OF LANCASTER COfNTV. 409 



After attending the common schools of the nei-liboi-h..od, l.u (ilid l\,v i-o\U"n. :vt tho 

 Peacham Academy, in liis native county, entered the University of Verinont" aiul rc 

 mained there about two years. The college suspending operations .>n account of tho 

 war, he proceeded to Dartmouth, and graduated at that institution in 1S14. Afn-r lead- 

 ing law at Peacham in the office of Judge Mattocks f„i- s..n.e montlis. ho loft liis native 

 State and settled in Pennsylvania in 1815, first in the town of York, wlioix" he taught an 

 academy and pursued his legal studies. The rules of cunt in tliat distri<-t haviiig 

 required students to read one year ii\ the oflice of an attorney, he went to Hel Air. Har- 

 ford county, Md., and Avas there examined and admitted to practice in August, 181G. 

 He at once returned to Pennsylvania and opened a law ottice at (tettysburg, in tho 

 county of Adams, and entered upon the ])ractice of his profession in tliat and a«ljoinin;j 

 counties. He was soon in the possession of an extensive and lucrative bu-siucsa, to 

 Avhich he gave his entire attention for some sixteen years. 



Mr. Stevens first engaged actively in politics with the anti-masonic party of lH28-'29, 

 which he joined in their opposition to secret societies. He was elected to the jjopular 

 branch of the Legislature of his State in 1833, as a representative from the county of 

 Adams, and continued to serve in that body almost without interruption luitil \>H0, 

 during which entire period he was the leader of the party in the Legislature, if not tlie 

 State. During this service he championed many measm-es of imj)rovement; among 

 others the Common School system of Pennsylvania, which, at a critical moment, lie 

 saved from overthrow by a speech which he always asserted to have, in his opinion, been 

 the most effective he ever made. 



By that single effort he established the principle, never since seriously fpiestioned in 

 Peimsylvania, that it is the duty of the State to provide the facilities of education to all 

 the children of the Commonwealth. In behalf of this measure he joined hand with his 

 bitterest personal and political enemies. He highly eulogized for his ci)urse n]>on this 

 question, the chief of the opposing political party. Governor George Wolf, and denounciU 

 with all his power of invective the time-servers of his own party. Himself the diiid of 

 j)0verty, he plead the cause of the poor, and by the force of his will, intellect and elo- 

 quence, broke down the barriers erected by wealth, caste and ignorance, and earned a 

 name that will endure as hmg as a child of Pennsylvania gratefully i-enieuibei-s the 

 blessings conferred by light and knowledge. 



In 18o7-'38 Mr. Stevens was a member of the Convention called to revise the CoiLsti- 

 tution of Pennsylvania, an assemblage which numbered as members many of the strongest 

 men of the State, among whom Mr. Stevens stood in the front rank. This Convention, 

 notwithstanding the able and strenuous opposition of a strong minority, led by ^Ir. 

 Stevens, inserted the word "white" as a qualification of suflrage, thus disfranchising a 

 race. On this account he refused to append his name to the completeil instnunent, and 

 stood alone in such refusal. For the same cause he opposed, but unsuccessfnlly, the 

 ratification by the people. 



In 1843 Mr. Stevens, finding himself deeply in debt by reason of losses in the iroti 

 business, and liabilities incurred in numerous indorsements matle for frienils, lemovetl 

 to Lancaster county, one of the largest, richest, and most popuKms counties in the 

 State, and resumed the practice of his profession. His i-eputation as a lawyer liad 

 preceded him, and his income almost at once became the largest at the l)ar. In a few- 

 years he paid his debts and saved the bulk of his estate. In 1848 and 1850, he was 

 elected to Congress from Lancaster county, when, declining to be a candidate, he re- 

 turned to his profession until 1858, when he was again elected and continued U> lioU 

 the seat without interruption until his death. His course uj.on this tloor has pa«.setl 

 into and forms no unimportant part in the history of a mighty i.eoi.le in a givat criMS 

 of their existence. But I have promised to leave to others to say what may U- vmmr 

 in illustration of his great achievements in his latter days. 



To those here who judged of the personal appearance of the deceased only as they 



