Life and work of Henry Ward Beecher, an authentic, impartial and complete history of his public career and private life from the cradle to the grave

Front matter

Book. ^1 i^ZX^

2?

LIFE AND WORK

Preface

It has been said by an eminent historian that the biography of no man can be properly written while he is yet alive. To no one will this remark apply with greater force than to him whose name has been foremost for nearly half a century as the pastor of Plymouth Church, who fearlessly preached freedom for the slave, and whose words have electrified a continent and sent a thrill to the heart of the whole English-speaking race. A man who was so highly distinguished for originality of thought, who has been called the Shakespeare of the century, the advocate of universal liberty, the friend of the oppressed everywhere, and who converted the English public to a right view of the civil struggle in America, could only be fully and fairly appreciated when the grave had closed over him, and the mighty voice with which he spoke had been hushed forever.

On the first Sunday of his first visit to New York, nearly thirty years ago, the author of this volume crossed Fulton Ferry and went to Plymouth Church " to hear Beecher." The words to which he listened on that occa-

IV PREFACE.

sion are still ringing in his ears despite the lapse of time and the many opportunities of later days to listen to this remarkable teacher and orator. From that pleasant summer morning in 1858 may fairly date the origin of this memorial tribute, which is now placed before the public in the hope that it will meet the kindly reception which has been accorded to other books that bear the writer's name on their title-pages.

Much of the data and material from which the volume was written was collected during Mr. Beecher's lifetime, but, with the opening thought of this preface ever in view, no effort was made to prepare it for publication in book-form until the sad event which spread mourning throughout the land. As now presented, the volume is an account of the life and work of Henry Ward Beecher from Litchfield to Greenwood — from the cradle to the grave. The estimates of the character and abilities of this remarkable man are by those who survive him and can fix his place in history as one who has ended his career and gone from our midst forever.

The author's thanks are due to the many friends and acquaintances of Mr. Beecher who have supplied anecdotes and personal recollections of this intellectual hero, and thus given us an insight into his character and daily life which would otherwise be wanting. Thanks are also due to the author's assistants who have aided in the collection and transcription of the events that make up

PREFACE. V

the personal and public life of the subject of the narrative ; to the newspapers of New York and Brooklyn that so fully recorded the incidents of Mr. Beecher's illness and death ; and finally, but by no means least, to the publishers who have spared no energy in promptly issuing the volume, so that it may be read by the many admirers of the Plymouth pastor before time has dimmed their remembrance of the man who was pre-eminently typical of the age and the people and has been aptly called "a milestone on the highway of American progress to show how far we have progressed."

T. W. K.

New York, April, 1887.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Engraved fro??i original designs drawn expressly for this work by e?ninent artists.

PAGE.

i. Portrait of Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, . . Frontispiece.

Engraved on steel expressly for this work from a photograph

taken a short time previous to Mr. Beecher 1 's death.

2. The Beecher Homestead at Litchfield, Conn., the

Birth-place and Early Home of Henry Ward Beecher, 39

3. An Incident in Mr. Beecher' s Boyhood. — He Contem-

plates Running Away to Sea, 61

4. A Dramatic Scene. — Throwing the Slave Chains to the

Floor, 159

5. Mr. Beecher Facing an English Mob in Philharmonic

Hall, Liverpool, England, 195

6. The "Freedom Ring." — Mr. Beecher Pleading for Money

to Set a Slave Child Free, . . . . . .301

7. Portrait of Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher, .... 437

Engraved expressly for this work from a recent photograph.

8. Mr. Beecher' s Residence, Brooklyn, N. Y., the House

in which He Died 509

9. Mr. Beecher' s Church, Brooklyn, N Y., called Plymouth

Congregational Church, 523

Chapter I. The Beecher Family

The Genealogy. — American Origin. — Grandmother Hannah. — Joseph Beecher. — Lyman Beecher. — His First Marriage. — His First Pastorate. — East Hampton, Litchfield, Boston, Cincinnati. — An Active and Useful Career. — Three Times Married. — Father of Thirteen Children. — A Conspicuous Progeny. — Catherine Esther Beecher. — Edward Beecher, D.D. — Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. — Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker 25

Chapter II. His Birth And Boyhood

The Eighth Child.— Not the First Baby, Usually a Novelty in the Family. — Mrs. Stowe' s Reminiscences. — His Birthplace at Litchfield, Conn. — His Mother's Death. — Scene at the Death -bed. — Aunt Esther. — The Step-mother. — Henry Never had a Toy. — Doing Family Chores. — Primitive Life in New England. — Does not want to wear an Overcoat. —A, B, C School.— School-girls cut His Curls.— The District School.

viii CONTENTS.

