. However, Morgan was not content just in the banking world – he had many interests elsewhere. Adolph Ochs, publisher of the Chattanooga Times, secured a loan with J.P. Morgan’s help and managed to save the New York Times. His personal and business interests extended to steel and railroads. He purchased U.S. Steel from Andrew Carnegie and merged it with a few other firms to create United States Steel in 1901. Over 100 years later that firm is still going strong.

Back to Top