James Henry Lane (Union General)

James Henry Lane, also known as Jim Lane, (June 22, 1814 – July 11, 1866) was a partisan during the Bleeding Kansas period. It was right before the American Civil War. During the war itself, Lane was a United States Senator, and he was a general for the Union. Although reelected as a Senator during 1865, Lane committed suicide the next year.

Biography
Lane was born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. He was the son of Amos Lane.

He was a U.S. congressman from Indiana (1853–1855) where he voted for the Kansas–Nebraska Act.

On June 3, 1858, Lane shot and killed Gaius Jenkins in a land dispute in Lawrence. Reports say Jenkins was coming to get water from a well on the disputed land. Jenkins was reported to have been showing a revolver. Lane had a shotgun. One of the men with Jenkins shot Lane in the leg, and Lane shot back killing Jenkins.

Death and legacy
On July 1, 1866 Lane shot himself in the head as he jumped from his carriage in Leavenworth, Kansas.

The following places were named in honor of him:
 Lane University, Lecompton
 Lane, Kansas
 Lane County, Kansas

References

Other websites

  Retrieved on 2008-02-19

 James H. Lane at Territorial Kansas Online 
 James H. Lane at PBS: New Perspectives on The West 
 James H. Lane at Downfall Dictionary
 James H. Lane at Mr. Lincoln's White House 
 Senator Jim at Bull Run

Category:Kansas Republicans
Category:United States senators from Kansas
Category:19th-century American politicians
Category:American Civil War generals
Category:1866 deaths
Category:1814 births
Category:Lieutenant Governors of Indiana
Category:Military people from Indiana
Category:Partisans