Joseph Peabody (1757-1844)

He was born at Middleton, Massachusetts, and became a merchant. He was involved in the Battle of Lexington (1775) but quickly turned to privateering and held command of a number of ships in various encounters with the British. After peace was declared, he purchased a ship and started trading with the West Indies then Europe, Africa and China, continuing the famous pepper trade between Salem and Sumatra. Operating out of Salem, he gradually increased his business until he owned 83-ships. It was said: "In only five voyages his ships paid duties alone aggregating $587,000. What the total profits on these five cargoes were is not revealed... The Peabodys were the town's Royal Family, and at one time the saying was current that it was 'Peabody, or Nobody' in Salem". His first wife died without children in 1793 and two years later (1795) he married her sister, Elizabeth, having 4-children who lived to adulthood (listed above).