Robert Swain Peabody (February 20, 1845 – September 23, 1917) was a prominent

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who was the cofounder of the firm

Peabody & Stearns Peabody & Stearns was a premier architectural firm in the Eastern United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm consisted of Robert Swain Peabody (1845–1917) and John Goddard Stearns J ...

Early life

Peabody was born in

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. Up throug ...

on February 20, 1845. He was a son of Rev. Ephraim Peabody (1807–1856) and Mary Jane (née Derby) Peabody (1807–1892). His older sister, Ellen Derby Peabody, was the wife of

Charles William Eliot Charles William Eliot (March 20, 1834 – August 22, 1926) was an American academic who was president of Harvard University from 1869 to 1909the longest term of any Harvard president. A member of the prominent Eliot family of Boston, he transfo ...

, the 21st President of

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Another sister, Anna Huidekoper Peabody, was the wife of

Henry Whitney Bellows Henry Whitney Bellows (June 11, 1814 – January 30, 1882) was an American clergyman, and the planner and president of the United States Sanitary Commission, the leading soldiers' aid society, during the American Civil War. Under his leadershi ...

, president of the

United States Sanitary Commission The United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) was a private relief agency created by federal legislation on June 18, 1861, to support sick and wounded soldiers of the United States Army (Federal / Northern / Union Army) during the American Civil W ...

. His younger brother was the Rev.

Francis Greenwood Peabody Francis Greenwood Peabody (1847–1936) was an American Unitarian minister and theology professor at Harvard University. Peabody was born on December 4, 1847, in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University in 1869. When a junior, ...

, Dean of the

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

. He attended Harvard University in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

and the

École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école'' whose primary mission is to provide high-level arts education and training. This is classical and historical School of Fine Arts in France. The art school, which is part of the Paris Science ...

in Paris. He was in 1913 a member of Harvard's Board of Overseers.

Career

He was an early supporter of the

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

style and had an affection for English styles and the Picturesque Movement and

Beaux-Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorpora ...

. He was elected an Associate of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

in 1874 and a Fellow in 1889. He was president of the Institute from 1900 to 1901. He was also a member of the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects and the

Boston Architectural Club Boston Architectural College, also known as The BAC, is New England's largest private college of spatial design. It offers first-professional bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture, interior architecture, landscape architecture, and n ...

. He was chairman of the Boston Park Commission.

Notable works

* Boston and Providence Railroad Station (1872; demolished) * The Brunswick Hotel (1873) and annex (1877) * The Boston Post Building (1874) * The New York Mutual Life Insurance Building (1874-1875; demolished in 1945) * The American Unitarian Association Building (1886; demolished) * The Assumption Church in Brookline (1878-1886) * The Exchange Building (1887) * The Stock Exchange Building (1889-1891) * Christ Church in Waltham (1897-1898) *

Custom House Tower The Custom House Tower is a skyscraper in McKinley Square, in the Financial District neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The original building was constructed in 1837–47 and was designed by Ammi Burnham Young in the Greek Revival style. The ...

(1913-1915).

Personal life

On June 8, 1871, Peabody was married to Annie Putnam (1847–1911), the daughter of John Phelps Putnam, a Boston Aldermen, and Harriette (née Day) Putnam. Together, the couple had five children: * Ellen Peabody (1872–1877), who died in childhood. * Arthur John Peabody (1875–1875), who died in infancy. * Katherine Putnam Peabody (1877–1908).Thursday Night Hikes: East Summit Avenue * Hike Architecture Notes
/ref> * Mary Derby Peabody (1881–1910), who married Henry Russell Scott in 1910. * Robert Ephraim Peabody (b. 1887). After the death of his first wife in 1911, he remarried to Helen Lee, daughter of Charles Carroll Lee, on January 25, 1913. Peabody died on September 23, 1917, aged 72, in

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peabody, Robert Swain Architects from Massachusetts Architects from Boston 1845 births 1917 deaths Harvard University alumni People from Marblehead, Massachusetts American alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts