General Thomas L. Kane Civil War Memorial

This town is named for a man who was never a Latter-day Saint and never lived here. Thomas L. Kane was a Pennsylvania reformer who befriended the Mormons in 1846 and spent years defending them in Washington. His great service came in 1857, when the U.S. Army marched on Utah and war loomed. Kane crossed the country at his own expense, talked both sides down, and the crisis passed without a battle. He became a Union general in the Civil War. When settlers here needed a name, an apostle proposed his — Kanesville, for the Saints' truest outside friend.

What the plaque says

In honorable remembrance of Thomas L. Kane Jan. 27, 1822 – Dec. 26, 1883 Born and died Philadelphia, PA Friend of the Latter-day Saints, instrument in the hands of God During his life, Thomas Kane worked to abolish slavery, establish housing for underprivileged children, provide schools for young children and higher education for women, and lobby on behalf of American Indians. He devoted his life to helping the downtrodden. To the Saints, he is best remembered as their defender and friend. In 1846, he was instrumental in the creation of the Mormon Battalion. In 1858, at great personal sacrifice, he traveled to Utah to intercede in behalf of the Mormons during the Utah War. Respected by both sides, his mediation helped to avert bloodshed and establish peace. He advised Brigham Young on self-government in Utah and promoted Utah statehood in Washington, D.C. When this area was separated from the Hooper Ward in April 1886, President John Taylor suggested the name of Kanesville in grateful remembrance of Thomas Kane. Erected 2000

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hill Aerospace Museum — 4.2 mi
  Over 90 military aircraft displayed indoors and on the tarmac
• Ogden Union Station — 6.5 mi
  A grand 1924 train depot turned museum complex
• Snowbasin — 12 mi
  One of the country's oldest ski areas and a 2002 Olympic downhill venue — world-class terrain that somehow still skis uncrowded.
• Antelope Island State Park — 17 mi
  A rugged island in the Great Salt Lake with free-roaming bison

More markers nearby

• Muskrat Springs-Hooper — 2.0 mi
• First Post Office in Roy — 3.4 mi
• Clinton — 3.5 mi
• First House in Hooper — 4.1 mi