Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Spiritual Life

by Nancy Koester

So you're the little woman who started this big war, Abraham Lincoln is said to have quipped when he met Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her 1852 novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" converted readers by the thousands to the anti-slavery movement and served notice that slavery's days were numbered. Overnight Stowe became a celebrity, but to defenders of slavery she was the devil in petticoats.Most writing about Stowe treats her as a literary figure and social reformer while underplaying her Christian faith. But Nancy Koester's biography treats Stowe's faith as central to her life -- both her public fight against slavery and her own struggle through deep personal grief to find a gracious God.

Genres: Biography, History, Christianity, Book Club, Civil War, Nonfiction

391 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2013

Reviews

[Joy Matteson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's possible to say at this point that this book was a life changing experience for me. I think everyone has heard of the woman who fanned the flames of the Civil War by her little book, Uncle Tom's Cabin, but Ms Koester has created a riveting account of the vibrant spiritual life of Harriet Beecher Stowe, and how her walk with Christ informed her views on slavery and the rights of women. It's eerily how similar some of her spiritual struggles parallel my own. She struggled with staying at home with her young children and finding time to write, but her husband encouraged her endeavors and supported her calling, in and outside the home--quite progressive for the 1850s! When her son died without making a decision for Christ, she struggled with her views on the afterlife. She was outraged by how the American church preferred to stay quiet on their views of slavery to not rock the boat and lose congregants. From my perspective, it doesn't take much to see a comparison with the modern church's stance on homosexuality. She found solace in the liturgical church towards the end of her life, rejecting the strict Calvinist teachings of her father that left little room for God's mercy.

All in all, this is a book that will stay with you. Compulsively readable for such deep material, it will appeal to the curious lay reader and scholar. Highly, highly recommended.

[Milan Homola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harriet Beecher Stowe is a hero of the faith. It’s sad to me that as a student of history and theology I’ve never known anything about her outside of her being the author of Uncle Toms Cabin. Upon reading that significant novel I searched for the right biography and found it in Koester’s look at Stowe’s spiritual journey. We have nothing like Stowe in our modern age. The fortitude and craft she combined to stand against societal failure are inspiring.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harriet Beecher Stowe is forever known in American cultural history in the words Lincoln reportedly spoke to her when she met him in 1862: "So you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war." What Nancy Koester's "spiritual life" of Stowe gives us is a narrative of the spiritual journey of Stowe throughout her life. We see her spiritual development from the stern New School New England Calvinism of her father, Lyman Beecher, to a much broader Anglo-Catholic Christianity centered around the life and love of Christ.

Koester's chronicle begins with her youthful struggles to meet the conversion criteria of New England Calvinists even as she awakens to a love for Christ. We follow her family west to Cincinnati and the struggles of her father as President of Lane Theological Seminary--a microcosm of the struggles within the Presbyterian church over versions of Calvinism, Old and New, her partnership with Catherine in a female academy, and her first exposures to slavery, and growing involvement with abolition and the Underground Railroad. This exposure provided the basis for the writing of Uncle Tom's Cabin, which had such a profound impact both upon the nation, and her own life.

While in Cincinnati, she married Calvin Stowe and moved back to New England so that he can pursue his academic career and Andover Seminary. During this decisive period, Koester chronicles her struggles with parenting including a six month hiatus at a water-cure spa, resulting from exhaustion and her struggle to write the book and the critical encouragement she received from brother Henry, her husband, and her publisher. Its publication, first in serial form and then as a book thrusts her into the competing factions of the abolitionist movement and attacks upon both the literary and factual character of the book. Koester explores these criticisms, which continue to the present, including the portrayal of Tom, the mawkish character of some passages, and the literary power of the book. She shows the grittiness of Harriet, who charts her own course and defends her work with a follow up work, A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin that documented the work and showed that the reality of slavery was actually worse than she portrayed.

