Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 49

 The court case that launched Thaddeus Stevens's crusade against slavery

January 2025

By Ross Hetrick

Thaddeus Stevens was riding high in the early 1820s. He was a young up-and-coming lawyer in the prosperous town of Gettysburg. Then he took a case involving a fugitive slave that would change his life and the course of American history forever.

Born in Vermont, the first state to ban slavery in 1777, it would be expected that Stevens would be anti-slavery. Add to that, he had a club foot which would make him sympathetic to people discriminated against.

But at the same time he was brilliant and was able to work his way through the prestigious college of Dartmouth. And like many a self-made man he felt that discrimination was a necessary ingredient to spur people to become successful.

In fact, in a commencement speech at Dartmouth in 1814, Stevens praised inequality as the engine of progress. "Had they [primitive people] been content to remain in a state of equality, they must likewise have remain in a state of barbarism," he said. "For although invention and improvement are not foreign to the nature of man, yet they will never be exercised until they are called forth by new motives of pleasure and profit."

So it was not unexpected for the young Stevens to represent a Maryland slaveowner in August 1820 who was trying to recover a fugitive slave. Charity Butler had escape captivity in Maryland, married Henry Butler, a free Black in Adams county, and had two daughters Harriet and Sophia. 

Years later, her former enslaver found out where she was and he kidnapped Charity and her two daughters. Her husband hired a lawyer who argued in court that Charity had been brought up to Pennsylvania many times while she was a slave totaling more than six months, the legal limit you could keep a slave in Pennsylvania before becoming free. But Stevens was able to demolish the case by simply pointing out that the six-month rule required the slave to reside in Pennsylvania for a continuous six months.

But the court victory seemingly caught Stevens by surprise. Not only was Charity sent back into bondage, but her two daughters who had never known slavery were sentence to a lifetime of captivity. "No one knows what Thaddeus Stevens experienced that day, but surely he felt the family's despair," wrote Bradley R. Hoch in his 2005 biography of Stevens, Thaddeus Stevens in Gettysburg: The Making of an Abolitionist. "He no doubt thought about the consequences of his victory for the rest of his life. He never again represented a slave owner against slave." Hoch wrote.

Not only did he stop representing slaveowner but he started vigorously representing fugitive slaves. And on July 4, 1823 he went public with his conversion to abolitionism with a toast at an Independence day celebration. "The next President -- May he be a freeman, who never riveted fetters on a human slave," he proclaimed. It was a bold statement since everyone at the event knew that all but one of the five Presidents up to that time had owned human beings. 

It was only the beginning of his 40-year political struggle that would culminate in the destruction of slavery and the ratification of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution requiring the equal treatment under the law. And even death, Stevens wanted people to know where he stood. He insisted on being buried in the only integrated cemetery in Lancaster at the time and the epitaph on his monument reads: "I reposed in the quiet and secluded spot not from any natural preference for solitude, but finding other cemeteries limited as to race by charter rules, I have chosen this that I might illustrate in my death the principles I advocated through a long life: Equality of man before his creator."

Ross Hetrick is president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, which is dedicated to promoting Stevens's important legacy. The Society operates the Thaddeus Stevens Museum at 46 Chambersburg St. in Gettysburg, PA. More information about the Great Commoner can be found at the society's website: https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/

Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 48

 Thaddeus Stevens should join the Gettysburg Trinity

December 2024

By Ross Hetrick

Gettysburg borough recently published a summary of its budget and at the top of the page were pictures of Abraham Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower. Where was Thaddeus Stevens?  He should be part of the Gettysburg Trinity.

Gettysburg is fortunate that it can lay claim to two presidents. But it should also lay claim to Thaddeus Stevens, who exercised power comparable to presidents, according to many of his contemporaries. 

