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Library of Congress The Life, trial, and execution of Captain John Brown THE LIFE, TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF CAPTAIN JOHN BROWN KNOWN AS “OLD BROWN OF OSSAWATOMIE,” WITH A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE ATTEMPTED INSURRECTION AT HARPER'S FERRY. COMPILED FROM OFFICIAL AND AUTHENTIC SOURCES. Including Cooke's Confession, and all the Incidents of the Execution. NEW YORK. ROBERT M. DE WITT, PUBLISHER. 16? & 162 NASSAU STREET. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18??, by ROBERT M. DE WITT, In the Clerks's Office of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. W. M. THE LIFE, TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF CAPTAIN JOHN BROWN. The extraordinary, outbreak at Harper's Ferry, in Virginia, on the night of the 16th of October, 1859, the forcible seizure of the national Arsenal, the capture, imprisonment and killing of the people, and the almost immediate suppression and extermination of the insurgents, are events of historical importance. The madness of the attempt, the boldness —amounting to heroism—of the handful of men who were concerned in the movement, and especially the romantic history and personal character of the chief actor, have awakened in the public mind an ardent desire to know more of the man and his intentions. The Life, trial, and execution of Captain John Brown http://www.loc.gov/resource/llst.021 Library of Congress To gratify this desire, as well as to record, in convenient form, the facts concerning the outbreak and its suppression, with the trial of the leader, John Brown, we have compiled the following pages, aiming only to state the truth in all respects, according to the best sources of information. CAPT. JOHN BROWN. John Brown—variously known as “Old Brown,” “Fighting Brown,” and “Ossawatomie Brown”—made his first public appearance in Lykins County, Kansas, in the year 1855. So strange a career as his has not arrested the public attention since Joe Smith was shot in the Carthage jail. His rank among the world's notabilities will be among such fanatics as Peter the Hermit, who believed himself commissioned of Cod to redeem the Holy Sepulchre from the hands of the infidels—Joanna Southcote, who deemed herself big with the promised Shiloh—Ignatius Loyola, who thought that the Son of Man appeared to him, bearing his cross on his shoulders, and gave him a Latin commission of mighty import— or Don Quixote, who was 8 persuaded that he had a mission to rescue all the persecuted damsels in Spain. It was Brown's idea that he was divinely appointed to bring American Slavery to a sudden and violent end. HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE John Brown would not strike one who saw him as being a very tall man. He stooped somewhat as he walked; was rather narrow-shouldered. Went looking on the ground almost all the time, with his head bent forward apparently in study or thought. Walked rather rapidly, and very energetically. His features were very sharp, nose prominent, eyes were black or very dark grey. His hair was quite light, and he wore it rather long about the time of the skirmish at Lawrence. He wore a coarse, homespun kind of clothing, and was usually very unpresuming in his appearance and dress. He seemed to be rather taciturn in his habits, and was a sort of meteoric character, appearing very unexpectedly now at one place, and then at another, so that it could never be known where he was to be found. The Life, trial, and execution of Captain John Brown http://www.loc.gov/resource/llst.021 Library of Congress His appearances and disappearances were always sudden, and in a decided manner. He seemed to be ever on the alert. When he spoke, it was generally in short and precise sentences, energetically expressed, and to the point. When walking, he would not look to the right or left (unless in danger), but seemed to be deeply engaged upon something in his own mind. From another gentleman, who knew him well, we have the following personal portrait: In stature, Mr. Brown was nearly six feet high. He was slim, wiry, dark in complexion, sharp in feature, but with remarkable firmness expressed in his face His eye was sharp, penetrating, and steady. Few men could look him steadily in the eye more than a breath. His hair was dark, and, two years since, was deeply sprinkled with grey. His brow was prominent, the centre of the forehead flat, the upper part of the forehead retreating, which gave, in conjunction with his slightly Roman nose, an interesting and reckless appearance. At the crown of his head, he was remarkably high, in the regions of the phrenological organs of firmness, conscientiousness, and self-esteem, indicating a