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George Peabody (February 18, 1795 - November 4, 1869) was an entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Peabody Institute. He was born in what was then Danvers, Massachusetts (now Peabody, Massachusetts), to a middle class family. His birthplace at 205 Washington Street in Peabody is now the George Peabody House Museum ([1]), a museum dedicated to preserving his life and legacy. One of George Peabody's longtime business associates and friends was the renowned banker and art patron, William Wilson Corcoran. While serving as a volunteer in the War of 1812, Peabody (pronounced PEE-buh-dee) met Elisha Riggs, who, in 1814, provided financial backing for the wholesale dry goods firm of Peabody, Riggs, and Company. In 1816, Peabody moved to Baltimore, where he would live for the next 20 years. And in 1837, Peabody settled in London, where he would spend the rest of his life. In 1851 he founded George Peabody and Company to meet the increasing demand for securities issued by the American railroads and three years later went into partnership with Junius Spencer Morgan (father of J. P. Morgan) to form Peabody, Morgan and Co., where the two financiers worked together until Peabody’s retirement in 1864. On his retirement, the firm was renamed J. S. Morgan & Co. The former UK merchant bank Morgan Grenfell (now part of Deutsche Bank), international universal bank JPMorgan Chase and investment bank Morgan Stanley can all trace their roots to Peabody's bank. (Chernow: The House of Morgan)
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