— Not a Bright Pupil. — Difficulty in Memorizing. — No Elocutionary Ability. — Sent to School from Home. — Rev. Mr. Langdon's School. — A Student of Nature. — Boy's Debate on the Bible. — Miss Catherine's Young Ladies' School. — His Brief Career There. — His Practical Jokes. — The Umbrella Story. — The Grammar Contests. — Amusing Anecdotes. — Back Home 38

Chapter III. His Youth And College Career

Litchfield Scenery. — Atmosphere breathed by the Youth. — His Father removes to Boston. — Ambitious to become a Sailor. — Youthful Dreams. — Boston Latin School. — Mount Pleasant College. — Meets Miss Bullard. — His Methods of Study. — Learning Elocution. — Studying Mathematics. — Interested in Phrenology. — Teaching in the Winter Vacation. — Decides to become a Minister. — Graduates from Amherst. — Lane Theological Seminary. — Editorial Work. — Graduates, and resolves to Marry 56

Chapter IV. His Marriage And Life In The West

He Marries and Moves West. — Locates at Lawrenceburg, Ind. — An Arcadian Life. — Gardening. — Missionary Work. — Editorial Work. — Active in Revivals. — Hardships of Western Life. — The Pastorate at Indianapolis. — The West Country. — Some Anecdotes. — His Fame Spreads. — His First Address in New York. — The Foreign Missionary Society. — Henry C. Bowen hears Him. — He receives an Offer

CONTENTS. IX

from Plymouth Church. — He accepts the Position at $1,500 per Annum 73

Chapter V. He Becomes Pastor Of Plymouth Church

The Originating Idea. — Site Secured. — Beecher invited to Preach. — His Sermon on the Occasion. — Romans xiv. 12. — He returns to Indianapolis. — Completion of the Organization. — The Name Plymouth Adopted. — Beecher the Unanimous Vote. — He receives a Call from Plymouth Church. — Hesitates, but Accepts. — Inauguration of a Long Term of Service. — Destruction of the Church by Fire in 1849. — ** is Rebuilt. — A Health Trip to Europe 96

Chapter VI. In The Anti-slavery Crusade

Back from His Health Trip to Europe. — Plymouth Church and Beecher become Synonymous. — The Leading Abolitionist. — Webster's Attitude in Regard to the Fugitive Slave Bill. — Mr. Beecher's Excoriation. — Black List of the Union Safety Committee. — He Personally beseeches Merchants to stand Firm by Their Principles. — How he helped Mr. Bowen. — Flis Declaration of Principles. — The Fremont Campaign. — Wendell Phillips sheltered by Plymouth Church. — The Kansas Excitement. — Hostile Declarations from a Mob. — John Brown's Insurrection. — Beecher's Address. — John Brown's Chains rattled in the Tabernacle. — Few Reporters able to follow Beecher. — "Cross Fulton Ferry and follow the Crowd." — Rose W T ard. — Rose Terry's Contribution. — Sarah is Redeemed. — Continuing the Anti- Slavery Crusade 140

X CONTENTS. -

Chapter VII. In The War For The Union

Recruiting. — First Long Island Regiment. — The Brooklyn Fourteenth. — Pets of Plymouth Church. — The Boys Attend Service. — "The National Flag." — An Eloquent Patriotic Appeal. — Applause in Church Rebuked. — Plymouth Church Barracks. — The Maine Regiment. — Church Parlors Occupied as a Hospital. — Visits to the Boys in Camp. — A Welcome Visitor. — Patriotic Editorials. — Relations with Secretary Stanton. — The National Fast. — Freedom of the People. — An Intellectual Disquisition. — His Visit to England. — His Invaluable Services as a Defender of the Union. — The Fort Sumter Celebration. — A Pleasant Reunion of Old-Time Friends. — The Restored Union. — The Keynote to Beecher's Future Course in Regard to the South. — Startling News. — Lincoln's Assassination. — Beecher's Grief. — The Funeral Oration. — The Martyr President 169

