Talk:Thomas K. Beecher

The article on Thomas K. Beecher twice refers to his moving to Elmira, New York and becoming friends with Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). Both are ambiguous, but the second one clearly implies an incorrect time sequence:

"After teaching in public schools in other places, in 1854 Beecher moved to Elmira, New York, to preach at a local Congregational church. There he became a close friend to the famous author Samuel Clemens ("Mark Twain")."

The sentence implies that Twain was in Elmira and Beecher became his friend. Since Twain did not visit Elmira until 1867 or 1868 to visit his friend Charles Langdon and to court Charles' sister Olivia, by which time Beecher had been in Elmira for 15 years, better wording would help.

There are also many unanswered questions: Did Beecher move to Elmira and the Gleason Sanitarium as a member of staff? As a patient? The discussion of the non-curability of TB at the time suggests that it was not a random choice of where to live. The sentence on his 'return to civilian life,' replete with a long list of sports he is said to have enjoyed seems unconnected to the beginning of the paragraph ("He sailed to South America due to depleted health in November 1866"). That would seem a daunting adventure for a man in ill health! Unless, of course, the writer had explained what illness, and what therapy was involved in the voyage.

The article seems, actually, as if it were a high school essay consisting of bits and pieces collected from...dare I say it?...the weakest parts of Wikipedia.Pheymont (talk) 03:06, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

Denomination
The article says Thomas K. Beecher was a Congregationalist and so was his father. However, the article for Lyman Beecher, his father, says that Lyman Beecher was a Presbyterian. Thomas' brother, Henry Ward Beecher, was also a Congregational minister, so it is quite probable that the sons chose to diverge from their father's denomination at some point. What is certain is that Lyman Beecher was a Presbyterian and not a Congregationalist. 31.104.127.114 (talk) 21:43, 6 February 2024 (UTC)