Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/273

 BEECHER.

BEECHER.

q^efy7-^-/f2.,,.eA'^-

palians and loyalists, Eli being descended through Nathaniel Foote, who came to Connecticut with Hooker's company, in 1636, from James Foote, who was knighted for his loyalty to King Charles. His mother died when Henry was three years old, and he found an ex- cellent and careful parent in his father's second wife, Hannah Porter. His early environment was ■such as to foster inde- pendence and sturdi- nt!ss of character. There were no in- didgences in the large, simple house- hold; plenty of work, much wholesome fun, strict discipline — the whole steeped in an atmosphere of theology. The little boy at four years of age at- tended the district school, and at ten was sent to the school kept by his sister Catherine, where he was the only boy among thirty or forty girls. There was nothing precocious in his development; he was not particularly apt as a scholar; but was a healthy boy, full of fun and spirit, having a faculty of repartee which delighted his school- mates. In 1826 his family removed to Boston, his father being appointed pastor of the Hanover street church in that city. Henry attended the Moimt Pleasant institute, where he made a special study of mathematics, incited thereto by his desire to enter the navy. His religious con- victions at this time were deepened while attend- ing some revival meetings, and he resolved to become a preacher of the gospel. He entered Amherst college in 1830, where he made his mark chiefly outside the class-room, drawing and lead- ing his fellow students by that personal magnet- ism which was afterwards so large a part of his power as a preacher. In logic and in class de- bates he outshone his class-mates, being especially noted for the quality of his extemporaneous speeches. He took a course of elocutionary train- ing, specially needed because of some slight defect in his utterance, and also became interested in the science of phrenology*, which he always re- garded as useful to the preacher in enabling him to understand just how to impress certain people. His college life was a time of religioxis ferment; opinions which had long been growing reached their culmination, and resulted in the division of both Congregational and Presbyterian churches into two parties. "My whole life, '' wrote Mr. Beecher, " lias more or less taken its color from the controversy which led to the division of the

old-school and the new-school Presbyterians." He was graduated from Amherst in 1834, and pursued his theological course at Lane seminar^-, Cincinnati, Ohio, where his father was professor of systematic theology. While a student here, his first editorial work was done on the Cincinnati Journal, in the columns of which he advanced his anti slavery- views. Here he first witnessed the fierce partisan feeling between the Abolition- ists and the upholders of the " divine institution " of slavery. He saw the freedom of the press im- perilled and the city in danger of mob law, and he patrolled the streets himself for some days armed as a special policeman. He also taught a large Bible class, and began to formulate his plans for pastoral work. He completed his course in 1837, and was given the pastorate of a church at La\\Tenceburgh, Ind., where he had a congrega- tion of nineteen women and one man. He was here subjected to a rigorous examination on " doctrines " by the elders of the church, and was pronounced orthodox, but was rejected becaxise he woidd not subscribe himself as belonging to the old-school Presbyterians. The matter was adjiLsted by the congregation aflSliating with the new-school Presbj-terians, and the young pastor maintained his relations with it for two years. In 1839 he accepted the pastorate of a church at Indianapolis, Ind. Here he conducted several re- vivals, preaching daily sometimes for eighteen consecutive days. He found his recreation in horticulture, and was editor of the agricultural department of the Indianapolis Journal. He established a depot of the underground railway at his house, where he succored and comforted nmaway slaves, and at night drove them on to the next place of refuge. In 1847 he assimied pastoral charge of the Phonouth Congregational church, Brooklyn, N. Y. His first sermon preached there, June, 1847, was an exposition of his views in regard to slavery, which he considered a thing altogether accursed; abolitionism M-as a Ijrinciple not yet popular at the north, and be- cause of his vigorous and cavistic utterances against .slavery, Mr. Beecher found his life endangered, and was obliged to walk in the middle of the street after dusk, through fear of ambushed assail- ants, and at one time a mob was organized to tear down his church, but was diverted from its pur- pose by some trifiing circumstance. His genius as an orator increased the church, and rapidly brought him into prominence. He was an omniv- orous reader, and his mind was stored with mines of information and apt illustrations. He Avas unconventional in the pvdpit, and moved men to laughter as well as tears. " All the bells in my belfry shall ring to call men to God,"' he said. He minimized law, and magnified love as the chief factor in the religious belief. He