Publication: National Anti-Slavery Standard
Date: DECEMBER 3, 1859
American Anti-Slavery SocietyTitle: THE STANDARD.JOHN BROWN'S INVASION.LETTERS FROM JOHN BROWN.TO
TO HIS OLD TEACHER.
My aged friend, Rev. H. L. Vaill, of this place, remembers John Brown as having been under his instruction in the year 1817, at Morris Academy. He was a godly youth, laboring to recover his disadvantages of early education, in the hope of entering the ministry of the Gospel. Since then, the teacher and pupil have met but once to take “a retrospective look over the route by which God had led them.” But a short time since, Mr. Vaill wrote to Brown in his prison a letter of Christian friendship, to which he has received the following heroic and sublime reply.
Has ever such an epistle been written from a condemned cell since the letter “to Timotheus,” when Paul “was brought before Nero the second time”?
I have copied it faithfully from the autograph that lies before me, without the change or omission of a word, except to omit the full name of the friends to whom he sends his message.
The words in italics and capitals are so underscored in the orignal. The handwriting is clear and firm, but toward the end of the sheet seems to show that the sick old man's hand was growing weary. The very characters make an appeal to us for our sympathy and prayers. “His salutation with his own hand. Remember his bonds.”
Truly yours,
L. W. BACON.
Litchfield, Ct., Nov. 21, 1859.
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REV. H. L. VAILL—
I wish I could write you about a few only of the interesting
times I here experience with different classes of
men,
My dear old friend, I do assure you I have not forgotten
our last meeting, nor our retrospective look over the
route by which God had then led us; and I bless his
name that he has again enabled me to hear your words
of cheering and comfort at a time when I, at least, am on
the “brink of Jordan.” See Bunyan's Pilgrim. God in
infinite mercy grant us soon another meeting on the opposite
shore. I have often passed under the rod of him
whom I call my Father; and certainly no son needed it
oftener; and yet I have enjoyed much of life, as I was
enabled to discover the secret of this somewhat early. It
has been in making the prosperity and happiness of others
I am an unworthy nephew of Deacon John, and I
loved him much; and in view of the many choice friends
I have had here, I am led the more earnestly to pray,
“gather
Your assurance of the earnest sympathy of the friends in my native land is very grateful to my feelings; and allow me to say a word of comfort to them:
As I believe most firmly that God reigns, I cannot
believe that anything I have
But “God's will,
I send through you my best wishes to Mrs. W—–and
her son George, and to all dear friends. May the God
of the
Your friend in truth,
JOHN BROWN.
TO HIS HALF-BROTHER.
The Cleveland
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DEAR BROTHER JEREMIAH: Your kind letter of the 9th
inst. is received, and also one from Mr. Tilden, for both
of which I am greatly obliged. You inquire, “Can I do
anything for you or your family?” I would answer that
my sons, as well as my wife and my daughter, are all
very poor, and that anything that may hereafter be due
me from my father's estate I wish paid to them, as I will
endeavor
Your affectionate brother,
JOHN BROWN.
P. S—NOV. 13.—Say to my poor boys never to
grieve for one moment on my account; and should many
of you live to see the time when you will not blush to
own your relation to old John Brown, it will not be more
strange than many things that have happened. I feel a
thousand times more on account of my sorrowing friends
than on my own account. So far as
J. BROWN.
TO A FRIEND IN NEW YORK.
From The Times.
A gentleman of this city, who has received the following letter from John Brown, has handed it to us for publication:
CHARLESTOWN, Jefferson Co., Va., Nov. 17, 1859.
MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND: I have just received your
most kind and welcome letter of the 15th inst., but did
not get any other from you. I am under many obligations
to you, and to your father, for all the kindness you
have shown me, especially since my disaster. May God
and your own consciences ever be your rewarders.
Tell your father that I am quite cheerful—that I do not
feel myself in the least degraded by my imprisonment, my
chain, or the near prospect of the gallows.
Farewell. May God abundantly bless you all!
Your friend,
JOHN BROWN.
THE PLOT TO RESCUE JOHN BROWN—THE REVELATIONS
WHICH CALLED OUT THE MILITARY.
From The Richmond Enquirer (Gov. Wise's Organ), Nov. 22.
THE information and intelligence that induced Governor Wise to move forward the troops to Charlestown so long before the execution were contained in despatches and letters which too plainly indicated a settled purpose of rescue. In the opinion of Gov. Wise the presence of a large body of well-appointed troops would advise evil-disposed persons of the folly of such an attempt, and thus be the means of preserving life. To have delayed advancing the troops would have encouraged the Abolitionists to prosecute their organization for a rescue, and enabled them to impose on the thoughtless by misrepresenting the danger, and underrating the number of troops that now guard the prisoner.
The intelligence which induced Col. Davis to telegraph for five hundred troops was communicated by a respectable and responsible citizen of Virginia just from Ohio, and whose statement was every way entitled to full faith and credit. This intelligence was not communicated to Gov. Wise, but merely the order for five hundred troops to be immediately despatched, which was promptly complied with, without inquiry as to the necessity for them.
That the public may see the fixed determination of a large portion of the North to attempt a rescue, we subjoin extracts from letters from reliable persons. From these letters we have omitted all portions that could lead to the discovery of the authors’ names. We are induced to this course from a regard to the persons who have given the information. These are but selections from hundreds, from anonymous and reliable sources, which have been received. There may have been no foundation for the rumor, and we sincerely hope there is not; but we cannot read the letters received by the Executive without feeling convinced that the rescue of Old Brown is being actively planned by a well-provided organization.
