John Henry Kagi, also spelled John Henri Kagi (March 15, 1835 – October 17, 1859), was an American attorney,
abolitionist
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The British ...
, and second in command to
John Brown John Brown most often refers to:
*John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859
John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to:
Academia
* John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
in
Brown's failed raid on Harper's Ferry. He bore the title of "Secretary of War" in Brown's "provisional government." At age 24, Kagi was killed during the raid.
He had previously been active in fighting on the abolitionist side in 1856 in "
Bleeding Kansas
Bleeding Kansas, Bloody Kansas, or the Border War was a series of violent civil confrontations in Kansas Territory, and to a lesser extent in western Missouri, between 1854 and 1859. It emerged from a political and ideological debate over the ...
". He was an excellent debater and speaker.
Early life
John Henry Kagi was born in
Bristolville, Ohio
Bristolville is an unincorporated community in central Bristol Township, Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. It lies at the intersection of State Routes 45 and 88 and has a post office with the ZIP code 44402. It is part of the Youngstown ...
, in 1835, the second child of blacksmith Abraham Neff Kagy (as spelled on his gravestone) and Anna Fansler, who were of
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
descent. John Henry Kagi adopted the Swiss spelling of the family name.
Though largely self-taught, he was the best educated of Brown's raiders. He was a
stenographer, at the time a useful skill for a reporter. He was Associate Editor of the ''
Topeka Tribune'' and the
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
of the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' and the abolitionist ''
National Era
''The National Era'' was an abolitionist newspaper published weekly in Washington, D.C., from 1847 to 1860. Gamaliel Bailey was its editor in its first year. ''The National Era Prospectus'' stated in 1847:
Each number contained four pages of ...
''; his contributions are signed "K." He was the "western correspondant" of the ''New York Tribune'', and writings of his are found in several other newspapers.
He was an able businessman,
totally abstained from alcohol, and, in contrast with John Brown, was
agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
.
In 1854–55 he taught school in
Hawkinstown,
Shenandoah County, Virginia
Shenandoah County (formerly Dunmore County) is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 44,186. Its county seat is Woodstock. It is part of the Shenandoah Valley region of Virgini ...
, near his father's birthplace, but he was compelled to leave, and never return to Hawkinstown, due to his anti-slavery views.
[ A relative, the Virginia historian Dr. John W. Wayland, wrote the most complete ]monograph
A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject.
In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
on Kagi and his activities.
Abolitionist activities
In 1855, Kagi traveled west and stayed at the cabin of his sister Barbara Kagy Mayhew and her husband Allen in Nebraska City
Nebraska City is a city in Nebraska, and the county seat of, Otoe County, Nebraska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,289.
The Nebraska State Legislature has credited Nebraska City as being the oldest incorporated ...
. The Mayhew Cabin
The Mayhew Cabin (officially Mayhew Cabin & Historic Village, also known as John Brown's Cave), in Nebraska City, Nebraska, is the only Underground Railroad site in Nebraska officially recognized by the National Park Service. It is included among ...
was the first site in Nebraska recognized by the National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
as it was used as part of the Underground Railroad.
While living with the Mayhew's, Kagi earned the ability to practice law and taught Phonography. By 1856, Kagi went south to join the abolitionists
Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people.
The Britis ...
working to make Kansas a free state, serving under General James H. Lane.[ Later Kagi enlisted in Aaron Stevens's ("Captain Whipple's") Second Kansas Militia, and met the abolitionist ]John Brown John Brown most often refers to:
*John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859
John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to:
Academia
* John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
in Lawrence
Lawrence may refer to:
Education Colleges and universities
* Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States
* Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Preparator ...
; another source says they met in Topeka.[ Deeply influenced by the man, Stevens and Kagi became two of Brown's closest advisers.]
On August 16, 1856, Kagi participated in the attack on "Fort Titus," the homestead of pro-slavery leader Henry Theodore Titus, a mile (1.4 km) from Lecompton, Kansas
Lecompton (pronounced ) is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 588. Lecompton was the ''de jure'' territorial capital of Kansas from 1855 to 1861, and the Douglas County seat f ...
. He was captured a month later by United States Army troops along with 100 men of Col. Harvey's company, who had just attacked Hickory Point. Kagi was charged with eight counts, including arson, manslaughter, and murder. He was imprisoned in Lecompton
Lecompton (pronounced ) is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 588. Lecompton was the ''de jure'' territorial capital of Kansas from 1855 to 1861, and the Douglas County seat f ...
, then at Tecumseh
Tecumseh ( ; October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and ...
