James H. Lane, 1814-1866, was born in Indiana, where he served as lieutenant governor and as a United States congressman. Although Lane voted in favor of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, after he came to Kansas a year later, he became a strong advocate of the free-state cause. In 1861, Lane was elected to the U.S. Senate, and he was re-elected in 1865. After the Civil War, the erratic Lane returned to a conservative political position, supporting President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction plans. Lane committed suicide in Kansas in 1866.
Further Reading:
Spurgeon, Ian Michael. Man of Douglas, Man of Lincoln: The Political Odyssey of James Henry Lane. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008.
Stephenson, Wendell H. The Political Career of General James H. Lane. Topeka: Kansas State Historical Society, 1930.
