Thursday, November 14, 2024

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/.


Friday, October 18, 2024

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/.


Wednesday, October 9, 2024

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.









Saturday, September 21, 2024

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/.




Friday, August 16, 2024

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/.



Thursday, July 18, 2024

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/.


Saturday, June 15, 2024

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/.




Sunday, May 19, 2024

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/.






Friday, April 19, 2024

Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 40

Friends of Caledonia State Park needs more friends

April 2024

By Ross Hetrick

The Friends of Caledonia State Park, the site of Thaddeus Stevens iron works, needs a lot of new friends.

The group that supports the operation of the Caledonia State Park near Chambersburg is holding an open house on Saturday, May 18, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the park's office at 101 Pine Grove Road, Fayetteville, PA 17222. The Friends provides extra funds for the park by raising money at this annual craft fair in July and by selling firewood to campers. But the group in recent years has dwindled to only a handful of people who are overburdened. The Friends also need Thaddeus Stevens admirers who could help tell the fascinating history of the park.

If you are interested in coming to this meeting, please contact the Thaddeus Stevens Society at info@thaddeusstevenssociety.com or call 717-347-8159.

The thousand acre park has a lot to offer. There are hiking trails, playgrounds, camp sites, a stream to wade in and a large swimming pool. It also has a great history connected to Thaddeus Stevens that could be more fully developed to inform visitors about the struggle for freedom and equality in the mid-1800s.

Stevens, who was a prominent Gettysburg lawyer and politician, started his iron works in 1837 and named it Caledonia after his native county of Caledonia, Vermont. The operation consisted of 18,000 acres of land and employed about 250 people. The iron works needed the large amount of land for wood to make charcoal, an essential ingredient in the iron making process. One acre of woods would have to be chopped down and converted into charcoal for every ton of iron produced.

The iron mill turned out to be a very bad investment for Stevens. By 1842, he was $200,000 in debt, the equivalent of millions of dollars today. He was urged by friends to declare bankruptcy, but that was against his principles. "I may be forced to take advantage of the bankruptcy laws in the next world, but that I will never do in this . . . there is no way out of such things except to pay the unttermost farthing." So he picked up and moved to Lancaster where he could make more money as an attorney.

Stevens continued to lose money at Caledonia in the 1840s and 50s calling it his "sinking fund." He started making some money there in the 1860s because of the war, but that was put to an end in June 1863 when Confederate General Jubal Early on his way to the Gettysburg battle burnt the mill to the ground because of Stevens's abolitionist policies. The foreman pleaded with Early not to torch Caledonia, saying the mill was not making any money and that it was being kept open for the sake of the workers. Early cynically replied, "Yankees don't do business that way." Early also said that if he had caught Stevens, he would have hanged him on the spot and distribute his bones to Confederate states as souvenirs. 

Stevens took it all in stride, saying when he heard the news: "Did he burn the debts also." And even though it cost him $75,000 -- the largest civilian financial loss of the Gettysburg campaign -- he considered it a "cheap purchase," if finally, "the government shall be re-established over our whole territory and not a vestige of slavery left."

Caledonia's history is extremely rich and needs to be highlighted more. Currently the telling of the history is limited to a few hours on the weekends during the summers when there are blacksmith demonstrations and a Thaddeus Stevens reenactor at the park's blacksmith shop. But so much more could be done. Perhaps the blacksmith shop could be upgrade so it could house more extensive exhibits about the iron mill and Stevens. Maybe there could be a Thaddeus Stevens festival at the park highlighting the fight against slavery and the iron mill's role in the Underground Railroad.

But it will only happen if volunteers get involved. So please come to the meeting at Caledonia on May 18 from 2 to 5 p.m. and if you plan to come, please email info@thaddeusstevenssociety.com or call 717-347-8159. Do it for Thad

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/.



 

Sunday, March 17, 2024

The Great Commoner, Spring 2024, No. 48, www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com

 Two big Thaddeus Stevens events in April

        There are two important Thaddeus Stevens events on April 4 and 5. The grand opening of the new Stevens museum will be held at 46 Chambersburg Street in Gettysburg from 5 to 7 p.m. on April 4. Then the next day, Friday, April 5, the annual graveside ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. at the Shreiner-Concord Cemetery at Mulberry and Chestnut Streets in Lancaster, PA. 

The grand opening of the first Stevens museum is on the 232nd birthday of Stevens and the 25th anniversary of the Thaddeus Stevens Society. The schedule for the grand opening is elsewhere in the newsletter.

The graveside ceremony, sponsored by the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology and the Stevens Society, honors Stevens with speeches and presentations in front of the Great Commoner’s inspirational grave. The event is followed by a free dinner at 6 p.m. at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology at 750 E. King Street in its Jones Conference Room. If you plan to attend, please email info@thaddeusstevenssociety.com or call 717-347-8159.


