John Henninger Reagan

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John Henninger Reagan

John Henninger Reagan (born October 8, 1818 in Sevierville , Sevier County , Tennessee , † March 6, 1905 in Palestine , Texas ) was an American politician and finance and postal minister of the Confederate States of America (CSA).

Origin and career

He was a self-made man and attended schools in Tennessee such as Nancy Academy , Boyds Creek Academy, and Maryville Seminary (nothing is mentioned of a degree). He then worked as an overseer on a plantation near Natchez , Mississippi , before serving in the independent Republic of Texas, first as an Indian fighter in the battle against the Cherokee, and then from 1839 to 1843 as a public property inspector. On April 19, 1844, he married Martha Music, a widow with six children. His second marriage to Edwina Moss Nelms on December 23, 1852 resulted in six children. After the death of his second wife in 1863, he married Molly Ford Taylor on May 31, 1866; with her he had three children. From 1844 to 1851 he ran a small farm in Kaufman County , Texas.

Private and political career

In 1844, Reagan began studying law. After graduating and admitted to the bar in 1846, he then opened a law firm in Buffalo , Texas. In the same year he was elected a probate judge for two years, and in 1847 he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives. From 1844 to 1851 he was a district judge in Palestine. As a Democrat, he served two terms in the US House of Representatives from 1857 to 1861 . During this period he was moderate on issues of slavery and states' rights. Nevertheless, as a secessionist, he was a delegate at the Texas Secession Convention. When the civil war began, he resigned from his parliamentary mandate.

Secession period

As a deputy to the Provisional Confederate Congress , he helped formulate the Confederate Constitution. During the war he served as post office secretary in the cabinet of CS President Jefferson Davis . He had actually intended Henry T. Ellet from Mississippi for the post and nominated it without being asked. Congress had also confirmed the president's nomination, but Ellet turned down the post. Reagan remained loyal to the Davis administration all along, endeavoring to make the Post Office an independent office. He was an expert in office matters and was able to hire an excellent administrative staff. But he never had the equipment to meet the expectations of the postal service. He tried to control the ministry with his own income. On April 27, 1865 he was appointed by Davis to succeed George Alfred Trenholm as Minister of Finance. At this point the Confederate government was already incapacitated. He fled with Davis and others of his confidants from Richmond , Virginia , but was captured by Northern troops on May 10, 1865 near Irwinville , Georgia .

post war period

Reagan was interned at Fort Warren in the Boston Harbor , Massachusetts . From there he wrote an open letter to his fellow countrymen in Texas, in which he urged them to put aside all bitterness about the war and return to the Union in an orderly spirit. In it he also called for the eradication of slavery and the granting of civil rights and the right to vote for African-Americans as well . From there he also wrote to US President Andrew Johnson appeals from one descendant of the poor east of Tennessee to the other against the harsh measures against the south. He was not released until October or December 1865 and returned to his legal practice in Texas. In 1875 he was a delegate to the Texas Constituent Assembly. From 1875 to 1887 he was again a member of the US House of Representatives and from 1887 to 1891 a member of the US Senate . From 1897 to 1901 he was chairman of the commission for the Texas Railroad. He died on March 6, 1905 in Palestine, where he was buried as the last surviving member of the Confederate government with great sympathy in East Hill Cemetery .

literature

  • Jon L. Wakelyn: Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, ISBN 0-8071-0092-7
  • Ezra J. Warner and W. Buck Yearns: Biographical Register of the Confederate Congress. Greenwood Press, Westport, CT and London, GBR ISBN 0-8371-6124-X
  • The Civil War Almanac. World Almanac Publications, New York, NY ISBN 0-911818-36-7
  • Rembert W. Patrick: Jefferson Davis and his cabinet. Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge 1944

Web links

Commons : John Henninger Reagan  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
No predecessor Confederate Postal Minister
March 6, 1861-10. May 1865 		No successor in either office
George Alfred Trenholm Confederate Minister of Finance
April 27, 1865-10. May 1865 		No successor in either office
personal data
SURNAME Reagan, John Henninger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician and Confederate cabinet member
DATE OF BIRTH October 8, 1818
PLACE OF BIRTH Sevierville , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH March 6, 1905
Place of death Palestine , Texas