Charles Augustus Peabody (born July 10, 1814 – July 3, 1901) was a prominent New York attorney and a judge of the United States Provisional Court for the State of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, from 1863 to 1865.

Early life, education, and career

Born in

Sandwich, New Hampshire Sandwich is a town in Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. Its population was 1,466 at the 2020 census. Sandwich includes the villages of Center Sandwich and North Sandwich. Part of the White Mountain National Forest is in the north, a ...

, Peabody established himself in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

as a young man.Lyman Horace Weeks, ''Prominent Families of New York'' (1898), p. 445."A Career of Steady Success", ''The Weekly Underwriter'', Volume 73, Alasco Delancey Brigham and Henry Rogers Hayden, eds. (December 23, 1905), p. 480. In 1834, Peabody began the study of law in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, in the office of

Nathaniel Williams Nathaniel Williams (born 1656 or 1657 – c.1679) was a Welsh writer. Life Nathaniel Williams was the son of Thomas Williams, from Swansea in South Wales. He studied at the University of Oxford, matriculating as a member of Jesus College in ...

, then United States District Attorney of Maryland. After two years, Peabody moved to Massachusetts and pursued his studies in the Law School of

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

. In 1839, he moved to New York, where he entered began the practice of law, and "became identified socially, through domestic ties, with the most eminent families of the metropolis".

Political and judicial activities

In 1855, Peabody participated in the formation of the Republican Party in New York in 1855, and in 1856 he was appointed a judge of the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

(the trial-level court of the state). In 1858, he was appointed a

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

commissioner to succeed ex-Governor

Horatio Seymour Horatio Seymour (May 31, 1810February 12, 1886) was an American politician. He served as Governor of New York from 1853 to 1854 and from 1863 to 1864. He was the Democratic Party nominee for president in the 1868 United States presidential elec ...

. In 1862, with the government of Louisiana having voted to join the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

and declaring its secession from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

issued an executive order stating that the insurrection "having temporarily subverted and swept away the civil institutions of that State, including the judiciary and the judicial authorities of the Union" made it necessary to appoint "some judicial tribunal existing there capable of administering justice".Abraham Lincoln, Executive Order Establishing a Provisional Court in Louisiana (October 20, 1862), quoted in Charles Augustus Peabody, ''The United States Provisional Court for the State of Louisiana'' (1879), p. 4. Therefore, Lincoln stated in this order: When the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

instituted a

numbering scheme There are many different numbering schemes for assigning nominal numbers to entities. These generally require an agreed set of rules, or a central coordinator. The schemes can be considered to be examples of a primary key of a database management ...

in 1907, it retroactively identified this as United States Executive Order 1.Lord, Clifford et al.
Presidential Executive Orders
', p. 1 (Archives Publishing Company, 1944). Peabody was commissioned Chief Justice of Louisiana,''Celebration of the Centenary of the Supreme Court of Louisiana'' (March 1, 1913), in John Wymond, Henry Plauché Dart, eds., ''The Louisiana Historical Quarterly'' (1922), p. 120. appointed court officers, and drew a salary, but never heard a case.

Personal life

Peabody was married three times, the first time to Julia Caroline Livingston of the

Livingston family The Livingston family of New York is a prominent family that migrated from Scotland to the Dutch Republic, and then to the Province of New York in the 17th century. Descended from the 4th Lord Livingston, its members included signers of the Unite ...

of New York, with whom he had three sons and a daughter, his sons including the prominent attorney,

Charles A. Peabody Jr. Charles Augustus Peabody, Jr. (April 11, 1849 – April 26, 1931) was an American politician, lawyer, and prominent figure in New York banking and insurance. Early life Peabody was born on April 11, 1849, in New York City. He was one of four ch ...

Julia died in 1878. Peabody's second wife was Mary Eliza Hamilton, a cousin of

Mrs. Astor Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn Astor (September 22, 1830 – October 30, 1908) was a prominent American socialite of the second half of the 19th century who led the The Four Hundred (1892), Four Hundred. Famous for being referred to later ...

, a daughter of

John Church Hamilton John Church Hamilton (August 22, 1792 − July 25, 1882) was a historian, biographer, and lawyer. He was a son of Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Early life Hamilton was born on August 22, 1792, in Philade ...

and granddaughter of

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...

, one of the

Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...

. After Mary's death in 1887, he married for a third time to Athenia Livingston (née Bowen), the widow of James Bowen (his "old-time warm friend and associate") and daughter of Anthony Rutgers Livingston (brother to

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Robert Le Roy Livingston). He died at his residence in New York City, at the age of 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peabody, Charles A. 1814 births 1901 deaths People from Sandwich, New Hampshire Harvard Law School alumni New York Supreme Court Justices United States Article I federal judges appointed by Abraham Lincoln Peabody family