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THREE LETTERS 
 
 MR. GEORGE PEABODY 
 
 WHO ESTABLISHED 
 
 THE PEABODY EDUCATION FUND 
 
 A. D. 1867 
 
THREE LETTERS 
 
 MR. GEORGE PEABODY 
 
 WHO ESTABLISHED 
 
 THE PEABODY EDUCATION FUND 
 
 A. D. 1867 
 
 CAMBRIDGE 
 
 UNIVERSITY PRESS: JOHN WILSON AND SON 
 1910 
 

 l^K J 1311 
 
TRUSTEES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PEABODY EDUCATION FUND. 
 
 THE BOARD ORIGINALLY APPOINTED BY MR. PEABODY, 
 ALL NOW DECEASED. 
 
 Hon. Robert C. Winthrop .... Massachusetts. 
 
 Hon. Hamilton Fish Neiv York. 
 
 Right Rev. Charles P. McIlvaine . . Ohio. 
 
 General U. S. Grant United States Army, 
 
 Admiral D. G. Farragut United States Navy. 
 
 Hon. William C. Rives Virgi7iia. 
 
 Hon. John H. Clifford Massachusetts, 
 
 Hon. William Aiken South Carolina. 
 
 Hon. William M. Evarts Nezv York. 
 
 Hon. William A. Graham North Carolina. 
 
 Charles Macalester, Esq Pennsylvania. 
 
 George W. Riggs, Esq Washington. 
 
 Samuel Wetmore, Esq New York. 
 
 Edward A. Bradford, Esq. (resigned) . Louisiana. 
 
 George N. Eaton, Esq Maryland. . 
 
 George Peabody Russell, Esq. (resigned) Massachusetts. 
 
TRUSTEES 
 
 PEABODY EDUCATION FUND 
 
 CHOSEN IN ACCORDANCE WITH MR. PEABODY'S 
 LETTER CREATING THE TRUST. 
 
 *Hon. Samuel Watson Tennessee, 
 
 *Hon. A. H. H. Stuart (resigned) . . Virginia. 
 
 * General Richard Taylor Louisiana. 
 
 * Surgeon- General Joseph K. Barnes, U.S.A. Washington. 
 ♦Chief- Justice Morrison R. Waite . . . IVashingion. 
 
 * Right Rev. Henry B. Whipple .... Minnesota. 
 *Hon. Henry R. Jackson (resigned) . . Georgia. 
 
 * Colonel Theodore Lyman (resigned) . . Massachusetts. 
 
 * Ex- President Rutherford B. Hayes . . Ohio. 
 
 *Hon. Thomas C. Manning Louisiana. 
 
 ♦Anthony J. Drexel, Esq Pennsylvania. 
 
 Hon. Samuel A. Green Massachusetts. 
 
 Hon. James D. Porter Teniiessee. 
 
 J. PiERPONT Morgan, Esq New York. 
 
 * Ex- President Grover Cleveland (resigned) New Jersey. 
 ♦Hon. Willum A. Courtenay .... South Carolina. 
 
 ♦Hon. Charles Devens Massachusetts. 
 
 ♦Hon. Randall L. Gibson Louisiana. 
 
 ♦Chief-Justice Melville W. Fuller . . Washington. 
 
 *Hon. William Wirt Henry ..... Virginia. 
 
 Hon. Henderson M. Somerville . . . Alabama. 
 
 ♦Hon. William C. Endicoit (resigned) . Massachusetts. 
 
 Hon. Joseph H. Choate ...... New York 
 
TRUSTEES OF THE PEABODY EDUCATION FUND. 
 
 *George VV. Childs, Esq Pennsylvania. 
 
 Hon. Charles E. Fenner Louisiana. 
 
 *Daniel C. Oilman, LL.D Mary/atid. 
 
 Hon. George Peabody Wetmore . . . Rhode Island. 
 
 *Hon. John Lowell Massachusetts. 
 
 *Hon. George F. Hoar Massachusetts. 
 
 Hon. Richard Olney Massachusetts, 
 
 * President William McKinley .... Washington. 
 
 Hon. Theodore Roosevelt Washington. 
 
 Hon. Hoke Smith Georgia. 
 
 Right Rev. William C. Doane .... New York. 
 
