One family’ s mission

" With the fires of hatred rekindled in the North by the assassination and in the South by emancipation, the establishment of a more perfect union as heralded in Henry Ward’ s speech was a matter of deep doubt. From his pulpit and publications, Henry Ward would have to plead with his fellow countrymen to be understanding and compassionate; as a commander responsible for order and purposeful activity to a large segment of a society turned upside down, James would have deal with an infinite number of practical problems. Fortunately, the Beecher brothers knew that they would at least have the strong support of active and influential siblings. Four living brothers were also ministers, and three of their four sisters had established national and international leadership positions through their writings, speeches, and organizational activities. If, as Lincoln suggested, Beechers had made the war, they would now feel charged to make the peace. They had learned that it would not be easy from half a century of trying to sell their gospel of love to their fellow men; hatred found a readier market. Nevertheless, the Beechers would go on trying, since the mission that they had been trained for from the cradle was simply to save the world."

– From the Prelude to The Passionate Beechers

Written with novelistic flair, "The Passionate Beechers: A Family Saga of Sanctity and Scandal that Changed America" is the first biography of the historically prominent Beecher family, the celebrity clan of 19th century America. Leaving no stone unturned, this gripping family biography focuses on the astonishing lives of patriarch Lyman Beechers eleven offspring, of whom the most celebrated were Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 355-358) and index.

A revealing biography of this historically prominent family

Written with novelistic flair, The Passionate Beechers captures all the drama and controversy that surrounded the Beecher family, a celebrated nineteenth-century clan of abolitionists, feminists, educators, and preachers who were the Kennedys of their time. The Beechers were everywhere– regularly appearing in the press and periodicals and making personal appearances in the pulpit and on lecture platforms. Responsible for leading the change in mainstream Protestantism from stern Calvinist doctrines to today’ s more optimistic gospel, the Beechers were either reviled or revered for their revolutionary thinking and personal idiosyncrasies. Veteran journalist Samuel Schreiner focuses on the eleven offspring of patriarch Lyman Beecher– of whom the brightest stars were Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom’ s Cabin, and Henry Ward Beecher, the most prominent minister of his time– capturing the triumphs and traged of their lives.

Samuel A. Schreiner Jr. (Darien, CT), a veteran journalist and former senior editor at Reader’ s Digest, is the author of The Trials of Mrs. Lincoln and Henry Clay Frick: The Gospel of Greed.