Chapter VIII

His Greatest Oratorical Effort. — Going Abroad for a Vacation. — Three Months on the Continent. — Reluctantly consents to speak in England. — British Sympathy with the South. — Speech at Manchester. — Facing a British Mob. — Unsuccessful Attempts to silence Him. — How He Triumphed. — Speaking Plain Truths. — Shaking Hands with an Umbrella. — Speech at Glasgow. — Opposition of the Blockade- Runners. — His Address at Liverpool. — Inflammatory Placards on the Streets. — Scenes of Great Disorder. — Making Himself Heard — Arrival in London. — Famous in Clubs and Social Circles. — Prostrated with Exhaustion. — Speech in Exeter Hall. — A Friendly Audience. — Immense Enthusiasm. — An Historical Narrative. — Change of Public Opinion. — Effect of Mr. Beecher's Speeches 185

CONTENTS. XI

Chapter IX. His Career In Politics

His Temperament leads to Political Affiliation. — One of the Early Abolitionists. —Clay. — Calhoun. — Henry B. Stanton. — The Pulpit and Slavery. — Seward. — Greeley. — Buchanan. — The Drift of Sentiment Previous to the War. — His Views at the Time. — The Fremont Campaign. — The " Political Parson." — He advocates Lincoln. — Belief that His Election would Precipitate War. — Visit to England. — His Valuable Service as a Defender of the Union in England. — Lincoln's Re-election. — After the War. — Jefferson Davis. — President Johnson. — General Grant. — A Southern Tour. — " The North and South." — General Fitzhugh Lee. — He becomes a "Mugwump." — Supporting Cleveland. — Old Ties Sundered. — Civil Service Reform. — Beecher and Curtis interview the President. — Democratic Resolutions 209

Chapter X. His Literary Life

Journalistic and Literary Experience. — The New York Independent. — The Christian Union. — Star Papers. — List of His Books. — Reluctance at Literary Composition. — His First Work, " Lectures to Young Men." — Success of the Book. — Its Enormous Sale. — First Work of an Indiana Author reprinted in England. — How He regarded It. — Summary of the Lectures. — Industry and Idleness. — Pointed Sentences and Telling Truths. — A Forcible Style. — Dishonesty and its Consequences. — Evils of Riches as Such. — "Our Portrait Gallery." — Gamblers and Gambling. — " The Strange Woman." — The Theatre and Its Evils. — Views modified in Later Life. — Mr. Beecher and Henry Irving . 240

Xll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XL

HE WRITES FOR THE LEDGER.

Sixteen Years a Contributor to the New York Ledger. — How His Connection with the Paper Began. — " A Cannon-ball in the Hat." — Suggestions for a Novel. — How "Norwood" came to be Written. — Mr. Beecher's Dilatoriness. — His Outline of the Story. — Mr. Beecher's Fondness for Horses. — Riding behind Dexter. — Introducing Mr. Bonner to London Punch. — Comments on Edward Everett's Death. — How He Misspelled. — Answering Troublesome Questions. — Denial of Current Rumors. — Never played Cards. — Visiting Bonner's Stables 250

Chapter XII. His First And Only Novel

l ' Norwood ; or, Life North and South." — Its Plot and Object. — Norwood and its Population. — Abiah Cathcart and his Peculiarities. — R«ichel Liscomb. — A Love-making Scene. — How the Momentous Question was Asked. — The Country Doctor. — The Bachelor Uncle. — What constitutes a Gentleman. — Mr. Beecher's Views regarding Will- Power. — Doctoring through the Imagination. — Rose and Alice. — Negro Pete. — Polly Marble on getting Religion. — Tom Heywood's Letter. — The Battle of Gettysburg. — A Monument to Surgeons and Hospital Nurses. — Marriage Bells 268

Chapter XIII. His Art As An Orator

The Greatest Orator of the Century. — Characteristics of His Oratory. — Extemporizing a Sermon. — A Reporter's Experience. — Power with an

CONTENTS. Xill

Audience. — His Great Earnestness. — Thoughts Rarely committed to Paper. — Doctrinal Addresses. — Peculiarities of His Lectures. — Never the Same Successively. — Weakness in Statistical Matters. — His Mimetic Skill. — His Last Public Address. — Congregational Singing. — Eloquence of His Prayers. — Always dealt with Questions of the Time. — Where Materials were Obtained. — A Curious Autograph. — His Great Lecture Tour in the West. — The New York Independent on Beecher 284

