George Peabody Library
PO Box 190
7922 VT Route 113
Post Mills, VT 05055
802-333-9724
librarian@thetfordlibrary.org
Peabody Library Trustee Meeting Minutes
Trustees
Cheryl Twerdowsky, Chair
Andy Boyce, Treasurer
Alicia Houk, Secretary
Nicole Leibon
History
The George Peabody Library in Post Mills was one of many such buildings gifted to communities by financier George Peabody of South Danvers, Massachusetts (later renamed Peabody in his honor). While grander examples of Peabody’s philanthropy can be seen in the museums at Harvard and Yale, and the music conservatory and library in Baltimore, our little library was indisputably a gift of the heart.
With his family in debt after his father’s death, young George left school at age 11 and began a five-year apprenticeship in the local general store to help support his mother and siblings. At 15, he completed the internship and was offered paid employment at the store, but chose instead to seek his fortune in the wider world.
His first stop was Post Mills, Vermont. He spent a single winter here, staying with his grandparents and developing a fond relationship with his uncle. He went on to make his fortune in the banking industry and has been called the first great American philanthropist. Although he never returned to Post Mills, he carried an affection for its inhabitants all his life, noting in his letter of donation, “The motive which has most thoroughly impelled me to make this gift, is my sense of gratitude for kindness shown me in my early life by my late revered uncle, Eliphalet S. Dodge and his excellent wife, who still lives in your village.”
His gift of $5000 in 1866 allowed for the purchase of land, the beautiful building, outfitting with books and furniture, and the beginnings of an endowment fund, with his expressed hope that “the privileges of the library shall be enjoyed…by the inhabitants of the two school districts…in the village of Post Mills; and…to others who…may reside near them and may be in the habit of doing business at the village of Post Mills.”
Our Peabody Library remains the oldest library in continuous use in the state of Vermont. A portion of the original collection remains in the balcony alcoves, and a large oil portrait of its benefactor has hung above the entrance door since 1869.
Today, the library is staffed via a memorandum of understanding with Latham Library, giving Thetford the unique structure of having two independent libraries staffed as a single system by dedicated librarians. Peabody Library has been a member of the Thetford Library Federation since 1973.
Curious to learn more? Come check out these sources!
Baldwin, Jessie A. History and Folklore of Post Mills Vermont. Thetford Historical Society, Thetford, VT, 1983. Catalog record – History and Folklore of Post Mills Vermont.
Parker, Franklin. George Peabody: A Biography. Vanderbilt University Press, Revised Edition, Nashville, 1995. Catalog record – George Peabody.