James Pond (Medal of Honor)

James Burton Pond was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. For his actions during the Battle of Baxter Springs, he received the Medal of Honor. Returning to civilian life, he became a highly successful lecture manager whose clients included Mark Twain, Winston Churchill, and Henry Morton Stanley.

Pond was born on June 11, 1838 in Cuba, New York, though his official residence was listed as Janesville, Wisconsin. The family moved, first to Illinois in 1844, then to Wisconsin in 1847. Pond became a strong abolitionist. He was a member of the Underground Railroad, helping escaped slaves reach freedom and reportedly riding with John Brown for a time in the mid1850s. He studied printing and published The Journal in Markesan, Wisconsin between 1860 and 1861.

Source: Wikipedia