Foreword - A few days ago I published the first of two parts of a story I titled Mr. Hudson Brings History To Life. I had every intention of publishing Part II the following day. Never happened! Sorry if you were expecting Part II and never had the chance to read it. My mind was on something else at the time and I never finished my story. Today is Part II and I'm hoping you will enjoy it. Please read on...
It was an ordinary day. In 1848 the city of Lancaster elected Thaddeus Stevens as their representative to congress. Surprisingly it was as a member of the Whig party. He was once again elected to the same position as he was two years earlier.
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| Thaddeus Stevens |
After his second nomination and election he was thrust into what was known as the Compromise of 1850. Congress decided that California would enter the union as a free state but other territories would be allowed to put the question to a vote. The Fugitive Slave Act required the citizens of free states to return runaways to bondage. Stevens was totally against this and spoke out against it. Before long he had the opportunity to fight it in the courts. On September 11, 1851 slave owner William Gorsuch arrived at the farm of William Parker in nearby Christiania in southern Lancaster County, looking to retrieve several of his slaves that had escaped across the Mason-Dixon Line from Maryland into Pennsylvania. Parker, a former slave had recently organized a self-defense group and at least 50 armed black men showed up at the Parker farm to prevent the capture of the fugitives. Castner Hanway, a local white miller, warned Gorsuch not to persist in his effort or there would be violence. Gorsuch persisted and was shot and killed while his son was wounded. Castner was said to be the instigator of the violence and was charged with treason along with 37 others. A trial was set to be held in Philadelphia in federal court. The head of the defense team was Thaddeus Stevens. The trial lasted 18 days and after 14 minutes of deliberation, he was acquitted. Parker and two of the fugitive slaves were not at the trial, having already escaped to Canada via the Underground Railroad which was supported by Stevens. Many in Stevens' district were in favor of slavery, so he chose not to run in 1852 rather than risk defeat. In 1855 Stevens became a Republican and in 1858 Lancaster returned him to the U.S. House. At first Stevens didn't support Abraham Lincoln as the party's 1860 presidential nominee, but he did campaign for it. Running against a split Democratic Party, Lincoln secured the majority of elected votes...through not the majority of popular votes, but was elected President. This led to the start of the Civil War. Lincoln was not an abolitionist, but did oppose the spread of slavery. Politicians in the South then chose to secede from the Union. On April 12, 1861 Confederates shelled the U.S. garrison of Fort Sumter in South Carolina's Harbor and the Civil War began. From it's start, Thaddeus Stevens thought the war had a single objective: Abolition! Stevens initial objective was to restore the Union. He wanted to "Free every slave and slay every traitor. Stevens made sure that the Union Army had the tools and supplies to win. He was responsible for passing the first Confiscation Act, which included the provision that all slaves who worked for the Confederate military were free from further servitude. The second Confiscation Act said that all Confederate slaves "shall be forever free.!" In 1862 after the Union claimed victory in the Battle of Antietam, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which declared all slaves to be free. As the war approached an end, the two men worked in harmony to achieve one of Steven's cherished goals. The 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, was passed in the Senate, but got stuck in the House.  |
| Steven's on the House floor. |
It eventually did pass, but an assassin's bullet less than a week after ended the life of President Lincoln. The 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship to all newly freed slaves and the 15th Amendment prevented states from restricting the right to vote on the basis of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Stevens favored confiscation of rebel property and breaking up large plantations into 40-acre lots and redistributing them to recently freed slaves. But President Johnson, who often used racial slurs, had no intentions of going along with the idea. Stevens led the successful effort to impeach the President. Stevens had been very ill during most of the Civil War and by the time of Johnson's impeachment his condition had worsened. The impeachment trial was in the spring of 1868 and even though he was extremely ill, he led the prosecution team. President Johnson escaped conviction by one vote. When Congress adjourned that summer, Stevens was in failing health. His longtime African friend, companion and housekeeper, Lydia Hamilton Smith  |
| Lydia Hamilton Smith |
was at his bedside when he died at his Washington D.C. residence on August 11, 1868. She was overome with emotion and had to be taken from the room where the casket was placed. Stevens was buried in the Shriner-Concord Cemetery which was the only one in Lancaster to allow blacks to be buried there. The house where Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton lived is still in existence and is being renovated at present. I am anxious to make a visit when the renovation is completed. Should make for a green story. PS - My youngest son bears the name of Paul Thaddeus Woods. My wife and I wanted to name him after one of Lancaster's greatest heroes. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. |
| What his home looks like today in Lancaster |
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