Underwood hoped that successful operation of a dairy farm and cheesemaking factory in adjoining Clarke and Fauquier counties would show the superiority of using free, rather than slave, labor.

His efforts met with little success and then vanished completely in October 1859 in the aftermath of John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, when the Black Horse Cavalry searched and confiscated the Underwoods' Virginia property by order of Governor Henry A.

Only Maria and the children lived there at the time; Underwood had been permitted to return only temporarily to settle his affairs after giving his pro-Fremont speech.

[14] Salmon P. Chase, who by that time had become Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, reportedly worried that after Underwood had testified before Congress (the Joint Committee on Reconstruction) about being able to pack a jury, he was incapable of conducting politically sensitive trials of the former Confederate leaders.

His strong views on confiscation policy (what some called "retributive justice") put him at odds with the Supreme Court by 1869, and generated intense controversy in Virginia.

Although Congress had stated its intention that confiscation only punish supporters of the rebellion and not their heirs, Underwood sought to eliminate the slaveholding class.

[1] In 1869, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Bigelow v. Forrest,[18] rejecting Judge Underwood's interpretation that the law only required that the confiscation and sale be completed during the lifetime of the former rebel.

[citation needed] Underwood continued his highly critical and public remarks against former Confederates and their sympathizers, who had regained power in the state, and in favor of African American suffrage.

In December 1866, the Union League of Norfolk petitioned Congress to replace Virginia's military governor Francis H. Pierpont with Underwood.

[1] In May 1867 Underwood was responsible for recruiting a jury of 12 African-American and 12 Anglo-American men in preparation for the abortive trial for treason of Jefferson Davis.

[25] Furthermore, Underwood and later the convention proposed to give the right to vote to black citizens as well as women, and he also advocated that schools be open to all regardless of color.

[26] Many whites detested Negro suffrage, and in a three day meeting in December 1868 in Richmond, formed the Conservative Party of Virginia to oppose the new Constitution being drafted by the Underwood Convention.

However, the convention's proposed continuation of restrictions on voting rights of Confederate veterans proved extremely controversial, especially since Virginia's voters would elect a Governor, legislators and other state officials in 1869 if military rule ended.

Occupying General John M. Schofield cooperated with Stuart and William Mahone and issued an order delaying the constitution's ratification vote, fearing the effects of such white disenfranchisement.

[32] Ultimately, Conservative Gilbert C. Walker was elected to a full term, defeating, and Radical Republican Wells (who lost the popular vote).

On May 6, 1870, he and Maria were among those helping Richmond resident Anna Whitehead Bodeker organize the short-lived Virginia State Woman Suffrage Association.

[36] Unlike Judge Underwood, Hughes failed to protect the rights of African Americans in the developing Jim Crow legal culture.

He is buried in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., as are his wife, son Edward, daughter Alice and her husband (Alexander Cameron Hunt, former Territorial Governor of Colorado replaced by President Grant after his inauguration).

[citation needed] However, many Virginia newspapers condemned him and Readjuster leader William Mahone, making their names the most reviled in the state for decades.

After her husband's death, Maria Underwood never again set foot in Virginia, but resided at 1446 Rhode Island Avenue in the District of Columbia during her final years, and attended the Methodist church of Rev.