The excited condition of the public mind around Charlestown, caused by these rumors, and the acts of incendiarism that have destroyed the property of the jurors, would justify an augmentation of the forces, if for no other purpose, to prevent an outraged people from seeking vengeance upon the authors of their wrongs.
Let it be remembered that these letters are from reliable persons, with names attached, and that they speak of what they know and have seen. They bring no idle and irresponsible rumor, but relate facts that cannot but convince the most incredulous that there are those in the Northern States who have been planning the rescue of John Brown. The presence of a large military force would, it was hoped, arrest this organization, convince its leaders of their folly, and show the country that Virginia will enforce the judgments of her courts.
Extract from a Letter from Lewisburg, Union County, Pa., November
15, 1859.
“As a friend to the Constitution and the Union, I feel
it my duty to apprise you of a sworn, secret and lawless
band of fanatical Abolitionists and Black Republicans
now forming in this as well as several other counties in
this State. The principal organization is in this village,
and auxiliary societies exist in the neighboring towns.
They call themselves ‘The Noble Sons of Liberty,’ and, as
far as I can learn, number about five hundred in all, and
are led by Captain James Smelly,
“The reason for using revolvers is that they can be carried about the person without attracting attention or exciting suspion.
“The exact time for collecting the forces of the brigands above mentioned I could not ascertain, but they will go to Charlestown in disguise, and mostly by night, which, I believe, is the plan adopted by their ringleader.
“Thus far they have observed the utmost secresy as to the existence and object of their association, and, to avoid suspicion on the part of all outsiders here, they will leave gradually, so that their motives will not be suspected until a day or two previous to the execution of Brown. * *
“I was ushered into a large room, where, to my astonishment, I found about seventy-five persons congregated— all seemingly conversing upon some topic which they wished kept secret.
* * * *
“While I was in the room, several persons were initiated and took the oath of membership.”
Extract from a Letter from Enon, Clark County, Ohio.
“Although we are personally entire strangers to each other, I take the liberty of addressing a few lines to you; whether they will be of any benefit to you, or not, I know not. Since the break out of trouble at Harper's Ferry, there has been, and still continues to be, a great deal of fear and anxiety with regard to the result, and my object in addressing you is to let you know that it is the opinion of a number of our citizens that there will be a desperate effort made to save the notorious Brown from being executed, and that may be done by a sudden and tremendous rush on the guard. I will not dictate, but I think you will need a heavy and efficient guard, and well arranged and well posted; otherwise, I should be fearful of the effusion of blood; if reports be true, you may prepare for a struggle. It is reasonable to suppose that Brown, having rendered efficient service for the Republican party in Kansas and elsewhere, they will not see him swing, if they can avoid it. * * * If our anticipations are correct with regard to your having trouble on the day of execution (and it might be a rush on the prison previous to the day of execution), we would expect to see your towns, villages and hotels crowded with strangers a few days before the day of execution, all secretly armed.”
Extract from a Letter from New York, November 14, 1859.
“My object in addressing you is to inform you of the existence of an organization in this city, extending to the city of Boston and the interior of this State, which has for its object the rescue of John Brown, the insurrectionist, on the day and in the event of the execution. The organization is composed exclusively of crazy Abolitionists and runaway negroes, and yet their plans are very extensive, and apparently practicable, and, if carried out, well calculated to insure the accomplishment of the object. If, however, they should fail in the attempt to release Brown, they propose to wreak their vengeance upon those who have been instrumental in securing that justice for the criminal which he so richly deserves. My informant is a man of character, and, I believe, of strict integrity, who is identified in some manner with the organization himself, though I have endeavored to dissuade him from engaging in such a perilous enterprise. All that I have learned in relation to this affair was imparted to me in confidence, but an irresistible sense of duty, and the hope that the whole affair may be frustrated (if such an object is really contemplated), constrain me to acquaint you with the facts.”
Extract from a Letter from Columbia, Tenn.
“I have received a letter from a friend in the North, telling me that it is the intention of the Abolitionists to rescue old Brown and his party. I am a Northern man, but have no sympathy with these scoundrels, who would murder innocent women and children.
“The writer of the letter supposed I would keep secret everything he wrote, but he is egregiously mistaken.”
Extract from a Letter from Harrisburg.
“I will reveal to you a conversation between myself and a man from this town, who has travelled recently through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois. His statement is this: He conversed with a man in Ohio who told him that you knew the North too well not to reprieve those men under sentence; and that if you did not reprieve them, they would certainly rescue them. He was then told there, by a man who was favorable to the South, that there was certainly a movement on foot to rescue the fugitives now under sentence. He was also told by the same person that there was a company of men, numbering 250, who had left that State under pretence of going out on a hunting excursion; but the statement was false, as their intention was to come to Virginia and skulk around until the day of the execution of the prisoners, and then to rescue them with aid from New York.
“He says the New York people are decidedly in favor of rescuing him (Brown). Consequently I think it would be right and proper to be well fortified in case of an emergency. I think it would be well to have a considerable force at Charlestown preceding the day of the execution.”
GOD'S PROVIDENCE.”
[Extract from Dr. CHEEVER'S Thanksgiving Sermon.]
