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Brown, John (9)

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(of Ossawatomie), a fanatical reformer, was born at Torrington, Connecticut, May 9, 1800. He removed to Ohio in early youth, and became a tanner and currier. In 1839 he conceived the idea of liberating the southern slaves, and retained it during the rest of his life. In 1846 he removed to Springfield, Massachusetts, and engaged in the wool trade, and afterwards visited Europe. In 1855 he emigrated to Kansas, where he took an active part in the anti-slavery struggle. In May 1859, he called a secret convention of the friends of freedom, which met at Chatham, Canada, organized an invasion of Virginia for the purpose of liberating the slaves, and adopted a constitution. In July of that year he rented a farm-house about six miles from Harper's Ferry, and collected there a supply of pikes, guns, and munitions. On the night of October 16, with the aid of about twenty men, he surprised Harper's Ferry, captured the arsenal and armory, and took over forty prisoners. About noon the next day his party was attacked and defeated by the Virginia militia, and himself wounded and taken prisoner. He was tried in November, and hung at Charlestown, Virginia, December 2, 1859. He was a devout member of the Congregational Church, and a man of strict moral character, unflinching courage, and intense earnestness. He met his death with the composure of a hero. See Redpath, Life of Captain John Brown (1860); Webb, Life and Letters of Captain John Brown (Lond. 1861); Greeley, Amer. Conflict, volume 1.