Who was Harriet Beecher Stowe? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe, Christopher Crowfield

Died At Age: 85

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Calvin Ellis Stowe

mother: Roxana Beecher

siblings: Catharine Beecher, Charles Beecher, Edward Beecher, Henry Ward Beecher, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Thomas K. Beecher

children: Charles Edward, Eliza Taylor, Frederick William, Georgiana May, Harriet Beecher, Henry Ellis, Samuel Charles

American Women Gemini Writers

Died on: July 1, 1896

place of death: Hartford, Connecticut, United States

Grouping of People: Abolitionists

Ancestry: British American

U.S. State: Connecticut

Recommended For You

1

What impact did Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin?"

"Uncle Tom's Cabin" fueled anti-slavery sentiments in the North, energized the abolitionist cause, and is credited with helping to lay the groundwork for the Civil War.
2

How did Harriet Beecher Stowe's background influence her writing of "Uncle Tom's Cabin?"

Stowe's upbringing in a deeply religious and abolitionist family inspired her to write a novel that exposed the cruelties of slavery and advocated for its abolition.
3

What themes and messages are prominent in Harriet Beecher Stowe's works beyond "Uncle Tom's Cabin?"

Stowe's works often explore themes of social justice, gender roles, and the power of faith in overcoming adversity, reflecting her strong moral convictions.
4

How did Harriet Beecher Stowe use her platform as a writer to advocate for social reform?

Stowe used her literary influence to shed light on issues such as slavery, women's rights, and education reform, sparking important conversations and driving social change.
5

In what ways did Harriet Beecher Stowe's writings challenge societal norms and provoke critical thinking?

Stowe's writings challenged prevailing attitudes towards race, gender, and morality, urging readers to confront uncomfortable truths and consider the impact of their beliefs on society.

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Childhood & Early Life

She was born to a religious leader Rev Lymond Beecher and his wife Roxanna Foote Beecher and was the sixth of eleven children. Her mother was a deeply religious woman and an abolitionist who passed away when she was just six. Her father remarried and the family’s new mother soon had three more children.

She often skipped the strict religious atmosphere of home by visiting her aunt Harriet Foote, and her grandmother Roxana Foote. There, she learnt the domestic arts of sewing and knitting and also had more access to books, novels and poetry.

She began her formal education at Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Female Academy where she studied language and mathematics along with other things. There, she met Sarah P. Willis who later wrote under the pseudonym ‘Fanny Fern’.

In 1831, she moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to join her father at Lane Theological Seminary. She also joined the Semi-colon club, a literary salon and social club, whose members included the Beecher sisters. She published several stories through it, which were about the New England people and the life she knew before she came to Cincinnati.

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Career

In 1850, she moved with her family to a home near the campus of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. In the same year, she approached Gamaleil Bailey, editor of the weekly anti slavery journal ‘National Era’, to share her plans for writing a story about the problems of slavery.

In June 1851, the first installment of ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ appeared in ‘The National Era’. Its emotional depiction of the impact of slavery captured the nation’s attention and caused uproar in South regarding abolition of slavery.

On November 25, 1862, she traveled to Washington DC during Civil War and met the then President Abraham Lincoln and she claimed to have a real funny interview with the President.

In 1870s, she embarked on a reading tour for the American Literary Lecture Bureau of Boston. During her reading tours and travels in Europe she met many fellow writers including George Eliot, Robert Browning and his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Lord George Gordon Byron and his wife Anne Isabella Milbanke- Lady Byron.

Major Works

In 1852, she authored ‘Uncle Tom’s cabin’, an anti-slavery novel that laid the groundwork for the civil war. It ignited the firestorm of protests from defenders of slavery. It garnered much praise from the abolitionists and was the first widely read political novel in the United States.

In 1859, her historical novel, ‘The Minister’s wooing’, was published. It further highlighted the issue of slavery and critiqued the Calvinistic theology. It combined comedy with regional history to show the convergence of daily life, slavery and religion in post-revolutionary England.

Among her other major works were ‘Dred: A tale of the great dismal swamp’ (1856), ‘The pearl of Orrs Island: A story of the coast of Maine’ (1862), ‘Palmetto leaves’ (1873), ‘Queer little folks’ (1897) etc.

Awards & Achievements

She was inducted in the National Woman’s Hall of Fame in 1896.

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She is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church, USA on July 1.

In June 2007, a stamp was issued in her honor by the United States Postal Service.

In 2010, she was proposed by the Ohio Historical Society as a finalist in a statewide vote for inclusion in Statuary Hall at the United States capitol (the meeting place of the United States Congress).

Personal Life & Legacy

During her association with the Lane Theological Seminary, she joined the Semi-colon club where she met Calvin Ellis Stowe, a widower and professor at the seminary. They married on July 6, 1836 and had seven children together including twin daughters.

In 1832, when the Stowe family moved to Cincinnati, they moved to a house which was a part of the former Lane Seminary and lived there for many years. Now the house is owned by the Ohio Historical Society and is operated by volunteers with the ‘Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe house Inc.’

In 1880s, she moved to Mandarin, Florida along with her family where she founded an Episcopal Church, ‘Church of our Saviour’, with her husband. The church contains a Stowe Memorial stained glass window created by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

She rented the Stonemore House with her husband while he was a professor at Bowdoin College. It was here that she wrote ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’. In 2001, Bowdoin College purchased the house and raised the necessary funds to restore the house which is now open to public.

During the latter part of her life, she moved to a house in Hartford, Connecticut where she spent last 23 years of her life. In 1970, it was listed on the National Register of historic places, and declared a National Historic landmark in 2013.

Facts About Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe had a pet canary named Bob that she would often bring with her to church in a birdcage.

She was an avid gardener and loved spending time tending to her flower beds and vegetable garden.

Harriet Beecher Stowe had a talent for playing the guitar and enjoyed entertaining her family and friends with music.

Harriet Beecher Stowe was passionate about education and dedicated much of her life to advocating for equal access to schooling for all children, regardless of their background.

Harriet Beecher Stowe Biography

You wanted to know

What impact did Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin?"

How did Harriet Beecher Stowe's background influence her writing of "Uncle Tom's Cabin?"

What themes and messages are prominent in Harriet Beecher Stowe's works beyond "Uncle Tom's Cabin?"

How did Harriet Beecher Stowe use her platform as a writer to advocate for social reform?

In what ways did Harriet Beecher Stowe's writings challenge societal norms and provoke critical thinking?