Ohio History Journal

JOHN HENRI KAGI

 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

 

 

BY C. B. GALBREATH

A traveler northward bound on a Pennsylvania lo-

cal passenger train, if he is interested in the smaller

stations between Warren and Ashtabula, will hear the

conductor call out, "Bristolville". To the ninety and

nine who hear this call the name will suggest nothing.

To possibly one out of a thousand it will start a train

of thought that will carry him back to the eventful

years before the Civil War, when hostility to the insti-

tution of slavery ran high in this section of the West-

ern Reserve.

Here, in the early part of the last century, two waves

of migration met in sympathetic phase on the question

that divided our country into a north and a south. It

is trite to say that the Reserve was settled chiefly by

New Englanders. To the south were the counties of

Columbiana, Jefferson and Belmont, first settled by

pioneers among whom was a numerous representation

of Quakers from the two Carolinas, Virginia and Penn-

sylvania. These two elements agreed in their hostility

to slavery. It became the first article in their religious

and political creed. They differed in the methods by

which they proposed to emancipate the colored race.

Opposed to war and the use of "carnal weapons" the

Quakers proposed to conquer by "the sword of the

spirit"; to demonstrate to the master the injustice and

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264      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

sin of slavery; to appeal to the reason and conscience

of the slave holder; to keep before the public mind the

enormity and cruelty of that institution; to banish it

from the land, even as their forefathers had banished

it from the church itself. Their opposition to slavery

was uncompromising.   Statutory enactments for its

support had for them no binding effect. From the con-

stitution they appealed to the "higher law" that com-

manded them "to remember those in bonds as bound

with them". And thus they justified their efforts to

help the "panting fugitive" slave to freedom, and the

use of every means short of personal violence to accom-

plish that end. To assist in the operation of the "Un-

derground Railroad" was to them, not a privilege but

a righteous duty.

The New Englander with equal zeal entered the con-

test, but he would supplement argument with political

action, physical force and "carnal weapons" if the emer-

gency, in his opinion, justified it. While the anteced-

ents of these two elements differed widely and at an

earlier date the Quakers suffered much from the "right-

eous wrath" of the Puritans and seemed at times to

get a melancholy enjoyment from their martyrdom, the

two now found themselves in essential harmony in the

advancement of the propaganda of their anti-slavery

views.

While the Puritan and Quaker made important con-

tributions to the moral and social spirit of early north-

eastern Ohio, it must not be thought that they consti-

tuted the only elements that entered into the pioneer

settlements of this section. There were Virginians who

still favored the institutions of that commonwealth,

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John Henri Kagi -- Biographical Sketch  265

and there were other Virginians who had fled from the

Old Dominion to escape the institution of slavery.

Among the most ardent opponents of that system were

men and women from the slave states who, convinced

by personal observation that slavery was wrong, be-

came crusaders in the cause of emancipation. Con-

spicuous examples of these were James G. Birney, Rev.

John Rankin and the Grimke sisters.

The station of Bristolville is not on the site of the

pioneer village by that name. It was located about one

mile distant. In these times of improved highways and

automobiles that distance is inconsequential. It still

leaves the pioneer village, however, practically un-

changed. If it had a century ago the traditional am-

bition of the Ohio village to become a city, that departed

when the railway passed it by.

The village still retains the name that it bore a cen-

tury ago and the station one mile distant is known as

"Bristonville Station".

The village still has its old time charm. The streets

are neatly kept and shade trees are abundant. While

some of the dwellings bear the marks of age others are

of the modern type. Quiet and comfort seem to reign

here.

To this spot about one hundred years ago came the

Kageys, Abraham, John, Jacob and Isaac, so we are

told in the history of Trumbull and Mahoning Coun-

ties. Hither at a later date, about the year 1829, came

also Abraham Neff Kagey from the Shenandoah Val-

ley, Virginia. He was then twenty-two years of age.

A little later he married Anna Fansler whose parents

and grandparents were natives of Virginia. Abra-

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266      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications ham Neff Kagey was the village blacksmith of Bristol- ville. His smithy did not stand "under a spreading chestnut tree" but doubtless the children often looked in at the open door to see "the flaming forge and hear the bellows roar". Abraham  Neff Kagey was evi- dently a man of native physical and moral strength if the photographs taken in his later years do him justice. It is not difficult to imagine him the type of Longfel- low's Village Blacksmith.

To Abraham Neff Kagey and his wife were born four children. One of these died in infancy. Barbara A., John Henry and Mary E. lived to ma- ture years. John Henry Kagey, the only son of Abraham Neff Kagey, was born in Bristolville, T r u m b u ll County, Ohio, March 15, 1835.  His mother died when he was but little more than three years old. He was educated in the common schools of his day with the meager ad-

vantages that they offered. He was studious, inter- ested beyond his years in the acquisition of knowledge and possessed of a remarkably retentive memory. He might almost have been considered precocious. He was quiet, correct in his deportment, of good moral charac-

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John Henri Kagi--Biographical Sketch  267

ter and respected by his associates and elders. While

he eagerly pursued his studies in school he was largely

self-taught. His progress in his studies led his uncle,

Jackson Neff, to send him to an academy in Virginia.

