Thomas K. Beecher

Thomas Kinnicut Beecher (February 10, 1824 - March 14, 1900) was a Congregationalist preacher and the principal of several schools. As a Congregational minister, his father took the family from Beecher's birthplace of Litchfield, Connecticut, to Boston, Massachusetts, and Cincinnati, Ohio, by 1832. After college and some teaching experience, Beecher later settled in Elmira, New York, where he was minister of a Congregational church. His services became popular and he presided over construction at a new church to accommodate the large congregation. Beecher became a close friend of writer Sam Clemens (Mark Twain) and presided at Clemens' marriage to Olivia Langdon. A memorial statue was erected to him in Elmira, where he worked and lived most of his life. Early life and education Thomas K. Beecher was born in Litchfield, Connecticut to Lyman Beecher and his wife Harriet Porter. His father was a minister in the Congregational Church and the family was raised as observing Christians. Thomas Beecher was one of thirteen children, including Henry Ward (who became a noted minister and abolitionist activist), William, Catherine, Edward, Mary, George, Harriet (later known as an anti-slavery activist and author of Uncle Tom's Cabin), Charles, Isabella, and James Beecher. Following Lyman Beecher, their father, Thomas' brother Henry Ward and later Thomas also became ministers. In 1826 the family moved to Boston, Massachusetts. Several years later, their father was called to another church and they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1832.