 * Morris K. Jesup, Esq New York. 
 
 Right Rev. William Lawrence .... Massachusetts. 
 
 Grenville L. Winthrop, Esq Neiv York. 
 
 Hon. Martin F. Ansel South Carolina. 
 
 *Hon. John W. Daniel Virginia. 
 
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD AT THE 
 PRESENT TIME. 
 
 Hon. Samuel A. Green Massachusetts. 
 
 Hon. James D. Porter Tetmessee. 
 
 J. PiERPONT Morgan, Esq New York. 
 
 Hon. Henderson M. Somerville .... Alabama. 
 
 Hon. Joseph H. Choate Ne7i> York. 
 
 Hon. Charles E. Fenner Louisiana. 
 
 Hon. George Peabody Wetmore .... Rhode Island. 
 
 Hon. Richard Olney Massachusetts. 
 
 Hon, Theodore Roosevelt Washington. 
 
 Hon. Hoke Smith Georgia. 
 
 Right Rev. William C. Doane New York. 
 
 Right Rev. William Lawrence Massachusetts. 
 
 Grenville L. Winthrop, Esq Neiv York. 
 
 Hon. Mariin F. Ansel South Carolina 
 
 Prof. WiCKLiFFK Rose, Gejteral Agent, Washington, D. C. 
 to whom communications may be sent. 
 
THESE letters of Mr, Peabody are here 
 reprinted for the use of the Trustees 
 of the Peabody Education Fund. At 
 the time when the Fund was estabHshed it was 
 the largest sum of money that had been given 
 by anyone in this country for benevolent or 
 educational purposes. It is the unanimous tes- 
 timony of persons familiar with the facts that 
 the benefit arising from the gift has been great 
 and beyond calculation; and not the least has 
 been from the example then set, and since fol- 
 lowed by other benefactors. 
 
 S. A. G. 
 
 Boston, December, 1910. 
 
THREE LETTERS 
 
 OF 
 
 GEORGE PEABODY 
 
 FIRST LETTER 
 
 To Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, of Massachusetts ; Hon. 
 Hamilton Fish, of New York ; Right Rev. Charles P. 
 Mcllvaine, of Ohio ; General U. S. Grant, of the United 
 States Army; Hon. William C. Rives, of Virginia; Hon. 
 John H. Clifford, of Massachusetts ; Hon. William Aiken, 
 of South Carolina ; William M. Evarts, Esq., of New 
 York ; Hon, William A. Graham, of North Carolina ; 
 Charles Macalester, Esq., of Pennsylvania ; George W. 
 Riggs, Esq., of Washington ; Samuel Wetmore, Esq., of 
 New York ; Edward A. Bradford, Esq., of Louisiana ; 
 George N. Eaton, Esq., of Maryland, and George Peabody 
 Russell, Esq., of Massachusetts. 
 
 Gentlemen: I beg to address you on a subject 
 which occupied my mind long before I left England, 
 and in regard to which one at least of you (the Hon. 
 Mr. Winthrop, the distinguished and valued friend to 
 whom I am so much indebted for cordial sympathy, 
 careful consideration, and wise counsel in this matter) 
 will remember that I consulted him immediately upon 
 my arrival in May last. 
 
 I refer to the educational needs of those portions 
 of our beloved and common country which have 
 suffered from the destructive ravages, and the not 
 less disastrous consequences, of the Civil War. 
 
lO THREE LETTERS OF GEORGE PEABODY 
 
 With my advancing years, my attachment to my 
 native land has but become more devoted. My hope 
 and faith in its successful and glorious future have 
 grown brighter and stronger; and now, looking for- 
 ward beyond my stay on earth, as may be permitted 
 to one who has passed the limit of threescore and 
 ten years, I see our country, united and prosperous, 
 emerging from the clouds which still surround her, 
 taking a higher rank among the nations, and becoming 
 richer and more powerful than ever before. 
 
 But to make her prosperity more than superficial, 
 her moral and intellectual development should keep 
 pace with her material growth, and, in those portions 
 of our nation to which I have referred, the urgent and 
 pressing physical needs of an almost impoverished 
 people must for some years preclude them from 
 making, by unaided effort, such advances in education, 
 and such progress in the diffusion of knowledge, among 
 all classes, as every lover of his country must earnestly 
 desire. 
 
