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THE INDIANAPOLISJOHN BROWN’S COMRADESEiha -young men related to the Browne byJchn Henri Ka«l Brown’sr and *«cond in command; William. ry Steward Tnvlnr s»nrtA M%* HO K SOWS TF.I.I.S WIKITHEY WERE and m h at they did.The* Men Who Followed Rronn to Harper * Ferry and \\ hove Undies Were Laid by Vila at North Kll.a.mi«h n k j— Steward Taylor and JereD?i2»2.a whlte k{s,e'1 withNewby, freeman of color—allliTu - v • iirrumn ui DUiur—ail17 Lad VlSL5*htln* a* Harper s Ferry. Oct. I and 18, I859; with those of Aaron Dwightnr£2£!£f. Und_Ai.bert whites, held asStarch*!? 1880 COIld,nilled and executedRichard J. Hinton, in New York Tribune.At North Elba, in the very heart of thenorthern Adirondack^, there recently occurred a simple, rustic, pathetic ceremony, unique, however, in character and endowedwith the dignity that belongs to the greater ni.-motles of a people, the loftier aspirations | of the human race. It was the burial of the bodies of John Brown’s comrades by the i-iof their leader. All the world hows tocourage. All hiftory honors its heroes. Inth twilight days such m*-n were hailed as p. d.lt; The bones of ten young men. slainIn the hottest of Insurgent fighting orhanged upon the scaffold under due processor forms of law. were laid away by thegrave of their grim, steadfast leader and that of one of his sons, who fell in hi£ cause and virtually by hia orders.Forty years since, lacking forty-three «j i- this land was startled by an act ap-jjmntly the most lawless, taken as a whole, that had ever been perpetrated within its borders. It was an act of war upon and within the borders of one of the great States of the American Union. It was more—for it declared war upon an economic, social and political system which held over 3•»«.'»lt;} human beings as chattels and property valued at S4.0Q9.000.000, yet represented In Congress by eighteen members of the House, and at the time practically controlling the affairs of fifteen powerful States and to ail intents also the national policy and purposes. Its chosen leaders sat in the “seats of the mighty. ’OUTSIDE CONTRIBUTORS FEW. Outside the small range of this band there were not over twenty persons in the land who were really cognisant of the leader’spurposes. Not more than live men andwomen contributed effectually by theirmeans; indeed, most of that sort erf aid was given by three persons—George LutherStearns, his wife. Mary E. Stearns, (still j.vi:,g and Uerrit Smith. Others gave sparingly of their moderate purses, but the lirsttwo spent knowingly and unsparingly, the third liberally, but without actually knowing the direct point of application and alia* k.Trie bones reiuterred on Aug. 30 represented the remains of nine white men, whose ag.s ran from twenty-one to twenty-nine y irs, and one freeman of color, who wanabout thirty-live at the time erf his death. A little less than forty years since the L'lns of eight men—some almost shot to jdlt; -i-s and mangled by the rooting of pigs and dogs—were laid in a shallow trench on the south bank of the Shenandoah. Two others, removed from present contiguity with the terra cotta clay quarry ut Perth Amboy, where, in her own lovely grounds, a good Quaker woman over thirty-nineyears since had laid them away, were thehist victims erf the hoiacaust offered to the manes of outraged slave-holding law in Virginia.THE TWENTY-TWO INSURGENTS. There were only twenty-two men in the insurgent party. The leader, John Brown, was in his sixtieth year; farmer, tanner, surveyor, wool merchant, a quiet, spartan, yet kindly man, holding a stern creed, worshiping God the Judge, revering the Savior,believing the Bible and accepting as its political interpretation in the broadest sense the Declaration of Independence. There were three of his sons and two brothers related by marriage in the party, the oldest thirty-“ix and the youngest twenty-one. All live were tillers of the soil, graduates only of the district sehoolhouse. r ive of the remaining sixteen were of the chattel race; two were born freemen and they were skilled artisans; three were fugitive slaves, living In the North under a legal ban and earning bread and education in whatsoever humble path was then open to such as they. The eleven remaining