Now the providence of God has upset all man's calculations. And a most remarkable thing it is, that just when the doctrines of the inviolability and sacredness of slave property had reached their culminating point of audacity and infamy, when it was becoming a political truism that there could be no right of intervention against the wrong of human slavery where it already exists, but only the right of endeavoring to prevent its extension; when some politicians even in the only party in the country imagined to possess any remnant of conscience or of principle were setting up a defence of the rights of the South to undisturbed possession of their millions of slaves, as a vested interest and right, not to be meddled with; that just at this juncture, God should have shot John Brown out of the cannon of his providence, right into the bosom of that vested interest; shot him as a bomb against it, scattering all the theories of politicians to the winds, and setting all men to a new discussion, not merely of the right of the slaves themselves to assert their own freedom, but of the right and duty of all good men to help them to it, in any and every just way that God puts in their power. There is no stopping this discussion, when it pleases God that it should come. And if the fountains of the great deep of human rights are broken up here, as in the French Revolution, it were as vain to speak to the whirlwind as expect to restrain or command the blowing of such a hurricane. What God has done is but a warning of what he will do. The apparition of John Brown before the terrified court and magicians of our American Egypt is but as that of Moses, throwing down his rod to become a serpent, in comparison with the deadly plagues that are to follow.
It looks, indeed, as if God had begun his work of judgment. Long has he been calling in mercy. Years of grace, mighty revivals of religion, trials of his Church and people, by blessings infinite, by bestowing upon his Church and ministry such might of numbers, and such omnipotence of spiritual power, if they had but been faithful to him, that, united against this wickedness, they could have swept it from the land, almost as easily as the dead frogs of Egypt could have been shovelled into the Nile, when God had done with that plague. We have waited, and watched, and longed, for some fruit of the revival of God's work, some application of this spiritual power in efforts for the deliverance of the enslaved. We see it only in a more deadly, sullen, ominous indifference and silence, along with the revival of the foreign slave trade. There is not only no purpose, even after every baptism of grace and mercy to ourselves, to exercise mercy to others, or labor for the deliverance of the oppressed, but there is, in many quarters, a deeper, deadlier, more terrible oppression. The Churches and the ministry refuse to speak out in behalf of the enslaved, but still very generally demand silence, and denounce the agitation of the subject. The free States pass new black laws against the colored race, and the slave States pass deadlier slave laws, and thrust the free colored population into slavery with their children forever. Be you sure God is now at length coming out of his place, to punish the inhabitants of the land for such iniquity. And he will call for his ministers of vengeance to devour them. But he need not call, he need not send abroad, he need not raise up the Assyrians, they are here. The volcanoes of wrath are here, the sleeping earthquakes are here, the ground trembles in every direction, the wells are drying up, mute nature almost gives signs of wrath, that God is just ready to remove his restraints, and let loose the elements of death.
The government that maintains such wickedness is piratical. If one man should do it, it becomes the duty of government to put him to death. If a nation should do it, it would become the duty of every man to rise up against such a nation; if this were done, the iniquity itself would be annihilated. By the law of God, Virginia is a corporate pirate. Her very laws are outlawed. She is occupied with man stealing, carried on, day by day, incessantly, and her laws for the sanction and protection of this wickedness make it doubly vile. Her very government, by such laws, converts her citizens into traitors against God and pirates against man, whenever and wherever they do not oppose such wickedness, but willingly obey it and support it. They willingly walk after the commandment, choosing to obey the statutes of Ahab and Omri, rather than the statutes of the Almighty. Her laws are of no more force or validity than the laws of an association of Thugs, or a brotherhood of thieves, or a regiment of counterfeiters. Commodore Decatur might with as much propriety have been tried and sentenced and hanged for treason in Algiers, as John Brown for treason in Virginia. John Brown was as properly engaged in seeking the deliverance of the enslaved, and the breaking up of the system of slavery, as Commodore Decatur in seeking to break up the piracy of the Algerines.
This event must open up the subject. It must be ripped up to the bottom. Either slavery is absolutely right or wrong, either sanctioned of God, and just by human law, or forbidden of God, and impiously unlawful. Either slaves are the most sacred of all property or the most diabolical of all robbery. If slaveholding is impious, a government grounded on it, protecting it, making laws in its behalf, is an exasperation of villany infinitely atrocious, making not only slaves out of freemen, but villains out of its own citizens, by its own laws. There can be sanction, no justification, for such wickedness, and the attempted justification of it by law is no better than if adultery or murder were justified by law. The whole world is rightfully at war with such iniquity, injustice and cruelty; no man can possibly commit treason in seeking to overthrow it, and to release the victims of such tyranny. A man is bound to do everything in his power for their release, and for the abolition of such a system. If the abolition of the government were necessary for the overthrow of the sin, if it were certain that the sin could be overthrown in no other way, then the sooner the government is abolished, the better. It were infinitely better that three hundred thousand slaveholders were abolished, struck out of existence, than that four million human beings, with their posterity forever, should be enslaved under them, condemned to a perpetual system which is the perpetual violation of God's law. The slavery sweeps both the victims of it and the tyrants to perdition. It is death to the slaveholders; so that what is called treason is, in fact, the highest mercy to them. Their forcible redemption from the grasp of this sin, even by insurrection, would be a blessing, since their souls might be saved; but, continuing in this guilt, they must be shut out from heaven; so that John Brown is in reality their greatest, kindest friend. The angel that knocked Peter's chains from him in the prison was not more truly his friend than John Brown, in endeavoring to knock the fetters from the slave, is truly the friend of the slaveholder. Any man striving to abolish slavery is the slaveholder's greatest friend. Any man protecting and defending and endeavoring to perpetuate slavery is the slaveholder's greatest enemy. Any Church sanctioning this crime is just sealing up its members for perdition, just making out of the Church a great preserve of fatted game for Satan—the profession of any religion that has sin for its element being as a self-sealing can of sweetmeats for Satan's profit and use.