 I feel most deeply, therefore, that it is the duty and 
 privilege of the more favored and wealthy portions 
 of our nation to assist those who are less fortunate ; 
 and, with the wish to discharge so far as I may be 
 able my own responsibility in this matter, as well as 
 to gratify my desire to aid those to whom I am bound 
 by so many ties of attachment and regard, I give to 
 you, gentlemen, most of whom have been my personal 
 and especial friends, the sum of one million of dollars, 
 to be by you and your successors held in trust, and 
 the income thereof used and applied in your discretion 
 for the promotion and encouragement of intellectual, 
 moral, or industrial education among the young of 
 the more destitute portions of the Southern and 
 
THREE LETTERS OF GEORGE PEABODY II 
 
 Southwestern States of our Union ; my purpose being 
 that the benefits intended shall be distributed among 
 the entire population, without other distinction than 
 their needs, and the opportunities of usefulness to 
 them. 
 
 Besides the income thus derived, I give to you per- 
 mission to use from the principal sum, within the next 
 two years, an amount not exceeding forty per cent. 
 
 In addition to this gift, I place in your hands bonds 
 of the State of Mississippi, issued to the Planters' 
 Bank, and commonly known as Planters' Bank bonds, 
 amounting, with interest, to about eleven hundred 
 thousand dollars, the amount realized by you from 
 which is to be added to and used for the purpose of 
 this Trust. 
 
 These bonds were originally issued in payment for 
 stock in that Bank held by the State, and amounting 
 in all to only two millions of dollars. For many years, 
 the State received large dividends from that Bank 
 over and above the interest on these bonds. The 
 State paid the interest without interruption till 1840, 
 since which no interest has been paid, except a pay- 
 ment of about one hundred thousand dollars, which 
 was found in the treasury applicable to the payment 
 of the coupons, and paid by a mandamun of the 
 Supreme Court. The validity of these bonds has 
 never been questioned, and they must not be con- 
 founded with another issue of bonds made by the 
 State to the Union Bank, the recognition of which 
 has been a subject of controversy with a portion of 
 the population of Mississippi. 
 
 Various acts of the Legislature, — viz., of February 
 28, 1842; February 23, 1844; February 16, 1846; 
 February 28, 1 846 ; March 4, 1 848, — and the highest 
 
12 THREE LETTERS OF GEORGE PEABODY 
 
 judicial tribunal of the State, have confirmed their 
 validity; and I have no doubt that at an early day 
 such legislation will be had as to make these bonds 
 available in increasing the usefulness of the present 
 Trust. 
 
 Mississippi, though now depressed, is rich in agri- 
 cultural resources, and cannot long disregard the 
 moral obligation resting upon her to make provision 
 for their payment. In confirmation of what I have 
 said, in regard to the legislative and judicial action 
 concerning the State bonds issued to the Planters' 
 Bank, I herewith place in your hands the documents 
 marked A. 
 
 The details and organization of the Trust I leave 
 with you, only requesting that Mr. Winthrop may be 
 Chairman, and Governor Fish and Bishop Mcllvaine, 
 Vice-Chairmen, of your body : and I give to you power 
 to make all necessary by-laws and regulations ; to 
 obtain an Act of Incorporation, if any shall be found 
 expedient ; to provide for the expenses of the Trustees 
 and of any agents appointed by them ; and, generally, 
 to do all such acts as may be necessary for carrying 
 out the provisions of this Trust. 
 
 All vacancies occurring in your number by death, 
 resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled by your 
 election as soon as conveniently may be, and having 
 in view an equality of representation so far as regards 
 the Northern and Southern States. 
 
 I furthermore give to you the power, in case two- 
 thirds the Trustees shall at any time, after the lapse 
 of thirty years, deem it expedient, to close this Trust, 
 and, of the funds which at that time shall be in the 
 hands of yourselves and your successors, to distribute 
 not less than two-thirds among such educational or 
 
THREE LETTERS OF GEORGE PEABODY 1 3 
 
 literary institutions, or for such educational purposes, 
 as they may determine, in the States for whose benefit 
 the income is now appointed to be used. The re- 
 mainder may be distributed by the Trustees for 
 educational or literary purposes, wherever they may 
 deem it expedient. 
 
