Henry Ward Beecher

Henry Ward Beecher, a prominent American minister and abolitionist, spent the summers from 1853 to 1857 in this cottage in Lenox MA. The image of Blossom Farm is from the collection of Lenox Library Association.

Beecher was a part of the early Lenox intelligentsia and preached at the Church-on-the-Hill during his summers in Lenox according to letters from Catharine Sedgwick. Like his famous sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin he became involved in the anti-slavery movement, which was at its peak in Lenox during his residency.

From Blossom Farm he also wrote a wide-ranging collection of rambling essays that are signed only by an asterisk. The “signature” prompted the title Star Papers for a compiled edition of them.

While Beecher treasured his summers in Lenox, they were short-lived. He often preached about a God of love, not retribution. But God’s servant may have carried his message too far as he was accused of having an affair with a friend’s wife.

Needing money for his legal defense, he approached General John F. Rathbone in 1869 offering to sell his Lenox retreat. Rathbone agreed to buy the property and said he would rename it Beecher Farm in the minister’s honor. Months later, when Rathbone learned why Beecher needed the money, he named the property Wyndhurst (Cranwell today).

Beecher was exonerated but the Tilton affair significantly affected his pastorate. Although he remained a preacher at Plymouth Church, his popularity declined.