Lyman Beecher
Lyman Beecher | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | January 10, 1863 | (aged 87)
Occupation | Minister |
Spouses | Roxana Foote
(m. 1799; died 1816)Harriet Porter
(m. 1817; died 1835)Lydia Beals (m. 1836) |
Children | Thomas, James |
Parent(s) | David Beecher Esther Hawley Lyman |
Family | Beecher |
Lyman Beecher (October 12, 1775 – January 10, 1863) was a Presbyterian minister, and the father of 13 children, many of whom became writers or ministers, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, Charles Beecher, Edward Beecher, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Catharine Beecher, and Thomas K. Beecher.
According to his son Henry Ward Beecher, his father was "largely engaged during his life-time in controversy".[1] However, "he was also the most respected religious voice of his era. ...[H]e seemed also to embody all of the nation's moral ideals, in representing the established clergy, who looked to him for leadership."[2]: 94
Early life
Beecher was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to David Beecher, a blacksmith, and Esther Hawley Lyman. His mother died shortly after his birth, and he was committed to the care of his uncle Lot Benton, by whom he was adopted as a son, and with whom his early life was spent blacksmithing and farming. But it was soon found that he preferred study. He was fitted for college by the Rev. Thomas W. Bray, and at the age of eighteen entered Yale College, graduating in 1797. He spent much of 1798 at Yale under the tutelage of his mentor Timothy Dwight.
Ministry
Ministry on Long Island in New York (1798–1810)
In September 1798, he was licensed to preach by the New Haven West Association, and entered upon his clerical duties by supplying the pulpit in the Presbyterian church at
Ministry in Litchfield, Connecticut (1810–1826)
Finding his salary wholly inadequate to support his growing family, he resigned the charge at East Hampton, and in 1810 moved to
Temperance
Alcohol intoxication or drunkenness, known as intemperance at the time, was a source of concern in New England as well as in other areas of the United States. Heavy drinking occurred even at some formal meetings of clergy, and Beecher resolved to take a stand against it. In 1826 he delivered and published six sermons on intemperance. They were sent throughout the United States, ran rapidly through many editions in England, and were translated into several languages in Europe, enjoying large sales even 50 years later.[4]
Unitarian crisis and women's education
During Beecher's residence in Litchfield, the
Ministry in Boston (1826–1832)
The rapid and extensive defection of the
Leadership of Lane Seminary in Cincinnati (1832–1852)
The religious public had become impressed with the growing importance of the great West; a theological seminary had been founded at Walnut Hills, near
Beecher was also notorious for his
Authors disagree as to whether Lyman Beecher's three anti-catholic speeches triggered the burning. For example, Ira Leonard, author of American Nativism, 1830-1860, notes that the three anti-catholic speeches "by Lyman Beecher" ultimately "ignited the spark["]. This statement implies that some of the individuals involved in the burning attended one of Beecher's three sermons. Conversely, Ray Billington understands the two events to be more coincidental. Billington notes that, although the convent burned the evening of Beecher's sermons, the group of working-class men who organized the burning met on three separate occasions, two of which [preceded] Beecher's sermons. Furthermore, Beecher spoke at upper-class churches which the workers would not have attended. "In all probability," Billington comments, "the [convent] would have been attacked whether or not these sermons were delivered."[11]
Lane debates
Beecher's term at Lane came at a time when slavery became an even larger issue, threatening to divide the Presbyterian Church, the state of Ohio, and the nation.
Like most important men of the 1820s, Beecher was a colonizationist, one who supported the
But against a background of the
In February 1834, students at Lane, with national publicity, for 18 consecutive nights
Many of the students were from the South, and an effort was made to stop the discussions and the meetings. Slaveholders from Kentucky came in and incited mob violence, and for several weeks Beecher lived in a turmoil, not knowing whether rioters might destroy the seminary and the houses of the professors. The Board of Trustees interfered during the absence of Beecher, and allayed the excitement of the mob by forbidding all further discussion of slavery in the seminary, even at meals, whereupon the students withdrew en masse.
The well-reported events contributed significantly to the growth and spread of abolitionism in the northern United States. Beecher was neither aware of nor interested in Lane's key role in publicizing abolitionism.[14]: 9
Heresy trial over New School sympathies
Although earlier in his career he had opposed them, Beecher stoked controversy by advocating "new measures" of
The trial took place in his own church, and Beecher defended himself, while burdened with the cares of his seminary, his church, and his wife at home on her deathbed. The trial resulted in acquittal,
Move from Cincinnati to New York City (1852–death in 1863)
After the slavery controversy, Beecher and his co-professor
Legacy
Beecher was proverbially absent-minded, and after having been wrought up by the excitement of preaching was accustomed to relax his mind by playing "Auld Lang Syne" on the violin, or dancing the "double shuffle" in his parlor.[4]
Lyman Beecher's house, on the former campus of the
Personal life
In 1799, Beecher married Roxana Foote, the daughter of Eli and Roxana (Ward) Foote. They had nine children:
Works
Beecher was the author of a great number of printed sermons and addresses. His published works are:
- Beecher, Lyman (1806). A sermon, occasioned by the lamented death of Mrs. Frances M. Sands, of New-Shoreham, formerly an inhabitant of East-Hampton, (L.I.), composed and now made public at the request of her afflicted partner, and delivered at East-Hampton October 12th, 1806. Sag Harbor, New York.
