Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1859-11-03

Eve or six other slaves belonging to the resi,
dents at Harper's Ferry, and found: in the
streets. 1t is stated that-they pnta talanees or
spears in the hands of twe,orithree of these
negros and compelled them to stand in,ths
character Of sentinels at the door Of the en-
gine-house, occupied BY the incendiariea, but
at the first assault made by the oitizels the
slaves threw away their pixies and escaped 70
their homes for refuge. Third. They had
10 confinement, in addition, some thirty Of
forty other persons, who were found unarmed
IA the streets in the early hours Of the NOR
nins,bpt no adherent or sympathizer turned
up amonst, them. In addition to all this,
after careful equiryy and investigation on
the spot, l could D., learn that any man Of
any color (save one, he.ssfter to be foticed)
was even suspected Of beifsin any way ;ae- 40
cessory or privyt to the plot; fsSe1ception
was Of q man named Cook, who csae to
Aarper'a Ferry year or two since, in e>s
character of schooi.master, married there,
and who, after the event, it appeared, was
an emissary Of Browns, and had been asso-
ciated with him in Kansas. Cook impaired
the plans Of Brown to none 10 Virginia, so
far as is known; or, if he did, it is certain
that none acted on them. he, accompanied
the party to Mr.. Washiugton's which seized
him and bis negros and brought them off in
the night, but none of the latter svinced any
purpose TO follow his fortunes. On the. con-
trary, those that he carried off the samenight
into Maryland escaped from him there and
returned. .' -s1-r 90: - ,,7nosfs IeSi
Think I am warranted, On the foregoing
facts, in the belief that no engagements or
promises of aid from any, Of any race, were
given to Brown inviting his descent. On
the part of the negros, lis certain that the
only emotion. eviuoed by them was Of alarm q
and terror, and the only refuge sought at
their masters homes. .,., ~. as ~; s,L,
Of the conspiracy, outside Of thus State,
enough has transpired, Of. been obtained from
papers taken with Browns effects, TO show
that he acted from impressions made upon
him by Abolition tracts, newspapers and ora
tors in the circles he frequented in the non
slaveholding States. Those impressions were
that it required only to put arms within i'm
mediate reach to bring about immediate in
surrection in the slaveholding States doc
trine openly inculcated, as is known, by the
Abolition leaders Thus impressed, be en-
barked on this desperate enterprise with but
nineteen men but he had arms and weapons
secreted in the mountains and thinly y.popuia.
ted country on the Maryland side Of the nv
er, and within four or FIVE miles of the Fir-
/ ginia line at Harper's Ferry, with abundant
ammunition, to have placed an affective weap.
on iu the hands of each of at least fifteen hun
dred or two thousand men. The exact num-
Der of these arms can never be ascertained,
as they were carried off in great numbers
when first discovered or brought in by the
citizens, and companies Of volunteers who
came from distance, and before possession
of them was taken by the regular military
authorities. Amongst them were one thoas-
and piks or lances, composed ofa teelblade
sharpened at the point and at both edges,
some six or eight inches long, and taperiag
from an inch and half to the point, strong
ly and securely fixed on uniform wooden
handles five or six feet in Lengths most
effective arm for hands unskilled in military
weapous-leaving no doubt for whom they
were destined. ..-. .-.-- .,s.
The whole military equipment possessed BY
Brown, and seized after his capture, could
not have cost less thar ten thousand dollars,
consisting, amongst other things, Of some
two hundred sharpe's rifles, with Ike num-
Der of six-shooter pistols, contained ~ ase
manufacturers bozes and not yet used; pro-
portionate supply of fixed ammunition for the
rifles, with caps, &C., in the original boxes,
hospital stores, pick axes and shove 8, IN
stained with use, and large box containing
ten kegs of powder. ~ ~.
A grave inquiry remains, which will be
diligently, and, I trust successfully prose-
cuted to ascertain whence the funds were
derived for this military expedition Of out
laws against State Of the Union and who
they were aiding with money tofurnish arms
to such leader for such purpose. 'ts
1t remains only to add, that, SO far as can
be discovered, not one of the nineteen esca-
ped. 1 could not correctly ascertain the
number killed-some ten or eleven it is
known were killed-some were shot in at
tempting to escape across the river and
their bodies recovered ; five only were cap
tured alive, amongst them their leader,
Brown; two of the Eve are negros; one
mulatto, reports that he came from Ohio to
join this expedition; the other, black,
says he came from Harrisburg, Pa, with
the like purpose both afedge that they
were deceived by Brown as to the objects Of
the expedition. IS - 30
Nota slave escaped or attempted to escape
during the tumult Of the few carried of
by Cook across the river all escaped from
him and came safely back but one, who, it
appears, was drowned whilst crossing the
river homsward bound ,.;e aagzs aI8 9
Very, respectfully, yours, .GszX
>~f II. NJ. MASON.
Winchester, Ea, October 81, 1862
FREE NEaRos ON RAILRoAps.-Abil
has been introduced in the Tennesses Leg
islature to prevent free negnos travelling on