Eliza and Nathaniel's Family
About the time of the birth of their first child, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, while they were living in Billerica, Massachusetts, Eliza pushed her husband to become a doctor, while she ran a school to supplement the family income. The family moved to Cambridge so that he could continue studying medicine, and Eliza opened another school. Their second child, Mary Tyler Peabody, was born there in 1806, and then the family moved to Lynn in 1806 and Salem in 1808, where another five children were born, starting with Sophia Amelia Peabody.
Nathaniel, tired of the medical profession, became, instead, a dentist. Eliza was committed to a strong education for all their children, and was often running a school, in which the daughters, as they grew older, assisted.
She made sure her daughters as well as her sons not only learned to read and write, and studied literature, but also studied theology and philosophy.
Eliza's family had attended King's Chapel in Boston when James Freeman (1759 - 1835) was minister -- the first American minister to use the name Unitarian for himself. An early Unitarian, Eliza retained some of the Calvinist ideas about suffering and wickedness, and each of the daughters reacted differently to that: Elizabeth decided to improve the world; Mary held less stringent views than her mother; and Sophia experienced illness and headaches and saw those as sufferings she was meant to endure.
Nathaniel taught Latin to his children, including his daughters. Elizabeth, of the children, took to languages, and learned in her lifetime ten different languages.
But it was largely Eliza Palmer Peabody who provided the education and motivation to her daughters to carry out their roles in the world. She ran her school, including for her own children, with an emphasis on bringing out the unique excellence in every student, girls included.
Through their mother's influence, each of the sisters read widely and had a broad range of interests. Elizabeth launched her own career in education by assisting in her mother's school. Mary took her place when Elizabeth left. Sophia developed her talent in painting and drawing during these years.
In 1853, the eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who never married, would return home to nurse her mother in her final illness.
Peabody Children
- Elizabeth Palmer Peabody: May 16, 1804 - January 3, 1894
- Mary Tyler Peabody Mann: November 16, 1807 - February 11, 1887
- Sophia Amelia Peabody Hawthorne: September 21, 1809 - February 26, 1871
- Nathaniel Peabody: born 1811
- George Peabody: born 1813
- Wellington Peabody: born 1815
- Catherine Peabody: (died in infancy)
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