Subjects outside of the common branches he pursued

without a teacher. He was interested in stenography

and became a rapid and accurate shorthand writer. A

little before he reached the age of seventeen he taught

school at Hawkinstown in the Shenandoah Valley, Vir-

ginia, where a number of his relatives lived. He early

manifested his opposition to the institution of slavery.

It is probable that this was acquired from his father

who may have left Virginia because he did not care to

compete with slave labor in the south and desired the

larger opportunities of the free state of Ohio. How-

ever this may be, John Henry in his teens had reached

very decided opinions on the question of slavery. So

strong was his opposition to this institution that his

services as teacher were no longer desired in the Valley

of the Shenandoah. He therefore returned at the age

of nineteen to the more congenial environment of his

native village. Here he continued to teach school and

pursue his studies. He acquired a fair knowledge of

the German and French languages, it is said, and gave

instruction in these. He read eagerly the literature on

a wide variety of subjects, became a fluent speaker and

a ready debater. His views he supported with convinc-

ing argument. He was a relentless logician and fol-

lowed his premises to their inevitable conclusion. In

later years he was compared by Richard Realf to Horace

Greeley, not because he personally resembled the dis-

tinguished journalist, but because of his manner of

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John Henri Kagi -- Biographical Sketch  269

speaking and the lines of argument by which he reached

his conclusions.

Late in 1850 his father went to California and three

years later returned to Otoe, Nebraska. About this

time his son John reported the proceedings of the Con-

stitutional Convention at Lexington, Kentucky. This

gave him excellent drill in shorthand. It was probably

here that he became interested in the study of law.

He was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-one

"somewhere in the west", according to Villard in Ne-

braska City, Nebraska.

There are a number of variants in the spelling of the

name Kagey. This appears to have been the spelling

by those who settled in Bristol Township, Trumbull

County. The author of the genealogy of the family

adopts the spelling Kagy and entitles the ample volume

that he has edited "A History of the Kagy Relation-

ship in America". His own name, however, he signs

Keagy. John Henry Kagey was interested in his an-

cestry and changed the orthography of his name to cor-

respond with the original spelling by the first immi-

grants to this country from Switzerland. He subse-

quently wrote his name John Henri Kagi and that spell-

ing will be followed here.

Although the name of John Henri Kagi, so far as we

are aware, occurs in no Ohio history,¹ general or local,

much has been written about him and a number of

statements relative to his character and personal ap-

pearance are available in print. Perhaps the best col-

lection of these is found in Colonel Richard J. Hinton's

1 Henry Howe, who seldom missed even a minor historic event or

personage, in his unrivalled Historical Collections of Ohio, makes no

mention of Kagi.

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270      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications John Brown and His Men.2 Oswald Garrison Villard states that Kagi was the best educated of all the men that went with John Brown to Harper's Ferry. "Many admirably written letters," he tells us, "survive as the

products of his pen, in the New York Tribune, the New York Evening Post and the National Era. He was, moreover, an able man of business, besides being an ex- cellent debater and speaker. He was an expert stenog- 2 Richard J. Hinton, John Brown and His Men, revised edition, pp. 451-466.

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John Henri Kagi--Biographical Sketch   271

rapher and a total abstainer."  Hinton tells us that the

"insufficient portrait" of Kagi which appears to be the

only one obtainable by those who have written brief

sketches of his life, was "taken in 1854, at an age

when thoughtful young men are apt to look older than

they really are. At the time of his death," continues

Hinton, "Kagi wore a short, full dark-brown beard; his

face was thin and worn looking, complexion pallid but

healthful, hair thin and dark brown." Again he tells

us that Kagi "was tall and somewhat angular with a

slight stoop of the shoulders, about five feet eleven

inches in height, and weighing one hundred and fifty

pounds." Hinton concludes his tribute as follows:

I recall my friend as a man of personal beauty, with a fine,

well-shaped head, a voice of quiet, sweet tones that could be

penetrating and cutting, too, almost to sharpness. The eyes

were remarkably large, full, well set beneath strongly arched

brows. Ordinarily they wore a veiled look, reminding me of a

slow-burning fire of heated coals hidden behind a mica door--

hazel gray in color, iridescent in light and effect. The face gave

you confidence in the character that had already wrought it into

a stern gravity beyond its years.

His cousin, Franklin Keagy, with whom he lived for

a short time previous to the Harper's Ferry raid un-

der the name of John Henri, without any suspicion of

the relationship by his host, states that he "had more

the appearance of a divinity student than a warrior.

His manner was reserved almost to bashfulness, but

when addressed or engaged in conversation he spoke

freely and fluently, commanding attention. His lan-

guage was elegant, his deportment unassailable, his

habits strictly temperate, he was kind in his feelings to

everyone, especially to children, whose confidence he

acquired at first acquaintance." George B. Gill, who

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272      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

for a time was closely associated with Kagi, tells us

that "he was full of a wonderful enduring vitality.

*  *  *  All things were fit food for his brain. No

road was so lonely that he did not see hope beckoning

in the distance--somewhere see the sun peering through

the clouds. *  *  *  His disposition was a model

one. No strain, or stress could shake his unruffled se-

renity."  Osborn Perry Anderson, one of the colored

men who went with John Brown to Harper's Ferry, has

left this tribute to Kagi: "He discoursed elegantly

and fluently, wrote ably and could occupy the platform

with greater ability than many a man known to the

American people as famous in these respects."

