A Presbyterian clergyman, Lyman Beecher (1775-1863) was one of the outstanding American preachers and revivalists before the Civil War. He achieved national fame as reformer, educator, and central figure in theological controversies.

Lyman Beecher was born on Oct. 12, 1775, at New Haven, Conn. Son of a blacksmith, he was raised on a farm. Beecher entered Yale in 1793. The college president, Timothy Dwight, greatly influenced his religious beliefs and enthusiasm for revivalism. In 1799 he was ordained as pastor of the Presbyterian Church at East Hampton, Long Island, N. Y. Dynamic preaching and a published sermon against dueling earned him a modest reputation, and in 1810 he accepted the more prestigious pulpit of the Congregational Church of Litchfield, Conn.

For 16 years at Litchfield he attracted large crowds, and his influence extended beyond his own congregation. Persons warmed by his revivals were urged to support a growing list of voluntary societies and moral...