Volume 6, Number 2 Winter 2011/2012 The South Danvers Observer The Funeral of George Peabody The South Danvers Observer is published quarterly. Written by Nancy Barthelemy, Archivist Published by the Peabody Institute Library It is a great mystery, would become. For Peabody had not one but but I shall know all soon. three funerals. Not one but two burials. Inside this issue: The first funeral and burial were held in Westminster Abbey, a place reserved for only George Peabody’s Last 2 —Only a short time after George Peabody the most prominent citizens of England. That spoke these words, he died. It was 11:30 p.m. Visit Home George Peabody was not British made the on Thursday, November 4th, 1869. Word of honor to his memory even more significant. The Voyage of the 3 his death in London arrived in the United Once it was understood that England wished H.M.S. Monarch States the next day via the Transatlantic Cable to commemorate Peabody before he was laid that George Peabody helped fund. The Funeral of George 4 in his final resting place in Harmony Grove Could Peabody have imagined the scale of Peabody (Continued) Cemetery, his body was embalmed. While the funeral that would follow? Perhaps. After embalming wasn’t prevalent in the United The Funeral of George all, he was aware of his own prominence in States until then, after the Civil War it slowly Great Britain and the United States. He had Peabody (Continued) 5 grew more common. And so, the embalming received numerous awards from both coun- The Funeral of George tries. Certainly he understood that his funeral fluids used to preserve George Peabody’s Peabody (Continued) 6 would be impressive. body, which contained arsenic and mercury, were of great interest to the public. And yet, it is unlikely he could have The Funeral of George Peabody was buried in Westminster Abbey envisioned just how unique and how monu- Peabody (Continued) 7 from November 12 to December 11, 1869. mental his funeral would become. Or rather (Continued on Page 4) The Funeral of George how unique and how monumental his funerals Peabody (Conclusion) 8 “By Request of the Queen, the remains of Mr. Peabody were . . . transferred to Her Maj- esty’s Ship [the] Monarch. The Monarch and [the U.S. Ship] Plymouth sailed from Portsmouth, Eng. .. . . Great preparations have been made by the people of Portland to receive the remains and a solemn service was performed . . . at the City The Burial Hall. After the funeral services they were at conveyed to a magnificent Funeral Car . . . and Westmin- escorted by two hundred United States Soldiers ster to Peabody, Mass., and there placed in a superb Abbey Catafalque in the Peabody Institute where they remained lying in state until the day of the funeral.” From Mr. Peabody and Friends Page 2 George Peabody’s Last Visit Home —When George Peabody set out for Liverpool to shared a cottage on Baltimore Row with Robert E. Lee, board the Scotia for a voyage to New York on May 29, William Wilson Corcoran and a few others. The visit did 1869, there is little doubt he knew this would be his little to improve Peabody’s health. He seldom left the last excursion home. Despite his age and frailty, de- cottage, not even to attend the Peabody Ball, which was spite the toll of the voyage and his travel during those given in his honor for his creation of the Southern next three months, he seemed driven by the sense he Education Fund. He did manage to sit for a number of had little time left to complete his life’s work. photographs with the former Confederate generals, He arrived in New York on June 8th and was met photographs which are now famous. He made a few by five of the Peabody Institute Library Trustees and more donations, one to Washington and Lee College, two of his nephews who lived in the city. Peabody where Robert E. Lee was president. On August 16th, stayed with Samuel Wetmore and his family for two Peabody was able to leave his cottage to enjoy a supper days. From there he traveled by train to Boston to visit in the hotel’s public dining room. another friend, Samuel Dana. While in Boston, he Of course, with the recent end of the Civil War, not attended the Peace Jubilee before returning to Salem everyone in the north understood Peabody’s last to enjoy some time with his nephew, George Peabody donations. William Lloyd Garrison penned an angry Russell and his wife. While there, Peabody worked letter to The Independent, chastising Peabody for “his with his nephew to arrange his second donation of own cordial esteem and regard for the high honor, another million dollars to the Peabody Southern integrity, and heroism of the Southern people!!” Education Fund. On August 30th, Peabody left the Springs and took By early July, Peabody had recovered enough from the train north, traveling in a special car arranged by the the voyage to make the trek to Newport, R.I. where he railroad’s president, John Work Garrett. He arrived in met with the Trustees of the Southern Education Fund Salem on September 10th, ordered his tomb built at to announce his new gift. Harmony Grove, made another $50,000 donation to the The strain of travel wore on him. Despite that, he Peabody Institute in Peabody, traveled once again to returned to Peabody, Massachusetts, visited the Newport, R.I., to see John Pendleton Kennedy regarding Peabody Institute and then went to Georgetown to the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, made a final visit to stay with his sister Judith and husband, Robert S. the Institute in Baltimore and finally sailed from New Daniels. During that