BEECHER. - Name of a distinguished Connecticut family in the United States, descended from one of the founders of the New Haven colony. The most celebrated members of this family were, besides Lyman B., his children, Henry Ward B., Harriett B. (Mrs. Stowe) and Edward B.
1. LYMAN BEECHER
Born in New Haven (Conn.) in 1775, he studied at Yale University. As soon as he finished his studies, in 1798 he was pastor of a Presbyterian church on Long Island, later passing over to the Congregationalists. In 1835 he was accused by his presbytery of teaching false doctrines, that is, non-Calvinist ones, but he was acquitted by the synod. He died in Brooklyn in 1863. He remained famous for his sermons, but above all for his children.
2. HENRY WARD BEECHER
Born in 1813, he too was successively a Presbyterian and a Congregationalist. He was one of the most accomplished orators of the United States. He was accused of adultery, and, although acquitted by the court, his reputation suffered greatly from it. He worked tirelessly for useful but unpopular reforms, such as the abolition of slavery, temperance, etc. Some years before his death he denied the eternity of the punishments of the afterlife. He collaborated with his writings in various reviews; he was editor-in-chief of the Indipendent, and in 1870 he founded The Christian Union. He died in 1887.
3. HARRIETT STOWE BEECHER
By reason of her great literary success, she was the most celebrated of Lyman's daughters. Born in 1811, she contracted marriage with C. Stowe, under whose name she is generally known. In 1851 she wrote the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin ("La capanna dello zio Tom"), which had an enormous circulation and contributed not a little to the civil war (1861-65) from which resulted the abolition of slavery in the United States. She died in 1896.
4. EDWARD BEECHER
Born in 1803, he was a Congregationalist theologian, editor of The Congregationalist and, for some years, editor of the Christian Union, founded by his brother Henry Ward. He professed a doctrine of his own, namely that man in this life is in a progressive state and in transition between the primitive life and a future one, which must come after death. The struggle between good and evil does not end with this life; it will continue in the next with the final victory of good and the suppression of evil. Died in Brooklyn in 1895.
Bibliography2 works
Camillo Crivelli