The Story of Lydia Hamilton Smith
February 2026
By Ross Hetrick
Lydia Hamilton Smith would have remained an obscure historical figure except that enemies of Thaddeus Stevens used her to try to discredit him.
As a lifelong bachelor Stevens employed housekeepers in both Gettysburg and Lancaster. Smith was Stevens's last housekeeper, working for him from either 1844 or 1848 until his death in 1868. By all accounts, Smith was an excellent housekeeper who also served as his nurse as was common in those days. She was a savvy businesswoman and assisted Stevens in some of his endeavors. After his death, Smith parlayed the $5,000 left to her in his will into a successful boarding house in Washington, D.C. She would have led an accomplished if not notable life except that she worked for a famous abolitionist and was one-quarter Black.
Stevens's enemies, who were legion, jumped on this combination and loudly proclaimed that Smith was his mistress and that she had misled him into his antislavery beliefs. Of course this ignored the fact that Stevens had started his crusade against slavery 20 years before employing Smith.
Stevens generally ignored these attacks. But in a 1867 letter to a political colleague, he wrote an ambiguous reply that didn't directly contradict the allegation, but did say the accusation was "totally without foundation."
Smith, a devout Roman Catholic who was proud of her good reputation, took a more direct approach and confronted editors of the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, a longtime Stevens opposition newspaper. This is documented in a February 3, 1866 edition of the paper which recounts a visit by Smith. A very condescending article entitled, "A Distinguished Visitor," reports Smith telling a group of editors she was not Stevens's "idol" and white people she knew would 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 - cowhide the editor." [italics was in original article]
The slur that Smith was Stevens's mistress faded after their deaths and was not included in early Stevens biographies. But in 1905 the best-selling novel, The Clansman, by Thomas Dixon, Jr., revived the charge. In that book the character Austin Stoneman, based on Stevens, has a housekeeper called Lydia Brown. She is described this way: "No more curious or sinister figure ever cast a shadow across the history of a great nation than did this mulatto woman in the most corrupt hour of American life. The grim old man who looked into her sleek tawny face and followed her catlike eyes was steadily gripping the Nation by the throat. Did he aim to make this woman the arbiter of its social life, and her ethics the limit of its moral laws?"
The bigoted novel was made into a play and then into one of the most famous silent movies, The Birth of a Nation, released in 1915. In a scene where the character based on Stevens gets affectionate with his housekeeper, a title card appears: "The great leader's weakness that is to blight a nation." This condemnation has left a long-lasting impression on the perceived relationship between Stevens and Smith. It was reprised in the 2012 film Lincoln, where the Stevens character is in bed with Smith and the freshly approved 13th Amendment. This scene is particularly confusing because it does not identify the woman as his housekeeper and many moviegoers think she is his wife.
In the end, people can either believe Stevens and Smith or believe their enemies. Speculation about the relationship serves not only to titillate the public and perpetuate racist sentiments, but also to besmirch the character of a woman whose life and work and contributions would otherwise be commended.
Ross Hetrick is president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, which operates the Thaddeus Stevens Museum at 46 Chambersburg St. in Gettysburg, PA. Rosalie Moore, secretary of the Society, contributed to this column. More information about the Great Commoner can be found at the Society's website: https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/
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