It is wonderful to behold the eyes of the whole nation turned upon one old man, condemned to die upon the gallows, for an action which multitudes of men stand in doubt whether to pronounce a great crime or one of the most heroic, disinterested, virtuous and noble deeds of obedience to God and benevolence to man recorded in the century. There he is, in modern Egypt, a greater riddle, a greater Sphynx for men's opinions, than ancient Egypt ever saw. There he is, as if Oliver Cromwell had risen from the dead, shaking the gory head of the tyrant in the face of a nation of oppressors. He is God's handwriting on the wall of Slavery; and the knees of the whole South knock together at the apparition. John Brown is God's own protest against this tyranny, against the unrighteous laws that sanction it, against the men and States that support it. God writes out his warning on clear white paper, takes the heart and mind of a Christian, a man of prayer, for its publication. John Brown is one of those rare instances of men described by Milton, who act out a conviction of duty, from the contemplation of which common men, the worshippers of success, of expediency, and of iniquity enshrined in law, start back, as in horror of a great crime. Who that hears John Brown's words, that reads his grand, solemn, thinking letters from his prison, that sees his simple, majestic, Christian deportment in the view of death, and notes his calm trust in God, can doubt that God is with him, and that the secret of his confidence is his abiding under the shadow of the Almighty and dwelling in the sacred place of the Most High? In the light of these clear, sun-like, sacred developments of character, and not in the lurid, malignant, treacherous glare of slave enactments and slaveholding cruelty, iniquity and unjust judgment, will John Brown's whole conduct be scrutinized. It is a mighty and meaning providence of God; and when His judgments are in the land, the people will learn righteousness.
John Brown is the crystallization into action of maxims
which all would act upon if the enslaved and injured in
whose behalf he has ventured unto death
Nor would your judgment or your sentence be changed by a set of Virginia statutes, legalizing this wickedness, making your children the property of their masters, and making it treason or felony in any man to attempt to deliver them or run them off. You would not only contribute money and arms to any party who would undertake this, but you would yourselves take arms, and it would be much more the duty of your State to sanction and protect you in such an effort than it was when your ancestors took arms at Lexington and Bunker Hill. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; and whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. How grand and majestic was the declaration of John Brown the aged, I am yet too young to be able to understand that God is any respecter of persons.
If you or I possessed the power, by tossing a horn of powder, a torch of Greek fire, a percussion cap, an explosive biscuit, into the heart of the South, to set the whole slave population into a sudden revolt for the assertion of their own freedom, and the obliteration of those horrible laws that make property of man, concubines of wives, adulterers of husbands, bastards of children, chattels and brutes of immortal beings—into a revolt that would break up and destroy this whole huge system of complicated and accumulating villany and murder—would it not, beyond question, be your duty, my duty? A minister of Christ is said to have declared that if he could emancipate all the slaves with one prayer, he would not dare to offer it. Wonderful piety! Amazing sanctity of soul! But some one will say, Your producing such a movement would be attended with bloodshed, and you may not do evil that good may come. This is a very natural and inevitable thought in every conscientious mind. But let us see. If a den of pirates existed in your country, or of robbers and murderers, whose custom and law of their own brotherhood was to convey away men, women and children, and make slaves, and a breeding factory for slaves, of them and their posterity, and if you or I had the power, by whatever violence, to break up that den, you would, in the name of God and humanity, demand me to do it. If I could do it by a prayer, you would say that I was the most impious and abandoned of all hypocrites if I would not do it, on the plea of fear of consequences. And if I excused myself on the plea that I could not do it but by producing violence and death, you would say that by such refusal I was myself guilty of the continuance of a system of infinite cruelty and robbery, which I might have brought to an end. You would say that my killing those robbers and murderers would not have been the doing of evil that good might come, but a just, righteous and necessary act, and that my refusing to do it had made me an accessory to all that wickedness. For he that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. This is God's logic, not mine.
Now remember, that if the
[Here follows the Confession of JOHN E. COOKE, prepared under the advice of his brother-in-law, Gov. Willard of Indiana, in the vain hope that it would save the life of the prisoner.]
I BECAME acquainted with Capt. John Brown in his camp on Middle Creek, Kansas Territory, just after the battle of Black Jack, and was with him in said camp until it was broken up and his company disbanded, by Col. Sumner, of the First Cavalry, U. S. A. I next saw him at the Convention at Topeka, which was on the 4th of July, 1856. I next met him, some days afterward, in Lawrence. Did not see him again until the fall of 1857, when I met him at the house of E. B. Whitman, about four miles from Lawrence, K. T., which, I think, was about the 1st of November following. I was told that he intended to organize a company for the purpose of putting a stop to the aggressions of the pro-slavery men. I agreed to join him, and was asked if I knew of any other young men, who were perfectly reliable, whom I thought would join also. I recommended Richard Realf, L. F. Parsons and R. J. Hinton. I received a note on the next Sunday morning, while at breakfast in the Whitney House, from Capt. Brown, requesting me to come up that day, and to bring Realf, Parsons and Hinton with me. Realf and Hinton were not in town, and therefore I could not extend to them the invitation. Parsons and myself went and had a long talk with Capt. Brown.
A few days afterward, I received another note from Capt. Brown, which read, as near as I can recollect, as follows:
“DATE—– —–.”
“CAPT. COOKE—Dear Sir: You will please get everything ready to join me at Topeka by Monday night next. Come to Mrs. Sheridan's, two miles south of Topeka, and bring your arms, ammunition, clothing, and other articles you may require. Bring Parsons with you if he can get ready in time. Please keep very quiet about the matter.