 In making this gift, I am aware that the fund de- 
 rived from it can but aid the States which I wish to 
 benefit in their own exertions to diffuse the blessings 
 of education and morality. But if this endowment 
 shall encourage those now anxious for the light 
 of knowledge, and stimulate to new efforts the 
 many good and noble men who cherish the high 
 purpose of placing our great country foremost, 
 not only in power, but in the intelligence and 
 virtue of her citizens, it will have accomplished 
 all that I can hope. 
 
 With reverent recognition of the need of the blessing 
 of Almighty God upon this gift, and with the fervent 
 prayer that under His guidance your counsels may 
 be directed for the highest good of present and 
 future generations in our beloved country, I am, 
 gentlemen, with great respect. 
 
 Your humble servant, 
 
 GEORGE PEABODY. 
 Washington, February 7, 1867. 
 
SECOND LETTER 
 
 To Hon. Robert C Winthrop ; Hon. Hamilton Fish ; Rt. 
 Rev. Charles P. Mcllvaine ; General U. S. Grant ; 
 Admiral D. G. Farragut ; Hon. Wm. C. Rives ; Hon. 
 John H. Clifford; Hon. Wm. Aiken; Hon. W. M. 
 Evarts ; Hon. Wm, A. Graham; Charles Macalester, 
 Esq. ; Geo. W. Riggs, Esq. ; Samuel Wetmore, Esq. ; 
 Edward A. Bradford, Esq. ; George N. Eaton, Esq. ; 
 and George Peabody Russell, Esq. 
 
 Gentlemen : Understanding that a doubt has been 
 expressed in regard to my intentions and instructions 
 on the subject of the distribution of the fund entrusted 
 to your care for the purpose of education in the 
 Southern and Southwestern States, I desire distinctly 
 to say to you, that my design was to leave an absolute 
 discretion to the Board of Trustees, as to the localities 
 in which the funds should from time to time be 
 expended. 
 
 I hope that all the States included in that part 
 of our country which is suffering from the results of 
 the recent war may, sooner or later, according to 
 their needs, receive more or less of the benefit of 
 the fund. 
 
 But it was not my design to bind my Trustees 
 to distribute the benefits of the fund upon any 
 measure or proportion among the States, or to create 
 any claim on the part of any State to any distributive 
 share. 
 
 Still less did I design to submit the Trustees, 
 collectively or individually, to any responsibility to 
 those intended to be benefited, or to any individual 
 
I 6 THREE LETTERS OF GEORGE PEABODY 
 
 responsibility of any sort, for the management of 
 the fund committed to them. 
 
 I have entire confidence that they will discharge 
 the Trust with wisdom, equity, and fidelity; and I 
 leave all the details of management to their own 
 discretion. 
 
 With great respect, your humble servant, 
 
 GEORGE PEABODY. 
 New York, March 20, 1867. 
 
THIRD LETTER 
 
 To Hon. Robert C. Winthrop ; Hon. Hamilton Fish ; Rt. 
 Rev. Charles P. Mcllvaine ; His Excellency U. S. Grant, 
 President of the United States ; Admiral D. G. Farragut ; 
 Hon. John H. Chfford; Hon. Wm. Aiken; Hon. W. M. 
 Evarts; Hon. Wm. A. Graham; Charles Macalester, 
 Esq. ; Geo. VV. Riggs, Esq. ; Samuel Wetmore, Esq. ; 
 Hon. E. A. Bradford ; George N. Eaton, Esq. ; George 
 Peabody Russell, Esq. ; and Hon. Samuel Watson, 
 Trustees of the Peabody Education Fund. 
 
 Gentlejnen : When I established the Trust of which 
 you have charge, it was my intention, if its results 
 and progress should prove satisfactory, to return in 
 three years to my native land, and to make further 
 provision for carrying out the plans which experience 
 should have shown to be productive of encourage- 
 ment and benefit to the people of the South. 
 
