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/.

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/.

 

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.

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/

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/