Charles Rollin Brainard

“ The death of her mother when Catherine was about sixteen years of age brought upon her domestic responsibilities that lasted until her father's second marriage, two years later. Her education was received in the seminary at Litchfield. She was betrothed to Prof. Fisher, of Yale, who was lost with the “Albion” off the coast of Ireland, while on a voyage to Europe, and she never married. Her brother, Henry Ward Beecher, says the shock was so great that it nearly destroyed her religious faith, and her only consolation was in a life of earnest activity. ”

“ The French revolution of 1830, the agitation in England for reform and against colonial slavery, and the punishment by American courts of citizens who had dared to attack the slave-trade carried on under the American flag, had begun to direct the attention of American philanthropists to the evils of American slavery, and an abolition convention met in Philadelphia in 1833. ”

“ Beecher was of stout build, florid, and of strong physical constitution. He was fond of domestic and rural life; a student of nature; a lover of animals, flowers, and gems; an enthusiast in music, and a judge and patron of art. He owned a handsome residence at Peekskill on the Hudson, which he occupied during a part of every summer. In 1886 he made a lecturing tour in England, his first visit to that country after the war. ”

“ Removing to Williamsburg, now a part of Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1852, he gathered and became pastor of the New England Congregational church, and in 1854 he removed to Elmira, N. Y., to take charge of the Independent Congregational church, afterward the Park church. He is known as an influential speaker and writer, and is distinguished for philanthropy. He wholly ignores sectarian feeling, and seeks to promote a fraternal spirit among the various Christian denominations. ”

“ His ancestor in the fifth ascent emigrated to New England, and settled at New Haven in 1638. His father, David Beecher, was a blacksmith. 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 between 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, where, besides the usual classical course, he studied theology under President Dwight and was graduated in 1797. ”

“ She continued in her old age the accomplishments of her youth, singing, and playing the piano and the guitar; but her performances were those of a past generation, as she had no belief in modern or classic music. She believed that what she could not comprehend could not exist. ”

“ Her object, as described by herself, was, “to unite American women in an effort to provide a Christian education for 2,000,000 children in our country” who were destitute of schools. She made her field of labor especially in the west and south, and sought the aid of educated women throughout the land. She was for many years engaged with ex-Governor Slade, of Vermont, in a scheme for introducing woman teachers into the west. ”

“ He became a member of the Republican party on its formation, and delivered many political sermons from his pulpit, also addressing political meetings, especially in 1856, when he took an active part in the canvass, not only with his pen but by speaking at meetings thoughout the northern states. During the presidential canvass of 1884, Mr. Beecher supported the Democratic candidate, and by his action estranged many of his political admirers. In the long conflict with slavery he was an early and an earnest worker. ”

“ He was graduated at Yale in 1822, studied theology at Andover and New Haven, became tutor in Yale in 1825, and then removed to Boston to take charge of the Park street congregation. Here he remained from 1826 till 1830, when he was elected president of Illinois College, Jacksonville. In 1844 he returned to Boston, as pastor of Salem street church, and in 1855 he became pastor of the Congregational church at Galesburg, Ill., where he remained until 1870. For some years he was professor of exegesis in the Chicago Theological Seminary. ”

“ She also claimed that a housekeeper is responsible for the health of all the inmates of her family, especially of children and servants who have not the needful knowledge and discretion. She was constantly making experiments, and practising them upon the girls, weighing all their food before they ate it, holding that Graham flour and the Graham diet were better for them than richer food. ”

“ At an early age he had a strong desire for a seafaring life, which he renounced in consequence of a deep religious impression experienced during a revival. He studied at the Boston Latin-school, in Mount Pleasant institute, was graduated at Amherst in 1834, and then studied theology at Lane seminary, under the tuition of his father, who was president of the institution. He first settled as a Presbyterian minister in Lawrenceburgh, Indiana, in 1837, and married Eunice White, daughter of Dr. ”

“ But here too he found his salary ($800 a year) inadequate. The rapid and extensive defection of the Congregational churches in Boston and vicinity, under the lead of Dr. Channing and others in sympathy with him, had excited much anxiety throughout New England; and in 1826 Mr. Beecher received a call to become pastor of the Hanover street church in Boston. At the urgent request of his clerical brethren, he took the charge for the purpose of upholding the doctrines of Puritanism, and remained in this church six years and a half. His sermons at this time were largely controversial ”

“ The latter has been republished in England under the title of “Summer in the Soul.” On the establishment of the “Christian Union” in 1870, he became its editor-in-chief. To a series of papers in the “New York Ledger” he gave the title “Thoughts as they Occur,” by “One who keeps his eyes and ears open,” and they were afterward published under the title of “Eyes and Ears” (Boston, 1864) . In addition to the foregoing, Mr. Beecher published “Lectures to Young Men on Various Important Subjects” (Indianapolis, 1844, revised ed., New York, 1850) ”

“ He has lectured in the principal cities of the United States, and against his wishes and counsel he has been nominated for political office by the greenback, the democratic, the prohibition, and the republican parties, but has never been elected to any office. ”

“ His salary was $300 a year, after five years increased to $400, with a dilapidated parsonage. To eke out his scanty income, his wife opened a private school, in which the husband also gave instruction. Mr. Beecher soon became one of the foremost preachers of his day. A sermon that he delivered in 1804, on the death of Alexander Hamilton, excited great attention. Finding his salary wholly inadequate to support his increasing family, he resigned the charge, and in 1810 was installed pastor of the Congregational church in Litchfield, Conn. ”