Perhaps lesser known and of great interest is her later life and her journey away from Calvinism. It seems that the decisive event was the death of her son Henry in 1857, due to a drowning accident. It was not clear that he was "converted" at the time and Stowe struggled with the question of the eternal fate of her son. She dabbled in spiritualism and moved to a position closer to universalism in envisioning a "wideness to God's mercy." She embraced a form of Anglo-Catholicism centered around liturgy, the sacraments, the church year that emphasized a growth into belief rather predestination and the struggle of her youth to experience conversion.

Koester chronicles her later literary career--she contributed the bulk of the family's income. We see her contact with and differences with the women's movement. We conclude with her and Calvin's ministry in Florida, where they establish a church and promote Florida's citrus agriculture. Koester helps us see the continuing center of Stowe's faith in the person and work of Christ, however one may assess her later spiritual journey.

We have here a whole-life, multi-faceted portrait of Stowe against which we see the spiritual and national struggles of her age and her own role in those struggles. I would highly recommend it to understand the life of the woman who wrote the most published 19th century work after the Bible.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've only read one book by Harriet Beecher Stowe and no, it wasn't 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'. It was the 'Pearl of Orr's Island' which I loved. I was drawn to that book by its connection to Maine but I found the writing to be captivating. The story, setting, and characters were interesting but I treasured the way HBS wrote. I think it is the only book I have ever read that I savored for the way in which the author wrote. So I knew that I wanted to read more by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I also wanted to know ABOUT the author (I'm related to the Beechers on my mother's side of the family. My great-grandfather's middle name is Beecher and part of our family lore was being connected to HBS). Who are these people? Well, having read Nancy Koester's fine biography - now I know who the Beechers are.

I found this book to be more than just a biography. It helped me to understand the history of the time in which HBS lived. The history of her family, the history of her religion, the history of slavery, the history of women's rights, the history of her work as an author, and how she came to write 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'. I'm glad that I've read this biography because I now feel prepared to read 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'. At a time when women were not allowed to speak in public settings, Harriet Beecher Stowe spoke through her pen and influenced many in the United States and also those in England. Her ability to use her pen goes back to her education and the influence/guidance of her father and mother. Her education and then later her ability to educate others (Catherine's school) led to her being able to be a voice for the abolition movement.

I am in awe of an author who can take piles of information and research and compile them into a readable book (story) and that is just what Nancy Koester has done. Thanks to her work, I know Harriet Beecher Stowe. I truly appreciated all of the footnotes. The Abolitionist movement, women's rights, the Church, how her faith evolved, her education; in all of the areas I feel that I now know... the rest of the story.

I highly recommend.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of the woman who wrote the book that caused Abraham Lincoln to say when he met her, "So you are the little woman who made this big war." It is the story of how Uncle Tom's Cabin came to be written and how it affected public opinion in the South and the North of the United States, but also in Europe.

It is also the story of a woman who was raised in a Calvinist, Puritan tradition. Her travels abroad caused her to love the beauty of cathedrals, the rich liturgy found there, and the seasons of the church calendar. She eventually became an Episcopalian. The early death of her son by drowning affected her greatly as she worried about his not having experienced the conversion needed for salvation according to the faith in which she was raised. This trauma caused her to flirt with spiritualism and also to become more open-minded about a merciful God and universal salvation.

We hear so much today about balancing work and family. Beecher Stowe would leave her family for hours and days and months in order to write her books. Other family members would take over for her. Eventually she was the primary earner in her marriage and even began speaking in public to earn more money.

The themes of one's faith changing because of circumstances, the concern for our children's faith, the need for a woman to be more than a mother and wife--were part of Stowe's life 150 years ago and still part of our lives today.

[P. Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent biography of a very important figure in 19th Century American history. Ms. Koester brings a lively, engaging style and renders a concise portrait of this proto-feminist, abolitionist evangelical who did more than any one person to create opposition to slavery.
What is particularly nice about this biography is that it incorporates the context of the times. I learned a lot about 19th century religion and politics in the process of following HB Stowe's spiritual and literary development.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Source: Free copy from Eerdmans in exchange for a review. All reviews are written from my own opinion and feelings.
Review was first posted at The Christian Manifesto.

