Beechers, Stowes, and Yankee Strangers
Beechers, Stowes, and Yankee Strangers
The Transformation of Florida
The story of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Charles Beecher in Reconstruction Florida
Modern Florida—a world of tourists, retirees from the North, and novel agricultural crops—began among a group of Yankee reformers at the end of the Civil War, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and her brother, Charles, who lived in Florida between 1867 and 1885. This book tells the story of the group—and their designs for a postwar Florida—with the action, atmosphere, and insight of a good novel.
Arriving in Florida nearly two decades ahead of Henry Flagler, the Beechers found a state inaccessible to outsiders with small remnants of a slave economy. As part of the work of Reconstruction, they dreamed of making the state a haven for freedpeople and progressive northerners unhampered by the rest of the South’s racial divisions. Settling near Tallahassee and Jacksonville, they worked with Florida’s First Lady, Chloe Merrick Reed, to better education, religion, economics, social and racial relationships, and politics, and they were instrumental in the transformation of Jacksonville from a small seaport to a vibrant city.
Despite continuing interest in Harriet Beecher Stowe, her years in Florida have remained obscure; even less is known about Charles Beecher during this period. Using fresh materials that have never been recorded by the Stowe Center (a major repository of Stowe’s works), John and Sarah Foster fill an important gap in the lives of these celebrated reformers and shed new light on Florida’s history during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age.
A volume in the Florida History and Culture series, edited by Raymond Arsenault and Gary R. Mormino
“A compelling account of Florida during the Reconstruction era, when Yankee reformers attempted to remake the state to their liking.”—Tampa Tribune
“In this nicely layered narrative, the Fosters heap detailed example upon detailed example to
allow readers to discover, along with them, Florida’s fascinating formative years.”—Foreword Reviews
“A valuable book. . . . Will provide a springboard for much research into politics, gender, and religion in Florida in the tumultuous postbellum period.”—H-Net
“Biographical detail fleshes out the narrative of progressive activism. By locating actors in a generational web, the Fosters enhance our understanding of bourgeois networks in the mid-nineteenth century. . . . Both engaging and important.”—Journal of American History
“Chronicles the efforts of northern reformers such as Harriet Beecher Stowe. . . to reconfigure Florida’s social, political, educational, and religious institutions to fit the sensibilities of northern migrants who came to the state during and after Reconstruction.”—Journal of Southern History
“[The authors] draw deeply from their sources to trace the impact of a select and tightly knit group of Yankees on Florida late-nineteenth century experience. . . . Not just a tale of Florida’s early flirtation with modernization, but a look at the forces and ideas that created the south that exists today."—Florida Historical Quarterly
"A beautifully written, researched, and convincing treatment of an important time and fascinating personalities in Florida’s history."—Mark I. Greenberg, Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, Jackson, Mississippi
John T. Foster, Jr., professor emeritus of anthropology at Florida A&M University, has published widely in the social sciences and history.
Sarah Whitmer Foster (1945–2015) was professor of sociology and anthropology at Florida A&M University and published in the areas of comparative studies, the social sciences, and history.