were all young, ail unknown and ail without means, the oldest not yet thirty, the youngest a few weeks beyond twenty.There was not a stain of personal dishonor upon their lives or names. True, one man had been condemned to death by a military tribunal for striking a superior, but he did that in righteous anger ui witnessing a gross and causeless act of cruelty toward a comrade, and his fellow-soldiers amongthe ‘ regulars helped him to escape. One other was accused of shooting a man known as a kidnaper and murderer when his own life was In peril and when law had been overthrown by a mob of pro-slavery invaders in Kansas. No man among them held social power or had other means thanthose labor produced.These things are not written in hostility, but simply to indicate the historic attitude and dignity of the Incidents at North Elba 011 Aug. 30. It was something beyond law-h ss action, however bold or made superbby startling and audacious courage, thatbrought together 3.0ft) people, among whom w-.re men of renown, place and power.I sat on the rude platform by John Brown s historic homestead, flanked on one si.l by one of the greatest and most lovable of our American clergy, and on theother by a great editor ana publicist, who has represented his native land abroad asenvoy, special ambassador and more recently is one of Its peace commissioners. In front and around me were not only the menwho work and live in the Switzerland of our continental land, but the soldiers of the Republic were there as escort, and, by order, to do honor by the firing of a salute over the dead. Men were there as v. t. rans, who. like the writer, had marched for years to the Inspiring strains of the John Brown song. It was told to me that the men of business and leisure, too, the men of affairs, letters and politics, wereall and honorably represented.THE EXERCISES AT NORTH ELBA.It was my place to tell of the men who were in large degree to me friends and comrades of a stormy yet unshamed youthful manhood. A stately old divine, the Rev. Joshua Young, who said at his cost the words his faith demanded over the body of John Brown in 1359, in his superb and mellow old age was there to tell of that notable winter burial. Others, like \\ hitelaw Reid and Bishop Potter, could and did give the grace and dignity of an historic per-the ages of the raiders.Let me tell as succinctly as I can of the mlt; n who followed John Brown. The ages of the men engaged In the raid are worth noticing. The commander, John Brown, was. at the time of the blow he struck, fifty-nine years, five months and eight daysold. The youngest member. William HenryLeman, was three days less than twenty5 ears and seven months old when he was 1 slain. on the afternoon of Oct. 17. 1859. Oli-' ‘ r Hrown was but ten days older when he »?ni the ,8th- Barclay Coppoc, killed In m , »k 0n anT1' two years later, was two 2?2!t *Land *£xH«n day* Older when he es- !a . J5 the Ferry. Dauphin Thompson.killed in the marines’ attack on the enginenous* on Oct. IS. was just twenty-one years and six months old when he died. Albertwi.H.«\and Franlt;‘is Jackson Merrlam were within two months of the same age, being in their twenty-second ears. Hazlett wasyounger. John Henri Cagi. Edwin Cop-Pv a?.1!, at!*°\ Brown were in their twen-Kagl being the oldest andIn,, t - yo~ngest* William Thompsonand Jeremiah G. Anderson were in their2.*,h yearH and *n the order named. Charlez Piimmer Tldd was horn In June.several months in £■ . £rA*e.-Bht£ year Stevens’s birthday \» ™ and as he was hangedon March lh. 1SR0. he was then one day overnth birthday. John Edwin T. flv* months in his thirtieth year, while Owen Brown, when he escaped fromh?rrlJl Porry- ?jaS! two weekp less thanthirty-six years old.The five colored men are not definitely placed as to age. Newby, the oldest, beingreported^as^ thirty-four or thirty-five yearsspectlve to the events of the day and its associations.It was my tr.sk to tell as simply as I could Who ihe.