Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 46

 Thaddeus Stevens before Gettysburg

October 2024

By Ross Hetrick

Thaddeus Stevens was born in the small Vermont town of Danville in 1792, the last year of the first term of George Washington. He had a lot going against him. His family was poor, he was born with a clubfoot -- a handicap that was seen as a mark of the devil -- and his father was an alcoholic and abandoned his family when Stevens was 12. But he was blessed with a brilliant mind and a devoted mother who believed in education so much that she moved with her four boys to nearby Peacham, Vermont to be closer to the local academy.

His clubfoot, which gave him a life long limp, made him the object of taunts by fellow students. But they sharpened his wit as evidenced by an incident where he was lolling around Peacham one day and a local judge leaned out a window and yelled, "Well, my boy, do you think you're in paradise?" Stevens quickly shot back: "I did until I saw the devil looking out of the window."

He went on to Dartmouth College, but spent his third year at the University of Vermont, where he got into some mischief when he and a fellow student killed a cow that was leaving droppings on the lawn area, using an ax taken from a fellow student's room. The bloody ax was found and the innocent student was threatened with being expelled, but Stevens threw himself on the mercy of the cow's owner and offered to pay for the animal. Impressed by his honesty, the farmer told the school's administration that passing soldiers had done the deed. Stevens later paid the farmer who in turn sent him a barrel of cider.

After graduating from Dartmouth, Stevens moved to York, PA, on the recommendation of a friend and was a school teacher there for a few years while he studied law with a local attorney. While he was studying law, the local attorneys changed the rules to prohibit part-time students from taking the bar examination. So Stevens went down to Bel Air, MD to take the bar exam which was held in a tavern. The examiners first required Stevens to buy two bottles of Madeira wine and then asked him some questions. After satisfying themselves that he knew his stuff, they told Stevens to buy two more bottles of Madeira and to play cards with them. Stevens had come down to Bel Air with $45 and left with $3.50 and his bar certificate.

He then moved to Gettysburg in 1816 where he would live for 26 years and become famous statewide as a brilliant lawyer, powerful state legislator, industrialist and an outspoken foe of slavery.

Ross Hetrick is president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, which is dedicated to promoting Stevens's important legacy. More information about the Great Commoner can be found at the society's website: https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/.

The Great Commoner, Fall 2024 No. 49, www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com

 Thaddeus Stevens Society to meet November 3 at Caledonia State Park    

The Thaddeus Stevens Society will meet on Sunday, November 3, at 1 p.m. at Caledonia State Park at the intersection of Routes 30 and 233 near Chambersburg. The meeting will be a potluck cookout in the picnic area near the Thaddeus Stevens Blacksmith shop. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and drinks will be provided. If you plan to attend, please respond by return email and include what dish you might be bringing, though it is not required.

Plaques for lifetime members will be presented and nominations for officers will be taken. Election of officers will be held at the 2025 spring meeting. There will also be discussion of efforts to increase the endowment of the Thaddeus Stevens Museum and the restructuring of the Lancaster cemetery where Stevens is buried.

Please give to the museum endowment fund

Please make a donation to the endowment fund for the Thaddeus Stevens Museum to ensure it will continue to exist for generations to come.

The Society is participating in the November 7 Giving Spree in Adams County and we are asking people to contribute to the "Forever Fund" for the Stevens Society, which is number 103 on the giving form that can be found at this link: GivingSpree  You can either mail in the form or send it in online on November 7 from 12:01 a.m. to midnight.

The museum, which opened in March, has been an unmitigated success. Located at 46 Chambersburg St. in the heart of Gettysburg, the museum has had hundreds of visitors. It is always great to see the amazement in people's faces when they learn about this very important person or to see the gratitude of existing Stevens admirers that there is at long last a museum about this hero of humanity.

But we have to plan for the future and that is why it is so important to have a well funded endowment fund. To set an example, I, Ross Hetrick, will be contributing $1,000 to the fund on November 7. While I don't expect members and supporters to make such a large donation, a lot of small contributions can make a big difference. Thanks for anything you can do.

"An Uncommon Woman" is a book of speculation and overstatement

An Uncommon Woman, a biography of Lydia Hamilton Smith, by Mark Kelley is a very speculative book that tries desperately to prove that there was a romantic relationship between Smith and Thaddeus Stevens despite both of them denying it.

The speculation starts on the cover, which features a painting of a woman who is purported to be Smith. This painting has been used to suggest that Stevens had the painting done because of his alleged romantic involvement with Smith. But it is not known where this painting came from, who painted it or who it was. The unsigned painting was found 45 years after Stevens's death and without a bit of documentation, a Lancaster historian in 1913 said it was a painting of Smith commissioned by Stevens. He also said it was done by artist Jacob Eichholtz, who died six years before Smith started working for Stevens.