Chapter XIV. Gems From Pulpit Utterances

Examples of His Oratorical Power. — Striking Passages culled from the Abundance. — How to speak of the Absent. — Ideal Faith. — The True Plan of Life. — "The Church has been so Fearful of Amusements that the Devil has had the Care of Them." — Majesty in Anger. — Churches as Mutual Insurance Companies. — A Babe is a Mother's Anchor. — Overplus of Eveiy thing but Punishments. — Religion with some Men like a Church-bell, to be Rung only on Sacred Occasions. — The Bible and its Commentators. — Truths of the Bible Like Gold in the Soil. — Character, Like Porcelain, must be painted Before Glazing. — A Lie Always needs a Truth for a Handle 305

Chapter XV. Incidents Of His Lecturing Tours

Interesting Reminiscences and Anecdotes. — Major Pond's Story. — Beecher "Democratic Through and Through." — Remembrance of Old Parishioners. — The Old Lady from Indianapolis. — His Profits from Lecturing. — Angry only Once. — Refused to go to Private Houses. — Fond-

XIV CONTENTS.

ness for Children. — Care for Two Children on a Railway Train. — Never wore a Silk Hat but Once. — "Playing Horse." — Beecher and Sir Samuel Cunard. — Preparing Lunch with His Own Hands. — The Drunken Man at the Lecture. — Fast Riding on a Train. — General King's Recollections. — Beecher as a Travelling Companion. — Sleeping under Table-cloths. — " Mutton or Beef ? " 325

Chapter XVI. Horticulturist And Farmer

His Boyhood Gardening. — Early Love for Plants and Animals. —His Garden at Lawrenceburg, Ind. — His Encouragement of Societies. — Love for Domestic Animals: — "Cackling," His Last Article. — His Last Request. — The Floral Pall and Wreath. — A Work on Flowers, Fruits, and Farming. — Some Interesting Extracts. — Mistakes He had Made. — Winter Nights for Reading. — Shiftless Tricks. — Portrait of an Anti-Book Farmer. — Encouragement to Agricultural Writing. — Advantages of Farm Education. — Spring Work for Public- Spirited Men. — The Farm at Peekskill. — A Costly Experiment. — His Summer Retreat. — An Active Farm-Hand 348

Chapter XVII. Yale Lectures On Preaching

Causes of Mr. Beecher' s Success in the Pulpit. — Originality of Thought and Expression. — His Great Power of Will. — How the Yale Lectures were Delivered. — Advice to Young Preachers. — Constant Study of Nature and Men. — Aims to ennoble Hearers. — Opposed to Perfunctory Preaching. — External Forms Derided. — " Has the Pulpit lost its Power ? " — Why the Question has Arisen. — Personal Emotion. —

CONTENTS. XV

Earnestness, Faith, and Motive Power Essential to Good Preaching. — Criticism and Questions Invited. — " Show Sermons the Temptation of the Devil." — Preaching Should be adapted to the Audience. — Antipathy to Pulpits. — Health very Important. — Extemporaneous Preaching. — System Absolutely Necessary. — Sunday-schools the Young People's Church. — Temptations of Praise. — Sorrow an Excellent Teacher 369

Chapter XVIII. The Life Of Christ

Mr. Beecher's Reasons for writing It. — The First Volume published in 1872. — Its High Literary Character. — Plans for the Work. — Authorities Consulted. — Spirit in which the Author Wrote. — Meeting Objections. — The Four Gospels. — Their Critics. — Accepting Their Truth. — Ministry of Angels. — The Time Ripe for Christ's Appearance. — The Annunciation. — Characters of Mary and Joseph. — Deprecation of Protestant Reaction from Mary. — Herod's Hatred. — The Flight into Egypt. — Childhood of Jesus. — John and the Voice in the Wilderness. — Discussion of Forms of Baptism. — Personal Description of Christ. — Miracles of the Four Gospels. — Marriage at Cana. — Judean Ministry. — Lesson at Jacob's Well. — Early Labors in Galilee. — Discussion of the Sermon on the Mount. — End of the Volume. — Publication Suspended. — New Contract of 1886 384

Chapter XIX. The Great Scandal

Tilton a Reporter in 185 1. — Attached to The Independent. — His Domestic Troubles. — Interviews and Correspondence. — The Tripartite Agreement. — "Our Mutual Friend." — The Church Investigates. — Beecher

XVI CONTENTS.