"Uncle Tom's Cabin came from the heart rather than the head. It was an outburst of deep feeling, a cry in the darkness. The writer no more thought of style or literary excellence, than the mother who rushes into the street and cries for help to save her children from a burning house thinks of the teachings of the rhetorician or the elocutionist.” Quote by Charles Stowe.

The name Harriet Beecher Stowe, is synonymous with her story Uncle Tom's Cabin. The book was published in serialized form, 1851 and 1852. She is quoted as saying she wrote it to “awaken sympathy and feeling for the African race.” Most of the white characters in the story are portrayed as desensitized to slavery, but a few characters rise above the acceptance of slavery, they are brave and defiant against its inhumane treatment. Both blacks and whites ridiculed the book. On one side they felt Stowe had not done enough; on the other side of opinion, she was an evil woman.
Harriet Beecher Stowe, was born in 1811, to a large New England family. Her father was a Congregationalist pastor. He was an intelligent and outspoken man. His children, both sons and daughters, were strong communicators and readers. Harriet's elder sister, had an independent nature that did not make room for a husband and family. The Beecher family took part in theological discussions, they conversed freely their doubts and insecurities. They were encouraged to be thinkers and to ask questions; in addition, to be involved in social justice. Harriet's penchant for being bold in how she felt did not happen when she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, but was a natural result of her personality and upbringing. Harriet married Calvin Stowe and they had seven children. She wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin at age forty. She died in 1896, after living a remarkable life.
Although the zenith of A Spiritual Life, is Stowe's notable book, Uncle Tom's Cabin. I was given a broad range view of her life that I'd not read about in other books.
Author, Nancy Koester, explores both the shaping of Harriet Beecher Stowe's spiritual life and personality, and how it contributed to the writing of Uncle Tom's Cabin; in addition, how her own journey in life was transformed by the steady process of Christian growth.
When Stowe met William Lloyd Garrison, the editor of the Liberator, and a key leader of a anti-slavery group, she asked him if he was a Christian. The following pages in this chapter expound on the “sanctity” of the Bible, and in its “power to transform.” These pages of the book were some of my favorite. Stowe stood eye to eye in sharing her beliefs with Garrison and did not cower.
I was glad Koester explored the criticism of Uncle Tom's Cabin. The shock of the book becoming a best seller, and in its discussion among people of all races and slavery views, propelled the books strength. The book did not rise and burst, but steadily lived on without diminishing its intended aim.
I would have liked a whole chapter dedicated to the legacy of Uncle Tom's Cabin. How people through the generations have viewed the story, how modern readers are unaware of the book or make light of it, or how it is completely shoved aside as not being of importance in helping end slavery in America.
People in the Christian community had used the Bible to both reject or accept slavery.
Stowe explained: “Those who defend slavery read the Bible through the eyes of self-interest. They convert the Bible to their own use, instead of letting the Bible convert them. Who uses Scripture rightly? Those who follow Christ, like Tom and Eva. Instead of using the Scripture to lay burdens upon the backs of others, they carry the cross for others.” page 134.

[Richard Subber · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Spiritual Life is a robust telling of the story of Harriet Beecher Stowe.
From the first page to the last, you can’t doubt that Stowe cared deeply about most aspects of private life, her faith and the all-encompassing religious framework of the civitas. As a woman in the mid-19th century, she was a zealous missionary without portfolio.

No surprise, Koester gives comprehensive analysis of the writing and impact of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (published 1852). It was a best-seller in the United States and in Great Britain. It moved multitudes to hate slavery or hate Harriet Beecher Stowe. It did not, despite President Lincoln’s mocking jest when he met Stowe at the White House, start “this great war.” During the run-up to the American Civil War, it did help to clarify existing polemical doctrines of opposing camps.

