A life-long friend of the people of Columbus can be found in the person of George Foster Peabody. Although his impactful career occurred elsewehre, his life began and concluded near Columbus with the benefits of his presence here still enduring after nearly a century.

By Jack Schley

As the eldest child and first son of George Henry and Elvira Canfield Peabody, George Foster’s early childhood experiences in Columbus provided the foundation for his charitable character and business interests that define his legacy today. The City of Columbus was booming in 1852, the year of his birth. The industrial era had just arrived to the city with the completion of the railroad and the opening of textile mills. Trains, steamboats, and stagecoaches brought people from far and wide to find opportunity in Columbus. George Foster’s father and mother had done just that years earlier when they arrived to the frontier town of Columbus to open a general store.

Home of the George Peabody family on Second Avenue in Columbus, where the family was living during the Civil War.

Education was gained at home for Peabody who was the student of his mother. Mrs. Elvira Peabody taught George to read from the Bible and encouraged him to always be engaged in thought. Life lessons also came from working in his father’s store on Broadway in downtown Columbus. The Peabody family lived on Second Avenue by 1860, in the brick house that remains standing today across from the Rankin House. From within this home many memories were forged that George Foster would recall for decades to come. He remembered the beginning of the Civil War when he watched fireworks and parades through the streets of Columbus. He also could recall the day of the Battle of Columbus in April of 1865. His family listened to the roar of the conflict just a few blocks away then sat down to have their breakfast. As they began to eat, the front door of the house was thrown open and soldiers ordered the family away from the table. As the food was confiscated, the house was raided for other valuables. George observed a similar scene outside of his home. Smoke and ash filled the air from the burning buildings, stores were looted, and wounded soldiers were being quartered wherever shelter could be found, including in the Peabody home. Mr. Peabody’s store in Columbus was not spared from the chaos.

A large stock of shoes was cleaned out, and very little was left behind. It took only a short time, as George Foster later recalled, for the people of Columbus to begin to rebuild the town. Mr. Peabody planned to reopen his store by traveling North to purchase supplies. It was decided that during his trip he would also enroll his sons in proper schools. On the day George Foster left Columbus, he could hear the sounds of construction as the town was rebuilt from the ruins of the Civil War.

Mr. and Mrs. Peabody decided to leave Columbus shortly after their children departed for school. The family relocated to Brooklyn, New York. Financial troubles soon developed, and George Foster had to leave the only formal education he had received to this point in his young life to begin working to support the family. His days were spent as an errand boy for mercantile houses in New York. Then he would return home where the family took in boarders to supplement the family income. When the work day finally ended, George Foster would retreat to the Brooklyn Y.M.C.A. to read by lamp light from the library there. He later referred to the Y.M.C.A. library as his “Alma Mater” because it was there that his passion for literature was ignited and lifelong dedication to the Y.M.C.A. began.

Broadway in historic downtown Columbus were the Peabody General Store was located before the Civil War.

As a young adult, George Foster was approached by a close friend about joining in an investment banking partnership. George was hesitant to do so because this friend, Spencer Trask, had married George’s childhood sweetheart. Peabody explain to Trask that he was in love with Mrs. Trask; to which, Spencer replied, “I don’t blame you . . . I am in love with her myself.” That settled the matter, and a successful partnership began.

The year was 1881, and the United States was industrializing. As investment bankers, Trask and Peabody financed railroads, manufacturing, and electric companies. Peabody served on the board of directors for many of the companies they financed. They proved to be wise investors and intelligent businessmen over a long career as their success, and the success of their companies, allowed them to amass a great fortune. At age 54, Peabody was injured while stepping off a train which forced him into a recovery bed for several weeks. During that time, he reflected on his success, the childhood teachings of his mother, and how little education he had been allowed to enjoy.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt swimming in the pools at Warm Springs at the initial suggestion of George F. Peabody as therapy for polio.

The U.S. economy was growing, due in part to some of Peabody’s work, but there were people who he thought were being left behind as a result of this growth. When he recovered from his injury, he announced he intended to retire from business.

With business off his mind and ample wealth at his disposal, George Foster Peabody began to explore how he could use his wealth to improve quality of life in America. He never forgot his childhood in Georgia, or his early working years in New York. He had been a financial backer of big industry, and now he would be a philanthropist supporting what he thought was essential to success: religion and education. He quietly began to make donations to charitable causes. He was a great supporter of education for all citizens by contributing to institutions like the University of Georgia and the Tuskegee Institute. He funded the building of Y.M.C.A. facilities across the country, including the historic marble Y.M.C.A. in Columbus on 11th Street. He also financed the purchase of organs for churches all over the country.

Recalling his childhood vacations to Warm Springs, Georgia, which was a popular summer retreat in the 1800s, Peabody had the spring water tested for a theory that the springs could be used for therapeutic purposes. He purchased the springs and the surrounding land in 1923 and it was George F. Peabody that suggested bathing in the springs to Franklin D. Roosevelt, later President of the U.S., as therapy for polio. After that first successful visit by Roosevelt, he and Peabody planned to create the Warm Springs Foundation which would run a clinic in Warm Springs for those suffering from polio. Peabody built a winter cottage in Warm Springs and served on the board of trustees of the foundation. His friendship with Roosevelt later permitted him to participate in President Roosevelt’s New Deal. Using his interests in agriculture and conservation, Peabody helped develop the programming for the Tennessee Valley Authority which mapped the Tennessee Valley and provided electricity to the rural south.

His later years were characterized by illness but Peabody continued to support his charitable causes. He would retreat to his cottage at Warm Springs to enjoy the fresh air coming off Pine Mountain. It was there in 1938 that George Foster Peabody died. He was hailed as one of the great philanthropists of his era for his faith in the American way of life and his belief that every American was capable of greatness through education and opportunity. Today, his name is annually invoked through the University of Georgia’s George Foster Peabody Award which recognizes excellence in television, radio, and online broadcasting.

GEORGE F. PEABODY