Personal Life
Stevens never married, though his 23-year relationship (1845-1868) with his widowed quadroon housekeeper, Lydia Hamilton Smith (1813-1884), was well known in Washington, D.C. Carl Sandburg described Smith as "a comely quadroon with Caucasian features and a skin of light-gold tint, a Roman Catholic communicant with Irish eyes ... quiet, discreet, retiring, reputed for poise and personal dignity". Smith had two sons, William and Isaac, by her late husband, Jacob Smith, and she and Stevens raised the latter's nephews, whom he adopted in the 1840s.
During her time with Stevens—neighbors considered her his common law wife, and she was frequently called "Mrs. Stevens" by people who knew her, according to Sandburg—she invested in real estate and other businesses and owned a prosperous boarding house.
When Stevens died, Smith was at his bedside, along with his nephews Simon and Thaddeus Stevens Jr., two African-American nuns, and several other individuals. Under Stevens' will, Smith was allowed to choose between a lump sum of $5,000 or a $500 annual allowance; she was also allowed to take any furniture in his house. With the inheritance, she purchased Stevens's house, where she had lived for many years, and the adjoining lot.
Read more about this topic: Thaddeus Stevens
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