Henry Ward Beecher

He met Eunice Bullard, the daughter of a reputed physician, during his years in Amherst College. The couple got engaged on 2nd January, 1832.

In 1837, after five long years, they got married. Their marriage was reported to be unsuccessful by several friends close to the couple. Henry spent long hours away from home, and his wife was mostly jealous because of the attention he received from women.

The couple had eight children from their marriage. Unfortunately four of their children died. As years went by, Beecher’s several extra-marital affairs unravelled. The couple hardly had anything left in their marriage but Eunice supported her husband publically repudiating such allegations.

Henry Ward Beecher was born to Lyman Beecher, a conservative Congregationalist minister on 24th June, 1813 at Litchfield in Connecticut. When he was three, his mother Roxana Foote passed away and his father later married Harriet Porter.

He was the eighth child among his parents’ thirteen children. Some of his siblings went on to become established authors, educators and activists, of which the closest to him was Harriet Beecher Stowe, who went on to write the noteworthy novel on antislavery ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’.

The Beecher family refrained from entertainment such as dancing, theatre and celebration of festivals. Their days were filled with prayer meetings, lectures and religious services. The only other entertainment the Beecher children had was listening to their father play the fiddle.

Henry’s father wanted him to follow his footsteps. However, his childhood was a struggle as he often stammered which was an obvious flaw for a minister. Unable to deliver academically as well, he would be punished every now and then.

At fourteen, he joined a boarding school at Amherst, Massachusetts called ‘Mount Pleasant Classical Institution’ where he was trained to be an orator. He met Constantine Fondolaik at the institute, who became a fellow classmate and lifelong friend.

He became a minister at churches in Lawrenceburg and Indianapolis. In his early years he emphatically protested against slavery.

In 1844, he delivered a speech catering to the youth, which was called ‘Seven lectures to Young Men’. His speech was aimed at spreading awareness about the evils present in a frontier community.

Owing to his theological believes, he was welcomed whole-heartedly into the west to preach, since the western states were liberal and not as rigid as the eastern states.

Although he was a public figure and delivered speeches and sermons every day, he faced poverty and financial hardships in his initial years.

In 1847, he was ordained as a minister of ‘Plymouth Church’ in Brooklyn, New York. Slowly as his sermons became famous in New York, people began gathering in thousands to support his opinions on social reforms.

His sermons pronounced that God’s scriptures were not to be considered a reference book for punishment and duty, but rather a guide for the journey of life.

He didn’t defy the beliefs of the Calvinists, who stated that God provided scriptures to teach sinners the right way and take control of their lives. Rather he emphasised on living a virtuous life, not out of obligation or duty but rather out of nature and habit.

He professed that God’s love for mankind is projected through the “gospel” and that God provides people with opportunities through Holy Scriptures to live a life of enjoyment and content.

He spoke of the uncertainty of the existence of ‘Hell’ and encouraged people to seek happiness through leisure activities.