Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/272

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BEEilIER.

BEECHER, Charles Emerson, eilutiitoi. was iK.rii in nunkiik. N. Y..<-t,il. lS.-)(5; son of Moses an. I Emily iDowner) Ik-oclier; grandson of Moses and Lydia (Dawson) Beeclier; and of Andrew Otis anil Ester (Emerson) Downer; and a descendant of Zacceus and Mary (Brigham) Downer, and of Kichard and ^lary ((lorton) Emerson. lie was graduated from the University of Michigan, B.S. in ISTS: was in the New York state museum at Albany, N.Y.; lS7ii-'8S: and was a postgraduateof Y'ale, receiving the ilegree of Ph.D. in 18S9. He w:is assistant instructor in pahvontology at Yale, 1888-"91; instructor, 1891-92; assistant professor 1893-'97; and professor of historical geology there from 1897. He had charge of inverte- brate pahvontology in Y'ale university museum; and was elected university professor of histor- ical geology, a member of the governing board of the Sheffield scientific school; a trustee of the Peabody museum, and curator of the geological collections. He was married, Sept. 12, 1894, to Mary Salome Galligan of Warren, Pa.

BEECHER, Edward, educator, was born at East Hampton. L.I.. N.Y. Aug. 27. 1803, son of Lyman and Koxana (Foote) Beecher. He was graduated at Yale in 1822; fitted for the ministry at Andover. Mass., and New Haven, Conn., and wjis a tutor in the Hartford high school and at Y'ale, in 1825. He was pastor of the Park St. Congregational church, Boston, Mass., 1826-30, president of Illinois college, Jacksonville III., 1830-44, pastor of the Salem St. church, Boston, 1844-55, and of the Congregational church at Galesburg, III.. 1855-70. He was also professor of Biblical exegesis in the Chicago theological seminary, became assistant to his brother in the editorial management of the Cliristian Union at Brof)klyn, N.Y. in 1872, and pastor of the Con- gregational church at Parkville, N.Y. in 1885. He was also editor-in-charge of the Congregationalist for several years. He was run over by a railroad train in 18s8 and altliough he had his leg ampu- tated, entirely recovered from the shock. The de- gree of D.D. was conferred upon Mr. Beecher by Marietta college in 1841. His best known works are: "The Conflict of Ages " and " The Concord of Ages." in which he announces the view that man is in a progressive state— the present life Ix-ing the outcome of a former one, and the preparation of another life after death. Evil, however, will continue in the future life, and the struggle between it and good will still goon until some far-ofT future, when evil will be finally 8ub<lued, and universal harmony be forever established. The utterance of such radical views in regar.l to the future life neces.sarily made a profound impre.ssion upon the thouglit of the day and aroused much comment. His publications

include; "Address on the Kingdom of (iod " (1827); " Six Sermons on the Nature, Imixjrtance and Means of Eminent Holiness throughout the Church " (1835); " Statement of Anti -slavery Principles " (1837); " History of the Alton Riots " (1838); " Baptism: its Import and Modes " (1850); "The Conflict of Ages" (1853); "The Concord of Ages" (1860); "History of Opinions on the Scriptural Doctrines of Future Retribution " (1878), and " The Papal Conspiracy " (1885). He died at his home in Brooklyn. N. Y., July 28, 1895.

BEECHER, Eunice White (Bui lard), author, was born at West Sutton, Mass., Aug. 26, 1812; daughter of Dr. Artemus Bullard. She acquired her education at Hadley, Mass., and taught school for a tune. She was married Aug. 3, 1837, to Henrj' W^ard Beecher, and went with him to a small parish at Lawrenceburg, Ind. Two years later they removed to Indianapolis, where they remained until Mr. Beecher's call to Plymouth church, Brooklyn, N. Y. She wrote: "From Dawn to Daylight: a Simple Story of a Western Home" (1859); "Motherly Talks with Young Housekeepers " (1875); " Letters from Florida " (1878); "All Around the House" (1878); " Home " (1883), and, with William C. Beecher and Rev. Samuel Scoville, an "Authentic Biog- raphy " of her husband. She died March 8, 1897.

BEECHER, Frederick Henry, soldier, was born in New Orleans. La., June 22, 1841; son of Charles Beecher and grandson of Lyman Beecher. After his graduation from Bowdoin college, in 1862, he enlisted in the 16th Maine volimteers, and was made sergeant of his company. He was promoted to be 2d and 1st lieutenant, and served in the army of the Potomac. His first battle was Fredericksburg. At Gettysburg he sustained severe woimds, and was transferred to the veteran reserve corps. When a lieutenant and acting adjutant-general, he was on duty in the Freedmen"s bureau in Washington. At the end of the war he was given a lieutenant's commission in the regular army, was a.ssigned to frontier duty in Kansas, and saw active service in Indian campaigns. In July, 1866, lie was promoted 1st lieutenant, U. S. A., and was killed in an encounter with the Indians near Fort Wal- lace, Kansjis, Sept. 17, 1868.

BEECHER, Henry Ward, clergyman, was born at Litclifiekl, Conn., June 24, 1813; fourth son and ninth child of Lyman and Roxana (F(X)te) Beecher, grandson of David, and sixth in de.scent from John, the first American ancestor, who came wnth his mother, the widow Hannah Beecher, to Connecticut from Kent, England, in 1638. His paternal ancestors were of sturdy yeo- man stock, noted for their physical strength — honest, God-fearing men; his mother was the daughter of Eli and Roxana Ward Foote, Episco-