** men wire, what they did and why. Th«s was my endeavor, riot In • x ten nation or excuse, und wholly without passion or malice. I live and they died. I w ms to North Elba as their comrade and itgrapher. May I not ask now, ere I ttll in type who they were, if the event wasrial ;* significant one. and full of a memorable dignity, linking these humble names and memories witn those of all who have struggle for the race and its uplifting from Moses unto Washington.THE BROWN HOMESTEAD PARK.The homestead and farm of John Brownand his family, over 3*) acres in extent, isnow the property of the people of the Staleof New York as a public park, made somainly by the unselfish and untiring exertions of the late Kate Field, author and editor A simple granite shaft tells on a pol-Lhed panel the names of the twenty-two persons by whose exertions the money wasraised to discharge the mortgage and complete the purchase of this lovely mountainfarm. Nearly all of the donors have passedbeyond, but they are recorded in the publicmemory, and Miss Field’s name will always lie associated with an act of poetic Justice which death forbade her treeing fully accomplished. A few yards from the farm-house door there rises a great, weatherworn granite bowlder, on which is carved in long letters John Brown: 185®. ” Abouta quarter of an acre of land about it isfenced in. This is the burial place of the Harper’s Ferry family and raidersThe bodies of John Brown and his sonWatson have Iain there several years, onesince Dec. 24. 18341. and the other since 1SR8. Or ih» worn and historic gravestone brought from Torrlngton, Conn., are inscribed, the name of Captain Brown’s grandfather, a victim in 1775 of the British prison ship at Walla bout, and also the name of FrederickBrown, a son of John Brown, killed ai that Kansas battle of Osaawatomie whose name is linked inseparably with John Brown’s, of which Aug. 30 was the forty-third anniversary.A bronze tablet Is to be inserted In theglay rock that shadows this little resting Place of the fateful dead. H will bear ther. imew of the following men:Oliver Brown the captain s youngest son. k lied at Harper s Ferry; William and*4elphuf Dauphin Thompson, of Northt P nderson had passed his twenty-fourth year when he escaped. John Copeland, when executed, was a little less than twenty-two. Lea-y. wh.-n killed, was about• ix months older, and Shields Green was m h:s twenty-fifth year. That makes the tallyyears of those present. he remaining men whose names were known in connection with the Harper’sFerry party and movement, but who for one or another reason were not in at the finish were young in years. Four of them practically retired from the plan—Luke Parson did so definitely: Richard Realf, the poet, went away and was lost sight of for over a year: Charles B. Moffet also got out touch as to time, while the colored man. Richard Richardson, took a wife unto him-self and remained behind In Canada. George B. Gill, named as secretary of state In the so-called provisional government organizedat the Chatham (Canada) convention, waxviolently sick with rheumatic fever in Iowa, and could not move. Richard J. Hinton reported for duty direct to Captain Brownand Kngi. hut was sent to t*hambersburg and Philadelphia to look after stores, etc.,a short time before the blow was struck.and so was unable to got into the fighting. Frank B. Sanborn. John Brown's m.w=ttrusted adviser and confidant, was not expected to participate in the actual conflict, his efforts being of more value In affectingpublic opinion. Martha Evelyn (Brewster)Brown, the young wife of Oliver Brown, and Annie Brown, both of them under seventeen, were at the Kennedy farm til! within a few days of the attack, and are to be regarded as of the force quite as much as those who fell In the effort. Martha, with her baby, died during the ensuing winter at North EiVba. Of those thus named 33 of the movement, but not actually, no one wasover thirty. 