Jacob A. Sager of Bristolville, a Civil War veteran,

in conversation with the writer a few years ago stated

that the portrait of Kagi, to which reference has al-

ready been made, was a very good one at the time it

was taken. Kagi's contact with Kansas had wrought a

change, especially in his appearance. Mr. Sager stated

that when he returned to Bristolville, probably in the

spring of 1857, his hair was long and unkempt, he

wore a full beard and was roughly dressed. His friends

urged him to remove his beard, have his hair cut and

provide himself with a new suit of clothes. He spent

some time in Trumbull County delivering lectures on

Kansas in the rural schools. He spoke with his old-

time vigor and persuasive power and his addresses

clearly showed that he had continued to be a student in

all his wanderings from the old homestead.

When Kagi accompanied John Brown to Cleveland,

Artemus Ward, who afterward gained great fame as a

humorist and who was then reporter on the Plain

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John Henri Kagi--Biographical Sketch  273

Dealer, spoke of Kagi as a "melancholy brigand' and

after listening to his speech expressed the opinion that

some of his statements were "no doubt false and some

shamefully true."  To Ward the address was simply

"bleeding Kansas once more".

On July 4, 1856, he was in Topeka, Kansas, and a

deeply interested witness of the dissolution by military

force of the free state legislature that had reassembled

there. Acting under orders from Washington, Colonel

Edwin V. Sumner appeared before that body and com-

manded its members to disperse, declaring at the same

time, "This is the most disagreeable duty of my whole

life." His heart was evidently not in the work that his

government commanded him to perform. This use of

the military profoundly impressed young Kagi. The

free state men of Kansas had appealed in vain to the

ballot box. Their efforts to assemble delegates that had

been chosen at an election presided over by bona fide

residents of the territory, all free state men, were

brought to naught by military force. To his mind,

force must be met by force. He soon afterward joined

Company B in the Second Regiment of the free state

volunteers in the army of General Lane.

Civil War was now in progress throughout the terri-

tory. Bands of pro-slavery men and free state men in

arms were in motion in different sections of Kansas. In

the meantime he had written much for the newspapers.

He was correspondent of the New York Tribune over

the signature "Potter". His contributions to the New

York Evening Post were signed "Kent". He was the

regular correspondent of the National Era over the ini-

tial "K". He also wrote news-letters to the Chicago

Vol. XXXIV - 18.

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274      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Tribune and the Cleveland Leader. He wrote for the

Kansas Tribune at Topeka and the Republican at Law-

rence, Kansas. It was as newspaper correspondent that

his influence was felt throughout the nation, especially

in the North. The eastern papers for which he wrote

were then widely read and the news from Kansas was

eagerly sought by the hosts that were marshaling in op-

position to the institution of slavery.

Kagi was indicted by the pro-slavery authorities of

Kansas for highway robbery and arson. The announce-

ment was published that Governor Geary would ad-

dress the free state men in Topeka early in October,

1856. He was to appear in the interest of peace be-

tween the contending parties of Kansas. Kagi came to

the meeting to report the speech and was arrested be-

cause of his alleged participation in August of that

year in an attack on a fort held by Titus, a leader of the

pro-slavery forces called "the border ruffians". If the

arrest was intended to stop the pen of Kagi, as charged

by the free state men, it utterly failed. He continued

to write his news-letters and get them to the eastern pa-

pers. It so happened that the man whose buildings he

was said to have aided in burning was his jailer. In

January of the following year his health failed and he

was admitted to $5,000 bail and released.

The experiences of Kagi and his associates while in

prison are fully set forth in his letters following this in-

troductory sketch and need not be repeated here. The

condition of these prisoners has been described as "piti-

able in the extreme". We are told, however, that the

spirit of Kagi "could not be subdued by cruel treatment,

and it only incited him to greater efforts." He resorted

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John Henri Kagi - Biographical Sketch  275

to various devices to get his news-letters to the eastern

papers. Sometimes, it is alleged, he concealed these in

a plug of tobacco which he exchanged with a visiting

friend. He himself did not use tobacco in any form.

When the pro-slavery Legislature was in session at

Lecompton in February, 1857, Kagi appeared to report

the proceedings and was immediately rearrested. This

time he was released on bonds of $8,000. There was

evidently very little foundation for any of the charges

against him as he was never brought to trial.

Early in 1857 occurred a rather exciting incident

at Tecumseh, the pro-slavery county seat of Shawnee

County, Kansas. Topeka, the free state village, was

located about four miles distant and clashes between

the two were frequent. A   free state resident was

robbed, it was claimed, by a pro-slavery townsman of

Tecumseh. An appeal was made by the victim of the

robbery to friends in Topeka. It was finally proposed

to arbitrate the controversy. A committee was ap-

pointed consisting of the accuser and the accused with

Judge Rush Elmore, formerly of Alabama, who had

served for a time as one of the United States judges of

the territery. As accuser and accused naturally could

not agree the decision was left to the ex-judge who de-

clared his inability to decide the case. In commenting

on the decision Kagi made the following statement in

a news letter:

President Pierce might not have sought a pretext for dis-

missing Elmore, on account of his extra-judicial investments,

as it was self-evident that a person who could not decide a case

when the clearest evidence was given, whether a convicted rob-

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276       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

ber should return stolen goods or retain them, was hardly quali-

fied for a seat on the supreme bench of the territory.

