The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-03-07
JUDGE ]. H. REAGAN
 IS DEAD IN TEXAS Was Sole Survivor of the Con-
 federate Cabinet HAD AN EvENTFUL LIFE Was the Only One of Cabinet Captured with Jefferson Davis. and Con-
 fined Many Months at
 Fort Warren.
HAD AN EvENTFUL LIFE

Houston, March 6.-Judge John H. Rea- gan, sole surviving member of the Con- federate cabinet, died at Palestine, Tex, this morning. aged se years. of pneu- monia.
 Because of his advanced age the death of Judge Reagan was not unexpected. He was in the city on Thursday transacting business. When he returned home the family physician was called in, Judge Reagan complaining of trouble in his lungs. On Sunday 1t was known that pneumonia had set in and Judge Reagan grew rapidly worse.
 i Gathered in the death chamber were his wife and daughters and w Green wood, his son-in-law
 1 Hundreds of telegrams of condolence are being received here from all parts of the United States.
 l The funeral will take place at Pales- tine Wednesday afternoon.
 Ills Early Life.
 Judge John Henninger Reagan was born in Sevier county, Tennessee. Octo- Der 8, 1918. From an early age he was en- gagged in various occupations, which in- cluded ploughing. chopping wood, keep ing books, running a f1atboat on the Ten nessee river and managing a mill, anc through his diligent labor earned suf- hcient money to procure good educa- l tion.
 l Before he was 21 years old he went to Natchez, and in 1889 removed to Texas He soon enlisted in the force to expel the Cherokees from Texas, and was selected | by General Albert Sidney Johnson as one of picked escort for dangerous service, | but declined the offer of a lieutenancy, l and became a surveyor.
 | He penetrated into the Indian country about the Three Forks of Trinity, and was engaged in surveying that region 1 about three years. His was the first 1 party that escaped massacre by the In- dians.
 1 In 1844 he began the study of law and In 1S4S he received his license to practice l In 1846 he was elected colonel of militia and probate judge of Henderson county, and In 1S47 he was chosen to the legisla- ture, where he was chairman of the com mittee on public lands. In 1S49 he was defeated candidate for the Senate but in 1852 he was elected district judge
 Fought the Gamblers.
 In the enforcement of the laws he was brought into collision with the g4ambIers and desperadoes that then held the from tier towns in awe, but his physical cour- age and moral force won him a triumph l for law and order
 | Judge Reagan was first elected to Con gress in 1856 as a democrat after se- l were contest He remained in Congress until 1S61 when he returned home, and 1 was elected to the state convention, in which he voted for cession. He was 1 chosen by the convention as a member Of the provisional Congress. On March 6, 1861, he was appointed Postmaster | General under the provisional govern ment and the next year he was reap 1 pointed to the same office under the per- manent government. He was also acting | Secretary of the Treasury for a short time near the close of the war. Captured with Davis. l He was the only one of the cabinet l who was captured with Jefferson Davis, and was confined for many months in Fort Warren. He had conferences with | President Johnson, William H. Seward, Henry Wilson. James Speed, and others on reconstruction, and wrote an open let ter to the people of Texas advocating laws for the protection of the negroes, which should grant them civil rights and 1 limited political rights with an educa- | tional qualification. His letter subjected | him to misconstruction, and he was re- tired from politics for nine years. But was elected to Congress by 4000 majority in 1874. in 1876 by 5000. and after 1878 with | little or no opposition.
 | For nearly ten years he held continu- ously the post of chairman of the com mittee on commerce. with the exception of one term, and was noted for his de- eided views and efforts to regulate inter- | state commerce. He was one of the au- thors of the Cullom-Reagan interstate | commerce bill which became law in 1887. In 1887 he took his seat In the United 1 States Senate having been chosen for the term that ended in 1893, but resigned four years after his election to become presi- dent of the Texas railroad commission, which body he placed upon a sound basis. Judge Reagan had farm near Pales- tine, Tex, where he spent the closing years of his life
 At the time of his death he was en- gagged in writing an autobiography of himself