Caledonia Furnace was erected in 1837 by Thaddeus Stevens, the great commoner, father of the Pennsylvania common school system, the first to advocate education for the mountaineer children, and an early exponent of anti-slavery. Born April 4, 1792, and died August 11, 1868, Stevens was associated with works that were entirely destroyed by Confederate troops under General Jubal A. Early on Tuesday, June 26, 1863.