Robert Swain Peabody (February 20, 1845 – September 23, 1917) was a prominent

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who was the cofounder of the firm

Peabody & Stearns Peabody & Stearns was a premier architectural firm in the Eastern United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm consisted of Robert Swain Peabody (1845–1917) and John Goddard Stearns ...

Early life

Peabody was born in

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-l ...

on February 20, 1845. He was a son of Rev. Ephraim Peabody (1807–1856) and Mary Jane (née Derby) Peabody (1807–1892). His older sister, Ellen Derby Peabody, was the wife of

Charles William Eliot Charles William Eliot (March 20, 1834 – August 22, 1926) was an American academic who was president of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909, the longest term of any Harvard president. A member of the prominent Eliot family (America), Eliot fam ...

, the 21st President of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Another sister, Anna Huidekoper Peabody, was the wife of

Henry Whitney Bellows Henry Whitney Bellows (June 11, 1814 – January 30, 1882) was an American clergyman, and the planner and president of the United States Sanitary Commission, the leading soldiers' aid society, during the American Civil War. Under his leadersh ...

, president of the

United States Sanitary Commission The United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) was a private Aid agency, relief agency created by federal legislation on June 18, 1861, to support sick and wounded soldiers of the United States Army (Federal / Northern / Union Army) during the Ameri ...

. His younger brother was the Rev. Francis Greenwood Peabody, Dean of the

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

. He attended Harvard University 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, ...

and the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in nor ...

in Paris. He was in 1913 a member of Harvard's Board of Overseers.

Career

He was an early supporter of the

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

style and had an affection for English styles and the Picturesque Movement and

Beaux-Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorporated Renaissance and ...

. He was elected an Associate of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

in 1874 and a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

in 1889. He was president of the Institute from 1900 to 1901. He was also a member of the

Society of Beaux-Arts Architects A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

and the

Boston Architectural Club The Boston Architectural College (BAC) is a private college in Boston. It is New England's largest private college of spatial design. The college's main building is at 320 Newbury Street in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. History Boston Arc ...

. He was chairman of the Boston Park Commission.

Notable works

* Boston and Providence Railroad Station (1872; demolished) * The Brunswick Hotel (1873) and annex (1877) * The Boston Post Building (1874) * The New York Mutual Life Insurance Building (1874-1875; demolished in 1945) * The American Unitarian Association Building (1886; demolished) * The Assumption Church in Brookline (1878-1886) * The Exchange Building (1887) * The Stock Exchange Building (1889-1891) * Christ Church in Waltham (1897-1898) *

Custom House Tower The Custom House Tower is a skyscraper in McKinley Square, in the Financial District of Boston, Massachusetts. The original building, the Custom House, was constructed between 1837 and 1847 and was designed by Ammi Burnham Young in the Greek Rev ...

(1913-1915).

Personal life

On June 8, 1871, Peabody was married to Annie Putnam (1847–1911), the daughter of John Phelps Putnam, a Boston Aldermen, and Harriette (née Day) Putnam. Together, the couple had five children: * Ellen Peabody (1872–1877), who died in childhood. * Arthur John Peabody (1875–1875), who died in infancy. * Katherine Putnam Peabody (1877–1908).Thursday Night Hikes: East Summit Avenue * Hike Architecture Notes
/ref> * Mary Derby Peabody (1881–1910), who married Henry Russell Scott in 1910. * Robert Ephraim Peabody (b. 1887). After the death of his first wife in 1911, he remarried to Helen Lee, daughter of Charles Carroll Lee, on January 25, 1913. Peabody died on September 23, 1917, aged 72, in

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, along the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsu ...

References

External links

* * * Architects from Boston 1845 births 1917 deaths Harvard University alumni People from Marblehead, Massachusetts American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Peabody and Stearns people Peabody family {{DEFAULTSORT:Peabody, Robert Swain