Elmore, when he read this statement, was greatly in-

censed.  Various accounts have been written of what

followed. These differ in detail but agree in essentials.

It appears that Elmore met Kagi in Tecumseh as he

was going up the court house steps and said to him:

"Are you the man who writes over the signature of

K?"

On being answered in the affirmative, he struck Kagi

over the head with a loaded cane, knocking him down.

Half blinded by the blow, with the blood streaming

down his face, Kagi leaped to his feet, drew     his re-

volver and pursued Elmore around a pillar of the court

house. Elmore also drew a revolver and fired at Kagi.

The ball struck a heavy note book in his breast pocket

and glanced aside. Kagi then shot the judge in the

groin and it is said that he carried the ball to his grave.

Other shots were fired and it was thought at first that

both men would die. Friends of Kagi took him to To-

peka where he very soon sufficiently recovered to pub-

lish in the Kansas Tribune of Monday, February        2,

1857, the following statement:

A CARD.

Rush Elmore, Esq., who attempted to carry matters with

such a RUSH day before yesterday, will please accept the com-

pliments of the "d---d abolition reporter", who is still alive, and

who, while he continues to live, will endeavor to devote his hum-

ble efforts to the cause of freedom of the Press and speech,

here and elsewhere, and to Free Kansas. The "abolition re-

porter" thinks that the occurrence of Saturday has entirely su-

perseded the necessity of his offering any proof in support of his

strictures upon the ex-Judge, one of which was to the effect that

when asked, as a member of a committee appointed for that pur-

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John Henri Kagi--Biographical Sketch        277

pose, to disapprove of an act of highway robbery upon Free

State men, he refused to give an opinion, from which but one

thing could be inferred, which was that he was unable to judge

whether stealing from Free State men was right or wrong. Now

there is not the least doubt that Mr. Elmore wishes to be con-

sidered a brave man, and to act courageously. And his attack

upon a man whom he supposed to be entirely unarmed, first deal-

ing him a crushing blow upon the head with a "Bully Brooks"3

bludgeon, and then dodging behind a pillar of the Court House

to draw his revolver, shows that he is deficient in judgment as

to what is bravery or cowardice; and from this deficiency it may

reasonably be concluded that he MIGHT have erred, or been

incapable of judging in the ROBBERY case. The weapons used

--cane and revolver--his third shot at a man already twice

wounded, and made senseless by the first blow, show too, what

the ex-Judge would have done at Lecompton, could he have but

once taken his adversary unawares and unarmed.

Very respectfully.          K.

This episode illustrates the spirit of the antagonism

then prevailing in the territory.   Kagi was more than

a voice of "bleeding Kansas"; he was a part of it.

Governor Geary sought to minimize the publicity oc-

casioned by this affair, as the following letter to Wil-

liam L. Marcy, secretary of state, clearly shows:

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,

Lecompton, K. T., February 2, 1857.

Sir: I have thought proper to avail myself of the mail which

closes tonight to drop you a line, simply to prevent any misap-

prehensions that might arise in your mind respecting an alterca-

tion that has recently taken place in this vicinity. The circum-

stance itself is of but little moment; but rumor will doubtless

magnify it into some considerable importance by the time it

reaches Washington.

The facts to which I allude are briefly these:

Some few days since a communication appeared in the To-

peka Tribune, purporting to be a report of the proceeding of

the late "convention" held in Lecompton, in which the name of

Judge Elmore (formerly one of the Associate Justices of the Su-

3 Brooks had used a cane in his assault on Sumner. That incident was

still fresh in the public mind.

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278      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

preme Court of this Territory) was used in a manner offensive

to that gentleman. The Judge, on Saturday last, met the author,

a man named Kagi, at Tecumseh, and commenced an assault

upon him with a cane, striking him a blow over the head. Where-

upon Kagi drew a pistol and fired, the ball passing through the

fleshy part of Judge Elmore's thigh, producing a troublesome

though not dangerous wound. The judge, who was also armed

with a revolver, then fired three times at Kagi, who was running

off, one of the balls lodging in his side, just beneath the skin.

This was shortly afterwards removed, leaving no serious conse-

quences. Some considerable excitement occurred. The princi-

pals in the transaction were of the Free-State and Pro-Slavery

parties, and each had friends to sympathize with him, and for

the time being to espouse his quarrel. But this feeling has al-

ready subsided, and no further breach of the peace is anticipated.

Very truly yours,

John W. Geary, Governor of the Kansas Territory.

Hon. William L. Marcy, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

The Governor's statement does not differ essentially

from that of Kagi. He evidently considered it just one

of those little shooting parties which were quite com-

mon in Kansas at this time.

All this occurred before Kagi joined John Brown.

It was in October of this year that he enlisted with his

followers and became one of the party which went to

Springdale, Iowa, to Chatham, Canada, back to south-

ern Kansas and "thence to Pennsylvania, Maryland,

Virginia and death."    A previous article in the QUAR-

TERLY describes in detail the movements of John Brown

and Kagi covering this period and they need not be re-

peated here.

