Battles of Freedom: The Life and Times of John Henry Kagi & the Unfortunate Fate of the Mayhew Cabin & John Brown Cave – Nebraska City

From Wikipedia: John Henry Kagi, (March 15, 1835 – October 17, 1859), was an American attorney, abolitionist, and second in command to John Brown 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“. He was an excellent debater and speaker. In 1855, Kagi traveled west and stayed at the cabin of his sister Barbara Kagy Mayhew and her husband Allen in Nebraska City which is more famously known as the Mayhew Cabin.

The Battle for Freedom:

A new book has been published by Cathleen M. Van Winkle, President of the Board of the the Mayhew Foundation, called “The Battle for Freedom: The Life and Times of John Henry Kagi“. This book is available in digital format on Kindle through Amazon. Click the book cover image or the link above or below to access this book.

Book Description Excerpt: With fierce determination, this honorable, driven, and educated man toiled for years for the abolitionist cause. So driven was he that he showed little to no care for his personal needs or safety. For his beliefs, he was beaten, persecuted, shot, jailed, and hunted. Yet he persevered despite the pain and risks. When others conspired to silence him, Kagi continued to act as a loud, ardent voice for justice, freedom, equality, and freedom of the press. It was for the noble cause of abolition of slavery that he sacrificed his life during John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry, an event that sparked the Civil War. 

“The Battle for Freedom: The Life and Times of John Henry Kagi“.

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The Unfortunate Fate of the Mayhew Cabin

The Mayhew Cabin is the only Underground Railroad site in Nebraska officially recognized by the National Park Service and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. Unfortunately, several years of a constant barrage of flooding of rain water and sewer backup from Nebraska City’s sewer system has damaged the cabin so much that it has been closed. The following news videos document the problems that the Mayhew Foundation has faced in their efforts to save the Cabin Museum.

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KFOR Lincoln Live Podcast – INTERVIEWS – February 2022

KFOR Lincoln Live Podcast – Part 1

KFOR Lincoln Live Podcast – Part 2

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Connect with the Mayhew Foundation:

To read a detailed and well written history of the unfortunate fate of the Mayhew Cabin visit this link: Mayhew Cabin Flooding. Visit the Mayhew Cabin museum web site https://mayhewcabin.org to learn more or to donate to rebuild the museum at this link: Mayhew Cabin. We’ll keep our eye on this story and hopefully we can send some positive action towards this Untold History of Southeast Nebraska.