Beecher family

Originating in New England, the Beecher family in the 19th century was a political family notable for issues of religion, civil rights, and social reform. Notable members of the family include clergy (Congregationalists), educators, authors and artists. Many of the family were Yale educated and advocated for abolitionism, temperance, and women's rights. Some of the family provided material or ideological support to the Union in the American Civil War. The family is of English descent.

Locations named after persons of this family include: Beecher, Illinois, named after Henry Ward Beecher and Beecher Island, named after Lt. Fredrick H. Beecher.

Events named after persons of this family include the Battle of Beecher Island, named after Lt. Fredrick H. Beecher.

Family tree

The following is an approximate family tree of the Beecher family: [ [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/lits/library/arch/col/msrg/mancol/ms0509r.htm Beecher family. Finding Aid ] ]

* David Beecher (1738–) a blacksmith, married Esther Hawley Lyman [http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=fox2&id=I121449 RootsWeb] ]
** Lyman Beecher (1775–1863), married Roxana Foote (1775–1816) in 1799 and had 9 children; married Harriet Porter in 1817 and had 4 children; Yale graduate
*** Catharine Esther Beecher (1800–1878) was an educator and women's-rights activist
*** William Henry Beecher (1802–1889) married Katharine Edes in 1832, had 6 children
*** Edward Beecher (1803–1895) helped organize Illinois' first anti-slavery society, Yale graduate; married Isabella Jones (1807–1895) in 1829, had 11 children
**** Frederick W. Beecher
*** Mary Foote Beecher (1805–1900), married Thomas Clapp Perkins (1798–1870) in 1827; Perkins was the brother-in-law of Roger Sherman Baldwin
**** Emily Baldwin Perkins (1829–1912), married Edward Everett Hale in 1852 and had one child
***** Ellen Day Hale (1855–1940), artist, never married, but her constant friend and companion was Gabrielle DeVeaux Clements, also an artist
**** Frederick Beecher Perkins, married Mary Ann Fitch Westcott
***** Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935), feminist; married Charles Walter Stetson in 1884 and had one child, divorced in 1894; married her first cousin George Houghton Gilman in 1900 (see below)
****** Katharine Beecher Stetson (1885–1975)
**** Catherine Beecher Perkins, married William Charles Gilman
***** George Houghton Gilman, married his first cousin Charlotte Perkins in 1900 (see above)
*** Harriet Beecher (1808–1808)
*** George Beecher (1809–1843) Yale graduate, married Sarah Buckingham in 1837
*** Harriet Elizabeth Beecher (1811–1896), wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin; married Calvin Stowe (1802–1886) in 1836
****Hattie (1836–)
****Eliza (1836–)
****Frederick William (1840–)
****Samuel Charles (1848–1849)
*** Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887), married Eunice White Bullard (1812–1897) in 1837, had 9 children; namesake of Beecher, Illinois.
**** Harriet Beecher
**** Henry Beecher
**** William Beecher
**** Herbert Beecher
*** Charles Beecher (1815–1900) married Sarah Leland Coffin (1815–1897) in 1840, had 6 children
** Harriet Porter Beecher (1790–1835), married Lyman in 1817 and had 4 children
*** Frederick C Beecher (1818–1820)
*** Isabella Holmes Beecher (1822–1907), married John Hooker (1816–1901) in 1841
*** Thomas Kinnicut Beecher (1824–1900), married Olivia Day (1826–1853) in 1851, married Frances Juliana Jones (1826–1905) in 1857; adopted 4 children
*** James Chaplin Beecher (1828–1886), married Frances Johnson (1832–1903) in 1864
** Lydia Beals Jackson Beecher (1789–1869), married Lyman in 1836

Gallery

Ancestors

The first known New World settlers from this family: [ [http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/qx/beecher-family-crest.htm Beecher Family Crest ] ]
* Thomas Beecher who settled in New England in 1630
* Christian Beecher settled in Salem, Massachusetts in 1635

References

Additional reading

*French, Earl A. and Diana Royce. "Portraits of a Nineteenth Century Family." Hartford, Connecticut: The Stowe-Day Foundation, 1976.
*Hooker, John. "Some Reminiscences of a long life with a few articles on moral and social subjects of present interest." Hartford, Connecticut: Belknap and Warfield, 1899.
*Rugoff, Milton. "The Beechers: An American Family in the Nineteenth Century." New York: Harper & Row, 1981.
*Van Why, Joseph S. "Nook Farm." Hartford, Connecticut: The Stowe-Day Foundation, 1975.
*Caskey, Marie. "Chariot of fire: religion and the Beecher family." New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1978.
*Stowe, Lyman Beecher. "Saints, Sinners and Beechers." Indianapolis, Indiana: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1934.

External links

* [http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/digital/2001/beecher/default.htm An American Family: The Beecher Tradition] —an exhibit at the William and Anita Newman Library curated by Professor Sandra Roff, Archivist/Reference Librarian
* [http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:RAD.SCHL:sch00049 Beecher-Stowe family Papers.] [http://www.radcliffe.edu/schles Schlesinger Library,] Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.