John Hagan (died June 8, 1856) was a well-known American interstate slave trader who operated slave jails in both Charleston and

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, as well as maintaining strong business and personal ties to the

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

slave markets. He partnered with his brothers Hugh Hagan and Alexander Hagan, as well as with his maternal uncles, Hugh McDonald and Alexander McDonald. John Hagan was also a

cotton factor In the antebellum and Reconstruction era South, most cotton planters relied on cotton factors (also known as cotton brokers) to sell their crops for them. Description The cotton factor was usually located in an urban center of commerce, such as ...

, meaning he ran a cotton brokerage and de facto private bank and business office for cotton plantation owners. According to historian

Walter Johnson Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "the Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and Manager (baseball), manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Ba ...

, "John Hagan's yearly routine began in Charleston with slave buying during June and July; he continued in Virginia and then was back in Charleston in September, still buying, before traveling to New Orleans in October." Hagan was both a shipper and consignee (intended recipient) of enslaved people who were on the '' Creole'' in 1841. Before he died in 1856 he worked assiduously to manumit a young enslaved woman from Virginia named Lucy Ann Cheatam, and her two children, Frederika Bremer "Dolly" Cheatam and William Lowndes Cheatam. He also provided bequests of cash and real estate for her in two versions of his will. Per historian Alexandra J. Finley, these children, and two others who died young, were almost certainly Hagan's biological offspring.

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* 1856 deaths 19th-century American slave traders American slave owners Businesspeople from New Orleans History of slavery in Louisiana 19th-century American merchants Year of birth missing Cotton factors {{US-business-bio-1850s-stub

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