Gettysburg museum opens

Thad's Place, home of the Thaddeus Stevens Museum, has opened at 46 Chambersburg Street in Gettysburg, PA. The grand opening will be Thursday, April 4.

The museum, had its "soft" opening on March 1 and the public reception has been gratifying. History buffs roaming Gettysburg are thrilled to find a Stevens museum. The hours will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Outside those hours, appointments can be made by calling 717-347-8159..

The museum has an extensive collection of letters, newspapers and two stoves made at iron works owned by Stevens. There is also study carrels where researchers can use the Society's collection of books and documents about Stevens. Visitors can also catch videos about Stevens in the lounge area where there is free coffee and a vending machine providing snacks. Below are photo of the museum, which is still in the process of being set up.


                                        Stoves made at iron works owned by Stevens


Letters and documents in a display case

Study carrels next to Stevens books and documents.


Lounge and video area

Grand opening schedule

5 to 6 p.m. – Attendees will be able to tour the new museum and Civil War era music will be played by noted musician Tom Jolin. The first 100 people will receive a bag of souvenirs, including DVDs about Thaddeus Stevens, a button and a bookmark commemorating the grand opening, and flyers about Stevens. Light refreshments will be served


6 to 7 p.m. – Gettysburg Independent Blues, a Civil War color guard, will present arms to begin the ceremonies in front of Christ Lutheran Evangelical Church next to the museum. This will be followed by Jesse Holt, a local vocalist, singing the Star-Spangled Banner. This will be followed by remarks by local officials and others.


Fundraising Banquet

    From 7 to 9 p.m. there will be a fundraising banquet at the social hall of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church next to the museum. The lasagna dinner will include a ticket to a wine reception at the Adams County Winery shop across the street at 25 Chambersburg Street before the grand opening. Tickets are $50 a person and can be obtained by emailing info@thaddeusstevenssociety.com or calling 717-347-8159.


History of almost Thaddeus Stevens museums

    While there are several books about Thaddeus Stevens and a few movies that include his character, his relatives and admirers did little to preserve the places he lived or to find a location for artifacts related to him. His house in Gettysburg was torn down in the 1920s and his home is Lancaster was altered to the point of being unrecognizable. 

The first attempt to have some sort of museum was at Caledonia State Park near Chambersburg, PA, the site of Stevens iron furnace, which he owned from 1837 to his death in 1868. By the early 20th century, only a few buildings survived, including the blacksmith shop. That shop was converted into a trolley station for the electric railroad that ran from Chambersburg. In 1935 it was converted back to a blacksmith with the addition of a belfry, that had not been there before.

The restored structure was outfitted with a hearth and blacksmith equipment and some products made at the furnace, such as a stove, were put on display. There was even a gift shop selling park souvenirs. But its focus was the history of the iron works and not Stevens’s legislative career, though more information about that has been added in recent decades. Also, the unheated brick building was not suitable for storing artifacts. 

One particular drawback to the shop was the sign on the front of the building which read: “Thaddeus Stevens Blacksmith Shop.” This has caused people to think Stevens was a blacksmith and not a powerful legislator. The shop is now open on weekends during the summer with blacksmith demonstrations and presentations by a Thaddeus Stevens portrayer. 

                                                                 A postcard showing the blacksmith shop in the 1940s


Another effort at a Stevens museum was at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, PA, a technical school established on a bequest from Stevens. In the 1990s, the school set up an archives room in its library This room had a variety of Stevens’s artifacts including his clubfoot boot, his suitcase, a bed frame and a writing desk. 

While this was a wonderful tribute to Stevens, it was located in an upper floor of the library and was not readily available to the public. The room was normally open only on special occasions or by asking the librarian to unlock the room. But even this limited accessibility was ended in 2023 when a leak developed in the room’s ceiling and the college transferred most of the artifacts over to LancasterHistory, the non-profit which plans to open a $25 million museum in early 2025 that will include Stevens.


                                        The display case at the archives room at Stevens College


The trail towards a museum at the site of Stevens's Lancaster house started in the early 2000s when the Preservation Trust of Lancaster County, a non-profit concerned with preserving historic buildings, was successful in saving what was left of the Stevens house in downtown Lancaster and was able to restore the outside to its 1860s appearance. But the trust encountered financial problems in the effort and had to turn the project over to LancasterHistory in 2010, which then postponed any fundraising for more than a dozen years because it was still paying for its new museum.