Koester’s aim is to illuminate Stowe’s spiritual life and her very public commitment to advocating her faith and the importance of religious observance and conviction.

If that’s not to your taste, reading A Spiritual Life will be drudgery. For me, it was illuminating.

For my taste, Koester mentions but does not usefully detail the context of other aspects of Stowe’s life and impact on American society. She was a woman who conspicuously did not abide by the social conventions that dictated a passive, private, familial role for women. She wrote and was published extensively (I was surprised to learn that she was a prolific writer, including novels, tracts and political broadsides). She had lots of contact with the great and near-great, including President Lincoln and Queen Victoria. Stowe more or less supported her extended family with her writing—it would be interesting to know how much money she made from her writing, because Stowe persisted in a socially risky career and lifestyle that might have been unattainable without a (relatively) high income. I suspect that Stowe was not one of the 99% in her time.

Koester nobly attempts to make her case that Harriet Beecher Stowe was a mover and shaker, non pareil, in the anti-slavery movement before, during and after the Civil War. I suggest that this is a circumstantial biography of a notable lady who was notably revered—and notably tolerated—by a great many of her contemporaries.

If the South had won the Civil War, I think it’s possible that Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, would be more than a tad less familiar to us.

Read more of my book reviews and poems at:
http://richardsubber.com/

[Jeff Garrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy Koester, Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Spiritual Life (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014), 371 pages, B&W photos, notes.

Harriet Beecher Stowe is best known for her novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The novel’s popularity fueled the anti-slavery movement in the North and helped change the narrative of the American Civil War from an attempt to restore the Union to a crusade to rid the nation of slavery. The novel is often criticized for being overly sentimental. It has been ridiculed even in the African American community. The term, “Uncle Tom,” is used for members within the community who were unwilling to fight back against white supremacy. In the novel, Tom is a Christ-figure, who accepts his death after a severe whipping for not being willing to whip other slaves to force them to work harder. Malcom X called Martin Luther King an “Uncle Tom,” although that’s not surprising considering Malcom was not a Christian and would not understand the sacrificial position of Uncle Tom or Jesus Christ. Despite these criticisms, the book was a best seller in the 19th Century America and Great Britain. The book not only encouraged the American abolitionist movement, it’s popularity in the United Kingdom help keep Britain from coming into the war on the South’s side.

Stowe was more than just the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. She was the daughter of Lyman Beecher, a well-known Calvinistic preacher whose large family produced many major public figures during the middle of the 19th Century including Henry Ward Beecher, who is often considered the greatest preacher of the century. Henry was close to his sister Harriet, and together they worked against slavery. Lyman’s other children were also accomplished in their fields.

Harriet Beecher married Calvin Stowe, a widower without children. Calvin was also a theology professor at Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, where her father was President. It was a struggling school that was made even more challenging sitting across the river from Kentucky, a slave state. While in Cincinnati, Harriet began to publish articles in various papers. After the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, she would be the primary breadwinner of the family. Later, Calvin moved his family east to take a position in Maine and then to Andover Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. This had an added advantage of Harriet being closer to her publishers (she often would visit them in New York while staying with her brother Henry in Brooklyn).

With Harriet’s success, the Stowes made three long trips to Europe, building relationships with British abolitionists. Harriet, like many of her siblings, moved away from her father’s stricter Calvinistic views. She questioned eternal damnation and the idea of predestination. In her travels to Europe, she began to appreciate the Catholic Church and, after her husband’s retirement, became an Episcopalian. She also dabbled in spiritualism and seeking to connect to those who had died, especially after the death of her son. While this was more than just curiosity, she always maintained that a Medium could not offer the comfort of Jesus. She may have left behind much of her father’s theology (and she blamed Jonathan Edwards for what she was as problematic with New England Calvinism), she remained firm in her commitment to her Savior.