Exonerated. — Commencement of the Libel Suit. — Complaint and Answer. — How the Jury stood at the End. — Eminent Counsel on Both Sides. — Official Report of the Trial. — Tilton on the Stand. — His Remarkable Story for the Prosecution. — Cross-Examination. — His Version of the Various Interviews with Beecher. — Mrs. Victoria C. Woodhull's Connection with the Case. — Frank Moulton and His Testimony. — Other Witnesses for the Plaintiff. — The Prosecution rests Its Case. — Rulings of Judge Neilson 400

Chapter XX

m THE GREAT SCANDAL— CONTINUED.

The Defence Opens. — Mr. Tracy's Appeal. — What He proposed to Prove. — The Alleged Confession. — Damaging Evidence against Mr. Tilton. — His Alleged Improprieties at Various Places. — Mrs. Woodhull Again. — Mr. Moulton' s Evidence Contradicted. — Various Witnesses for the Defence. — Mr. Beecher on the Stand. — Sensation in Court. — His Oath in the New England Form. — His Acquaintance with the Plaintiff. — Denial of Improper Conduct. — The Beecher-Moulton-Tilton Interview. — Mr. Beecher' s Explanation of His Remorse. — Cross-Examination. — Mr. Moulton Recalled. — Letter from Mrs. Tilton to Judge Neilson. — The Plaintiff Recalled. — The Summing Up by the Defence. — Judge Porter and Mr. Evarts. — The Prosecution Follows. — Failure of the Jury to Agree. — End of the Six Months' Trial 418

CHAPTER* XXI.

HOME-LIFE.

Mr. Beecher's Domestic Habits. — Early to Bed, Early to Rise. — An Afternoon Nap. — Reluctant to leave Home. — Plain Fare. — No More Nocturnal Suppers. — His Work Hours. — Preparatory Work. — A

CONTENTS. xvii

Punctilious Correspondent. — Answers all Letters with his Own Hand. — Persevering Industry. — His Old Home on the Heights. — Its Art Treasures. — Stuart's Reminiscence. — Beecher's Temperance Principles. — Financiering. — Valuable Collection of Steel Engravings. — Description of His Library and Methods of Work. — An Amateur Bibliophile 436

Chapter XXII. Personal Recollections Of His Friends

Rev. C. E. Babb.— Early Days in the West— The "Pepper-Box" Church. — Comparative Obscurity until Thirty-five Years Old. — Judge Tom-gee' s Meeting in Boyhood. — Sam Payne's Experiences. — Captain W. L. Watson. — Mr. Beecher as Chaplain. — "Our Boys." — Nelson Sizer. — Mr. Beecher's Phrenological Development. — His Friendship for his Old School-mate. — Dr. Spurzheim. — Dr. E. E. Marcy. — College Days. — Rev. S. Giffard Nelson. — Plymouth Bethel. — General Horatio C. King. — Mr. Beecher's Ideas about Church Music. — Theatre-going. — Private Theatricals. — Soldiers' Home at Leavenworth, Kan. — Professor R. W. Raymond. — Mr. Beecher as a Lapidary. — Mr. Thomas G. Shearman. — Mr. Beecher's Charity. — His Sympathetic and Sensitive Nature. — Mrs. Sarah Cole. — A Reminiscence of Mr. Beecher's First Sermon in Brooklyn. — Allan Forman. — Mr. Beecher plays Marbles with the Boys 454

Chapter XXIII. Reminiscences And Anecdotes

Fishing with Lampson at Litchfield. — Result of Divine Mercy. — An April Fool. — An Old Reporter's Reminiscences. — A Friend to Newspaper

XVlii CONTENTS.