 My precarious state of health has rendered it 
 imprudent for me to wait for the full period of my 
 intended absence ; and I have now come among you 
 in order to proceed at once to the fulfilment of my 
 purpose, 
 
 I have constantly watched with great interest and 
 careful attention the proceedings of your Board, and it 
 is most gratifying to me now to be able to express 
 my warmest thanks for the interest and zeal you 
 have manifested in maturing and carrying out the 
 designs of my letter of trust, and to assure you of 
 my cordial concurrence in all the steps you have 
 taken. 
 
15 THREE LETTERS OF GEORGE PEABODY 
 
 At the same time I must not omit to congratulate 
 you, and all who have at heart the best interests of 
 this educational enterprise, upon your obtaining the 
 highly valuable services of Dr. Sears as your General 
 Agent, — services valuable not merely in the organiza- 
 tion of schools and of a system of public education, 
 but in the good effect which his conciliatory and 
 sympathizing course has had wherever he has met 
 or become associated with the communities of the 
 South, in social or business relations. 
 
 And I beg to take this opportunity of thanking, 
 with all my heart, the people of the South themselves 
 for the cordial spirit with which they have received 
 the Trust, and for the energetic efforts which they 
 have made in co-operation with yourselves and Dr. 
 Sears, for carrying out the plans which have been 
 proposed and matured for the diffusion of the bless- 
 ings of education in their respective States. 
 
 Hitherto, under the system adopted by your General 
 Agent and sanctioned by you, four of the Southern 
 States have not been assisted from the Fund placed 
 in your charge, and I concur with you in the policy 
 thus pursued ; as I am sure will the citizens 6f 
 those four States, and all who have at heart th^ 
 highest permanent good of our beloved country.^ 
 For it was most necessary that, at the outset, those' 
 States and portions of States which had suffered 
 most from the ravages of war, and were most desti- 
 tute of educational means and privileges, should be 
 first and specially aided. 
 
 I believe the good sense and kind feeling of the 
 people of these States will continue to acquiesce, for 
 the present, in your course of devoting, under the 
 care of Dr. Sears, the greater part of the Fund to 
 
THREE LETTERS OF GEORGE PEABODY 1 9 
 
 the same States which have received its benefits for 
 the past two years, with perhaps the addition of 
 Texas, which State I am advised the General Agent 
 will visit during the coming autumn or winter, to 
 ascertain its educational requirements, and to give 
 such aid as shall be requisite and can be afforded, 
 where it shall be most needed. 
 
 I have the same sympathy with every one of the 
 States; and, were all alike needing assistance, I 
 should wish each alike to share in the benefits of 
 the Trust. 
 
 As the portions aided shall respectively grow in 
 posterity and become self-sustaining in their systems 
 of education, their respective allotments of the Fund 
 will be applied to other destitute communities; and 
 thus its benefits will, I earnestly hope and trust, 
 ultimately reach every section of the vast field com- 
 mitted to your care. 
 
 It is my hope and belief, and this opinion is fully 
 confirmed by my interviews with Dr. Sears, that, with 
 the additional amount which I now place in your 
 hands, the annual income of the Fund alone may be 
 found sufficient to sustain and extend the work you 
 have so well begun ; and it is my desire that when 
 the Trust is closed, and the final distribution made 
 by yourselves or your successors, all the fourteen 
 Southern States, including Maryland, Kentucky, 
 Missouri, and Texas, shall share in that distribution 
 according to their needs. ^ 
 
 In accordance with what I have already said of my 
 intention, at the time I established this Trust, to add 
 thereto, if its success were such as I am now well 
 assured has attended it, I now give to you and your 
 successors the following securities, viz, : — 
 
20 THREE LETTERS OF GEORGE PEABODY 
 
 $190,000 Belvidere and Delaware Railroad Com- 
 pany's 6 per cent bonds, first mortgage; dividends 
 15th June and 15th December, due 1877; principal 
 and interest guaranteed by the Camden and Amboy 
 Railroad Company and New Jersey Transportation 
 Company. 
 
 $301,025 Syracuse and Binghampton Railroad Com- 
 pany 7 per cent bonds ($198,500 due in 1876, 
 dividends October ist and April ist; $4,525 payable 
 October ist, 1870; $98,000 dividends from ist June, 
 due in 1887). This is an excellent road, and the 
 stock at par, but the security is rendered perfect 
 by the guarantee of both principal and interest by 
 the Lackawanna Coal Company of Pennsylvania. 
 
