The Harriet Beecher Stowe House is a historic home in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

which was once the residence of influential

antislavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

author

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the harsh ...

, author of the 1852 novel ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U. ...

''.

History

Rev.

Lyman Beecher Lyman Beecher (October 12, 1775 – January 10, 1863) was a Presbyterian minister, and the father of 13 children, many of whom became noted figures, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, Charles Beecher, Edward Beecher, Isabella Bee ...

accepted a job at

Lane Theological Seminary Lane Seminary, sometimes called Cincinnati Lane Seminary, and later renamed Lane Theological Seminary, was a Presbyterian theological college that operated from 1829 to 1932 in Walnut Hills, Ohio, today a neighborhood in Cincinnati. Its campus ...

in the Walnut Hills area of Cincinnati, founded in 1830. Rev. Beecher was a Congregationalist

minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

. He had dreamed of moving west to promote his brand of Christianity as early as 1830, when he wrote to his daughter

Catharine Catharine may refer to: * Catharine (given name) In geography: * Catharine, New York * St. Catharine, Missouri * Saint Catharine, Kentucky * Catharine, Illinois * Catharine, Kansas * St. Catharines, Ontario See also *Catherina (and similar spe ...

: "I have thought seriously of going over to Cincinnati, the London of the West, to spend the remnant of my days in that great conflict, and in consecrating all my children to God in that region who are willing to go. If we gain the West, all is safe; if we lose it, all is lost." In September 1832, 21-year old Harriet Beecher (not yet Mrs. Stowe) moved with her family from

Litchfield, Connecticut Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,192 at the 2020 census. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are located within the town. There are also three unincorporat ...

, to Ohio. The company included her father, her stepmother, her aunt Esther, her siblings Catharine and George, and half-siblings Isabella, Thomas, and James. The extended family previously had not been living together but the various parts of the family from Boston and

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

met in New York to begin their trip together. Hedrick, Joan D. ''Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994: 68. Along the way, they traveled through other eastern cities to raise money for the seminary. The journey was long and difficult. Isabella later recalled, "After a week in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, we chartered a big, old-fashioned

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

, with four great horses, for

Wheeling, Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, West Virginia, Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contain ...

, and spent a week or more on the way, crossing the

Alleghenies The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

, before ever a railroad was thought of, and enjoyed every minute of the way." They amused themselves by singing hymns while the journey that normally took 48 hours stretched to eight days. Cincinnati was then an area active in the abolitionist movement.Danilov, Victor J. ''Famous Americans: A Directory of Museums, Historic Sites, and Memorials''. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2013: 62. It was also one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation at the time, with its population leaping from 10,000 people in 1820 to 25,000 in 1830. By 1850, thanks to an influx of German and Irish immigrants, it became the sixth-largest city in the United States. Catharine, Harriet's older sister by eleven years, established the Western Female Institute in town.McFarland, Philip. ''Loves of Harriet Beecher Stowe''. New York: Grove Press, 2007: 13. It was in Cincinnati that Harriet Beecher began her writing career. She published her book ''The Mayflower: Sketches of Scenes and Character Among the Descendants of the Pilgrims'' in 1834. It was also while living in Cincinnati that Stowe traveled to

Maysville, Kentucky Maysville is a home rule-class city in Mason County, Kentucky, United States and is the seat of Mason County. The population was 8,782 as of 2019, making it the 51st-largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, north ...

, in 1833 and witnessed a slave auction. The distress she felt was one of several experiences that inspired her book ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' years later. Harriet lived here for various periods of time from 1833 until her marriage to professor

Calvin Ellis Stowe Calvin Ellis Stowe (April 6, 1802 – August 22, 1886) was an American Biblical scholar who helped spread public education in the United States. Over his career, he was a professor of languages and Biblical and sacred literature at Andover Theolo ...

in 1836. Her first two children, twins Eliza and Harriet, were born in the house in 1836. Harriet's brother,

Henry Ward Beecher Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 – March 8, 1887) was an American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, known for his support of the Abolitionism, abolition of slavery, his emphasis on God's love, and his 1875 adultery ...

, also resided in the Cincinnati Beecher House. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was an early leader in the

women's suffrage movement Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to gran ...

and a popular

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

minister.

Description

The 5,000 square foot house was completed in 1833 and was constructed specifically to house the president of the Lane Seminary. The house was provided by the seminary to the Beechers. Harriet and most of her brothers and sisters (11 Beecher children lived to adulthood) lived with their father in this house.

Museum today

The Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati is owned by the

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

. It is located in the Walnut Hills neighborhood (Martin Luther king exit from Interstate 71) at 2950 Gilbert Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45206 and is operated by volunteers with the Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Inc. It is open to the public, located in small park, and operated as an historical and cultural site, focusing on Stowe and her family, the Lane Seminary, abolitionists, and the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. The site also presents

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

history.

References

External links

Harriet Beecher Stowe House
— official site
Lane Theological Seminary
at Ohio History

at "Aboard the Underground Railroad"
"Writings of Harriet Beecher Stowe", broadcast from the Harriet Beecher Stowe House
from

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

's ''

American Writers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Stowe Museums in Cincinnati National Register of Historic Places in Cincinnati Houses in Cincinnati Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Historic house museums in Ohio Ohio History Connection Houses on the Underground Railroad Biographical museums in Ohio Literary museums in the United States Women's museums in the United States Walnut Hills, Cincinnati Cincinnati Local Historic Landmarks Stowe, Harriet Beecher House Cincinnati Harriet Beecher Stowe