brief visit, he viewed the new York on the Scotia to London, arriving on October 8, town church and library which he had funded and 1869. then pushed on to attend the dedication of the Peabody had hoped to spend some time traveling in Peabody Institute in Danvers on July 14th. On July Europe but his final voyage home was his last trip any- 16th, the Peabody Institute in Peabody held a recep- where. His precarious health quickly deteriorated and tion for its Founder. In attendance were Massachu- he went to stay with his friend, Sir Curtis Lampson. It setts Governor William Claflin, Oliver Wendell Holmes, was there, less than a month after arriving in London Charles Francis Adams, Charles Sumner and other that George Peabody died. dignitaries. At this time, Peabody read of William Wilson Corcoran’s recent donation to the National Gallery of Art; he found that news of interest. Because Pea- body’s continued frailty alarmed his nephew, Russell wrote to Corcoran to ask if he could make arrange- ments for Peabody to visit White Sulphur Springs in West Virginia. He hoped the change in air and the reported ability of the waters to restore health would be just what his uncle needed. In an uncharacteristic move, Peabody agreed to have his nephew and wife accompany him on the train south. Previously, Peabody always preferred to travel alone. He enjoyed the freedom of being able to move about from place to place on his own terms. This concession to his nephew revealed just how sick Peabody truly felt. Peabody and his nephew and family arrived at the resort on July 23rd. The resort had a number of Baltimore Row Cottages at cottages to allow guests more privacy. Peabody White Sulphur Springs in West Virginia Peabody stayed in a similar cottage during his visit Page 3 The Voyage of the H.M.S. Monarch The H.M.S. Monarch —When George Peabody died at Sir Curtis Lampson’s home, December 6th. From Portsmouth, the ships jour- newspapers all over Europe and the U.S. carried the news. neyed to the Spithead, where they transferred Pea- The next day, the Dean of Westminster Abbey, Arthur Penrhyn body’s coffin from the shelter on the main deck into Stanley, then in Naples, Italy, telegraphed London his wishes the mortuary chapel built below deck. Unfortu- that “by reason of his benefactions to the City of London nately, a ferocious Atlantic storm swooped in, pre- [Peabody] was entitled to a burial in Westminster Abbey.” venting them from leaving the Spithead until De- Though Lampson understood this desire, he felt caught cember 21st. between honoring Peabody’s wishes to be buried at home Because of the continuing fog, the crew of the and the increasing sentiment that Peabody must be honored Monarch seldom saw the faster sailing Plymouth. in England. When the compromise was reached to inter Pea- They met up again in Madeira on December 30th body in Westminster Abbey for a short time, Queen Victoria where they took on more supplies and coal. After a then requested that her Man-Of-War, the H.M.S. Monarch, be brief New Year’s celebration, both ships returned to employed to bring Peabody to his final resting place in Salem. sea. The Monarch was commanded by Captain John Edmund The Monarch Log, kept by Sub-Lieutenant Fre- Commerell, a recipient of the Victoria Cross. derick Papillon notes ongoing drills and ship main- The Ship’s crew proceeded to prepare for this honor. They tenance until their arrival in Bermuda where the built a bier on the main deck to hold Peabody’s coffin for the American Consul came on board for the remainder short journey to the Spithead. A canopy was erected over the of the journey. On January 20th, the Monarch and bier to protect the coffin from the elements until it could be Plymouth turned north for Maine. Again and again, transferred to the mortuary chapel below deck, which was they encountered fog, forcing the ships to fire shots constructed by ship’s carpenters and hired dressmakers. to identify their respective positions. At last, on When word arrived in the U.S. of the arrangements, the January 25th, the ships arrived in Portland, Maine. U.S.S. Plymouth was dispatched to accompany the British Both ship captains partook in the funerals in ship for the voyage. The Plymouth’s captain was no less dis- Portland and Peabody. After the burial in Harmony tinguished than the commander of the Monarch. Captain Grove, though, the Monarch didn’t return at once to William H. Macomb had served on many ships before the England. They sailed south to visit Annapolis Naval Civil War and during that War commanded the U.S. Naval Academy, participated in celebrations of George force that captured Plymouth, North Carolina. Washington’s birthday and enjoyed American hospi- The American ship arrived in Portsmouth, England on tality until they set sail for England once again on March 4th, 1870. “Rec’d the remains of the late George Pea- body; (whose death was much lamented by all.) Hoisted American Flag halfmast at the fore. 3.20. Shipped & proceeded out of harbor. 