Kernwood. Residence of S. E. Peabody, Salem, Mass.

Abstract

Samuel Endicott Peabody, of the famous Peabody family, and distantly related to the philanthropist George Peabody, spent one year at Harvard before realizing that a college course and all that it promised was not the life for him. Samuel embarked on a voyage at sea in one of his father’s ships and upon returning he joined with Francis Curtis to form Curtis & Peabody. This business continued for many years, and found success in the China and India trade. Peabody married and had five children. In 1871 he moved his family to England where he became a partner in J.S. Morgan & Company, a business founded by George Peabody. After eight years in England, he brought his family back to the States, buying his father’s old estate, Kernwood, in Salem. He hoped to retire from business upon his return to America but he found that retirement did not suit him. Peabody went back to work, holding positions of authority in a number of other companies until his death in 1909.