NM Brown, John

John Brown​

Born: May 9, 1800

Birthplace: Torrington, Connecticut

Father: Owen Brown 1771 – 1856

(Buried: Old Hudson Township Burying Ground, Hudson, Ohio)​

Mother: Ruth Mills 1772 – 1808

(Buried: Old Hudson Township Burying Ground, Hudson, Ohio)​

1st​ Wife: Dianthe Lusk 1801 – 1832

(Buried: Brown Family Cemetery, New Richmond, Pennsylvania)​

2nd​ Wife: Mary Ann Day 1816 – 1884

(Buried: Madronia Cemetery, Saratoga, California)​

Children:

John Brown Jr. 1821 – 1895​

(Buried: Crown Hill Cemetery, Put–in–Bay, Ohio)​

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Jason Brown 1823 – 1912​

(Buried: Glendale Cemetery, Akron, Ohio)​

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Owen Brown 1824 – 1889​

(Buried: Brown Mountain Grave Site, Altadena, California)​

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Frederick Brown 1827 – 1831​

(Buried: Brown Family Cemetery, New Richmond, Pennsylvania)​

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Ruth Brown Thompson 1829 – 1904​

(Buried: Mountain View Cemetery Mausoleum, Altadena, California)​

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Frederick Brown 1830 – 1856​

(Buried: Brown Cemetery, Osawatomie, Kansas)

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Infant Son Brown 1832 – 1832​

(Buried: Brown Family Cemetery, New Richmond, Pennsylvania)​

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Sarah Brown 1834 – 1843​

(Buried: Fairview Cemetery, Richfield, Ohio)​

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Watson Brown 1835 – 1859​

(Buried: John Brown Farm Grounds, North Elba, New York)​

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Salmon Brown 1836 – 1919​

(Buried: Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery, Portland, Oregon)​

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Charles Brown 1837 – 1843​

(Buried: Fairview Cemetery, Richfield, Ohio)​

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Oliver Brown 1839 – 1859​

(Buried: John Brown Farm Grounds, North Elba, New York)​

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Peter Brown 1840 – 1843​

(Buried: Fairview Cemetery, Richfield, Ohio)​

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Austin Brown 1842 – 1843​

(Buried: Fairview Cemetery, Richfield, Ohio)​

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Annie Brown Adams 1843 – 1926​

(Buried: Rohnerville Pioneer Cemetery, Rohnerville, California)​

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Sarah Brown 1846 – 1916​

(Buried: Madronia Cemetery, Saratoga, California)​

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Ellen Brown 1848 – 1849​

(Buried: North Elba Cemetery, North Elba, New York)​

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Ellen Brown Fablinger 1854 – 1917​

(Buried: Madronia Cemetery, Saratoga, California)​

Education:

Studied at the school of abolitionist Elizur Wright

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Taught himself Surveying from a book​

Antebellum Events:

Attacked with inflammation of the eyes​

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Worked briefly for his father's tannery in Hudson​

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Owner of a tannery with his adopted brother Levi Blakeslee​

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Owner of 200 Acres of land in New Richmond Pennsylvania​

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Built a well – ventilated room for hiding escaping slaves​

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Owner of the John Brown Tannery in New Richmond Pennsylvania​

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Made money surveying new roads in New Richmond Pennsylvania​

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Helped establish a post office in New Richmond Pennsylvania​

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1828 – 1835: United States Postmaster for Randolph Pennsylvania​

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Leader in setting up a Congregational Society Richmond Pennsylvania​

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1832: Brown's wife died from the effects of childbirth.​

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1833: Married 17-year-old Mary Ann Day​

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1836: Moved his family to Franklin Mills Ohio​

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Owner of a tannery along the Cuyahoga River in Ohio​

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1837: Suffered losses from the Panic of 1837​

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1842: Declared bankruptcy in the federal court.​

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1843: Four of his children died from the effects of dysentery​

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1846: Moved to Springfield Massachusetts​

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Business partner in Wool Commission Operation in Springfield.​

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Helped transfer Springfield into a center for abolitionism​

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Helped make Springfield one of safest of the Underground Railroad​

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Founder of the League of Gileadites​

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1848: Moved his family to Timbuctoo New York to settle on a farm.​

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Provided guidance and assistance for blacks to establish farms.​

1855: Participated in the anti – slavery convention in Albany New York

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1855: Moved to Kansas after hearing his sons were unprepared.​

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1856: Affected by the sacking of Lawrence Kansas​

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1856: Leader in the Pottawatomie Massacre​

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1856: Defended the Free State Settlement of Palmyra Kansas​

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1856: His son Frederick was killed outskirts of Osawatomie Kansas​