 $79,200 Alabama State 5 per cent bonds ($16,200 
 due 1886; $21,000 due 1872; $42,000 due in 1883; 
 dividends from November ist). 
 
 $35,300 Mobile City 5 per cent bonds; dividends 
 from July ist. Principal to be gradually paid off. 
 
 $79,000 City of Louisville 6 per cent bonds; 
 dividends April and October. Due 1883. 
 
 $69,600 Louisiana Consolidated Bank 5's, fully 
 guaranteed by State of Louisiana, and payable in 
 1870, 1872, 1874, and 1876. 
 
 $88,000 Ohio and Mississippi Railroad first mort- 
 gage 7 per cent bonds; dividends ist July and ist 
 January, all payable July i, 1872. 
 
 $90,000 Columbus, Chicago, and Indiana Central 
 Railroad first mortgage bonds, 7 per cent; dividends 
 1st April and 1st October. Due in 1908. Guaranteed 
 by Pennsylvania Central Railroad Company. 
 
 $30,000 Pittsburg City 4 per cent bonds ; dividends 
 January and July. Due in 1913. 
 
THREE LETTERS OF GEORGE PEABODY 21 
 
 $8,000 Pittsburg City 5 per cent bonds; dividends 
 January and July. Due in 1913. 
 
 $19,000 Louisiana State 6's; dividends January 
 and July. 
 
 $10,000 New Orleans City 6's; dividends January 
 and July. 
 
 $875 cash. 
 
 Amounting in all to one million of dollars. These 
 stocks are all of the very highest character for 
 security, and the dividends are certain to be promptly 
 paid. 
 
 The principal sum of one million of dollars, given 
 by my first letter of trust, is still intact ; the interest on 
 which being added to that of my present gift makes 
 the annual revenue of the Trust upwards of one 
 hundred and thirty thousand dollars ; a sum which, 
 in the opinion of your honorable Chairman and your 
 General Agent, is amply sufficient to meet all the 
 requirements of the Trust, without infringing upon 
 the capital, until the time arrives for the final 
 distribution as before stated. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing, I give to you, Florida 
 six per cent bonds, which, with overdue coupons, 
 amount to about $384,000. 
 
 These bonds, like the Mississippi bonds in my first 
 gift, must before many years be paid. 
 
 The territory of Florida obtained the money on 
 these bonds in Europe at about par, and loaned it to 
 the Union Bank as capital. 
 
 The territory received for some time a high rate of 
 interest, but, after the bank suspended, paid the bond- 
 holders nothing, but referred them to the Union Bank, 
 saying, "Obtain what you can from the Union Bank, 
 and it will then be time enough to come to us." 
 
2 2 THREE LETTERS OF GEORGE PEABODY 
 
 Large amounts of these bonds were purchased by 
 planters at about fifty per cent, and used to pay 
 mortgages held by the Union Bank, until there was 
 nothing more left to be paid ; and the small amount 
 of these bonds now outstanding (not exceeding, I 
 believe, two millions of the original bonds) must, I 
 think, before long induce Florida, as an act of justice 
 long delayed, to make provision for their payment. 
 
 All the stocks I have given as above are to be held 
 in trust by yourselves and your successors, for the 
 same purposes and under the same conditions as the 
 funds given you by my original letter creating your 
 Trust. 
 
 I do this with the earnest hope and in the sincere 
 trust, that, with God's blessing upon the gift and upon 
 the deliberations and future action of yourselves and 
 your General Agent, it may enlarge the sphere of 
 usefulness already entered upon and prove a per- 
 manent and lasting boon, not only to the Southern 
 States, but to the whole of our dear country, which I 
 have ever loved so well, but never so much as now in 
 my declining years, and at this time (probably the 
 last occasion I shall ever have to address you) as 
 I look back over the changes 'and the progress 
 of nearly three quarters of a century. And I pray 
 that Almighty God will grant to it a future as 
 happy and noble in the intelligence and virtues of its 
 citizens, as will be glorious in unexampled power 
 and prosperity. 
 
 I am, with great respect. 
 
 Your humble servant, 
 
 GEORGE PEABODY. 
 Salem, June 29, 1869. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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