Ephraim Peabody

Ephraim Peabody (March 22, 1807 – November 28, 1856) was an American Unitarian clergyman, preacher, and philanthropist who was one of the founders of the Provident Institution for Savings in Boston. Peabody also founded a school for adults who had been denied an education. He was also dedicated to developing measures for the relief of the poor.

Biography Peabody was born March 22, 1807, in Wilton, New Hampshire, to Ephraim Peabody II and Ruth Abbot. His father was the village blacksmith, died young in 1816, leaving his mother, Ruth, to raise him and his sister. He attended school for a year at Byfield Academy and then went to Phillips Exeter Academy, which was at that time headed by his uncle, Benjamin Abbot.

Peabody attended Bowdoin College and graduated in 1827. Afterwards, he studied theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at Harvard Divinity School, graduating in 1830. He then moved to Meadville, Pennsylvania, to tutor the family of Harm Jan Huidekoper and began his preaching career. In 1832, he accepted a call to preach at the First Unitarian Church congregation in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here he began a long association with Louisville minister James Freeman Clarke, with whom he started a Unitarian periodical, The Western Messenger.

Peabody was often the public orator or poet for both the city of Boston and the Unitarian denomination. In 1852, he delivered the commencement poem to Bowdoin College. His sermons and a memoir were published in 1857, and a volume of his writings, entitled Christian Days and Thoughts, was published in 1858.

Peabody suffered another lung hemorrhage in the summer of 1855, which caused him to retire from preaching. Peabody's last public appearance was later that year, when he gave a memorial sermon at his friend Judge Charles Jackson's funeral.

Family and death In 1833, Peabody married Mary Jane Derby, the daughter of Elias Hasket Derby. Together, they had seven children, three of whom died in childhood: Samuel A. Peabody (1834–1836) Ellen Derby Peabody (1836–1869)—married Charles William Eliot Anna Huidekoper Peabody (1838–1920)—married Henry Whitney Bellows George Derby Peabody (1840–1842) Emily Morison Peabody (1842–1845) Robert Swain Peabody (1845–1917)—notable Boston architect of Peabody & Stearns and President of the American Institute of Architects Rev. Francis Greenwood Peabody (1847–1936)—Unitarian minister and theology professor at Harvard University

Ephraim Peabody died in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 28, 1856, at the age of 49.