Beecher Baby Missionary Cloth Ragbaby
Made by Julia Jones Beecher, the Missionary Ragbaby or Beecher Baby, was originally made for her niece. And of course,
family and friends soon wanted one of their own. Julia, with the aid of the Park Congregational Church of Elmira New York
sewing circle, made the dolls from 1893 to 1910. Proceeds are said to have supported the mission work of the church both at
home and abroad but according to Chemung Valley History Museum the dolls paid off the Church debts. The dolls were made
of donated pink silk or cotton underwear with the features being needle sculpted. Looped yellow yarn created hair. Hands
were made with needle sculpted fingers or clenched fists. Joints were sewn at the hips, knees and shoulders. The dolls were
made in sizes ranging from 16 to 23 inches. They were usually dressed in a baby dress and bonnet. A few black needle
sculpted dolls have been attributed to Julia Beecher but it is unknown if they were actually made by either Julia or the sewing
circle.
Julia was born Frances Julianna Jones on July 15, 1826 in Bridgeport, CT, the daughter of Henry Jones (1801-1878) and Eliza
Steele Webster (1803-1888). She was the granddaughter of Noah Webster. On January 21, 1857 she became the second wife
of Rev.Thomas Kinnicut Beecher (1824-1900), whose siblings included Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
According to Sue Young:
Edwards, Linda. Cloth Dolls Ancient to Modern. Atglen:Pa. Schiffer Publishing. 1997.
www.chemungvalleymuseum.org
www.GSTBOCES.org The site of the Chemung Valley History Museum
Young, Sue. www.homeopathy.woldfalcon.com
family and friends soon wanted one of their own. Julia, with the aid of the Park Congregational Church of Elmira New York
sewing circle, made the dolls from 1893 to 1910. Proceeds are said to have supported the mission work of the church both at
home and abroad but according to Chemung Valley History Museum the dolls paid off the Church debts. The dolls were made
of donated pink silk or cotton underwear with the features being needle sculpted. Looped yellow yarn created hair. Hands
were made with needle sculpted fingers or clenched fists. Joints were sewn at the hips, knees and shoulders. The dolls were
made in sizes ranging from 16 to 23 inches. They were usually dressed in a baby dress and bonnet. A few black needle
sculpted dolls have been attributed to Julia Beecher but it is unknown if they were actually made by either Julia or the sewing
circle.
Julia was born Frances Julianna Jones on July 15, 1826 in Bridgeport, CT, the daughter of Henry Jones (1801-1878) and Eliza
Steele Webster (1803-1888). She was the granddaughter of Noah Webster. On January 21, 1857 she became the second wife
of Rev.Thomas Kinnicut Beecher (1824-1900), whose siblings included Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
According to Sue Young:
- Julia Beecher 1826-1905
Julia was married to Thomas Beecher.
Julia was a family friend of the Langdons and Olivia’s (Olivia Clemens – wife of Mark Twain) Sunday school teacher. She
was “a renowned beauty and amateur sculpturer” who “bobbed her waist length hair and took to wearing men’s congress
boots (heavy working boots).”
Determined to remain her own person despite any outside pressure to conform, Julia also decided that she would dress in
terms of comfort, not fashion, and thus happily proceeded to free herself from the confines of the corset.
Observing Julia’s courage to be unconventional by Victorian standards and a committed feminist obviously inspired Olivia
in numerous ways.
Julia also enjoyed the Elmira Water Cure and was very enthusiastic about it.
Julia made dolls which Mark Twain auctioned off for charity, calling them ‘jabberwocks’ after Lewis Carroll.
- Thomas Kinnicut Beecher 1824 – 1900
Thomas came to Elmira to preach. Mr. Beecher had odd little habits and was very unorthodox. He asked to be viewed first
as another human being before anything else, in order to eliminate ideas of him being a typical, distant, and arrogant
minister.
Taking down these formal barriers between minister and congregation allowed him to become involved in the community
more than just one day a week and in areas outside the church. He said, “Preaching never really converts anyone, but
living does.”
In an effort to attract more working class males and counter the somewhat common misconception of pastors being weak
and effeminate, he organized a campaign that he called “Muscular Christianity.” He played baseball, billiards, and cricket
with men in the church and provided them social time in a manly way without going to the tavern. He organized a church
baseball team called The Lively Turtles.
On days off, Thomas did various kinds of physical work such as plumbing, carpentry, bricklaying, and watchmaking for
people in the community. He also was in charge of running the Elmira town clock for several years. Thomas Beecher kept
up his scientific interests with astronomy and by founding an academy of science in Elmira.
Thomas characterized anything that restored one mentally and physically as a form of play. He was very devoted to his
church, though he was a different sort of minister with a whimsical personality.
He once said, “I cannot make pastoral calls. I am not constructed so that I can. But I am yours all times of the day and night
when you want anything of me. If you are sick and need a watcher, I will watch you. If you are poor and need someone to
saw wood for you, I will saw wood for you. I can read the paper for you, if you need anybody to do that. I am yours but you
must call upon me, the same as you would a physician.” …..
Thomas Beecher was pro-slavery and very open about his views. Even in his close friendship with the staunchly
abolitionist Langdon family, he didn’t waver in his pro-slavery opinions and their ties of friendship remained strong in spite
of this…
Thomas Beecher was always very outspoken and preached his opinions from the pulpit. He wrote a column in the Elmira
Daily Advertiser that he called “Saturday Miscellany,” in which he discussed both religious and secular issues. On Sunday
mornings he preached in the Opera House, a location that was not considered proper by many local ministers.
Beecher invited his colleagues to join, but they refused and were angered by him and his impropriety. Still, thousands
turned out for Beecher’s Sunday service.
He wrote a book called Our Seven Churches in 1870. The book was about the seven main churches in Elmira that shared
common religious views.
Although his sister was Harriet Beecher Stowe the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Beecher was not opposed to the
institution of slavery and continued to preach on the subject in church. For some unknown reason people in his church
never chastised him even though many of them were abolitionists themselves.
Beecher did help on the Underground Railroad, however, providing counseling for runaway slaves. He was also friends
with sexton and runaway slave George Jones and vouched for the honesty of his family. Beecher was willing to help many
African Americans on an individual basis….
Thomas ran as the Prohibition Party candidate for the mayor of Elmira in 1884. Thomas’s efforts were directed towards
ending alcohol abuse, but not prohibiting alcohol.
Edwards, Linda. Cloth Dolls Ancient to Modern. Atglen:Pa. Schiffer Publishing. 1997.
www.chemungvalleymuseum.org
www.GSTBOCES.org The site of the Chemung Valley History Museum
Young, Sue. www.homeopathy.woldfalcon.com