In the Civil War, her son would lead a company of freed blacks. Racial reconciliation remained important to Harriet, but she also worked on other social reforms of the day. Although she saw her primary role as a wife to her husband, she was also supportive of the women’s right movement and knew many of the early founders.

Harriet had a strong sense of what was right and wrong. On her European travels, she had met Lady Bryon, the estranged wife of the poet Lord Byron. Harriet had been told of Lord Bryon’s affairs and even incidences of incest. After both of their deaths, Lord Bryon’s last mistress wrote a book about her life with Bryon and attacked his wife as cold and unloving. Harriet felt she needed to set the record straight and wrote an article (and later a book) pointing out the poet’s failures and comparing him to Satan, who used his charm for seduction instead of for God’s glory. For this, Stowe was criticized, but it was something she knew how to handle after the publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. While the book was popular in the North, she was despised and criticized in some corners in the North and across the South. Stowe’s critique of Lord Bryon provided inside into the control of a patriarchal society and while the book was published a few years before the “Me Too”
movement, it appears Stowe would have been sympathetic.

Harriet and Calvin’s life had many tragedies. One was the loss of a son by drowning a few years before the Civil War. Another son, Fred, was wounded in the ear during the war was in constant pain afterwards. His parents purchased him a farm in Florida with the hope he could start a farm that gave work to freed blacks. Fred eventually left the farm and took to the sea, and never again saw his parents. Fred Florida adventure did introduce the Stowes to the state and they began to spend their winters there. She would write two books that help popularize the Florida to those in the north. A half century before Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ writings help bring an end to the practice, Harriet attacked the widespread killing of birds for the use of their feathers in women’s hats. Her training in the Westminster Catechism could also be seen in her satirical writings about hunters in Florida who think the “chief end of man is to shoot something.” She wasn’t opposed to hunting, just killing for sport. In a way, Stowe was an early environmentalist. The only son of the Stowe’s who took up their father and grandfather’s position in the pulpit was Charles. But this, too, became a concern when he flirted with Unitarianism. However, he stayed within the Congregational Church. She was also bothered by the charge of adultery against her brother, Henry. He would be vindicated (even though he was probably guilty), but Harriet remained his defender.

This book provides insight into a complex woman along with her family who were major figures in 19th Century America. Koester’s writing is easy to read and comprehend. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about Harriet Beecher Stowe and the era.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fine biography demonstrates how Harriet Beecher Stowe's Christian faith shaped both her public life, marked by her passion to abolish slavery, and her private life in which she experienced, it seems, more than her share of tragedies and heartbreak. It's a full biography, showing not only how her faith motivated her in her constant advocacy for ending slavery, but also how her faith had to change in the wake of the drowning of one of her sons who died unconverted. Harriet could not tolerate the thought of her son eternally consigned to Hell and it caused her to break with the strict Calvinism of her upbringing in favor of a God of wider mercy. It also points out inconsistencies in her life, primarily her fascination with and, from time to time, participation in seances as she tried communicating with the dead. Well researched and written, and going beyond just how Uncle Tom's Cabin came to be written, this book brings political, literary, social, and religious history together in the life of a woman of conviction, courage, and compassion.

[Mrklingon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent account of HBS's life (and spiritual journey). Not only a sort of pilgrimage through 19th century America (and some Europe), but a thoughtful and accessible engagement with the theological journey Stowe made. It increased my (already deep) appreciation of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and also has given me a reading list of Stowe's other books that I've overlooked.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned much from this book. Indeed I got so caught up in her story that I only highlighted points in the book and so have no notes in goodreads. What a time in US history!
She is a great woman and I use present tense as she lives eternally because of Christ.
Recommended.

[Len Knighton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had very little interest in Harriet Beecher Stowe prior to reading this book. Indeed, I picked up the book for a dollar at a church book sale. What a bargain, for it gave me hours of enjoyment while I learned of this extraordinary woman. The focus is on her faith journey, a true wrestling match with God which is what that journey should be. That doesn't mean our faith and beliefs should change as we age, although Stowe's beliefs did so. It means struggling with the beliefs and doctrines of our childhood as we experience life, the good and bad. And Stowe certainly did that. Stowe's faith in Jesus Christ never wavered through it all, but she did turn her back on her preacher-father's Calvinist theologies.
A terrific book.

