According to Theodore Parker, Lyman might have been “The father of more brains than any other man in America,” but he failed to mention the first two wives, who between them produced 13 children.

   Lyman’s first wife, the comely and intelligent Roxana Foote, granddaughter of General Ward of Guilford, started, soon after her marriage, to bear child after child...10 in all, including the first Harriet. who died at birth. Surely her genes contributed to the ‘brains’ of Lyman’s children. Roxana first lived with Lyman in East Hampton, Long island, later moving to Litchfield, Connecticut. When there was not enough money to feed the ever-expanding brood, Roxana started a school and took in boarders to help pay expenses. How she could do this with so many children is a mystery, but she did what was necessary, and her health suffered as a result. She died of consumption at Litchfield in 1816, at the age of 41. Apparently Lyman was inconsolable.

One year later, Lyman was off to Boston to claim another wife. He found her in Harriet Porter, a member of a distinguished family that included governors and highly-ranked military men. She was a beautiful and cultured woman...used to a life of inclusion in the intellectual and social life of Portland, Maine, where she was born on April 25,1790, the daughter of the esteemed Dr. Aaron Porter. She and Lyman were married at Portland on October 19,1817, and she would soon become the step-mother of Lyman’s unruly brood. They lived at Litchfield until Lyman decided to move on and they settled at 18 Sheafe Street in Boston in 1826, where he was pastor of the Hanover Street Church until 1832, when he left for Cincinnati to become president of Lane Seminary and pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church. Harriet produced 4 children, one of whom died young. The move from New England was the last straw as far as Harriet was concerned, and heartbroken over her removal from her beloved New England she soon fell ill and an aunt was summoned to take care of the household. Harriet died of consumption at Cincinnati in 1838 at the age of 48, and is buried there in an unmarked grave.

Roxana Foote Beecher

Harriet Porter Beecher

Lydia Beals Jackson Beecher

The Foote House
Lyman ended his matrimonial career with his marriage to Lydia Beals Jackson, a former parishioner at Boston. The marriage took place in 1836 when Lyman was still at Lane Seminary. Lydia was quite an amazing woman it seems. She was the founder and first director of the Society for the Relief of Aged Indigent Women at Cincinnati in 1848. The society, which later merged with another institution, was located at 1310 East McMillan Street in Walnut Hills, a suburb of Cincinnati, where the Beechers also lived at 2950 Gilbert Avenue. The Gilbert Street house house is now called the Harriet Beecher Stowe home, however, Harriet lived here for a short time only, while Lyman and his wives spent many years there.Lydia died in 1869, outliving Lyman by six years. The home in Cincinnati is open to the public.
Lane Seminary, Cincinnati	Widow's Home, Cincinnati
It is believed that Lyman carried the tubercular germ and possibly infected his first two wives...however, there is no proof to this assertion so we will close with the wish that the Beechers have finally found the heaven they all so desperately prayed for in their lifetimes.

The artistic depictions of Roxana Foote Beecher and Harriet Porter Beecher were done by artist Jerry He, based on the original images housed at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Museum in Hartford.