Anyone who saw the movie Lincoln remembers the masterful portrayal of Thad Stevens by Tommy Lee Jones. Old Thad is portrayed as a dedicated racial egalitarian whose life companion was his black housekeeper Lydia Hamilton Smith.
The details of Thaddeus Stevens’s deathbed activities drew much comment when they were published after he passed away on August 11, 1868. The following report, originally from a Cincinnati paper but reprinted in a rabidly conservative Tennessee paper recounts his time praying with Catholic nuns and black ministers. This could either be taken as a sign of his sincere liberality or of his declension and degeneracy, depending on the reader’s point of view.
Stevens’s housekeeper, by the way, was a Black Catholic.
The Death-Bed of Thaddeus Stevens. Last Hour of His Life, and Its Closer an Interesting
Memphis Daily Avalanche
Sunday, Aug 16, 1868
Memphis, TN
Vol: 11
Issue: 188
Page: 1
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