ABSTRACT
George Peabody was probably the nation’s first systematic philanthropist; he spread his gifts throughout the United States, primarily among educational and cultural institutions. One of the soundest families yet produced by this democracy are the Peabodys who first came to the stem and rockbound coast of Puritan New England in 1635. If Joseph of Salem was the first founder of a family fortune, George Peabody of Danvers , Massachusetts, was to become the wealthiest and most famous member of the family. In 1835, the state of Maryland was in deep financial trouble. Peabody seemed the logical choice to send abroad to seek a loan in London, the financial capital of the world. When old George Peabody’s body was brought back from London to be buried at Peabody, Massachusetts, Junius Spencer Morgan dropped by after the service to ask young Samuel Endicott Peabody to join him as a partner in the London firm.
