Endicott Peabody (educator)
Encyclopedia
The Reverend Endicott Peabody (May 30, 1857 – November 17, 1944) was the American
Episcopal priest who founded the Groton School for Boys
(known today simply as Groton School), in Groton, Massachusetts
in 1884. Peabody served as headmaster at the school from 1884 until 1940, and also served as a trustee at Lawrence Academy at Groton
. In 1926 Peabody also founded Brooks School
, which was named for 19th-century clergyman Phillips Brooks
, a well-known preacher and resident of North Andover, Massachusetts
. Peabody was headmaster for Franklin Delano Roosevelt at Groton, and he officiated at Franklin's marriage to Eleanor Roosevelt
.
.
His father, Samuel Endicott Peabody, was a Boston
merchant and a partner in the London banking firm of J. S. Morgan and Company
(later known as J.P. Morgan & Company). When Endicott Peabody was 13, the family moved to England. He prepared for university at Cheltenham College
, a secondary school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, finishing in 1876 at the age of 19. He was graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge
, in 1880 with an LL.B. degree. He married his first cousin
, Fannie Peabody, daughter of Francis and Helen (Bloodgood) Peabody of Salem, Massachusetts on June 18, 1885 in Salem. His father Samuel and her father Francis were brothers. They had six children.
His great-grandfather was Salem shipowner and privateer Joseph Peabody
who made a fortune importing pepper
from Sumatra
as well as opium
from East-Asia. Joseph Peabody was one of the wealthiest men in the United States at the time of his death in 1844. Another of his ancestors was Massachusetts Bay Colony
Governor John Endecott
, who ordered the hanging of non-conformist Quakers, but who none-the-less was a friend of Roger Williams
.
(now the Episcopal Divinity School
) Peabody, a seminarian not yet a priest, was invited to take charge of a little Episcopal congregation in Tombstone, Arizona
(now St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Tombstone). After a long seven-day train ride from Boston, he arrived in Benson, Arizona
and took the Sandy Bob stagecoach to Tombstone, arriving on January 29, 1882, three months after the "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
". He had words of praise for Wyatt Earp
.
. He was impressive physically, never losing a boxing match. He began a baseball team in Tombstone. He left Tombstone after only six months, and many were saddened that he had to go. George Whitwell Parson
noted in his diary that day, “We will not easily fill Peabody’s place.” He returned to the east coast and completed his studies at the Episcopalian Theological School, graduating in the spring of 1884.
Due to the nature of his service during his six months of service in Tombstone, he afterward came to be called the patron saint of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona
.
s. Governor Endicott Peabody
was a grandchild, and his great-grandchildren include author Frances FitzGerald, model Penelope Tree
, actress Kyra Sedgwick
(wife of Kevin Bacon
), and 1960's cultural icon Edie Sedgwick
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Episcopal priest who founded the Groton School for Boys
Groton School
Groton School is a private, Episcopal, college preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, U.S. It enrolls approximately 375 boys and girls, from the eighth through twelfth grades...
(known today simply as Groton School), in Groton, Massachusetts
Groton, Massachusetts
Groton is a town located in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The population was 10,646 at the 2010 census. It is home to two noted prep schools: Groton School, founded in 1884, and Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 1793. The historic town hosts the National Shepley Hill Horse...
in 1884. Peabody served as headmaster at the school from 1884 until 1940, and also served as a trustee at Lawrence Academy at Groton
Lawrence Academy at Groton
Lawrence Academy at Groton, , is a co-educational preparatory school located in Groton, Massachusetts, in the United States...
. In 1926 Peabody also founded Brooks School
Brooks School
Brooks School is a private, co-educational, preparatory, secondary school in North Andover, Massachusetts on the shores of Lake Cochichewick.-History:...
, which was named for 19th-century clergyman Phillips Brooks
Phillips Brooks
Phillips Brooks was an American clergyman and author, who briefly served as Bishop of Massachusetts in the Episcopal Church during the early 1890s. In the Episcopal liturgical calendar he is remembered on January 23...
, a well-known preacher and resident of North Andover, Massachusetts
North Andover, Massachusetts
North Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. North Andover is the home of Merrimack College, a private, Catholic four-year institution ....
. Peabody was headmaster for Franklin Delano Roosevelt at Groton, and he officiated at Franklin's marriage to Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
.
Early life
Endicott Peabody was the son of Samuel Endicott Peabody and Marianne Cabot Lee. He was born in Salem, MassachusettsSalem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
.
His father, Samuel Endicott Peabody, was a Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
merchant and a partner in the London banking firm of J. S. Morgan and Company
J.S. Morgan & Co.
J.S. Morgan & Co. was a merchant banking firm based in London and New York City founded by Junius S. Morgan, father of J. Pierpont Morgan, and George Peabody in 1854....
(later known as J.P. Morgan & Company). When Endicott Peabody was 13, the family moved to England. He prepared for university at Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...
