Henry Ward Beecher: Congregationalist pussy hound. (Image by Mathew Brady.)

Connecticut resident Delight Beecher may not have been the most well-known member of her famous family, but she had an interesting life just the same. She was a part of the clan best known for celebrated preacher and abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher (who was ensnared in an adultery scandal in the 1870s) and Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Delight, who outlived both of her younger relations and never visited a dentist in her life, was the subject of a brief article in the May 18, 1901 Brooklyn Daily Eagle, on the occasion of having reached the 100-year-old mark. (She would live until 103.) An excerpt:

“Mrs. Delight Beecher Upson, a cousin of Henry Ward Beecher, celebrated the 100th anniversary of her birth at her home, in Burlington, near this city yesterday. The event was made the occasion of a public celebration.

Mrs. Upson delights in talking of her famous cousin, Henry Ward Beecher.

Mrs. Upson is well-preserved. Aside from deafness, her faculties are only slightly impaired. She prides herself on never having required the services of a dentist. Her physical endurance is remarkable. One day last week she walked to a neighbor’s home and back, a distance of half a mile.

Mrs. Upson’s mind is clear and she tells with precision important events of the earlier years of the nineteenth century. Her maternal grandfather served in the Revolution, and her nephews took part in the War of 1812. She has always been an ardent Congregationalist.

Two years ago Mrs. Upson visited Collinsville, where she saw a railroad for the first time in forty years.”