,[ both in Kansas, escaping from the later place with other indicted Freestate prisoners. Kagi was slightly wounded in the chest in a gun fight with pro-slavery Judge Rush Elmore on January 31, 1857—a memorandum-book in his pocket stopped a bullet—but shot Elmore in the thigh.][ Later that year Kagi tried to help Brown organize a military school in ]Tabor, Iowa
Tabor is a city in Fremont County and extends northward into Mills County in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 928 at the time of the 2020 census.
Geography
Tabor is located at (40.896605, -95.672368).
According to the United States ...
. He undertook military training in the Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
community of Pedee, in Cedar County, Iowa
Cedar County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,505. Its county seat is Tipton. The county is named for the Cedar River, which runs through the county.
Cedar County is located between t ...
.
Brown and his group went to Upper Canada to organize their effort. On May 8, 1858, in a black church in Chatham, Ontario, they adopted Brown's " Provisional Constitution and Ordinances for the people of the United States", and Kagi was named Secretary of War.[William G. Cutler, "Old John Brown"](_blank)
In Memoriam, ''Era of Peace: Part 40'', ''History of the State of Kansas'', Chicago, Illinois: A. T. Andreas, 1883, accessed 27 January 2011
Kagi and Brown returned with their men to Kansas, where they lived in a reinforced cabin on Little Sugar Creek, near Mound City. In November 1858, Kagi and others defended the cabin from an armed posse
Posse is a shortened form of posse comitatus, a group of people summoned to assist law enforcement. The term is also used colloquially to mean a group of friends or associates.
Posse may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Posse'' (1975 ...
while Brown was away. On December 20, 1858, Brown led twelve men, and Kagi led another party of eight men, into Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
to free slaves. Brown's party freed ten slaves, but Kagi's freed only one and killed the slave's owner.
While they planned the raid on Harper's Ferry, Kagi acted as the business agent of the Brown's group, buying and storing weapons in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the Mas ...
. At Chambersburg he lived with Brown at the Mary Ritner house, which still stands at 225 East King Street. On August 19, Brown (using the name Isaac Smith) and Kagi met with Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...
and Shields Green
Shields Green (1836? – December 16, 1859), who also referred to himself as "'Emperor"', was, according to Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave from Charleston, South Carolina, and a leader in John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, in October 185 ...
at an abandoned quarry outside of Chambersburg to discuss the raid. According to Douglass's later account, Brown described the planned raid in detail and Douglass advised him against it.
Kagi was killed by militia forces during the Harper's Ferry raid as he tried to escape across the Shenandoah River
The Shenandoah River is the principal tributary of the Potomac River, long with two forks approximately long each,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 in t ...
from Hall's Rifle Works.[ His body was first buried, with most of the other raiders killed during the raid, in a packing crate on the far side of the Shenandoah. Forty years later, in 1899, the remains of Kagi and nine other raiders were reinterred in a common grave next to John Brown's grave at ]John Brown Farm State Historic Site
The John Brown Farm State Historic Site includes the home and final resting place of abolitionist John Brown (1800–1859). It is located on John Brown Road in the town of North Elba, 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Lake Placid, New York, where ...
.
In popular culture
As a character in the novels:
* ''Raising Holy Hell'' (1995)
* ''Flashman and the Angel of the Lord
''Flashman and the Angel of the Lord'' is a 1994 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the tenth of the Flashman novels.
Plot introduction
Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book describe ...
'' (1996)
* ''Cloudsplitter
''Cloudsplitter'' is a 1998 historical novel by Russell Banks relating the story of abolitionist John Brown.
The novel is narrated as a retrospective by John Brown's son, Owen Brown, from his hermitage in the San Gabriel Mountains of Califor ...
'' (1998)
* ''The Good Lord Bird
''The Good Lord Bird'' is a 2013 novel by James McBride about Henry Shackleford, an enslaved person, who unites with John Brown in Brown's abolitionist mission. The novel won the National Book Award for Fiction in 2013 and received generally po ...
'' (2013)
See also
* John Brown's raiders
On Sunday night, October 16, 1859, the abolitionist John Brown led a motley band of 22 in a raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia). Most were much younger than him, and varied dramatically in social ...
References
Further reading (most recent first)
* 41 pp.
* 137 pp.
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kagi, John Henry
American agnostics
American rebels
People from Trumbull County, Ohio
People from Otoe County, Nebraska
1835 births
1859 deaths
American people of Swiss-German descent
Deaths by firearm in West Virginia
Underground Railroad people
Activists from Ohio
American revolutionaries
Participants in John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
People killed during John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry
Bleeding Kansas
Ohio lawyers