In 1874, the Henry Ward Beecher scandal rocked America.
Harriet's younger brother had become a symbol of Protestantism
in America. He and his wife lived a comfortable existence with
their ten children in Brooklyn and, like his sister Harriet, he
was considered one of the foremost social advocates in the country.
That year, a member of his church named Theodore Tilton accused
Beecher of having an affair with Tilton's wife. He took Henry Beecher
to civil court and the scandal grew into a media circus. In court,
Tilton's wife changed her story almost daily. Isabella Beecher,
Henry and Harriet's younger half-sister who at this time was suffering
from mental illness, publicly insisted her brother was guilty.
Despite Isabella's behavior, an ecclesiastical court found Henry
innocent and he also won his civil case. The public stood behind
him and his reputation was untarnished.
Harriet's husband, Calvin, was suffering from ill health.
He had grown obese in his old age. Harriet tended to him in their
Hartford home. In 1878, Harriet's last novel, Poganuc People, was
published. It was semi-autobiographical, detailing the life of
a bright young girl surrounded by family full of talented siblings.
Meanwhile, the country was in the throes of the Industrial Revolution, and
Harriet's previous books were falling out of favor amongst the literary
community. The advent of realism in fiction meant that her contrived
plots and romanticized characters were seen as sentimental. The
social tracts she often put into the mouths of her characters were
seen as heavy-handed. Despite these criticisms, Harriet Beecher
Stowe remained a national treasure. In 1881, her seventieth birthday
was a national event. During the festivities, she called the abolition
of slavery the greatest event in her life.
Harriet's final book, a children's book titled A
Dog's Mission, was published in 1881. Five years later,
in 1886, Calvin died. The next year, Harriet's youngest son, Charles,
wrote his mother's biography. As she grew older and frailer, Harriet
became a recluse, failing even to attend church. She grew senile
and was bedridden. Her neighbor, Mark Twain, visited her and tried
to cheer her with his jokes.
On July 1, 1896, at the age of eighty-five, Harriet Beecher
Stowe died. She was buried in Andover, Massachusetts next to her
husband.
