John H. Reagan | |
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| United States Senator fromTexas | |
| In office March 4, 1887 – June 10, 1891 | |
| Preceded by | Samuel Maxey |
| Succeeded by | Horace Chilton |
| Railroad Commissioner of Texas | |
| In office June 10, 1891 – January 20, 1903[1] | |
| Governor | Jim Hogg Charles A. Culberson Joseph D. Sayers |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Oscar Branch Colquitt |
| Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury | |
| Acting April 27, 1865 – May 10, 1865 | |
| President | Jefferson Davis |
| Preceded by | George Trenholm |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Confederate States Postmaster General | |
| In office March 6, 1861 – May 10, 1865 | |
| President | Jefferson Davis |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromTexas | |
| In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1887 | |
| Preceded by | William Herndon |
| Succeeded by | William Martin |
| Constituency | 1st district (1875–83) 2nd district (1883–87) |
| In office March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1861 | |
| Preceded by | Lemuel Evans |
| Succeeded by | George Whitmore |
| Constituency | 1st district |
| Member of theTexas House of Representatives from theNacogdoches district | |
| In office December 13, 1847 – November 5, 1849 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1818-10-08)October 8, 1818 Gatlinburg, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | March 6, 1905(1905-03-06) (aged 86) Palestine, Texas, U.S. |
| Resting place | Palestine City Cemetery Palestine, Texas |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | [2] |
John Henninger Reagan (October 8, 1818 – March 6, 1905) was an American politician from Texas. ADemocrat, Reagan resigned from theU.S. House of Representatives when Texas declaredsecession from theUnited States and joined theConfederate States of America. He served in the cabinet ofJefferson Davis asPostmaster General.
After the Confederate defeat and his release from prison after the war, Reagan called for cooperation by the Southern states with the U.S. government, an unpopular position among most conservative whites. He was elected to Congress in 1874[3][4] and was elected in 1886 by the state legislature as a Democrat from Texas to the U.S. Senate, where he served one term from 1887 to 1891. He resigned from the seat when appointed by the governor as chairman of theTexas Railroad Commission. He was among the founders of theTexas State Historical Association.
He was the only formerConfederate cabinet member to be seated in theU.S. Senate after theCivil War.Alexander H. Stephens, the only Confederatevice president, was also elected in 1866 to representGeorgia, but was refused to be seated in the Senate due to his war history. Elected as the representative of theDemocratic Party for the state ofTexas, he sat in the Senate for just one term; he was one of just three former Confederate cabinet members to take major political offices after the war.
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John Henninger Reagan was born in 1818 inGatlinburg, Tennessee, to Timothy Richard and Elizabeth (Lusk) Reagan. His parents were primarily ofIrish,English andScottish descent; his middle name was for his Irish ancestors.
He leftTennessee at age nineteen and traveled to theRepublic of Texas, which had become independent from Mexico the year before in 1836. Reagan worked as a surveyor from 1839 to 1843. He bought a property and farmed inKaufman County until 1851. During the time he worked as a surveyor, he also served as a private tutor to the children ofJohn Marie Durst.[5]
Reagan read the law, served as an apprentice in an established firm, and was licensed to practice in 1846. He opened an office inBuffalo and the same year was elected aprobate judge inHenderson County. In 1847 he was elected to theTexas House of Representatives but was defeated for a second term in 1849. He was admitted to the bar in 1848 and practiced in both Buffalo andPalestine, Texas.[3]
Reagan was elected as a district judge inPalestine, serving from 1852 to 1857. His efforts to defeat theAmerican Party (Know-Nothings) resulted in his election to Congress as a Democrat in 1857 fromTexas's 1st congressional district.