Men. — Knowing One's Own Country. — The Mood Necessary for Work. — The Leather Promissory Note. — Weak Coffee. — The Warm Icicle. — A Feast at Waterbury . — Dr. Hall and Mr. Beecher. — Mr. Beecher's Humor.— A Total Abstainer at Public Dinners. — Mr. Beecher' s Visits to Washington. — His Dinner Habits. — A Bridal Substitute. — Hon. Wiilard Bartlett. — Mr. Beecher's Fondness for Dogs. — The Prayer for Delivery from Sudden Death. — A Little Boy's Compliment. — Last Appearance in Public in New York. — Dr. Talmage. — Mr. Beecher a Good Swimmer. — The Debating Society. — The "Beecher Calendar." — Rev. Frank Russell. — Rev. William M. Taylor. — Crossing the East River on the Ice. — Eating Candy like a School-boy. — The Railway Lunch- Counter. — Misunderstood in a Sermon. — Dead Letters. — The Photographs. — The Stomach the Boiler of the System. — The Giddy Gusher's Reminiscences. — Mr. Beecher's Friendship for Actors. — His Present to Ellen Terry 485

Chapter XXIV. His Illness And Death

Mr. Beecher's Visit to England in 1886. — Declines to Interfere in English Politics. — Preaching and Lecturing. — Declines a Reception on Returning Home. — His Last Sermon in Plymouth Church. — The Fatal Stroke of Apoplexy. — How the News was Received. — Incidents of His Illness. — Sinking Steadily. — His Death on Tuesday, March nth. — Sympathy for the Family. — Private Service at. the House.— A Public Funeral without Crape. — Floral Decorations. — Lying in State. — Services Simultaneously in Five Churches. — Testimony of a Hebrew. — The Closing Ceremony. — Laid at Rest 518

CONTENTS. XIX

Chapter XXV. Estimates Of His Character

Tributes from Many Christian Pulpits. — All Denominations Honor Him. — Loss of Beecher Like the Removal of a Mountain. — His Speeches in England one Long Speech. — His Fervid Eloquence. — The Great Leader in Pulpit and Republic. — Who will Wear His Mantle?— The Shakespeare of the Christian Pulpit. — A Marvellous Imagination — Wonderful Knowledge of Character. — Great in the Life of the Republic. — The Most Striking Figure of Our Time. — The Incarnation of Love. — A Part of America's Life. — Tributes from the Hebrews of New York. — A Great Star Below the Horizon. — The Representative of Democracy in the Pulpit. — The End 536

THE LIFE AND WORK

OF

Henry Ward Beecher.

Chapter I. The Beecher Family

The Genealogy. — American Origin. — Grandmother Hannah. — Joseph Beecher. — Lyman Beecher. — His First Marriage. — His First Pastorate. — East Hampton, Litchfield, Boston, Cincinnati. — An Active and Useful Career. — Three Times Married. — Father of Thirteen Children. —A Conspicuous Progeny. — Catherine Esther Beecher. — Edward Beecher, D.D. — Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. — Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker.

Henry Ward Beecher was born at Litchfield, Conn., on the 24th day of June, 1813. He was the eighth child of the Rev. Lyman Beecher and Roxanna Foote Beecher, who had moved to Litchfield from East Hampton, L. I., some three years earlier.

The circumstances of the minister and his family were humble. His salary of eight hundred dollars, not regularly paid, was inadequate to the maintenance of so large 2 a family, and additional income was obtained by taking to board young ladies attending a neighboring school.

The Beecher family in America has a notable history. The peculiar qualities that marked Henry Ward Beecher were characteristic of his ancestry. Hannah Beecher, a widow, who came over with John Davenport in 1637, was a woman who possessed the endowments shown by the Beechers ever since. Coming to Boston when the theocracy was excited over the tenets attributed to Anne Hutchinson, she sympathized with the Antinomian movement that was exerting such a remarkable influence in Massachusetts Bay. That dispute affected even the distribution of town lots, and as Mrs. Beecher had been induced to emigrate by a promise of her husband's share in the town lot distribution in Boston town, it affected her very seriously indeed. Giving up all idea of acquiring a home in Massachusetts, she accompanied her pastor to Quinnipiac, now New Haven, and there, under a spreading oak-tree growing on Hannah Beecher's land, John Davenport preached the first sermon heard in New Haven, April 15, 1638.

Hannah Beecher, who in England followed the humble occupation of a midwife, brought with her to New England her son, John Beecher. John Beecher's son Joseph was noted for his wonderful strength, which he proved to admiring friends by lifting a barrel of cider and drinking from the bung-hole. Joseph Beecher's son

Nathaniel, and his grandson David, were both able to lift a barrel of cider, but history is silent as to whether they were accustomed to drink out of the bung. Nathaniel and David Beecher were blacksmiths, Nathaniel's anvil standing on the stump of the old tree under which John Davenport preached his first sermon. David Beecher was considered one of the best read men in New England, being particularly well versed in astronomy, geography, and history. He was five times married. His third wife, Esther Lyman, was of Scotch descent, and was noted for her joyous and hopeful temperament, as well as for her strong mind and excellent character. She was the mother of Lyman Beecher, Henry Ward Beecher's father.

