Lyman Beecher's Third Wife
Lydia Beals Jackson Beecher, L:yman's Activist Wife.
Lydia Beals Jackson, Lyman's third wife, was a force to reckon with. She was an energetic activist who founded the Widows' and Old Mens Home in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Three Wives
Reverend Lyman Beecher, one of the most notable divines of the 19th century was married three times; first, to his true love, Roxana Foote, who died in the early fall of 1817; second, to Harriet Porter of Portland Maine,a beautiful and accomplished woman from a distinguished family who died at Cincinnati in the summer of 1835. The following year Lyman once again rode to Boston to find a wife and called upon Lydia Beals Jackson, a former parishioner of his at the Hanover Street Church. This resulted in a fast courtship but the marriage would last until Lyman's death in 1863.
Lydia Jackson
Lydia Jackson had two children stilll living with her at the time of the marriage. Apparently the Beecher siblings didn't take to Joseph and Margaret Jackson and there were a few problems. But they all settled in and Lydia took over Lyman's health and eating habits as well as his working schedule which he often disregarded.
Lyman continued his work at the Second Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, and life went on fairly peacefully. His heresy trial was now a thing of the past and he was still interested in winning the West for God.
The Society for the Relief of Aged Indigent Women
In 1848 Lydia Beecher decided it was time to get going on a project she had noticed a need for and set about doing something about it. She founded the "Society for the Relief of Aged Indigent Women", which was located on Everett Street in Cincinnati. It was capable of taking in nine women and the charge was $18.00 per month. As First Directress, Lydia was responsible for the running of the home and the business end also.
In 1851 the name was changed to "The Home for Aged and Indigent Women" and was incorporated.The next year a new home was built in Mt. Auburn at a cost of $23,000. Lydia was still in charge and was kept busy with the administrative duties of the home.
Southwestern Ohio Seniors' Services, Inc.
A native New Englander, Lydia Beals Jackson Beecher had come a long way from very humble beginnings. When Lyman first knew her she was a member of his church and ran a boarding house in Boston. Years after her marriage she was known throughout Ohio as a dedicated worker for the downtrodden.
Southwestern Ohio Seniors' Services, Inc., is the non-profit corporation which today operates Maple Knoll Village, a result of the amalgamation of three historic Cincinnati charities: The Widows' and Old Men's Home ( Lydia's project ); the Bodmann Widows Home and the Maple Knoll Home.
Lydia and Lyman moved to Brooklyn Heights in 1857, where they became regular attenders of son Henry Ward Beecher's Plymouth Church. She died in 1869.
Sources: Southwestern Ohio Seniors' Services, Inc.,150th Anniversary Brochure.
Love Divine: The Life of Henry Ward Beecher, by Anya Laurence, iUniverse Press, 2005
For more information about the Beecher family see:
