Talk:George Proctor Kane

A fact from George Proctor Kane appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 7 October 2007. The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that George P. Kane, Marshall of Police in Baltimore, Maryland, was imprisoned in Fort McHenry along with Mayor George William Brown and pro-South members of the city council by the Northern Army during the American Civil War?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2007/October.

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Copied?[edit]

Boy does this thing read like it was copied from somewhere. It may very well be more than 100 years old so not a copyvio, but it needs to be cleaned up. If this is copied from somewhere, will the contributor identify the source? Dread Pirate Westley•^Aargh 13:30, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It is amended copy from a 1917 source. I appreciate all the good work that has been done on my initial entry, but if you read carefully what I wrote you will find that I have identified the source that I based the article on and identified myself as the initial author. I welcome the critique and comments, but would also appreciate attention being paid to all sources cited when edited by someone else. Ed 11:42, 11 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ed Papenfuse edp@mdsa.net

Baltimore riot of 1861[edit]

The article Baltimore riot of 1861 needs to be linked back here through addition of Kane and his telegram. Dread Pirate Westley•^Aargh 13:30, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Canada[edit]

In 1863 Kane went to Canada where he was engaged with group of Confederate deserters, escaped prisoners, and government agents. He sent several letters to Pres. Jeff Davis proposing various schemes for militarizing rebel sympathizers in Maryland and using them as a force to hold off the Union. I will try to detail this soon. Dread Pirate Westley•^Aargh 13:30, 7 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Would love to know your source for this tidbit about Canada. I have a secondary source saying that John Wilkes Booth went to Canada in 1864 to present to a group of Confederate officials - including Kane - his plan for kidnapping the President. I have found a copy of a broadside Kane published in 1864 urging Md-ers in Confederate Army to form into Maryland units rather than fight under another state's flag, but no original source for this info regarding his travel to Canada. Did he go there when released from Ft. Warren? Also looking for source proving that Kane helped Mrs. Lincoln get thru Baltimore and that she got off the train before it got to the Calvert St station. Several accounts claim she was met by a hostile crowd at the station in Baltimore, but I understand Kane refuted this later by saying he assisted her in getting off the train before it reached the station. I'm working on updating and fleshing out this article. DGHistory58 00:45, 17 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The official papers of Jeff Davis, published in 10+ volumes by Rice Univ, include one or two letters from Kane in Canada to Davis. In one, he proposes to organize a heavy artillery unit from Maryland volunteers to hold the northern border; Davis forwards to the War Dept as impractical (artillery needed elsewhere) but maybe Kane could help out in some other way. I'm not sure if I knew of the source that Kane met with Booth, I will have to look in my files. Dread Pirate Westley•^Aargh 18:31, 18 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the tip about Jeff Davis papers. I got a copy and will use to add info re: Kane's movements during the Civil War. 69.251.112.60 01:14, 12 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

authors[edit]

I am a student in the MLA program at Johns Hopkins University. My course this semester is built around the so-called Baltimore plot of 1861. I have taken George Kane as my primary interest, and have written most of the current Kane article. Most of the pre and post Civil War information about him comes from a 1917 book about mayors of Baltimore, duly noted. I have done quite a bit of research about him from 1860-1865, including his role in the plot and the April 19, 1861 riot, his arrest and his movements during the war. Dick George Nov. 23, 2007DGHistory58 (talk) 17:47, 23 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]