Lyman Beecher was born October 12, 1775, of Esther Lyman, David Beecher's third wife, who contributed a strain of Scotch blood to the Beecher stock, already of English and Welsh extraction. Lyman Beecher was her only child, and she died of consumption two days after he was born. He was such a puny babe, having been prematurely born, that the nurse, who was laboring to save his mother's life, actually wrapped him up and laid him aside, believing it useless to try to keep him alive : " So you see," Lyman Beecher writes in his autobiography, " it was but by a hair's-breadth that I got a foothold in this world." He was raised by bottle under the care of an aunt in North Guilford. As a boy his passion was for fishing. He couldn't leave off until the bullheads had quit biting. He developed much physical strength among the Guilford hills. When he entered Yale College its scientific apparatus comprised a great rusty orrery as big as a mill-wheel, a rusty four-foot telescope, an air-pump that would never have killed a mouse, a dingy prism, and an elastic hoop to illustrate centrifugal force. Slaves were then owned in New England, and Lyman Beecher was made a fag to an upper classman ; but he broke in the windows of his student master at midnight with brickbats, and broke up the old aristocratic college custom.

Lyman Beecher came twice to death's door. He tried to skate over Long Island Sound, fell through the ice, and saved himself with great difficulty. The same year he almost died of scarlet fever. Yale College students were then infected with scepticism. Students called each other Voltaire, Rousseau, and D'Alembert. The college church was almost extinct. The students idolized Tom Paine. Intemperance, profanity, gambling, and licentiousness were common. Lyman Beecher learned to gamble, won at first, lost next, then got into debt, and then took a week off, cured himself of the mania, and never touched a card after that. Old Dr. Dwight preached for six months on the subject of infidelity, and changed the temper of the students. Lyman Beecher was butler of the college. The butlery is now an obsolete institution. An English parson bought for him a hogshead of porter, which he retailed to the students, with cider, metheglin, pipes and tobacco, and by the profit thus obtained he helped to pay his own way through college.

After his collegiate course at Yale, he became pastor of a church at East Hampton, L. I., where he received a salary of $300 and a dilapidated parsonage. He stirred the country with a sermon that in 1804 he preached upon the death of Alexander Hamilton, whom Aaron Burr shot in a duel. When in 18 10 Lyman Beecher removed to Litchfield Corners he assailed the vice of intemperance, then so common in the land of the Puritans that formal meetings of the clergy were not infrequently accompanied by gross excesses. His sermons were extempore in form, but were carefully thought out, generally while he was engaged in active physical exercise. He had striking peculiarities, and was accustomed to relieve the excitement occasioned by preaching by playing " Auld Lang Syne'' on the fiddle or dancing the double-shuffle in his parlor. He remained at Litchfield sixteen years. From. 1826 to 1832 Dr. Beecher was pastor of the Hanover Street Church, Boston. Here his influence was so powerful, his controversies with Unitarianism and the Finney system of revivals* so trenchant and triumphant, that his fame went abroad in all the land ; and he seemed to be the man of all others to help build up a Western school of theology. From 1832 to 1842 he was president of the Lane Theological Seminary, near Cincinnati, O. Upon his retirement from the Lane Seminary, Dr. Beecher returned to Boston, where he lived until 1856, when he removed to Brooklyn, where his death occurred in 1863, in the eighty-eighth year of his age. Dr. Beecher was one of the twelve children of his father, David Beecher, and he was himself the father of thirteen children, of whom Henry Ward Beecher was the eighth. He was three times married, first in 1799, then in 1817, and again in 1836. It is unnecessary here to recapitulate the labors that gave him his fame as a theologian, orator, writer, and leader in great moral movements, such as the temperance and anti-slavery causes.

Of the children who attained distinction, there were Catherine Esther Beecher, who wrote a number of books upon education and domestic economy ; Edward Beecher, D.D., a studious theologian ; Harriet Elizabeth (Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe), author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin ; " Charles Beecher, Thomas K. Beecher, and Mrs. Isabella Beecher Hooker.