![]() The son said the cave was dug for storing potatoes, that slaves never used the tunnel and Brown had never visited. She said her searchings had led to identifying 10 of them.Įdward Mayhew’s letter refuted earlier newspaper accounts, including one in the Omaha Bee in 1890, that Brown himself had guided escaped slaves to freedom through a tunnel underneath the Mayhew cabin. Van Winkle, in her research, has said that 12 slaves came to the cabin. In it, the son said that Kagi had once brought 14 escaped slaves to the Nebraska City cabin, who, after eating breakfast, continued on foot northward. James Potter, in a 2002 article for the Nebraska State Historical Society’s magazine about the “fact and folklore” of John Brown’s Cave, cited a letter from the Mayhews’ son, Edward. Several slaves passed throughįour years earlier, Kagi had lived for several months at the Nebraska City cabin of his sister Barbara Mayhew and her husband, Allen. Kagi, who was active in fighting slavery in Kansas, was second in command to Brown during the failed raid on Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, on Oct. Kagi, a correspondent for newspapers back East, was an associate of Brown in helping slaves escape nearby slave states, like Missouri, to reach freedom in the north. But over the years, the focus of the site has shifted from the cave and any connection to the famed abolitionist John Brown, to the role of the Mayhew family and of one of its relatives, John Kagi. ![]() The site has been a tourist attraction since the 1930s. The history of the Mayhew Cabin and John Brown’s Cave has been analyzed and disputed over the years. “ We would like to sit down and talk but without someone screaming at us, and making threats.”Ī representative of Nebraska City Tourism and Commerce, Pam Frana, said that visitors still inquire about visiting the Mayhew site and that tourism groups would also love to work with the foundation so it could reopen.īut when all parties are asked if any discussions are underway, the answer is no. But it’s sad that they resorted to this,” Leone said. “I don’t know if they’re to draw attention, I don’t know what they’re trying to do. Lou Leone, the city administrator, expressed regret that the site is closed and that a sign attacks the city. – Lou Leone, city administrator of Nebraska City While both foundation and city officials say they hope the complex can reopen, it appears the hard feelings are far from over, making it difficult to comprehend if the two sides can get together. The killed-by-city sign went up in September, just before the biggest tourism weekend of the year, the AppleJack Festival. Three lawsuits failīut three lawsuits filed by Mayhew Cabin and Historical Village foundation have failed - the last one was dismissed in April - and the foundation now says it needs a miracle to reopen. The nonprofit sued the city, claiming that it was responsible for the flood damage for allowing drainage pipes from the ravine to become clogged and upstream housing development to increase storm runoff. Lacking insurance, or funds otherwise to fix the damage and reopen, the foundation that owns the site closed it. The flooding damaged a tunnel that runs from underneath the cabin to the ravine, as well as the museum building, which now has mold, mildew and foundation problems. That runs through the attraction’s property. But the use of a tunnel underneath it to hide slaves has been disputed by the Mayhew family. (Paul Hammel/Nebraska Examiner) Flooding in 2019 closed attractionīut heavy rains over Memorial Day weekend in 2019 flooded a ravine The Mayhew Cabin, built in the 1850s, was a stop on the Underground Railroad, according to Cathy Van Winkle, who has identified 10 of 12 escaped slaves who stopped there in 1859 on their way north. For more than eight decades, it has hosted thousands of schoolchildren and other visitors seeking to learn about the history of the Underground Railroad and its connection to a small log cabin, hewn from local cottonwoods long before Nebraska was a state. “Killed” refers to the closure of the Mayhew Cabin and John Brown’s Cave, one of the most popular tourist sites in this community. “NC” refers to Nebraska City, a quaint Missouri River town that is the home of Arbor Day as well as 10 museums, honoring everything from windmills to Civil War veterans. NEBRASKA CITY - The sign outside the long-closed Mayhew Cabin museum and John Brown’s Cave is blunt and to the point: “Killed by City of NC.”
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