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…
Thaddeus Stevens had many distinctive traits, such as his cutting wit, brilliant intellect and dour countenance. But the thing that hit people first was his ill-fitting, chestnut-colored wig.
THE ISSUE: Thaddeus Stevens was born nearly 230 years ago, on April 4, 1792, in Danville, Vermont. He was, in the words of the Gettysburg-based Thaddeus Stevens Society, “the most
Historians and admirers of fiery abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens are ready to celebrate the 19th-century Radical Republican congressman s 230th birthday this weekend with activities including seminars, banquets, the dedication of a