Yet, this lack of evidence does not prevent Kelley from weaving an elaborate story that Stevens might have commissioned the painting when both he and Smith lived in Gettysburg and Smith was married to Jacob Smith. "We don't know the answers to these questions," Kelley writes, "but the mere possibility that Thaddeus Stevens might have commissioned Jacob Eichholtz to paint Lydia's portrait -- after she was married -- makes me wonder what the true nature of her relations to Stevens was." If Kelley does not know the answers, he is not allowed to make up a story.

The cover picture is followed by an outrageous claim at the beginning of the introduction that, "In the mid-nineteenth century, Lydia Hamilton Smith was one of the most widely known women in this country." What little fame Smith had was wholly due to her association with Stevens and it was fame that she would rather not have had.

During his lifetime, Stevens was accused of being against slavery and for equality because he was getting the favors of his biracial housekeeper. Both Stevens and Smith denied this and Smith, a devout Roman Catholic who very proud of her good reputation, vehemently denied the accusation. This is documented in the February 3, 1866 edition of the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, which recounts a visit by Smith to the newspaper that had printed such libels.

In a very condescending article entitled, "A Distinguished Visitor," Smith told a group of editors she was not Stevens's "idol" and white people she knew could vouch for her good character. After a contentious conversation in which the editors said she should have sent the white people, Smith said, "if - if ever - if ever my name appears in your paper again - I will - will - cowhide the editor." [The italics was in the original article.]

This racist slur against Stevens and Smith faded away after Stevens death, as did other baseless accusations, and was not included in early biographies. But the infamous 1915 silent movie, Birth of a Nation, revived the libel as the film sought to portray Stevens as a villain intent on punishing the south.  In one scene it shows the Stevens character caressing his housekeeper and a title appears saying: "A great man's weakness is the blight of a nation."

After that influential movie, Stevens biographers felt compelled to address the Stevens/Smith relationship and most found there was no evidence to suggest a romantic relationship. This includes the most recent Stevens biography in 2021 by respected historian Bruce Levine. Yet, Kelley waves away all these findings along with both Stevens and Smith denials and contends they were a romantic couple, accepting the racist slur against them.

Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 45

Please help keep Thad's Place open forever

September 2024

By Ross Hetrick

Since opening in March, Thad's Place, home of the Thaddeus Stevens Museum in Gettysburg has had hundreds of visitors who have learned about one of the most important figures in American history. We are now trying to build our endowment fund to make sure people will be able to enjoy this museum for generations to come.

The Thaddeus Stevens Society is participating in the Adams County Giving Spree on November 7 and our goal is to significantly boost the museum's endowment fund that is held by the Adams County Community Foundation. Information about the Spree is at this link: 

https://www.adamscountycf.org/accf2/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Giving-Spree-24-v6-GUIDE-FOR-WEB.pdf

The Thaddeus Stevens Society is number 103 in the list of organizations participating in the Spree and we are asking for donors to make "Forever" gifts that will build up the museum's endowment fund. 

Three types of people have visited the free museum: people who know nothing about Stevens, know a little about Stevens or are great admirers of Stevens. People in the first group are often amazed that they have not heard about this very important historical figure. They are surprised when they are told about how Stevens orchestrated the barring of ex-Confederates from Congress on December 4, 1865, thus setting the United States on a course towards a more equal society. "Why weren't we taught this in school," is a common reframe 

Those who are more familiar with Stevens, are delighted to find letters written by him and cast iron stoves made at his two iron furnaces in Fairfield and near Chambersburg. They also get to see a variety of other artifacts associated with Stevens.

Stevens admirers are absolutely thrilled to find the museum. People have come in who were named Thaddeus in his honor and others who were so inspired by Stevens that it influenced their choice of careers. They are very grateful that they have found a place that details Stevens's long struggle to bring about a more equal society.

The sad aspect of the museum is that it was not opened 100 years ago. There are thousands of museums across our country to both major and minor figures, including criminals like John Dillinger and Ma Barker, Stevens, a towering figure in American history, has had no museum.

So please participate in the Adams County Giving Spree to build up the Thaddeus Stevens Society "Forever" fund to insure that the Thaddeus Stevens Museum will be around for the next 100 years for people to learn about this great man.

Ross Hetrick is president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, which is dedicated to promoting Stevens's important legacy. More information about the Great Commoner can be found at the society's website: https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/.

Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 44

 Gettysburg needs a big Juneteenth celebration

August 2024

By Ross Hetrick

This year there was no community celebration of Juneteenth in Gettysburg, which was a crying shame. To prevent that from happening again, there will be an organizing meeting for next year's Juneteenth on September 17 at the Gettysburg YWCA at 10 a.m.

