Cazneau, Jane McManus (1807–1878)

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Cazneau, Jane McManus (1807–1878)

American journalist and expansionist. Name variations: Jane McManus; Jane McManus Storms; (pseudonym) Cora Montgomery. Born Jane Maria Eliza McManus, April 6, 1807, near Troy, NY; died Dec 12, 1878; dau. of William Telemachus McManus and Catharina (Coons) McManus; m. Allen B. (or William F.) Storms, 1825; m. William Leslie Cazneau (died 1876), late 1840s; children: (1st m.) 1 son.

Wrote for Moses Yale Beach's New York Sun; traveled with Beach on secret peace mission to Mexico City (1846); provided valuable information to General Winfield Scott about potential routes for his westward move toward Mexico City; became lobbyist for Mexican annexation; backed Narcisco Lopez in efforts to free Cuba from Spain and served as editor of pro-Lopez paper La Verdad; wrote The Queen of Islands and the King of Rivers (1850), which urged Cuban annexation; involved with 2nd husband in attempting annexation of Santo Domingo; with others, formed American West Indian Co. to promote Caribbean colonization; died in the foundering of the Emily B. Souder off Cape Hatteras. Other works include In the Tropics; by a Settler in Santo Domingo (1863), The Prince of Kashna: A West Indian Story (1866) and Our Winter Eden; Pen Pictures of the Tropics (1878).