Francis S. Peabody
Encyclopedia
Francis Stuyvesant Peabody (1858 – August 27, 1922) was an American
businessman who founded Peabody Coal
, and became a wealthy coal
baron
.
His father was a prominent Chicago attorney, Francis Peabody graduated from Yale University
intending to follow in his father's footsteps. But, after trying the law he switched to working in a bank. Working at the bank provided him with an opportunity to see a business advantage.
With just $
100.00 he founded the Peabody, Daniels & Company, at age 24 in 1883, in Chicago, Illinois. Peabody Coal started out as a retail coal vendor, buying coal and re-selling it to retail consumers to use in their homes and businesses. He bought out his business partner in 1889, and incorporated the Peabody Coal Company in the state of Illinois in 1890. By 1920 Peabody Coal Company was one of the largest coal companies in the United States. Peabody Coal is now Peabody Energy
, currently the largest private-sector coal company in the world.
He constructed the Mayslake Peabody Estate
in Oak Brook
, Illinois
. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. Only a year after Mayslake Hall was completed, Francis Peabody died of a heart attack during a fox hunt
on his property. It is said that he was buried near the lake, and a chapel was built on the site where he had died. Aged 63 years at the time of his death, Peabody had amassed a personal fortune of $35 million and a business fortune of $75 million.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman who founded Peabody Coal
Peabody Energy
Peabody Energy Corporation , previously Peabody Coal Company, is the largest private-sector coal company in the world. The company is headquartered in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri....
, and became a wealthy coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
baron
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
.
His father was a prominent Chicago attorney, Francis Peabody graduated from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
intending to follow in his father's footsteps. But, after trying the law he switched to working in a bank. Working at the bank provided him with an opportunity to see a business advantage.
With just $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
100.00 he founded the Peabody, Daniels & Company, at age 24 in 1883, in Chicago, Illinois. Peabody Coal started out as a retail coal vendor, buying coal and re-selling it to retail consumers to use in their homes and businesses. He bought out his business partner in 1889, and incorporated the Peabody Coal Company in the state of Illinois in 1890. By 1920 Peabody Coal Company was one of the largest coal companies in the United States. Peabody Coal is now Peabody Energy
Peabody Energy
Peabody Energy Corporation , previously Peabody Coal Company, is the largest private-sector coal company in the world. The company is headquartered in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri....
, currently the largest private-sector coal company in the world.
He constructed the Mayslake Peabody Estate
Mayslake Peabody Estate
The Mayslake Peabody Estate is an estate constructed by Francis Stuyvesant Peabody during the American Gilded Age. The estate is located in the western Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, Illinois, United States, and is part of the Mayslake Forest Preserve administered by the Forest Preserve District of...
in Oak Brook
Oak Brook, Illinois
Oak Brook is a village in DuPage and Cook Counties, in Illinois. The population was 8,702 at the 2000 census. A suburb of Chicago, it is the headquarters of McDonald's and Lions Clubs International.-History:...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Only a year after Mayslake Hall was completed, Francis Peabody died of a heart attack during a fox hunt
Fox hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase, and sometimes killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of followers led by a master of foxhounds, who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.Fox hunting originated in its current...
on his property. It is said that he was buried near the lake, and a chapel was built on the site where he had died. Aged 63 years at the time of his death, Peabody had amassed a personal fortune of $35 million and a business fortune of $75 million.