Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 – March 8, 1887) was a prominent, Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, abolitionist, and speaker in the mid to late 19th century.

An 1875 adultery trial in which he was accused of having an affair with a married woman was one of the most famous American trials of the 19th century.

Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, he was the son of Lyman Beecher, a Presbyterian preacher from Boston, and Roxana Foote. Roxana died when Henry was three. Henry was the seventh of 13 siblings, some of whom were famous in their own right: Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin; noted educator Catharine Beecher; activists Charles Beecher and Isabella Beecher Hooker. In addition Henry was the uncle of Edgar Beecher Bronson.