Wagener was born in Sievern / Bremerhaven on July 21, 1816 and baptized July 24 in Debstedt / Bremerhaven. He immigrated from Germany to New York in 1831 and worked as a store clerk. In 1833, he relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, where he began using the first name "John." He founded the first German-language newspaper of the South. Among the many social organizations founded by Wagener were the German Jägerkorps ; the Deutsche Feuerwehr-Compagnie of Charleston whose president he was until 1850; and the Teutonenbund, a literary and musical society from which the Freundschaftsbund emanated. In April 1844 he became the editor of the German-language newspaper Der Teutone. Wagener's most lasting work was the founding of the city ofWalhalla, South Carolina. In October 1848, the same year in which he was accepted as member of the venerable German Friendly Society, he held the first meeting of the German Colonization Society. In December 1849, 17,859 acres were purchased in the Pickens District, and the town was carefully laid out with a public square. At the commencement of the Civil War, Col. J.A. Wagener was in charge of the First Artillery regiment which consisted almost entirely of Germans. Ordered to defend Port Royal harbor. They built Fort Walker on Hilton Head island and defended it on November 7, 1861, until their gunpowder ran out. After the war John A. Wagener was commissioned Brigadier-General by Governor James L. Orr and Fort Wagener on Morris Island was named after him. In 1871, Wagener was elected mayor of Charleston. The election was held on August 2, 1871, and Wagener won by more than 800 votes. Members of the opposition, however, claimed irregularities had occurred involving poll managers. State law at that time required election contests to be head by Charleston's city council, and a contest was filed. However, city council did not meet because of a lack of a quorum. Eventually, the opposition was granted a writ of mandamus by a state judge that ordered city council to meet on October 25, 1871, to hear the contest. A quorum was again lacking on October 25, 1871, so the case was heard by the judge in Columbia, South Carolina on October 28, 1871. The argument of city council turned mainly on procedural issues about the filing of the case in court. At the end of the proceeding, Judge Graham ruled against the election protesters and dismissed the action. He lived at the corner of St. Philip Street and McBride's Lane. Wagener died in Walhalla, South Carolina on August 27, 1876.
