Lyman Beecher

Lyman Beecher was born in New Haven, Connecticut Colony in 1775. In 1797, at 18, Beecher entered Yale, studying at Yale Divinity School, and the following year, he was licensed as a Presbyterian preacher in East Hampton, Long Island. In 1799, he married Roxana Foote, with whom he would have nine children, including the notable Harriet Beecher Stowe. Beecher gained recognition with his evangelical sermons and strong stance against alcohol use. He began preaching Calvinism, founding the Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. With his controversial stances on slavery and evangelism, Beecher became a polarizing figure, eventually splitting the Presbyterian church in two. Later in life, he lived with his son in Brooklyn, where he died at age 87.