Gettysburg richly deserves its association with Lincoln and Eisenhower. Lincoln gave his magnificent Gettysburg Address here, yet, he was only here one day. Eisenhower lived in the Gettysburg area in 1918 when he was in the army and in the 1960s after he retired. But he did not leave any lasting mark on the community of Gettysburg.

In contrast, Stevens lived in Gettysburg for 26 years from 1816 to 1842 and regularly visited the borough even after he moved to Lancaster. He helped to establish Gettysburg's first water system, library and bank. He is the most famous person to have served on Gettysburg borough council.

His most lasting contribution was helping to establish Gettysburg College. Stevens was able to get an $18,000 state grant for the college in 1834 to build Pennsylvania Hall, which is one of the borough's iconic buildings. And in 1854 when the college's board of trustees was thinking of leaving Gettysburg, Stevens browbeat them into staying forever.

Taking a broader view, Stevens is credited with saving public education in Pennsylvania in 1835 when he made a powerful speech that turned back a repeal effort of the fledgling system. On a national level, he is the father of  the 14th Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing equal treatment under the law and extending the Bill of Rights to the state level. He prevented President Andrew Johnson from losing the Civil War after the war by orchestrating a brilliant parliamentary maneuver in 1865 that barred ex-Confederates from taking over Congress.

Stevens has been gaining more recognition in Gettysburg over the last 25 years with the creation of the Thaddeus Stevens Society in 1999, the erection of a statue in front of the courthouse in 2022 and the opening of a Stevens museum at 46 Chambersburg Street earlier this year. Now is the time for the borough government to recognize his importance by adding him to the top of its publications along with Abe and Ike. Thad should be part of the Gettysburg Trinity.

Ross Hetrick is president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, which is dedicated to promoting Stevens's important legacy. The Society operates the Thaddeus Stevens Museum at 46 Chambersburg St. in Gettysburg, PA. More information about the Great Commoner can be found at the society's website: https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/.

Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 47

 Thaddeus Stevens comes to Gettysburg

November 2024

By Ross Hetrick

By 1816, Thaddeus Stevens had graduated from Dartmouth college, completed his legal studies and gotten a certificate to practice law. He was ready to make his mark, but where?

Stevens did a little location shopping. He first went east from York, where had lived for two years, to Lancaster to check out that city. On the way there, he nearly fell into the Susquehanna river when his horse was spooked as he crossed an unfinished bridge. But the quick action of a man working the bridge saved Stevens.

Safely in Lancaster, he walked from one end of King Street to the other. But with little money, he felt the big city was too expensive for him. So he crossed the river again and made his way to Gettysburg, which was more like the small Vermont towns he had grown up in.

He set up an office in the Gettysburg Hotel on the square. That location is now the Stevens conference room in the Gettysburg Hotel on Lincoln Square, though nothing of the original office remains. 

Stevens then ran an ad in the October 2, 1816 , edition of the Adams Centinel, a local newspaper. "Thaddeus Stevens, Attorney at Law," the ad announced, "Has opened an OFFICE in Gettysburg, in the east end of the 'Gettysburg Hotel,' occupied by Mr. Keefer; where he will give diligent attention to all orders in the line of his profession."

But for the first year, the going was rough with only petty cases coming his way. With money running out, Stevens told an acquaintance at a Littlestown dance that he might start looking for another place to hang his shingle. 

Then on June 23, 1817 James Hunter killed Henry Heagy. Stevens had represented Hunter in the past and became his defense lawyer. He argued that the act was not premeditated because Hunter had used an unwieldy scythe to kill Heagy. A scythe is a large tool used to cut crops, often pictured with the Grim Reaper. Stevens said the act was impulsive, making it second degree murder, which did not carry the death penalty. And even though he lost the case and Hunter was hanged, townspeople were impressed with his performance and the law cases started rolling in.

By the early 1820s, Stevens was on his way to becoming one of the leading citizens of Gettysburg. But then in 1821 he would take on a case that involved a fugitive slave that would change his life and the course of American politics forever.

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. 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/.