Lyman Beecher was an American Presbyterian clergyman, reformer and revivalist who co-founded the American Temperance Society. Born in Connecticut to a blacksmith, Beecher was adopted and raised by an uncle on a farm, and later graduated from the Yale University in theology. Upon being ordained as a pastor in 1799, he preached in the Presbyterian Church at East Hampton, Long Island, then at a church in Connecticut, and later at Boston. Meanwhile, he also issued a series of sermons against dueling and intemperance, which greatly aided temperance reform, and later also served as a co-founder of the American Temperance Society. While serving its pastorate, Beecher opposed the growing dissent of Unitarianism and after being accused of being a modern Calvinist, he was also tried for heresy but was cleared. In the meantime, he became the president of the newly established Lane Theological Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio, and also served as a pastor until 1843. Upon resigning from the seminary, Beecher lived in Boston for a short time, devoting himself to literature. Thrice married, Beecher had a large family consisting of 13 children of which his seven sons became Congregational ministers, and two of his daughters attained literary distinction. Afterwards, Beecher moved at the home of his son in New York, where he spent the last years of his life. With a magnetic persona and an incisive style of expression, Beecher is still considered to be one of the most powerful American orators of his time.