“Yours, &c.,
JOHN BROWN.
I made all my arrangements for starting at the time
appointed. Parsons, Realf and Hinton could not get
ready. I left them at Lawrence, and started in a carriage
for Topeka. Stopped at the hotel over night, and left
early the next morning for Mrs. Sheridan's, to meet Capt.
Brown. Staid a day and a half at Mrs. S.'s—then left
for Topeka, at which place we were joined by Stevens,
Moffet, and Kagi. Left Topeka for Nebraska City, and
camped at night on the prairie north-east of Topeka.
Here, for the first, I learned that we were to leave Kansas
to attend a military school during the winter. It was the
intention of the party to go to Ashtabula County, Ohio.
Next morning I was sent back to Lawrence to get a draft
of $80 cashed, and to get Parsons, Realf and Hinton to
go back with me. I got the draft cashed. Capt. Brown
had given me orders to take boat to St. Joseph, Mo., and
stage from there to Tabor, Iowa, where he would remain
for a few days. I had to wait for Realf for three or four
days; Hinton could not leave at that time. I started
with Realf and Parsons on a stage for Leavenworth. The
boats had stopped running on account of the ice. Staid
one day in Leavenworth, and then left for Weston, where
we took stage for St. Joseph, and from thence to Tabor.
I found C. P. Tidd and Leeman at Tabor. Our party
now consisted of Capt. John Brown, Owen Brown, A. D.
Stevens, Chas. Moffet, C. P. Tidd, Richard Robertson,
Col. Richard Realf, L. F. Parsons, Wm. Leeman and
myself. We stopped some days at Tabor, making preparations
to start.
“CHATHAM, May—, 1858.
“MR.—–. Dear Sir: We have issued a call for a very
Yours respectfully,
JOHN BROWN.”
As the names were left blank, I do not know to whom
they were sent, though I wrote several of them. I learned,
however, that one was sent to Frederick Douglass, and I
think Gerrit Smith also received one. Who the others
were sent to I do not know. Neither Douglass nor Smith
attended the Convention. I suppose some 25 or 30 of
these circulars were sent, but, as they were directed by
Capt. Brown or J. H. Kagi, I do not know the names of
the parties to whom they were addressed. I do know,
however, that they were sent to none save those whom
Capt. Brown knew to be radical Abolitionists. I think
it was about ten days from the time the circulars were
sent that the Convention met. The place of meeting was
in one of the negro churches in Chatham. The Convention,
I think, was called to order by J. H. Kagi. Its
object was then stated, which was to complete a thorough
organization and the formation of a Constitution. The
first business was to elect a President and Secretary.
Elder Monroe, a colored minister, was elected President,
and J. H. Kagi, Secretary. The next business was to
form a Constitution. Capt. Brown had already drawn
up one, which, on motion, was read by the Secretary. On
motion, it was ordered that each article of the Constitution
be taken up and separately amended and passed,
which was done. On motion, the Constitution was then
adopted as a whole. The next business was to nominate
a Commander-in-Chief, Secretary of War, and Secretary
of State. Capt. John Brown was unanimously elected
Commander-in-Chief; J. H. Kagi, Secretary of War;
and Richard Realf, Secretary of State. Elder Monroe
was to act as President until another was chosen. A.
M. Chapman, I think, was to act as Vice-President. Dr.
M. K. Delaney was one of the Corresponding Secretaries
of the organization. There were some others from the
United States, whose names I do not now remember.
Most of the delegates to the Convention were from
Canada. After the Constitution was adopted, the members
took their oath to support it. It was then signed by
all present. During the interval between the call for the
Convention and its assembling, regular meetings were
held at Barbour's Hotel, where we were stopping, by
those who were known to be true to the cause, at which
meetings plans were laid and discussed. There were no
white men at the Convention, save the members of our
company. Men and money had both been promised from
Chatham and other parts of Canada. When the Convention
broke up, news was received that Col. H. Forbes,
who had joined in the movement, had given information
to the government. This, of course, delayed the time of
attack. A day or two afterward, most of our party took
the boat to Cleveland—J. H. Kagi, Richard Realf, Wm.
H. Leeman, Richard Robertson and Capt. Brown remaining.
Capt. B., however, started in a day or two for the
East. Kagi, I think, went to some other town in Canada,
to set up the type and get the Constitution printed,
which he completed before he returned to Cleveland. We
remained in Cleveland for some weeks, at which place, for
the time being, the company disbanded. Capt. Brown
had had the
In his trip East he did not realize the amount of money
that he expected. The money had been promised
“DATE—– —–.
“GENTLEMEN: I have got nearly all my
Yours truly,
CALM & STILL.”
In the meantime, the men who had engaged to go with
him had most of them arrived at Chambersburg, Pa., and
been sent to the place which he had rented in Washington
County, Md., about five miles from Harper's Ferry. The
greater part of the men kept out of sight during the day,
for fear of attracting attention. The arms, munitions,
&c., were carted from Chambersburg to his rendezvous.
The spear-heads and guards came in strong boxes, and the
shafts passed for fork handles. They were put together
by our own men, at the house where most of them were
found. Letters of importance came to the Chambersburg
post-office, and were sent by some of our own party to
headquarters. The letters of minor importance came to
the Ferry to J. Smith & Sons. All allusions to our business
were made in such a blind way that they would not
have been understood by any outside parties, even should
they have been miscarried. The attack was made sooner
than it was intended, owing to some friends in Boston
writing a letter, finding fault with the management of
Capt. B., and what to them seemed his unnecessary delay
and expense. I do not know who those persons were, or
how far they were cognizant of his (Capt. B.'s) plans.
