- Lyman Beecher
Infobox Person
name = Lyman Beecher
image_size = 200px
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1775|10|12|mf=y
birth_place =New Haven, Connecticut
death_date = death date and age|1863|1|10|1775|10|12
death_place =Brooklyn, New York
occupation = Clergyman
spouse = Roxana Beecher (desc.)
Harriet Beecher (desc.)
Lydia Beecher (desc.)
parents = David and Esther Beecher
children = Catharine, William, Edward, Mary, Harriet, George, Harriet Elizabeth, Henry Ward, Charles, Frederick, Isabella, Thomas, JamesLyman Beecher (
October 12 ,1775 –January 10 ,1863 ) was aPresbyterian clergyman, temperance movement leader, and the father of several noted leaders, includingHarriet Beecher Stowe ,Henry Ward Beecher ,Charles Beecher ,Edward Beecher ,Isabella Beecher Hooker , andCatharine Beecher , and a leader of theSecond Great Awakening of theUnited States .Beecher was born in
New Haven, Connecticut to David Beecher, a blacksmith, and Esther Hawley Lyman. He attended Yale, graduating in 1797. He spent 1798 inYale Divinity School under the tutelage of his mentorTimothy Dwight , and was ordained a year later, in 1799. He began his religious career inLong Island . He gained popular recognition in 1806, after giving a sermon concerning theduel betweenAlexander Hamilton andAaron Burr . He moved toLitchfield, Connecticut , in 1810 and started to preachCalvinism . He was later called to Boston's Hanover Church, he began preaching againstUnitarianism , which was then sweeping the area.In 1799 he married Roxana Foote, the daughter of Eli and Roxana (Ward) Foote. They had nine children: Catharine E., William, Edward, Mary, Harriet, Tommy, George, Harriet Elizabeth, Henry Ward, and Charles. Roxana Beecher died on September 13, 1816. In 1817, he married Harriet Porter and they had four children: Frederick C., Isabella Holmes, Thomas Kinnicut, and James Chaplin. After Harriet Beecher died on July 7, 1835, he married Lydia Beals Johnson (1789-1869) in 1836.
In 1832, Beecher became
pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati (today, this congregation isCovenant First Presbyterian Church ), and the first president ofLane Theological Seminary where his mission was to train ministers to win the West forProtestantism . Beecher's term at the school came at a time when a number of burning issues, particularlyslavery , threatened to divide the Presbyterian Church, the state ofOhio , and the nation. In 1834, students at the school debated the slavery issue for 18 consecutive nights and many of them chose to adopt the cause ofabolitionism . When Beecher opposed their "radical" position and refused to offer classes toAfrican-Americans , a group of about 50 students (who became known as the "Lane Rebels") left the Seminary forOberlin College . The events sparked a growing national discussion of abolition that contributed to the beginning of the Civil War.Beecher was also notorious for his anti-Catholicism and authored the Nativist "A Plea for the West." His sermon on this subject at Boston in 1834 was followed shortly by the burning of the Catholic Ursuline sisters convent there.
Although earlier in his career he had opposed them, Beecher stoked controversy by advocating "new measures" of evangelism that ran counter to traditional Calvinism understanding. These new measures were an outworking of the practice of evangelist
Charles Finney , and for the time brought turmoil to churches all across America. Fellow pastor, Joshua Lacy Wilson, pastor of First Presbyterian (now, also a part of Covenant-First Presbyterian in Cincinnati) charged Beecher with heresy. Even though Beecher was exonerated by the Presbyterian church, he eventually resigned his post in Cincinnati and went back East to live with his son Henry inBrooklyn, New York in 1850. After spending the last years of his life with his children, he died in Brooklyn and was buried atGrove Street Cemetery , inNew Haven, Connecticut .
The Harriet Beecher Stowe House inCincinnati, Ohio is the former home of her father Lyman Beecher on the former campus of theLane Theological Seminary . Harriet lived here until her marriage. It is open to the public and operated as an historical and cultural site, focusing onHarriet Beecher Stowe , theLane Theological Seminary and theUnderground Railroad . The site also presentsAfrican-American history. The Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati is located at 2950 Gilbert Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45206. [ [http://www.ohiohistory.org/places/stowe/ OHS - Places - Stowe House ] ]ee also
* , an image of the cover of a pamphlet with the text of his 1806 sermon
References
External links
* [http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/digital/2001/beecher/lyman.htm The Beecher Tradition: Lyman Beecher]
* [http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/BEC_BER/BEECHER_LYMAN_17751863_.html EB 1911 - Beecher, Lyman]
* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/underground/oh1.htm Stowe house]
* [http://www.ohiohistory.org/places/stowe/ Stowe House official site]
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