"
At the age of sixteen, in the year 1811, he went to Newburyport, and
became a clerk in the store of his elder brother, David Peabody, who was
engaged in the dry goods business at that place. He exhibited unusual
capacity and promise in his calling, and soon drew upon himself the
favorable attention of the merchants of the place. He was prompt,
reliable, and energetic, and from the first established an enviable
reputation for personal and professional integrity. It is said that he
earned here the first money he ever made outside of his business. This
was by writing ballots for the Federal party in Newburyport. Printed
ballots had not then come into use.
He did not stay long in Newburyport, as a great fire, which burned up a
considerable part of the town, destroyed his brother's store, and
obliged him to seek employment elsewhere. He always retained a warm
attachment to the place, however, an attachment which a resident of the
town explains as follows:
"The cause of Mr. George Peabody's interest in Newburyport was not alone
that he had lived here for a brief period, or that his relatives had
lived here; but rather it was the warm friendship that had been shown
him, which was, in fact, the basis of his subsequent prosperity.
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