4.20 Came to at Spithead.” From the December 11th, 1869 entry of the Logbook kept by the Monarch’s Sub-Lieutenant Frederick Papillon regarding the voyage to bring George Peabody’s body back to the United States Transcription to the Right The Funeral of George Peabody (Continued) Page 4 From there, his body was transported by the London and South-Western Railroad to Portsmouth, England where the British vessel, the H.M.S. Monarch, waited to carry Peabody home. With the Queen’s Ship of War was the U.S.S. Plymouth, sent by the United States to accompany the Monarch for the voyage. A portion of the Monarch's lower deck had been converted by seamen and dressmakers into a mortuary chapel. At 3:00 p.m., beneath a steady rain, the funeral train passed through an honor guard comprised of crew from the Monarch and Plymouth. In attendance was the U.S. Consul, as well as hundreds of English citizens come to pay their respects. The arrival of Peabody’s body at the harbor was heralded with bugles, flags being lowered to half- mast and a twenty gun salute. Eight seamen carried Peabody's coffin up the gangplank onto the Monarch. Sir Curtis Lampson, a close friend of Peabody followed with George Peabody Russell, Peabody's nephew. Also there was Junius S. Morgan, Peabody's former business partner, as well as other dignitaries. Peabody Remains Being Carried onto Monarch According to the log kept by the Monarch’s Sub-Lieutenant Frederick Papillon, the British and U.S. ships sailed out of Portsmouth Harbor at 3:20 p.m., less than a half hour after the funeral train's arrival. They sailed to the Spit- head, an inlet port located in Southern England that is well protected from winds, so the crew could finish loading the coal necessary for the voyage to the United States. The journey took the Monarch and Plymouth to Madeira and then Bermuda, where they took on more coal and supplies before turning north for Portland, Maine. (Continued on Page 5) Mortuary Chapel on Monarch The Funeral of George Peabody (Continued) Page 5 Because the Monarch was a warship, Boston's harbor was not deep enough to receive the vessel. This made Portland the next logical choice. Before their arrival however, the ships encountered thick fog south of New England, so thick that the Monarch’s Captain Commerell ordered his men to fire their guns just so the Plymouth could locate their position. The Monarch and Plymouth arrived outside Portland harbor on January 25th, 1870. The next day, they sailed into Portland accompanied by the Terror, Mahoning, and the Miantonomoh. Thousands streamed into Portland to witness the event. For two days, the Monarch remained in the harbor while George Peabody's body lay in state. Hundreds of people came on board for the viewing, among them Admiral David G. Farragut. War Vessels Terror, Mahoning and Miantonomoh Accompanying Monarch into Portland On January 29th George Peabody's casket was removed from the Monarch and transferred to a small tug that could bring Peabody to land. A flotilla of small vessels, including some from the Monarch and Plymouth accompanied the steamtug to land. As stated by the January 31st, 1870 New York Times , "Everything that can float—rowboats, sailboats, yachts, steamtugs—all are putting off for the fleet. . . just prior to the disembar- kation," with the intent to join the flotilla as it carried Peabody's coffin to shore. (Continued on Page 6) Flotilla of vessels in the Portland harbor joining the steamtug carrying Peabody’s coffin to shore The Funeral of George Peabody (Continued) Page 6 Peabody’s Casket Being Carried onto Land In Portland, Maine Once on land, a procession, which included Trustees from the Peabody Institute, the Portland Light In- fantry, George Peabody Russell, the Mayor of Portland along with dozens of other dignitaries, continued to City Hall where Peabody lay in state for two more days. (Continued on Page 7) Procession with Peabody Coffin Arriving at Portland City Hall The Funeral of George Peabody (Continued) Page 7 Ceremonies amounting to another funeral were conducted at City Hall and from there Peabody was carried to the funeral car prepared by the Eastern Railroad. Departure of Peabody Casket from Portland, Maine on Funeral Train The train made brief stops in Kennebunk, Portsmouth, Newburyport and Ipswich to allow people to pay their respects. The train arrived in Peabody, Massachusetts on February 1, 1870. (Continued on Page 8) Peabody Funeral Train Arrival in Peabody, Massachusetts The Funeral of George Peabody (Conclusion) Page 8 The coffin was carried a short distance to the Peabody Institute where George Peabody lay in state until the day of his final funeral, February 8th. The ceremony was held at the South Congregational Church, which was then located in the downtown area, on the present day site of the District Court. Thousands came, though not all could fit into the church. Among those who attended the funeral were the governors of Massachusetts and Maine, Charles Francis Adams, Queen Victoria’s son, Prince Arthur, many Massachusetts mayors and the captains of the Monarch and Plymouth. The procession from the church to Harmony Grove Cemetery in Salem included 200 sleighs. Because of the winter storm, the services at the cemetery were brief, allowing people to return to the Institute for a final gathering. Peabody Lying in State In Peabody Institute Peabody Burial at Harmony Grove Cemetery Works consulted for this newsletter: ∗ "George Peabody's Funeral Voyage" by Allen Howard Welch, Essex Insti- tute Historical Collections, V. 109, 1973. ∗ Transcript of Sub-Lieutenant Freder- ick Papillon, U.S.S. Monarch, 1867- 1870. ∗ Funeral Scrapbook for George Pea- body, 1869-1870 ∗ Eulogy Pronounced at the Funeral of George Peabody at Peabody, Massa- chusetts, 8 February 1870 by Hon. Robert C. Winthrop. ∗ "The Funeral of George Peabody" by Franklin Parker, Peabody Journal of Education, V. 44, No. 1, July 1966. ∗ Mortuary Honors to the Late George Peabody in Portland, Maine, 1870. ∗ New York Times, 1869-1870. ∗ Mr. Peabody And Friends For more articles and information, go to: www.peabodylibrary.org/history/index.html