LancasterHistory, which also operates President James Buchanan’s home Wheatland, now has the largest collections of Stevens artifacts anywhere, including a desk, rocking chair, boots, a variety of documents and even his wig. But these items are only brought out for specific exhibits and there is no permanent Stevens exhibit at its museum, much to the disappointment of tourists looking for for Stevens artifacts. This should change next year when LancasterHistory plans to open the Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Center for History and Democracy in April 2025. Besides Stevens, the museum will include information about his housekeeper, Lydia Hamilton Smith and the Underground Railroad.

The Thaddeus Stevens Society also tried its hand at Stevens exhibits over the years. Shortly after it was formed in 1999, the Society set up the Thaddeus Stevens room at Ross's Coffeehouse & Eatery in Gettysburg, owned by Ross Hetrick, the founder of the Society. That collection was rather small since the Society had just started collecting artifacts. That room shutdown when the coffeehouse was sold in 2004. But the Society continued to acquire Stevens items and now they will be displayed at the new museum.


Friday, March 15, 2024

Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 39

 Finally, a Thaddeus Stevens museum

March 2024

By Ross Hetrick

On April 4, something will happen that should have happened a long time ago -- the grand opening of the first Thaddeus Stevens museum at 46 Chambersburg Street in Gettysburg, PA.

The event from 5 to 7 p.m. will include music by noted musician Tom Jolin and the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner by Jesse Holt. There will be tours of the new museum and free handouts of DVDs and other Stevens souvenirs. 

More than 40 years ago I read a biography of Thaddeus Stevens and was bowled over. While other politicians vacillated and appeased slaveholders, Stevens was irrevocably against human bondage. Not only that, he was incredibly effective and was instrumental in preventing President Andrew Johnson from reversing the gains of the Civil War. Despite not being president, he was one of the most important people in American history.

I had to go to Lancaster, PA, one of the places that Stevens spent much of his adult life. I expected to tour his house full of artifacts of his life and see his incredibly inspirational grave that celebrates his devotion to equality. What I found horrified me. 

Stevens's house had been changed beyond recognition and there were no house tours, just a tarnished plaque saying he had lived there. His grave was little better. The small cemetery where he is buried -- the only integrated cemetery in Lancaster at the time of his death -- was overgrown with tree branches and broken tombstones strewn about. In Gettysburg, where he lived for 26 years and had a major impact in the borough and the state, it was worse. His house had been torn down in the 1920s and he was completely forgotten, overshadowed by the battle, Lincoln and Eisenhower.

The Thaddeus Stevens Society was founded 25 year ago to rectify this terrible situation and give Stevens the honor he deserves. There have been a number of gains in the intervening years. Two statues have been put up to the Great Commoner, one in Lancaster and another in Gettysburg. His cemetery is better maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers.

Now, at long last, people who come to know about Stevens and admire him can go to the new museum in Gettysburg on Chambersburg Street to get a fuller sense of this man's greatness. They can see letters written by him to important figures of the day. They can see cast iron stoves made at iron mills he owned. There are dozens of Civil War era newspapers detailing his exploits, including one from France. There is a space for researchers to use the Society's extensive library about Stevens and people can watch videos about Stevens while sipping coffee. 

The location of the free museum is very appropriate since it is located across the street from where Stevens's house was until it was torn down.

A year from now, LancasterHistory will open the $25 million Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Center For History and Democracy in Lancaster, PA. Besides Stevens, it will be about his Lancaster housekeeper, Lydia Hamilton Smith, and the Underground Railroad. It should be magnificent.

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/





Thursday, February 15, 2024

Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 38

 Thaddeus Stevens's 14th Amendment is again in the news

February 2024

By Ross Hetrick

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution is one of the greatest achievements of the Reconstruction era and the essential person in its birth was Thaddeus Stevens, the most powerful congressman of his time.

The amendment has been at the heart of many landmark court cases, including desegregation, same sex marriage and reproductive rights. Now the Supreme Court will decide whether it will bar a former President from running again for leading an alleged insurrection.

Stevens was present at the conception of the amendment, nursed it along during its difficult gestation and was there when it was finally born, just a month before Stevens died. The idea for the amendment was on Stevens's mind on December 4, 1865 when he orchestrated a brilliant parliamentary maneuver that barred ex-Confederates from taking over the 39th Congress. Without that, Congress would have been unable to pass some of the most important legislation in U.S. history.

Stevens immediately followed that up by forming the Joint Committee on Reconstruction, where he would introduce the initial version of the amendment. Then the measure would go through a series of transformations, some that Stevens approved others that he strenuously opposed. But in the end he voted for it saying it was the best that could be had.

The third section of the amendment was one of the provisions that was dramatically changed. As proposed by Stevens, that provision would have barred anybody who aided the Confederacy from voting until 1870. This was changed to bar people from holding any office who had participated in an insurrection after previously taking an oath to support the Constitution. 