In the latter part of January, 1859, he participated

in the "Battle of the Spurs", so called by Hinton in

humorous reference. John Brown was on his way

through Kansas with the slaves that he had taken in

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John Henri Kagi--Biographical Sketch  279 Missouri when his retreat was cut off by the rising waters of the Kansas River, and it seemed certain that he and his party, including Kagi, would be captured by the posse sent for that purpose by Samuel Medary, at that time governor of Kansas Territory. The posse numbered about forty men. So certain was Medary that the Brown party would be captured that he tele- graphed to President James Buchanan that he would

soon have them in cus- tody.  On January 31, 1859, the posse advanced toward the river along which Brown and his seven men were secreted. Shortly afterward the seven emerged from  the wood and advanced to meet their pursuers.  A panic spread through the posse and they fled in great disorder. Different writers relate that those on foot seized the tails of the horses ridden by their comrades and disap- peared over the prairie,

"just hitting the high places". Four of their number were captured by Brown and taken across the river into Nebraska. After a short time they were permitted to return but their horses were retained by the Brown party, who moved onward through wintry storms. From Tabor Kagi wrote to a friend the account of this

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280       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

engagement.    Governor Medary     was greatly   disap-

pointed at the failure to capture the fugitives.

Of all his followers John Brown depended most upon

Kagi.   In matters of religion they differed widely.

Kagi was something of an agnostic. His youth and his

dependence upon logic, perhaps were responsible for

this. He had not yet learned, in the language of Whit-

tier, that "you cannot climb into heaven on a syllogism."

He did not argue religious matters with Brown. The

two were in such perfect agreement in their hostility to

slavery that differences on other subjects did not affect

their relations.

In the Kansas Historical Society are a number of

brief letters written by Kagi at different periods of his

career. Most of these are written to his sister who was

a devout Christian and much concerned for the wel-

fare of her brother to whom she was thoroughly de-

voted. These letters show that Kagi was tenderly at-

tached to his near relatives, especially to this sister and

his father. To them he wrote on September 23, 1858:

I believe there are better times dawning, to my sight at least.

I am not now laboring and waiting without present reward for

myself alone; it is for a future reward for mankind, and for you

all. There can be no doubt of the reward in the end, or of the

drawing very near of the success of a great cause which is to

earn it. Few of my age have toiled harder or suffered more

in the cause than I, yet I regret nothing that I have done, nor

am I in any discouragement at the future. It is bright and good,

and treads on to meet the hopeful with rapid strides. Things

are now quiet. I am collecting arms, etc., belonging to J. B.,

so that he may command them at any time.

A letter to them on September 24, 1859, is here quoted

because it reveals the same hopeful spirit with which

he was moving forward to the Harper's Ferry enter-

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John Henri Kagi -- Biographical Sketch        281

prise and contains collateral evidence of his relation to

the New York Tribune and its managing editor, Charles

A. Dana:

My business is progressing finely. I could not ask for bet-

ter prospects. My partners are all about sixty miles this side

of Uncle Jacob's, and enough of them to put the business through

in the best of style. Our freight is all on the ground with them

in safety, and we are now only waiting a few days more for two

or three hands, not so much because we want them, but because

they want a share themselves. So that in a very few days we

shall commence. You may even hear of it before you get this

letter. Things could not be more cheerful and more certain of

success than they are. We have worked hard and suffered much,

but the hardest is done now, and a glorious success is in sight.

I will say -- can say -- only one word more. I will write soon

after we commence work. When you write, give me all the news

-- for I shall hereafter have only three correspondents in all --

Mr. Dana (Charles A., then managing editor) of the Tribune,

and Mr. Wim. A. Phillips, of Lawrence (Kansas), so that I shall

look to you for all news about our friends and acquaintances.

Direct the letters like this: H. K.., and put them into another en-

velope and direct it as follows: Mrs. Mary W. Rittner, Cham-

bersburg, Pa. But don't let no one else know how you send

them. Be cheerful. Don't imagine dangers. All will be well.

This was written less than a month before the

Harper's Ferry raid.

Kagi's part in this tragic event is briefly told.    In

the early morning of October 17, 1859, the day follow-

ing the attack on the town, Kagi urged John Brown to

evacuate the place while this could be done with some

hope of escape. Brown disregarded the advice and Kagi

in true soldier fashion continued to give battle to the

last.  He and two other raiders were driven to the

Shenandoah River.      They attempted to reach a flat

rock in the midst of the stream.      A  storm  of bullets

followed them and Kagi disappeared without a struggle

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282       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

beneath the waves of the river that flowed by the Vir-

ginia home in which his ancestors were born.

"He remained at his post," writes Colonel Hinton,

"fighting and dying in the same lofty temper which

made him declare to me the year preceding that, what-

ever it was, life or death--'the result would be worth

the sacrifice.' No word of surrender came from his

lips. Pierced with bullets, his riddled body lay in the

Shenandoah till late in the afternoon of the nineteenth,

when it was pitched with others into a shallow trench

dug on the east bank."

For forty years his body rested with the remains of

the other raiders in this unknown grave. In concluding

his sketch in the Kagy Relationship, the author of that

volume says:

The John Brown raid was the prelude to the mighty Civil

War, during which the contending armies in advance, in battle

and in retreat trod over his pulseless heart, and their trampling

squadrons kneaded the winter snow in clay, but he heard not the

thunder of Miles's cannon from Maryland Heights, nor those of

Stonewall Jackson on Loudon Heights, or the shouts of his vic-

torious legions, whose matchless valor has won imperishable

fame."

