Thomas K. Beecher

Thomas Kinnicut Beecher
Thomas Kinnicut Beecher
Born	(1824-02-10)February 10, 1824 Litchfield, Connecticut, US
Died	March 24, 1900(1900-03-24) (aged 72) Elmira, New York
Occupation	Protestant Clergyman Union Civil War Chaplain
Spouse(s)	Olivia Day (desc.) Julia Jones
Parent(s)	Lyman and Harriet Porter Beecher

Thomas Kinnicut Beecher (February 10, 1824 - March 14, 1900) was a preacher and the principal of several schools. He was a traveling man, living in many places such as: Litchfield, Connecticut, Boston, Massachusetts, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Elmira, New York. There is a memorial statue built in Elmira, New York where he spent a large portion of his life. He was a close friend of Mark Twain and married him to Olivia Langdon Clemens.

Thomas K. Beecher was born in Litchfield, Connecticut to Lyman Beecher and his wife Harriet Porter. He was one of thirteen children, including: Henry Ward, William, Catherine, Edward, Mary, George, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Charles, Isabella, and James Beecher. In 1826 the family moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and then to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1832. From 1836 to 1839 Beecher began fitting for college in Marietta, Ohio. Then in 1839 he attended college in Jacksonville, Illinois; he graduated in 1843. He then spent a year with his father in Cincinnati and a year with his brother, Henry Ward Beecher in Indianapolis, studying theology. Beecher then spent a year at the Ohio Medical University, as an aid to the professor of chemistry and pharmacy.

In 1854 Beecher moved to Elmira, New York, to preach at a local church, and, there, became a close friend to the famous author Samuel Clemens, better known as "Mark Twain." From this time until the completion of his cottage in 1857 he would live at the Gleason Sanitarium on Watercure Hill. Thomas K. Beecher married Olivia Day in 1851; she died two years later. In 1857 Beecher took another wife, Julia Jones, cousin of Olivia Day and granddaughter of Noah Webster, the author of Webster's Dictionary. In 1863 to aid the cause of the Union in the Civil War, Beecher started a regiment with A. S. Diven, the 107th regiment that would soon be sent to the front. Later, Beecher would aid Colonel Hathaway in raising the 141st regiment and would go into the field with them as a chaplain until 1864. He sailed to South America with depleted health in November 1866, only to return May 1 of 1867 with rejuvenated health. Thomas K. Beecher was intimately involved with teaching and preaching, however, he was also a fan of sports, such as baseball, target shooting, battledore (similar to bad-mitten), cycling, cricket, and croquet. Beecher also enjoyed euchre and billiards.