As everybody should know, Juneteenth is the national holiday on June 19 when we celebrate one of the greatest landmarks in human history -- the destruction of slavery in the United States. The holiday commemorates when Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. The date was celebrated locally around the country for over a hundred years and in 2021 it was declared a federal paid holiday with President Joe Biden signing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act.  

It was celebrated in Gettysburg for a few years after it became a federal holiday, but that stopped in 2024 after the organizer left the area. We can not let that happen again in 2025. Gettysburg should be the epicenter of Juneteenth celebrations since this was the turning point in the war that ended slavery in the United States. Gettysburg is also the site of Lincoln's immortal speech where he proclaimed that "this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom." And of course, Gettysburg is closely associated with Thaddeus Steven, a critical player in the legislative destruction of slavery.

There are a multitude of organizations and sites in the area that commemorate the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. These include the historic African-American Lincoln cemetery, the Gettysburg Black History Museum, the Gettysburg National Military Park, the Adams County Historical Society Museum, the Lincoln Fellowship and the Thaddeus Stevens Society to name a few. 

Perhaps we could have a Juneteenth festival at the Gettysburg Recreation Park or other open space where groups associated with the Civil War and Black heritage can set up information booths and skits can be performed highlighting such topics as the Underground Railroad and Black soldiers in the Union army. If you are interested in attending the September 17 meeting, please email info@thaddeusstevenssociety.com

The importance of destroying slavery in America 160 years ago can not be underestimated. Slavery had been been an accepted institution for thousands of years and it took a bloody and monumental effort to end it in the U.S. Thaddeus Stevens summed it up best when he said early in the Civil War that to wipe out this "most hateful and infernal blot" in human history would be "to write a page in the history of the world whose brightness shall eclipse all the records of heroes and of sages."

Ross Hetrick is president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, which is dedicated to promoting Stevens's important legacy. More information about the Great Commoner can be found at the society's website: https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/.

Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 43

 Thaddeus Stevens and women's suffrage

July 2024

By Ross Hetrick

If one of Thaddeus Stevens's original proposals for the 14th Amendment to the Constitution had been approved, women may have gotten the vote 50 years before they did.

In the early stages of hammering out the amendment in 1866, Stevens proposed to base representation in the House of Representatives and in the Electoral College on the number of eligible voters rather than the number of people. "Representation shall be apportioned among the States which may be within the Union according to their respective legal voters," Stevens's proposal read. 

With basically only white males allowed to vote at that time, states could significantly increase their number of representatives in Congress by simply giving Blacks and women the vote. Once that started, more conservative states would be under pressure to expand their voting lest they lose political power. But this was seen as way too radical to be approved by the states even if it could get through Congress. "It was dear to my heart, for I had been gestating it for three months," Stevens said to laughter in the House, "but when I came to consult the others and found that the States would not adopt it, I surrendered it."

But then the House went in the opposite direction and inserted the word "male" into the proposed amendment, the first time in the history of the Constitution. This angered Stevens, who threatened to vote against his own amendment. Yet, he was still able to make a joke about it that referred to his bachelorhood.

"Why make a crusade against women in the Constitution of the nation?" Stevens asked. "I do not think we ought to disfigure the Constitution with such a provision. I find that every unmarried man is opposed to the proposition. Whether the married men have particular reason for dreading interference from that quarter, I know not. I certainly shall never vote to insert the word 'male' or the word 'white' in the national Constitution."

Despite his protest, "male" remained in the amendment and Stevens backed down on his threat. "Believing, then, that this is the best proposition that can be made effectual, I accept it." he said. "I shall not be driven by clamor or denunciation to throw away a great good because it is not perfect. I will take all I can get in the cause of humanity and leave it to be perfected by better men in better times. It may be that time will not come while I am here to enjoy the glorious triumph; but that it will come is as certain as that there is a just God."

Ross Hetrick is president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, which is dedicated to promoting Stevens's important legacy. More information about the Great Commoner can be found at the society's website: https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/.

Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 42

 Super Lawyer Thaddeus Stevens

June 2024

By Ross Hetrick

Of all Thaddeus Stevens's abilities, his talent as a lawyer was his greatest. In a June 28, 1885 article in the Baltimore American, a person who knew him said this: "Mr. Stevens was regarded by many people with an air of superstition. His legal knowledge was so profound and his foresight so keen, that he inspired very many with the belief that he was regarded as almost superhuman."

He won more than a thousand cases during his legal career, according to the book, Thaddeus Stevens in Gettysburg: The Making of an Abolitionist by Bradley R. Hoch. And after Stevens moved to Lancaster, PA in 1842 he earned $15,000 a year, the equivalent of $357,000 in 2004 dollars, the book said. This large income saved him from financial ruin that would have befallen him from the huge losses he took at his Caledonia iron mill near Chambersburg, PA.