Finally the remains of the men were removed from

the grave on the banks of the Shenandoah. They were

taken to North Elba, New York, the old homestead of

John Brown, where his body lies buried. They were

buried in adjacent soil with military honors. It is re-

markable that after the flight of forty years a detach-

ment of the United States marines, the branch of the

military forces that captured John Brown at Harper's

Ferry, should participate in the burial of these remains

and accord at last to the John Brown followers, includ-

ing Kagi, an honored burial and military salute.

• 20
 

John Henri Kagi--Biographical Sketch   283

It should be added as introductory to the following

letters that have been literally copied from the corre-

spondence of Kagi, that they represent a partial view,

the view of the free state men of Kansas by one of their

number who became a follower of John Brown.       It

must be admitted that the free state men were greatly

aided by their propaganda through the public press.

They brought their cause to the attention of the nation

and the favorable light in which they presented it

powerfully influenced public opinion and the history of

the eventful years that followed.

 

PERSONAL LETTERS--NOTES AND

EXCERPTS

Recently there has been added to the material relating

to the life of John Henri Kagi in the library of the

Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society copies

of thirty-three personal letters written by him at vari-

ous periods from June 13, 1852, to September 24, 1859.

Th,e originals of these letters were transferred by

Colonel Richard J. Hinton to the Kansas State Histori-

cal Society where they are now accessible for reference

purposes.

Most of these letters were written to his sister, a num-

ber of them to his father. They show that he was in

Virginia in 1852, that he was in Cincinnati on his way

west March 30, 1853. From this city he wrote to his

sister who was evidently at that time in Mount Jack-

son, Virginia. In this letter he wrote:

Now Mary, I suppose that by this time, a little book ("Bio-

graphies of the Presidents") has arrived at the Mount Jackson

office. If so, take it out and send it over to Ike Foltz's Margaret.

It is her prize in the spelling class.

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284      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

This would seem to indicate that he concluded his

teaching in Virginia in the spring of 1853. Another

letter indicated that he was in Nebraska City, Nebraska

Territory, December 24, 1853.

On May 4, 1854, he addressed a letter to his sister

from Bristolville, Ohio. In this there is evidence of his

interest in the study of shorthand which he had evi-

dently been teaching. Among other things he says:

"You wished me to send you a 'manual of phono-

graphy'. Let me know for whom you want it, as I

shall not send it by this mail. Perhaps it is for Mari

Wilson. If so, 'It will soon be over' for I got one bound

in style, in Warren, expressly for her, but it was burned

and I will (have) one bound and send it to her soon.

* * *  If it is for anyone else, I have got one or

two that I can spare." On June 5, 1854, he wrote from

Winchester, Virginia, and on July 2 and 23 of the same

year from Mount Jackson, Virginia. These letters are

almost wholly personal and contain the names of many

friends and acquaintances in and near Bristolville. In

a postscript to the later of the two letters he wrote to

his sister: "I send you part of the 'passion flower'. I

cannot send the whole nor press it--it is the prettiest

flower in the universe."

On Sunday, August 20, 1854, he wrote a somewhat

lengthy letter to his sister opening with the following

sentence: "I received your letter on Friday--day be-

fore yesterday--and could not have answered sooner

than yesterday and I was needed at camp meeting then

--and perhaps should be there now--I think I am ex-

cusable for delaying to write till now."

A little later he wrote again to his sister. As this

• 22
 

John Henri Kagi--Biographical Sketch       285

letter shows his wide interest in a variety of subjects

of study it is here reproduced in full. It should be

borne in mind that at this time Kagi was only nineteen

years old. The letter is as follows:

Mt. Jackson, Sept. 13th, 1854.

Dear Sister:--

It has been nearly three weeks now I think since I wrote you

last, and have yet received no answer; though since that time you

have sent me a letter from father, containing a few lines from

yourself. As in those you stated that you were more unwell

than usual, I have thought perhaps that you were unable to write,

and so I will wait no longer.

I direct to Bristol as you spoke in your letter, of going there

soon, I am at present teaching school in Hawkinstown, a small

village, about 1 1/2 miles from Uncle Jacob's, where I make my

home. I have about 40 scholars at 1 dollar per month for each

in common branches, (Reading, Writing, Arithmetic) and a still

higher price the others. Beside these, I teach Algebra, Geogra-

phy, Eng. Grammar, Nat. Philosophy, Chemistry, Geometry,

Botany and Astronomy. I am now teaching for a Quarter, which

will close towards the last of November. Whether I shall stay

longer or not I cannot now tell. I wish that Hosh or Jennie or

some other good teacher was here now. There is a school va-

cant near here, that could be made to pay well and the higher

branches would not be required to be taught -- more than Gram-

mar and Geography.¹

But I can not stop longer. Write as soon as you receive this,

or if not well enough to do so, get some one to write for you;

if in Bristol tell me where, and all about your health.