“MR. COOKE—
“You can say your wife is going to make a visit to some friends of here in the country. Be very careful that you do not let any of our plans leak out.
Yours, &c.,
J. SMITH.”
My wife and myself accordingly left Harper's Ferry that night, accompanied by Oliver Brown and Jeremiah Anderson, for Captain Brown's house in Washington County, Md.
The next day, after dinner, Captain B. and his son Watson, together with my wife and child, started for Chambersburg. When Capt. B. returned, he told me that he had got her a good boarding-place in Chambersburg, at Mr. Ritterer's, and that she liked her boarding place very well.
There were some six or seven in our party who did not know anything of our Constitution, and, as I have since understood, were also ignorant of the plan of operations until the Sunday morning previous to the attack. Among this number were Edwin Coppic, Barclay Coppic, Francis J. Merriam, Shields Green, John Copeland, and Leary.
The Constitution was read to them by A. D. Stevens,
and the oath afterward administered by Capt. Brown.
Sunday evening previous to our departure, Capt. Brown
made his final arrangements for the capture of Harper's
Ferry, and gave to his men their orders. In closing, he
said, “
After taking the town, I was placed under Capt. Stevens, who received orders to proceed to the house of Col. Lewis Washington and to take him prisoner, and to bring his slaves, horses, and arms, and as we came back, to take Mr. Alstadtt and his slaves and to bring them all to Capt. Brown at the Armory. When we returned, I stayed a short time in the engine-house to get warm, as I was chilled through. After I got warm, Capt Brown ordered me to go with C. P. Tidd, who was to take William H. Leeman, and I think four slaves with him, in Col. Washington's large wagon across the river, and to take Terrence Burns and his brother and their slaves prisoners. My orders were to hold Burns and brother as prisoners at their own house, while Tidd and the slaves who accompanied him were to go to Capt. Brown's house and to load in the arms, and bring them down to the school-house, stopping for the Burnses and their guard. William H. Leeman remained with me to guard the prisoners. On return of the wagon, in compliance with orders, we all started for the school-house. When we got there, I was to remain, by Capt. Brown's orders, with one of the slaves to guard the arms, while C. P. Tidd, with the other negroes, was to go back for the rest of the arms, and Burns was to be sent with William H. Leeman to Capt. Brown at the Armory. It was at this time that William Thompson came up from the Ferry and reported that everything was all right, and then hurried on to overtake William H. Leeman. A short time after the departure of Tidd, I heard a good deal of firing, and became anxious to know the cause, but my orders were strict to remain at the school-house and guard the arms, and I obeyed the orders to the letter. About 4 o'clock in the evening C. P. Tidd came with the second load. I then took one of the negroes with me and started for the Ferry. I met a negro woman a short distance below the school-house, who informed me they were fighting hard at the Ferry. I hurried on till I came to the Lock kept by George Hardy, about a mile above the bridge, where I saw his wife and Mrs. Elizabeth Reed, who told me that our men were hemmed in, and that several of them had been shot. I expressed my intention to try to get to them, when Mrs. Hardy asked me to try to get her husband released from the engine-house. I told her I would. Mrs. Read begged of me not to go down to the Ferry. She said I would be shot. I told her I must make an attempt to save my comrades, and passed on down the road. A short distance below the Lock I met two boys whom I knew, and they told me that our men were all hemmed in by troops from Charlestown, Martinsburg, Hagerstown and Shepherdstown. The negro who was with me had been very much frightened at the first report we received; and as the boys told me the troops were coming up the road after us soon, I sent him (the negro) back to inform Tidd, while I hastened down the road. After going down opposite the Ferry, I ascended the mountain in order to get a better view of the position of our opponents.
I saw that our party were completely surrounded; and as I saw a body of men on High street firing down upon them—they were about half a mile distant from me—I thought I would draw their fire upon myself; I therefore raised my rifle and took the best aim I could and fired. It had the desired effect, for the very instant the party returned it. Several shots were exchanged. The last one they fired at me cut a small limb I had hold of just below my hand, and gave me a fall of about fifteen feet, by which I was severely bruised and my flesh somewhat lacerated. I descended from the mountain and passed down the road to the Crane on the bank of the canal, about fifty yards from Mr. W.'s store. I saw several heads behind the door-post looking at me; I took a position behind the Crane, and cocked my rifle, beckoned to some of them to come to me; after some hesitation, one of them approached and then another, both of whom knew me. I asked them if there were any armed men in the store. They pledged me their word and honor that there were none. I then passed down to the lock-house, and went down the steps to the lock where I saw Wm. McGreg, and questioned him in regard to the troops on the other side. He told me that the bridge was filled by our opponents, and that all our party were dead but seven—that two of them were shot while trying to escape across the river. He begged me to leave immediately. After questioning him in regard to the position and number of the troops, and from what source he received his information, I bade him good night, and started up the road at a rapid walk. I stopped at the house of an Irish family at the foot of the hill, and got a cup of coffee and some eatables. I was informed by them that Captain Brown was dead; that he had been shot about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. At the time I believed this report to be true. I went on up to the school-house, and found the shutters and door closed; called to Tidd and the boys, but received no answer; cocked my rifle, and then opened the door. It was dark at the time. Some of the goods had been placed in the middle of the floor, and, in the dark, looked like men crouching. I uncocked my rifle, and drew my revolver, and then struck a match; saw that there was no one in the school-house; went into the bushes back of the school-house, and called for the boys. Receiving no answer, I went across the road into some pines, and again called, but could find no one. I then started up the road toward Capt. Brown's house; I saw a party of men coming down the road; when within about fifty yards, I ordered them to halt; they recognized my voice, and called me. I found them to be Charles P. Tidd, Owen Brown, Barclay Coppic, F. J. Merriam, and a negro who belonged to Washington or Alstadtt. They asked me the news, and I gave the information that I received at the canal lock and on the road. It seemed that they thought it would be sheer madness in them to attempt a rescue of our comrades, and it was finally determined to return to the house of Capt. Brown. I found that Tidd, before leaving the school-house to go for Brown, Coppic and Merriam, had stationed the negroes in a good position in the timber back of the school-house. On his return, however, they could not be found. We therefore left for Capt. Brown's house. Here we got a few articles which would be necessary, and then went over into the timber on the side of the mountain, a few yards beyond the house, where the spears were kept. Here we laid down and went to sleep. About 3 o'clock in the morning one of our party awakened and found that the negro had left us. He immediately aroused the rest of the party, and we concluded to go to the top of the mountain before light. Here we remained for a few hours, and then passed over to the other side of the mountain, where we waited till dark, and then crossed the valley to the other range beyond.
