Joseph Peabody
Joseph Peabody (December 9, 1757 – January 5, 1844) was a merchant and shipowner who dominated trade between Massachusetts and the Far East for a number of years. Family and career. He was descended from Francis Peabody of St. Albans, England, in 1635. He was one of the first settlers of Topsfield, Massachusetts. During the American Revolutionary War he was an officer on privateers, and acted with credit as second officer of the letter of marque "Ranger". He was captain of several merchant vessels, and his company built 83 ships. He became extremely wealthy and used that wealth for  philanthropy. Peabody was the wealthiest merchant-shipowner of Salem, Massachusetts between the embargo of 1807 and 1845. Brig "Leander". His brig "Leander" tons, built at Salem in 1821, made twenty-six voyages to Europe, Asia Minor, Africa, and the Far East in the twenty-three years of her life. Ship "George". The ship "George" was by by , displaced , and was designed somewhat like a Baltimore clipper. Built at Salem for a privateer in 1814, she was purchased by Mr. Peabody for USD $5,250. It is said that she made Salem in forty-one days from the Cape of Good  Hope in 1831. "George" made twenty-one round voyages from Salem to Calcutta between 1815 and 1837, with such regularity that she was called the "Salem Frigate." Salem vessels were always manned in part by local boys. Twenty-six of "George's" went on to become mates and forty-five captains. Pepper trade and China trade. For several years Joseph Peabody competed in the China trade, and continued the famous pepper trade between Salem, Massachusetts and Sumatra. Capture of the "Friendship" by pirates. In 1830 Peabody's ship "Friendship" was attacked and captured off the village of Quallah-Battoo (Kuala  Batee, South West Aceh, Aceh, Indonesia) by Malay pirates while loading pepper. The ship "James Monroe" of New York set out to recover the "Friendship," with the help of crew from "Governor Endicott" of New York and brig "Palmer". The pirates initially refused to surrender, but jumped overboard and fled after the three ships opened fire on the village. The following morning, four "Friendship" survivors in poor condition showed up in a small boat, having swum two miles down the coast and hidden in the jungle in order to escape the pirates. In reprisal for the massacre of the crew  of the "Friendship", a punitive expedition was launched in 1832, now known as the First Sumatran Expedition. Family. In 1791, Peabody married his first wife, Catherine, who was the daughter of a minister friend. She died within a couple of years. In 1795, he married Catherine's sister, Elizabeth. They had four children. His first son, Joseph Augustus (1796–1828), graduated from Harvard in 1816. Another son, George, was father-in-law of William Crowninshield Endicott. One of Peabody's descendants was Augustus Peabody Gardner. References. "This article incorporates text found in the public domain because it was published before 1923