Lydia Hamilton O'Neill

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• Name	Lydia Hamilton O'Neill
  Born	14 Feb 1813 Butler, Adams, Pennsylvania, USA [1, 2, 3]
  Gender	Female
  Birth	Y
  Birth	1825 Pennsylvania, USA [4]
  Race	Mulatto [4]
  Name	Lydia Hamilton Smith [1, 2, 3]
  Name	Lydia O'Brien
  Name	Lydia Smith [4]
  Residence	​ Gettysburg, Adams, Pennsylvania, USA [5]
  Residence	1860 Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA [3]  –  Residence Post Office: Lancaster
  Residence	1880 515 Fourteenth Street NW, Washington, District of Columbia, USA [4]  –  Age: 55; Occupation: Keeping boarding house; EnumerationDistrict: 054; Widowed MaritalStatus: Widowed; Self RelationToHead: Head
  Died	14 Feb 1884 District Of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA [1, 2]
  Buried	​ Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA [1]
  Notes	A woman of great heart, Lydia Hamilton Smith was born on Valentine's Day at Russell Tavern in Adams County, Pennsylvania, to an African American mother and an Irish father. She married a free black man named Jacob Smith and bore two sons but they separated before he died in 1852 and she raised the children alone. Thaddeus Stevens of Lancaster, whom Lydia Smith and her mother knew when he was an attorney and abolitionist in Gettysburg, offered her a position as his housekeeper. She moved there with her young sons in 1847. In 1848 Stevens was elected to the U.S. Congress, where he advocated ending slavery. In recent years, archeologists have discovered evidence that the cistern at his Lancaster house was used as a hiding place for freedom seekers and suspect that Stevens and Smith participated in the Underground Railroad. Smith accompanied Stevens on his trips to Washington, D.C. She was a close friend, included in Stevens's social gatherings and addressed as "Madam" or "Mrs. Smith." In 1860 Smith purchased her home from Stevens, on a lot adjacent to his.The 1860s brought hardship and Civil War. Lydia Smith's oldest son William died in 1860 and Isaac, a noted banjo player and barber, enlisted in the 6th U. S. Colored Troops in 1863. He and his regiment served primarily in Virginia. After the Battle of Gettysburg in July, Lydia Smith acted upon her compassion for the tens of thousands of wounded soldiers. Driving a borrowed horse and wagon through Adams County to a field hospital, she collected donations of food and clothing and distributed them among the wounded men, Union and Confederate alike. Smith and Stevens's partnership lasted 24 years, until "the Great Commoner" (as Stevens was known in Congress) died in 1868. Stevens left $5,000 to Smith in his will. She purchased Stevens's home in Lancaster and a large boarding house across from the prestigious Willard Hotel in Washington, DC. She spent most of her time operating the establishment and earned a reputation as an astute businesswoman, but she returned often to Lancaster. http://www.stevensandsmith.org/
  Person ID	I13163 SOALsearch
  Last Modified	1 Nov 2024

  
  
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  Father	b. Pennsylvania, USA
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Mother Unknown O'Neal b. Pennsylvania, USA
  Relationship	natural
  Family ID	F7335 Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Thaddeus Stevens (Age 76 years) b. 4 Apr 1792, Danville, Caledonia, Vermont, USA d. 11 Aug 1868 (Age 76 years)
  Last Modified	1 Nov 2024
  Family ID	F4336 Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Jacob Jake Smith (Age 42 years) b. Abt 1810, Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA d. 27 Dec 1852, Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA (Age 42 years)
  Children	1. Ike Isaac Smith (Age 48 years) b. Abt 1836, Harrisburg, Dauphin, Pennsylvania, USA d. 7 Apr 1884, Lancaster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA (Age 48 years)  [natural]   2. William Smith (Age 25 years) b. 1835, Gettysburg, Adams, Pennsylvania, USA d. 10 May 1860 (Age 25 years)  [natural]
  Last Modified	1 Nov 2024
  Family ID	F4355 Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  LydiaHamiltonSmith

  
  

• Sources

  [S129] U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2012;), U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current Record. [S3092] Biography & Genealogy Master Index (BGMI), Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2009;), Gale Research Company; Detroit, Michigan; Accession Number: 1166182. [S66] 1860 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2009;), The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M653; Residence Date: 1860; Home in 1860: Lancaster, South East Ward, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Roll: M653_1126; Page: 997;. [S47] 1880 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2010;), Year: 1880; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: 123; Page: 223a; Enumeration District: 054. Record for Lydia Smith https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=6742&h=35453270&indiv=try [S12] U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2019;), Lancaster Intelligencer; Publication Date: 20 Feb 1884; Publication Place: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/557090363/?article=a503a04a-2c88-4db8-87bc-6d6f1266f20c&focus=0.49454048,0.046416532,0.61285114,0.39346418&xid=3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/557090363/?article=a503a04a-2c88-4db8-87bc-6d6f1266f20c&focus=0.49454048,0.046416532,0.61285114,0.39346418&xid=3355