I have forgotten to state previously that before I left Capt. Brown in Cleveland, Ohio, he gave me orders to trust no one with our secret, and to hold no conversation with the slaves, which orders I obeyed with but a single exception, which I here mention. The exception to which I allude is simply this: I met a party of four negroes, two free and two slave, near Bolivar, Jefferson County, Virginia. I asked them if they had ever thought about their freedom. They replied, “they thought they ought to be free,” but expressed doubts that they ever would be. I told them that time might come before many years, but for the present to keep dark and look for the good time coming, and left them.
I see, from some of the newspapers, that I have been represented as Capt. Brown's chief aid. This is incorrect. Kagi was second in command, Stevens third, Hazlitt fourth. Further than this, I do not know that Capt. Brown had made known any preference as to superiority or rank. Edward Coppic and Dolphin Thomas were the only lieutenants he commissioned. Owen Brown, Barclay Coppic and F. J. Merriam were not at the Ferry during the time the attack was made, but remained by order of Captain Brown to take charge of the premises, and to guard the arms left at Brown's house in case of an attack. I do not know of any person in the Ferry or its neighborhood, who knew of our plan, save our own party, and they were pledged to keep it secret.
Richard Realf, one of our original party, and our Secretary of State, came from Chatham to Cleveland, a few days before Capt. Brown's arrival from the East. Soon after his arrival, he (Capt. B.) sent Realf to New York city, at which place he embarked for England for the purpose of carrying out the plans of Capt. Brown. Realf was born and raised in England. He is a peasant's son, but his native talents brought him into the notice of some of the nobility, who took charge of him, and made arrangements to give him a finished education. He was taken into the family of Lady Noel Byron, where he made his home while pursuing his studies. Falling in love with a young lady of noble birth, he was censured by Lady B. for his presumption. He became offended at her interference, and finally left Lady B. to work his own way in the world. At this time the Chartist movement was made, which Realf joined, and the result was, he was obliged to seek safety by emigrating to America. He made his home some years in New York city. A part of the time he was there, he was engaged as assistant superintendent of the Five Points Mission. He is well known as an author and a poet. He gave up his situation as assistant superintendent, and went to Kansas in the summer or fall of 1856. I first met him in Lawrence, Kansas. No word was received from him, to my knowledge, after he left for England, to which place he went in his own capacity and that of our Secretary of State, to solicit funds for the support of our organization. He proposed to deliver a course of lectures in various parts of England, and the net proceeds of which were to be given to carry out Capt. Brown's plan. He is a man of rare talents, and a powerful and fluent speaker. He is about 28 years of age. Mr. Kagi, I believe, got a letter from some one in England a few months ago, stating that Realf had sailed for this country, and that he had quite a sum of money with him, but further than that we have been unable to find any trace of him. Capt. Brown and the rest of our company who knew him think that he is dead.
At the time Mr. Alstadtt was taken, I was not at his house, but in the carriage with Col. Lewis Washington, opposite the house. I do not think any arms were placed in the hands of his slaves till they arrived at the musket armory. I did not see any of the spears on our way from the Ferry to Col. Washington's—there were none taken out to my knowledge. After stopping about half an hour at the engine-house to get warm, I was called out by Capt. Brown, and then saw, for the first time, the slaves with spears in their hands. I do not know who gave them the spears, but it was some of our party, and probably by the order of Capt. Brown.
The negro who was with me on Monday evening, when I left the school-house for the Ferry, was armed with a double-barrelled shot-gun, and, I think, a revolving pistol of the Massachusetts Arms manufacture. Who delivered him the arms I do not know. He was under my control till I sent him back to report to Tidd that the troops were coming up. He obeyed orders while with me.
I was commissioned as a captain on the Sunday of the insurrection, at the same time the others were, and with them took the oath prescribed in Article 48 of the Constitution.
George B. Gill joined us before leaving Iowa, in the spring, as did Stewart Taylor.
Test,
JOHN E. COOKE.
THE CASE OF CAPT. COOKE.
From The Richmond Enquirer, Nov. 24.
