Peabody, Sophia

Sophia Amelia Peabody (1809-1871), one of the famed "Peabody Sisters" from Salem, was daughter of Dr. Nathaniel Peabody and Elizabeth Palmer. She grew up in the house at 53 Charter Street (the Grimshawe house) and married the author Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1842.

Sophia overcame years of illness as a young woman and taught herself astronomy, languages and developed her artistic talent as well. She raised three children in her twenty years of marriage, and nurtured her husband's writing career.

Nathaniel and his family spent many years in Europe. When both Sophia and his daughter Una died in England, they were buried there. They were re-interred in June 2006 in plots adjacent to Hawthorne's at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.

The Grimshawe House at 53 Charter St. (her family home) will be converted to apartments by the company, Essex Restoration. Plans have been filed in 2019.

See Also

• Vertical File in Salem Collection - Peabody, Sophia

• Salem Women's Heritage Trail by Bonnie Hurd Smith, p.21

• The Peabody Sisters: three women who ignited American romanticism by Megan Marshall.

• Sophia Peabody Hawthorne by Patricia D. Valenti

• The Peabody Sisters of Salem by Louise Hall Tharp.

• A New England Love Story: Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sophia Peabody by LouAnn Gaeddert

• "Historic house renovation sparks some fears, controversy" Salem News, Feb. 5, 2019, p. 3