- Beecher, Lyman (1809). The Remedy for Duelling. A sermon, delivered before the Presbytery of Long-Island, at the opening of their session, at Aquebogue, April 16, 1806. New York.
- Beecher, Lyman (1819). The Design, Rights, and Duties of Local Churches: A Sermon Delivered at the installation of the Rev. Elias Cornelius as associate pastor of the Tabernacle Church in Salem, July 21, 1819. Andover, Massachusetts.
- Beecher, Lyman; OCLC 191281079.
- Beecher, Lyman (1827). Six Sermons on the Nature, Occasions, Signs, Evils, and Remedy of Intemperance. Boston.
- Beecher, Lyman; Nettleton, Asahel (1828). Letters of the Rev. Dr. Beecher and Rev. Mr. Nettleton, on the "New measures" in conducting revivals of religion : with a review of a sermon, by Novanglus. New York: G. & C. Carvill.
- Beecher, Lyman (1828). Sermons Delivered on Various Occasions. Boston.
- Beecher, Lyman (1829). The Gospel according to Paul. A sermon, delivered Sept. 17, 1828, at the installation of the Rev. Bennet Tyler, D.D., as pastor of the Second Congregational Church in Portland, Maine. Boston.
- Beecher, Lyman (1835). Lectures on Skepticism, delivered in Park Street Church, Boston, and in the Second Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati (3rd ed.). Cincinnati: Corey and Webster.
- Beecher, Lyman (1835). A Plea for the West. Cincinnati: Truman and Smith.
- Beecher, Lyman (1836). A Plea for Colleges (2nd ed.). Cincinnati and New York: Truman and Smith (Cincinnati); Leavitt, Lord and Co. (New York).
- Beecher, Lyman (1852). Lectures on Political Atheism and Kindred Subjects: Together with Six Lectures on temperance. Dedicated to the working men of the United States. Beecher's Works, vol. I. Boston: John P. Jewett & Company.
- Beecher, Lyman (1852). Sermons Delivered on Various Occasions. Beecher's Works, vol. II. Boston: John P. Jewett & Company.
- Beecher, Lyman (1853). Views of Theology : as developed in three sermons : and on his trials before the Presbytery and Synod of Cincinnati, June, 1835 : with remarks on the Princeton review. Beecher's Works, vol. III. Boston: J.P. Jewett.
- Beecher, Lyman (1853). Atheism Considered Theologically and Politically: In a Series of Lectures. London.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Beecher, Lyman (1864). Harper & Brothers.
- Beecher, Lyman (1865). Harper & Brothers.
He made a collection of those of his works which he deemed the most valuable (3 vols., Boston, 1852).[4]
References
- JSTOR 44108296.
- ISBN 0142001031.
- OCLC 6655058.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
- ^ Beecher, Charles, ed. (1866). Autobiography, Correspondence, etc., of Lyman Beecher D.D., Vol. 1. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 183.
- newspapers.com.
- newspapers.com.
- newspapers.com.
- ^ Beecher, Charles, ed. Autobiography, Correspondence, etc., of Lyman Beecher D.D., Vol. 2. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1865. p. 529.
- ISBN 0802834264.
- ^ Baker, Sean (2016). "American Nativism, 1830-1845". West Virginia University. Archived from the original on November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
- African Repository and Colonial Journal: 148–149. July 1834.
- ^ Jay, William (1835). An inquiry into the character and tendency of the American colonization, and American anti-slavery societies (2nd ed.). New York: Leavitt, Lord & Co. p. 68.
- ^ ISBN 0810813726.
- ^ Stsnsbury, Mr. (1835). Trial and Acquittal of Lyman Beecher, D.D.: Before the Presbytery of Cincinnati, on Charges Preferred by Joshua L. Wilson, D.D. Cincinnati: Eli Taylor.
- ^ OHS – Places – Stowe House Archived 2007-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Stowe, Harriet Beecher (1853). Uncle Sam's emancipation : earthly care, a heavenly discipline, and other sketches. Philadelphia: Willis P. Hazard. p. 9.
- ^ "Lydia Beecher (Beals)". geni_family_tree. 17 September 1789. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
Further reading
- Baker, Thomas N. (2007). "Filial Piety, Infidel Yale, and Memory Making in Lyman Beecher's Autobiography". The New England Quarterly. 80 (1): 134–139. S2CID 57570332.
- Fraser, James W. Pedagogue for God's kingdom : Lyman Beecher and the Second great awakening (1985) online
- Harding, Vincent. A certain magnificence : Lyman Beecher and the transformation of American Protestantism, 1775-1863 (1991) online
- Henry, Stuart C. Unvanquished Puritan : a portrait of Lyman Beecher (1973) [1]
Primary sources
- Beecher, Lyman. Autobiography, Correspondence, etc., of Lyman Beecher, DD: (1864, reprint 1977) online
- Beecher, Lyman. Lyman Beecher and the reform of society: four sermons, 1804-1828 (reprint 1972) online
- White, James C. (1882). Personal reminiscences of Lyman Beecher. New York: ISBN 9780665256912.
External links
- Media related to Lyman Beecher at Wikimedia Commons
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- The Beecher Tradition: Lyman Beecher
- Stowe house
- Stowe House official site
- Beecher Family Papers at Mount Holyoke College Archived 2015-06-03 at the Wayback Machine