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1856: Entered Lawrence to meet with Free State Leaders​

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1856: Returned to the East by November​

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Spent two raising funds for his campaign to free all slaves in south.​

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1857: Organized Anti – Slavery Mock legislature in Springdale Iowa​

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1858: Massachusetts Committee pledged 200 sharps Rifles​

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Hired Hugh Forbes as his men's drillmaster and to write a handbook​

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1858: Visited Frederick Douglass in Rochester New York​

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1858: Led his own raid to liberate 11 slaves​

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1859: Arrived at Harper's Ferry on July 3rd​ under the name Isaac Smith​

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1859: Met with Frederick Douglass in Chambersburg Pennsylvania​

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1859: Led 18 men in an attack on the Harpers Ferry Armory​

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1859: Captured at the U.S. Armory by Colonel Robert E. Lee​

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1859: Brown was found guilty after a weeklong trial and sentenced to hang.​

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1859: Hung on December 2nd​ at 11:25 AM.​

Died: December 2, 1859

Place of Death: Charles Town, Virginia (later West Virginia)

Cause of Death: Death by Hanging pronounced dead at 11:50 AM.

Age at time of Death: 59 years old

Burial Place: John Brown Farm Grounds, North Elba, New York

Last Words: "I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed it might be done."

 

[uaskme]

Kind of like you bringing up the Plains Indians in a thread about John Brown.

Well, it is curious some are so concerned about Blacks, which they didn't have. Then again have no remorse about peoples that they did have, Natives.

 

[Potomac Pride]

Brown was found guilty of murder, treason and insurrection . His plan was reckless and delusional. Brown's actions only resulted in the death of innocent people including the Mayor of Harper's Ferry and a free black man. The man was a lunatic.

 

[Trooper "D"]

I was referring to the charge of treason to Virginia. How could Brown be considered a traitor to Virginia?

Harbor's Ferry is a U.S. Arsenal. That's where the treason lies.

 

[Trooper "D"]

Weren't there 5 or 6 men murdered during his raid? Then 10 more when the firehouse was stormed. Sorry, but I don't see him as a martyr.

That's the men and boys who were hacked to death with cutlasses for no apparent reason?

 

[Trooper "D"]

It's a shame the confederate leadership didn't hang for treason like Brown.

They didn't commit treason and of it could have been proven they assuredly would have stretched Jeff's neck. After 2 years in prison they had to let him go.

 

[Library Lady]

For those of you who enjoyed Tony Horwitz's Confederates in the Attic, you might want to check out his Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War.

MIDNIGHT RISING | Kirkus Reviews

A crisply written but not entirely original retelling of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry.

www.kirkusreviews.com

I agree with the Kirkus reviewer that there isn't anything new and that it's not a deep dive into the subject and his era, but it is an engaging and concise account. I was struck by how grandiose Brown's ideas were and how little he really had to work with. The whole enterprise has been wrapped in myth, but in reality it just seems pathetic. He had no vast enslaved Black following. Those who might have heard of the plot were too grounded in reality to become involved.

 

[Potomac Pride]

They didn't commit treason and of it could have been proven they assuredly would have stretched Jeff's neck. After 2 years in prison they had to let him go

The federal government chose not to prosecute Jeff Davis and released him. They realized that a trial would raise complex legal issues about secession which could have resulted in a possible acquittal. This would have ruined the justification for the war by the Union.

 

[DanSBHawk]

They didn't commit treason and of it could have been proven they assuredly would have stretched Jeff's neck. After 2 years in prison they had to let him go.

I disagree. It was plainly treason.

 

[DanSBHawk]

Harbor's Ferry is a U.S. Arsenal. That's where the treason lies.

Brown was convicted of treason against Virginia.

 

[Trooper "D"]

The federal government chose not to prosecute Jeff Davis and released him. They realized that a trial would raise complex legal issues about secession which could have resulted in a possible acquittal. This would have ruined the justification for the war by the Union.

Thank you. That's what I was trying to say but I didn't quite get it out. Your concise clarity on the subject is appreciated.
Cheers!

 

[Trooper "D"]

I disagree. It was plainly treason.

I refer you to the comment by Potomac Pride.

 

[Trooper "D"]

Brown was convicted of treason against Virginia.

Well, I guess trying to incite a slave revolt in Virginia was a bad idea. It does illustrate how the individual states operated as independent self determined entities at that time.

 

[DanSBHawk]

I refer you to the comment by Potomac Pride.

Thanks, I've read about issue of post-war treason trials. The case against Davis was dropped in 1868 after the General Amnesty was announced. There is a lot more to the subject as to why Davis and other former confederates were not tried before then. But my opinion remains, along with many others of that time and since, that it was definitely treason.