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John Brooks Henderson Journal, 1895, Accession #11057, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
This collection was given to the Library on September 2, 1992, by Helen Marie Hawkins of Richmond, Virginia.
John Brooks Henderson, Jr. (1870-1923) was born in Louisiana, Missouri, and attended Harvard, receiving his law degree from George Washington University in 1893. He was later a Republican candidate for Congress in 1906 from the eighth Virginia district. In 1901, he wrote American Diplomatic Questions . Henderson served as private secretary to former Secretary of State (under President Harrison) John Watson Foster (1836-1917). Foster was born in Pike County, Indiana, and received two degrees from Indiana University and attended Harvard Law School for one year. He was admitted to the Indiana Bar and practiced law at Evansville, 1857-1861, until he entered the Union Army as a major in the 25th Indiana Volunteers. He served as editor of the Evansville Daily Journal , 1865-1869 and became postmaster of Evansville in 1869-1873. After that he began his diplomatic career, serving as minister to Mexico (1873-1880), to Russia (1880-1881), to Spain (1883-1885), and as Secretary of State (1892- 1893).
In 1894, Foster was invited as a private citizen by the Emperor of China to participate in the peace negotiations with Japan at the conclusion of the Sino-Japanese War; at that time he held no United States government position. The United States, being on friendly terms with both powers had maintained a policy of strict neutrality throughout the conflict. Foster had served as legal counsel to the Chinese legation in Washington, D.C., during the war and was well aware of the events transpiring in the Far East.
On December 22, Foster received a telegram from the Tsungli Yamen (Foreign Office) requesting his counsel in assisting a Chinese commission headed by the elderly Viceroy, Li Hung-chang, appointed to negotiate the peace with Japan. Foster accompanied the Viceroy and his son, Li Ching-fong, to Shimonoseki, where negotionations were to be held. As a result of difficult negotiations with the Japanese, the peace terms proposed by the Japanese in the Treaty of Shimonoseki were finally reduced to the recogition by China of Korean independence, the cessation of Taiwan, the Pescadores, and the Liaotung Peninsula to Japan, the opening of four Chinese port cities as treaty ports, guarantees for Japanese citizens to operate factories in China and an indemnity of two million taels. The formal signing of the treaty took place in Shimonoseki on April 17, 1895. Later the Japanese relinguished their demand for the Liaotung Peninsula.
Foster then traveled to Peking, where he encouraged the Tsungli Yamen on behalf of Li Hung-chang, to ratify the treaty. On May 8, 1895, the treaty was signed at Chefoo but the unpleasant task of transferring the island of Formosa (Taiwan) to the Japanese remained. The people of Taiwan had declared their independence in late May, establishing the Republic of Taiwan forcing the Japanese to fight to gain control of their new territory. The Japanese had demanded that the Chinese appoint a commission to handle the transfer so the Tsungli Yamen appointed Li Ching-fong, the son of the Chinese Viceroy Li Hung-chang, to this unpopular assignment. The Viceroy pleaded with Foster to accompany his son on this dangerous mission and he agreed to do so. The journal in this collection was kept by Henderson about this part of Foster's mission to China.
This collection consists of a bound autograph manuscript, 1895, Journal of Trip to Formosa with the Chinese Commission, for the purpose of transferring officially that Island to the Japanese kept by John Brooks Henderson, Jr. (1870-1923), private secretary to former Secretary of State (under President Harrison) John W. Foster (1836-1917). Also present is a 1991 typescript of the journal prepared by Helen Marie Hawkins with an electrostatic copy of a photograph of Henderson.
In the beginning of his journal, Henderson mentions the signing (April 17) and the ratification (May 8) of the Treaty of Shimonoseki at Chefoo; the opposition to the liberal reform policy of Viceroy Li Hung-chang; the actions of Russia, France, and Germany, forcing Japan to relinquish her claim on the Liaotung Peninsula; the appointment of Li Ching-fong to carry out the transfer of Formosa (Taiwan); the indigenous warriors, the "Black Flags" who threatened to kill anyone who landed on Formosa for purposes of cession; the plea of the Viceroy for Foster to accompany his son to Formosa; and traveling on the steamer, May 21-24, Kung Yi.
May 25 / Shanghai
Henderson also mentions Consul General Jernigan; his observations about Lord Li Ching- fong and his fear of attack in Shanghai; news of the Formosan secession and the formation of the Republic of Formosa; and the secret shipment of arms to Formosa from Shanghai and Canton.
May 26 / Shanghai
Foster sends a telegram to Nagasaki inquiring about the departure of Admiral Kabayama from Japan; Henderson writes concerning the possibility of having to wait for the Japanese conquest of the island; the strongly fortified port cities Tamsui and Keelung; a social function aboard the man-of-war U.S.S. Petrel; a comparison of American and European travelers; the detrimental effect of not having a Consular or Diplomatic Service with a proper system of training and of the spoils system at foreign posts; Foster's desire to leave at once for Formosa to meet the Japanese; the procurement of the medical services of Dr. Johnson, a missionary in Chinese costume, who brought probes and other equipment for removing bullets; his shell collection and those of a collector friend of his, Mr. Schmacker, head of Carlowitz and Company.
May 27 / Shanghai
Henderson writes concerning the Japanese fleet off the port of Tamsui, where Kabayama is waiting for Lord Li (the son); the bad judgment of Viceroy Li in delaying his return to Peking; and his opinion of Consul General [Thomas R. ?] Jernigan.
May 28 / Shanghai
He mentions the concern of Viceroy Li for the safety of his son who wants to send 100 Chinese soldiers as a bodyguard; his opinion of Chang Yen Hoon (a Chinese mandarin ?); Dr. Johnson's bill for medicines and bullet extractors; "The scum of Keoang Tung, the Canton province, the rowdies and pirates of the coast are assembling under the black flag"; and the desertion rate aboard the Kung Fi, especially the loss of the cook.
May 29 / Shanghai
He discusses the cosmopolitan state of Shanghai and his opinion of Oriental women. May 30 / traveling down the Yangtze River
On the Kung Yi, receives news that the Japanese have landed at Taipehou and have notified the government that it must vacate; and mentions the presence on board of Manlicher rifles and personal revolvers.
May 31 / On the Kung Yi
Having left Woosung, they arrived a few miles north of Tamsui; and considerable time spent preparing a document stating that Li Ching-fong had been appointed Commissioner with full powers to transfer Formosa.
June 1/ East of Keelung, Formosa
Mentions the preparation of the Japanese to land on Formosa; the report of Mr. Morse, the American commissioner of customs for the port of Tamsui that the heart of the people was not in the revolution; the journey to a point about twelve miles away from Keelung, anchored next to the Yokohama Maru, the vessel of Admiral Kabayama; and his opinion of Oriental music.
June 2 / East of Keelung,
Formosa
Henderson writes concerning the visits of Lord Li to see Admiral Kabayama on the Yokohama Maru and the visits of Kabayama to the Kung Yi, until a form of transfer was eventually agreed upon; the purchase of some shells from indigenous peoples, and his sorrow over missing the battle on the morrow.
June 3 / At sea
He writes about the bad weather on the return to Shanghai; his pleasure in reading Alfred Russel Wallace's Malay Archipelago; and his views on health.
June 4 / At sea
He relates the facts concerning the up and down career of a Chinese naval officer, Len Mon-king; and reached Shanghai about four. At the end of the journal, Henderson supplies an itinerary for his and Foster's journey to China on the mission for the Viceroy.