Ross Hetrick 
By Ross Hetrick Save this date: July 8 and 9, 2028. That is when the Second Founding Festival will be held in Gettysburg on Stevens Street between Washington and Carlisle Streets. It will be a celebration of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution which transformed America. The festival will be on the
The Gettysburg National Military Museum is an amazing place. Besides hundreds of exhibits about the battle, there are displays about the origins of the Civil War and its aftermath. It even has a huge picture of Thomas Jefferson at the entrance for some unexplained reason. What it doesn’t have is any mention of Thaddeus Stevens, even
When Thaddeus Stevens lost his congressional seat representing Lancaster, PA in 1853, he thought he would never see Congress again. “It is more than probable that hereafter I shall never meet any member here or elsewhere,” Stevens told colleagues in March 1853. “I desire to part with no unfriendly feelings towards any of you,” he said.
Besides his four decades-long crusade against slavery, Thaddeus Stevens was known as a wheeler dealer when it came to government financial matters. This was on full display when Stevens helped to rescue the Second Bank of the United States in 1836 and make it a state bank. The story was the last chapter in a decades
Much of Thaddeus Stevens’s life is well documented, but not so with his involvement with the Underground Railroad. Helping fugitive slaves was against the law and secrecy was of the utmost importance. But over the last century and a half, more information has been found that reveals Stevens’s participation. It has been generally accepted that Stevens’s
The Mad Dreams of Thaddeus Stevens by Michael J. Barton is a book that every Thaddeus Stevens admirer should own. It is not a biography; it is a tribute, telling why Thaddeus Stevens was a visionary who changed the United States. The book originated with an epic poem written by Barton, a Michigan attorney who
Of the many achievements of Thaddeus Stevens, the one he looked back on most fondly was his saving of public education in Pennsylvania in 1835. Education in Pennsylvania in the early 1830s was truly a nightmare. Schooling was pretty much restricted to those who could pay for it. Provisions existed for the state to pay
December 4, 1865 was a pivotal day in American history when Thaddeus Stevens, with the help of Edward McPherson of Gettysburg, prevented ex-Confederates from taking over Congress. But what would have happened to the United States over the next 160 years if Stevens had failed on that critical day? This important day in American history
Thaddeus Stevens was many things: super lawyer, ground breaking politician, ironmaster, real estate speculator and railroad developer. But his role as newspaper publisher is often overlooked, though it was one of his most public roles. Stevens first newspaper venture was the Anti-Masonic Star, which published its first edition on April 17, 1830. The paper was launched to
A few months after Thaddeus Stevens died on August 11, 1868, members of the House of Representatives gathered to deliver eulogies about one of the greatest congressmen in U.S. history. The picture they drew was quite remarkable. The congressmen told how Stevens had saved public education in Pennsylvania in the 1830s and how he had helped to revamped the financial structure of
Much of Thaddeus Stevens’s political power came from his unparalleled mastery of parliamentary procedure. Many times he was able to push through matters that wouldn’t have gotten through but for his skillful use of the rules of the House of Representatives. This was particularly true at the beginning of the Civil War when the Union
During the 1850s, the southern enslavers were definitely in the driver’s seat as far as the national government was concerned. The decade started off with the Compromise of 1850, which included the Fugitive Slave Act, which made it so easy to kidnap northern African-Americans that it sparked a reverse underground railroad. This was followed by
With the help of many people and organizations, Juneteenth will again be celebrated in Gettysburg with two days of events marking the end of slavery in the United States. The festivities will kick off on Saturday, June 21, at 11:45 am on the grounds of the United Lutheran Seminary behind 15 Seminary Ridge. Gettysburg Mayor
Two authors of books about two important Civil War and Reconstruction congressmen will speak and sign their books at a free presentation in the social hall of Christ Lutheran Church at 30 Chambersburg Street in Gettysburg, PA, on Friday, May 16, at 6 p.m. The authors are Jeffry Boutwell, whose book is Boutwell: Radical Republican and
Nearly everybody is familiar with the legend of the young George Washington chopping down a cherry tree and then confessing to his father because he “cannot tell a lie.” A similar event happened to the young Thaddeus Stevens, but it involved chopping a cow. Stevens was dealt a bad hand as a child in the
The Thaddeus Stevens Museum is expanding into the storefront next door at 52 Chambersburg Street, and the grand opening is on April 5 at 5 p.m. All are invited. The new space, called the Annex, will feature an expanded research area, tourist information, more exhibits about Stevens and the Thaddeus Stevens Society, and Civil War
One of the more unusual aspects of Thaddeus Stevens’s political career is his association with the Anti-Masonic Party. While he represented the Gettysburg area in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 1830s, Stevens was a major figure in the party, got an Anti-Masonic governor elected, and even held hearings about the Masons. The Anti-Masonic
