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The unsung hero of the 1860s was Thaddeus Stevens (1792 -1868) of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Congressman Stevens, chairman of the powerful House of Representative’s Ways and Means Committee, made it possible for President Abraham Lincoln to win the uphill struggle of passing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, ending slavery. A native of Vermont, he chose Lancaster in 1842 as the place for his law practice. He would use this building at 45 South Queen Street as his main residence / law office until his death in 1868. Another resident of the property was Stevens' live-in housekeeper and confidant, Lydia Hamilton Smith, and her children. The Historic Preservation Trust led the initiative to save and restore the Thaddeus Stevens house as part of the new Lancaster County Convention Center. Sadly, since 2009, the restoration efforts of the Stevens / Smith House have been put on hold due to lack of funds. LancasterHistory.org has now taken over the efforts to restore and save the property.

The Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Historic Site

The Thaddeus Stevens & Lydia Hamilton Smith Historic Site

Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792 – August 11, 1868)

Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792 – August 11, 1868)

Lydia Hamilton Smith (February 14, 1813 – February 14, 1884)

Lydia Hamilton Smith (February 14, 1813 – February 14, 1884)

Thaddeus Stevens (April 4, 1792 – August 11, 1868) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania and one of the leaders of the "Radical Republican" faction of the Republican Party during the 1860s. A fierce opponent of slavery and discrimination against African-Americans, Stevens sought to secure their rights during Reconstruction, in opposition to President Andrew Johnson. As chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee during the American Civil War, he played a major part in the war's financing.

Stevens was born in rural Vermont, in poverty, and with a club foot, giving him a limp he kept his entire life. He moved to Pennsylvania as a young man, and quickly became a successful lawyer in Gettysburg. He interested himself in municipal affairs, and then in politics. He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, where he became a strong advocate of free public education. Financial setbacks in 1842 caused him to move his home and practice to the larger city of Lancaster. There, he joined the Whig Party, and was elected to Congress in 1848. His activities as a lawyer and politician in opposition to slavery cost him votes and he did not seek reelection in 1852. After a brief flirtation with the Know-Nothing Party, Stevens joined the newly formed Republican Party, and was elected to Congress again in 1858. There, with fellow radicals such as Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, he opposed the expansion of slavery and concessions to the South as war came. Stevens was also active on the Underground Railroad using his Lancaster home as a "station" for fugitive slaves. Recent excavation of the house unearthed a cistern with a passageway to a nearby tavern, as well as a spittoon inside, which some historians think was used to shelter escaping slave.

Stevens argued that slavery should not survive the war; he was frustrated by the slowness of President Abraham Lincoln to support his position. He guided the government's financial legislation through the House as Ways and Means chairman. As the war progressed towards a northern victory, Stevens came to believe that not only should slavery be abolished, but that African-Americans should be given a stake in the South's future through the confiscation of land from planters to be distributed to the freedmen. His plans went too far for the Moderate Republicans, and were not enacted.

After Lincoln's assassination in April 1865, Stevens came into conflict with the new president, Andrew Johnson, who sought rapid restoration of the seceded states without guarantees for freedmen. The difference in views caused an ongoing battle between Johnson and Congress, with Stevens leading the Radical Republicans. After gains in the 1866 election the radicals took control of Reconstruction away from Johnson. Stevens's last great battle was to secure articles of impeachment in the House against Johnson, though the Senate did not convict the President.

Lydia Hamilton Smith (February 14, 1813 – February 14, 1884) was Steven's long-time housekeeper / confidant and a prominent African-American businesswoman after Steven's death in 1868. While no evidence of their exact relationship exists, historians have speculated that Smith was Steven's mistress or "common law wife" due to her privileged status in the Steven's home, her closeness to Stevens, and the large lump sum left to her and her sons from a previous marriage in Steven's will as well as ownership of the Steven's Lancaster property. Smith also operated a prosperous boarding house across from the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., as well as invested in real estate and other business ventures.

"Thaddeus Stevens." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2016. "Thaddeus Stevens House." Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 June 2016.