The Peabody House, known as the Grimshawe House sits upon the corner of Charter Street Cemetery in downtown Salem. In recent years, it has looked much like its depiction in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, “Dr. Grimshawe’s Secret: A Romance.” Hawthorne described the area as “…the old graveyard about the house which cornered upon it; it made the street gloomy, so that people did not altogether like to pass along the high wooden fence that shut it in; and the old house itself, covering ground which else had been sown thickly with buried bodies, partook of its dreariness…”
Few passersby know that centuries ago this house was once a grand display of Federal style architecture and a meeting place for intellectuals. The home was constructed around 1770. It is unclear who built the home, but the earliest records show the plot was purchased by blacksmith Joseph Everleth in 1794 from Benjamin Pickman.
In 1835 Dr. Nathaniel Peabody, a dentist, rented the stately home for himself, his wife Elizabeth (née Palmer) and their children. It was in the home that Peabody’s youngest daughter, Sophia met author Nathaniel Hawthorne, whom she would later wed. Hawthorne had recently received praise for his work “Twice Told Tales”and was invited to the home by Sophia’s sister, Elizabeth.
The three Peabody sisters each made powerful and influential contributions to history during their time. Elizabeth, the oldest, was very involved in the literary world, both as an author and a bookstore owner. Elizabeth’s bookstore on West Street in Boston served as a gathering space for authors such as Henry David Thoreau, Louisa May Alcott, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was in her bookshop that the transcendentalist movement began to take shape and garnered a following. Elizabeth Peabody was also heavily engaged in social reform and along with her sister Mary, opened the first kindergarten in America. The sisters had been profoundly motivated by the work of Friedrich Froebel in Germany.
Mary wed educator Horace Mann, who is often referred to as the “Father of Common School.” The two actively advocated education reform. Mary penned a variety of books in her lifetime ranging from children’s books to cookbooks. Horace Mann’s impact can be felt in Salem with the naming of the Horace Mann Laboratory School, formerly on the campus of Salem State. A portrait of Horace Mann painted in 1859 now hangs in the Salem State University Archives and Special Collections. The painting was said to be Mary’s favorite depiction of her husband.
Sophia Peabody was often sick in her youth, suffering debilitating headaches and regularly needing the care of her sisters. Despite her chronic pain, she became a respected painter and author herself. Upon marrying Nathaniel Hawthorne, Sophia ceased painting and focused on raising the couple’s three children and supporting his writing career. After Nathaniel’s death, Sophia edited and published his notebooks, as well as some of her own journals and writings.
After the Peabody’s left the home in 1841, the Everleths continued to rent it before selling it to a relative, Nathaniel F. Safford. The structure has undergone multiple renovations and additions in its more than 250 years. Since the late 19th century, it has primarily served as a boarding house and later was converted into apartments. The home’s original portico is now in the possession of the Peabody Essex Museum and is on display on the back exterior of the nearby John Tucker Daland House (formerly the Essex Institute).
The house remains privately owned by descendants of the Peabody family and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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Digitized Archives
Grimshawe House Photographs and Ephemera
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