Thaddeus Stevens was riding high in the early 1820s. He was a young up-and-coming lawyer in the prosperous town of Gettysburg. Then he took a case involving a fugitive slave that would change his life and the course of American history forever. Born in Vermont, the first state to ban slavery in 1777, it would
Gettysburg borough recently published a summary of its budget and at the top of the page were pictures of Abraham Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower. Where was Thaddeus Stevens? He should be part of the Gettysburg Trinity. Gettysburg is fortunate that it can lay claim to two presidents. But it should also lay claim to Thaddeus
By 1816, Thaddeus Stevens had graduated from Dartmouth college, completed his legal studies and gotten a certificate to practice law. He was ready to make his mark, but where? Stevens did a little location shopping. He first went east from York, where had lived for two years, to Lancaster to check out that city. On
Thaddeus Stevens was born in the small Vermont town of Danville in 1792, the last year of the first term of George Washington. He had a lot going against him. His family was poor, he was born with a clubfoot — a handicap that was seen as a mark of the devil — and his father
This year, there was no community celebration of Juneteenth in Gettysburg, which was a crying shame. To prevent that from happening again, there will be an organizing meeting for next year’s Juneteenth on September 17 at the Gettysburg YWCA at 10 a.m. As everybody should know, Juneteenth is the national holiday on June 19 when
If one of Thaddeus Stevens’s original proposals for the 14th Amendment to the Constitution had been approved, women may have received 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
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
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
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
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
With the help of members and supporters, the Thaddeus Stevens Society has reached its goal of raising $28,000 for a new museum. The society has leased a storefront at 46 Chambersburg Street in downtown Gettysburg for the first Thaddeus Stevens museum. The grand opening is planned for April 4, 2024, the 232nd birthday of Stevens
On December 4, 1865, Thaddeus Stevens and Edward McPherson executed a parliamentary maneuver that banned ex-Confederates from Congress and changed the course of American history. The action was necessary because Andrew Johnson, who replaced Lincoln, refused to work with Congress on how to handle Reconstruction, and if he had succeeded in his plans, the results
Thaddeus Stevens had many distinctive traits, such as his cutting wit, his brilliant intellect and his dour countenance. But the thing that hit people first was his ill-fitting, chestnut colored wig. Stevens started wearing a wig in the late 1820s after an attack of “brain fever,” which was probably Typhoid, that rendered him hairless. The
The Thaddeus Stevens Society is launching a fundraising effort to create a Gettysburg museum for one of its most important historic personalities. To raise this money, the Society is participating in the Giving Spree, held by the Adams County Community Foundation, that will occur on November 9 at Gettysburg Middle School from 3 to 7
On September 11, 1851, an organized group near the small town of Christiana, PA, successfully fended off an effort by a Maryland slave owner to capture freedom seekers, killing the slaver in the process. The event, known as the Christiana Resistance or Riot, sparked a political firestorm that drew in Thaddeus Stevens. The event had
Two new actions in the last week recognized the importance of Thaddeus Stevens to Gettysburg: a Stevens display in the Gettysburg borough building and the installation of “Stevens Run” signs on Constitution Avenue. The newly arranged display is outside the mayor’s office in the borough building and consists of a bust of Stevens on a small oak table
Thaddeus Stevens was one of the most important persons in Gettysburg College history, securing funding for the college’s first major building, providing land for its campus, and keeping it in Gettysburg when others wanted to move it in 1854. Gettysburg College, then called Pennsylvania College, was founded in 1832 by Samuel Simon Schmucker in the
One of the great ironies of American history is that President James Buchanan, a defender of slavery, lived in the same city of Lancaster, PA, as Thaddeus Stevens, a relentless foe of the infernal institution. This stark contrast was highlighted in a new book, American Ramble: A Walk of Memory and Renewal, by Neil King, a
When the Civil War started in 1861, the United States was in horrible financial shape. The country was $100 million in debt, its main source of income — duties on imported goods — was significantly reduced with the departure of southern states, its banking system differed from state to state, and the paper currency was
As the president and Congress grapple over the debt limit, many commentators are saying one solution is to simply have the President pay the nation’s debts as the 14th Amendment requires. The fourth section of the amendment says: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for
A statue of Thaddeus Stevens, the most powerful congressman during and after the Civil War, will be dedicated in front of the Adams county courthouse on Baltimore Street in Gettysburg on April 2 at 2:00 p.m. It will be only the second statue of Stevens to be erected despite his importance to American history. The dedication