Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1859-12-09

|
eye. Not an exhibition of fear was given.
There was no evidence Of consciousness Of
the terrible tragic scene which was about to
take place, and in which he was to be the
actor. As soon as he reached the platform,
the military which accompanied him filed to
the right and left, and took the positions
which had been previously assigned them.
Brown looked at the crowd, then glanced at
the scaffold. The Deputy Sheriff extended
his Hand and took that of Brown, and, shaking
it, babe him farewell -.
No ministers were present, owing to the fact
that Brown had refused their Offices The
Sheriff approached him, shook his hand, and
bid him goodbye. Brown stepped forward,
when the Deputy Sheriff tied his legs, while
the Sheriff drew the white cap over his head,
and placed the fatal rope about his neck. AS
soon as this was done, Brown remarked to the
Sheriff, "You will have to guide me from this
out" The Sheriff asked, Captain Brown,
have you anything to say?' To which he
replied, Nothing ~ 90
Sheritf--"Will you take handkerchief,
and use it as signal, letting it fall when you
are ready % -. .....-'..... ..... -
Captain Brown-"No, sir; I am always
ready. Do not keep me unnecessarily long. -
The Sheriff then stepped aside while the
doomed man engaged in prayer In few
minutes he stepped softly from the scaffold
and, on leaving it, the Deputy Sheriff sprung
the trap, and John Brown was suspended
between heavens and earth. -;
After he had hung for twenty minutes, Drs
Girard, D. E. Mason, John A. Straith, John
Starry and IL. P. Cook assembled the platform
and, after feeling his pulse, holding their ears
to his chest, pronounced him dead Ten
physicians, attached to the different military
corps, then visited him; each one of them fel,
his pulse, and pronounced him dead.
| INCIDENTS.
On the road to the scaftold, Brown re
marked to the undertaken, who was in the
wagon with him, on observing military in
the field: ''They have excluded all citizens. ,
eyes," was tho reply. Capt. Brown said
"Gentlemen, you are calm and collected
much more 80 than am, and yet your con.
dition is much more critical. am COOL
said he, IL have suffered much more from
nodesty in my life time than I have from
fear. For thirty years have been educated
to look upon fear as o myth, and now | dc
not know what it is" After riding some
distance further, and being beyond the lin.
its Of the town, he said, addressing the same
gentleman !: "What beautiful couatry you
have had no idea Of its beauties and the
excellence of its soil! This IL the first time
l have had the pleasure of seeing it," Nc
other conversation took place, and he quiet
" proceeded to his death. .
Justprevious to starting for the execution
Browa wrote the following and handed it to
! Hiram O'Bannon:
81 am now convinced that the great iniqui.
ty which hangs over this country cannot be
purged without immense bloodshed. When
first came to this State thought different
ly, but | ain now convinced that l was
mistaken"
| After the body of Brown had hung fol
thirty-eight minutes, it was cut down and
placed in the coffin. The rope with which
he was hung was taken in charge by an off
Ger, and afterwards cut up into pieces and
distributed to those who were anxious tc
have it, Parties cut the timber Of the gal
others secured lock of his hair. When
the body was placed in the coffin it was con
veyd to town and was placed in the Jail.
Many persons desired to visit the Jail fol
the purpose of seeing it, but their curiosity
was not gratified. A special train Of cars
was ordered from the Ferry, and at half
past six O'Clock, under a strong military
escort the coffin was removed from the jai
and taken to the cars, where it was placed in
special, one, and an escort getting in, the
train proceeded to the Ferry, where it ar
rived at half-past seven o'clock.
Not moro than two hundred citizens wit
messed the execution. Many more woult
have been present, bat the officer of the day
in placing sentinels on the avenues leading
to the town, had selected men from the
military corps from the distance, and the,
not being able to recognize citizens of the
county, they were excluded from iowa les,
they might be rescuers. Much Indignation
was felt and expressed on account of this
arrangement, and the clamor became sc
geeat that the commanding officer was com.
PEELED to remove those who were on senti
mel duty, and place members of the county
military companies on guard.
Gov. Wise wrote q similar letter to the
Sheriff of Jefferson county to the one he
wrote to Gen. Taliaferro, as to the dispo.
sition of Browns body. The gentlemen
who accompanied Mrs. Brown have kindly
furnished me with the following statement:
They accompanied Mrs. Brown to assist in
disinterring and identifying the remains Of
her sous, and to aid in bringing ont the body
of John Brown. They found two graves, one
containing three, and the other originally
ten bodies. 1t was ascertained that the
corpse of Watson Brown had been carried
off by the surgeon. for dissection. They
found two bodies and supposed that one of
them was that of Oliver Brown, but il was
| f,r
thought herself unequal to the task of recog-
milton, so the bodies will be re-interred
here.
Brown himself has furnished touching
inscription for his own tomb stone, which
has not been allowed to transpire.
| JOHN Browns WILL.
CHARLEsTowN, Jefferson County, Va,
December 18th, 1851 give nay son John
| Brown, jr., my survey or's compass, and other
surveyors articles, if found also, my old
| granite monument, now at North Elba, N.
Y, to receive upon its two sides further
inscription, as l will hereafter direct; said
stone monument, however. to remain at
North Elba so long as any of my children or
my wife may remain there as residents.
give to my son Jason Brown, my silver
watch with my name engraved On the inner
case. l give to my son Owen Brown, my
double spy, or opera glass, and my rifle gun,
if found, presented to me at Worcester,
Mass. 1t is globe. sighted, and new. l give,
also, to the same son fifty dollars in cash, to
be paid him from the proceeds of my fathers
estate, in consideration of his terrible suf-
ferings in Kansas, and his crippled condition
from his childhood. l give to my son Sal
mon Brown, fifty dollars in cash, to be paid
him from my fathers estate, as an offset to
the first of the two cases above named. Il
give to my daughter Ruth Thompson, my
large old Bible, containing family records
give to each of my sons and to each of my
other daughters, my son-in-law Henry
Thompson, and to each of my daughters-in-
law, as good copy Of the Bible as can be