Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1896-07-09

CAeS~7
MRS HARRIET BEECHER STOWE.
with vigor, but her sunken face
gave no sign of intelligence, even when
old friends greeted her. Sunday, June
Il, she was "a years old. Last Friday
she went to call her, found that she was
in semi-conscious condition. Her
nenhew. DR.. Edward B. Hooker, and his
sister, Isabella Beecher Hooker, were
called. and the matter was kept secret
till last night to avoid the annoyance of
inquiries that We're sure to come from
all parts of the country
Sketch of Mrs. Stoves Life.
Harriet Elizabeth (Beecher) Stowe
was born at Litchfeld, Conn, June IA,
1911. Her father was the famous DR..
Lyman Beecher, her mother RoXanna
Foote, his first wife.
AT an early age she manifested great
eagerness for books, and read the prosy
theological works of her fathers library
with an eagerness only eXcelled by that
with which the pages of a stray volume
of the Arabian Nights" or Don Quix-
ote," were devoured.
The first twelve years of her life were
spent in the intellectual atmosphere of
Litchfeld, which was a famous resort
for ministers, judges, lawyers and pro-
fessional men of culture and education.
When about II years of age, she went
to Hartford, where her sister Catherine
had opened school. While here, she
was known as an absent-minded and
moody young lady, odd in her manners
and habits but fine scholar, excal!ing
especially in composition
In 1882, when her sisters health failed,
she went to Cincinnati, to which place
her father had removed, where they
opened school. On the 9th of January
1886, she married Prof. Calvin E. Stowe,
a man of learning and distinction.
For several years previous to her mar
rage, she had contributed occasionally
to the periodical literature of the day
and gave promise of becoming noted
among men and women of letters.
At the meetings of the ''Semicolon
Club" in Cincinnati, she first became
conscious of the power she could WELD
with her pen, and shortly after her mar.
part of which had already appeared in
the papers of the ''Semicolon Club
From this time her life flowed quietly
along, for several years, in domestic
channels, until the passage of the fugi-
tive slave law. Then, the definite pur-
pose arose in her mind to show up sla-
very, as it really was, and her earnest
stone for ''Uncle Toms. CABIN which
was first published as a serial, in the
National Era. A few months after it's
republication in book form, Mr.. Jewett
handed to Mr.. Stowe $4,000, as his
share of the profits. Within six months
over 10000 copies were sold.
In England 100000 were ordered by
the booksellers in one month. 1t was
translated into Spanish. Italian, French,
Danish. Swedish, Dutch, Flemish, Ger
man, Polish, Magyar, Arabic and Arme-
MAN.
In 1852 Mrs. Stowe took up her resi-
dence at Andover, and, soon after, went
abroad to recuperate her exhausted
strength Her visit was one continuous
ovation, and year later she gave to the
public her ''Sunny Memories of Foreign
Lands
In 1856 ''Dred; Tale of the Dismal
Swamp" appeared, but did not meet with
the furore which attended the publication
of "Uncle Tom"
In the Atlantic Monthly of 1859 she
published ."The Minister'S Wooing,"
which is pronounced by literary men her
ablest work. in which appear the pic
lures of New England life and charac-
ter, for which her brother, Henry Ward
Beecher, is also famous. In 1867, after
a brief sojourn in Italy, agnes Of SOr-
rento" appeared in the columns of the
Atlantic Monthly.
Herverses. volume of which has been
published, are, chiefly religious, and most
sweet in their plaintive sadness.
In 1867 Mrs. Stowe purchased Man
DARN winter home in Florida, and be-
tween the residence in Hartford and that
in the South she divided her time. Her
husband died in Hartford in 1856.
Uncle Toms Cabin.
The wonderful story that was begun
in the National Era June 5, 1851, and
was announced TO run for about three
months. was not completed in that paper
until April /, 1852. 1t had been con-
templated as a mere magazine tale of
gun. it could no more be controlled
than the waters of the Mississippi burst
ing through a crevasse in it's levees.
The intense interest excited by the
story, the demands made upon the author
for more facts, the unmeasured words of
encoura cement to keep on in her good
work that poured in from all sides. and
above all the eyer-growlng conviction
that she had been intrusted with great
and holy mission. compelled her to keep
on until the humble tale had assumed the
proportions of a volume prepared to
the world. As Mrs. Stowe in after
years repeatedly said: Il could not con-
troll the story: it wrote ITSELF" or, Il
the author of Uncle Toms Cabin" No.
indeed. The Lord himself wrote it, and
was but the humblest of instruments
in His hand. To Him alone should be
given all the praise
In the meantime the fears of the au-
thor as to whether or not her book would
be read were quickly dispelled. Three
thousand copies were sold the very first
day. q second edition was issued the fol-
lowing week. third on the LIST of April,
and within a year. 12O editions. or over
%xlN - T. -.
sued and sold in this country.
Almost in a day the poor professors
wife had become the most talked of wom
an III the world. her influence for good
was spreading to its remotest corners,
and henceforth she was to be a public