Beecher, Henry Ward

Henry Ward Beecher.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Henry Ward Beecher was one of the most prominent U.S. ministers of the nineteenth century as well as an active participant in various reform movements.

Beecher was born June 24, 1813, in Litchfield, Connecticut. He was the son of preacher Lyman Beecher and the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. He studied at Amherst College and Lane Theological Seminary and served as a novice minister in Indiana before becoming minister at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn, New York, in 1847. A liberal thinker, Beecher was in favor of such principles as women's suffrage, Abolition of Slavery, and acceptance of the theory of evolution and often lectured on these and other controversial ideas from the pulpit.

Beecher excelled as a speaker and in 1863 he went on a lecture tour throughout England and spoke in support of the Union position in the Civil War.

"It usually takes a hundred years to make a law, and then, after it has done its work, it usually takes a hundred years to get rid of it."
—Henry Beecher

In 1875, Beecher, regarded as one of the United States' foremost preachers, was involved in a sensational trial that damaged his honor. Journalist Theodore Tilton accused the minister of committing Adultery with Mrs. Tilton. Beecher was expertly defended by his attorney, william m. evarts, and, after a lengthy trial, the jury could not agree on a verdict. Beecher's church proclaimed him the victor and officially cleared him of the charges. In spite of the scandal, Beecher continued to be an influential force in the U.S. ministry until his death on March 8, 1887, in Brooklyn.

Mentioned in

Stowe, Harriet Beecher

References in periodicals archive

Greg Beecher, 402nd Aircraft Maintenance Group Lean change manager, attributes the win to the hard work of the mechanics.

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Cardiff magistrates heard how mum-of-two Peaches creamed off pounds 4992 in income support, pounds 4763 in housing benefit and pounds 1079 in council tax benefit while she was working as a lap dancerYesterday, Jonathan Holmes, prosecuting, said: 'Miss Beecher was on income support and claiming benefits when she failed to declare her earnings from the lap-dancing club.

THE G-STING; Mum nicked after she lap dances for benefit fraud spy

Mother-of-two Beecher admitted four charges under Section 111 of the Social Security Act.

Lapdancer caught by undercover DSS sting

(58) Some included exercises comparable to Beecher's "Chest Extension!," which called for students to hold their arms before them, straight and perpendicular to their bodies, and then to pull those limbs backward forcefully while bending the elbows.

Incarnations and practices of feminine rectitude: nineteenth-century gymnastics for U.S. women

"These are small birds, but they have big voices," says Beecher. A male song sparrow holding forth can be heard several territories away.

Song fights: when male birds go tune to tune

--America and the Underground Railroad, along with photographs, a picture from an Almanac dated 1839, and a sketching of Harriet Beecher Stowe as a young woman.

Curiosity

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The Beecher family members have been dedicated supporters of Happiness House for more than 30 years following Ross' diagnosis of epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

Ability Partners plans gala in Finger Lakes

Catharine Beecher, the sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote the famous anti-slavery book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, was a prominent 19th century educator and women's rights advocate.

A WOMAN'S WORK WAS NEVER DONE