Andrew Preston Peabody

Andrew Preston Peabody (March 19, 1811 – March 10, 1893) was an American clergyman and author.

Born in Beverly, Massachusetts, Peabody was descended from Lieut. Francis Peabody of St. Albans, who emigrated to Massachusetts in 1635. He learned to read before he was three years old, entered Harvard College at the age of twelve, and graduated in 1826, the youngest graduate of Harvard with the single exception of Paul Dudley (class of 1690).

In 1833 Peabody became assistant pastor of the South Parish (Unitarian) of Portsmouth, New Hampshire; the senior pastor died before Peabody had been preaching a month, and he succeeded to the charge of the church, which he held until 1860. In 1853 to 1863 he was proprietor and editor of the North American Review. He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1856.

Peabody was preacher to Harvard University and the Plummer professor of Christian morals from 1860 to 1881, and was professor emeritus from 1881 until his death in Boston, Massachusetts, shortly before his 82nd birthday.

A bronze tablet dedicated to his memory is found in Appleton Chapel, Cambridge, Massachusetts (see the Memoir by Edward J. Young, Cambridge, 1896). The inscription on the tablet concludes with: "He moved among the teachers and students of Harvard College, and wist not that his face shone."