William Bourne Oliver Peabody (July 9, 1799 - May 28, 1847) was a Unitarian minister and author in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

, USA. His twin brother, Oliver William Bourne Peabody, was also a Unitarian minister at

Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located south of the Canada–United States border and south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It ...

, with identical birth and death years. Peabody was born in

Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...

to Judge Oliver Peabody, graduated from

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 1816, and subsequently served as an assistant instructor at

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

in 1817. After two years as a theology student, he was licensed as a minister in 1819, and ordained as pastor of the Springfield Unitarian church in October 1820, in which position he remained for the rest of his life. Peabody wrote several biographies for Sparks's ''Library of American Biography'', namely, those of

David Brainerd David Brainerd (April 20, 1718October 9, 1747) was an American Presbyterian minister and missionary to the Native Americans among the Delaware Indians of New Jersey. Missionaries such as William Carey and Jim Elliot, and Brainerd's cousin, th ...

Cotton Mather Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a New England Puritan clergyman and a prolific writer. Educated at Harvard College, in 1685 he joined his father Increase as minister of the Congregationalist Old North Meeting H ...

James Oglethorpe James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British soldier, Member of Parliament, and philanthropist, as well as the founder of the colony of Georgia in what was then British America. As a social reformer, he hoped to re ...

, and Alexander Wilson. He contributed 48 articles to the

North American Review The ''North American Review'' (NAR) was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which it was inactive until revived a ...

, and wrote numerous sermons, poems, and prose pieces. Among his best-known poems are ''Hymn of Nature'', ''Monadnock'', ''Death'', ''The Autumn Evening'', and ''The Winter Night''.

Works

* ''Poetical Catechism for the Young'', 1823. * ''The Springfield Collection of Hymns for Sacred Worship'', editor, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1835. * ''The Literary Remains of the Late W.B.O. Peabody, D.D.'', edited by Everett Peabody, 1850.

References

* Samuel Austin Allibone, ''A Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors, Living and Deceased: From the Earliest Accounts to the Latter Half of the Nineteenth Century'', Volume 2, page 1534, Lippincott, 1891.
Hymntime entry
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peabody, William Peabody, William Bourne Oliver Harvard College alumni Phillips Exeter Academy faculty 1799 births 1847 deaths 19th-century American educators 19th-century American clergy