Hide Article Text (OCR)
Reported for the Baltimore American.TKIATi OF CAPTAIN JOHN COOK—CONFKS-, SION OF THE PltlSONER-NEW TEST I -k, j MONY—POWERFUL APPEAL FOR MERCY— to | VERDICT—GUILTY.rrt •rsmVCTheourCh AUI.K'TOWN, Va.. Nov. 0. 18-39., ease of Capt. Cook was continued in o Circuit Court to-day. and drew together a very lam? crowd. The excitement in regard to thisllf | livr^r unni'i. . ..v, .............o1 ! cjiso oxcccmI.h that of smy of the cases tried, aw the result looked for with the greatest interest.*e-|y j the confession ok capt. cook.he j The confession of Cook, which was read ycs-— i teri'av afternoon, caused much excitement, and he ! some’of the comments on it were of the most f unfavorahle character, whilst some others were vs- disposed to view it in a more favorable light,g and the extreme youthful appearance of the ; pris- -nor at the bar, was generally taken into,!*r ! c.onsidcrat'on.Cook slates in the confession that he met Capt. Brown in Kansas some two years aj|p, and was led by the representation of Brown to join his hand, not knowing at the time what would be the tiel-l of their operations. After some time had elapsed Brown informed him that the town of Harper’s Ferry was the place he contemplated making his stand at. and tlfcit he wished him (C -ok) to proceed there and try and ascertain whether or not the man Forbes had divulged the plan to any one at Harper’s Ferry, as a rumor had reached him to that effect. Cook strongly objected to any such move as contemplated, but was replied to by Brown, that he had taken the oath to stand by him, and that he must not now desert him. Cook therefore started for tin- Ferry ami took up his resilience. After having been there somctim^ .ted he was introduced into society, which resulted' ail- in his courting and marrying a Miss Kennedy, of South Bolivar. He then determined by all possible means to change the determination of ,,!d Brown, but all his arguments and entreaties failed when brought to bear against the iron-wili of the Kansas outlaw.fhe more important portions were thoseivceiril-l»y.Mind,rty-•onon.’an1011md•anre 1 .ia,287r.-ming-thcles.ipe-tingtion'fhe more important portions were tin which tol l of the Convention held in Canada, at 00 54) 00 •)•) 00) 87 5 7084I 74) 584 42 i GO[ 08 ) 70S 85 7 82I 03Vdn,heret \V(Jpulpthe jr.—theKill vTheroke id in•alti-natevhieh the well-known Coii*titut:on was framed; -f the military training under Slovens which Brown’s party went through, altering their -riginal intention, which was to be instructed by C l. Forbes; and of his own exploration of Jefferson county, Virginia, under Brown’s di-•rctions, to prepare the way for the insurrection.Cerrit Smith, Fred. Douglass. Dr. S. G. Howe, and others, were mentioned in the confession, but not in a way to deeply implicate them. Their connection with Brown involved, however, the presentation of pistols, money, ito. Cook said that the time of the invasion would have been different but for the information given bv Col. Forbes.Before '.lie case of Cook was taken up this morning, Goo. Sennutt, Esq., the counsel of Copeland, appeared and read a number of bills of exception, which he desired the court to take into consideration, although lie felt sure from the former action of the Court that it was of but little avail. Ilis duty to the prisoner, however, demanded that he should go throughall the forms, even if the substance of justice was denied. One of the bills created considerable merriment during its reading, it being •'illed with denunciations of the verdict rendered. The adjectives were put in in profusion, and tlm effect wau to bring the counsel reading them into a position of ridicule.from nl t., .men alsodlorgunl theTlo-Feh-Nn-rcon gent v atheyTHE CASE or COOK.After the proceedings in the case of Copeland had been gone through with, the. case of John F.. Cook was railed, and the. prisoner brought in and placed at tin; bar. He was accompanied bv G - - v. Willard and .Mr. Crowly, and looked quite cheerful, being evidently buoyed up with ilie hope of a favorable result from the verdict f 11 ic jury empanelled. Mrs. Kennedy, hisB •' * m’ “mother-in-law. also entered the court room at die. same time, and took a scat outside the bar. ■She seemed in a rreat distress of mind, and wept considerably during the taking of the testimony. Y'-ung Kennedy, brother of Cook’s wife, was also present, giving close attention to the proceedings. . The attendance of strangers from the adjoining e -unties was much larger than on any former occasion, and the proceedings were of much interest. A large numher ofwitnesses were examined, hut the test in* my **ft'»o j,-.,--— , ,• ..r • t.Unupublished our columns, and I will only supply that which is additional to that alreadypublished. JTESTIMONY OK COL. WASHINGTON.Col. L. W. Washington was the first witness sworn, and detailed his first meeting with Capt Cook. He met him in South Bolivar, whilst on his return from Harper’s Ferry some two months ago; he was riding along when he was approached l»y Cook, who asked if his nameJen-was n »t Washington, to which he gave an af-EI-to-lat rti-• nr i'a-lo*\v-:ii-tihrmative answer: Cook then told him that ho had heard that he (Col. W.) had in his possession some relics of amis, and that he had also heard that ho was fond of shooting; the Colonel told him that such was the case, and asked the name of the gentleman; he was inf.rmed by the man that his name was Cook, and had been m Kansas s .me time; lie also expressed a great desire to see the arms in the possession of’Col. \\ ashington. and proposed to come up some tune to see them, aud also try thcC.donel in the use of small arms; an invitation was given him accordingly to v'sit the Colonel’s mansion, and they parted mutually pleased with each other-the witness then testified that he did not then hear anything oi Cook for some time, and was of the opinion that he had returned to Karims, which he had informed )hiqi he intended doing in a short time; about three weeks beforethe insurrection, however, whilst witness.wasstanding about a hundred yards from his house, witnessing the departure of some friends for the cars, he saw Cook approaching: he met him in a very friendly and gentlemanly manner, but witness did not introduce him to his friends, simply because he did not know him wellenough.A Her his friends left, he took Cook into the parlor and showed him the relies he desired to see, which consisted of a sword presented by .■redenck the Great, of Prussia, to General ' I \N a-dmigton. in 1780, and a pistol presented ny German] Lafayette to General Washington during the Devolution, and worn by the Father Of his Country in the struggle for independence; Cook expressed much pleasure in being enabled to examine them, after which he entered into a conversation with witness j„ regard to too use of firearm-;; Look showed witness a pair of “• | Colt’s revolvers, which lie said he used in hunting buffalo iu Kansas; witness asked him if ho did not think lie ought to have sonic more formidable weapon in case of an attack bv wolves when he replied that he had his horse so train-ed that there was no danger; he also said that • he had be m sick, and was then accustoming himself to the weight of his weapons; when hewas fully armed he carried a pair of Colt’s revolvers, bowie-knife, a Sharp’s rifle, and twenty-two rifle shooter; Cook and witness then went out and shot at a mark, after which he left, stating that he would leave for Kansas5 inI a few davs.The balance of the testimony of Col. Washington, which refers to his capture in hi* house on the morning of the insurrection, has already appeared in our columns, and connects Cook with the affair, as he was one of the men who took Col. Washington. Cook told the Colonel, after he had taken him prisoner, that lie die so with regret, but was under superior officers, and had to obey commands. lie alsothanked witness for the kindness shown himand assured him that the relics which had beenaken lroin the parlor would be properly cared for.ir.a-111ofo-li-ir-idfl-16liooY*i0sTESTIMONY OF TERRANCE BYRNE.Terra ne Byrne, sworn—-Witness lives in Washington county. Md., about a mile and ahalf from Harper’s Ferry; was met on the road near his hou-e, on Monday morning of the insurrection, hy Captaiu Cook and two other white men, who had a wagon, driving from the direction of the Kennedy farm towards the school-house in which the arms were found; Cook told witness that he was his prisoner ami must go with him; witness refused to go, when Cook said that he did not want any parlying in the matter; he must go or run the risk of being shot: witness then went along with themand soon readied the home of witness, which is on the road some distance from the school-house: the other two men were Thompson, who was afterwards caught and shot on the bridge and L .'email, who was shot in the Potomacriver. After a short consultation, Cook wave. ■lt; I I’ . .. . .. * « 1 i • . iff-j/rl1 I* • i * •• * Lu-Uers for witness to be taken on to the Ferry
Newspaper Details
Richmond Virginia Index
Richmond, Virginia, US
Tue, Nov 15, 1859
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
VA, USA 15 Mar 2023
Other Publications Near Richmond, Virginia
Richmond Family Visitor
Richmond Evening Truth
Richmond Critic
Richmond Childrens Friend
Richmond Christian Observer