stern will, unswerving integrity, and remarkable self-possession. The whole family of Browns, the brothers of the man of Harper's Ferry, are of similar build and general characteristics. Whoever can get the promise of a Brown of that breed, considers himself secure JOHN BROWN'S BUSINESS ENGAGEMENTS. There are various statements as to the place of John Brown's nativity. It has Been asserted that he was born at Torrington, Litchfield County, Connecticut; but in one of his answers to parties in Virginia, he stated that he was born in the State of New York. 9 Previous to 1837, he was considered one of the most enterprising business men in Northern Ohio, and built warehouses, and engaged in business on the Canal and Cuyahoga River at Franklin Mills, six miles west of Ravenna, in Portage County The crash of 1837 made him a bankrupt. The great warehouses were standing there empty in 1850, The Life, trial, and execution of Captain John Brown http://www.loc.gov/resource/llst.021 Library of Congress while his son stood with our informant on the bank of the river, and gave this sad fragment of the history of his father's fortune. In 1848, we find him in a large woollen warehouse in Springfield, Massachusetts, where he was known as a quiet, modest man, of unswerving integrity. Indeed, hundreds of wool-growers in Northern Ohio consigned their stock to him to be sold at discretion. A combination of eastern manufacturers, who wished to have no such stern and unflinching man between themselves and the wool-growers, formed in league against him, and forced him to send his wool to Europe for a market, which resulted in a second disaster, and Brown was again reduced to poverty. JOHN BROWN AS A FARMER. Immediately after this failure, he made his appearance as a farmer or cattle breeder in North Elba, one of the interior and most secluded towns of Essex County, and verging upon the vast wilderness of northern New York. The humble farm of Brown is situated on an elevated and broad plateau, embosomed in the giant arms of the Adirondacs. No district of the State is more impressive by the grandeur of its physical features, or its exquisite natural beauties. The town is separated from the outer world by a harrier of dark and lofty mountains Although embracing a territory equal to that of some counties, its population does not exceed four hundred souls. North Elba was the scene of Gerrit Smith's abortive attempts at negro colonization. The scheme may have been suggested by sincere philanthropy, but its issue was an utter failure, entailing upon the author disappointment, and sorrow and suffering on the recipients of his bounty. Scarcely a vestige now remains of this colony, although at one time so numerous that it seemed probable the anomalous political aspect would be exhibited of a town in New York controlled by negro suffrages, and represented in the County Board by a colored supervisors. Only two or three of the colonists remain. They have either abandoned their farms, or the lands have been sold for taxes. Nothing remains The Life, trial, and execution of Captain John Brown http://www.loc.gov/resource/llst.021 Library of Congress of this vaunted city of refuge. Brown made his appearance in North Elba, near the advent of this negro emigration. At the Agricultural Fair of Essex County, for 1850, a great sensation wan created by the unlooked-for appearance on the grounds of a beautiful herd of Devon cattle. They were the first that had been exhibited at the county festival, and every one was surprised and delighted by the incident. The inquiry was universal, whose are these cattle, and from whence do they come? The surprise and excitement was not diminished, when it was understood that a certain John Brown 10 was the owner, and that he resided in the town of North Elba. The Report of the Society for that year contains the following reference to this event: “The appearance upon the grounds of a number of very choice and beautiful Devons, from the herd of Mr. John Brown, residing in one of our most remote and secluded towns, attracted great attention, and added much to the interest of the Fair. The interest and admiration they excited have attracted public attention to the subject, and has already resulted in the introduction of several choice animals into this region. We have no doubt but that this influence upon the character of the stock of our county will be permanent and decisive.” A gentleman who soon after opened a correspondence with Brown in relation to these cattle, states that his reply is written in a strong and vigorous hand,—and by its orthography, accurate punctuation, and careful arrangement of paragraphs, evinces far more than ordinary taste and scholarship.
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