1 believe, and most of themwere several years less.ALMOST ALL OF COUNTRY' STOCK. Nearly all of them were country born and bred. Francis Jackson Merriam was the only one who could be counted as of what is now termed the leisure class.” Hisgrandfather, Francis Jackson, the president of the American Anti-slavery Society, was a wealthy merchant. His father had beena njan of means and he himself was educated by private tutors and traveled widely in Europe, Inheriting also a small fortune. John Edwin Cook was of a well-to-do Connecticut family, received a good academic education and studied law. Kagl was of a farmer and mechanic family, but by his own exertions secured an education through teaching and by severe study. He was a stenographer, lawyer, excellent newspaper writer and a line linguist, as well as a fair classical scholar. Stevens was of Connecticut stock, village and town workers, small store keepers and music teachers. He himself at fifteen went to the Mexican war and was a runaway soldier of the Second Dragoons when he joined the Free State movement. He read voraciously and was very intelligent. Tldd was of a mercantile family and a clever workman himself. J, C. Anderson was Intended for the Universalist pulpit, but became a millwright and stock raiser. Lee-man worked as an operative in a New England shoe factory. Ail the others, except the colored man Anderson, a printer, were reared on farms. Six of them were fromNorth Elba—the four Browns and the two Thompsons. These two families all had engaged directly in the conflict against the aggressions of slavery—eight men. of whom six were killed, one wounded in Kansas and who ever since has been more or less of an invalid; while of the women and children affected two died from grief and shock and a score more suffered greatly. There were five born In New land, two in Pennsylvania. two in New Y’ork, two in Iowa;one was of Vermont stock, but born In Canada, and the balance were Ohioans. The Browns. Stevens, Anderson, Kagi. Cook andTldd were of Puritan, revolutionary andHuguenot type. Probably some of the others had deep colonial roots. There were none among the fighters not of American stock. Realf and the writer were the only ones not of native birth who were madecognizant of the movement.SURVIVORS IN THE CIVIL WAR.When tho^e who survived the fight in Virginia came to meet with their fellow-citizens the needs of civil strife they werenot found missing. Of the Browns two were able to serve, one as captain of cavalry and the other as a lieutenant of infantry. The North Elba Thompsons gave four men, one of whom still lives. Barclay Coppoc was slain in a guerrilla ambush as second lieutenant in a Kansas regiment. Two brothers were soldiers till the end. Anderson had several brothers in the armv. Kagi's brother also served. Tldd died as a soldier, of fever, from exposure in Burnside's Roanoke Island expedition of ls*;2. The Hazletts were represented, as also the brothers of Stevens. Osborn Perry Anderson (colored printer) was a sergeant major. The writer had the pleasure of mustering Copeland’s brother, William, into the service as second lieutenant of a colored light battery. My own span of three and a half years' service, with some early months of special work in the secret service, bears its own record. Richard HealC was as heroic a soldier as he was a full-throated and bugle-blowing war poet. Parsons. Lenhart. Moffet and Gill were all in the fighting ranks.One naturally in reviewing so startling anepisode, so remarkable a drama, as that of the Harper's Ferry raid, may ask what hasto a? examples. Wealthy C. Brown, widow of the late John Brown. Jr., lives at their vineyard home, on Put-in-Bay i*Jand, Sandusky hay. Ohio. I believe their daughter Is married, and children of the second generation are in that pleasant home.Of the others, I have so far kept trace of the former widow of John E, Cook, who lives in Chicago, with her son and daughter by the second marriage. Cook's son lives in Connecticut, a provision dealer in one orIts busiest cities. One sister of Cook livesIn New York city—a rich widow. Another, unmarried, resides on the family homestead at Haddam. Conn. Steven's elder brother still lives at Brookline, Maas. Professor O.G. Libby, holding the chair of history In the State University of Wisconsin, is a nephew of Sergeant Tldd. and there are other members of the family still living in Maine. Hazlett has relatives at Indiana.Penn. The Coppocs left brothers and otherrelatives who yet live In Iowa. Nebraska and Kansas. A brother of Jeremiah Anderson lives at Monterey, Oal.. and a nephew.Dr. E. K. Westfall, lives at Bushiiell. III. There was an elder brother and family insouthern Kansas. Kagi's father and sister lived there also, and the latter is. I believe. still alive. A half sister of Merriamresides In Providence, R. I., and Mrs. S.H. Brandt, a sister of Leeman, lives