Charles Augustus Peabody, Jr. (April 11, 1849 – April 26, 1931) was an American politician, lawyer, and prominent figure in New York banking and insurance.

Early life

Peabody was born on April 11, 1849, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He was one of four children of Judge Charles Augustus Peabody (1814–1901) and, his first wife, Julia Caroline (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Livingston) Peabody (1816–1878) who married at Trinity Church in 1846. Among his siblings was brother Dr. George Livingston Peabody (who married Jane de Peyster Huggins), Philip Glendower Peabody and Julia Livingston Peabody (the wife of Charles J. Nourse). After his mother's death in 1878, his father remarried to Mary Eliza Hamilton. Mary was a cousin of Mrs. Astor, a daughter of

John Church Hamilton John Church Hamilton (August 22, 1792 − July 25, 1882) was an American historian, biographer, and lawyer. He was the son of Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Early life and education Hamilton was born on Au ...

and granddaughter of

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

, one of the

Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, often simply referred to as the Founding Fathers or the Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colon ...

. His father served one term on the

Supreme Court of New York The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

and was appointed a Provisional Judge in the District of New Orleans by President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. After Mary's death in 1887, he married for a third time to Athenia Livingston (née Bowen), the widow of James Bowen (his "old-time warm friend and associate") and daughter of Anthony Rutgers Livingston (brother to

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Robert Le Roy Livingston Robert Le Roy Livingston (October 10, 1778April 14, 1836) was a United States representative from New York. Early life Robert Le Roy Livingston was born on October 10, 1778https://digitalworks.union.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&contex ...

). A

Boston Brahmin The Boston Brahmins are members of Boston's historic upper class. From the late 19th century through the mid-20th century, they were often associated with a cultivated New England accent, Harvard University, Anglicanism, and traditional Britis ...

, his paternal grandparents were Samuel Peabody (son of Capt. Richard Peabody of the Revolutionary War who commanded a Company at

Fort Ticonderoga Fort Ticonderoga (), formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century star fort built by the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in northern New York. It was constructed between October 1755 and 1757 by French-Canadian ...

and Lake George) and Abigail (née Wood) Peabody. His maternal grandparents were James Duane Livingston and Sarah (née Swift) Livingston. Among his maternal family, all descendants of Robert Livingston, the 3rd Lord of

Livingston Manor Livingston Manor was a tract of land in the Province of New York granted to Robert Livingston the Elder during the reign of George I of Great Britain. Located between the Hudson River and the Massachusetts border, the Livingston Manor was locate ...

, was aunt Alice Craufurd Livingston (wife of John Howard Tillotson), uncle Charles James Livingston (husband of Charlotte Lucia Merry) and aunt Louisa Livingston (wife of Oliver Hewlett Jones). Peabody attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he played on the college's

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-st ...

and was a member of the Fraternity of Delta Psi (

St. Anthony Hall St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great. The fraternity is a non–religious, nonsectar ...

), graduating with the class of 1869, before attending

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

, where he graduated in 1871.

Career

After his admission to the bar in the 1870s, Peabody became a member of his father's firm, Peabody, Baker & Peabody, a law office at 2

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

in downtown Manhattan. In 1875, Peabody was elected to represent

New York County Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

's 11th district in the 99th New York State Legislature, serving from January 1 until December 31, 1876, when he was succeeded by Elliot C. Cowdin. His father ran for Surrogate in 1876. After his father's death in 1901, the firm continued under the name Baker & Peabody with Fisher Ames Baker as senior partner. Baker was the uncle of

George Fisher Baker George Fisher Baker (March 27, 1840 – May 2, 1931) was an American financier and philanthropist. Known as the "Dean of American Banking", he was also known for his taciturnity. Baker made a fortune after the American Civil War, Civil War in rai ...

, former president of Astor National Bank, of which Peabody served as the first vice-president upon its formation in 1898. From 1893, until shortly before his death, Peabody was a trustee of the estate of the first

John Jacob Astor John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor; July 17, 1763 – March 29, 1848) was a German-born American businessman, merchant, real estate mogul, and investor. Astor made his fortune mainly in a fur trade monopoly, by exporting History of opiu ...

, and was associated with

William Waldorf Astor William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor (31 March 1848 – 18 October 1919) was an American-English attorney, politician, hotelier, publisher and philanthropist. Astor was a scion of the very wealthy Astor family of New York City. He moved t ...

for many years as his representative in the United States after Astor moved to England. Peabody also assisted with the creation of the Harriman State Park in 1910, through

Mary Williamson Harriman Mary Williamson Averell Harriman (July 22, 1851 – November 7, 1932) was an American philanthropist and the wife of railroad executive E. H. Harriman. Born in New York to a successful family, Averell married Harriman in 1879. Averell's father ...

