Henry Ward Beecher

Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 - March 8, 1887) was a theologically liberal American Congregationalist clergyman and reformer, and author who was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, the eighth of nine children of Lyman Beecher by his first wife (and the eighth of thirteen children in all). One of his elder sisters was Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

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In 1834 he graduated from Amherst College and then studied at Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. First becoming a minister in Lawrenceburg (1837-39) he was then pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana (1839-47), and in 1847, he was appointed minister of Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn, New York.

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An advocate of women's suffrage and for temperance, and a foe of slavery, he held that Christianity should adapt itself to the changing culture of the times. He raised funds to buy weapons for those willing to oppose slavery in Kansas and Nebraska, and the rifles bought with this money became known as "Beecher's Bibles". Politically active, he supported first the Free Soil Party and later the Republican Party. During the American Civil War, his church raised and equipped a volunteer regiment.

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June 24: June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 190 days remaining....

1813: 1813 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar)....

March 8: March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (68th in Leap years). There are 298 days remaining....

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