, a secondary school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, finishing in 1876 at the age of 19. He was graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, in 1880 with an LL.B. degree. He married his first cousin
Cousin marriage
Cousin marriage is marriage between two cousins. In various jurisdictions and cultures, such marriages range from being considered ideal and actively encouraged, to being uncommon but still legal, to being seen as incest and legally prohibited....
, Fannie Peabody, daughter of Francis and Helen (Bloodgood) Peabody of Salem, Massachusetts on June 18, 1885 in Salem. His father Samuel and her father Francis were brothers. They had six children.
His great-grandfather was Salem shipowner and privateer Joseph Peabody
Joseph Peabody
Joseph Peabody was a merchant and shipowner who dominated trade between Massachusetts and the Far East for a number of years.-Family and career:...
who made a fortune importing pepper
Black pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
from Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
as well as opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
from East-Asia. Joseph Peabody was one of the wealthiest men in the United States at the time of his death in 1844. Another of his ancestors was Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
Governor John Endecott
John Endecott
John Endecott was an English colonial magistrate, soldier and the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During all of his years in the colony but one, he held some form of civil, judicial, or military high office...
, who ordered the hanging of non-conformist Quakers, but who none-the-less was a friend of Roger Williams
Roger Williams (theologian)
Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
.
Seminary service
In 1882 during his first year at the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
(now the Episcopal Divinity School
Episcopal Divinity School
The Episcopal Divinity School is a seminary of the Episcopal Church based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Known throughout the Anglican Communion for prophetic teaching and action on issues of civil rights and social justice, its faculty and students have been directly involved in many of the social...
) Peabody, a seminarian not yet a priest, was invited to take charge of a little Episcopal congregation in Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...
(now St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Tombstone). After a long seven-day train ride from Boston, he arrived in Benson, Arizona
Benson, Arizona
-Transportation:Benson Airport is located 3 miles north west of the city.Benson is served by Interstate 10 to the north, which travels directly to downtown Tucson....
and took the Sandy Bob stagecoach to Tombstone, arriving on January 29, 1882, three months after the "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a roughly 30-second gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory, of the United States. Outlaw Cowboys Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight, unharmed, but Ike's brother...
". He had words of praise for Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
.
Church building in Tombstone, Arizona
The last church had burned down six months previously, and no attempt had been made to replace it. Peabody held his first services in the Miner’s Exchange Building on February 5, 1882. Though he spent no more than six months in Tombstone he succeeded in getting the church built, St Paul's Episcopal Church. This church building today is the oldest in the state not belonging to the Roman Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. He was impressive physically, never losing a boxing match. He began a baseball team in Tombstone. He left Tombstone after only six months, and many were saddened that he had to go. George Whitwell Parson
George W. Parsons
George Whitwell Parsons was a licensed attorney turned banker during the 19th century Old West. He is remembered due to his having kept an accurate diary of his days in the west, which gave detailed accounts of his interaction with Old West notables such as Wyatt Earp and "Curly Bill"...
noted in his diary that day, “We will not easily fill Peabody’s place.” He returned to the east coast and completed his studies at the Episcopalian Theological School, graduating in the spring of 1884.
Due to the nature of his service during his six months of service in Tombstone, he afterward came to be called the patron saint of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona
Episcopal Diocese of Arizona
The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America which has jurisdiction over Arizona. It is in Province VIII.Kirk Stevan Smith is the current bishop. His seat is at Trinity Cathedral, Phoenix.-History:...
.
Legacy
Franklin Delano Roosevelt said of Peabody, "As long as I live his influence will mean more to me than that of any other people next to my father and mother." His family has been called Boston BrahminBoston Brahmin
Boston Brahmins are wealthy Yankee families characterized by a highly discreet and inconspicuous life style. Based in and around Boston, they form an integral part of the historic core of the East Coast establishment...
s. Governor Endicott Peabody
Endicott Peabody
Endicott "Chub" Peabody was the 62nd Governor of Massachusetts from January 3, 1963 to January 7, 1965.-Early life:...
was a grandchild, and his great-grandchildren include author Frances FitzGerald, model Penelope Tree
Penelope Tree
Penelope Tree is an Anglo-American former fashion model prominent in swinging sixties London.-Life and career:She was the only child of Marietta Peabody Tree, a socialite and Democratic political activist, and Ronald Tree, a bisexual journalist, investor and MP. Tree is a great-granddaughter of...
, actress Kyra Sedgwick
Kyra Sedgwick
Kyra Minturn Sedgwick is an American actress.Sedgwick is best known for her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama The Closer. Sedgwick's role in the series won her a Golden Globe Award in 2007 and an Emmy Award in 2010...
(wife of Kevin Bacon
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....
), and 1960's cultural icon Edie Sedgwick
Edie Sedgwick
Edith Minturn "Edie" Sedgwick was an American actress, socialite, model and heiress. She is best known for being one of Andy Warhol's superstars. Sedgwick became known as "The Girl of the Year" in 1965 after starring in several of Warhol's short films in the 1960s...
.