Object Record
Images
Additional Images [2]
Metadata
Object Name |
Cane |
Catalog Number |
0985.13.01162 |
Description |
The cane is made of red-brown wood, carved in relief with lizard, turtle, and snakes and inscribed near the top, "J. H. McKenzie / Johnson's / Island / W Sherman," on each face of a rectangle. |
Dimensions |
L-32.5 inches |
Owned |
J. H. McKenzie |
Made |
J. H. McKenzie, Johnson's Island Military Prison, Ohio, USA |
Provenance |
The cane was carved at Johnson's Island by J. H. McKenzie, a prisoner of war, for W. Sherman. "A man by the name of McKenzie, a prisoner on the island, with five others had tunneled under the stockade. They were escaping on the ice, when my father, at this time a guard, a boy of only sixteen, discovered them. He shot one and the rest surrendered including McKenzie. Later on, my father was very kind to him and in consideration of this courtesy, McKenzie carved this cane and made him a present of it…. I regret that, owing to an accident while absent from the office, this cane was broken, but it can be repaired very easily." (donor letter) |
People |
McKenzie, J. H. Sherman, W. |
Search Terms |
Johnson's Island Military Prison |
Subjects |
POW's Prisoners of war prisoners Escaped prisoners Escapes gifts Prison escapes Prison guards surrenders |