The pardon of Capt. Cooke is out of the question—
Cook misled Brown, deceived him, and imposed upon
all of the prisoners; he gave descriptions of the persons
of those who fled. Had Cook, who lived two years in
Virginia, while engaged in planning this very crime,
made known to Old Brown the actual state of the negroes,
had he informed Old Brown that he had not been able to
induce one slave to join, and that no aid was to be
expected from the non-slaveholders, John Brown had too
much shrewdness not to have seen the folly upon which
he was engaged, and he would have abandoned the undertaking.
Cook
Correspondence of The New York Times.
PETERSBURG, Monday, Nov. 21, 1859.
The panic has seized all classes of the people, and most exaggerated reports are in circulation. Some think that hordes of Northerners are on their way to invade the State which has given birth to Presidents and statesmen. Petersburg has been divided into patrol districts, and fines of $25 and $50 are to be imposed upon those who disobey orders to perform patrol duty whenever Major Davenport, the officer left to protect the city, may call for their services. Seven men each from eight companies were on patrol duty last night, and a special detachment was sent to guard the powder-magazine on the other side of the river Appomatox. These warlike preparations are of course a serious interruption to all business in the city, and the suspicions which are excited by them contribute to the same results. If five or six negroes are seen talking together, they are speedily magnified by rumor into a hundred armed with pitchforks and scythe blades. Beggars are arrested and put into jail, and strangers, if they happen to be poorly dressed, are accosted by the police and examined.
On Sunday, two men were in the city looking for a missing negro. As they were strangers, they were arrested, but succeeded in proving themselves owners of negroes just out of the city, and were, therefore, released from custody.
There are, in Petersburg, a number of gentlemen who have come from Northern cities to engage in business. They have, in all respects, conducted themselves in an orderly, upright, gentlemanly manner, but now they are subjected to unjust suspicions by the too zealous vigilants. Every unguarded expression is noted, and every action, especially in the presence of negroes, is observed
PETERSBURG, Va., Tuesday, Nov. 22, 1859.
The fears of the people have been greatly excited. Frightened as they were, when the first rumor of the advance of an invading force reached them, the departure of the volunteer companies only excited them still more; and when fathers, husbands and brothers were seen patrolling the streets, under arms, at all hours of night and day, the panic rose to a still greater height. The few who had not lost their cool judgment condemned such a public display, as being too well calculated to feed excitement, which ought, on the contrary, to be allayed by all possible means. The history of Nat. Turner's famous insurrection at Southampton, which is not far from this city, is repeated with all its bloody details, as if the occurrence had only taken place a few months ago. So near the scene of Nat.'s brief, but awful career, the people are prepared to believe and fear anything that comes to them about the intentions of rescuers, however absurd it may be.
Two large field-pieces have been kept in readiness for service since Sunday, should they be needed. The only alarm of any moment occurred a night or two ago, when those living across the river were thrown into consternation by voices and noises which sounded alarming. Upon making investigation, it was ascertained that all the noise was nothing more than the hilarity and boisterousness of two darkies who had imbibed a little too much cheap whiskey in the Pocahontas suburb.
As soon as any of these little alarms pass away, the dispassionate
portion of the people feel mortified that such a state of
things should exist. They are conscious that there must be a
weakness somewhere, else the public mind would not yield so
foolishly. Already they are anxious to have the patrol force
dismissed, and many wish that Old Brown was hung, and this
uneasy state of excitement ended. There is much disappointment
at the absence of sympathy in many quarters where it
was expected that it would exist. The people complain bitterly
of the indifference manifested with reference to their distress
by the conservative Press of the North. They looked toward
the large cities in the free States for comfort, and the leading
paper here, the
Just at the present exciting time one-half of the population here would ask for disunion. Others say, “Not yet; we'll see this thing through first; and then, if we can't make them respect our rights, we'll go in for a Southern Confederacy.”
A great many say Brown ought never to have been tried, but that the whole party should have been shot down, as was Thompson, without trial or jury. Such a course, it is thought, would have prevented the alarm and consternation which has followed. Others think the papers ought not to have published so many particulars and such inflammatory articles on the subject, many of which are read not only by the whites, but by the blacks, free and slaves, upon whom they cannot possibly have any good effect. Among all classes and conditions the subject is discussed, although efforts are made to keep the details, as much as possible, from the slaves. Even those who admired Brown's brave qualities at first, and who would gladly have favored a commutation of the death sentence, now feel that it is expedient that the whole party should die. They think that nothing less than an ignominious death can satisfy the extremists, or put a check upon Abolitionism.
SYCAMORE.
INTERVIEWS WITH JOHN BROWN.
M. B. Lowry of Erie, Pa., an old neighbor of Mr. Brown, lately visited him in his prison. He says:
“I remarked to Mr. Brown that there had been a different
version given to his Kansas exploits by the
“Mr. Brown is a member of the Old School Presbyterian Church and a decidedly religious man, though he strictly and sternly refuses to be aided in his prayers by the pro-slavery divines of Virginia. One of these gentleman, in conversation with me, said that he had called on Brown to pray with him. He said Brown asked if he was ready to fight, if necessity required it, for the freedom of the slave. On his answering in the negative, Brown said that he would thank him to retire from his cell, that his prayers would be an abomination to his God. To another clergyman he said that he would not insult his God by bowing down with any one who had the blood of the slave upon his skirts.”
Another writer says:
“Brown was visited yesterday by Rev. James H. March, of
the M. E. Church. The reverend gentleman having advanced
an argument in favor of the institution of slavery as it now
exists, Brown replied to him, saying: ‘My dear sir, you know
nothing about Christianity; you will have to learn the A B C's
in the lesson of Christianity, as I find you entirely ignorant of
the meaning of the word. I, of course, respect you as a gentleman,
but it is ‘as a
