The Lydia in question was Lydia Smith, housekeeper and friend of Congressman Thaddeus Stevens of Lancaster,PA. The author of this 12 page document appears to be a person who had become interested in the history of slavery in the United States. He took trips to visit sites related to the fight against slavery and became very interested in Mr Stevens. He presents a number of facts about Stevens, his career, and his funeral in Lancaster. The title of the article comes from the difficulty he had in locating Ms. Smith's grave. With the help of a genealogist, he located the grave. Though the author seems to be a layman and not a professional historian, he does present through his research facts about the Congressman that are not common knowledge.
Special issue of Pennsylvania History, v.60, no. 2 (April 1993)
Contents
1. The legacy of Thaddeus Stevens by Leroy T. Hopkins, Beverley Wilson, John S. Patterson, and Robert Weible--2. Thaddeus Stevens and the imperfect republic--3. Thaddeus Stevens and his biographers by Jean V. Berlin.--4. Thaddeus Stevens in the cause of education--The Gettysburg years, by Charles H. Gladfelter--5. Land and the ballot: securing the fruits of emancipation? by Brookes D. Simpson--6. Searching for the political legacy of Thaddeus Stevens by Raymond Smuck--7. "Reconstruction": a speech by Thaddeus Stevens delivered Sept. 6, 1865--8. Program of Thaddeus Stevens Bicentennial Conference.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [287]-300) and index.
Summary
"One of the most controversial figures in nineteenth-century American history, Thaddeus Stevens is best remembered for his role as congressional leader of the radical Republicans and as a chief architect of Reconstruction. Long painted by historians as a vindictive 'dictator of Congress,' out to punish the South at the behest of big business and his own ego, Stevens receives a more balanced treatment in Hans L. Trefousse's biography, which portrays him as an impassioned orator and a leader in the struggle against slavery. Trefousse traces Stevens's career through its major phases: from his days in the Pennsylvania state legislature, when he antagonized Freemasons, slaveholders, and Jacksonian Democrats, to his political involvement during Reconstruction, when he helped author the Fourteenth Amendment and spurred on the passage of the Reconstruction Acts and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. Throughout, Trefousse explores the motivations for Stevens's lifelong commitment to racial equality, thus furnishing a fuller portrait of the man whose fervent opposition to slavery helped move his more moderate congressional colleagues toward the implementation of egalitarian policies."
