Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers

While this is just a small pocket book, it was a delight to read. I had purchased it for a friend who is a direct descendant of the Beetcher clan from New England. She is doing genealogy research on the family, and the information in the two books I got her (the other was "Sinners, Saints, and Beechers", was fantastic in filling in some data she was severely lacking. Both she and her mom were thrilled to get these copies.

This woman was the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. She was the daughter of a preacher and the wife of preacher who could not tolerate slavery and wrote a story that helped cause the Civil War to happen sooner than later as she exposed the sin of slavery and it's effect on people of color. This woman had strength of character, morals, and a message of truth that had to be shared with the world. Inspiring and Fabulous!

This is a great book - because of the flavor that Harriet HAD to lead and live GIVEN the Beecher Clan!!!!!! I highly recommend this read.

Got this book for an advanced 2nd grader to use for a biography. She really liked it and could comprehend it well. She was able to get a good deal of info from it!

my 10 year old loved it!

A light and lively read that you can do in short time. Enjoyed it very much!

I'm sure there are lots of good facts, but it was not engaging enough to keep my attention.

The lives of the twelve children of Lyman Beecher, a fiery New England minister determined that all his sons become preachers, are chronicled in this book. But the primary focus is on his middle daughter, Harriet Beecher, who longed for her father's love and approval.The shy, talented Harriet was overshadowed by her older and domineering sister Catherine after the death of their mother when they were young. Trying to please everyone, Harriet lived her life "doing as she ought" and giving in to the desires of almost everyone around her.During a time of unprecedented upheaval in America because of slavery, it took the urging of her husband, brother, and a dear sister-in-law to convince Harriet to use her pen to change the world. The result was Uncle Tom's Cabin, a novel that, in President Lincoln's words, "started this big war." It was her story that changed the minds of many in America and led to the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War to end slavery.The entire Beecher family suffered with bouts of depression in a day when there was no medical help available. In addition, the influence of a harsh, critical father who preached God's wrath and judgment sent his twelve children in opposite directions. Two committed suicide, one was institutionalized for insanity, and others spent their lives meddling in the affairs of their family. The saving grace of the family resulted in Henry Ward Beecher, one of the best known and beloved preachers of New England, three other ministers, and Harriet, whose passion and sense of justice made her the toast of Europe and the conscience of America in the late 19th century.This unpretentious book is a vaulable essay for young ministers especially, but also for anyone who enjoys history and biographies.