Across Five Aprils

Henry Ward Beecher

The brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Beecher was born in Litchfield, Connecticut on June 24, 1813. He graduated from Amherst College in 1834 and entered Lane Theological Seminary, becoming a Presbyterian minister in 1837.

His early reform causes were related to improving social conditions in the West, speaking against gambling and the abuse of alcohol.

He moved to Plymouth Church, Brooklyn in 1847Henry Ward Beecher. By this time, he had taken up causes opposing slavery, favoring temperance, and the right of women to vote.

He condemned the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill from the pulpit, and helped to raise money for weapons for those who were willing to take up arms against the institution of slavery in these territories. These weapons became known as Beecher’s Bibles.

He supported the Free Soil Party in 1852, but switched to the Republican Party in 1860. During the American Civil War, Beecher’s church raised and equipped a volunteer regiment that fought for the Union. After the war, however, he spoke in favor of reconciliation.