inCharlestown. Mass. William Thompson'swidow married again, and still lives in Michigan. Isabella Thompson, a sister of Henry, William and Dauphin, married Watson Brown. Four years after his death shewas rr-married to a cousin, Salmon Brown,a prosperous farmer in Wisconsin, where she still lives. Watson's son died in hisfourth year.COLORED MEMBERS OF THE BANDAs to the colored men. nothing is known of Anderson's parents and brothers. Theylived In Pennsylvania, and were very' unkind. When he was fleeing for his life they,in their fright, refused him assistance. William Sheridan Leary, as his brother writes it, has a brother living in Charlotte, N. C.,and practicing law there. An aunt. Mrs.Henrietta L. Evans, lives in Washington,D. C. Copeland’s brother resides at Topeka, Kan. Leary’s widow is probably still livingin Oberlin. Newby had a slave wife and six children, all born into bondage. They were sent to New Orleans and sold there during the latter half of the war; Union troopsmade this family free. One son lives In Kansas City. Mo. His brother, Gabriel Newby, lives in Bridgeport, O.As to the burial places of those whose remains are not now at North Elba ShieldsGreen, known at Rochester as The Emperor, was hanged on Dec. 12, 1859. Leary’s body is supposed to have been eaten and-mutilated by hogs beyond recognition and left in the Shenandoah river. Both were colored men. Green’s body was doubtlessturned over to the Winchester College students for dissecting purposes. Governor Wise refused Mrs. Rebecca Spring, of Englewood. N. J., permission to inter it. The other unknown grave is that of Francis Jackson Merriam, but it is supposed thathe died in Mexico of battle wounds. Ofthe others Cook's body lies In Greenwood Cemetery, buried by his brother-in-law.Robert Crowley. Edwin Coppoc was buried at Salem, O., by his grandfather anduncles, residents there. The body of Tiddis burled in cental Massachusetts at the home of Dr. Cutter, of Worcester, whose daughter was his affianced. Barclay Cop-pno's body lies In the soldiers' cemetery onPilot Knob, Leavenworth. Kan. John A.Copeland Is buried In Oberlin. where thecollege people gave the remains a nubile funeral.THE COLORED LEADER. ANDERSON.Osborn Perry Anderson, the colored leader, after serving in the Union army, obtained a small clerical position In Washington,where he died late In 1X70. His funeral wasattended by Henry Wilson, Frederick Douglass and the writer, among others, and the’remains lie in a cemetery owned by the colored churches there.Owen Brown lived to enter his sixty-seventh year, and died in 1890 at South Pasadena, Cal., where he is buried. It is the desire of Mrs. Ruth Thompson anil the other living members of the Brown family that their mother’s remains and those of Owen shall be taken to North Elba also. They will be glad Indeed to have all of thi Harper's Ferry men laid at rest in their prehistoric half acre at the Adirondackhomestead.With Owen’s name the tally is full. The twenty-two men made the land shake at least by their efforts, and certainly verified the dictum of John Brown’s aggressive purpose, that the way to destroy slavery was to make slavery unsafe.” The Harper's Fery raid reduced the taxable value of \ irginla’a chattels by at least *15.000,000 and the men's souls, with that of their leader, went marching on until the fields of chattelism were sown with the bitter salt of war. Old readers of the Tribune will recall Edmund Clarence Stedman's ringing lyric of Nov. 24. 1x59. under the title ofOswawatomie Brown.” The last stanza, which lies before me in autograph copy, had all the keenness of poetic insight when it declared that the blood of John Brown—Like the red gore of the dragonMay spring up a vengeful fury, hissingthrough your slave-worn land.-*.And oid Brown,Ossawatomie Brown.May trouble you more than ever, wheryou've nailed his coffin downII*And most assuredly he did. The simpleceremony and the large audience at North Elba on Aug. .30, the forty-third anniversary of tin? slave border battle of Ossawatomie, was in striking proof thereof.HI MOB OF THE DAY’.Hi* Definition.New York World.Henry—Pa, what are marriagelines?”Mr. Peck—Hard lines, my son; hard lines.Perfectly .Sat In factory.Detroit Free Press.Does your portrait look like you, Dorothy?”Yea: it looks just exactly as I would look if I were prettier than I am.»»Roth Waitlnjf.Philadelphia Bulletinbecome of the families and survivors of those who wrote their names and deeds in such lines of living fire. Of John Brown's immediate family only two sons remain in the land of life. Th.