[Dotty · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many gems in this book and the bonus was meeting the author this weekend and hearing her speak on Harriet Beecher Stowe. Some of the most fascinating information for me was in the 2nd chapter. HBS loved stories but as a child was forbidden to read fiction as it was frowned upon by her conservative preacher father. Later her father would discovered works by Sir Walter Scott and encouraged his children to read them.

In addition as I work with students researching abolitionists, I've heard many of these names but knew little about them. In this biography I got to meet many of them and learn more of their lives and their interactions with HBS. Nancy Koester has blessed the reader with an accessible, thought-provoking picture of HSB. A delightful read!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy Koester tells the story of Harriet Beecher Stowe's life in a readable and compelling style. She emphasizes Harriet's spiritual growth over the course of her life, which was a central factor in her writing Uncle Tom's Cabin as well as her many other books. I enjoyed reading this and gained a new appreciation for the character of Harriet Beecher Stowe, as well as the history of New England Calvinism, the abolition movement and the fledgling women's rights movement.

I read this for the book club at work. The book club read it because the author is coming to our institution next week to read from and talk about her book. Looking forward to it.

[Meleiana Jolley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew that Harriet wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin," but I hadn't actually read it. My only experience with that work was from watching "The King and I." What an amazing thing to realize the role that her story had in pushing the anti-slavery movement forward. As a religious, feminist woman I love learning more about another religious feminist woman whose small act pushed our nation to change. What a treat it was to look in on her family as they regularly examined and debated the nature of Faith and God, all within the desire to better believe.

[Esther Bradley-detally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Uncle Tom's Cabin, and I value Harriet Beecher Stowe's life. a woman ahead of her time; prodigiously busy, never stopping, always persevering. Halfway through the book I slowed down, and then I scanned; I'm in the midst of a move, and that contributes to my less than tenacious grip after Uncle Tom's Cabin becomes famous.

She did a great deal. Never under estimate the power of the pen!

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is what history done well should be. This book takes on an interesting subject, Harriet Beecher Stowe, helps the reader better understand her while at the same time introducing the reader to her context and the historical discussions alive concerning her. It is a well written biography.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

the first half was most interesting to me, before the Civil War.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid 3.5.
The solid grounding in research propelled the rating toward 4. But the density (was this originally an academic dissertation?), the difficulty I had sticking with it, ushered it toward 3s. I kept forcing myself to return, to finish, because the subject matter interested me.

I think I expected this to be more about Harriet's spiritual journey. I'd categorize it as more of a general biography of a woman inhabiting a religious world than a woman's personal spiritual journey in spiritual matters. Can you spot the difference?

Harriet grew up with a minister father and ended up with several minister brothers and a minister son. As a woman in her era, she was not given a voice in the way her father and brothers were, so she leaned into the traditional choices available to her: first education (women's education, specifically), then writing. In her later years she dabbled for the first time in public speaking as her celebrity grew, but even that was counter-cultural.

I learned a great deal about her life during and after the time she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin. I had no idea she was so prolific, that her other books (which I've never heard of) did well! It saddens me to think she benefited so little from her writings—it seems because she was unschooled in publishing contracts and her book did better than anyone imagined, the editors made much more from her book than she did. And because there were no copyrights in the day, there were lots of ripoffs in theater Harriet and her family never benefited from. (This is life, but a writer deserves to benefit from their creative work.)

After reading the book, I feel I observed her spiritual life from the outside but never inhabited it. It seemed the reader watched from a distance as she questioned Lyman Beecher's grounded-in-Puritanism views and dabbled in spiritualism on her own; ultimately I never felt I really understood what drove Harriet spiritually