Stevens was against this change, saying it could lead to the ex-Confederates taking over federal and state legislatures in the near future. But whereas his version of the section would have only been effective for two years, the rewritten section may make it applicable to the 21st century. Stevens was so concerned about this and other changes that he threatened to vote against his own amendment. But finally he consented to the changes, summing up his position in this statement in June 1866:

"In my youth, in my manhood, in my old age, I had fondly dreamed that when any fortunate chance should have broken up for a while the foundation of our institutions, and released us from obligations the most tyrannical that ever man imposed in the name of freedom, that the intelligent, pure and just men of this Republic, true to their professions and their consciences would have so remodeled all our institutions as to have free them from every vestige of human oppression, of inequality of rights, of the recognized degradation of the poor, and the superior caste of the rich. In short, that no distinction would be tolerated in this purified Republic but what arose from merit and conduct. That bright dream has vanished 'like the baseless fabric of a vision.' I find that we shall be obligated to be content with patching up the worst portions of the ancient edifice, and leaving it, in many of its parts, to be swept through by the tempests, the frosts, and storms of despotism."

"Do you inquire why, holding these views and possessing some will of my own, I accept so imperfect a proposition? I answer, because I live among men and not among angels, among men as intelligent as determined, and as independent as myself, who not agreeing with me, do not choose to yield their opinions to mine. Mutual concession, therefore, is our only resort, or mutual hostilities."

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/


Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Thaddeus Stevens Chronicles No. 37

 Why support the Thaddeus Stevens Society

January 2024

By Ross Hetrick

In his 1939 biography about Thaddeus Stevens, Alphonse B. Miller wrote this: 

"It is an ironic commentary on fame that in so short a time as seventy years, Thaddeus Stevens has become little more than a name even to well-educated Americans. In his lifetime, which reached its climax during a major crisis in American affairs, he was the most powerful political figure in the land, and exercised a control over legislation never equaled before or since. At his death, he was accorded tributes very like those paid Abraham Lincoln himself. The effect of his policies persists down to the present. Moreover, he was an enthralling, idiomatic individual, about whom legends clustered which seemed to contain all the elements of permanent folk-lore. His blighting wit alone should have rendered his memory secure. Yet today, by some inexplicable quirk of fate, the emphases of history, of tradition, of common repute have somehow been diverted; and to mention Stevens is to loose a flood of shamefaced ignorance."

Other Stevens biographies have echoed the same sentiment and that is why the Thaddeus Stevens Society was founded 25 years ago -- to restore Stevens to his rightful place in American history. If you share this goal, you can join us by going to this web page,  https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/become-a-member-1  or you can call 717-347-8159.

Despite what Miller wrote, it is clear that Stevens lost his fame as a result of the "Lost Cause" propaganda effort, which managed to convince people that racist traitors were heroes and abolitionists were villains. And even though this campaign has been reversed in many instances in recent decades, proponents of the Confederacy remain strong.

The Thaddeus Stevens Society is the only organization that is exclusively dedicated to promoting Stevens's incredible legacy. The Society has spread information about Stevens through publication, social media and hundreds of educational programs. We have also worked with other groups to maintain the cemetery where Stevens is buried, to restore his house in Lancaster and to erect the first Stevens statue at the college named after him. Some of the Society's greatest achievements include a Stevens statue in Gettysburg, one of the largest collections of Stevens artifacts, and an extensive collection of research material on Stevens.

Now the Society posed to tackle two of its most ambitious efforts: the establishment of a Stevens office, museum and research center in Gettysburg and restructuring Stevens's cemetery in Lancaster so that it is on a sustainable basis.

Up to now, the Society has had a virtual office and its collection of Stevens artifacts have been kept in a private residence, viewable by appointment only. Now after a successful fundraising effort, the Society is looking for a suitable location, ideally close to the center of Gettysburg. Besides being the Society's office, it would have exhibits about Stevens incredible life and provide research material.

The other project involves the Shreiner-Concord Cemetery in Lancaster, PA, where Stevens is buried. Despite its historic significance, the cemetery has not had an owner since the middle of the 20th century when descendants of the founder, Martin Shreiner, abandoned the graveyard. Since then, the cemetery has relied on volunteer groups and Lancaster city. This has left the cemetery in a precarious position. 

 The volunteer group now overseeing the cemetery, the Shreiner-Concord Cemetery Foundation, is doing a great job and is working with the Society to create a non-profit entity that could take possession of the cemetery and establish an endowment fund that would ensure that the cemetery is maintained indefinitely. 

This is an ambitious effort and will need the involvement of local, state and federal agencies to be successful. But it is absolutely necessary to ensure the preservation of this historic and inspirational cemetery.

If you agree with these goals, please join the Thaddeus Stevens Society and help us restore Stevens to his rightful place in American history.

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/