The Harriet Beecher Stowe House is a historic home in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

which was once the residence of influential antislavery author

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (185 ...

, 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 Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans ...

''.

History

Rev.

Lyman Beecher Lyman Beecher (October 12, 1775 – January 10, 1863) was an American Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, Presbyterian minister and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. Father of 13 children, many of them became writer ...

accepted a job at Lane Theological Seminary in the Walnut Hills area of Cincinnati, founded in 1830. Rev. Beecher was a Congregationalist minister. He had dreamed of moving west to promote his brand of Christianity as early as 1830, when he wrote to his daughter Catharine: "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 town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are ...

, 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 List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

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 ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, we chartered a big, old-fashioned

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media 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 Brit ...

, with four great horses, for Wheeling, Virginia, and spent a week or more on the way, crossing the

Alleghenies The Allegheny Mountain Range ( ) — also spelled Alleghany or Allegany, less formally the Alleghenies — is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada. Historically it represented a significant barr ...

, 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 in the United States, home rule" class city in Mason County, Kentucky, Mason County, Kentucky, United States, and is the county seat of Mason County. The population was 8,873 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

, 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 Theol ...

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. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

and a popular

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

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 an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

. The site also presents

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

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 television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

's ''

American Writers The Lists of American writers include: United States By ethnicity *List of African-American writers *List of Asian American writers, List of Asian-American writers *List of Cuban American writers, List of Cuban-American writers *List of Egypti ...

'' {{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

History

Description

Museum today

See also

References

External links