Reagan was a staunch supporter of slavery. He believed abolition would cause such social problems as to require Southern whites "exterminate the greater portion of the [black] race."[6] He also believed in the federal protections of slavery under the U.S. Constitution as extensions of private property rights, therefore he supported the United States. But when it became clear that Texas would secede, Reagan resigned from Congress on January 15, 1861, and returned home to the state to participate in the rebellion.[4]
He participated in the secession convention atAustin, Texas on January 31, 1861. Chosen as a member of theProvisional Confederate Congress, President Jefferson Davis appointed Reagan to his cabinet as Postmaster General within a month.
Despite the hostilities, theUnited States Post Office Department continued operations in the Confederacy until June 1, 1861, when the Confederate service took over its functions.[7]
Reagan sent an agent toWashington, D.C., with letters asking the heads of the United States Post Office Department's various bureaus to work for him. Nearly all did so and brought copies of their records, contracts, account books, etc. "Reagan in effect had stolen the U.S. Post Office," historian William C. Davis later wrote.[citation needed]
Reagan cut expenses by eliminating costly and little-used routes and forcing railroads that carried the mail to reduce their rates. Despite the problems the war caused, his department managed to turn a profit, "the only post office department in American history to pay its own way," wrote William C. Davis.[citation needed] Reagan was the only member of the cabinet to opposeRobert E. Lee's offensive intoPennsylvania in June–July 1863. He instead supported a proposal to detach theFirst Corps of theArmy of Northern Virginia to reinforceJoseph E. Johnston in Mississippi, to break theSiege of Vicksburg. HistorianShelby Foote noted that, as the only Cabinet member from west of the Mississippi, Reagan was acutely aware of the critical consequences of Vicksburg's capture and control of the river by U.S. forces.
When Davis abandonedRichmond, Virginia on April 2, 1865, shortly before the entry ofArmy of the Potomac underGeorge G. Meade, Reagan accompanied the president on his flight to the Carolinas. On April 27, Davis made him Secretary of the Treasury afterGeorge A. Trenholm's resignation. Reagan served in that capacity until he, Davis, andTexas governorFrancis R. Lubbock were captured nearIrwinville, Georgia, on May 10.[4]
Reagan was imprisoned with Confederate vice presidentAlexander Stephens atFort Warren inBoston, Massachusetts. He was held in solitary confinement for twenty-two weeks. On August 11, he wrote anopen letter to his fellow Texans urging cooperation with the United States, renunciation of the secession convention, the abolition of slavery, and letting formerly enslaved people vote. He warned that the U.S. government would be forced to impose military rule to enforce these measures if Texans did not voluntarily adopt them. Abolition was underway, and Reagan knew there was support for granting the vote tofreedmen. Texans denounced him. After being released from prison later that year, he returned to his home inPalestine, Texas in December.[4]
To those who felt that theReconstruction was unduly harsh, Reagan's prescience was hailed—he became known as the "Old Roman," a TexasCincinnatus. He was part of the successful effort to remove RepublicanEdmund J. Davis from thegovernorship in 1874 after Davis attempted to remain in office illegally after losing the election.
That year, Reagan was elected to the Congressional seat he held before the war, and he served from March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1887. In 1875, he was a delegate to the convention that wrote a new state constitution for Texas. In Congress, he advocated federal regulation of railroads and helped create theInterstate Commerce Commission. He also served as the first chairman of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads.
Elected by the Texas State Legislature to the U.S. Senate in 1887 (serving from March 4, 1887 to June 10, 1891), Reagan resigned to become chair of theRailroad Commission of Texas at the behest of his friend, GovernorJim Hogg. He chaired it until 1903, continuing to serve under governorsCharles A. Culberson andJoseph D. Sayers. Hogg had run on a platform of state regulation of railroads.[4][3]
Conscious of the importance of recounting and interpreting history, Reagan founded theTexas State Historical Association. He also attended reunions of Confederate veterans in his state. He wrote hisMemoirs, With Special Reference to Secession and the Civil War, published in 1905. Later that year, Reagan died of pneumonia at his home in Palestine, the last surviving member of Jefferson Davis' cabinet in the Confederate government. Reagan was buried in East Hill Cemetery in Palestine, Texas.[4]
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