Note 39 — Chapter XIII · BROOKLYN AFTER THE WAR 1866–1876

Mr. Beecher came to Brooklyn in 1847, and died at his post forty years later, on March 8, 1887. His relations to the city of Brooklyn were exceptional, and in many respects marvelous. No other single personality in this city ever won a prominence so significant, so salutary, so momentous. One of Brooklyn's most brilliant thinkers, writers, and speakers, the Rev. John W. Chadwick, D.D., has spoken of Mr. Beecher as 'the most unique and splendid personality of our civic history; one of the most unique and splendid in the history of the United States and their colonial beginnings.' The homage to Beecher's genius as a teacher and leader of men has come from thinking men wherever the English language is spoken. The homage which belongs to him as a citizen, as a pastor, as a humanitarian, as a patriot, has been enthusiastically offered by his fellow-countrymen, and particularly by his neighbors in the city of Brooklyn. The bronze monument to Mr. Beecher, designed by John Q. A. Ward, was placed in front of the City Hall in 1891.