In his personal correspondence nothing further oc-

curs until his letter dated Topeka, Kansas, January 4,

1856. This was soon after he had been released from

prison. In it he states briefly the effect of this experi-

ence as follows:

I have already written to you once since my release from

Prison, and if not in this way the tidings have probably reached

you in some other way. I did not then intend to write to Bristol

1 Hinton is authority for the statement that Kagi had a reading knowl-

edge of Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

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286       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

again before my return; but now a moment's leisure offers, and I

cannot restrain myself from sending you one more message,

though I scarcely know what to write, for as the time of my com-

ing approaches, the thoughts I would speak if with you crowd so

confusedly upon each other for utterance that all are lost sight

of in mingled mist. And then, since my release from the odious

and terrible incarceration to which I was for three long months

subjected, I have felt myself under the influence of a stupor I

cannot describe or assign any definite cause for its existence.

On September 4, 1856, he addressed a letter to his

father dealing chiefly with Kansas affairs as follows:

I have just received your letter written under date of June

29th, from Philadelphia, and hasten to reply to the same. My

attorney, Jacob Safford of Nebraska, received the letter in my

absence -- for I have been in Kansas permanently for some three

months -- and drew the money and paid some debts which I

owed there, and wrote to me immediately concerning it, but I

never received his letter. He wrote again but with the same re-

sult. He wrote a third time sending also the above letter from

you. It will be unsafe to send the money by the mails, so I shall

have to go up as soon as it will be safe to do so. At present

no one can go alone any distance. Civil war rages here now in

all its horrors. God only knows when it will end. There have

been for the last three or four months four or five thousand

armed Missourians prowling about and aided by Shannon, Le-

compte and Woodson, burning houses, murdering women and

children--and scalping their husbands and fathers. But a Regular

Standing Army of Citizens is now raised; and 400 of these last

Sunday attacked and drove out of the lower part of the State

twenty-four hundred of the enemy, who were better armed than

we, and were all mounted on fine horses, whereas we had but

150 horsemen. A large fort is now built in Lawrence; another

will be commenced in Topeka today. The enemy are determined

to "wipe out", as they say, both these towns. I would tell more

of our military movements, but our enemies should not know

them, and the mails are unsafe. I may see you soon. I can tell

you comparatively little. You know nothing of Kansas affairs,

nor does any one who has not been here and seen things for

himself. I write in haste as I am on duty in the guard tent to-

night. Have to write as best I can. Remember me to all my

friends. I am so glad you have got home safely -- I feared

something was the matter with you, as you seemed to be silent

• 24
 

John Henri Kagi--Biographical Sketch         287

 

so long. I feared you were yet in Nevada when the great fire

so scourged that unhappy place.

From the prison at Lecompton November 20, 1856,

he wrote to his sister in part as follows:

We are divided into messes. In mine there are seven of us.

I am said to be one of the best cooks in the lot. I'll show you

how to do it. We have prepared some dried apples today and

I am going to try to make some pies. How do you suppose I'll

make at it, with no eggs, sugar, spice or milk.

You seem to think that there is danger of my being hung.

O pshaw, there is no more danger of my hanging than there

is of your doing so. Our friends will take us out at any time

I say the word. A regiment, the same one in which I was a

lieutenant, will come to our rescue any night I give the orders.

I hesitate only because we may get out some other way, and be-

cause a forcible rescue would bring on a terrible winter war,

which I do not wish to see. Keep cheerful! I will yet see you

in Bristol.

On December 20, 1856, he wrote to his father an-

nouncing his release from the prison at Lecompton.

Following is a brief extract from his letter:

I am at last free again. I was released on bail last Wednes-

day. I would probably have started to Nebraska City by this

time were it not that the Free State Legislature will meet in a

few weeks, and I wish to be here. The Bogus Legislature will

also meet about the same time, but I do not think there will be

any collision between them. They never dare disperse ours

again.

My health has been quite poor, of course, as I was under im-

prisonment just three months to a day. I think I will soon get

strong again.

I learn that some of the so-called Democrats of Bristol have

said that I deserved to be in prison. Wonder if they will help

put me back. I will see them some of these days again.

On Monday, January 26, 1857, he wrote to his father

expressing his desire to return to Ohio and stating that

his life was endangered by remaining longer in Kansas.

Among other things he said:

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288       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

I would like to go to Ohio now soon as possible. I would

not be so anxious but for the fact that I can no longer remain

in Lecompton to report the proceedings there, they having once

arrested me since my release on bail and on the same charge.

They intended to keep me in prison, supposing that being away

from home I could (not) procure the necessary bail. But in

this they were mistaken, for I was again bailed out in less than

two hours, and could have given one hundred thousand-dollar

bonds if required.

After that a mob, with Stringfellow at the head, made an un-

successful attempt to kill me, and finally drove me from the

town. I intended to remain as long as their proceedings con-

tained anything of interest or importance, but now that it is not

safe for me to be there, I would like to go to Ohio as soon as

possible, for I shall have to return here again by the first of

April next to discharge my bondsmen, and this will give me but

little time to stay.

On January 30, 1857, he wrote from the Tribune of-

fice of Topeka, Kansas, stating that he was arranging

to return to Ohio as soon as possible.      He wished to

make a hurried visit to his old home and return by the

first of April to protect the men who had signed his

bond.   This was just before his tragic contact with

Judge Elmore. He had not yet mailed the letter to his

father and on February 1 added this postscript before

sending it:

As you will see by the Tribune which (I) will send you to-

morrow, I was shot yesterday and will not be able to get away

to Nebraska as soon as I supposed, but think it will delay me

but a few days. I am able to walk about today and have sat

up nearly all the time since morning.