-re are three married daughters and one still single. All six now live on the Pacific slope. Ruth Brown, theeldest daughter, and wife of Henry Thompson. lives with their daughter Mary, a t**acher In the public schools at South Pasadena. Cal. She is their only support, for both are oid and feeble, though cheerful, bright and much beloved by neighbors ar d friends Jason, the oldest living member of the family, has a cabin upon one of the mountain* of the coast range, w here he lives almost a hermit life, having an adopted daughter, who is blind, and whom he is training as a musician. He works on the roads or does other labor when he has a chance, but is devoted mainly to working out a model for an airship, which he be lieves will be a success. He has some married children, and their families live at ornear Akron, O., but they are unable to help him.ANNIE BROWN ADAMS'S FAMILY.Annie Brown Adams, the tenth child ofthe second marriage and of the heroic matron who buried at North Elba the body of her husband after Virginia had demonstrated. as Victor Hugo said to me in 1873, that Harper’s Ferry proved that even Washington could have a Spartacus.”lives in Humboldt county. California, themother of ten children, of whom seven are living. Several are married, and grandchildren become numerous. She is very poor, and has a severe struggle. Sarah lives with htr sister. Ellen Feblinger. Santa Cruz county. California. They are younger.arc several children. Salmon, a \ourg son of Mary and John Brown, Is on c farm at Salem. Ore. He has a family of seven or eight children, of whom two at , • -1 are married and have children of theirown. All the Browns are poor.This is the best Information I can obtain, ard under It there will be found that threegenerations, over sixty in number, are liv-fn* out there, still the same plain, simple, upright and high-thinking^ Americanathat Bm«r»oa to toter to otim referredSpacer—When will your new book be out? Quads—Don't know. rt jn the hands of my publisher, but still awaits a title.Spacer—Then why not call it An . can Heiress?”An Amerl-%n Amendment.Brooklyn Life.Mrs. Brow n—There's no reason at all whythere shouldn’t he women preachers.”Mrs. Jones—And w-omen elders?Mrs. Brow n—Well—er—yes; but the namemight be changed.Removed from Evil Example.Chicago Tribune.Bobby, you must go to bed now.”But. ma. it isn't time.”Yes it is; your Uncle Robert and you father are going to tell what bxd boys the used to be at school.”And Women Can’t.Chicago News.Ida—Would you refer to the wind as feminine?Gerald—I should think not.Ida—But why not, Gerald?Gerald—Because It can whistle.l.ene Majesty.Chicago Tribune.Officer, what have you brought these Salvation Army people before me for?” They passed me. your Honor.”What did they say?”•They said they was goin' to pray fur me.”IThe Voice of Inexperience.Chicago Post.Why don’t you think the automobile willsupplant the bicycle?Because you can't go out with an automobile when you ougnt to be at work and square it with your conscience by calling itexercise.A Lighter Hand.Detroit Free Press.Now. Jimmy, did my whipping do you any good?Yes, ma; It made me feel real cheerful.”Cheerful?Yes. ma; I was so glad that pa didnTwhip me instead of you.”The Working Baa I a.Philadelphia North American.First Lawyer—You are a cheat and a swindler!Second Lawyer—You are a liar and a'blackguard.The Court (softly)—Come, gentlemen, let's get down to the disputed points of thecase.A Wintry Insult.New York Press.First Eskimo (fiercely)—Did you say 1 wasn't honest?Second Eskimo—N-n-no. I didn't say exactly that.First Eskimo—What did you say?Second Ekimo—1-1 said you ware a ahonest as the day is long!XotblBg to Back It.Chicago Tribune.Didn’t you tell me.’’ said the man withUw aktoned non«, bruized zye, and arm to
Newspaper Details
Indianapolis Journal
Indianapolis, Indiana, US
Sun, Oct 01, 1899
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Daniel E.
FL, USA 18 Feb 2022
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