OBITUARY NOTICE. 



IT is our painful duty to announce the death of the President of the 

 Essex Institute, which took place at his residence in Salem, on 

 Thursday evening, October 31, 1867. 



FRANCIS PEABODY was a son of Joseph Peabody, an eminent mer- 

 chant of Salem during the close of the last and the beginning of 

 the present century. Soon after leaving school he made an excur- 

 sion to Russia and Northern Europe, and on his return settled in 

 Salem, where he continued to reside until his decease, except during 

 occasional visits to Europe. He was early interested in the study 

 of chemistry and the kindred sciences, and their application to the 

 useful arts. He was the first President of the Board of Trustees of 

 the Peabody Fund for the promotion of science and useful knowledge 

 in the County of Essex; a member of the American Academy of 

 Arts and Sciences, and other institutions. 



In November, 1827, the Essex Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, 

 in Salem, of which body he was an honored member, voted to have a 

 course of Literary and Scientific Lectures ; about the same time the 

 Salem Charitable Mechanic Association appointed a committee to. 

 provide for the delivery of lectures before the members and their 

 families. Before both of the above-named institutions Mr. Peabody 

 delivered several lectures on the Steam Engine, Electricity, Galvan- 

 ism, Heat, and similar subjects. At the organization of the Salem 

 Lyceum in January, 1830, Mr. Peabody took a leading part, and was 

 on the first board of management, and delivered several lectures on 

 scientific subjects. These several institutions may be considered as 

 having made the first movement in the general introduction of pop- 

 ular and instructive lectures, which have been so universally adopt- 

 ed in this country. 



About 1826 Mr. Peabody engaged in the manufacture of white lead, 

 which business he pursued until 1843. During that period he was also 

 interested in the manufacture of paper and linseed oil, and owned es- 

 tablishments for the refining of sperm and whale oils. From that 