(widow of railroad executive E. H. Harriman, with whom Peabody worked extensively) and Governor

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American politician, academic, and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

. After the "sensational insurance investigations by the Armstrong committee," Peabody was appointed president of the Mutual Life Insurance Company on January 1, 1906, and worked from 32 Nassau Street. When asked for an autobiography at the time of his appointment, he replied:

"I am a lawyer and have practiced in this city for about thirty years. There is nothing very exciting about my professional career. The only break in it was a short period during which I served in the State Legislature. The story of my life is just like that of a hundred other lawyers who work all the time at their profession and take an occasional day off on which to play."

By the time of his retirement from Mutual Life on September 1, 1927, he was "recognized as a leader in the advance of life insurance in America," and "in increasing the soundness of its foundations and in raising the esteem in which the business is held by the public." Peabody was succeeded as president by

David F. Houston David Franklin Houston (February 17, 1866 – September 2, 1940) was an American academic, businessman and conservative Democrat. Born in Monroe, North Carolina, he obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina and his ...

, the former

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

and

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

(under President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

). At various times throughout his life, he served on the board of directors, or trustees, of City Bank-Farmers Trust Company, Mutual Life Insurance Company, Wells Fargo & Co., the Astor Trust Company,

Oregon Short Line Railroad The Oregon Short Line Railroad was a railroad in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Montana and Oregon in the United States. The line was organized as the Oregon Short Line Railway in 1881 as a subsidiary of the Union Pacific Railway. The Union Pacific int ...

Central of Georgia Railway The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was constr ...

, Church Pension Fund, Delaware and Hudson Company (where he was a member of the board of managers), the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

and the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

Personal life

On January 27, 1880, Peabody was married to Charlotte Anita Damon (1842–1912), the daughter of Anita (née Fales) Damon and John Wade Damon. Together, they lived at 224

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stree ...

in New York and had a country place at

Cold Spring Harbor Cold Spring Harbor is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Huntington, in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island in New York. As of the 2010 United States census, the CDP population was 5,070. History Cold S ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. Charlotte and Charles were the parents of two boys and one girl, including: * Julian Livingston Peabody (1881–1935), an architect who married Celestine Eustis Hitchcock, daughter of Thomas Hitchcock Sr. and niece of

William Corcoran Eustis William Corcoran Eustis (July 20, 1862 – November 24, 1921) was a captain in the United States Army and the personal assistant to General John J. Pershing during World War I. He was chairman of the inauguration committee for the first ina ...

. Both Julian and his wife died in the marine disaster, the sinking of the SS ''Mohawk'' off the coast of New Jersey in January 1935. * John Damon Peabody (1883–1944), a 1906

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

graduate who married Mary Cunningham Bishop, daughter of James Cunningham Bishop. * Anita Livingston Peabody (1884–1960), who married polo player Hamilton Haddon (1885–1963), the son of J. E. Smith Hadden, in 1913. Peabody was a member of the University Club, the Metropolitan Club, the

Piping Rock Club Piping Rock Club is a country club in Matinecock, New York. It falls within the ZIP Code boundaries of Locust Valley, New York, in Nassau County, on Long Island. History The Piping Rock clubhouse was designed by American designer Guy Lowel ...

, the

Tuxedo Club The Tuxedo Club is a private member-owned country club located on West Lake Road in the village of Tuxedo Park, New York, in the Ramapo Mountains. Founded in 1886 by Pierre Lorillard IV, its facilities now include an 18-hole golf course, lawn te ...

, and was a member of the

Sons of the Revolution The Sons of the Revolution (SR), formally the General Society of the Sons of the Revolution (GSSR), is a patriotic organization headquartered at Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. A nonprofit corporation, the Sons of the Revolution was foun ...

. His wife died at their Madison Avenue home in New York City on February 3, 1912. After his wife's death, Peabody moved to 635

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a boulevard in New York City that carries north and southbound traffic in the borough (New York City), boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the wes ...

on Manhattan's

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...

, where he died on April 26, 1931. After a funeral at the Church of the Resurrection at 119

East 74th Street 74th Street is an east–west street carrying pedestrian traffic and eastbound automotive/bicycle traffic in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It runs through the Upper East Side neighborhood (in ZIP code 10021, where it is known as East ...

, he was buried alongside his wife at

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery, located in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first rural or garden cemetery in the United States. It is the burial site of many prominent Boston Brahmins, and is a National Historic Landmark. Dedicated in ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

Descendants

Through his eldest son, he was a grandfather of Julian Livingston Peabody Jr. (1914–2014), a lawyer with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby, and Daphne Peabody, who married Edward Eugene Murray, a

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

graduate who was the son of the Democratic

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from Montana, James E. Murray, in 1944.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peabody, Charles A. 1849 births 1931 deaths Livingston family Columbia Law School alumni Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly Columbia College (New York) alumni Peabody family St. Anthony Hall 19th-century members of the New York State Legislature