The "Lancaster That Was" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading the Sunday Lancaster Newspaper section called "Lancaster That Was/Flashback Lancaster".  Photos showing the city of Lancaster in the past as well as stories that were written in the Lancaster Newspaper 25 years ago, 50 years ago and 100 years ago are featured.  One story that caught my eye from 100 years ago was about one of Lancaster's political leaders, Thaddeus Stevens.  When our second son was born in 1976, Carol and I thought it appropriate that we find a name that might reflect the celebration of our nations's Bicentennial.  We also wanted it to reflect on the city in which we lived.  

Thaddeus Stevens

We talked about several names from Lancaster's past and settled on Thaddeus Stevens.  On many of my posts you may have noticed me referring to our son as Tad, which for us is a shortened version of his middle name of Thadeus.  Thaddeus Stevens, a resident of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was a fierce opponent of slavery and discrimination and sought to secure their rights during our nations's Reconstruction.  Well, the story in the paper today from 100 years ago talked about the film The Birth of a Nation and how one of the characters in the film resembled Stevens down to his limp and ill-fitting wig.  The film attempted to make the public prejudice toward Stevens.  Lancaster's Mayor, H.L. Trout, officially declared that the film not be shown in Lancaster because "it is a libel on Thaddeus Stevens." For me, I learned one more fact that I had never known before about our son's namesake.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.