Stowe, Harriet Beecher. An American novelist. Born in Litchfield, CT, in 1811. A daughter of Dr. Lyman Beecher, and married, in 1836, Professor C. E. Stowe of Andover. In 1851 Stowe made a sensation in the literary world by the publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," a work of fiction which had quite an astonishing success, and helped turn public opinion against the institution of slavery. To this book she added a "Key" in 1853. Her later productions comprise "Dred, a Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp," "The Minister's Wooing," "Agnes of Sorrento," and "Oldtown Folks." In 1869 she brought out a brochure entitled, "The True Story of Lord Byron's Life," in which she accused Lord Byron of incest. This article evoked a storm of literary criticism, which was by no means allayed by the publication, in 1869, of Mrs. Stowe's work, entitled, "Lady Byron Vindicated." In 1871, appeared "Oldtown Fireside Stories," "Pink and White Tyranny," and "My Wife and I," or "Harry Henderson's History." Harriet Beecher Stowe died in 1896.

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