Both friend and foe credited Stevens with being the super lawyer of Pennsylvania. An early biographer, Alexander Harris, who knew Stevens and hated him, said much of his power as attorney was his "remarkable memory."

"In the trial of a cause, he very rarely wrote down any of the evidence," as other lawyers did. "He possessed the rare faculty of being able to perceive, as if by intuition, the real point of every case," Harris said. 

"His memory was so powerful that often when a dispute arose among counsel, as to the exact language used by a witness, he would appeal to the judge's notes; and in such instances he [Stevens] was found almost invariably accurate in his recollection of the evidence," Harris wrote.

Another one of Stevens's legal tools was his blighting wit that he could employ on a moment's notice. In a medical case in Chambersburg, a respected Dr. Smith testified along with a quack doctor named Oliver. Stevens intentionally mixed up the names of the two doctors to undercut Dr. Smith's testimony. Smith, who was in his office as Stevens was presenting the case in the courthouse, heard about this and grabbed a cane and proclaimed that he was going to beat Stevens for his treacherous behavior. Marching down the street towards the courthouse, a crowd gathered behind Dr. Smith to see the beating. Dr. Smith met Stevens coming out of the courthouse. "Mr. Stevens," Dr. Smith proclaimed, "I understand that in commenting on my testimony, you called me Dr. Oliver." With a shocked look, Stevens replied, "Did I? I am very sorry for it and when I meet Dr. Oliver, I will apologize." Dr. Smith joined the crowd roaring in laughter, saving Stevens from a beating.

In another case involving land fraud, Stevens turned to an alleged transgressor and said, "The Almighty makes few mistakes. Look at that face! What did He ever fashion it for, save to be nailed to the masthead of a pirate ship to ride down unfortunate debtors sailing on the waves of commerce." 

Things didn't always go Stevens's way and one time a judge caught Stevens mumbling under his breath about one of his rulings and warned him against "manifesting contempt of the court," Stevens replied, "Manifesting contempt, your honor? Sir, I am doing my best to conceal it." That particular exchange went on to be used by none other than the legendary comedian Mae West in the 1940 movie, My Little Chickadee.

Ross Hetrick is president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, which is dedicated to promoting Stevens's important legacy. More information about the Great Commoner can be found at the society's website: https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/.

Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 41

 Thaddeus Stevens: railroad developer

May 2024

By Ross Hetrick

Besides being a masterful politician and unrivaled lawyer, Thaddeus Stevens was an enthusiastic promoter of railroads, pushing for two early railroads in Pennsylvania and then laying the legislative groundwork in the 1860s for the Transcontinental Railroad.

Stevens's first railroad venture was the Gettysburg Extension of the Pennsylvania Main Line, nicknamed the Tapeworm Railroad because its route zig-zaged through the mountains and its cost was compared to the appetite of a tapeworm. It was to connect Gettysburg to western Maryland.

As a powerful member of the state House of Representatives, Stevens was able to get the state to pay for the construction, which started in 1836. The route was mapped out and various railroad cuts and viaducts were constructed, which can be seen around Gettysburg and Fairfield. But then the Buckshot War occurred in 1838 as a result of a disputed state election. 

The conflict resulted in both sides setting up competing legislatures in Harrisburg and then a mob was imported from Philadelphia and took over the government. At one point, Stevens had to jump out a window to escape a rampaging gang.

As a result, Stevens lost political power and the state government abandoned the Tapeworm Railroad. It lay dormant for nearly 50 years until the Western Maryland Railroad finished it, taking it to Highfield, MD.

While he was trying to connect Gettysburg to the west, Stevens was also trying to build a railroad to the east. The Wrightville, York and Gettysburg Railroad was created in 1837 after two fledgling companies were combined and Stevens became president, earning $2,000 per year..

The private company was continuously plagued with finance problems, but was finally able to open rail service between York and Wrightsville in 1840.  But it never made it to Gettysburg and it was later sold to the Northern Central Railroad.

Stevens's last big rail effort was the creation of  the Transcontinental Railroad. Anxious to connect the east and west coasts, Congress during the Civil War created the Union Pacific Railroad to build the eastern part of the rail line. But the federal government was fighting one of the most expensive wars in American history and had no money for the venture.

Stevens, the chairman of the House railroad committee, pushed the novel idea of instead of using money, Congress would provide thousands of acres of desolate land along the tracks to entice investors. "Take what land you choose; it is worth nothing to the Government," Stevens said about the proposal. "It is worth nothing except as it becomes populated, and as you [the railroad] populate it you do us a benefit."

Using this approach and coupled with his parliamentary skill, Stevens was able to get the measure passed, which laid the legislative groundwork for one of the great engineering projects of the nineteenth century.

Ross Hetrick is president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, which is dedicated to promoting Stevens's important legacy. More information about the Great Commoner can be found at the society's website: https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/.