The blow on my head, together with my writing so much to-

day, causes me rather (word illegible) not able to write particu-

lars, besides you will see most of it in the Tribune.

On March 3, 1857, in a letter to his father he said,

"My wound has nearly healed and I have pretty much

recovered my strength.     But the jarring of my head

troubles me some yet in writing or severe thinking or

• 26
 

John Henri Kagi--Biographical Sketch       289

mental labor." He wrote again on April 14 giving the

following optimistic report:

Lane has been all over the state with but three companions.

He dined with Stringfellow at Atchison, who treated him with

the greatest respect. Free state men have bought out all the pro-

slavery towns on the Missouri River and we will soon have com-

plete sway everywhere in Kansas. Our prospects look much

more hopeful now than when I left.

He writes also of the increase in the value of pro-

perty in Kansas villages. Kansas, of course, was still

a territory although he refers to it at times as a state.

In a letter to his sister, May 20, 1857, he says among

other things:

I have been so very busy and so weary that it has seemed

almost impossible to write you till now. Besides having, when-

ever I have strength enough to hold a pen, to write a long let-

ter each day for publication, I have for sometime been engaged

in preparing laws for the Free State Legislature, for that body

is to meet next month, and we shall try hard to put the State

Government into operation. In this business I have been labor-

ing almost day and night; but a few weeks more and it will be

over, and then I shall have a little rest, and some leisure to

write to my friends.

In sketches that have been written of Kagi mention

has been made of his disappointment in a love affair.

The story is to the effect that he was engaged to a tal-

ented young woman of Trumbull County, Ohio, who

evidently tired of his roving disposition and married

another man. A number of references in his corre-

spondence are made to a woman whom he calls Jennie.

It has been assumed that she was his betrothed. Pos-

sibly it is to this disappointment that he refers in a let-

ter to his sister dated Springdale, Iowa, December 29,

1857. In this he says:

Vol. XXXIV-- 19.

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290       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

A thousand thanks for your sisterly sympathy. As to the

matter you spoke of I knew of it before you; and I have mind

enough to endure it -- rest assured of that, though it is no light

thing to endure. You will not unnecessarily speak of it to any-

one but let me know all you learn of the matter.

It may be regarded as significant that the name Jen-

nie does not appear in any of the subsequent letters.

On May 15, 1858, he wrote to a friend from St. Cath-

arine's, Canada, describing the place which he consid-

ered one of the most pleasant he had seen for some

time -- "the lap of heaven." On June 28 of the same

year he was back in Lawrence, Kansas. On September

23, 1858, he wrote to his sister and father the letter

from which a quotation has been made in the sketch

introductory to this correspondence.

On February 7, 1859, Kagi wrote to a friend from

Tabor, Iowa, stating the experience of the John Brown

party at what Hinton has styled "Battle of the Spurs".

The letter is as follows:

Friend Phillips:--

We are here with the fugitives. After I joined J. B. we

started north. The posse thought we were going to attack them

in their quarters, and took to the crossing of Spring Creek and

hitched horses. We came on, and they left, and took up another

position, and still another. Finally, finding that we still came on

in utter disregard of them, they broke and ran for Missouri.

We caught five of them and took from them their horses and

revolvers and kept the men until the next day. They thought

there had been advantages on both sides -- we getting some good

horses and arms; and they some valuable experience. The U. S.

Dept. Marshal was J. N. O. P. (&c) Wood. One of our men

chased six of them eight miles towards Atchison. The Dept.

Marshal for S. Nebraska with a small posse attempted to take

me at Neb. City, when alone at my sister's, but couldn't do it.

While he was raising a larger posse, I escaped.

• 28
 

John Henri Kagi--Biographical Sketch       291

He was with John Brown in Cleveland when the

horses taken from the pro-slavery men in Kansas were

sold. From that city on April 30, 1859, he wrote to his

father and sister:

Our plans will, I think, go into operation soon. If they do I

shall be able to make a good deal of money in writing for the

Tribune. If not, I shall be able to get employment for (from)

the Tribune in some other field and make some money at any

rate. I have written a few letters for it since the slave rescue

trial, now going on here, commenced. They are in the daily; you

may not see them in the weekly. I shall stay here till the trial

is over and the affair cleared up, and perhaps longer.

 

The trial to which Kagi refers is the trial of the men

indicted in connection with the Oberlin-Wellington

Rescue Case. It appears that Kagi aided in the prepara-

tion of the report of that case for acknowledgment is

made to him by the editor of the published account.

On June 8, 1859, he wrote to his sister who was evi-

dently at that time in Nebraska City. Among other

things he said:

"You think it would not be safe for me to come back now. It

may be so, though if there was anything to be made by the at-

tempt I should not hesitate to make it And further -- I do ex-

pect to go to Nebraska City some day, and to see the very hounds

who now yell so savagely on my track make yells as  loud and

none the less foolishly in my favor. What care I for them? I

will play with them when it pleases me.

The collection of personal letters closes with the one

written from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, September

24, 1859, a part of which has already been quoted.

This was the last letter written to his father and sisters

before he went to Harper's Ferry and was killed while

attempting to cross the Shenandoah.

• 29